One morning Ji Kang was standing on one of the more obscure switchback trails that littered the sect mountain, wiping sweat from his forehead and catching his breath.

This morning he had been practicing stopping on the spot even at high speeds. He had seen other disciples of the sect who were able to be running as fast as a galloping horse, when all of a sudden they would stop and stand straight, looking as if they were a nail some giant had hammered into the ground.

It was very visually impactful, so obviously Ji Kang wanted to be able to look that cool. Ji Kang laughed at himself. He was intentionally catering to this childish whim of his in order to try and reclaim some of his childhood for himself.

What good was power if you didn’t use it to make your life better? He could allow himself this small fragment of joy without compromising his goals; he could always plot to murder Lu Wu in cold blood some other time.

Ji Kang was staring out at the view down the mountain for a moment more when he heard someone coming. Whoever it was, they were several bends in the trail away, quickly getting closer.

Ji Kang had noticed his senses sharpening more and more over the past weeks. His cultivation manual had mentioned that as his cultivation increased a small amount of the gathered qi would seep into his body and enhance all of his capabilities, this effect was the source of a cultivator’s longer life.

Rounding the bend coming down the mountain was Shi Guiling, one of the other disciples who had joined the sect since the last tournament. Ji Kang had come to know her from frequent encounters during his morning runs around the sect. Although they were each other’s competition to remain in the Inner Sect, they had formed a friendship.

In fact, Ji Kang had benefited greatly in his understanding of the sect from several friendships like this one that he had struck up with other disciples he frequently ran into. By gossiping with each one he was able to slowly assemble a loose information gathering network.

“Ah, if it isn’t Sect Sister Shi!” Ji Kang called out to her.

Shi Guiling came to a stop next to Ji Kang and smiled at him while shaking her head. “Hello Sect Brother Ji. Why do I always feel like you knew where I was going to be and waited for me there? You’ve already perfected the art of appearing to be a mysterious cultivator, waiting to have a clandestine meeting while calmly overlooking a stunning vista.”

“You’re imagining it, I was just out for a run, the same as you and stopped for a moment to catch my breath.” Ji Kang laughed it off, but made a mental note that Shi Guiling might need more circumspect handling in the future if she was to remain a cooperative source of information. “However, I was hoping to see you as I heard there was another disciple accepted to the Inner Sect three days ago. I haven’t heard a definitive confirmation yet, but if true it can only be a good thing for the rest of us in this year’s cohort.”

“You heard correctly, I saw him fetching water yesterday, together with Guo Ru. He was accepted as a direct disciple by Guo Ru’s master, Geng Yazhu. I will have to disappoint you if you think that he will be easy competition in the upcoming tournament though. According to what I’ve heard he is an A grade talent. I don’t mind admitting that he’s attractive too, if you’re into the whole ‘iron-willed young hero’ aesthetic.” Shi Guiling had a smile that spoke to her excitement at the prospect of a new formidable competitor to reckon with, this was just how her personality was.

Ji Kang’s brow knotted up in a deep frown at this news. He had been hoping for someone certain to take one of the five demotion slots and instead he was hearing that there was a future genius cultivator in the same cohort as him.

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An A grade cultivation talent meant that as long as the cultivator had some time to grow in safety they were destined for great things. Every A grade talent was sure to reach Core Formation, and although reaching Nascent Soul was entirely a matter of fate, A grade talents were given more time to find their own fortunate encounters since they advanced to Core Formation much quicker.

Ji Kang bade farewell to Shi Guiling and started making his way back to Shen Lan’s residence. Although his first reaction had been to worry, he was starting to be inspired. Perhaps this new genius could be just what he needed to get rid of Lu Wu.

No one had a clearer understanding of Lu Wu’s character than Ji Kang. Lu Wu was filled with pride and entitlement, but it was a fragile facade, the slightest challenge to his status and Lu Wu would react poorly. Lu Wu was jealous, petty, and small minded. He would be naturally predisposed to conflict with those who threatened his self image of being a rising star by being more talented, handsome, or charming than Lu Wu.

This was a common weakness among youngsters with fragile egos but who put up a strong front. For such a person, having their peers excel felt like an attack on their own self worth, resulting in them feeling defensive, causing them to lash out at the peer who did nothing wrong but succeed.

The appearance of an A grade talent in their cohort was almost certain to cause Lu Wu to revert to his ways as an arrogant and tyrannical Young Master from his time growing up in Jidong. But the Azure Grove was not Jidong. The Lu family was a true powerhouse in Jidong, no matter how arrogantly Lu Wu acted there he would be safe from reprisals, but within the sect, Lu Wu had much less backing.

Shen Lan would be unlikely to clean up any messes Lu Wu made, leaving the largely indifferent Lu An as an unreliable backer.

As long as Ji Kang could stoke the fires of Lu Wu’s jealousy, Lu Wu was likely to set himself up as the rival of the new A grade cultivator. Once that happened, Ji Kang could fan the flames of their rivalry from the side, possibly escalating it to the point where the two would break the sect rules and eventually even fight to the death.

If this plan worked Ji Kang could keep his hands entirely clean and get rid of Lu Wu while following the letter of the contract.

Back at his master’s house, Ji Kang started his daylight meditation session. He was forced to throw his plans for how to utilize this opportunity to the back of his mind and focus entirely on his meditation lest he make a mistake and suffer Qi Deviation.

For the next four hours these half formed ideas fermented in the back of Ji Kang’s mind without his conscious attention or direction. When he had finished meditating Ji Kang found that the scattered information he had learned from his new contacts in the sect, together with this new idea had been crystallized into a plan of action by his subconscious while he had been focused on the work of slowly reshaping his meridians.

Ji Kang knew how he would proceed now.

When he met Yu Shuren and Lu Wu for their daily sparring, Ji Kang initiated the first concrete step of his plan to escape the odious contract.

“Have you heard? The news that Elder Geng Yazhu has accepted another direct disciple for our cohort has been sweeping through the entire sect. They say that he’s an A grade talent!” Ji Kang resolutely avoided looking at Lu Wu to see his reaction, instead pretending as if he was merely gossiping with Yu Shuren without a thought for Lu Wu.

“An A grade talent? Are you sure? That would make him the most talented one in our class of disciples.” Yu Shuren had been coached by Ji Kang just before this about how he should react.

“Indeed!” Ji Kang sighed and shook his head sadly. “It’s a pity we’re only C grade talents, it looks like we’re destined to be overshadowed by this new genius. We’re ahead of him for now, but soon he will overtake us and after that the difference between our cultivation will only grow.”

Ji Kang glanced at Lu Wu to find him hanging off every word while pretending he wasn’t paying attention.

“Perhaps we should curry some favor with him in advance? We could offer to spar with him to give him experience and slowly develop our relationship. After all, he’s bound to become an elder in the sect eventually, A grade is a far more certain bet in this respect than B grade.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Master Shen herself said that B grade talent was enough to guarantee Core Formation in time! And we all know that advancing past Core Formation is all about comprehension of a suitable law and has nothing to do with cultivation talent. Hmph!” Lu Wu retorted angrily at this last comment, abandoning his pretense at indifference.