31. The Pavilion of Slaughter

Ning Xuan stared expressionlessly at the assassin before her. The man appeared to be in his twenties, thin and frail, with a sallow complexion and a look of fading vitality, as if his life were nearing its end. His triangular eyes, however, burned with intense hatred.

In truth, the assassin was filled with profound regret. His mission had been to eliminate a C-rank female spirit controller on a D-rank star. Knowing that such a target might be protected by an A-rank contractor, the organization had sent him—their top-tier A-rank agent with the highest comprehensive combat power and success rate.

He had expected an easy job. Cautious and suspicious by nature, he had taken exhaustive precautions despite the seemingly low difficulty. He had spent over a decade of accumulated contributions within the organization to acquire that Star-Hidden Stone. He had meticulously planned every stage of the assassination, from scouting to infiltration, simulating every detail repeatedly. Even now, he could not fathom why he had failed.

The assassin’s muffled curses ignited Chen Nan’s fury. He stepped forward and snapped one of the assassin’s fingers with a sharp crack. A piercing scream echoed through the soundproof detention room, causing Ning Xuan to frown.

Observing her reaction, Chen Nan immediately tore a piece of fabric from the assassin’s clothing and gagged him.

Ning Xuan produced a set of golden needles. Her fingers danced with speed and precision, inserting the needles into various acupuncture points on the assassin’s body. With a series of flicking, rotating, and lifting motions, she treated him. When she withdrew the needles, the assassin’s sallow face visibly regained a healthy, rosy glow. He moved his limbs in astonishment; his previously heavy, limp body felt flooded with strength, and he could sense his spiritual power and abilities beginning to recover.

With his hands bound and his mouth gagged, the assassin struggled to speak. Seeing Ning Xuan turn to leave, he desperately knelt and kowtowed. Ning Xuan signaled for Chen Nan to remove the gag. The assassin gasped, "Miss Ning, you can save me, can't you? If you save me, I will tell you everything I know. I can become your servant, your personal bodyguard—please, save me!"

The assassin looked at her with desperate hope. "You have five minutes to tell me what you know. If it is valuable, I will consider treating you," Ning Xuan said coldly.

"I am a gold-medal assassin from the A-rank division of the Slaughter Pavilion. My mission success rate is 100%. My spiritual power is A-rank, but my comprehensive combat power is S-rank. Don't let my failure against him fool you; if I had targeted him for an ambush, I would have had a chance to succeed. I have assassinated S-rank spiritual masters before. Taking me on would be a bargain!" The assassin pointed at Chen Nan, using him as a benchmark to prove his worth.

Ning Xuan shook her head, disappointed. She turned and walked away. "Don't go! Mmmph..." As the assassin tried to protest, Chen Nan shoved the gag back into his mouth and followed Ning Xuan out.

"Contractor, would you not like to hear more of what he has to say?" Chen Nan asked.

"He belongs to an organization, which means he was merely carrying out an assigned task. As for who the client is, he would have no way of knowing," Ning Xuan replied, having lost interest in the interrogation once the assassin revealed his affiliation with the Slaughter Pavilion.

"The Slaughter Pavilion is the most mysterious assassin organization in the Federation. Their fees are exorbitant, and once they accept a contract, failure is nearly impossible. However, they have a rule: if a mission fails, they return the commission and abandon the contract," Chen Nan explained.

"You seem quite well-informed."

"I once participated in a suppression mission against them," Chen Nan clarified. He was now certain his father was not involved; his father would have had no way of contacting the Slaughter Pavilion.

The subsequent interrogation yielded nothing further; even under harsh duress, the assassin provided no new information.

To compensate for their security lapse, the Regulatory Investigation Bureau gifted Ning Xuan a C-rank proximity alarm. Upon arriving home, she found three hovercars parked at her doorstep, surrounded by several teachers from her school.

"Student Ning Xuan, you're finally back! Dean Wang mentioned you refined a bottle of Elder Potion. You haven't sold it yet, have you? May we take a look?" As Ning Xuan stepped out of her vehicle, the high school teachers swarmed her.

Ning Xuan remembered that she had sent an image of the potion to Dean Wang the previous night.

"Of course, please come in," she said. Having been busy dealing with the assassination attempt all day, she had not yet had time to arrange a sale.

The pharmacy teachers had brought equipment to test the purity of the potion. Upon seeing the brilliant, multi-colored liquid, they immediately requested a purity test. Ning Xuan agreed. An hour later, the results were in: the purity was 95%, with an expected bone-healing time of under two hours.

A teacher named Xia rushed toward Ning Xuan, trembling with excitement. "Student Ning Xuan, how did you do this? It's miraculous! 95% purity? I have never seen an Elder Potion of such high quality!"

"Indeed, reaching 80% purity is already an incredible feat. Student Ning Xuan, Dean Wang said you refined this yourself from materials you bought and intended to sell it. I'll pay 500,000 star coins—sell it to me! I can transfer the funds right now!" Another teacher pulled up his light-brain, looking at her with intense eagerness.

"Teacher Zhang, that is not what the Dean instructed. The Dean intended for the academy to purchase this potion. How can you try to snatch it for yourself?" Teacher Xia protested.

"A potion of this quality is a rare find. It should be up to Student Ning Xuan!" Teacher Zhang replied, clearly not intending to put his light-brain away despite being called out.

"500,000 star coins, deal." Eager to make money, Ning Xuan accepted the transfer and handed the potion to Teacher Zhang.

"Sigh..." Teacher Xia began to complain, but stopped as Ning Xuan pulled several stalks of black elderwood from her spatial ring. "Teachers, who else wants an Elder Potion? I can refine more. The purity will be no lower than this one!"

"I do!" Teacher Xia exclaimed excitedly.

"Student Ning Xuan, let's exchange contact information. Send me a message whenever you have finished refining, and I will come to collect it!" Teacher Xia said, activating his light-brain.