Several days after the Lantern Festival, classes at the Capital Schools officially began.

Ruidie sat on her cushion and collapsed on the desk in front of her, waiting for her first class, The Way, to begin. There were five rows of five seats in the room that slowly filled with students that she didn’t pay attention to. The back wall’s screens were completely open except for hanging straw drapes and allowed for the sun to light class.

A finger poked her shoulder and she turned her head to see Shibara. "Good morning, Shibara."

Shibara didn’t respond, instead, she moved her hand to move aside some of Ruidie’s hair. "You have bags under your eyes."

Ruidie’s head fell back down to her desk. "You scared me! For a second I thought you were going to say my eyes had gone red."

"You need rest."

Ruidie groaned. "I need to go back to the library."

"Do you plan to live there from now on?"

"I mean, I need to get my bedsheets back."

"There are extra in the drawers."

"Convenient."

Shibara’s lips were partially open, ready to say something, but she closed them.

Ruidie already knew Shibara had entered cultivation the day they had visited the library. "Israk?"

"He succeeded last night."

"I need to go back to the library." Ruidie absently repeated. "For the sheets of course," she added.

"It doesn't matter. I’ll look for you after classes end to make sure you end up back on the bed in your room."

"What class do you have after this one anyway?" She herself had Natural Sciences next.

"For the class that I was allowed to pick, I chose Governance."

"It might be boring, they’ll just make you read the Classics."

"That’s fine," Shibara answered. "You chose Military Theory like Israk did, right? Too bad there’s no chance to encounter each other since he’s in a different school."

In the end, The Way was the only class Ruidie and Shibara shared.

...

A bell rang in the distance. An entire day was split into twelve periods. Four rings signified that it was morning.

Shibara returned to the seat assigned to her.

A bald old man in a dark grey robe walked into the room. His long white beard swayed as he walked in a healthy stride.

Everyone naturally rose from their seats and Ruidie followed along.

"Rise! Bow! Sit!" the students called.

"I am Instructor Sang." He leveled his gaze over the students. "First-years, in Thousand Thought, you’re only allowed to speak if you stand up. As this is the first day, we will simply review what we’ll be learning this semester. Obviously, it is interpreting the Canon. What can teach The Way better than the Canon? First row, third seat, do you know?"

Ruidie didn’t know the answer, but she knew a trap when she saw one.

A male student stood up. "Nothing, Instructor Sang."

"Wrong! It’s experiencing heaven and earth! How did your teacher teach you? Do you think I would ask a question just so you say the easiest answer?"

The male student was shaking.

"Sit back down. As we live, we will all experience heaven and earth in our own ways, even if we do nothing. Even if this is the case, the Canon will accelerate our own learning and give it direction. The texts of the past masters are the foundation of The Way. It is not enough to just contemplate the Canon, the monks at the monasteries do that already, we must find their true essence in cultivation."

Several students shifted to straighter positions, including Ruidie.

Instructor Sang continued. "For example, let's consider the Chart of the True Forms of the Five Peaks. Besides its nature as a map of the Marchmounts, what else is it? Row three, seat four, do you know the answer?"

Ruidie realized that was her and shot up. She didn’t know the answer again.

"So?" Instructor Sang insisted.

She remembered the name, Chart of the True Forms of the Five Peaks, back from the Stargazing Exam. It was the first essay question she saw. It went ‘Five channels deep and seven channels wide, what does one find using the Chart of the True Forms of the Five Peaks?’ Her mind churned.

"It is about a cultivator's meridians and spiritual roots," Ruidie said a moment later. Despite being a guess, she confidently said it.

"Correct. The diagram is analogous to Internal Alchemy."

She fell back onto her seat and sighed.

"Let’s continue further, the diagram will not just help navigate energy in our exterior bodies, what term am I looking for? Fifth row, first seat!"

The female student slowly stood up. "Inner consciousness?"

"Wrong! I asked for a term. It is our Inner Landscape! But before we can even speak about Inner Landscape, we need to learn something else. Second row, seat two! What is that something?"

It was Shibara who stood up next. She slowly bowed. "This student is inexperienced and does not know. May I ask Instructor Sang for the answer?"

One corner of Instructor Sang’s lips pulled up. "You may sit back down. See that, you fools. If you don’t know the answer, don’t just guess it. The answer is introspection. Introspection is the key to cultivation. This is why the first text that you will all read by next class is Ji Xian and the Reflective Pond. This is one of the texts included in the first compilations of the Canon, its history goes back to…"

…

The class continued on until the Instructor finally finished speaking. Ruidie sensed that it was almost over. She considered the class a success so far.

