David

Despite Jiang Shangtian's misgivings about the situation and David's own ominous feelings, the gift was given from the Jiang family elder to their inheriting son without incident.

The music had started again, and the thirty or forty-odd guests in the courtyard knew that if there were to be any more gifts, there wouldn't be any fanfare after such an invaluable scripture was passed along. Tiankong had gotten off the platform and was now going from group to group, socializing with people who had come from far and wide to attend his core formation ceremony.

Daoist Chan, who had gotten bored, decided that it was time to start causing trouble. He started with Shangtian. "It must really hurt, to see the amount of attention paid to that bright star of the Jiang family."

Shangtian, who looked twelve but was twice that age, did not rise to the bait.

Daoist Chan, who looked twenty five, and was three times that - even if it were impossible to tell from his conduct. "Now, now, Daoist Jiang, you might feel that the reason you've progressed so quickly is from the good advice given to you by your seniors, but you need not act so modest. Genius is meant to be worn proudly."

Tiankong had approached their group during Daoist Chan's advice and chose to cut in. "Hear that, Tiantian?" he said, throwing his arm over Shangtian's shoulder. "Listen to the advice of your seniors!"

"Don't call me that." Shangtian pouted.

"Right you are, Shangtian, right you are," Tiankong said. He lowered his voice in conspiracy. "I've gotten a really nice slab of metal from the sect," he said, patting the light green jade pommel jutting off of his waist. In his other hand was his old sword with the enormous ruby on it.

"I said that I would return my signature Red Earth Sword to my master, but I thought it would be such a waste for it to sit in the Red Wind treasure pavilion until it found the next worthy to wield it. I would like to give it to you, Tiantian."

Tiankong spoke in a low voice, but he made sure everyone in close proximity could hear him.

Shangtian sighed and struggled his way out of Tiankong's brotherly hug. "You know I'm no good with a sword."

He frowned, looking troubled. "A weapon bestowed is no gift at all, especially by your master. He expects you to carry it forever or to return it, as the word implies," Shangtian chastised gently.

Tiankong snorted. "This isn't even the best of master's swords," he said.

"That's not what you said when you got it," Shangtian said, not giving an inch.

He tapped the pommel of his cousin's Mountain Cutting Sword with an index finger and looked at Tiankong seriously. "Are you even sure that your new gift is better? Brother Jiayou looked like he was pretty unhappy when you wouldn't trade it with him."

"Jiayou isn't mad that he can't have the Red Earth," Tiankong said. "Jiayou is mad because I'm fucking his wife."

A high pitched wheeze escaped from Daoist Li like steam from a kettle. Daoist Chan raised his eyebrows.

"Master would have given our good sect brother any treasure he wanted, if he could show any prowess in keeping what was his," Tiankong continued.

The man in question, who had presented the Mountain Cutting Sword to him, was no more than ten meters away in that group of Red Wind sect members and glaring darkly at Tiankong.

"Don't make a scene, Kong. He looks mad enough to spit blood. I think he heard you," said Shangtian, in an actual whisper.

Tiankong paid him no mind, choosing to speak even louder. "Now, if I were in Kun Jiayou's shoes, I would probably jump into Sky River and hope to reincarnate. The inheriting disciple of Red Wind, married to the Sect Master's daughter - losing his spot and his childhood sweetheart to this daddy with no backing?"

Apparently referring to yourself as 'this daddy' was the common parlance of cultivators like Tiankong. Those of his ilk around them laughed even harder. David watched the aggrieved party clench his fists and saw the corners of the man's eyes glisten.

David didn't find it nearly as funny - something that Tiankong noticed.

"Why the long face, brother?" Tiankong asked, locking onto David's frown.

"You shouldn't kick a man when he's down," David said. "Especially if you tripped him."

Tiankong narrowed his eyes. "In this world, there are only those who are weak and those who are strong."

David gave Tiankong the entirety of his attention, studying the man's posture and noting his turns of phrase. He was sure that Alice would appreciate it were he to reenact the coming speech to her afterwards.

