The next day, Jie opened the door as she sensed a familiar aura approaching her residence. Sure enough, Pan Tian stood there in the early-morning darkness.

"Are you ready?" the older girl asked.

"Yes," Jie said.

Jie had already stopped by Elder Shi and given her a letter. The older woman had been deep in cultivation, so Jie had just left the letter in her lap. Elder Shi could read it when she was ready. Jie didn't think anyone should ever be disturbed while cultivating. She hated it when anyone did that to her.

Jie followed Pan Tian across the school grounds, through the enormous gate to the academy, and down the long stairs, where Pan Zhanshi waited for them.

"Wow, you're early," he said.

Pan Tian glared at him. "You're the one that told me to go get her now," she said.

"Well yeah... I thought she'd take two hours to get ready. More like you," Pan Zhanshi said.

Pan Tian stomped her foot and huffed.

Jie giggled. "So, will we have to wait?" she asked.

"Only for a bit," he said.

Jie nodded, sat down on the polished stone, and cultivated.

"Heavens... does she ever stop?" Pan Zhanshi asked.

Jie ignored his comment and focused on cultivating while they waited. Sure enough, a while later, she felt a mixture of strong auras heading their way. Well, mostly stronger than the three of them anyway. The strongest of them felt about the same level as Elder Shi, whatever level that may be, but they were all still much weaker than Ming.

Jie opened her eyes and stood up as she dusted off her clothes. It seemed wise to make a good impression on these people. If they could lead her to a way to help Ming... she would gladly owe them almost any debt.

"Here they are," Pan Zhanshi said, "Please, be polite. You're here as a guest, so if anyone causes trouble make sure to tell one of us, but..."

"But, try not to make things difficult for you," Jie said.

"Yeah..." Pan Zhanshi said.

"Don't worry, I'll try," Jie said.

"We know why you did what you did, it's just..." Pan Tian said.

"That your families are all crazy," Jie said.

Pan Zhanshi smiled depreciatingly. "Pretty much," he said.

Elegant carriages rolled into view, pulled by teams of magical beasts. Some of the beasts looked like massive ostriches, only they were blue, had glowing eyes, and thick feathers all over. More like gigantic, bulky crows. The tips of their wings gleamed like sword blades.

Others were pulled by what looked like horses. Though their hooves were made of flames and smoke drifted from their manes. There were more of those horses than there were of the birds, and the carriages they pulled weren't nearly as elegant as the one the birds pulled.

Are the birds rarer in this world or something? Jie wondered.

Armed guards marched alongside the carriages, many of them had slightly weaker auras than the three children. It surprised Jie that they should be so weak. What was the use of such guards? A few were much more powerful, but on the whole, she could probably fight and kill many of the guards. What protection did they offer when that was the case?

As though having seen Jie's confused frown as she looked at the guards, Pan Tian leaned in and whispered into her ear.

"Not everyone is as strong as you. They're enough to protect the weaker ones in the family. Especially for shopping trips like this one," she said.

Jie nodded, but her frown remained. This world was impossibly strange at times, but every day it felt like Ming's words struck a little truer. Strength was all that mattered. A single cultivator could kill all these people if they were strong enough.

This world just wasn't the same as Earth at all. There, numbers counted for a lot... but here? Even though Ming was injured, could all these people combined even scratch his scales?

Guards that would've at one point made her feel powerless, now looked so weak to her eyes. The way they strutted around arrogantly bothered her, and she wasn't entirely sure why. If this were Earth, they might as well be a bunch of two-year-olds with toy ray guns or something.

But maybe that was because of her own viewpoint. After all, many of her fellow students in the Crimson Academy were constantly heralded as geniuses. Maybe they didn't just have a puffed-up opinion of themselves. Maybe they really were. So, if they were weak, then no wonder these simple guards looked so meaningless.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Jie brooded on such thoughts as the convoy rolled up.

The doors of the most opulent carriage opened. Through her spirit sense, Jie felt a powerful aura. So far above all the guards other than those directly around the carriage. Each of those guards closest to the opulent carriage was still weaker than the person inside, but together they might be able to fight and expect to win.

A satyr woman stepped out, with elegant jewelry adorning every inch of her body. Just a few pieces might've looked resplendent, but the result of all of them together just looked gaudy. It wasn't a display of taste, it was a display of raw wealth, and it looked idiotic.

The Pan siblings gave an extremely respectful bow, and Jie emulated them. Wasn't this their family? What was with that bow? Were these people so uncaring and formal on every level? How ridiculous.

"Greetings, Auntie," Pan Tian and Pan Zhanshi said in unison.

Their aunt returned a curt nod.

"This is our aunt, the esteemed alchemist and healer I told you about, Pan Keai," Pan Tian said, "Auntie, this is--"

"Liu Jie. Winner of the younger generation tournament. I don't believe there's anyone who doesn't know your name after your display," Pan Keai said, "Come. You three shall ride with me."

