It was important to know how to manage the cupidity of the strong. The stark difference in power that existed between different tiers of cultivation made a certain amount of petty bullying inevitable. For Jian to realize his dream of running his own shop one day, though, he knew he had to be able to direct that kind of behavior away from anything that would hurt the bottom line.

Hardly an impossible task. As Jian knew all too well, intelligence and high cultivation were only loosely correlated. A man who spent all day tempering his body wasn’t necessarily much brighter than the rocks he pounded to rubble. There were times, though, when Jian wondered if it was actually possible for somebody to be too dumb to swindle.

Such were the thoughts crossing his mind as he studied the self-satisfied expression on Bojing’s face. Jian and Bojing were distant cousins. While Jian enjoyed somewhat higher social status as the son of the third son of the clan head, Bojing held the advantage on the all-important measure of cultivation, having ascended to the Body Refining stage half a year ago while Jian was stuck at the peak of Essence Gathering, as he had been for the last five years.

Thus, when Bojing had seen Jian walk past weighed down with a box of crafting supplies, he hadn’t hesitated to step in and ask for a share. While that was within Jian’s calculations, he had hoped that his cousin would take the hint after his first demurrer. Most of the goods in the box belonged to Elder Zhen, rendering them untouchable. Jian's own belongings were mixed in, as he intended to take shelter in the protection granted by the Elder's name.

He had not expected Bojing's reach to so far exceed his grasp. Unfortunately, Bojing seemed to be in a stubborn mood, which complicated matters.

Jian sighed, then decided to repeat himself, hoping the implications might sink in the second time. “Cousin, I’m afraid these things don’t belong to me.”

Bojing looked down at the box. Jian followed his gaze, seeing the equipment that he had pulled from the clan’s storehouse to move to his workshop. Minor beast cores, semi-precious stones, a small spool of gold wire, even some fractional spirit stones, these were the raw materials needed for an aspiring spiritual craftsman. He imagined Bojing saw only some shiny objects that could be turned into pocket money.

“Belong? What belong, you’re carrying such good things around,” Bojing insisted. “Surely you can share some with your cousins.”

Bojing stood directly in front of Jian, blocking the way forward. His two lackeys stood on either side, acting as a completely unnecessary additional obstacle. If Jian were to try to escape through physical means, Bojing would be able to run him down before he had taken ten steps.

There had been a time when Bojing would not have dared to bar Jian’s way. He had even gone out of his way to curry favor with Jian. When they both had started cultivating at the usual age of ten, Jian had progressed by leaps and bounds. He had reached the peak of the Essence Gathering stage in just six months, an achievement that usually took several years. For a time he had been hailed as a genius, a future pillar of the family.

All that he had needed to do was to condense the spiritual energy he had gathered from its natural gaseous state into a liquid form. That denser, energy-rich form of spiritual energy would then be used to temper his blood, muscles, tendons, and bones as he swept through the Body Tempering stage. Unfortunately, he had proven completely incapable of taking that crucial step.

For the first few months Jian had thought he had hit a simple bottleneck, something that could be overcome with time and effort. After that, he had clung to the hope that he was suffering from a medical condition that might be solved. On his eleventh birthday, the expert hired by his father had dashed those hopes: the only “condition” Jian suffered was being born with the spiritual constitution of an ordinary mortal, something incapable of condensing spiritual energy. Though it was a rarity within a cultivating clan such as the Guo family, it was actually an affliction he shared with a majority of the people in the world.

He had taken the news poorly at first. In the end, though, he had adjusted himself to his new circumstances. It hadn’t taken him long to begin his training as a craftsman. As a member of the Guo family, tuition fees and training materials were no obstacle to his education. In this new endeavor, he could make full use of his wits and his nimble hands without regard for his cultivation level. Being stuck at Essence Gathering would prevent him from making any truly formidable weapons, but he would be more than capable of making a good living as a respectable member of the family.

Now fifteen, Jian was well on his way to a comfortable, successful life. There were only two real obstacles in his path. The first was the aura of a fallen genius that enticed people like Bojing to go out of their way to lord their superior strength over him. A manageable problem, and a stigma that should fade with time. The other obstacle, he hoped, should also go away on its own, eventually.

Jian decided to abandon all pretense to subtlety. “I am always happy to share good fortune, cousin. I’m not bold enough to steal from Elder Zhen, though.”