Tiankong stroked his chin. "When I entered the Red Wind sect, he was an Inner Disciple who had everything going for him. Every month in our sect, the inner sect hands out Qi Bursting pills - one for every outer disciple, we're very rich after all," he said. "The outer disciples try to steal them from one another."

Tiankong glared fiercely. "Someone stole mine because I was just a cultivator from a small family, new to the outer sect. Brother Jiayou and his wife had the disciple beaten and returned the pill to me."

David's frown deepened in confusion, and then he asked the question on everyone's mind. "So exactly what would be the issue here?"

"I didn't like the look of pity on their faces."

Daoist Chan nodded, like this was the most natural thing in the world.

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"If I were an outer disciple in a sect I'd just joined," David said, his annoyance rising, "I think I would consider that a kindness."

Tiankong rolled his eyes. "People with your attitude will never do anything of note in their lives, junior." He narrowed his eyes suddenly. "What sect are you from anyway, Path Friend? I don't recognize your robes."

David opened his mouth to say that his name was Cheng Wen again, but Tiankong cut him off with the wave of his hand. "Now, you don't need to embarrass yourself, junior. Forget I asked. If I don't recognize your robes, it's probably because you're not from a sect of note anyway. Without the funds to even afford a gift, you must be worse off than Brother Jiayou, aren't you?"

David nodded slowly, then found an appropriately sardonic lilt. "You're correct. How could I ever compare to someone who's formed his core after eighty years? In a few centuries, you might even begin seeking principle!" He let some of that disdain he'd seen in Cloud Mountain City color his words.

He wasn't surprised at all that Teacher Zhou thought his students might have been having a hard time at Red Wind sect if their disciples were like Jiang Tiankong.

"Are you looking down on me?" Tiankong asked - soft, enraged.

"Of course not! How could I possibly look at someone who reached Foundation Establishment at the age of nineteen, a record that will stand for ages?" David asked, parroting Tiankong's speech with that same humored sarcasm.

"He's from the Southern Continent," Daoist Chan explained glibly as Tiankong seethed.

"They have strange practices there," he said, pointing at Alice. "Their cultivators prefer the company of musicians rather than their peers."

Alice didn't even notice the pointing. She was now playing both her own guqin and Meihua's at the same time as the man with the erhu danced around her, fiddling. Alice's ponytail bounced from shoulder to shoulder and her hairpin gleamed silver in the noonday sun.

"I've heard," said Tiankong, who was more angry than David now, "the Southerners give their women as gifts. Forgive me, I misjudged you. I'll accept her, of course." He ran his eyes over Alice. "Bet she's a screamer."

David sneered. "Oh, we of the True Sutra sect would never be so impolite as to give you a constant reminder of your mediocrity."

David looked around from one excited face to the next. "Does anyone have a spare red envelope? I'm sure I have a few taels in my pocket."

Tiankong clenched his fists and sucked in a breath through his teeth, but Shangtian finally spoke. "Cousin. Please. He's my guest, I'm sorry," said Shangtian, trying to defuse the situation.

But Shangtian was the only one who didn’t want conflict. Now Daoist Li spoke up to fan the flames. "Now, Daoist Jiang, isn't it too unfilial to side with an outsider over your own family, just because associating with him might benefit you? Even if Daoist Cheng is younger than you, how can you be sure his advice would help you through your bottleneck? It's better to be loyal to your family."

Shangtian folded his arms and grit his teeth, then turned towards the river.

Daoist Li's words caught Tiankong's attention, as she'd hoped.

"Younger than Tiantian?"

"Both him and his sect sister are seventeen!" Daoist Li exclaimed, with an envy that wasn't all faked.

Jiang Tiankong turned his anger onto Shangtian. "So that's how it is? You're cavorting with some jumped-up foreigners instead of your own family because you think you're more talented than us?"