At the front of the room, Instructor Sang stood up and took out a scroll which he unrolled over the front wall. "On this scroll are various texts within the Canon. Write down your theories on how each relates to cultivation and what can be grasped. Once you’re done, leave your answers behind and you may exit class. How well you write these will be worth points."

Ruidie blinked twice.

The entire room began moving their ink blocks and readying their brushes. She slowly did the same while reading the unfamiliar column of names on the scroll multiple times.

Ruidie picked up her brush and dipped it into the ink. After a moment of writing, the girl stood up. She gave a nod to Shibara before bowing and exiting the room.

She was the first one done. Some nearby students wanted to glance at her paper, but the desks were spaced too far apart for them to avoid suspicion.

Instructor Sang raised his thin eyebrow, but then he remembered that the girl was the only one who had answered one of his questions successfully. He walked over to Ruidie’s desk.

The paper was completely empty except for a single line of words. ‘I will follow the words of Instructor Sang. I don’t know the answers, so I won’t guess.’

Instructor Sang’s face flushed. "Do you think this will work!?"

…

The fifth bell rang. The girl adjusted her sitting posture.

Ruidie was prepared for Natural Sciences. The class on The Way going completely wrong was something she predicted would happen, but her predictions for this class were different.

An olive-skinned woman with short brown hair walked in. She was thin framed and wore layers of red garments that swayed in the air. Instead of walking behind the front table, she stood in front of the instructor’s table, and dropped onto it, using the surface as a seat. She moved both her arms back to support her slouching posture. "I am Mishra Phanita. Everyone can call me whatever you like. Technically, I’m not even your real instructor," she said lightly with a smirk.

The students met gazes with each other until one stood up. "What does Instructor Mishra mean?"

"Your real Instructor is doing something back at the Xianyang Ruins. Whatever it is, she refuses to leave the Spring and Autumn Archives, so I’m her replacement. When I do teach here at the Institute, I usually teach classes on spirit beasts, guardian animals, divinity, demons, and whatnot. Those are my specialties. Now, I’m not saying I won’t teach this class well, but I’m not saying I will either."

Ruidie’s expression matched that of many others in the class.

Instructor Mishra laughed. "Don’t worry, she’ll finish eventually." She took out a large flat book and flipped it open. "Let’s start with this easy primer here. Is there water in the air? Anyone want to answer?"

Ruidie stood up. "There is."

"How do you know?"

"In the morning there is mist in the valleys. The vapors of mist settle on the leaves of plants. Dews of water form. If there is no water in the air, this cannot occur. There must be water in the air."

"That sounds right." Instructor Mishra glanced at her book and she frowned. "Actually, that’s the right answer, but there is also a correct answer. Does anyone know?

A male student stood up. "The Old One once said that water is capable because it is versatile. It is not limited to just flowing. It can exist in the air as vapor or concentrated as ice."

Ruidie’s mind stalled. What nonsense is that? You can’t just state the answer and say that an old man told you so.

Instructor Mishra waved. "Good." She tilted her head. "The first student, please sit down."

Ruidie dropped down onto her seat.

"By the way, there is going to be a short written test at the end of class," Instructor Mishra said.

The girl remained listless for the rest of the class.

...

It was another day and another two classes.

Yesterday, Ruidie ate lunch with the Ashina siblings before being confined to her room by Shibara. She took the time to continue studying the Orthodox Path before falling asleep. She woke up at midnight and walked back to the library. Unlike the other buildings, the library remains constantly lit up because it did not use candles or lanterns. Ruidie did not know where the light came from, but she liked the library for this reason.

Today’s two classes were Anatomy and Military Theory.

The fourth bell rang and a gray-haired man walked in. He was somewhat short and large framed in his brown robe. On his back was a large box that he dropped onto his table.

Ruidie guessed what was inside and considered whether her first-row seat was an advantage or a disadvantage.

Everyone rose and bowed.

"I am Instructor Feng. Welcome to Anatomy. There are a couple of things I need to get out of the way first that I’m only going to say once. From now on, don’t bother asking me about my puppet methods. They are Feng Clan secrets. If I know that you know, I won’t kill you, but my relatives definitely will. The other thing is, if anyone gets sick during this semester, go visit the infirmary, they can cure anything. Cultivation is a matter of life and death, so I’m not responsible for anything that happens to you. Now then-" Before everyone had gotten over his word, he kicked open the large box on the table.

It was a fresh corpse of a man.

Everyone surrounding Ruidie all scrambled back.

Instructor Feng clicked his tongue. "Get over it. How will you ever obtain immortality if you don’t know what death looks like." His eyes glanced down at Ruidie who had remained still in her seat. "What about you, girl? Want to be the first to dissect this thing? It's always better to be the first."

"Are there points involved?"

Instructor Feng scratched the back of his neck. "Sure."

