The first sliver of dawn pierced through the silk curtains of the luxurious chambers in the Su Estate. It was a beautiful room, adorned with fine silks and delicate jade carvings, befitting the youngest daughter of the powerful Su family.
Su Lian sat up in the impossibly soft bed. Her hand shot out, gripping the expensive silk sheets, and she ripped them away from her legs with a violent motion.
"Another day," she whispered to the empty room, her voice trembling with a sharp rage.
She slid out of bed, her bare feet silent on the polished wood floor. She stalked toward the ornate bronze mirror standing in the corner. She smoothed the thin fabric of her nightgown, turning slightly to inspect her profile. Her features were delicate, her eyes large and enchanting, her lips naturally curved into a soft smile. The Earth Grade Siren's Jade Body ensured her skin was flawless and her form graceful.
She leaned closer to the glass, her breath misting the surface.
"Perfect," she murmured. Then, her face twisted into a snarl. "And yet, useless."
She grabbed a jade comb from the table and hurled it across the room. It struck the opposite wall with a loud crack and shattered.
"Meira," she hissed. The name sounded like a curse.
She began to pace the room, her movements agitated. "Always Meira. 'Oh, look at the Eldest Miss, so diligent.' She spends her life playing in the mud with dying herbs, and the world falls at her feet."
Su Lian stopped, glaring at the window that looked out toward the main compound where Meira was.
"I am the one who cultivates the Illusion Fox Bloodline," she muttered, running a hand through her hair. "I am the one who learned to smile when I wanted to scream, to dance and charm. I built the path. I prepared the ground. And she? She just walks in and takes the prize."
She kicked the leg of the heavy table. "Late Stage Foundation Establishment. How? She doesn't even care about power! I claw for every scrap of resources, and I am stuck at the Initial Stage. It isn't fair. Father looks at her with that... that disgusting pride. And Arya..."
Her voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "He looks at her like she is the moon and stars."
She squeezed her eyes shut, recalling the banquet. The way Arya had held Meira's hand. The way he had ignored Su Lian's carefully practiced smile to gaze at her boring sister.
"He was my ticket," she said to the silence. "The Chen Family Patriarch. The resources. The status. It was all supposed to be mine."
She took a deep breath, forcing her facial muscles to relax. She practiced her smile in the mirror. A sweet tilt of the head. A gentle flutter of the eyelashes.
"You may have won the battle, Elder Sister," she told her reflection. "Enjoy your happiness. I will make sure it is the last you ever taste."
Knock. Knock.
The soft sound at the door shattered her solitude.
Su Lian's expression shifted instantly. The snarl vanished. The rage was tucked away behind a mask of noble grace.
"Enter," she called out, her voice melodious and gentle.
The door slid open. Her personal maid hurried in, carrying a stack of jade slips and a basin of water. The girl looked pale, her hands trembling slightly as she set the basin down.
"Good morning, Young Miss," Suyu said, bowing deeply. "I trust the Young Miss rested well after the festivities?"
"As well as one can, Suyu," Su Lian replied with a delicate sigh, pressing a hand to her chest. "My heart is so full of joy for my sister, but... oh, the responsibilities of our families weigh heavily on my mind. I barely slept thinking of the future."
Suyu nodded vigorously, her eyes wide with sympathy. " The Young Miss is too kind, always worrying about the family."
Su Lian dipped a cloth in the water and dabbed her face. "It is my duty. But tell me, Suyu, you look... disturbed. Has something happened?
Suyu hesitated, gSuyucing at the door as if checking for eavesdroppers. She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"The informants you placed in the Jin Estate they sent an urgent message via the dawn courier."
Su Lian paused, the cloth hovering near her cheek. "The Jin Estate? Go on."
"They say... the Jin Estate has been hollowed out," Suyu whispered.
Su Lian frowned. "Hollowed out? Speak clearly."
"Robbed, Young Miss! Completely empty! The main raw materials warehouse... gone. And the Patriarch's private Strategic Reserve vault... stripped bare. Not a single spirit stone left."
Su Lian lowered the cloth. "Jin Bolin was robbed? In his own home? Who has the power to breach their formations without triggering an alarm? The Chen Family?"
"That is not the most terrifying part," Suyu said, her voice shaking. "The guards... they found traces. Residue on the floor of the vaults. Elder Han of the Jin family performed an analysis. He... he consumed all the items."
Su Lian blinked. "Consumed? You mean he used a storage ring?"
