Anyway, I don’t make a living from this—I rely on my looks, and occasionally on my skills!

Yeah, strength is important. Protecting this face also requires strength. I should start proper cultivation now. But before I begin, there’s one thing I need to do: go to the kitchen and get some star beast meat.

“What? There’s no star beast meat, not even star apprentice-level star beast meat?” Jack Harper frowned at the kitchen’s Little Steward.

“That’s right, there’s none left. I have things to do, no time to entertain you.” Little Steward replied perfunctorily. It was obvious he looked down on Jack Harper.

If he hadn’t just run into him, he probably would have sent someone else to brush off Jack Harper.

“Are you brushing me off?” Jack Harper looked at Little Steward and asked.

“So you noticed, huh? You really think you’re some young master? You’re just a burden—eat whatever you’re given, and now you’re asking for star beast meat.” Little Steward’s face twitched with disdain.

At this moment, the other kitchen servants started paying attention. Hearing Little Steward’s words, they all looked at Jack Harper with the same contempt, secretly despising people like him. But there was also a hint of envy—envy that Jack Harper could easily get what others couldn’t. The more this was the case, the more jealous and resentful they felt, and the more disdainful they acted on the surface.

“I’m taking what’s mine. Give me my share. I won’t argue about the past, but now, even if you’ve already eaten it, you’ll cough it back up for me.” Jack Harper said to Little Steward with a smile.

The Yue family regularly distributes star beast meat to its members, and Jack Harper was lucky enough to be included. Although his share was the lowest grade—much worse than his so-called sister’s—it was still something.

Most of the time, his portion would be taken by others. If his stepmother and that sister were around, they’d bring it to him together, but if they weren’t, it was a different story.

One was often out hunting star beasts, the other often away on business, so there were plenty of chances for his share to be taken. In the past, he’d just let it go—after all, the former “useless” him didn’t really cultivate and didn’t care much about it.

Naturally, the star beast meat distributed here wasn’t star apprentice-level, but usually star soldier-level. The main dishes were star apprentice-level, because this was the Yue family—one of the four great families of the royal capital.

Given Jack Harper’s current situation, star soldier-level wasn’t much worse than star apprentice-level. He was just planning to take some star apprentice-level meat and leave, but he didn’t expect these people wouldn’t even give him that. That was going too far.

“What?” Little Steward was stunned, wondering if he’d misheard. Did this useless burden really just say that?

“Give me mine. I don’t want to say it a third time.” Jack Harper said calmly.

“Haha…” Little Steward froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. The others laughed along, but their laughter didn’t last long before it stopped abruptly.

“Thud!”

A dull sound rang out. In that moment, time seemed to freeze. Jack Harper was holding a rolling pin, and Little Steward’s head was bleeding. No one could believe what had just happened.

“You… you dare hit me…” Little Steward asked in a daze.

“Thud!”

“Thud!”

Jack Harper swung the rolling pin, hitting Little Steward on the head several times in a row, knocking him out in just a few blows.

At this point, everyone was a bit dizzy. He actually made a move—and knocked out Little Steward. It was unbelievable.

The real kicker was what came next. Everyone knew Jack Harper was only star apprentice level one, while Little Steward was star apprentice level four, yet he’d been knocked out. Even if the first hit was a sneak attack, the following blows shouldn’t have landed so easily.

Yeah, under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t have happened. But Jack Harper struck first, hitting the spot most likely to cause unconsciousness, then targeted his opponent’s weaknesses with the next blows, and with a weapon in hand, it was only natural to get this result.

Now, when he watched others make a move, they all seemed incredibly slow, because his mental processing speed was just too fast. It felt like that scene after Spider-Man got bitten by the spider—everyone else was in slow motion. Even if his body hadn’t gotten stronger, he could still increase his attack speed.

“Why did you have to force me to do this?”

Jack Harper held the rolling pin, speaking with a hint of pain, as if he’d just done something that hurt him deeply. Then he kicked Little Steward a few times, all aimed at the face.

If you hit someone, hit the face. If you get hit, protect your face!

“……”

Chapter 8: Clearing Ultimate Mode Without Injury

“So, who among you is going to bring me the star beast meat now?” Jack Harper looked at the servants with a smile. Just as these bullies were about to act, someone else appeared, complicating matters.

“No one will bring it to you. As long as I’m here, you won’t get away with this.”

A slightly chubby middle-aged man stepped out, looking at Jack Harper with anger in his eyes.

“Who are you?” Jack Harper glanced at the man. No information appeared, so he figured he’d never seen this person before.