The boy let out something between a huff and a sigh. "Do you really want to embarrass our family in front of polite company?"

Tiankong snorted. "You're actually going to defend someone looking down on us?"

But Shangtian wasn't in the mood for this kind of theater at all. He grabbed Tiankong by the collar. "The elders are watching us," Shangtian hissed into his ear.

"Why should I care who's watching or not? I'm a Core Formation cultivator at the crossroads. I don't have to pretend that I care about the opinions of trash anymore. And you’re starting to look more and more like trash."

Tiankong's sneer deepened. "Haven't you heard? I'm the most talented that the Red Wind has ever seen, and we're not a small sect. The Linked Cities come to ally with us. Not the other way around."

"I wouldn't characterize it quite like that," said Daoist Chan. "But I wouldn't say that if you ever thought you were outgrowing your surroundings that we could not welcome you at the Clear Skies. I can't speak for the other sects."

Daoist Chan smiled, big and brittle, at Tiankong. "We give far more than just a pill a month even to our Outer Disciples. A new inner disciple has their choice amongst the Peak Masters to call their own."

Tiankong looked at the group of cultivators from the Red Wind, who had drawn closer when they realized their talent was being poached right from under their noses. None of them had the nerve to even raise their eyes from the floor - let alone speak in protest.

"Tell me, in what realm is your sect master’s cultivation?" asked Daoist Chan. It was just shy of a rhetorical question but Tiankong latched onto it like a lifeline.

"Master is a Nascent Soul cultivator, about to open his eighth meridian, he's very talented" Tiankong blustered in an attempt to reclaim the lost pride in his sect.

Daoist Chan snickered. "Is that all you need to start a sect out here? Most of our peak masters are seeking their principles.”

He looked at Tiankong with a well-practiced thoughtful expression - as if he were considering this topic of recruitment for the first time. “Our own sect master has survived his Earthly tribulation and sits in seclusion, severing his Dao in preparation for Ascension. If he reaches a bottleneck and comes out of his meditation, someone with your talent could even ask for him as a master."

David thought that Daoist Chan’s acting might have been the only thing worse than the man’s personality.

"As usual, Chan Changshou forgets that his Clear Skies aren't amongst the better half of the sects at the Linked Cities," said Daoist Li. When he turned to glare at her, she smiled - but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's no surprise he would try to recruit the Jiangs."

Daoist Li looked at David and then over her shoulder to the sight of Alice, who had commandeered the erhu and was playing it on her shoulder like a violin.

"We, however, prefer our grass more freshly cut. Any offer that our Iron Scripture sect would make wouldn't go to the cultivators of the Jiang family. Instead, it’d be for the young and talented,” she said.

It was more of another jab at Tiankong than an actual offer to join her sect.

The beginnings of a nasty smirk made its way to her face and David realized exactly what was happening here.

Daoist Chan’s goal in attending this party was most likely to bolster his own reputation. It was a little egocentric and more than a little distasteful. Daoist Li was hoping to see a fight.

"We’re all guests here," David reminded her.

It was stupid - to antagonize a group of people on an island in the city they owned, and he'd just about had enough of this conversation.

David held up his hands. "I confess, I never had an invitation to begin with. I was only here to see the sights of Ping’an, and to deliver some sorghum wine."

Tiankong's face went from angry to bewildered. It was better that way. David shouldn't have mentioned the wine to begin with - it was the sort of comment that could only cause trouble. But it was also a form of closure in the matter of Jing's death, and he didn’t want to leave without saying a word about it.

It had been clear that the saber was nowhere to be found from the moment Tiankong had come down from the platform; it was well past time to leave.

David gave the group of cultivators a short nod. "Good luck in your future endeavors, Path Friends," said David, trying his best to mimic Wen's campy cheer.

He smiled at Shangtian, who gave him a shrug - a resentful, resigned motion, and then turned towards Alice.

He'd not taken more than three steps when Tiankong's voice rang out behind him.

"What type of wine did you say?"