My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a thin man with a worried expression. We stood up and curtsied in unison as the old fairy had taught.

“I am Yuanshi Tianzun, the Master Forseer. It appears that I will finish teaching you in preparation for tomorrow,” Yuanshi Tianzun announced in a tone that suggested it was the last thing he wanted to do. “What have you learned?”

“Xiansheng, her ladyship the Goddess of Propriety taught us the ranks and the curtesies for—”

“Nothing then,” Yuanshi Tianzun summarized with a growl. He wiped away the still moving cloud formations with a swing of his arms.

“Unlike your former shifu, I do not preach nonsense. The power of gods can be divided into four branches: Chi, Fu, Dan. Chi is the fuel of all life and the source of gods’ power. All living creatures have chi. Gods have the most. Mortals, animals and plants have some. Inanimate objects have none. Chi is what allows gods to alter reality at a fundamental level.”

Yuanshi Tianzun waved his arms right, and the roof vanished. He waved his arms left, and the walls fell.

“That was chi,” he said amidst gasps. “Collecting and exercising chi is a part of every god’s daily life. Some of you will be more talented at than others. Some of you will work harder than others. This will all result in you having different levels of chi. It matters little today, as I will only teach you just enough for you to fly. The rest of your training will be with your individual shifu after the ceremony.”

Shangtian, and many others, rushed to grind ink and unroll paper. I was a slow writer and gave up after the first five characters.

Thankfully, Yuanshi Tianzun paused in his rapid speech and turned to some Shen near him. “You were born with the chi required for life in Shenjie, but not the Xian. Xian, to catch up, repeated these phrases after me.”

As I repeated the phrases in my mind, I felt a strange warmth circulating in my chest.

“Regulate your breathing. Allow the chi to flow through your body.” I heard him say. “Imagine water vapor under your feet… Visualize it!” He shouted. “No, not water, water VAPOR.” He yelled at a guy standing in a puddle of water.

I squeezed my eyes shut and immediately felt something swirling around my feet.

“Now imagine the water vapor congregating, merging, condensing to form a cloud!”

My water vapor formed into a white mass.

“Step onto your cloud, but take a deep breath first. Keep taking in breaths while you are on the cloud. This levitates you and keeps your from sinking. If you have wet feet, then you are not doing it right!”

Everyone around me was gulping down air. I managed to get only the soles of my shoes wet. When everyone could at least stand on their cloud, Yuanshi Tianzun said, “The most important duty of your godhood will be helping mortals in Fanjie, so learn the skill of flying well.”

“I can just take my nine-headed phoenix when I go, ” Someone, who I assumed to be an Shen, protested.

Yuanshi Tianzun turned to him like a lion upon a rabbit.

“Ride animals have been banned for deities descending to Fanjie on missions or mortacations! Careless deities have allowed their pets go free and harvest chi through evil methods. Without proper supervision, these beasts wreak havoc in the mortal world as yaoguai. Do you remember Taishang Laojun’s blue oxen that went into the bedrooms of children at night and ate their hearts? Even after the Celestial Warriors got rid of the yaoguai, it became a story that persists in that world to this day. And Jiuku Tianzun’s nine-headed lion that tried to eat a monk who was enroute to the court of Buddha? What an interdeital nightmare, I couldn’t face any of the boddhisattvas for weeks! Since one day in Shenjie equals one year in Fanjie, you might lose your beast for only an incense of time, but it could already have been been terrorizing mortals for months. Practice! Practice! Practice!

“You said there were four branches but only mentioned three. What is the fourth branch?” I opened my mouth and immediately sank a little on my cloud.

“Do you really want to know the fourth branch?” He spun around and stared at me intently.

Not if you didn’t want to answer, I wanted to say, but Yuanshi Tianzun proceeded to address the rest of the class.

“Chi is the harvesting of life force. Fu is the art of creating talismans. Dan is the craft of brewing elixirs. The last of the four branches is Zhong.”

He paused, as if to let that word sink into our minds.

“Zhong is the planting of insects inside of a recipient with the goal of bewitching them. Once the insects crawl inside the brain, they turn the recipients into puppets with no will of their own. Because the insects are raised on a specifically complex diet, they will only respond to the raiser. Zhong is often incurable. All are susceptible. It is the most malicious art, foul beyond moral comprehension. Most gods abstain from it.”

“Not Mojie,” someone whispered.

“What is Mojie?” A Xian asked. The word sounded familiar. The guards and Tudi had mentioned it.

“They are demons,” An Shen answered.

“No!” Yuanshi Tianzun countered immediately. “Do not make the mistake of thinking Mojie and demons are the same. You can become a demon…” he pointed at a frail boy, who shrank back in fear, “I can become a demon. Anyone can become a demon if they head down the wrong path. Understand?”

No one responded.

“You seem confused. Very well then, I shall tell you the story of Seijnehs and Seijmo,” he said gruffly. All eyes followed him as he paced the center of the room. “Seijnehs and Seijmo were two groups of gods. Billions of years ago, the Seijnehs and Seijmo were the same. But thousands of years later, a rift began to grow between them. Seijnehs believed their duties as gods were performing miracles, saving mortals in times of need, and righting wrongs. Seijmo believed they needed to teach mortals how to prosper, spread codes of conduct among mortals, and reward those most loyal.”

