Chapter 50: Scheming (Part 1)

  Transtor: Krukist

  The Seven Houses’ reps ushered He Wu out, leaving only one unremarkable middle-aged man from the earlier Dining Pavilion crowd.

  His gaze held no flicker of emotion—not when Lin Yu’s words riled He Wu, nor when the Houses scoffed at a First-Grade, Sed-Tier punk’s bravado. Bnk as stone, he seemed detached from it all.

  Shuitian ignored him, his expression tangled as he studied Lin Yu. After a long pause, he said, “You’re awfully cocksure.”

  Half a day into Lin Yu’s Vice Head stint, regret g Shuitian for the first time. “I figured, as Lin Chaodong’s son, you’d have at least a third of his restraint. Turns out, you’re nothing like him.”

  Lin Yu replied evenly, “ Shuitian, you don’t know—siher left Heavenly Cloud City, Ling’er and I’ve been in deep water. Restraint just invites bullying.”

  “o strut like that, though,” Shuitian tered. “I bought you three months. With your talent and physique, crushing He Wu then would’ve been easy. But one month?”

  Lin Yu’s face darkened, silent. Then, a sudden grin. “You’ve guessed my game, haven’t you?”

  “Heh…” Shuitian’s dry ugh betrayed his exasperation. Ign Lin Yu, he turo Lin Ling’er, seated nearby with Han Ya, her focus glued to the exge.

  Sighing, he said, “Your sister’s got a third of your father’s vibe. You? Way beyond my expectations—scheming right up to my head! And I’m eating it up!”

  Lin Yu’s swagger wasn’t blind— Shuitian saw it clear. He aimed to squeeze bes from him—Spirit Stones, essence sources, anything to fuel his growth. This bet with He Wu staked the Vice Head seat, sealed under Shuitian’s watch. If He Wu won, Lin Yu stepped down—could Shuitian just slot in another pawn?

  Sure, as a Puye, he had the clout. But the Houses could balk—*“You lost one ckey; why keep reag? Too far, pushing us to snap.”*

  To hold the Pavilion, that seat couldn’t slip. Openly riling the Houses wasn’t an optioher. In this bind, Lin Yu’s duel with He Wu *had* to hold—yet his words boxed it into a death trap: one month.

  One month to leap six tiers—not enough. Who knew if He Wu might climb higher? Lin Yu had nothing—no gear, no edge. He Wu, three years in, wielded three or five mastered basic teiques from the Body F Institute, rich with bat chops.

  Catg up there? Harder than climbing ranks. Teiques and experience demaime—years of grind. By parison, boosting tiers looked simple. But jumping from First-Grade, Sed-Tier to match or top He Wu in a month, even as a “Spirit-Devourer,” needed a mountain of resources—resources Lin Yu couldn’t cough up himself.

  Shuitian became the sucker. Lin Yu’s ploy was btant—he’d calcuted it quick. Six hundred Spirit Stoook him from zero to Sed-Tier—three per pert of the Heavenly Cloud Body F Art. Eighth-Tier? At least 80%—eighteen hundred Spirit Stones.

  Not much, but Lin Yu knew puter-boosted gains strained his flesh. He trusted Shuitian had a fix. One month to pull it off? Uain—but three months meant Shuitian rigging the win.

  Lin Yu saw it: Shuitian’s kindness masked a razor mind. A forty-something Puye wasn’t built on softness—his heart might be coal-bck beh. Wariness sharpened Lin Yu’s edge—he wouldn’t be a puppet. Ruffling his messy hair, he grinned, “I’m young—greedy for quick wins. Normal, right?”

  Shuitian’s eyes brimmed with exasperation. “Normal to chase gains, sure—but you grasp the gulf between you and He Wu? Beyond tiers—teiques, bat savvy. Bridging all that in thirty days—”

  “I know!” Lin Yu nodded, cutting in. “But I know you’ll help me, Shuitian.”

  Shuitian’s head throbbed. He’d tapped Lin Yu for Vice Head on a whim—Lin Chaodong’s son, uo be a pain. Nret nibbled. His gaze flicked outside, spotting Han Ya’s carriage—Mama Liu dozing in the driver’s seat. A pn sparked.

  Pointing at her, then Han Ya, he said, “Tiers? That’s on you—I’ll front resources. If you’re truly a Spirit-Devourer, First-Grade, Ninth-Tier in a month’s doable. Teiques and bat? Han Ya, that’s your ne…”

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