The Wangjiang Huang Clan's school gave its students a day off every ten days. At dusk on the tenth day, Huang Tian left the school and headed for the Huang residence in the east of the city.
He sat cross-legged inside the carriage, his thoughts sunk into stillness, his body motionless. Behind the carriage, Huang Du and Huang Yu rode at an easy pace.
"Ever since Tian entered the school, he's grown more withdrawn." Huang Du shook his head. "Apart from attending lectures at the Dao Lecture Hall every morning, he hardly goes out. He just stays in his little building and cultivates. I went to see him a few days ago, but he had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign hanging outside his door, so I had to leave."
Huang Yu smiled faintly. "That's always been his nature. After all these years, don't you know he likes being alone best? He spent practically every day reading in the Study. Father bought him more miscellaneous books than I can count.
"Now that he's begun cultivating, he's the same way. He doesn't want to socialize with outsiders and waste his energy. Speaking of which, elder brother, you should settle down and cultivate too. Spend less time with those idle young men in the clan. We both have one aperture, but I'm nearly at the peak of the second layer of Embryonic Breath. I reckon I can break through to the third layer in another year. You, meanwhile, only recently entered the second.
"Under the school's rules, anyone who fails to reach the third layer of Embryonic Breath before turning fifteen is expelled. Cultivating outside will be harder still. The spiritual qi out there can't compare with the abundance at school, and there won't be all those instructors to guide you."
Chastened by