Chapter 1 The East Side of the Harem City

The east side of the Harem City was a place teeming with restaurants and eateries.

The streets here were very wide, and the buildings were relatively far apart because the open spaces… were planted with many ying trees (trees unique to the Saint Yuan World, with branches like crystal, leaves like jade, and flowers blooming with azure light, clear and beautiful in the night, a sight to behold).

The Phoenix Moon was the season when the ying trees bloomed, and the twelfth day of the Phoenix Moon was the day of the full moon in the Saint Yuan World.

Every year at this time, all the shops on the east side of the Harem City were fully occupied. Especially the window seats on the upper floors of some restaurants, which money couldn't always buy…

And the most famous of these was a restaurant called Deng Yuan Lou (Ascend to the Origin Pavilion).

The dishes, wine, décor, and service of this restaurant were all impeccable, but the most important thing was… the elegant private rooms on the third floor of this restaurant were the best viewing spot in the east of the city.

It was unknown when it started, but being able to “sit in the elegant private room of Deng Yuan Lou on the night of the twelfth day of the Phoenix Moon” had become a symbol of status and strength.

People seemed to have reached a consensus—those who could sit there at that time could simultaneously enjoy the most beautiful moon, the most beautiful flowers… and the most beautiful person in the Saint Yuan World. This kind of enjoyment… was not something that everyone could touch.

Ji Fenglong herself had naturally heard of this saying, so she specifically set a rule: to sit in that seat, one must meet three conditions: "time must reach the sixth month, fame must spread throughout the four seas, and a pair of superior treasures must be offered."

The meanings of these three sentences were: First, to sit in that seat, one must arrive in the Harem City six months in advance and stay in the city for half a year, without leaving for even a moment; second, one's reputation must be loud enough; those characters whose names no one knew need not even think about it; third, normal consumption didn't count; to reserve this position, one must first hand over two *shangbao* (superior treasures).

The so-called *shangbao* were extremely powerful magical treasures. The Saint Yuan World had five levels for magical treasures: *ci* (inferior), *xia* (low), *zhong* (medium), *shang* (high), and *zhi* (supreme), and the value of a *shangbao*… had basically exceeded the range that *yuanmai* (origin veins) could estimate.

It had to be said that City Lord Ji was very business-minded. Not only Deng Yuan Lou, but most of the other shops in the east of the city had also offered various similar conditions. There were many people willing to spend lavishly in order to gaze at Ji Fenglong's unparalleled beauty on the twelfth day of the Phoenix Moon. And Ji Fenglong was very happy to take advantage of this… it was all the better that those people were willing to pay for the various expenses of the Harem City.

Seeing this, everyone must have guessed… the day that Feng Bujue and the others arrived was precisely the twelfth day of the Phoenix Moon…

The people who had reserved the elegant private room at Deng Yuan Lou in the east of the city this year were the famous "Four Heavenly Kings of Gang Mountain" in the martial world.

These four were sworn brothers, and no one knew their original surnames. It was only known that the place where they first made their name was Gang Mountain (a region of the Saint Yuan World). The four of them now used the names they adopted after their brotherhood: the eldest brother was named Daozheng, the second brother Dezheng, the third brother Fazheng, and the fourth brother Zhizheng.

Don't be fooled by the fact that these brothers' names sound like Buddhist titles, but they were not monks. On the contrary, these four were all famous playboys, lustful for beauty, and all of them were very handsome (their ability to enter the city showed that they passed the standards for appearance and cultivation). Of course… they were not lecherous thieves; they had never done anything by force. What they liked was cultured elegance, mutual consent, and then abandonment…

Objectively speaking, they were still considered righteous people (the Saint Yuan World was a world where good and evil were irreconcilable, with no so-called "neutrality," so the Harem City did not allow any evil paths to enter), it was just that their lifestyles were a bit problematic.

That afternoon, these four had already been sitting in the elegant private room on the third floor of Deng Yuan Lou, drinking and chatting happily.

