Chapter 31: Status Ain’t Worth Much, Shuitian!

  Transtor: Krukist

  “Eating pork means tossing atus aside?” Lin Yu’s anger fred. These people’s obsession with css was absurd. “If nobility’s that fragile, how’s it even noble?”

  Truth was, Heavenly Cloud Kingdom had no formal aristocracy—just titled folks called “nobles.” Families like the Situ , with a legacy of prominence past and present, were dubbed “Great Houses.” To most, that made them oo.

  But Lin Yu wasn’t buying it. Did this guy really think he was above everyone? Power-wise, sure, they had clout—Lin Yu couldn’t deny that. Yet, ing from Earth, he g to equality. He’d stomached their arrogance long enough—now, he snapped.

  *Bang!*

  The table before Situ g shattered as Lin Yu spoke. Situ g’s face darkened, eyes fshing like red sers. “You ant, do you know who you’re talking to? Who I am?”

  Instantly, Lin Yu’s vision ed. Two t figures loomed closer, their killing ihick as fog. Battle cries rang in his ears, bdes slig flesh—a pierg, unbearable screech.

  His pupils shrank, mind bnk, rooted speechless.

  Nan Zhan growled, “Situ g, watch yourself! His words were sharp, but Lin Yu’s useful to me. And I’ll remind you—this is Southwestern Marquis Manor. Don’t push it!”

  Qin Caiyun’s face hardened. “Situ g, keep this up, and I’ll end this test—no winner, no loser. Oh, and tell your o stay away from my home. I don’t want blood in my halls.”

  Situ Deng, sensing his uncle’s rage, stepped in. “Uncle, calm down!”

  Only Nan Ziyan stayed silent, her fareadable, watg Lin Yu’s features twist. She seemed lost in thought, almost detached. As the manor’s young dy, this duel—sparked by her—meant little.

  Lin Ling’er’s heart sank when Lin Yu spoke. Trouble. She didn’t rush to him, instead pulling a yellowed paper from her sleeve, ready ter a special teique.

  Then a voied through the hall: “Seriously, it’s just a cooking match—why’s it so messy?”

  “What’s wrong with pork? Tastes fio me.”

  The scruffy middle-aged man from the doorway strolled in. Everyone—except the Lin siblings—tensed. Nan Ziyan froze, then beamed. “Master!”

  “Master, why’re you here?”

  She skipped to his side, her delicate face alight with joy, nose wrinkling. “Weren’t you holed up w on a liquor recipe? I didn’t dare bug you even after ing home.”

  “Tsk, Master, you just woke up, huh? You reek of booze.”

  The man— Shuitian—chuckled, not denying it. He eyed Situ g. “Let the kid go. Cooking with liquor? Clever. I’ll taste it. If it’s good…”

  He grinned. “You’ll have pissed me off, Situ g.”

  Situ g jolted, as if struck by lightning, and reeled in his aura. He dipped his head. “ Puye, my mistake. But pork’s for the poorest of the poor—eating it dents our status.”

  Lin Yu’s mind cleared, fear lingering in his eyes. Situ g, a mere frade Body F Realm cultivator, had jured that illusion! For the first time, he grasped a true powerhouse’s terror.

  Shuitian shrugged. “Status? Worthless junk. Strip me of Spirit Brewer, Mystic Martialist, Formation Master—without those, I’m just a guy.”

  The crowd could only smirk wryly. Any one of Shuitian’s titles let him strut through Heavenly Cloud Kingdom unchallenged. Humility or flex? Who knew?

  Situ g didn’t get it, just bowed lower. Beyond those titles, Shuitian’s role at Heavenly Cloud Academy wasn’t trivial. Even as an Elder of the Body F Institute, Situ g weighed little to him.

  Piss off Shuitian, aing sacked from the Academy wasn’t off the table—he’d do in his youth. Sure, age had mellowed him, but no o against a sudden fre-up.

  Shuitian’s words hung, then Nan Zhan sighed. “ Puye’s right. Strip away status, we’re all ordinary. Starving, you’d eat pork—hell, even rotten roots.”

  He grabbed his chopsticks, lifted the pork, and popped it in with a decisive glint. Before chewing, his body jolted—like lightning hit him—then froze.

  Qin Caiyun opened her mouth to ask, but his rea outdid st night’s Fried Chi Legs. Curiosity won. She took a piece, ate—and turo stone, chewing endlessly, sav every molecule.

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