Ji Kang wasn’t easily embarrassed, but he was taking a moment to center himself just in case he needed to suppress a blush later. If this first meeting between Lu Wu and Xiang Chang went the way he expected, Ji Kang was going to act like an absolute tool in order to pour oil onto the conflict.

Sitting on a rock beside the path in front of Master Shen’s residence, Ji Kang and Yu Shuren were waiting for Lu Wu. After they had finished sparring they had all been quite gross, so Ji Kang and Yu Shuren decided they could wash up with water drawn from the nearby well, but Lu Wu demanded the servants draw a bath for him.

Now they were waiting for him to finish the bath and get dressed before they could leave.

Yu Shuren eyed Ji Kang out of the corner of his eye. Ji Kang had been running around plotting something recently, Yu Shuren first knew about it when Ji Kang asked for his help stirring Lu Wu’s jealousy of Xiang Chang’s talent and ever since he had noticed Ji Kang doing many strange things, including disappearing to “break through a bottleneck” and reappearing without having made a noticeable breakthrough.

The two of them had established something of a tacit understanding in the month and a half since arriving at the sect, so Yu Shuren knew Ji Kang hated the contract they had both been forced to sign before being sponsored to join the Azure Grove Sect.

That seemed like the most obvious goal for any plot being devised by Ji Kang, but Yu Shuren still wasn’t clear on how exactly encouraging Lu Wu’s petty jealousy would lead to their freedom. He wasn’t planning to ask for any more information than he needed though. The less Yu Shuren knew about ways Ji kang was possibly subverting the contract the less he could be forced to reveal.

When Lu Wu finally emerged from the courtyard gate his long hair hung down his back like a waterfall, he wore the light blue inner sect disciple robes, and his ostentatious sword on his hip.

In truth he almost looked impressive with his strong physique and handsome face. If his sword was less garish, his lips weren’t frozen in a habitual arrogant smirk, and if he wasn’t carrying around a ten feet wide cloud of eye-watering perfume, a passerby might have actually thought he was impressive.

Lu Wu walked past them with a confident stride and the two boys fell in behind him, one walking on either side, like the formation of birds in flight.

They retraced the same route they had taken on their first day in the sect, when they had followed Shen Lan to register at the administration center. Ji Kang was struck by how much and how little had changed since then.

He was now a cultivator, he knew mystical techniques and spells, he could sprint down a mountain without once losing his balance, and he could distinguish the sounds of individual leaves turning in the wind from thirty paces. But his overall situation had largely remained the same.

He was still bound by the contract and couldn’t get rid of it without fearing Lu An’s revenge. Not for long though, if all went well today, Ji Kang would take a large step towards his immediate goal.

Ji Kang’s face was emotionless but his eyes shone with a dazzling inner fire. So what if he had to wrack his brain thinking up schemes and plots? So what if he had to play the part of a fool? So what if he had to lay in a hunting blind for three days and nights with little food and less sleep?

Ji Kang remembered well the feeling of extreme hunger. Spending nights on the street to avoid coming home and being beaten. Running miles back and forth across the city every day trying to earn enough food to fill his stomach at night.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

All of these experiences had sparked a fire inside Ji Kang that he knew could never be put out. He would always hunger for more safety, more strength, more stability. In his bleakest moments of introspection he thought of himself as a mere shell of a man, hollowed out by hunger and want, only to have the empty space filled with a cold, heartless machine whose only objective was to procure more.

Nothing would stop him, anything that stood in his way would be destroyed.

Ji Kang would never be free from that drive, it had been instilled in him down to the bone. All he could do was pilot it, shape the energy it gave him into a useful force of good in his life, and hope that at some point in the future he would find some way to be happy.

By the time they reached the sect’s administration center Ji Kang had regained total control over himself and he was ready to act like an idiot.

The counter designated for inner sect disciples collecting their stipend had a long line in front of it. Obviously Lu Wu wasn’t going to wait in line after strutting around the sect.

“Yu Shuren, hold our place in the line.” Lu Wu said.

“My pleasure, Young Master.” Yu Shuren cupped his fists and bowed slightly before joining the line.

Lu Wu and Ji Kang found a place to casually lean while they waited. Ji Kang was actually happy to see the long line, a long line meant that if Xiang Chang had gotten there before them he would still be waiting.

Ji Kang scanned through the line before spotting Xiang Chang and Guo Ru waiting in line. They were almost at the end of the line, clearly Lu Wu’s bath had cut into Ji Kang’s schedule coordination, but at least they hadn’t left yet.

“Young Master, see there, that’s Xiang Chang, Elder Geng’s new A grade disciple.” Ji Kang pointed him out to Lu Wu.

“Oh?” Lu Wu squinted and assessed his self declared rival. “Hmph! He looks half a peasant! Are you entirely sure that’s him? He doesn’t seem to have any sort of special bearing.”

While Lu Wu was nitpicking Xiang Chang’s appearance and turning up his nose at his own perceived superiority, Ji Kang rolled his eyes. Anyone with eyes could see Xiang Chang’s heroic spirit in how he stood or the tenor of his voice, which carried all the way to where they stood. Lu Wu was just petty and refused to acknowledge it.

After they had waited for a while Xiang Chang and Guo Ru reached the front of the line, collected their stipend and turned to leave the administration center.

“Follow me.” Lu Wu, upon seeing they were heading for the door, quickly stood up and left the building before them.

Lu Wu stepped away from the open door and waited for several moments, counting his breaths to keep time. All of a sudden he started walking forcefully towards the door like he was about to enter again.

Just as Lu Wu reached the door and turned to enter, Xiang Chang was walking out of it, looking backwards to say something to Guo Ru.

The two young men collided. Lu Wu’s naturally robust teenager body had already been marginally enhanced by his month and a half of cultivation and he had intentionally braced himself before colliding so Xiang Chang was sent sprawling backwards into Guo Ru.

Guo Ru stumbled backwards with this unexpected weight, but she had been cultivating even longer than Lu Wu, so she was able to hold Lu Wu up by holding underneath his armpits.

“Watch where you’re going!” Lu Wu shouted, but said no more, signaling to Ji Kang with his eyes.

Lu Wu craved the respect of his peers and he knew petty tyrants were despised everywhere, so he needed a somewhat legitimate reason to find fault with Xiang Chang. Not only that, but if he personally blew up the situation it would leave a bad taste in the mouth of all the inner sect disciples who stopped nearby to observe what was happening.

However, if Lu Wu’s servant was enraged by this affront to his master’s dignity then Lu Wu could shove the lion’s share of the resultant bad impressions onto Ji Kang.

Ji Kang had known his role before he had even woken up this morning, he was ready to pounce at the correct timing.

“You fool, didn’t you see my Young Master?! Watch where you’re going and stay out of the way of your betters! What? Still not apologizing? Hmph! Even if you kowtowed three times it would barely assuage your great sin today.” Ji Kang put on an angry and haughty expression while he spewed this ridiculous speech.