It felt surreal.

She’d been working towards it for so exhaustively long that now that it was finally upon her, she could scarcely even comprehend what was happening. The entire thing felt like… a giddy blur, more or less, of celebration, of excitement, of… of success. They’d done it. She stood at the end of the graduating class, waiting with bated breath as she watched Principal Yuxan hand out diploma after diploma—

Her, Avyr, and— surprisingly— Xinshi, together waiting for the end of the ceremony and the beginning of their own. The Young Master still looked stunned that he’d been chosen— clearly, he hadn’t expected it— but while that would usually be something she’d dig into with gusto she couldn’t because she was just too—

Breathe. Steadying herself, trying not to look at the crowd that half focused on them even as all the rest of the students stepped up to graduate— she inhaled deeply, then exhaled again. She and Avyr had done it. Over the course of a single year, from long shot to certainty… unceasingly, unflaggingly…

She got emotional just thinking about it. They were going to the University of East Saffron. They were going to be cultivators! Well… it wasn’t lost on her that of the lot of them she was the only one that wasn’t, but that was immaterial— finally, it was within her grasp. Her first step, at last…

A pressure descended on them.

Once, she’d looked up to the outer disciple and wondered how a single being could be so powerful. A crystallization of everything she desired, dropped from the sky and dressed in white, and— now, she knew that Zhihu was holding back. The pressure she put on the crowd was light in comparison to the true depth of power she could leverage. This was merely pomp and pageantry compared to the true depths and heights that cultivation could reach…

Yet.

Yet… to stand on this side of it, to watch as a woman she’d come to know well— if distantly— alighted on the stage in front of the Principal, not merely an outer disciple but the Outer Disciple, the vessel of the will of the Bloody Saffron Sect amongst them— it felt wholly different.

When she spoke, it seemed to grasp the entire stadium’s attention. “Senior greets Junior Martial Brother Lan Yuxan. The Bloody Saffron Sect sends its regards to the graduating class of East Saffron’s 32nd Preparatory Academy, and its congratulations to the graduates Ai’er Avyr, Lily Ward, and Qin Xinshi for their acceptance into the University of East Saffron.” She’d said it. She’d said it! It took all Lily’s mental fortitude not to squeal with happiness.

“If the honored Principal would allow me?” It was kind of funny to see how nervous Principal Yuxan looked. She’d never noticed it before, but he was practically sweating bullets as he nodded back to Zhihu. “Very well. Qin Xinshi!” Slowly, Xinshi walked over to stand in front of her. “Despite everything, you manage to impress.” She pressed a jade token into his hands, then turned once more to them. “Ai’er Avyr!” The cat sauntered over lithely, a wave of murmurs following in his wake. “You walk a path of great power and greater potential. Take this,” she pressed a token into his paw, and nodded respectfully to him— a notable break of protocol— “and do great things. I eagerly await your future success.”

And finally… “Lily Ward!” She couldn’t restrain the bounce in her step as she darted up to stand in front of Zhihu. She was the same she always was, but… different. Maybe it was the pressure, or just the moment, but right then the outer disciple felt so much more

than she’d ever been to her before. “Take this.” The cool of the jade felt like victory and salvation, all rolled into one— “and bear the responsibility of it well. Your cleverness never fails to impress, and… one day, I expect to see you amongst the ranks of initiated disciples.” It was a command, but it felt like trust. “Hereby, with the authority vested in me as the hand of the Sect amongst those who walk the mortal way, I pronounce these three students graduates with the highest honors, and students of the University. Glory to the sect!” She saluted and—

Cheers. An overwhelming tidal wave of cheers as everyone rose in thunderous applause, thousands on thousands of people all cheering for her. A grin broke out over her face, standing beside Avyr, holding the token of their graduation…

They’d done it.

They’d done it. Tears pricked at the edge of her eyes and her face hurt from how hard she was smiling—

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In that moment, nothing could have been sweeter.