"Dear brothers, hehe… after being cooped up in this city for half a year, we've finally waited until today." Daozheng said with a smile while putting food in his mouth. Judging by his complexion, he was obviously a little tipsy.

"Yes, big brother." Dezheng responded, "Tonight… our brothers can finally see Ji Fenglong's beauty."

"Alas… what a pity." Fazheng raised his neck and drank a glass of wine, continuing, "Ah… we can see her, but we can't touch her."

"Hehe… third brother, there's nothing we can do about that." Zhizheng laughed, "She likes women~"

"Hmph… it is a pity, such a beautiful woman actually has this kind of preference…" Daozheng said recklessly, taking advantage of his drunken strength, "I'm afraid she will never taste the joy of joining with a man in Wushan."

The other three laughed with Daozheng for a while, and then drank another round.

After drinking several rounds like this, suddenly, Zhizheng widened his eyes, looked at the street outside the window, and said loudly, "Big brothers! Look quickly!"

"What's wrong?" Daozheng and the others turned their heads to look at the street with some doubts.

If they hadn't looked, it wouldn't have mattered, but as soon as they looked, they almost dropped their eyeballs on the ground.

"This, this, this…" Dezheng stuttered, "…who is this little girl? I've been in the city for half a year, and I thought I'd seen all the beauties in the city, how come I've never seen this beauty?"

"Presumably she just entered the city today." Fazheng continued, "Maybe… she wants to enter Ji Fenglong's harem?"

"With her beauty, I'm afraid Ji Fenglong can't resist it either…" Zhizheng's eyes were still firmly fixed on the street as he spoke.

"Hey? Brothers." Daozheng seemed to have an idea at this time, "Why don't… I go down and invite her to sit with us in this elegant room?"

"That would be great!" Dezheng replied, but a second later, he seemed to suddenly think of something, and quickly added, "But… big brother, you are a senior, it seems a bit too much trouble for you to come forward in person… it's better for me, the second brother…"

"Hey~ No need for second brother to go." Fazheng continued, "I'll go…"

"No, no, no." Zhizheng's reaction was not slow either, "This little brother should take on the task…"

Obviously, these four were not stupid, and all wanted to be the first to go up and strike up a conversation.

"Ha!" Daozheng laughed, "Alright, alright, when it comes to good things, you guys run faster than anyone else." He put down the wine glass in his hand, "Since everyone wants to talk to that woman, why don't… we all go together."

"Well… that's good too." Dezheng laughed, "Let's go over together and see which one that fairy-like sister likes more? Hahaha…"

The four laughed confidently again for a while (they were very confident in their ability to flirt with girls), feigned politeness to each other for a few words, and then rushed out of the third floor one after another.

At the same time, Xu Huaishang, who was "exploring the map" on the street, didn't know anything. She didn't know the background setting of this script; she didn't know who her teammates were or where they were; and she didn't know what the current task was. She had been in the script for half a day, and she was just walking aimlessly on the street.

Just then, four figures suddenly descended from the sky and blocked her path…

"This lady, greetings." The Four Heavenly Kings of Gang Mountain bowed together, politely and in unison, saying this to Xu Huaishang.

After saying that, the four straightened their backs, revealing four handsome faces, and cast affectionate and seductive glances at her.

"Uh…" Xu Huaishang on the other side, squinted her eyes and returned a look that could be described as painful.

To be honest, she had seen similar scenes in reality and in games… not to mention four people, she had even seen forty-eight male idol groups who were more beautiful than women confess their love collectively… that scene was much more spectacular than this.

"Excuse me, do you gentlemen… have any business?" Xu Huaishang asked indifferently.

"I am Daozheng…"

"I am Dezheng…"

"I am Fazheng…"

"I am Zhizheng…"

"Perhaps the lady has also heard that the four of us brothers are the guests in the elegant private room of Deng Yuan Lou tonight." Daozheng said.