“Which side do you believe?” He suddenly shouted, and his finger pointed right at me.

I refused to answer him, because I didn’t know the answer. Back in the village classroom, I might not have been a “know it all”, but I was definitely a “know 90%” due to my innate intelligence and curiosity. It would be an insult to my pride to look dumb, especially in front of the Shen.

Eventually a boy in front of me thought Yuanshi Tianzun was pointing at him and stood up shakily.

“Seijmo… be… because they will gain more followers… and therefore gain more chi… and receive more offerings. Mortals will also benefit… in that they will have better lives,” he murmured.

Yuanshi Tianzun turned to the rest of the class.

“Stand up if you agree with him.”

Upon hearing this, a few more candidates stood up.

Yuanshi Tianzun surveyed those standing. “You are expelled from Shenjie and never to participate in the Bai Shi Ceremony.”

A stunned silence fell upon the room, followed almost immediately by confused buzzing.

“The names that I used are semordnilap,” Yuanshi Tianzun said slowly. “Seijnehs was Shenjie. Seijmos was Mojie. Those of you standing up are agreeing with Mojie’s ideology.”

One of the standing candidates raised his hand timidly.

“Pardon sir, but we were only thinking. We weren’t actually going to—”

“Wrong thoughts are the root of all trouble!” Yuanshi Tianzun snapped, eyes blazing. “If you tell mortals how to act and show favor to those who follow your words, what does that lead to? Devoted fervent followers. What will they do? Worship you! Hold your words as the holy truth! Spread your message to other mortals!”

“What’s wrong with that?” Someone said.

Yuanshi Tianzun whirled around, eyeballs bulging out of his sockets.

“What’s wrong with that?” He hissed. “What happens when your friend teaches a different code of conduct? What will your fervent and devoted followers do when they encounter another group of equally fervent and devoted followers following the teachings of another god?”

No one spoke up.

“Bloodshed,” Yuanshi Tianzun said with a sigh. “The role of gods is to protect the lives of the worlds. If even one life is harmed because of us, then what is the purpose of our existence? What makes us gods is not our chi, or our powers, or our immortality but our principles. And principles separate a god from a demon.”

Yuanshi Tianzun made a gesture. A half-horse half-lion creature galloped on stage. It was the same man who took the name-plates. Some name-plates flew out of his sleeve towards the standing pupils. They hovered briefly above them before flying to Yuanshi Tianzun.

Yuanshi Tianzun looked at the pile of green jade in his hands.

“A city falls from within, and I cannot allow the seeds of disunity and division to grow in Shenjie,”

With that, he crushed the name-plates to powder. Immediately, the Qilin began to march the standing candidates away.

“One wrong answer, and they are kicked out,” Shangtian whispered with fearful eyes.

I stared at the file of figures, whom a moment ago, were set to become gods. If they could be expelled over a wrong answer, then Yuanshi Tianzun wouldn’t hesitate to banish me over my name.

Meanwhile, Yuanshi Tianzun was talking again.

“I mentioned earlier that those from Mojie cannot be called demons. Why?”

No one was dumb enough to answer his question this time. Yuanshi Tianzun did not wait for a response and continued, “Remember the infamous King Arum of Mojie? Talented and ambitious, he sought to overturn Shenjie rule. Millions on both sides perished before Arum was finally defeated. His majesty showed benevolence by allowing the demons, as his followers were known, to sign the Tonitrum Peace Treaty. Mojie deities have now accepted Shenjie laws the same way as Haijie and Yodu do.”

A few snickers broke out among the Shen.

“No, Mojie is not pleased to be under Shenjie rule. There have been rumors, nothing substantiated of course, that Mojie is luring wild yaoguai with the promise of mortal hearts and resurrecting the dying art of Zhong. They are plotting something. Although we are safe under his highness’s protection, it is only a matter of time before Mojie rebels. Therefore, tomorrow, you display your talents. Tomorrow, you strike fear into their hearts. Tomorrow, you show them that Shenjie will always win.”

Those, who had begun to hover on their clouds, immediately froze. A few, distracted, fell right though their puffs of water vapor. Even the Shen, who were soaring around showing off, stopped dead in their tracks.

“Xiansheng, Mo… Mojie will be attending the Baishi Ceremony this year?” an Shen gasped.

Yuanshi Tianzun nodded gravely.

“Sir, they haven’t attended any Shenjie events for hundreds of years. Why now?” An Shen asked.

“The Pur—” Yuanshi Tianzun suddenly stopped short. “Ahem, just focus on flying! Consider your cloud a part of you. Lean left to turn left, lean right to turn right. Go gather speed, cast a bigger cloud, which the Xian can’t do right now with limited chi. However, you can go faster by having limited contact with your cloud.”

Soon, everyone was flipping, jumping, and leaping on the clouds again, except this time, no one spoke. Tufts of white sped around the empty, silent space. I was so absentminded that soon, my feet were drenched.

I was sure that the word Yuanshi Tianzun stopped short of saying was “purple”. What was wrong with goddamned purple? He also said that Mojie was luring yaoguai to their side. Could it be that Mojie was the mastermind behind the massacre? And if they truly were the masterminds, then I was going to meet the murderers of my people tomorrow.