"Of course, of course," Shen Yuan says placatingly, with an easy-going grin. "I was just thinking out loud, my friend. Don't take it too seriously."

Is he a cultivator, though? The question brings him up short, and like his new friend he finds himself pondering longer than such a simple question normally calls for.

"I think I must be," he finally says. "Why else would I know so much about it? It's not as though people read about cultivation for fun, do they? That sounds fake. My name is Shen Yuan, by the way," he adds with another sunny smile. "What's yours?"