“This is plain wrong and quite stupid. You should cancel it, it’s only a distraction.”

  “Yes, but wait a few pages, it gave me inspiration for another pattern. I couldn’t just erase it.”

  “The result is interesting, but I don’t like an approach of this kind. It’s a logic-based system, you can’t just go by your gut, or use plain wrong ideas as a starting point.”

  …

  “I like this idea. It’s not groundbreaking, but it is definitely progress. I’ll use it in some of my projects.”

  …

  “Did a child write this? It’s illegible.”

  “I was a child when I wrote this, do you want me to read it out for you?”

  “Yes, boy, read it. This was one of my favourite passages of the book. I enjoy critiques on it.”

  “Don’t call me boy, but sure, it’s mostly a summary, a simplification so that I could understand it, with some possible ramifications from these concepts, for example…”

  “Uh, these ideas sure came from a child. Not wrong, but so basic I didn’t even want to include them in the book.”

  …

  “Oh, this is curious. I reached the same conclusion, but my premises were different.”

  He walked into the dark room and returned with some old pieces of paper.

  “You see, I believe that…”

  …

  “Stupid…”

  “Well…”

  “...Oh, I think…”

  “...Plain wrong…”

  The conversation went on for hours, the young and the old man sharing their insights, ideas, thoughts, and understanding. At times, they argued, doubted, asked, or came together to form new ideas.

  At some point, they had moved to the room where the old man resided: every single wall was covered in pages and pages of notes, patterns, schemes, symbols, and more, written in years of obsession.

  Chang Heng was amazed by all the discoveries of the old man, which birthed more and more creativity and inspiration inside of him. And the old man welcomed him, learning in turn from his descendant.

  When the last candle fizzled out, only a few strings of light worked their way through the windows. The two kept working in the darkness, having eyes only for the Qi they used to form shapes and symbols in the air.

  Much later, the young man noticed how tired he was. It was the second night in a row he didn’t sleep enough, or in this case, at all.

  “What time is it?” He yawned.

  “Don't know. Go ask someone.”

  Without any candles alight, and the windows being closed and covered in stacks of paper, the only illumination came from the door, where the shadow of a meal waited.

  It was Chang Heng's usual, light breakfast.

  “It's cold, it must be late in the morning… my parents must be so worried!”

  He quickly ate some of it, saluted the old man, and went to look for them.

  He shyly wandered the huge building. For some reason, he felt like he couldn't ask the various people working there for help, not even the servants.

  Something inside him whispered how badly they would answer, how much he'd annoy them…

  Eventually, he found his father in the hall with the patriarch, sitting at a table and discussing over stacks of documents and reports. They were surrounded by plates of little snacks, fruits, and such, which Chang Guang picked up at times- his father also took some, always right after.

  “So, if we allocate more resources to… oh, hey Son. I see your encounter has been quite a good one. Did you have fun with the ancestor?”

  “Yes, I had a great time with him, Father. Chang Ling is truly the greatest man I’ve ever met! His level of skill, his experience, his genius is truly something else.”

  “I’m happy for you, Son. I-”

  Chang Guang interrupted.

  “Child. I’m happy someone is finally enjoying the presence of that relic, but show some more appreciation for your father. What he did for you is something no one else would have. There is a reason why, despite the many, many favours he pulled over the years, he is still so greatly esteemed.”

  His tone wasn't angry, but stern instead.

  “I thank you for your words, Patriarch.” The man scoffed at the title “But if my reputation is still a good one, then it means I haven’t asked enough of them. And I really don’t want to believe that.”

  “Bah… you and your wife are really something else. I sure hope your progeny will live up to your standard, that would be such a boon to the clan. If you ever wish to join the main branch again, I’ll find a way to fit you and your spouse in, no matter what the others say.”

  “I appreciate your compliments. But more than anything, our priorities lie in our son and daughter…” He looked at Chang Heng “I don’t know much about cultivation, but I heard it’s a slow journey. With our son’s… time constraints, may I ask you to guide him in the process of starting it?”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  From the way he moved the ink closer to himself, it was clear Chang Jun would keep working on all those documents in the meantime.

  The boy blushed, Father he thought you spoke for me yesterday already! Let me do this on my own!

  From the way he was watching him, Chang Jun clearly knew what was going on in his head.

  “But of course, of course, I’ll leave this matter to you, my friend. Now, young man…” The huge man smiled “Me and that relic are going to spoil you with the best techniques ever seen in this city, tailored for you.”

  No matter how embarrassed he felt, Chang Heng was excited by all that was to come.

  “Father, please tell Mother that it's going well. I'll see you later.”

  …

  Two weeks later.

  A teenager waited in the courtyard. He had long, copper red hair and wore clothes of the same colour, typical of his clan. His every feature was sharp: thin eyebrows and lips, pointy nose, and a small chin. His body was hidden behind the rich garments, but from his neck, hands and wrists it was easy to see the strength he worked for.

  At the age of fifteen, he had yet to fully grow into a man, but had already broken some hearts with his beauty.

  Hearing the steps behind the wooden walls, he opened his eyes, a rich brown that burned with calm confidence.

