Cup of tea in hand, seals wrapped especially tight to make sure that he didn’t do anything a mortal couldn’t, mentally prepared and his tasks at the library taken care of, Mingtian stepped into his first weekly instructor meeting. Nobody paid him much attention. The principal was off doing… something or another, the only instructor he knew was busy arguing with one he didn’t, and everyone else was already more or less already in their cliques. And luckily, unlike the prior day’s class, he didn’t have to grab their attention with a flashy formation.

In retrospect, that’d been so stupid. He was embarrassed just thinking about it, but… well, at least it had worked to get their attention? In that at least, he’d succeeded. Now, if only he could be sure that he’d succeeded in teaching all his students the core of formations…

“Alright, everyone, everyone, settle down.” Extricated from whatever conversation he’d been having, Yuxan grabbed everyone’s attention as he took center stage. Or just, stood at the front of the room. Funnily enough, they were using the same room the elite students did— it was just one of the best ones in the academy. “I know this school year has forced us to deal with unprecedented problems, and I’m proud of you all for managing to endure and overcome them. I think we can confidently call this first week of classes a success, no?” Some polite applause. “I’m sure all of you have your concerns, but rest assured, I’ve taken every step to ameliorate any potential issues. Neither you nor any of your students are in any danger.”

A few sighs of relief, at that, which Mingtian couldn’t help but find absurd. Surely they weren’t actually afraid of Avyr? He could understand a slight bit of natural trepidation when in his presence— the kid had the build of a predator, all feline grace and deadly power, but he didn’t have even a hint of killing intent. It was probably something he’d have to work on in the future, actually, when he stepped into the world of cultivation in truth…

It wasn’t like he was a dragon or something. He was just a person, in a different flavor. The rumors really blew the whole thing out of proportion.

“…and continue the tradition of excellence that has carried us this far, and will continue to carry us onwards into the future.” Right, there was still a speech going on. “That said, a few things to keep in mind. The semester exams will arrive faster than you expect— make sure you’re prepared, and have studied the standard core manuscripts, to those that applies to. To the elective professors, make sure that your tests are ready for board review by the end of the month. For the young students, make sure that they’re getting the requisite permission slips for the semester’s end trip to Old Saffron. I’ll make my way around to answer any questions and help out where I can, but that’s all the reminders for today.” Then he stepped away from the podium, and everyone devolved right back into chattering on.

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He managed to entertain the— foolish— hope that he’d be able to sit out the whole thing in silence for a long few seconds, before the Qi Theory instructor sauntered over his way. Bao Kaihe was a very peculiar type of infuriating, one he hadn’t much experience with before— not that self-important mortals were at all rare, but self-important mortals who styled themselves off cultivators and had the knowledge to back it up were scarcer than water in a desert. It was the strange conditions of the realm that allowed…

“A jasmine tea, I see? How… nice. I’ve heard the honorable patriarch of the Bloody Saffron Sect has long been a fan of zhenshang xiaozhong, and I can’t help but say that the varieties on the markets are quite reflective of that. If, of course, you know where to look.” Implying that he didn’t know where to look, and that he was uncultured, and stupid, and also dumb, and so on and so forth how droll. That, and the jasmine tea he was drinking was a ninth step tea he’d brought from the celestial realm and thus probably one of the most expensive teas that Kaihe would ever see.

He just sipped his tea, completely ignoring Kaihe for a few moments— just long enough not to give insult, but not short enough to show that he cared. He wasn’t as big into the political game as his sister, but he knew how to play as well as any other immortal. “Good morning to you too.”

A flash of disgust flashed across Kaihe’s face. “Yes. Good morning. How did your first class go? Granted that you only teach once a week, I can’t imagine you were able to teach much at all.”

“Indeed.” That was one of the issues he was facing. Not even one of the larger issues, but it certainly was one. “I only got through five simple runes and some basic connections. And the origins of formations of course.” Kaihe just stared at him in silence for a moment. “It's a shame,” he continued, choosing to ignore the man’s all but glare— “most of the students don’t even have the requisite mathematics background to learn the art to any appreciable degree.”

“I— excuse me if I find that hard to believe. All of the elite students already completed integral calculus courses, and most are beyond even that.”

“Preferably, they’d all have finished a topology class already, but we work with what we have. You probably understand that already, teaching Qi Theory— I can’t imagine it’s easy to teach students who haven’t taken at least a fluid dynamics class before.”

Kaihe just stared at him in silence for a moment before standing up and storming off. Weird. He hadn’t even gotten to the snide comment phase…