Chapter 418: The First Slap

At first, Kai honestly wasn't sure what to make of it. His gut reaction was to take things at face value: the young man had accused him of impropriety, which wasn't fair at all since Omilaena was the only one groping. A second later he realized that of course the words were just a pretext and this was a matter of pride, or rather arrogance and entitlement.

"Take your hands off them, you oaf." The young cultivator swaggered forward, staring down at him. "How dare a swarthy, low rank piece of filth like you touch two such maidens?"

"Really not a maiden," Omilaena said wryly, but the cultivator barely glanced at her.

"Dark you may be, but your beauty is worth more than this. Two women with ranks above 10 deserve far better! You should be read poetry by the noble sons of the city, not be the playthings of a clumsy brute."

The strange thing was that Zae Zin Nim had tensed up under Kai's arm. Normally he might have pulled it away, but she was leaning closer to him - not afraid, just apprehensive. Was there a layer of Cloudspire politics to this confrontation that he was missing? Could their opponent be far more dangerous than he appeared?

<

Name: ???

Total Power: 135

Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 0% (100)

Physique: F-2 (34)

Soul Level: 1 (1)

>

Kai glanced at the man's soul and wasn't impressed. The leader of the group had only 135 Power at Nascent foundation, and his flunkies were all at the Body Refinement stage with under 100. Not just low stage cultivators, weak for their stage. This group couldn't possibly be a physical threat to them.

"Go away." Zae Zin Nim drew herself upright and scowled at the group. "He's worth ten of you."

"Ten?" Omilaena asked with a smirk. "Why exactly ten?"

"Has he cast some sort of spell over you?" The cultivator sneered to his friends, who laughed in response. "Your beauty is unrivaled, deserving nothing less than the highest sons of this city. Truly, this oaf putting his arm around you is an offense to heavens and earth! Come with me and we'll show you a far better evening than this barbarian."

Zae Zin Nim's eyes narrowed to slits and Kai wondered if she was going to murder the group at that moment. There was definitely lethal energy thrumming through her body, so Kai held back and let her take the lead. If she wanted to handle things herself, he would let her. His instinct was to think that their insults were just pathetic, so this shouldn't end in violence, but if his wife took such insult...

"My name is Kan Hul Ning, heir to the Shining River sect, branch of the Heavenly River sect, one of the four most prestigious Great Rivers under the Masterful Crown clan. I've already achieved rank 12 at the Nascent Foundation stage, so my rise has only begun. I assure you, come with me and you'll not regret it."

Oh, so he was just an idiot. Kai could believe that someone might have such an inflated opinion of themselves, but if this man was really impressed with his own cultivation he was a soft son of privilege - presumably that was why he hadn't suspected that their shrouds hid far greater power than his entire group combined. It reminded him of Fhazi Lantrian, except here the young man's clan might provide him with even more support.

"Are you too thick to hear my words?" Kan Hul Ning took a step forward, actually getting angry, his face turning red and unsightly. "Let go of them before I punish you for your impudence. You even touching such fine skin is like a toad eating swan meat!"

His crowd of flunkies burst into laughter as if this was a brilliant insult. Kai was still just puzzled by the whole thing, not even offended. If either of his wives wanted him to do something, he'd be happy to slap sense into the group of bullies, but Zae Zin Nim was only vibrating murderously while Omilaena looked entertained. At that moment she leaned in, draping herself against his side.

"It looks to me," Omilaena said in a purring voice, "like this barbarian has two women with him, while you're spending the night with a bunch of men. So I think the question you need to be asking is... what does the toad have that you don't?"

The young man's eyes practically bulged out of his head. One of his flunkies laughed briefly before being glared into silence, and the leader took a step forward, raising a fist. Kai was mostly entertained, wondering how Omilaena would handle things, but at that moment Zae Zin Nim poked his side with her elbow. When he glanced down, she stared back as if urging him to take action.

"I see I misjudged you!" the cultivator blustered. "I never thought such a beautiful woman could be such a filthy slut. This-"

"Enough," Kai said quietly. "We're happy to leave and give you your table. But if you say another word about either of them, you'll regret it."

"Oh, so the barbarian can talk!" Kan Hul Ning turned on him, fists clenched at his sides. "You don't get to leave now, not even if you kowtow a thousand times! Get up and fight me, toad. You'll see just how little you're worth compared to a proper cultivator!"

"You really want to do this?"

"I insist! Stand up and fight for your slut-"

Instead, Kai activated Void Gaze.

It hit the group like a shockwave, sending most of them tumbling to the ground and one crashing through the railing over the edge of the balcony. All of the cultivators coughed up mouthfuls of blood and their leader, who Kai focused on, vomited several mouthfuls as he struggled just to remain on his knees. The servant and everyone else within range of the highest table stared in shock.

Kai didn't particularly care about any of their reactions, just the women at his sides. Omilaena purred and rubbed up against him while Zae Zin Nim just gave a small nod, as if satisfied. Not what he would have done on his own, but if it made her happy...

"You idiot," Kan Hul Ning said between spurts of blood, "do you have any idea who my father is?"

"None whatsoever," Kai said. He rose to his feet, towering over the cultivator.

"My father is Kan Gor Xen, first ranked inner sect disciple of the Heavenly River sect!"

"I don't know who that is either." Kai shrugged and glanced to Zae Zin Nim at his side. "Would he be a Sky Soul?"

"Just an inner sect disciple?" Zae Zin Nim's lip curled slightly. "He was so arrogant, I thought his father must at least be a sect patriarch. The Shining River sect is just a small faction under the Masterful Crown clan, and even one of the Great Rivers. They are no concern."

Kan Hul Ning stared at them, eyes wide, and for the first time had nothing more to say. Those of his flunkies who weren't unconscious were crawling away, deserting him already. Clearly he would be furious about this, though hopefully he would see that even bringing his father wouldn't be enough to stop them. Maybe that was enough to end this, but just in case...

"Would it be cleaner to kill him?" Kai asked.

Zae Zin Nim shook her head. "Let his father get his son back, as a gift of mercy. Though given how his son behaves like a piece of trash, it might be an insult instead."

"Then let's just leave. We've eaten enough and there's no reason to cause trouble for the restaurant."

She blinked as if she hadn't considered that, but nodded. No one stopped them as they walked out and Kai left a few extra taels as apology for the broken railing. The restaurant workers seemed more surprised by his gift than the controversy, as if this wasn't the first time.

Kai realized that Cloudspire really did work how Zae Zin Nim had always claimed: those with strength or connections threw their weight around with little regard for anyone else. Even Fhazi had been somewhat limited by his clan, granted privileges but not permitted to act with total impunity. If someone like him was given everything they wanted and allowed to act like a little prince, it made sense they'd turn into a superficial person.

Once back in the street, the two women were both still at his sides. Zae Zin Nim seemed to be satisfied and affectionate, while Omilaena was outright groping him. Kai didn't particularly care about stomping on bugs - or just looking at bugs, he supposed - but he was glad they seemed happy about the result. Unfortunately, they didn't get far before Omilaena spoke up.

"So do we actually need to worry?" she asked. "Will this escalate?"

"We could fight the Shining River sect," Zae Zin Nim said, "but we need to investigate the Masterful Crown clan and there's no point causing bad blood."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Engaging further would be pointless. Let's just take care of our business and move on."