Finally, something! Zhang Yuanqing's spirits lifted. During the day, he had felt that Paphos Island was far too ordinary. An island that gave birth to the Goddess of Beauty, an S-rank dungeon—it shouldn't be so mundane.
Since nothing could be found across the island, the problem had to lie within the castle.
When he first arrived in the dungeon, he had fooled around in the woods with Helen, the Goddess of Beauty's handmaiden. Afterward, he had spent a night with Herasine in the arrow-making workshop.
Neither occasion had taken place inside the castle. Only tonight was he truly staying the night here.
Had he stayed in the castle two days earlier, he might have uncovered Paphos Island's hidden plot long ago.
He pushed Herasine out of his embrace, sat up, and leaned over to scoop his one-piece robe off the floor.
"Mm?" Herasine woke immediately, rubbing her eyes. "Amini, where are you going...?"
Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers with a crisp snap.
Herasine's body went limp, sinking back into a deep slumber to continue experiencing that consummate, back-aching, sweat-drenched ecstasy in her dreams.
Zhang Yuanqing dressed, stepped forward, and transformed into brilliant starlight to reappear in the hallway. Entering Night Roaming, he slipped out of the domed building packed with slaves, crossed the rustic courtyard, and headed deep into the castle.
The Goddess of Beauty's castle differed from standard European castles. It was composed of domed and spired structures, some pressed together like conjoined twins yet functionally independent.
European castles, by contrast, formed a single monolithic complex.
Late into the night, most of the castle's windows had gone dark, with only a scattering of square casements emitting faint candlelight.
Blending seamlessly into the darkness, Zhang Yuanqing wandered aimlessly through the castle, waiting for another ripple from that mysterious power.
The previous fluctuation had been too faint to pinpoint its source; he only knew it originated within the castle and not from the slave quarters where he stayed.
As he passed a spired building, a faint moan suddenly caught his attention.
The moan sounded like a weeping, pleading murmur brimming with secret pleasure, sultry enough to scratch right at a man's heartstrings.
Looking up, he traced it to the third floor of the castle's main building, from the fourth window on the left, drifting out alongside a glimmer of candlelight.
Zhang Yuanqing floated upward effortlessly, arriving outside the open square window and peering inside.
There on a large bed draped in animal pelts, a naked woman had her back to the window, practicing squats atop a burly man.
The candlelight illuminated her porcelain-white body, glistening with fragrant sweat. Her fair back curved gracefully, her buttocks were plump and round, and her platinum hair swayed with each downward motion.
Saiketia!
Saiketia, who had inherited the Goddess of Beauty's face and figure.
Even having already cleared his daily intimacy debuff, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but feel his throat go dry, his hormones surging.
Fortunately, in the Night Roaming state, his aura and mental fluctuations were completely cloaked. Otherwise, a surge of lust would never escape the senses of a Dominator-stage Desire-class combatant.
Men crowded all around Saiketia—some slender, some robust, some youthful, others unkempt and scruffy.
They hungrily caressed the woman's body, adoration and lust burning tangibly in their eyes.
Scattered across the floor beside the bed lay seven or eight spent husks, sleeping soundly from sheer exhaustion.
If a cameraman were crouching beside them, this would be a full-blown adult video... Zhang Yuanqing suddenly had an epiphany: The true masters of Paphos Island are the Goddess of Beauty and Saiketia.
Given the characteristics of the Desire class, the island's powerful guards, devotees, and even demigods were probably all captives to Saiketia's charms.
If a clash ever broke out among the five Spawns of the God, Saiketia would undeniably command the largest following.
Zhang Yuanqing did not disturb the erotic scene inside and descended quietly.
After waiting and searching the castle grounds for a quarter of an hour, the mysterious pulse of power rippled out once more.
This time, Zhang Yuanqing clearly sensed that the power originated underground—specifically, beneath the castle's main tower.
Zhang Yuanqing turned his gaze toward that most magnificent spired structure. It was the high tower where Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty, resided—the tallest building on the island aside from the clock tower, and the grandest, flanked by two domed wings.
The Goddess of Beauty never permitted anyone inside her dwelling, save for her lovers.
And even lovers could enter only when summoned.
This was intelligence Zhang Yuanqing had gathered from Herasine.
Back at the victory banquet, the main tower where the Goddess resided had been precisely what he wanted to explore.
A power of such high standing... Just the faint ripples of its aura are enough to make me tense up... Zhang Yuanqing flew toward the main building and halted before the shut bronze doors carved with reliefs.
To be safe, he spat out a Saint-stage spirit servant and commanded it to phase through the wall to scout ahead.
A dozen seconds later, the spirit servant drifted back out through the bronze doors. "Master, there is no one inside, nor any danger."
Zhang Yuanqing retracted the spirit servant and glanced left and right. Seeing no one around, he deactivated Night Roaming, transformed into starlight, and slipped inside.
The ground floor of the main building was spacious yet devoid of superfluous furnishings. Apart from a masonry staircase leading to the second floor, there were only two storeroom doors.
In the pitch-black night, Zhang Yuanqing slipped into the left storeroom. Stored within were pottery—bowls, jugs, plates, and the like.
He moved to the right storeroom. It was completely barren, containing no utensils or furniture. In the corner sat an entrance to the cellar, sealed by wooden planks etched with tadpole-like sealing runes.
