Turning away from the side of the ship, Ji Kang saw that Senior Lu was addressing Lu Wu while Yu Shuren listened, so he joined Yu Shuren off to the side to see what he could overhear.
“-arrive at the Azure Grove sect in 4 days. I’ve convinced another elder in the sect to take the three of you as her official disciples, allowing the three of you to stay together in the inner sect. Unless you have something important, don't bother me, on this trip or in the future.”
After saying that Senior Lu secluded himself inside his cabin. Lu Wu looked between Yu Shuren and Ji Kang before announcing that he was also going to retire to his cabin and that he wasn’t to be disturbed.
At this moment Ji Kang was struck by how childish Lu Wu seemed to be. He was bossy and domineering with Ji Kang and Yu Shuren, but quiet when in the presence of authority figures and blatantly emulated them once they left. Ji Kang’s first impression was that Lu Wu wasn’t sure what his place or role was and so blew with the breeze. That insecurity could be exploited.
On the other hand, Senior Lu didn’t seem to care very much about Lu Wu and it’s possible that if Ji Kang could fabricate a plausible narrative to cover up Lu Wu’s eventual fate, Senior Lu wouldn’t dig too deep. This was all good news for Ji Kang.
Ji Kang was startled out of his thoughts by a deep voice.
“Your name is Ji Kang, right?”
“Yes, I am. And of course I know you as well, Yu Shuren. It looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together so I hope you will call me Brother Ji.” Ji Kang smiled ingratiatingly and cupped his fists towards Yu Shuren.
“Hahaha if you insist, Brother Ji, and please call me Brother Yu.” After Yu Shuren returned the gesture there was a moment of silence that stretched between them as both boys evaluated the other.
“I’m embarrassed that I got distracted, was there anything important said before I came over?”
“No, not at all. The Young Master was attempting to catch Senior Lu up on all of the family news before Senior Lu cut him off.” There seemed to be a sparkle of amusement in Yu Shuren’s eyes, although his expression remained perfectly indifferent.
Ji Kang noted that Yu Shuren referred to Lu Wu respectfully but seemed to be laughing at him on the inside. Perhaps Yu Shuren might also resent the contract, in which case Ji Kang would gain an ally, or possibly Yu Shuren would be willing to turn a blind eye to anything suspicious Ji Kang did.
He still wasn’t certain about any of the three conclusions he had come to regarding his three traveling companions’ characters and attitudes, but everything seemed to bode well for Ji Kang. Now was the time for cautious optimism and planning however, not reckless action. There would be plenty of time to free himself from the contract in the future, but if he showed his hand too soon he was doomed.
By the third day since leaving Jidong, Lu Wu had grown thoroughly bored and condescended to spend time with Yu Shuren and Ji Kang who had been playing card games in their shared cabin since their departure, with plenty of breaks for food and fresh air. In contrast Lu Wu had attempted to perfectly emulate Senior Lu’s complete indifference to the mortal world by also secluding himself in his room, but had quickly become restless with boredom.
When Lu Wu first emerged from his self imposed isolation, he heard laughter and merriment coming from Ji Kang and Yu Shuren’s cabin. Reasoning to himself that since he was their master he had a right to anything that was theirs… including a share of the fun they were having.
Ji Kang had been enjoying his time with Yu Shuren during the trip and he had become increasingly convinced of Yu Shuren’s perfect disdain for Lu Wu. Although Ji Kang and Yu Shuren seemed like perfect opposites in appearance and manner, they shared the cutthroat mentality of young men born to the lower class but filled with ambition.
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Despite Yu Shuren’s appearance of an unthinking brute, Ji Kang was coming to appreciate his careful and cautious mind. Both boys appeared to a casual observer to have become close friends overnight, but neither had mentioned the onerous contract they were both under, nor did they truly let down their guard toward the other. This was to be expected given the tenuous position they were both in, reasoned Ji Kang.
In the middle of yet another round of cards, the two were surprised when the cabin door was thrown open and Lu Wu sauntered in.
“Greetings, Young Master Lu.” They both rose to their feet and cupped their fists in sync, in stark contrast to their staggered greetings back in the courtyard. Clearly this time together had fostered some tacit understanding of one another.
“No need to stop playing, I’ve decided we should get to know one another since we’ll soon be sect mates. So, what are we playing?”
“Of course Young Master Lu, please take a seat!” Ji Kang flashed a smile that he made sure reached his eyes.
When Lu Wu entered Ji Kang and Yu Shuren were each sitting on their own beds, with a square board resting on both boys’ knees. Lu Wu sat beside Ji Kang and they shifted the board ot be between all three of them.
Despite their best efforts, Ji Kang and Yu Shuren failed to feel at ease with Lu Wu joining the game. The previous jovial attitude had evaporated like a morning mist. When Ji Kang noticed the silence beginning to drag on during hands, he decided to see what information he could get from Lu Wu.
“Young Master, I was wondering if you could enlighten me.”
“Oh? If you have a question, ask it.” Lu Wu responded with a benevolent expression.
“What is cultivation? How does one start?” Ji Kang had long been wondering what exactly the difference between cultivators and mortals was, but his life up until this point hadn’t afforded him much contact with either cultivators or any written records on the subject.
Yu Shuren had also been very curious about this so he was more than happy to listen in.
“It makes sense that you don’t know, my own family only knows a little because we have had many cultivators over the generations and some of them left records about their experiences.” Lu Wu paused to gather his thoughts, before carrying on “Cultivation is the process of gathering Qi in order to transform your body and spirit into a more perfect form. A starting cultivator is little different from a human, but as time passes and they slowly accumulate more Qi, they gain incremental advantages over mortals. Faster movement, stronger bodies, and longer lives are generally expected, though there are many paths of cultivation and each path has differences and similarities with the other paths. But no matter what path of cultivation you take, the end goal is always the same: immortality. ‘To live as long as the heavens and the earth’ is the ambition of all cultivators.”
Lu Wu paused again to ask for water and Yu Shuren quickly poured him a glass from the pitcher on the nightstand, eager to hear what else Lu Wu had to say.
“The Azure Grove Sect in particular follows the traditional Imperial Cultivation path, which means we will be imparted a comprehensive cultivation manual upon being accepted as disciples. Because the Azure Grove Sect is so renowned, I have no doubt that the cultivation manual will guide us from Qi Condensation all the way to Core Formation and possibly beyond!” Lu Wu’s eyes were shining with self-satisfaction at being able to show off his understanding so far, while Ji Kang’s narrowed in thought.
Although Ji kang knew very little about cultivation, every peasant speculated and gossiped about cultivators, so he had heard the terms Qi Condensation and Core Formation before. The problem was, all of the gossip he’d heard was contradictory; disagreeing about the number of stages, the names of those stages, and even what to call cultivators.
If what Lu Wu had mentioned about different paths of cultivation was true, then that could explain the vastly different accounts that different individuals all swore were accurate. Or at least it was another explanation besides drunkenness and ignorance combining into a heady combination of complete nonsense.
The biggest question Ji Kang had now was, which type of cultivation was best? As a young man with ambition and a purported talent for cultivation, why shouldn’t he want the absolute best for himself? But he could tell they had already reached the limits of Lu Wu’s shallow knowledge. Perhaps Senior Lu would be amenable to answering these questions if Ji Kang got Lu Wu to ask them.