Shibara stepped aside and allowed Ruidie to pass her. She did not take the final step out of the pavilion, choosing to watch instead.

The judges took Ruidie's answer and game record as she waited.

The girl stood in silence as the moments passed. She didn’t know if her beating heart made everything slower or if it actually took as long as it did.

Like Israk and the boy named Chen Xiaosi, Ruidie couldn’t answer any of the questions, at least not properly. There were many questions she could answer with the miscellaneous knowledge she had picked up in Lanzhou, however not in a way that was good enough. She was assured of the answer to a question on the Confucian Classics, but Yuan Qiyang could have answered it better. She was assured of the answer to a question on herbology and another on toxicology, but Grandma could have answered it better. It was like why she didn’t do calligraphy, painting, and performing. Therefore, just like choosing chess when she had never played, Ruidie chose a question she could never have prepared for, where an answer was impossible to find outside the exam, essentially leveling the playing field. She knew in her mind that the question was designed as an obvious trap to fail those that chose it, however, she still chose it. ‘What is the purpose of how this exam is proctored?’

The man left of the vice-principal was the first to frown.

Vice-Principal Kang read her essay next and placed it down. "Elaborate on where the Imperial Exams are mentioned."

The small girl took a deep breath. "The work of an official in any department or bureau is varied. The skills they need are attuned to what is taught at the Three Schools. The Law School, Arithmetic School, and Calligraphy School. Yet, the current Imperial Examination only tests the Classics. Despite this, Zhao is not without multi-talented geniuses that appear from all throughout the land. So how is it possible? It is because the Classics are a standard. The most valuable thing about the Classics is not their ideas but their prevalence. It is something familiar to everyone who learns to write, including myself, because they are the primary teaching materials of New and Old Script. Therefore, it is the greatest tool to compare the comprehension and expression of individuals. For officials, the Classics are the bare minimum required knowledge needed to begin work, however, everything else about their position is required to be learned from the beginning. A competent person is defined by their capability of learning anything, and a standard must be used to compare competence. This exam is the same but in an even larger scope. We choose the standard in which we are judged. It tests us how much we have learned since we were born." Ruidie finished.

The woman right of the vice-principal coughed. "Forget what I said about the last essay, this is what I would call unorthodox."

Vice-Principal Kang tapped a finger on the table. "Is there something you want to display?"

Ruidie took a step back and stared out the sky well. Her chances were diminishing by the moment. There was only one thing left that she could do. Both Shibara and Israk showed off an impossible trick, so she would show hers.

She raised her hand, grasping the empty air above her. I am hungry. I am tired. I haven’t eaten anything since last night. That breakfast is seeming like a better and better idea. But I have no regrets, so please help me.

The spectators watched, but nothing happened. As Vice-Principal Kang raised his hand and prepared to open his mouth, blurry shadows appeared on the light against the ground below the sky well. Everyone’s gazes watched as black leaves fell from the sky. No, they were not leaves, they were black butterflies.

From the Plum Forest, they rose like dust. From the Palace gardens, they climbed over the walls. From the alleyways and streams in Taiping, they wandered towards the direction of the pavilion despite not having enough time to arrive.

There were hundreds arriving from the sky well like a storm with the girl at the eye. They perched on the walls and ceiling until the pavilion was painted black inside and out.

The man on the left spoke. "Controlling insects is impossible without having a cultivation, isn’t it?"

"No." Vice-Principal Kang pursed his lips. "This species of butterfly are special. They were originally artificially created. They can resonate with the intent of nearby people and gather together in large amounts. I have never heard of them gathering to this extent, so this may be a mark of strongly controlled consciousness and intent, but not cultivation. In the end, this is not a method, it's a trick."

"If that is Vice-Principal’s decision, I agree," the woman on the right said.

The man on the left was actually somewhat startled by the thousands of butterflies that floated at the walls, but he did not disagree with the decision. The display could not overcome the results of the essay and art.

Ruidie had not moved since she lowered her hand. She bit her lips and closed her eyes.

…

"Her choices were wrong," Cat said.

"Were they?" Dog asked.

"Kang isn’t impressed, and neither am I. It is the results that matter, therefore her choices were wrong. I can understand from her game record that this was the first time she had played, and I can understand that this was the first time she had attempted to answer her question. As the girl said, the test is about how well everyone has comprehended a subject from their birth until now. Yet, she intentionally chose to display the opposite. She understood the essence of the test but didn’t act on the essence. Why? Because she couldn’t act on the essence. She does not have the ability. She wants the opportunity, but even in my test, opportunity must be earned," Cat said calmly.

