After they entered the elevator, the maid worked the control panel a few times. Xu Muan felt a jolt, and then everything settled again.
A few seconds later, the elevator doors slowly opened.
Following the maid, Xu Muan glanced through the glass windows beside the corridor. She had already reached the upper levels of the Heaven-Reaching Tower. The path she had walked earlier looked so tiny, but what amazed her even more was the elevator's efficiency.
She climbed one floor along a broad staircase and finally reached her destination.
Two women in some kind of special operations suits stood guard at the door with guns in their arms. As the two approached, the guards reached out to stop them.
"Hello, honored guest. As Her Majesty's personal bodyguards, we must conduct a security inspection. Please hand over everything you have on you first. Don't worry, I'll return it all once the inspection is complete."
"All right." Xu Muan's heart tightened, but nothing unusual showed on her face. She readily handed over everything she carried-two Gold Soul Coins, a rolled-up map, and a pocket watch.
"Do they make the rods for these things out of iron now?" one guard asked curiously. She tried tugging at it twice and carefully checked whether anything was tucked inside, but she could not pull it out. Nothing seemed unusual.
"...Yes, perhaps that makes it more durable. After all, this map came across the ocean from another continent," Xu Mubai said.
The guard offered no further comment and merely gestured for Xu Mubai to stand on a platform to one side. "All right, please stand here."
Xu Mubai obediently stepped onto it. A wave of light appeared beside her feet and scanned her entire body from bottom to top, but when it reached her chest, it suddenly