Elder Zhen ran the Guo family's general store, the largest commercial emporium in Bianjing Town. Most of the profits went to the family, of course, but the elder was still the richest man in Bianjing. He was also in charge of distributing cultivation resources to the younger generation of the Guo family.

It was Jian’s great good fortune that Elder Zhen had taken a shine to his talent and agreed to provide him with material and sell his finished goods on consignment, splitting the profit between them. The last thing that any young member of the Guo family wanted to do was to get on the elder’s bad side.

Bojing’s face paled, and he raised his hands in negation. “Steal from Elder Zhen? Who would dare? You always take things too seriously when we joke around, cousin."

"My mistake," Jian said, putting on his best professional smile. "I apologize for the misunderstanding."

An apology and a placating smile was enough to disarm many situations, but Bojing was a young man with his blood running hot. If he had recognized the owner of the supplies to begin with, he never would have tried to take them. However, now that it had come down to a direct confrontation, to let Jian simply walk away would be to back down before an inferior cultivator. Not impossible, but not something Bojing was capable of doing.

"You know, cousin," Bojing said, regaining his equilibrium, "I'm working on a new fist technique. Why don't you come to the ring and offer me a few pointers?"

Jian was hardly physically helpless. He couldn't hope to run a business if he couldn't defend himself against at least a low level Body Refining cultivator. But the tools and techniques that he would use to protect a store were wholly inappropriate in a training match. A friendly spar between a Body Refining cultivator and an Essence Gathering cultivator could only go one way.

Jian reminded himself that every peril was a new learning opportunity and did his best to keep his smile steady. "I am afraid I could not offer any insight on a higher realm technique."

"Don't be so modest," Bojing replied. "Surely the genius of the Guo family's youngest generation will have many insights to share."

Jian could feel his smile slipping. The trip to the sparring ring and the time spent absorbing whatever beating Bojing felt like dishing out would put him badly behind schedule. That was not to mention the effect that his bumps and bruises would have on his work. The only saving grace was that there was a limit to the damage that Bojing could do while preserving the fiction of a friendly spar.

"I would like to help," Jian said, "if I did not have a prior commitment."

"Come now," Bojing said, clasping his hands together, "what could be more important than honing our fighting techniques?"

"That would be his meeting with me."

The feminine voice came floating towards them from behind Bojing. In an instant, Jian found himself using his professional smile to hide his relief rather than his frustration. There was a reason he had been willing to chance this path, after all. The weak always had to walk through the world with a backup plan in mind.

Lanfen was the daughter of the first son of the head of the Guo family. At one year Jian's senior, she was well on her way to completing the Body Refining stage. She was beautiful, more than a little spoiled, and absolutely vicious in a fight.

Bojing and his lackeys scrambled out of the way as Lanfen floated down the walkway. It would have been amusing to see three strapping youths show such fear in the face of a diminutive maiden if Jian hadn't seen the sort of damage that Lanfen could do with the fan she held in her hand.

"If you feel you've been deprived of a learning opportunity," she said, "I could offer you some pointers."

"Ah," Bojing said, "I wouldn't dare to take up your valuable time."

Jian hadn't known that Bojing was capable of such flattery. It seemed that fear could make a man eloquent.

"You're right, talking to you is a waste of time," Lanfen said, making a shooing motion with her fan. "Run along, now."

Bojing ran along, his lackeys trailing in his wake. Jian kept his face absolutely neutral. In principle, nobody could be considered to blame for any injured pride that resulted from the intervention of a natural disaster like Lanfen, but gloating at others' misfortune was rarely wise.

As soon as the three boys were out of sight, Lanfen turned to face him. Her domineering expression had vanished, replaced by the look of a young girl eager to see a new toy.

"Do you have it?"

"It's almost done," Jian said. "I apologize, I should have been in the workshop already."

Now that the path was clear, he stepped forward to lead the way. Lanfen fell in step with him, jabbing at the air with her fan in irritation.

"That fool has been without a beating for too long," she said, "if he has the gall to interrupt my business."

Jian responded with a neutral hum. He wouldn't shed any tears should misfortune find one of his least favorite cousins, but there was no need to outright conspire against him. They were family, after all. Judging by Lanfen's tone of voice, Bojing would have a bad time if they ran into each other, but she wasn't sufficiently incensed to seek him out. Jian was content to leave Bojing's future health up to fate to decide.