May sat down for a moment and tried to sort it all out in her head. However, she was completely helpless. She stared at the paintings with a blank look, knowing that there was nothing she could do.

  With great reluctance, she decided to return to the banquet hall. There was no point in staying in that room any longer.

  She went downstairs and returned to the hall. She wanted to escape from there as quickly as possible, but she couldn't leave yet. She had to wait. From time to time, she could feel the eyes of others on her. She sighed quietly.

  Not knowing what to do with herself, she had to return to her table.

  The guests now seemed more lively. In fact, they were drunk and sluggish from eating. They didn't mind that the occasion for all this drinking was the tenth birthday of twins. It hardly seemed like a time to drink yourself into oblivion.

  Closer to her table, she noticed Peng, and their eyes met for a brief moment. However, he quickly looked away.

  He was talking to the guests, more specifically to the same group of children he had ignored earlier by the stairs. He was laughing, talking animatedly and loudly, as if he hadn't been on the verge of a breakdown just a few minutes ago.

  May felt a slight relief, which however quickly turned into rage.

  This was something he was used to. To pretend. He seemed so cheerful, even though she knew that there was no way he could really feel that way at the moment. However, his true feelings were undetectable and unnoticeable. He had mastered the art of faking it to perfection. The thought made her feel sick.

  She walked away. She didn't want to look at it. Besides, she probably wasn't welcome at the table anyway.

  She went over to the snack buffet and began eating as much as she wanted. She knew that everyone was looking at her and probably laughing at her lack of manners and excessive eating, but she didn't care at the moment. Everyone thought she was a country bumpkin anyway. She simply reinforced their beliefs.

  She observed the entire room while eating real meat and chewing on cheese. The sight of all these people filled her with disgust.

  In the distance, she spotted Zu Chen, who, like her brother, was acting as if nothing had happened. She was surrounded by a whole crowd of people. From that distance, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she didn't need to in order to know that Zu was tired of them.

  May just sighed and continued eating, occasionally glancing at the people who were pointing fingers at her and laughing mockingly.

  “No matter where you go, you always stand out. Even the Inner Court is no match for you, huh?” said a man with blue hair and a rather large body, scooping a fish appetizer onto his plate.

  May looked at him more closely. She knew him from somewhere, but couldn't quite immediately connect dots.

  After a moment, however, she knew who he was.

  “Mr. Volenbaum,” she said quietly, recalling Izzy's father. “I didn't know you had connections in the Inner Court as well. That's quite unexpected.”

  “I'm glad you remember me,” he said, smiling at her. “I don't have many contacts here, but somehow I managed to get in.”

  “It must have been quite difficult. I heard that they don't like people from the Outer Court here. Not to mention that you're a mage,” she said, not expecting him to be there.

  “I'm not originally from the Outer Court,” he said, putting a fish head in his mouth. “My father... He's a pretty powerful mage who had four sons. He sent us to four Outer Courts, and the one who did best in business was to inherit his entire fortune. Funny, isn't it?”

  “Not really,” she replied reluctantly, continuing to stare at the guests. “It sounds rather gruesome. He should split his fortune among you rather than trying to divide you.”

  “That’s a quite naive perspective,” he replied, mocking her. “But well, what would you know about it?”

  A brief silence fell between them. Although she knew him, she didn't particularly feel like talking to him. Volenbaum, however, was extremely chatty.

  “You're doing quite well. Take care of my daughter at Cloud Academy once she gets there, okay?”

  “Is Izzy here too? Also, the tournament hasn't happened yet, so it's not certain that she'll get in. By the way, that goes for me too.”

  The obese mage laughed, putting his hand over his mouth, trying to silence himself.

  “Come on. For years, there hasn't been a single person at stage 6 joining the academy. The last time must have been the son of the current leader... Ning Yun. But that was a long time ago. And now... Three people at stage 6!” he said. “As for my daughter... Let's just say we have our ways.”

  May remembered the whole organization that was supposed to help mages and their children. She wondered if it had anything to do with it. Either way, she had no intention of associating herself with them.