"No, Young Miss," Suyu shook her head frantically. "He ate raw ore, spirit tools, and crates of grain. And he broke through right there on the floor of the warehouse."
Su Lian turned fully to face the maid. "Broke through?"
"Multiple times," Suyu said, holding up three fingers. "The residue shows a progression. The thief entered as a Third Layer Qi Condensation cultivator. And he left..." Suyu swallowed hard. "He left as a Late Stage Foundation Establishment expert. All in one night."
Clatter.
The wet cloth dropped from Su Lian's hand, hitting the floor with a wet slap.
"Repeat that," Su Lian whispered.
"From Third Layer Qi Condensation to Late Stage Foundation Establishment," Suyu said. "In a single night."
Su Lian stared at the maid, her mind reeling. It was impossible. It defied every law of cultivation she had ever learned. Even Arya Chen, with his Heaven Grade physique, took years to cross that gap. To do it in a night? By eating raw materials?
"Who?" Su Lian demanded. "Who is this monster?"
"The Jin Family is hunting him now," Suyu said. "But the servants say... everyone believes it was Young Master Jin Hao."
Su Lian froze.
"Jin Hao?" she repeated, the name feeling foreign on her tongue. "The... the branch family trash? The boy with the muddy robes at the banquet?"
"Yes, Young Miss. He was seen storming out of the banquet last night. He slept in the servants' quarters near the warehouses. And this morning... he fought his way out, defeating a Guard Captain with a single punch."
Su Lian turned back to the mirror, her eyes wide.
Jin Hao. The boy who had looked at her with pathetic adoration. The boy who stood in the corner, radiating resentment and failure.
Him?
"A Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator..." she murmured. "Overnight."
She looked at her own reflection. She saw her Earth Grade talent, her years of effort, her stagnation at the Initial Stage.
"A treasure," she whispered. "He must have a treasure. A divine artifact. Something that turns matter into cultivation."
A flush of heat rose in her neck which was full of greed, very intense greed.
"A waste," she hissed, her mask cracking. "Such a power... in the hands of such trash? A worm like him possesses a tool that can defy the heavens?"
She gripped the edge of the dressing table, her knuckles white. "That treasure should be mine. If I had it... I wouldn't be begging for scraps. I wouldn't be second best. I would be the Empress of this domain."
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She forced herself to think. To pSuyu.
Jin Hao.
She remembered his eyes at the banquet. He had stared at her with the hungry look of a starving dog seeing a piece of meat. It was the look of a man who had never touched a woman, a man desperate for validation, for beauty.
"He likes me," she whispered, her eyes snapping open.
A cruel smile began to curl the corners of her lips. It wasn't her sweet smile but a predator's grin.
"He is a loser," she said softly. "A powerful loser. He has a god-tier artifact, but he has the mind of a child. He stared at me all night."
She turned to Suyu. "Does anyone else know about this? About the specific details of the breakthrough?"
"Only the Jin Family higher-ups and my spies," Suyu said. "The Jin Family is trying to keep it quiet to save face."
"Good," Su Lian said. She walked over to her wardrobe and began sifting through her dresses. "Suyu, put away these stiff formal robes. Bring me the pale jade silk. The one with the slightly lower neckline. And the hairpin with the weeping blossom."
"Young Miss?" Suyu asked, confused. "Are we going out?"
"We are going hunting," Su Lian said. Her voice was light but her eyes were cold.
She turned to the maid. "Jin Hao is running. He is powerful, but he is alone. And he thinks he is in love with me."
She laughed, a short sound. "If I cannot have the genius Arya Chen... then I will build my own weapon. A weapon that grows stronger simply by eating."
She stepped close to Suyu, grabbing the maid's chin and forcing her to look up.
"Suyu, listen to me. Use every contact we have. Use the beggars, the street rats, the merchants. Find him. I don't care how much spirit gold it costs. Find Jin Hao."
"Yes, Young Miss!" Suyu squeaked. "But... what do we do when we find him? He defeated a captain! He is dangerous!"
Su Lian released her, smoothing her own hair with a terrifying calmness.
"He is not dangerous to me," she said. "He is a sword and a sword needs a hand to guide it."
She looked back at the mirror, practicing a look of tearful vulnerability.
"I will offer him what he wants," Su Lian whispered to her reflection. "I will be his friend. The only one who understands his 'pain'. I will twist him around my finger until he doesn't know where he ends and I begin."