Pan Keai stepped back inside and the children followed suit.

Jie blinked as she entered the carriage. She could've sworn it was bigger on the inside than the outside. And, though such a thing didn't surprise her, it was still disconcerting. She filed in after the siblings and sat next to Pan Zhanshi, with Pan Tian on the other side of him. The inside of the carriage was lit by glowing stones mounted to the walls.

"So, I see you've decided to join my niece and nephew on this little excursion," Pan Keai said. Her voice was haughty, and it grated on Jie's nerves. She found that strange given that so many people in this world were so arrogant.

Why does she irritate me so much already? Jie wondered.

"Yes," Jie said.

A long silence followed, and the older woman glowered at Jie.

Jie glanced at the siblings for clues about what she'd done wrong this time, but they didn't return her gaze. Each of them sat with perfect posture and stared straight at the older woman like a pair of robots. Jie returned her attention to the older woman whose cheeks twitched with obvious irritation.

"Forgiveness, Auntie. Jie isn't used to our particular culture," Pan Zhanshi said, finally.

Their aunt nodded slowly, though she still looked annoyed. "I see," she said, "I suppose we can't expect everyone to have manners."

Jie returned the older woman's annoyed, accusing gaze with a cool detached one.

This woman could kill her easily, and part of Jie wanted to respect that strength. But for some reason, this woman aggravated her in a way that people who were only arrogant did not. Jie found herself contemplating that rather than rising to the older woman's insult.

Which seemed to irritate the older woman even more.

The carriage started moving, and Jie couldn't help being surprised at how smooth it felt. They were moving faster than a highway on Earth and the roads, if you could call them that, weren't exactly level. Once again, she found herself wanting to learn more about the magic of this world. Well, Ming said it wasn't magic, but she wasn't sure what else to call it.

The atmosphere in the carriage was tense, and Jie's opinion of the older woman fell. Shouldn't an aunt at least try to talk to her niece and nephew? What was with the people in this world? She paused at that thought. No. It wasn't just the people in this world...

I was so lucky to have my parents... for the time I did. Jie thought.

Time crawled by and Jie wished she could at least cultivate or something. It was infuriating just sitting there and doing nothing all the time. Jie also couldn't help feeling a bit of sympathy for the Pan siblings. To have such a crappy family...

Were there any in their family that cared about them? Other than each other?

"So, will your family be coming out to meet you?" Pan Keai asked.

Silence followed, and Jie noticed the question was directed at her. "No," she said.

"Why not? Do they wish to distance themselves from you?" the older woman asked with a thin smile.

"They have their reasons," Jie said.

"Mmm," Pan Keai said, her eyes glittering like vile lakes. She looked like she was waiting for something, and Jie wondered if the older woman expected her to rush to explain herself or something.

Jie snorted internally at that. She might not be used to talking and dealing with people yet, but she'd read enough books and watched enough movies to recognize a bitch fishing for information when she saw one.

Good thing none of the nurses ever paid too much attention to what she was looking at. Except for one... the one who cared. Jie felt a bit guilty over that. She really should've said goodbye to her but it wasn't like she'd been thinking much beyond 'Oh my god there's a dragon!'

The older woman's expression turned ugly, as though increasingly disappointed by Jie failing to rise to the bait.

They rolled on in silence. Jie considered asking this woman about medicine that could heal a god, given that she was supposed to be an alchemist, but she thought better of it. She couldn't imagine this woman leaping to help her, and she had the sneaking suspicion that anything she said would be used against her somehow.

No, she'd have to find out from someone else.

Jie looked out the window as the landscape flew by.

"Auntie," Pan Tian said, "Jie wanted to ask you something about healing and healing medicines."

Jie groaned internally.

"Oh?" said the older woman, "What exactly do you wish to know?"

Jie felt like strangling Pan Tian, but the harm was done now. She thought about lying, but she didn't feel that confident about pulling off a complete lie, and if Pan Tian said anything... it'd only make it worse.

"I was just curious about who the strongest healer is or what the strongest medicine is," Jie said.

"The strongest?" Pan Keai asked, her eyes gleaming like toxic fire.

"Yes," Jie said, "the strongest."

The older woman's lips quirked at the side. "Already planning on getting an apprenticeship when you don't even know your affinities?" she asked.

"It's good to know my options," Jie said.

The older woman smirked. "And, what makes you think any of them would take you on?" she said.

Jie was about to continue with it and say she was strong but paused. When heroes in stories did that... it never went well. She took a moment to consider this woman. The gaudy jewelry, the vile look in her eyes... that snarky smile. This was her game, playing it would only end in her favor... so how to turn it around?

What would Elder Shi do? Jie wondered.