He walked over to stand beside her, silent for a long moment. He still remembered the first time he’d seen his sister get injured so severely. It’d been… well, circumstances between them had been different, but that aching pain, hint of despair, he knew it well. Its absence in the Celestial Realm, where the only ones who survived were the ones who never truly died, was stark.

“Come on.” He finally said after a while. “It’s cold outside, and there’s no point in standing here.”

“I won’t leave until Avyr does.” Mingtian fought down a faint smile. How very her. “It’s not that cold anyways. It’s not even… too far below freezing.” The way she shivered, teeth chattering as she bravely stood in defiance of the elements, though, begged to differ.

Mingtian raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you think that the outer sect disciple will allow harm to come to Avyr after giving him a valuable pill specifically to heal him? Wouldn’t you much prefer to be in the library, resting from your fight?” Obviously not— “or studying formations, for your fight with Xinshi in half a semester?” She hesitated— “and do you think Avyr would want you to freeze out here while you wait for him?”

Finally, with that, she caved. “Fine. I’ll come with him.” Giving Avyr one final, contemplative glance as she trudged through the snow after him. “He’ll really be okay?”

“He’ll be fine. That sword was a nasty piece of work— a skilled refiner worked on it, no doubt, and the formations on it are downright brutal— but Xinshi is tough

. A natural aspect of his first-step cultivation, I assume— focusing on toughness of the body in metaphysical parallel for toughness of the spirit, which…” he paused, biting off his analysis before he could reveal all of Avyr’s cultivation, however mundane it might have been.

It wasn’t a bad match for the kid, all things considered. Just… not a good match, either. Avyr wasn’t a juggernaut, absorbing endless waves of attacks as he waded through a battlefield. Perhaps he’d once wanted to be that, but Mingtian had a slight suspicion that his cultivation’s effects were largely involuntary and inherited, rather than anything he’d actually chosen for himself.

That was fine. He’d earned a reward of his own for his performance in that battle, and there were Peak-Divines in the Heavenly realms that would sell their entire sects for a few sentences of cultivation guidance from an Immortal Sovereign. Which was to say, he’d help out the cat where he could.

They reached the library without incident, though Lily had looked incredibly relieved as they finally stepped out of the cold and into the building’s balmy, dry warmth. The dusty, crisp scent of paper, the echo of winter melancholy… it all wrapped together into something relaxing. He’d have to consider adding additional function into his wuxing formation, to turn it from a lotus array into a library array, if such a thing was possible…

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

That was besides the point though. As they stepped into her office and the soothing qi of all the world settled around them, its flows serene and calming even if Lily didn’t comprehend the scope of it, he took a seat behind his desk and directed Lily to grab the other chair. “So. Your fight.”

She grinned. “I did well, didn’t I?”

Hm… what to do, what to do. It’d been a long time since he’d taught anyone, and even longer since he’d given such personal advice as this. He allowed to think it through for a moment— a long moment, reduced to a mortal’s speed of thought as he was— before responding. “You did.” Lily grinned brightly— but he wasn’t finished. “You also fought recklessly, and foolishly. I’m not talking about your Taiji Binding Formation— that was inspired— but rather about your use of talismans. You’re a novice still, but you knew who you were going to fight. Even a novice should have been able to defeat a mortal with effortless grace.”

“Guandong isn’t… well, she is a mortal, but she’s been training too! And I had to show off for the outer sect disciple! If she doesn’t see my worth, then how am I ever going to get into the sect?”

Mingtian cracked a soft smile. “You have the right mindset, but… hm, it’s hard to really describe. Imagine you’re a birdwatcher on a mountain slope, watching a mouse as it scurries around—”

“Why would a birdwatcher be watching a mouse—”

“Shh. Just imagine it. There’s two hawks in the air. Hawk one dives at the mouse with perfect grace, but pulls up at the last moment, never quite managing to catch it. Hawk two simply catches the mouse on their first dive. Which of the two is the more impressive?”

“The… first?”

“And which of the two would you want with you if you’re hunting mice?”

“Why would a birdwatcher be hunting…” she wilted a bit. “The second. Are you saying that what I was doing was counterproductive?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know how the Bloody Saffron Sect operates, and while you were clearly holding back for that finishing formation, you did demonstrate a far greater understanding of your techniques than you would’ve been able to if you’d just won your fight instantly. In some ways, it also showed face to Guandong, in allowing her to actually demonstrate her own abilities.”

Lily scrunched up her nose in annoyance— though it ended up looking more cute than anything. “Who even talks like that anymore? ‘Showing face?’” She shook her head. “So what was the point of this even, if I didn’t actually do anything wrong?”

“It’s merely something you’re going to have to consider in the future, as you strive to be accepted by the Sect. They want the best, and you’re going to have to prove that you surpass all your peers to get accepted.” Then, additionally— “also I was tempering your ego before I give you something awesome for winning.”

All of Lily’s hesitation vanished in an instant, eyes sparkling as she leaned forward. “Really?! What is it what is it what is it—”

“Calm down! I have it right here.” The great part about dealing with Lily-the-unenlightened-mortal was that she really wouldn’t grasp the fullness of what he could do, so— for dramatics sake— he waved his hand and summoned a handful of items out his spatial ring and into his hands. “I’ve been making these for you over the past few weeks in anticipation of your victory. I would have withheld them if you hadn’t won… but you weren’t ever going to lose, were you?”