It was almost as good as winning. Yuxan was the most dramatic of them— the way his eyes blew up almost comically wide before he twirled on Guxi, a truly furious look on his face. “You promised—”

“What’s done is done.” She seemed even more smug, if anything. “The course is set. You can as much change it now as I can bring down the sky.” The principal grit his teeth and clenched a fist— but a battle didn’t break out between the two of them. It wouldn’t have really been a fight anyways…

He half expected Yuxan to try something, but he just slumped back into his chair after a second, apparently not willing to show disunity even in the face of seeing all his ambitions defeated. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider? I can offer you a competitive salary to a senior librarian. I can offer you security.”

Mingtian folded his arms behind his back and walked over to the window, utterly brushing past Yuxan as he looked out the city that sprawled out beyond their precinct— the endless rows of buildings that swept out over the land, building up over themselves like so many towering needles of steel and glass, until they washed up against the band of sharp-crimson that was the city walls. “Nothing,” he spoke quietly— powerfully, not supported by any trick of domain or qi but rather simple certainty— “nothing you can offer me will ever be enough to attract my interest. You can as much make me stay as you can bring down the sky.”

“You’re serious about this.”

“When have I ever not been serious about anything?”

Yuxan was silent for a long, stifling moment. “You’re shooting yourself in the foot here. You had a chance to become something great. Your skills are valuable, and yet… you’re willing to waste away in a library, doing menial labor utterly beneath your station.”

“That you say that means that you fail to comprehend. Not all that glitters is gold, and sunlight falters for no man.” No man but him. Endless and indefatigable, inexhaustible— boundless. Certain. “You should have expected this, Yuxan. You brought this upon yourself. Remember how you recruited me? This is merely the natural consequence of things.” He turned around and strode towards the door, not even waiting for a response. “Have a good day.” Then— he left them behind, shutting the door solidly behind him and hearing the click of it latching shut echo throughout the empty hallway.

It was only when he’d gotten a few dozen feet down the hallway that he allowed himself to sigh, slumping a bit. Clearly he’d been away from the machinations of mortal politics for too long, if he hadn’t seen that coming. Of course Guxi would try one last desperate gesture to sabotage his di— students. His students. “Why didn’t you stop it?”

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With a slight shimmer of air warping, to the faintest tang of blood, Zhihu materialized in a shaft of shadow cut darkly beneath the slanted sunlight of a broad window. “You’re as perceptive as ever. I always wonder what tool you’ve made for yourself that can perceive even the stealth techniques of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

“Perhaps I’m just that sharp.”

“And perhaps Yuxan will stop harassing you spontaneously out of the goodness of his heart.” He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that. “As for why I didn’t stop them…” she fell into step beside him, her so-official looking sect robes distinctly at odds with the setting about them. “Typically— as a matter of course— the Bloody Saffron Sect doesn’t involve itself with the politics of East Saffron and its mortal administration. Personally, I find it boring. It’s so… meaningless. Like trying to herd cats or hold back the tide with your fingers. An exercise in frustration.”

“It’s meaningful to them, though.”

“And that’s why I let them play. They can have their petty games, and those that truly wish to dedicate themselves to something will eventually make their way into the sect.”

“Not them.” He shook his head— “them. The people of East Saffron— the kids like Lily and Avyr, the dedicated workers like Lexi, the those who are just trying to support themselves and their families like Janus. It means the world to them— because it is their world.” To his surprise, he even found himself meaning it. It’d been so long since he’d interacted with… no, not even that, it’d been so long since he’d interacted with anything less than the uppermost echelons of the cultivator world that it was a bit surprising how strongly it resonated with him, that.

“It's interesting you think that way.” He raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn’t clarify. “I’ll be watching the Applied Combat examination matches. You’re going to be there. Make sure you’ve finished the preparations.” It wasn’t a question. It was a demand— further even, a mere statement that in its perfect self-assuredness spoke of only one option. There was no other choice for him but.

He would’ve come anyway. His students had come so far… and even with the sudden handicap that had been thrust upon them, he fully expected them to go far. “Of course.” Then he sighed. Right, he’d have to inform Lily. She was going to be… upset. A curse on the braindead politics of the 32nd precinct…

Right. She wasn’t going to like the new rules one bit…