Time to sleep… I should probably sleep…

Sunlight pooled through the luxury drapes, dust-bright flecks spilling across the girl’s malnourished-pale skin. A warm prickle made her shift, silk quilts flowing like water and never snagging. Sleep should be bliss, so why do I always end up staying up so late…

Her blue, shoulder-length hair tumbled, mussed by rolling. zzz… Just as she sank deep, a maid in uniform—a cool beauty in her twenties—glided to the bedside. “Young Lady, there’s news…”

“Sally, what is it? I only just fell asleep.” Her tone pricked, but her warmth toward the maid stayed close.

“Someone from the Lin Clan reached out. Lin Fan seems to be in trouble. He needs your help.”

“Mm.” Arms looped her from behind. That was Lisa, a top-tier beauty among the maids; with her perfect mature curves, cradling this seventeen, eighteen-year-old girl was effortless.

“Alright, I’ll head out first.” Jielise turned, pecked the maid’s cheek, and stood to dress.

“Young Lady, please don’t toss your clothes.” Sally lifted the nightwear from the floor, voice soft as petals.

“Sally, I told you—when it’s just us, call me Jiemeng.” She watched the older-sister figure in the mirror, hands resting over her stomach, and curled her lip. “Old habits. Hard to break.”

“Alright then, Jiemeng. I’ll make breakfast.” Sally winked and slipped out.

“Speaking of Lin Fan… didn’t he get a new girlfriend? For it to rope me in, the plot might be getting interesting.” In the mirror, a blue-haired beauty stared back. Beneath her fringe, one eye sapphire, one eye gold; skin snow-pale with a sickly cast; dark circles heavy as a panda’s mask. Her full chest strained a pitiful bra. She dressed simple: a trench coat falling near her knees, covering most of her body; earphone cords threading through the collar to frame both cheeks; below, knee-high Martin boots. Beyond her face, there was hardly any skin to see.

She pushed the door and stepped out. The hallway ran long enough to swallow echoes, the décor palatial—rich enough to make any scion kneel. The living room mimicked a royal hall in size and carving; strangers would drop their eyes in shock. Maids moved in twos and threes, dust motes dancing around their brooms.

“Good morning, Young Lady!”

“Did you sleep poorly again? Heading out?”

They clustered with smiles.

She said nothing; it wasn’t reluctance, just a sleep-haze so heavy she could barely track her feet.

“Young Lady’s about to sleepwalk again. I’ll grab her some coffee.”

The maids scattered into motion.

“Breakfast, Young Lady.” At the table at last, Sally set down a tray. Behind her, more maids flowed in with plates of all kinds. It was clear she was head maid of this palace.

“Set it all down. I’ll eat a little and go.”

Soon she finished and descended to the palace basement. “Young Lady, the teleport array is ready.” Girls in lab coats rose as she approached.

“Alright. Initiate teleport.” The blue-haired girl stepped into a precision-crafted machine.

On a forest clearing, a white beam speared down from the sky. Lin Clan elites ringed the light at once. Seconds later, a silhouette took shape within the glare; then Jielise walked out.

“Where’s Lin Fan?”

“Young Lady, Lin Fan is…” Uncle Pang rushed up, breath tight. Even the Lin Clan called her Young Lady. He rattled off his young master’s location.

“Got it.” She blurred into white light and vanished.

duang. Two figures had been trading blows across a shattered ruin for a long time. Lin Fan was losing ground.

“Xiaoxue, wake up!” He forced a swing with his flaming sword, but her left hand, lit with purple fire, caught the blade bare. The red-haired girl didn’t waste openings; her right hand, the Bloodgod Claw, ribboned forward in a red afterimage toward Lin Fan’s torso—countless foes had been carved to chunks by that single strike.

Thud. He snapped a flame shield into its path, but the impact crushed past threshold; he rocketed away, body spinning.

“Come back!” A voice, low and rough. Strips of bandage lashed out, snaring him midair like a trussed zongzi, yanking him back.

“Damn it!” He thrashed, but even the elemental flames on his body couldn’t burn those bindings clean.

“This is as far as you go, interesting boy.” Xiao Qianxue’s smile tilted wicked. Her left hand crooked into a claw, ready to crush his skull the instant he was dragged close.

“Stop.” Two quiet syllables froze Xiao Qianxue in place.

“What—?” She found she couldn’t move. She twisted her gaze and saw a blue-haired girl. The girl’s left eye, golden, cast a strange light straight at her. After more than a second, the glow dimmed to ash; control returned to her limbs—but the window was enough for Lin Fan to break free.

“Good timing!” Lin Fan surged, poured power into one strike, and tore out of the bands.

“Been a while. You’ve even manifested your Elemental Body?” Jielise watched him retreat to her side and switch to wood element to heal.

“It’ll only hold till the fight ends. An accident.” Tattoos flickered across his skin. He glanced at Jielise beside him, trench coat swaying.

“Jiemeng, Young Lady—skip the small talk…” In a handful of words, Lin Fan laid out the situation.

“Another one—and looks more interesting than the man.” Xiao Qianxue didn’t press. Cocky, she mended herself slowly, eyes never leaving the newcomer.

“You went and found a girlfriend at the pinnacle of Super-tier. Seems I didn’t misjudge you.” The scene perked Jielise up, sleep fog thinning.

“There is a way. But it’ll cost me quite a bit…” She thought for a beat and answered.

“I’ll agree to anything. Anything! Please, help me!” Lin Fan hit his knees with a smack, desperation for saving Xiaoxue burning hot enough to strip his reason.

“Then our plan goes like this… and then like this…” She sketched it fast, crisp as knife strokes.

“Eh—!” Lin Fan’s face, limned in green light, flushed a shade of red by the end.