………

The party at the orphanage wasn’t any less explosively enthusiastic. Uncharacteristically, the Matron had allowed them to ignore most of the rules in celebration— no curfew for the younger kids, no limits on how much they could cook or eat, and she’d even broken out the entire stash of sweets she usually doled out piecemeal for good behavior. It was the wildest she’d ever remembered seeing the orphanage in her entire life.

Jubilant. If she could sum up the entire space in a word, the whole aura of it, the exultant joy and gleeful excitement and that self-same disbelief, she would describe it as jubilant. Gleefully, perfectly, jubilant. Everyone was happy— happy for her!

“Crazy, right?” She barely spared Mimi a passing glance as she stepped up beside her, gaze settling on the celebration as much as she was. The little kids didn’t get it— this was unusual to them, but they were just… enjoying it. They did not in their innocent naivety comprehend what it meant, that one of their own had been accepted into the single most prestigious institute in the entirety of East Saffron. “I don’t think any of us really thought that you’d manage it, but… I guess our expectations were wildly wrong.”

“I couldn't have done it without help. Master Mingtian’s teachings were critical, and even then the road was hard—”

“But you did do it.” That managed to put a stop on her excuses for a brief moment, if only for the wonder of it— she had

. It settled still on her, heavy and deep, and as vast as her entire life up to that point— a course affixed to her, a path she’d always known was set out before her but which she now actually walked down.

“I guess…” she could only imagine— “I did.” Avyr’d probably something along the lines of it just being another step or whatever, and then clam up when asked about the final destination he sought— but to her, it was a whole lot more simple. Steps, continuous or discrete, flowing or falling— it was all immaterial to her. There was nothing to it but onwards. The Bloody Saffron Sect awaited.

They celebrated, yes, but in that celebration was expectation. Those who were old enough to understand— the older kids, her generation, even the Matron, though Lily could see the woman was doing her best to hide it— in their jubilation they laid the burden of their expectation on her shoulders. Before, she’d been the precocious child who’d sought to reach beyond her means, inevitably destined to fail— but now?

They probably still thought that, those who knew enough. Of all the various Precincts of East Saffron, the 32nd was perhaps the most meager— or if not the most meager, certainly up there. Better than the mess outside the walls, sure, but that wasn’t all that particularly reassuring. Not when she’d have to compete against the very best students from places far, far better equipped than here. She’d caught a glimpse of it that once, when she’d gone to get Avyr’s pill made— the cultivation families of East Saffron were not limited to the Qin clan’s like; there were true titans in their midst, and she’d have to beat all of them.

Mimi punched her lightly on the shoulder, knocking her out of her reverie and earning her a glare in turn. “C’mon. Whatever you’re brooding over—” she did not brood, brooding was for boring old people like the Matron— “and you totally were,” the glare she’d earned only intensified— “save it for sometime else, right? You’re not going to get a celebration like this again for… well, until you graduate again.”

Lily rolled her eyes, but— Mimi had a good point. Even Avyr— who’d she’d invited to the festivities on account of also being an orphan, technically— was chatting with some of the other kids, looking not the slightest bit put upon as some of the younger ones tried their best to clamber all over him. Someone had tied a ribbon to his tail, of all things, and you’d think the other kids were the cats with how they chased after it. “Alright, fine.”

“I’m going to bring Avyr the summer festival haunch.”

“Don’t you dare—”

“C’mon,” Mimi wrapped an arm around her shoulder and started dragging her towards the kitchen— “it’ll be hilarious! Remember that once, beneath the willow tree, with the raw…” good memories… and as much as she wanted to deny it, Mimi was right.

It would be hilarious.

As she was dragged into the whirling, jubilant chaos of it all, she ran a finger along the jade tablet that marked her as a student of the University of East Saffron, and could not help but be aware—

They still thought she was going to fail. The chances were long; the odds were as ever not in her favor.

Except…

This time, they had hope.