She grinned before standing up. "I’ll do it!"

…

The score so far was two to one. Her last class could at least tie it up.

Ruidie opened her eyes and pushed herself up from her slouch when the fifth bell rang.

A familiar man entered the room. His robe was the traditional gray. A pin kept his long black hair pulled back. It was the Senior Instructor that officially invited her to the school.

"Senior Instructor Lei," she said out loud. She didn’t realize how quiet the room was.

Senior Instructor Lei spotted Ruidie and his lips twisted into a frown.

She matched his frown. What is that supposed to mean?

The man reached his desk.

Everyone stood up.

"Rise! Bow! Sit!"

Senior Instructor Lei stood straight with his hand behind his back. "I am Lei Shiwen. Everyone should call me Instructor Lei, leave the senior out of it. This is the introductory class to military theory. Commanding and logistics management, are all second-year material. Strategy and tactics won't even be touched until the third year or an instructor approves. If you complain, then you should have joined Grand Heart instead of Thousand Thought. I usually begin with the Spring and Autumn Period followed by the Warring States Period, but, over the years, I have found that it is easier for students to connect with early doctrines better if they learn the end results first. So, we’ll begin our lecture at Unification. Hei Ruidie, who was the First True Emperor? Even his titled name works."

She stood up. True? She creased her lips. "It is Gaozu."

There was silence as Instructor Lei did not answer.

Someone coughed to hide their laughter. Several others also coughed after.

Ruidie sat back down on her own. Her face was emotionless, only her hands gripped the cushion. Her eyes did not see the students sitting in front of her, they saw past them to remain on Instructor Lei.

Instructor Lei closed his eyes. "It is Shu Shi Di who unified the rivers, plains, and mountains. Shu Shi Di and his Shu Dynasty actually have a close connection with our Institute. The Emperor was known for his ruthlessness. Among the Hundred Schools of Thought that flourished during the Spring and Autumn Period, Shu Shi Di had chosen Legalism as the philosophy to best rule the land. He ordered the books of the other competing philosophies to be burned, but before they were burned, copies of each book had to be collected in an archive in Xianyang to save their knowledge. This was the founding of the Spring and Autumn Archives. When the ancient capital was raided and burned, our seniors sacrificed a thousand lives to protect the texts… Shu Shi Di was also the Quasi-Immortal Emperor. Although his cultivation was not complete, his life was extended with medicine, and he reigned for three hundred years. After his death, Shu collapsed, and the Jing Dynasty replaced it…"

Ruidie’s eyelids grew heavy.

"... that was the fourth emperor of Jing. The fifth emperor of Jing, Emperor Xu of Jing, is notable for being the Immortal Emperor. With his longevity, he reigned for five-hundred years. His generals were…"

...

Ruidie opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep.

The classroom was lit red by the sun. No one was sitting at the desks.

Ruidie yawned and stretched her arms when she froze. She locked gazes with Instructor Lei who was sitting at his table in the midst of writing something.

"Good morning," the words escape her mouth.

"It's almost night," Instructor Lei answered.

"Did I sleep through class?

"No, you were able to hold out until the very end. You only dropped your head onto the table right after I dismissed the class. I can’t complain."

She remained silent. Behind her, a pair of students were walking past the yard. When they caught sight of Instructor Lei, they both bowed. At that instant, the girl finally tilted her head. "I thought you disliked me."

"I am impartial to all my students."

"You made that look and the first thing you did was single me out in class."

Instructor Lei sighed. "That… I asked you who the First True Emperor was. Everyone knows the First True Emperor. I was giving you the easiest question there was."

"But, you didn’t ask anyone else any questions after that."

Instructor Lei glanced outside. "After hearing your answer, I lost all confidence in this year's students."

A bit of Ruidie’s face reddened. "At least I know the first Emperor of Zhao. Isn’t this class too much like a class on history?"

"War defines history. History defines war. It is the same thing."

"I can never understand. When the old folk of Lanzhou tell their stories, even the fairytales were less boring than the war-stories. Isn’t the future better to think about?"

Instructor Lei began moving his brush again. "Have you entered cultivation yet?"

"Why did you have to remind me? Do I have to read the entire Canon before I can cultivate? Isn’t there like more than a thousand texts by now?"

"You don’t have to. A cultivation method is enough. Only half of the first years have entered. There is plenty of time left."

"Doesn't that mean I’m below average?"

"When I graduated years ago, I wasn’t invited to the Archives, so I chose to join the military instead. I was disappointed then. Today, other instructors call me their senior. So, what do you think of that?"

"Thank you, Instructor, but it’s getting late so I’m returning to the library.

Instructor Lei’s brush stopped. The library?

She sincerely bowed and left using the yard instead of the door.