As Liu Zhu walked into the inn he was staying at the innkeeper waved him down. "Got a message for you. 'The group is nearly put together and we'll be leaving on the 5th, 6 AM, West Gate.` A younger lad said to pass it on and that his name was Feng Jun." Liu Zhu nodded and thanked the innkeeper for passing on the message. It looked like his travel plans had been finalized now and he would be leaving the city in a few days. In that time he'd just have to tie up things with Refiner Long, pack his things, and pick up any necessities he might need for the trip.
The next morning Liu Zhu woke up early, headed over to Refiner Long's mansion, and found one of the servants who was already awake. Apparently Refiner Long was preoccupied, so Liu Zhu just asked to be informed when he was free. Liu Zhu still needed to inform him of his plans now that the date of his departure was finalized, and it was too impersonal to do so through a servant.
While waiting for Refiner Long's schedule to free up Liu Zhu cultivated in the mansion's yard. His inn room was far too small to do so and Border City was filled with buildings wall to wall, so he hadn't cultivated much since arriving in the city. Fortunately the mansion had a lot of clear space, making it one of the few spaces inside the city walls where one could cultivate without feeling cramped. It normally wasn't too inconvenient to leave the city to practice techniques and cultivate and then re-enter when you were done, but the gates were a lot busier than usual so Liu Zhu hadn't cultivated much over the past week.
Liu Zhu felt some relief as he normally didn't spend such a long time without properly cultivating and happily practiced as his body approached peak condition. While absorbed in his cultivation he heard a small sound, which was then followed by a much louder noise. Confused, Liu Zhu stopped cultivating, and saw that the servant from before had returned. He was staring at Liu Zhu and looked annoyed about something. "...As I said, Refiner Long is free, you can see him now." Liu Zhu's face reddened as he realized that this servant had probably been trying to get his attention for quite some time. Figuring that the best course of action was to just act like nothing had happened, Liu Zhu abashedly nodded and told him to lead the way.
"Morning." Refiner Long lazily greeted Liu Zhu as he entered the room, gesturing for him to take a seat. "What'd you need?" Liu Zhu sat down as he responded. "I'm leaving the city on the fifth and figured I should inform you." Refiner Long just nodded in response, not seemingly particularly bothered by this. "How long until you're back?" "About seven months from now? My time frame might change but it shouldn't be much later than that." "That's fine then. Destination?" "Green City."
Upon hearing his destination Refiner Long broke into a small grin and inquired further. "Do you need to stay in the city or is it fine to wander around a bit?" Liu Zhu didn't get the point of the question but answered anyways. "No, I'm just heading to the central wastes. Green City just happens to be where I'm going first." Refiner Long seemed very happy upon hearing this and gestured for the head servant to come in from the other room. "I have a few things I need to take to the Refiners' Guild in Red City, if you don't mind dropping by there I'll send them with you. I was about to look into courier services, but if you'll be in the area then it saves me the effort."
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Five minutes later Liu Zhu left the room with a few sealed letters and an unmarked box. Fortunately their meeting had ended up invoking both the master and disciple part of their relationship. Refiner Long had told Liu Zhu to go over to the forge in an hour so that he could teach him a few things. It looked like he would get something out of his apprenticeship before he returned to Border City.
Over the next few days Liu Zhu spent most of his time in Refiner Long's mansion. His days were mostly a loop of Refiner Long telling what he was doing wrong, him practicing, Refiner Long popping in and telling him that there were more things he was doing wrong, and then him practicing some more. This practice was occasionally punctuated by sleeping and eating. Refiner Long said that these few days were to get him, Kin Wei, and Hi Min (who had decided to accept the offer) 'up to speed' before he focused on Cai Fang and personal matters for a while.
On the last night before Liu Zhu left the city he wrapped up his practice early and was about to head for his inn. As he was giving his farewells to everyone Refiner Long said something he couldn't really understand. Among the normal 'stay well's and other such things that go along with a goodbye was a reminder to 'make sure you're ready before making a breakthrough'. Liu Zhu said he would, although on the inside he was perplexed by this remark. How could he make a breakthrough without being ready- if someone was able to make a breakthrough didn't that mean they were ready by definition?
Liu Zhu didn't mull over this minor incident for long, as he was back at his inn and asleep within half an hour. The next morning he got dressed, grabbed his things, and headed for the West Gate. There he saw Feng Jun and a couple other cultivators. Over time this group grew to over a dozen cultivators. Most of them were at Blood and Viscera Tempering, although there were a couple at Bone and Marrow Tempering and a single Early Meridian Opening cultivator to 'lead' the group. As the group gathered together everyone began chatting and Liu Zhu used the chance to introduce himself to everyone.
After chatting for a bit the leader spoke up and began going over their travel plans. The trip to Green City could be done in around two weeks if they were in a hurry, but since they were juggling travel and work they would probably end up taking closer to a month. For the first part of the trip they'd take the road and haul goods to a village further out in the wastes for some easy money, and then after that they'd cut through the wilderness and hunt vicious beasts. If all went well then they'd arrive at Green City with heavier coinpurses than they left with.
Liu Zhu didn't need the money but wasn't particularly opposed to the plan, so he didn't say anything as the man spoke. After a few more minutes of talking everything was settled and the group picked up a couple carts of goods from a nearby merchant before heading for the gate. His stay in Border City had been very eventful, but it was finally time to leave Border City again and see what the rest of the wastes had to offer.