The formations test had been easy. Of course the formations test was easy— she was in every way beyond it, her classmates bumbling months and a great deal of effort behind her. Most of their formations were laughably, obviously wrong… but, she had not been worried about the formations exam. All her other exams had gone pretty well so far, and now… there was a single exam left. Most of the school had already been let out for winter break, leaving only the elite class behind to take their final and most important test.

When she stepped onto the snowy field of the stadium, only one of the three people standing there was expected. Instructor Ceng leaned on his staff near the center of the wide, white expanse, his easygoing smile as ever plastered onto his face as he watched the elite students trickle in for their examination. That much was normal— what wasn’t was Master Mingtian standing there in a light coat, staring out impassively over the forming crowd of students. What definitely wasn’t normal was the woman— a woman she recognized, a woman she couldn’t not recognize, standing in the robes of the Bloody Saffron Sect, not even leaving an impression on the snow as she stood next to Master Mingtian.

A cultivator. An actual cultivator, there to watch their battles and judge them, and decide which lucky few of them were worthy to advance just one step closer to the sect itself. Beneath her gaze, they would prove themselves the stuff of legends. It was an electrifying feeling.

“Great. Everyone’s here.” Instructor Ceng straightened up, yanking his staff out of the snow and beginning to pace. “You’ve all been preparing for this, so I won’t go into too much detail— each odd number ranking will fight the rank below them, and that’s it. We’ll be keeping it short for the honorable disciple’s sake, but don’t worry too much and just make sure you give a good showing. The second semesters’ exam will be different, but for now it’s going to be easy stuff.” Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She’d have to fight Xinshi eventually, but for now, she’d take the free victory proffered.

By the way Guandong was glaring at her, she didn’t think her competitor really understood her position…

Master Mingtian then took over from Instructor Ceng, stepping forth into the center of a— circle, she realized, the arena, just barely marked as such. “The rules are far simpler than your usual spars, I gather. Your goal is as such: try your best to kill your opponent. No move is banned, though I implore you to remember your honor in representing the academy and East Saffron in front of the sect.” He glanced towards the disciple, then turned forward and made a handseal. “Heaven and earth revolving, five spirits transforming, return to the pivot! Unwobbling Jade Top Formation: activate!” A flash of green, and a faint stirring of snow across the ground, and the shielding formation ignited.

The cultivator moved for the first time, drifting delicately across the snow, her steps almost preternaturally graceful as she stepped through the barrier. She tapped a finger against it— channeling some sort of qi technique if the way Lily smelled blood, touch of iron, scarlet— saffron was any indicator. A pure note rung out, and she stepped back, satisfied. “You’ve outdone yourself in creating an inverted barrier. Trigrams?”

Master Mingtian nodded. “Of a sort.”

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“Clever.” Then she returned to where she’d stood before, as though the entire exchange hadn’t happened at all. Lily was sure that nobody would so easily forget it, though— the librarian had been praised by a cultivator.

In the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but notice the way Xinshi smiled wryly, or the way Guandong clenched her fists in rage.

She was going to relish this.

So the matches began.

As the third ranked student, she had a long time to wait out in the cold. That, and after the first two frankly embarrassing fights, and the third one where the two students were still circling one another, she kinda got bored and went to pester Avyr. But Avyr was too busy stressing over his coming fight, so she left to pester Mingtian. Except Mingtian was in teacher-mode, and refused to even respond to her. So…

“It’s embarrassing.” She stiffened as the last person she’d expected to approach her commented casually on the state of the fight— which had devolved into the two kids flitting forward to lash out, then returning to circling plus or minus a new bruise or two. “We are supposed to be cultivators.

What they’re doing, refusing to commit like that…”

“Yeah they totally suck.” A few students glared at her for that, but hey! She was right. “If they would just get on with it already, I’d much appreciate it. It’s cold out here, you know?”

Xinshi chuckled. “I see you share much the same opinions. This world of ours… if we do not seize it, then who will? Victory won’t walk up to us begging.”

“Huh.” She actually kind of agreed with him, there. “So… what’s brought you over here? Trying to pry out a few last hints before Avyr trounces you?”

“The cat?” Xinshi broke out into laughter— real laughter, not the sort of thing arrogant people did to hide their insecurities. “If the cat wins, I’ll eat my boots. No, that’s not happening. Still, knowing your enemies is half the battle.”

“Then…” she paused, then frowned. “Oh, I see. You want to ask about me.”

Xinshi nodded sharply. “You’re sharper than Mother implies. She sees you as an impetuous runner-up, a not-quite, lacking almost, but… that’s not who you are, is it? You clearly gave Avyr talismans of a quality even my mother can’t get her hands on easily, and you’ve only been practicing this for… what, half a year?” He shook his head. “One day, after I crush the cat and prove that he’s no challenge to me, it is going to be you who I fight for admittance to the university.”

“You flatter— oo!” Finally, one of the kids had managed to deck the other one in the face and send him spilling onto the snow. “That was awesome! Good job! I knew you had it in you!” Xinshi just stood beside her, arms crossed, a bemused look on his face. “Anyways, you were saying?”

“I won’t flatter you forever.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

“I’ll simply win.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever thought, for even a single moment, that you could win?” And that… that was the crux of the question, wasn’t it? Except, when she made as to respond, Xinshi had already walked away.

Rude.