"Just now, upstairs, we saw the lady wandering alone on the street…" Dezheng continued, "So we dared to come forward…"

"May I ask the lady's name?" Fazheng asked again.

"I wonder if the lady would do us the honor…" Zhizheng then said, "…to gather with us four brothers upstairs."

These brothers were indeed deeply affectionate and had similar tastes, even closer than real brothers, and their speech was like a relay race.

"Well… I appreciate your kindness." Xu Huaishang had no time to attend this group of NPCs' dinner parties at this moment, so she of course decisively refused, "I have something to do, I'm afraid I can't accompany you."

As soon as these words came out, the Four Heavenly Kings of Gang Mountain were shocked. They never expected… that they would be rejected.

Not to mention the attractiveness of these four experienced flirts to women… normally speaking, 99% of the people in this city (regardless of gender) should have been so excited that their blood vessels would burst when they heard the five words "Deng Yuan Lou elegant private room." To be able to sit in that elegant room on the twelfth day of the Phoenix Moon without spending a penny was simply an invitation that could not be refused.

However… Xu Huaishang used an absent-minded attitude and refused the Four Heavenly Kings of Gang Mountain without thinking. And… it was on the street.

In the Harem City, the streets were full of people with True Origin Limit cultivation, and their hearing was naturally not bad, plus there were already many passers-by secretly paying attention to Xu Huaishang. Therefore… most of the people on the street stopped in their tracks at this moment and looked at the Xu goddess with a shocked expression.

Two seconds later, the Four Heavenly Kings of Gang Mountain also realized that something was wrong… in this situation, if they returned in such a dejected manner, what face would they have left?

"Uh… lady… perhaps you didn't hear clearly…" Daozheng continued to block Xu Huaishang's path, showing no intention of letting her go, "What I said was 'Deng Yuan Lou third floor elegant private room.'" He deliberately emphasized those seven words, fearing that the other party would not realize the meaning of it.

Unfortunately… Xu Huaishang knew nothing about the meaning of these seven words.

"Sorry, I'm really busy." Not only did the Xu goddess's attitude not improve, but she also showed a hint of impatience, and turned to leave.

"Hey, hey~ lady." Zhizheng flashed and blocked Xu Huaishang's path again, "What's the matter that's so urgent?"

"It's none of your business, is it?" Xu Huaishang replied, "Please move aside, okay?" After saying that, she changed direction again and walked forward quickly.

At this moment, the pedestrians on the street all showed a gloating expression, and surrounded them with a mentality of watching the excitement. Obviously… the Four Heavenly Kings of Gang Mountain were going to be unable to step down this time. A situation like "guests sitting in the elegant private room of Deng Yuan Lou losing face" was undoubtedly something that the masses (people who couldn't book an elegant private room) were happy to see.

"Wait!" Daozheng finally couldn't bear it anymore, and he ran to Xu Huaishang's path again, "Lady… let's end the joke here…" He lowered his voice and stared into Xu Huaishang's eyes, "We brothers kindly invited you, but you have this kind of attitude… could it be that you are deliberately trying to embarrass us brothers…"

"Are you annoying?" This time, even Xu Huaishang was angry, "If you don't get out of the way, I'm going to attack." She was already a little irritable because of the lack of script information, and now she was inexplicably harassed by four NPCs… so she had the idea of fighting.

If Xu Huaishang knew the level of combat power in this universe, she would not be so impulsive. Unfortunately… she didn't know. She still thought this was just an ancient alternate world, at most a *wuxia* (martial arts) plane. With her current combat power, she would have been invincible in the martial arts world long ago, and it wouldn't matter if she attacked.

"I advise you not to fight them."

Suddenly, a voice came from the air, loud and clear, resounding throughout the entire street.

When she heard this sentence, Xu Huaishang's expression changed drastically… with a bit of surprise and doubt, and also a bit of joy…