Chapter 7 Half-Light Prince

"How does it work?!"

***

A couple of hours ago...

Last night I spent the whole evening reading. The books were so small in content that I managed to read them all 10 times, and memorized every word. All three books have a big common flaw. They are all too Jedi!

This morning, after a hearty breakfast, I went out to the training ground and sat down on a good spot in the shade of the walls of the storage room for training arms and equipment that I had noticed yesterday. The sun was shining brightly and a cool mountain breeze blew across my face. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but the air in the sect was nice, especially compared to the pollution of the city planets and the rotten air of the swamp planets. It is much better than the heat and sand that the desert dwellers might call air and the salt and water on the ocean planets. I'm not even talking about the landfill worlds. My past life was truly full of misery. Yeah, is it because of that, I feel like a Coruscantian clerk on a vacation to Naboo?

Thanks to my full belly and the wonderful weather, I had almost forgotten about the conversation the day before.

And with that attitude of grace, I went to work.

***

A couple of hours later…

"This is bullshit! It doesn't work, it just doesn't work! There's nothing complicated here! Why can't it work for me? How does this bullshit work?!"

It is easier with the force, first you have to feel it, and then the connection that unites everything in the world. After that, it's all directly dependent on your willpower. That's where the Jedi and the Sith differ. The Jedi believe that we are subject to the invisible hand of the force, and the Sith believe that the force loves the ambitious.

There is nothing here but meditation methods and prose about cleansing the mind, just a bunch of breathing and physical exercises. It's all bullshit! It seems like my father is just fucking with me!

With these thoughts in mind, I decided to try the series of exercises over again and... I failed yet one more time. How? I had done everything perfectly, Sidious had taught me the true meaning of controlling one's body.

"Have eternal heaven protect you, brother, I don't want to offend you, but you're disgusting. You're doing everything wrong. By the way, hi! How are you doing? Long time no see." I was so engrossed, I didn't notice the last person I expected to see. My older brother, Yishu.

"Welcome back, elder brother. It's good to see you in good health!" said I and bowed as befits the proper etiquette that applies even to cultivators.

Obviously, a cultivator is not obligated to bow down to a mortal, regardless of age, the situation is the opposite. A 100-year-old mortal is obligated to worship a cultivator even if the cultivator is only 5 years old. It's just like everywhere else, it's a matter of power and might. But when it comes to people of the same class, the younger must always respect the older.

"No need for formalities, I'm your big brother after all. I just got back from the mission, but knowing about the ceremony, I came to see you first."

I looked at him. He has changed a lot since the last time I saw him. He should be fifteen by now, but he doesn't look it. He's tall, about 190 centimeters, with well-developed musculature, and if I didn't know his real age, I'd give him about 25. He has long blond hair and yellow eyes like mine, the only difference being that my irises are surrounded by a red band. I've often heard the maids call him "Every Girl in the Sect's Dream", "The Jade Prince", and "The Prince on the Flying Sword". Personally, he reminds me more of that dapper Skywalker.

But why is he here, is he worried about competition in the family and has come here to assess my potential and whether I'll be a threat to him? The slyness in his eyes doesn't make me feel certain about the purity of his character and intentions. Of all the family members I've seen, they're all simple. He is different. His eyes give him away. I'm sure that that smile is also a mask.

"Did you come here to insult me?" if the conflict is unavoidable, always strike first. Savage, my other brother, lived by that phrase and died by that phrase.

"What are you saying, of course not." He said dramatically and started to slowly walk around me in a circle. "I heard that my little brother is a genius that is only born once every 1000 or however many years. That he was able to master the art of the sword that could kill gods in a day. Or was it dragons? It doesn't matter. So I came to see this miracle."

Then he stopped right in front of me and squatted down so our eyes were on the same level.

"But what do I see? As it turns out, you're just an oaf."

"What?"

I was filled with anger at this statement. Who does this peacock think he is? I couldn't stand it any longer, pulling one of the larger and heavier training swords with force, I gripped it tighter and struck him with a blow that I put all my strength into. The swing was so powerful that it created a small wind and a cloud of dust.

"How..."

He stopped the attack. With one finger. His clothes weren't even dusty and his expression was still the same.

"Well, you are such an ill-mannered little man, huh? As mortal men say, parents learn from older children and spoil the younger ones." He even shook his head demonstratively while saying this nonsense.

"Well, that's what big brothers are for," he said as he stood up and headed out of the training area. Almost at the exit, he said. "At 17.00 I'll meet you at an establishment called Floating Flower, on the main square. You can ask for the exact directions from the passers-by. Everyone knows the place."

"For what?"

"What for what? I'm going to teach you wisdom." With that, he left.

I looked again at the practice sword in my hands. Where his finger had touched the blade, it had completely bent. There is even his fingerprint, as if it wasn't steel, but clay.

How strong is this guy? And how strong is everyone else? What about the parents? 

This is the first time I've seen this kind of power clearly...

***

It's a brothel.

He invited his five-year-old younger brother to study at the brothel. I take back my high judgment of him... That's why when I asked for directions all the people looked at me like I was some kind of freak. Some even said I was too young for that kind of entertainment. One feeble outer sect disciple even thought that my mother worked in a brothel and looked at me with such pity... I was ready to rip his heart out on the spot.

It was to be expected. Though my name was a well-known one, I rarely left the estate, and very few people had ever seen me.

"Hey, Jian." Shouted Yishu leaning out of the outermost window on the second floor with some giggling girl in his arms. "Come on in, you'll like it here. Big Brother will teach you how to live life now. Welcome to the Half-Light Prince's palace!"

He's completely wasted, what's he planning to teach me?