  May sighed. She had nothing against Izzy, but she wasn't going to promise him anything.

  “I came here with my daughter to the Inner Court for the tournament. Once she gets into the Cloud Academy, it will be extremely beneficial for me... If you help her, it will be beneficial for you too,” he said, looking her in the eyes.

  May sighed, realizing that he wasn't much different from the others. He also treated Izzy as a resource that would help him. His goal was to expand his influence. Although his actions may have appeared to be for her benefit, he was actually doing it for his own personal gain. He simply wanted to inherit the fortune, and his daughter in the Inner Court could help him with that.

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  She didn't answer.

  “You're not very talkative today, are you?” he said to her, with obvious disappointment and perhaps annoyance in his voice.

  May rolled her eyes. “No. I'm not.”

  “ When you talk to someone, you should maintain eye contact and try to keep the conversation going.”

  “Yes. Those are social conventions. Unfortunately, I find it hard to take them seriously,” she replied solemnly. “I see too many contradictions in them, after all.”

  “Oh, really?” He paused for a moment, then spoke again. “And what contradictions do you see?”

  “My conduct, already eating one more dish, not looking into your eyes, and also trying to avoid conversation is a great faux pas.”

  “Of course it is,” he interjected. “For a cultivator, such behavior is unacceptable.”

  May looked at him with pity. “But look at these people. They point fingers at me and mock me, whispering in each other's ears. Isn't that much more inappropriate?”

  Volenbaum just shook his head and, leaning on the table, replied, “It is a tactlessness, but a minor one, not worth paying attention to.”

  “A minor tactlessness… However, if I were a powerful cultivator, I suspect it would not be… How did you put it? ‘Not worth paying attention to’ tactlessness, but a great offense.”

  He laughed at her. “Of course, but you are neither influential nor powerful. There is no contradiction in that.”

  May gritted her teeth, then relaxed and laughed softly in disbelief. She was amazed at the audacity of his words.

  Seeing her reaction, he just shook his head and began to walk away from her. “With that attitude, you won't get very far, regardless of your talent. But if you have any problems, you can always come to me. I'll be more than happy to help you…”

  “But not for free,” she replied.

  “Of course not,” he snorted and disappeared into the banquet hall.

  May, having little else to do, left the spot and wandered around the room. Though the intrusive stares of others usually didn’t bother her, tonight they were starting to get on her nerves.

  As she moved between the tables, she listened to the conversations around her. Of course, eavesdropping without joining in was generally considered rude as in fact, almost everything was in this place, but May was so irritated by the day that she couldn’t care less.

  she thought bitterly.

  She stopped by a table where a limping man with a clearly broken nose and bloodshot eyes was drunkenly singing a cheerful song about “catching girls” in the fields and having fun with them. The other guests egged him on, laughing and urging him to sing louder.

  She kept walking. Soon she passed a group of women gossiping about a certain Xiao, who had been sleeping with anyone she could find. Apparently, she’d been expelled from the Inner Court after it was discovered that she’d slept with a man who happened to have a rather influential wife.

  A little further on, in a corner, she spotted a group of young soldiers boasting about their so-called exploits.

  “Then that cultivator came at me,” one of them said. “But I slashed his face open so bad he started choking on his own blood! Haha! And guess what? A moment later he was begging me for mercy after trying to stab me himself!”

  Eventually, she reached a table where she recognized a familiar face. Zu Chen sat surrounded by a crowd of people, yet somehow she still looked lonely. Something seemed to be going on there, so May stepped closer. Before long, she could hear the entire conversation.

  “Come on, Zu Chen! We’ve known each other for so long, surely it wouldn’t hurt you to face me!” shouted a young man with slicked-back hair and a delicate face. “Unlike your brother, you’ve never fought in public, have you?”

  “I don’t believe there’s any need for that,” she replied curtly, precisely the answer he’d been waiting for.

  “Oh really? What kind of party would this be without a proper fight? It’s practically tradition for the host to entertain their guests, isn’t it?” he said, glancing around at the gathered crowd. The guests chuckled and began nodding in agreement with the young man.