Dog shrugged. "I guess. The girl’s still young and has time to recover from this failure. I’m already satisfied with Little Fang’s choice, and you must be satisfied with that unexpected child, Chen Xiaosi. What about you Monkey? You finally have someone notable for this year."

"It’s true that the result is what matters, but, Cat, you may be wrong about the result," Monkey said slowly, ignoring Dog completely.

"‘May’? Are you trying to convince me?" Cat said in a low voice.

"You? No, I’m trying to convince myself. I need to judge if this gamble is worth it," Monkey solemnly said, raising the walnut in his hand.

…

Vice-Principal Kang raised his hand. "Please ste-"

Fump!

Thousand Thought’s Senior Instructor Lei fell onto the floor, startling everyone in the hall.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Even an ongoing zither performance ended.

The man sat back up with a flushed face. His expression changed to anger as he leveled his gaze with everyone at the balcony, trying to determine the one who embarrassed him.

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There was a small commotion as everyone focused on what just occurred. As Ruidie and everyone wondered what happened, a blur crossed the air from somewhere beyond the sky well towards Senior Instructor Lei’s forehead.

Senior Instructor Lei’s hand moved instantly and caught the blur before it hit him. His eyes widened, staring intensely at the walnut he held in his hand.

Vice-Principal Kang and the other senior instructors were looking at the man with some pity.

Senior Instructor Lei stood up. He turned towards the girl standing before them. "Is this your Way?"

"I do not study The Way."

Another commotion arose. The general sentiment was easy to understand. The girl was disrespecting The Way.

"Enough!" Senior Instructor Lei glanced at the walnut in his hand before looking back towards Ruidie. "Then why are you here?"

She gulped, knowing that at this key moment she had to be honest. "This morning, I found out that my honorable father wishes to change my surname from my mother’s to his. As a child, I cannot dictate my official name, however, I knew this exam occurred today. I want my name to be officially recorded on a Palace-sponsored Capital School’s scroll of the students who attend."

Senior Instructor Lei stood too dumbfounded to respond. She wants her name recorded? She’s here because she wants her name recorded on the school scroll?

An object dropped past Ruidie’s vision and she reflexively held out her hand to catch it. Something had dropped from the sky. She opened her palm and found a walnut. There were scratches on it. Memory Palace?

When Senior Instructor Lei saw this occur, his hand went to rest on his forehead before pulling his hair back. He sighed. "Thousand Thought Institute invites her to study." Vice-Principal Kang glanced back at Ashina Shibara and frowned, but Senior Instructor Lei continued. "The girl has already failed this Stargazing Exam. Therefore, I am personally inviting her to attend our school." He glanced at Senior Instructor Fang, who immediately smiled.

"Of course, before the interruption, Vice-Principal Kang failed her. Therefore Senior Lei is not exceeding his quota. In fact, now that I think about it, wasn’t Ashina Israk failed as well? I guess I might just open Grand Heart’s door to another examinee in this exam," Senior Instructor Fang said.

Senior Instructor Lei grimaced. "Of course."

Vice-Principal Kang’s expression darkened but he remained silent. The walnut in the hands of the girl prevented him from objecting.

Senior Instructor Lei unrolled a scroll before him and picked up a brush. "What is your name?"

"Hei Ruidie."

…

Once outside the Azure Pavillion, a student in the grey Thought Thought uniform met Ruidie and Shibara. Ruidie was sure the senior was female, but her uniform was the type for males

"Well, let’s get on with our day. I’m Ran Qiang, a fourth-year," the young woman lazily said before starting to walk. Her hair was all pinned in a single bun by a silver cylindrical ring. In her offhand, she held a collapsed paper fan.

"Ashina Shibara."

"Hei Ruidie."

Past the pavilion was a colossal open stone-paved yard. On each side of the yard were various buildings and towers densely packed together with ancient trees.

Ran Qiang pointed right with her unopened fan, towards the west. "That’s Stargazing’s campus." She pointed left. "That’s our Thousand Thought’s campus. On the other side, reachable through by either passing Thousand Thought or the Plum Forest is another yard like this one. Bordering that yard is where Grand Heart is." She unfolded her fan and pointed south. "On the other side of that wall, through that gate, the city street, and another gate, are the other Capital Schools." She turned and faced the two youths again. "Now, since there are no questions, I’ll leave you two at your dorm." She began walking towards the Thousand Thought.

The two new students chased after her.