Perhaps due to a lack of ventilation for ages, a stale, musty smell lingered in the air.
What on earth did the Goddess of Beauty seal down there...? After pondering for several seconds, Zhang Yuanqing retrieved the Daluo Astrolabe, sat cross-legged, and began a stargazing divination.
A few minutes later, he received a warning from the divination: forcing his way through the seal would trigger a catastrophic crisis.
Whatever lay underground was shrouded in darkness, completely obscured within the river of fate. From this, he deduced that the sealed entity's level was at least Level 9.
Whether it reached demigod status, he couldn't say, but by all logic, an S-rank dungeon of this level shouldn't contain demigod-tier items or entities.
Right then, the iron door outside creaked open with a grinding groan.
Immediately afterward, footsteps approached the storeroom.
Someone was coming?
Zhang Yuanqing felt a jolt of alarm and instantly dissolved into starlight, escaping the storeroom.
Materializing behind the main building, he activated Night Roaming and flew toward the domed structure housing the slaves.
Returning to his room, he pulled the flushed, deep-sleeping Herasine into his arms, closed his eyes to feign sleep, and turned over the discovery in the storeroom in his mind.
Was the dogged defense of Paphos Island by the Goddess of Beauty's faction tied to the sealed entity beneath the main tower?
No wonder the Goddess never let anyone near her residence; she clearly didn't want the sealed entity below to be discovered.
Could the God of Light's assault on Paphos Island also have something to do with whatever was underground?
Probably not. If the subterranean sealed object were truly that vital, the Goddess of Beauty wouldn't have left the island to seek reinforcements, and the God of Light would have stormed the place long ago.
Right, I could try entering the dreams of the Spawns of the God to gather intel. Aside from Saiketia, whose level is unclear, Cupid, Menia, and Cynthia are at least peak Level 8, or early Level 9 at most.
If it's the former, I can enter their dreams. As long as I don't display hostility or intent to kill, I shouldn't wake them.
As thoughts churned in his mind and Zhang Yuanqing prepared to initiate a dream jump, a sudden knock sounded on the crude wooden door.
Thump, thump!
The gentle rapping broke the silence of the late night.
Zhang Yuanqing grew alert. "Who is it?"
A soft, seductive voice chuckled from beyond the door. "Amini, it's me. Is your door willing to open for me?"
Saiketia?
What is she looking for me for? All those muscular men didn't satisfy her, so she's craving more and picked a nobody like me? Zhang Yuanqing grumbled inwardly, his guard lowering slightly.
In his view, the Desire class posed the lowest threat. On one hand, Desire had few offensive methods and poor combat capability; on the other, his Day Wanderer passives granted immense immunity to all negative debuffs, and as a Nihilist, he could master his own desires.
Had it been Cupid knocking in the middle of the night, things likely wouldn't end peacefully.
Zhang Yuanqing tossed aside the animal pelt blanket draped over his waist and opened the rustic door. Sure enough, standing outside was the breathtakingly gorgeous Saiketia.
She wore a silk nightgown that would be exorbitantly expensive for this era, offering fleeting glimpses of her voluptuous, exquisite figure. Despite having just endured an arduous battle, she still emanated a refreshing, delicate fragrance.
Like a sprite of the night, she had knocked on a crude slave's door. A few glances were enough to make the slave burn with uncontainable lust.
The crude slave averted his gaze and bowed.
"Great goddess, your arrival fills this humble room with radiance. Forgive me for having neither fine wine nor delicacies to entertain you."
Saiketia glanced at the sleeping Herasine and smiled coyly.
"Oh, Amini, if you wished to experience exquisite pleasure, why didn't you seek my help instead of turning to such an ugly, lowly woman?"
Stepping forward, she ran her palm across Amini's muscular chest.
"Have you forgotten the wonderful nights you once spent with me?"
What?! Zhang Yuanqing frantically searched his mind, but found no memories of Amini and Saiketia together, nor had Herasine ever mentioned it.
From the look of it, Amini and Saiketia had secretly indulged each other in private.
How very Greek mythology, and how very Desire class... Zhang Yuanqing had an endless stream of silent retorts.
Seeing him remain completely unmoved by her flirtation, Saiketia frowned slightly and smiled.
"Amini, we once laid bare before one another. Even now, I am willing to lay bare with you once more."
She wants to sleep with me... Zhang Yuanqing felt torn.
He didn't mind rolling in the sheets with someone from the Desire class—he had done it so often he was numb to it. But Saiketia was no lower in level than he was. If she got her way, it would be tantamount to handing his life over voluntarily.
—Sleeping with the Desire class always came at a price.
Yet if he refused, for a demigod like Amini to resist Saiketia's beauty would be entirely unnatural and defy explanation.
Have my avatar take my place? An idea struck Zhang Yuanqing, and a smile broke across his face.
"Great goddess, I dream of laying bare with you. Thank you for your grace. But my room is far too squalid—I would like to find another place."
And you'd better take a bath first! he grumbled inwardly.
Once he sent Saiketia away, he could summon his avatar.
A meaningful smile surfaced on Saiketia's stunning face.
"You misunderstand me, Amini. The laying bare I speak of is asking you to answer a question."
"What question?" Zhang Yuanqing froze.
Fixing him with her azure eyes, Saiketia enunciated each word: "What were you doing in the main building's storeroom?"
Chapter 938