  Knowing how his gaze looked, he had grown conscious of his pride, but knew it was earned.

  He looked at the courtyard, a hint of longing tainting his features. The wooden walls of the houses surrounded it, which kept it private.

  It had once been covered in healthy grass and flowers, but now, in their stead, were blackened footprints, turned earth, and cuts. The spring would have brought new life to it, but he needed to train, and the place paid the price for it.

  A door opened. He recognized the steps of his father, followed by some he had never heard, but didn’t acknowledge them. Not yet. Their pace told him that he could wait, so he did, shameless.

  The young man let out a deep breath. He calmly held a golden string, brought it behind his head, and tied his hair into a ponytail. He hadn’t cut them since he became a Cultivator, more than a year earlier, and they weren’t short to begin with.

  His grip on the hilt tightened as he raised the sword from his knees and gently put it in its scabbard without making a sound.

  Only then he looked at the people that he was waiting for. As always, he made sure to take in all the relevant details, even if some unneeded ones slipped through.

  His father, Chang Guang, was a giant of a man, his face and body of an excessive masculinity- he had envied it as a kid, but grew out of it. His lack of grooming could mean either laziness or focus to a fault, and he knew the man wasn’t lazy.

  No. Don’t think with what you know. Watch, analyze, and understand. What of him says that he didn’t let himself go?

  … the way he walked, he wanted to come here faster than he did, and he is smiling. And with those eyes… he is proud of something that he wants to show, brag about.

  He kept looking for informations. Clothes worn too long, dirtied with long-dried ink. His hand on the boy beside him. Well, I’m overthinking this. He worked on something with the boy, as all the servants talked about. Why does nobody try and make things challenging for me here?

  He kept in a sigh.

  Usually, he’d look out for clues about the fighting capabilities, but his father was far too above his cultivation for it to matter, as his heavy, unrestrained aura attested.

  He moved his focus to the boy.

  Clearly a Cheng from his eyes and hair, short, thin, undeveloped face. A year younger than me, I’d guess, if not more. Must be a decent talent to awaken earlier than me, I’ll have to pay extra attention to his progress in the long term.

  From the way he walks, he either doesn’t have a movement Technique, or has acquired one too recently to get used to it. It would be better to expect the second, just to be sure.

  He carried no weapons, and his hands seemed soft, his knuckles were never involved in a fight; the same went for his nose.

  Lastly, he carried himself as if everything around him was new, maybe even a bit scary- that was not a sight he was used to, so it was hard for him to properly gauge- and clearly didn’t bother to understand the true surrounding dangers.

  Father asked me to tutor him, teach him to fight… I hope I’ll have to start from scratch, if he learned anything, and he acts like this, this will be a challenge even for me.

  The irony of what he asked of his father and got from the boy tugged his lips upwards, just a bit.

  Oh, wait.

  He hadn’t bothered to check, but his sleeves also were dirty with ink.

  Whatever my father did to be in such a good mood, he is part of it… now, that is something actually interesting about this kid.

  He slipped the scabbard in the holder by his side and calmly stood up from his sitting position.

  “Chang Jian, this is Chang Heng. He comes from a far-off branch of our clan, but you’ll call him Cousin from now on.”

  “H- hi, I’m Chang Heng, nice to meet you, Cousin.” the boy said while bowing far too deep “I hope we will… uhm… forge a good relationship?”

  … What?

  “I’m Chang Jian, the Young Master of our Chang clan. I suppose my father brought you here so that I can teach you how to fight.”

  Now, let’s see who answers.

  “Exactly, Son. Your cousin is new on the path of Cultivation and will need your teachings, especially if we decide to sponsor his participation in the upcoming tournament.”

  “Interesting. Come here, Cousin. There will be a lot of work to do, so we better start as soon as possible.”

  Chang Jian waited there as the boy meekly walked down from the patio into the scorched ground.

  The patriarch sat on the steps instead, right beside an incredibly old man. No one noticed when the living relic of their clan had come there, and the father and son greeted him with a simple nod, all the formality needed for the man, except his new cousin, who waved at him with a smile.

  “Look at me, Cousin. The lesson has started, and I have already a few points to make. What do you know about me?”

  “Uh… Nothing, I think? We just me-”

  “That’s my first point. What is our relationship?”

  “Again, we just met, and we are cousins.”

  “Wrong. We've made it clear we are not peers, I have established myself as your superior, while you took the spot of the follower. If we fought now, would you be ready to defend yourself?”

  “Yeah, I mean, I think-”

  “False. We have already been in a fight since the moment we saw each other, and you’ve been losing ever since. You have done nothing to defend yourself, haven’t tried to attack back, and know nothing about fighting me.

  The instant when you became a Cultivator is the instant when you’ve made all other Cultivators your enemy. Your mindset has yet to change and accept this new reality.

  Lucky for you, I am your teacher now.

  Others will believe that fighting relies on the body, or the environment, or Techniques, bloodlines, skills, and more. For me, Understanding is the basis of all, so I will help you understand Understanding.

  Raise your fists now. I have much to show you.”