"Senior!" Ruidie called. She was ignored. She tried waving her hand but it still didn’t work. "Senior! Senior! I have a question!"

"You get one. Make it count," Ran Qiang said tersely.

"Do you know someone named Ran Wen?"

Ran Qiang stopped in her tracks. "How do you know that name?"

"She is one of my father’s students," Ruidie answered.

Ran Qiang groaned. Her fan closed. "Fine, you two can ask your questions," she said, more amiable than before.

Shibara gave Ruidie a thumbs up. "Senior Ran, do you have any recommendations for new students?" Shibara asked.

"That is a good question," Ran Qiang said. "Visit the administrative building as soon as you can to finalize what classes you are assigned to, and retrieve the required books from the library early. As first-years your goal should be to enter cultivation as soon as possible. Thousand Thought’s library is one of our greatest strengths. Even students of the other schools are often required to use ours because of our selection."

"What is cultivation?" Ruidie asked as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Ran Qiang did not ridicule her. "What I’m going to tell you is not a story that first-years usually hear." She began, "Since the beginning, the great tribes warred throughout the wilderness that was the world. The strongest of these tribes were capable of harnessing the power of people, land, and heaven. These warriors wielding mystical powers were practitioners of the Primal Paths. They were all different, as each tribe cultivated power in different ways. However, all the Primal Paths relied heavily on bloodline, therefore they declined. Today only martial arts, the Martial Path, the Primal Path which did not rely on bloodline, and a few Primal Paths from bloodline reliant cultivator clans are left. The only cultivator clans I can think of that still exist are the Feng Clan and the Tang Clan."

"My cultivation is the Ashina Clan’s Primal Path, but I’ll likely be the last," Shibara added.

Ran Qiang was intrigued but continued. "During the period of Spring and Autumn, a Great Sage, the founder of Way, by proving his Way through ascension, discovered that the end goal of all life, the peak of mortality, could be achieved through studying Heaven and Earth, not just war. This is the Orthodox Path. Another student of the founder also proved his Way, but in a manner completely different. This is the Heart Path. In the south, where the texts of the Canon were not common, two new paths were developed by prominent masters. They were the Worldly Path and the Union Path."

"Does each Path have their own so-called cultivation method?" Ruidie asked, trying to comprehend everything she had learned up to this point.

"No, a Path has many different cultivation methods, but their essence is the same, so their realms are also the same. A person’s realm dictates their strength and knowledge. A change in realm describes both a qualitative and quantitative change of ability. The greater the realm, the rarer they are. The first realm of the Orthodox Path is called Knowing Self, the second is Knowing World, the third is Knowing Heaven, and the fourth is Knowing All. The Heart Path is Dao Seed, Dao Tree, Dao Fruit, then Touching Heaven. The Worldly Path is Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, then Nascent Soul. The Union Path is Spirituality, Object Will, Doubtless, then Indiscernible."

"Who gets to decide what realm I’m in?" Ruidie said.

Shibara smiled, understanding what Ruidie was trying to uncover. "No one does. Realm is displayed by your ability. It’s like being able to jump five meters high. The only way for someone to take this fact away from you is to try to cripple your legs."

Ruidie’s eyes slowly but surely widened. "So when cultivating, you are competing with many others, judged in the strictest and fairest way possible, and chasing after peak cultivators that can literally do anything?"

Ran Qiang finally smirked in amusement at the small girl. "That’s one way to look at it."

There were no words to describe what Ruidie was feeling in her heart. The feeling lasted until they reached a three-story white stone and black wood building that served as Ruidie and Shibara’s dorm.

Ruidie’s small room consisted of a bed, a desk, and a drawer. The room belonged to her for the entire duration of her schooling. She placed the walnut which fell into her hands inside the desk. Inside the drawer were several grey uniforms. She immediately changed into one to try on.

Shibara stepped into the room, not through the front door, but through the open balcony door after climbing over from her adjacent balcony. She too had changed into her uniform.

"Trying it out?" Ruidie happily asked.

Shibara walked across the room towards the door. "Yes. Israk should already be settled at Grand Heart. I’m going to find him and get dinner in the city."

Ruidie nodded.

Shibara opened the door with a confused look on her face. "Why are you just sitting there?"

She tilted her head. "What do you mean? It's my bed."

"Aren’t you coming with me?"

Ruidie’s mind did not function. "Eating with you and your brother? Isn’t that what friends do?"

Shibara starred at the girl. Moments passed. Her lips pressed together. "It is," she said stepping into the hallway.

The door was left open.

"Wait! I’m going!" cried the young girl scrambling off her bed.