  “That’s not a tradition,” she answered again, as briefly as before.

  The boy frowned, irritation flashing across his face. “Well, I suppose that just means you’re not as exceptional as your brother.”

  He was clearly trying to provoke her, though May she couldn’t quite understand why.

  “Perhaps not,” she said calmly.

  Suddenly, someone from the crowd called out toward her. “You’re not really going to let him insult you like that, are you? He’s openly mocking you!”

  “I know. Which is exactly why I have no intention of giving him the satisfaction,” she replied shortly, turning her gaze away.

  May personally thought it was the most logical choice, unfortunately, in this world, things didn’t work that way.

  Whispers began to spread through the crowd. Most of the guests in the hall were already listening to the exchange. It didn’t look good for Zu Chen. Refusing a challenge was often seen as cowardice, especially in this case, when Zu was known to be at a higher cultivation stage than her challenger.

  Zu kept her gaze fixed on the floor. It was a sign of weakness, even May, who was usually blind to such subtleties, knew it was considered a grave humiliation, especially for someone of her standing.

  There was only one thing worse than losing a fight, refusing one. Yet Zu had no intention of accepting the challenge at all, no matter how many insults were thrown her way.

  May could feel the tension in the air. The crowd was laughing at her. May herself might have been indifferent to such ridicule, but was Zu the same? She couldn’t be sure. Zu was young, far younger than May, and lacked her experience. This must have cut deeper than she could show.

  Still, it wasn’t May’s business. Interfering could only make things worse.

  “Sixth stage of Qi Refinement…” the boy began quietly, circling the table and Zu herself. “They called you a prodigy. Strength and power! The future of the clan! But the reality is… you’re nothing special. Cowards achieve nothing. Sure, your talent let you advance faster than others, but… at a certain point, talent alone isn’t enough. You lack fire. You are… weak.”

  The crowd held its breath. His insults were no longer veiled, he was openly mocking her. On her birthday, no less. Everyone waited for her reaction… but it never came.

  Even those who disagreed with the boy’s words could see it now, her silence confirmed everything. She couldn’t respond. She was weak. Yes, she was at the sixth stage, but so what? Talent alone wasn’t enough to earn respect.

  May, fed up, was about to leave when she caught sight of someone in the distance, Zu’s father. He was watching the entire scene, his face flushed red with fury.

  But May knew he wasn’t angry at those mocking his daughter. No. His rage was directed at her. For being weak.

  May swallowed hard, not wanting to think about what he might do next.

  May didn’t know what to do. Would reacting really be the right choice? It wouldn’t just be improper it would be seen as open aggression. There was a reason no one else stepped in. It wasn’t that people didn’t pity Zu Chen, but rather that everyone was bound by the invisible threads of social convention.

  If May were to intervene, it would only make things worse. It would mean that Zu Chen not only couldn’t defend herself, but needed others to do it for her. May remembered Shui Gai’s lesson well. She wanted to help Zu but doing so would only deepen the humiliation.

  Suddenly, the boy raised his hand! Was he about to hit her? The crowd gasped and held its breath.

  Insulting someone verbally was one thing, but open violence? Against someone who was trying to avoid conflict?

  May immediately rushed forward and grabbed his wrist before he could strike Zu across the face. This time, she had every right to intervene. She remembered Shui Gai’s lesson and once again, it proved useful. Open violence against a cultivator who hadn’t done anything wrong was absolutely forbidden. He had broken the rules, which made her response entirely justified.

  As the crowd witnessed the scene, a mix of shock, surprise, and excitement rippled through them, the thrill of unexpected entertainment.

  “Seems like you’re a bit confused, kid,” May said mockingly. This time, she was the one doing the provoking.

  “Kid?! Who the hell do you think you are? Trash like you should address me as Young Master!” he shouted.

  May froze for a moment, stunned. It was the first time she had ever met a real “Young Master” scumbag, the kind straight out of those cultivation novels!

  And now she knew, this was going to be fun.