“You’re right Young Master, that was my mistake, I misspoke. Master Shen did indeed say that you only needed decent luck and some time to fulfill your potential.” Ji Kang cupped his fists and put a toadying grin on his face. “Me and Yu Shuren will have our own powerful elder as a backer when that day comes, who cares about something as insubstantial as A grade talent.”

Although it initially sounded like Ji Kang was agreeing with Lu Wu, the more Lu Wu sat with what Ji Kang had said the more troubled he was. As someone with superior talent to Ji Kang and Yu Shuren, he was very clear on the advantage it granted him in cultivation speed.

Lu Wu knew that Ji Kang’s cultivation method was specifically designed to speed up his cultivation at the cost of lacking elemental attunement, and yet Ji Kang was barely able to keep up with Lu Wu’s progress despite Ji Kang cultivating for two hours more each day.

Lu Wu could clearly foresee the situation he would be in when competing with an A grade talent.

Ji Kang changed the subject to one less fraught, but kept a close eye on Lu Wu’s troubled expression. Ji Kang fought to keep a malicious smile from his face and a predatory gleam from his eyes, he was absolutely sure Lu Wu had taken the bait.

They had been having this conversation while taking a break between bouts, now that Ji Kang’s purpose was achieved he and Yu Shuren went back to sparring.

They had been in the sect for just a little over a month and a half. During this time the three of them had been practicing with their weapons almost every day. Ji Kang had often heard that learning to use a sword took a couple months, while mastering it took a lifetime. He was prepared to be patient and satisfy himself with his progress as he made it.

The spear on the other hand, was a very different story. Whereas a sword user’s threat level would show an exponential growth curve, rising slowly at first and only climbing sharply in the later stages, a spear user’s threat level followed a more linear progression. In the short term this meant it was easy for an untrained peasant to pick up a spear and become a force to be reckoned with, but eventually spear users started to fall behind and lose out to sword users at the same level of experience.

This was one of the reasons that the majority of levied soldiers were trained with the spear.

This was all by way of saying that Yu Shuren absolutely dominated every bout with Ji Kang and Lu Wu that day. They occasionally fought two on one with Ji Kang and Lu Wu against Yu Shuren alone and only then did they beat the spear wielder. Lu Wu could only console himself by thinking about the day when this comparative threat equation would work in his favor. Though he found it hard to believe he would ever truly be more fearsome than the overly large Yu Shuren.

Yu Shuren also knew about the relative growth rate of sword and spear wielders, but he wasn’t worried about his future prospects. Truly powerful cultivators didn’t need to be the best at wielding a weapon, there were many factors that determined overall strength. Take Shen Lan and Lu An for example.

Lu An was a large man in the prime of his life with a strong and healthy body while Shen Lan was an elderly woman. Although Shen Lan’s decrepitness was largely a deception, it was based on a very real condition that Shen Lan intentionally played up to make others lower their guard towards her.

In spite of this difference in physical ability and vigor, Lu An would never dare to face Shen Lan in combat.

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The true foundation for a cultivator’s strength is ultimately their cultivation. Skill with a weapon is merely icing on the cake.

After they were finished sparring, Ji Kang decided to go investigate the new disciple. For someone who would play such an important role in Ji Kang’s plans, his current limited knowledge simply wasn’t acceptable.

On his way through the sect, Ji Kang started considering how or if he would approach the new disciple as well as how he would portray himself if he did. Ji Kang lived by the idea that for each important or influential person, he should develop an individualized persona to show them to best manipulate them in the way most helpful for him. He firmly believed that when other people have incredible power to influence your life you couldn’t leave what they would do up to chance.

Everyone else did the same thing, but where it was easy and natural for others to attempt to charm or impress those with power over them, for Ji Kang this had always been difficult. He completely lacked the social instinct that allowed others to be charming, but it was vitally necessary to his well being that people like Lu Wu and Shen Lan thought well of him.

Ji Kang had made a study out of crafting these masks for each influential individual, and made strenuous efforts to not cross his wires or ruin his work by acting inconsistent with his established persona in front of anyone he needed to think a certain way about him.

This new disciple certainly counted as someone whose perception of Ji Kang mattered a great deal, though not because Ji Kang needed the young man to think well of him, but rather the exact opposite.

Ji Kang wanted them to come into conflict with Lu Wu while largely ignoring Ji Kang so that he would be free to pull the strings without either of them realizing.

Later in his plan, Ji Kang would need to act as a domineering henchman who bullied the weak and feared the strong, but if he started out on that footing then he might seem like he was attempting to stir the pot between the two other boys. It would be best if the new disciple saw Ji Kang basically as a paper cut out of the typical scummy henchman, not someone who thinks deeply or could engineer a potential conflict.

Walking through the sect grounds, Ji Kang saw many disciples he was familiar with. He had only spoken to a handful personally, but he knew many more from how his acquaintances talked about them.

He was looking for one person in particular, one Liu Su, an Inner Sect disciple who was a couple years senior to Ji Kang. He had only met her once, briefly, but she had been described as an influential player in the younger female disciple social scene. She was attractive, somewhat talented, and very adept at playing the game of popularity.

Ji Kang found her eating dinner with a coterie of young women in one of the public gazebos that were dotted around the sect.

“Senior Sister Liu! What an unexpected pleasure to see you here this evening. You look as radiant as ever.” Ji Kang cupped his fists and smiled disarmingly.

“Junior Brother Ji, was it? To what do we owe the honor of your company at this humble dinner?” Liu Su asked, slightly narrowing her eyes in annoyance at the unwelcome appearance of a new boorish suitor, before adopting an expression of polite distance.

“I can only attribute it to fate, for I was just thinking about seeking you out to discuss something. I wonder if I could beg for a moment of your time for a short walk?” Ji Kang pretended not to notice her disinterest.

“I am somewhat engaged at present, perhaps you’ll be so kind as to ask again another time.” Liu Su said, her tone so cold it was clear she hoped he would never bother her again.

“That’s truly a shame, for I had hoped to discuss an important matter regarding the new A grade talent who just joined the sect.” Ji Kang’s smile transformed from one aiming to charm to one hinting that he had information he was sure she wanted.

Liu Su paused for a moment, re-examining Ji Kang. He seemed to have come armed with a second purpose to exchange information to provide a front for pursuing her. Little did she know, it was the other way around and Ji Kang attempting to woo her was a front for his true motive which was to gain access to her much more established social network for more detailed information.

“Alright then, I believe my companions will forgive a short absence while we walk along the water.” Liu Su stood and walked a short distance away from the gazebo, near the edge of the nearby brook.