Klown City, the central street where luxurious and expensive buildings stand, was bustling. In one particular building, known as Skyline Savory, the interior was packed to the brim with people, most of them nobles and wealthy merchants. Outside, some stood in line, waiting to enter and indulge in the restaurant's delicious lunch.
Even under the blazing sun, they waited patiently with parasols held over their heads by their butlers or maids.
The restaurant was filled with quiet conversations, their tones never rising, so only those seated at the same table could hear each other. However, with dozens of voices combined, a constant murmur filled the air. Despite the noise, the atmosphere appeared peaceful. But if one listened closely to their conversations...
"I liked that woman, so I gave her money, and guess what? She immediately crawled into my lap, begging me to take care of her. Hahaha," one man chuckled softly. Even their laughter was refined, not loud but elegant.
The voices of the women were even softer, but their words carried the same air of superiority.
"A boy—just a commoner—bumped into me this morning. I ordered my new butler to teach him a lesson. They're both the same kind, but I gave the butler a chance to prove himself by giving that boy a good beating. I think the boy was barely breathing by the end of it… Ah, just seeing those begging eyes…"
"I'm planning on buying slaves soon. Any recommendations? I prefer strong men."
At one of the tables, a group of five to six men and women were eating while talking in hushed tones.
"What benefits did he give you, Trina?" one of the women asked.
Trina, the same woman who had caused the scene that morning in front of Filly's restaurant, smirked as she answered. "It's none of your business. But even if he didn't give me benefits, I'd still do it."
"Oh, right, you had a conflict with that b*tch," the woman said.
"How dare she remove the VIP area? She's tarnishing the name of nobles by putting us on the same level as those commoners. Who does she think she is?" Trina's eyes turned cold as she stabbed the meat on her plate before biting into it.
"Are we really going to go through with this?" one of the men asked, hesitation clear on his face. "You know… her father is Nathan Kleinford, the Border War Killer."
"So what?" Trina raised an eyebrow. "Filly's already been cast aside. Her family focuses on cultivation, but she's wasting time doing business. She's bound to fail."
"So, we're going to cut off her meat supply? But how?"
"Like I said, we'll use our connections!" Trina replied. "We should also convince the other nobles. What if other restaurants start following that b*tch's behavior? What if every restaurant we go to forces us to dine on the same floor as commoners? Breathing the same air as them is utterly disgusting!"
Hearing this, the nobles exchanged glances of realization. The man who had hesitated earlier now looked more determined.
"Yeah, we should do everything we can to make her understand the consequences of defying us nobles! She's sunk so low she's acting like a commoner!"
"That's the spirit!" Trina smiled.
"But I've heard their food is delicious..." one of them said.
Trina glared at the person. "I bet you heard that from a commoner?"
"That's..." The person scratched his cheek awkwardly.
While they were plotting the downfall of Filly's Restaurant, on the very top floor of Skyline Savory, there was a standalone room. A table, bookshelves, a cauldron, and a wide mat occupied the center, with a chandelier hanging overhead, though it emitted no light.
The only lighting came from sunlight streaming through the window, falling on the person sitting cross-legged on the mat.
He had dark hair, brown eyes, and delicate lips and nose. One could easily guess his age just from his youthful face and skin.
As he sat there, the air around him swirled in gentle currents, his hair dancing with the breeze. The young man was cultivating peacefully, as though he had been there for eons.
Suddenly, the window swung open, causing the curtains to flap noisily before settling back into place.
Theo opened his eyes, staring at the window for a moment before glancing at the bookshelves. There, a figure stood, already holding one of his books. The newcomer wore a loose black hanfu, with black hair cascading down to his waist like a waterfall. On his back, a thin black sword was strapped, covered in a white strip of cloth with the excess trailing like a tail.
"You arrived early," Theo remarked, standing up from his mat.
"It's better to be early than never," Axton replied, closing the book and returning it to the shelf.
"It's better late than never," Theo corrected the Headmaster of the Great Serpent Sect as he walked toward his table.
"I know," Axton smiled. "So, how did it go?"
"It's impossible for that creature to have triggered the Lightning Tribulation," Theo said, nodding toward the cauldron. He wasted no time getting to the point.
"Oh?" Axton raised an eyebrow, walking over to the cauldron and lifting the lid. Smoke billowed out, and the tantalizing smell of cooked meat filled the air. "This smells delicious."
The cauldron was two meters wide and one and a half meters long. Inside was a giant head, far larger than the cauldron, yet somehow it fit perfectly. The creature cooking inside was the Ten-Tail Alphadusk Shadowtail, a monster that resembled a small mountain.
"So, this is where you cooked its wife too?" Axton asked, staring at the monster's eyes—one of which dangled from its socket while the other floated in the boiling broth. There was no fire under the cauldron, yet the monster was still cooking.
"Some of her parts, but most of her meat was cooked by my Fire Chefs," Theo explained. "The Ten-Tail was overcooked by the Tribulation, so this was the only way I could prepare it and still retain some of its flavor. Want to taste it?"
"No," Axton firmly declined. "Anyway, back to the topic. If it wasn't the monster, how did the Tribulation come about? Did someone trigger it?"
"It definitely wasn't that monster. It can't, and it never will be able to," Theo replied.