For just a single moment Bai Feng was nothing but the mist that was being dragged elsewhere. The next she was gasping as she was suddenly deposited onto some grass, catching herself and just barely managing to keep herself from face planting into the ground. She frantically looked around to try and figure out where she was and if that bitch Zou Yawen was still around and trying to cleave her damn head open, adrenaline still coursing through her. What she found instead was one of the last things she had been expecting.

She was no longer surrounded by the unnerving forest of trees or on the dull grey stone she'd been on before. Rather she was surrounded by an endless field of emerald grass, not unlike what was in the training field. She was also surrounded by around a dozen other disciples who were sitting on the grass. The only one she recognized though was Lu Jia who was currently staring at her, something that she put out of her mind.

And sitting in a small pool of water in front of them all was the Elder Ning who was currently sitting with her eyes closed. Before she could even try to get the elder's attention to try and figure out what was going on now a pop sounded behind her and her head snapped towards where it had come from. Her eyes narrowed as she glowered at Zou Yawen and Xiong Shui standing there.

Zou Yawen still had her greatsword out and had caught sight of her and was looking at her with a bit of shock at seeing her for just a moment before she began glaring and shifted her stance towards her. Bai Feng fought the urge to lean back as very recent memories of nearly being cut apart by that greatsword tried to make themselves known, instead opting to glare right back at her. Xiong Shui for his part just looked at her with an apologetic look in his eyes as he glanced between her and the elder.

Zou Yawen opened her mouth to say something only for nothing to come out and a brief look of confusion crossed her face.

"Disciple Zou Yawen. Put away your blade, there is no reason for you to have it out at the moment." The serene voice of Elder Ning called out, though Bai Feng didn't turn to face her. "You and your peers in the trial, Disciple Bai Feng and Disciple Xiong Shui have failed. There are many others still in trials of their own, however, so please sit down and wait until then. I do have a couple of announcements to make once everyone has finished. I will be maintaining a field of silence until then so please be patient until then."

They had failed and Bai Feng would've died had the elder presumably not stopped those flames. The only consolation prize she had was the girl's aghast expression when Elder Ning had said they'd all failed. All because she had decided that Bai Feng was the imposter and that no other possibility could exist even when logic pointed towards there not even being an imposter in the first place. She had to force herself to tear her gaze away lest she leap at her in front of everyone.

She turned inwards instead and began to meditate, deciding to make the best of her time until everyone else had managed to finish their own trials. She idly wondered if they were similar to the one she had gone through or if they were different somehow.

But as time passed though she found it increasingly hard to focus as worries began to assault her and a burning pain in her cheek began to assert itself. Raising a hand to where it was coming from she grimaced as she lightly touched it, pain shooting through at the mere brushing of her cheek. It was burnt and bad though it wasn't bleeding. That was going to be painful for a long while though it wasn't worse than the knowledge of just how outclassed she still was here.

Bai Feng had been in her fair share of fights but what had happened there couldn't even be called one. In two strikes she had nearly perished. The first one she nearly hadn't even been to dodge it and Zou Yawen had been at least ten paces away if not more when she had begun to charge. She wasn't sure just how far ahead she was compared to herself in cultivation but that difference alone was too great. Even if she had through some miracle managed to land a hit on her, would she have even noticed it?

It was a depressing thought. Despite how great Bai Feng had felt after her awakening and the knowledge she was growing in strength she was still very weak. There was only one solution to this of course. Attain greater levels of spiritual cultivation and awaken physically, on top of unlocking her meridians and learning cultivation arts. To become strong in her own right.

But no matter how much she tried to focus on meditating and clear her mind, nagging thoughts kept plaguing her.

What if she couldn't become strong? Nobles like Zou Yawen were clearly idiots. But even so, she somehow had the unfailing support of Xiong Shui. Bloodlines too meant nobles in general held a great advantage over her in cultivation granting them untold advantages. And then there's the fact that quite simply that they had every resource imaginable from their family, while she had nothing but her own wits here.

And even if she did manage to become stronger, would it even be worth it when at any time someone even stronger than her could just come out of nowhere and just mess everything up as Zou Yawen had? What would the point even be?

Bai Feng was very glad when Elder Ning had shaken her from the slowly spiraling thoughts with a loud clap. During her meditation, it seemed that everyone else had managed to complete their own trials as far more disciples were seated around now. Many of them sported frustrated looks.

Elder Ning was standing now as she seemed to regard each and every one of them with her gaze at the same time. "I am sure at least a few of you have questions on what it was that happened and now that every one of you has finished I will be answering them. This of course was a trial meant to test you all on how you might act on being thrown into a sudden situation with those around you. A great deal of you did not pass, though some of you despite how abruptly you were thrown into the trial adapted quickly and worked well with one another to achieve whatever goals you may have been given despite the complications you might have had. And as promised you all will receive your reward consisting of one general cultivation pill befitting for your current cultivation and a free access pass for the library until the end of the truce. Simply head to me once we have returned to the lecture hall and I will give them to you. You have earned this reward and proven yourself today."

There were some grumbles around about the unfairness of the trial but the sound of rushing water quickly drowned it out when Elder Ning raised her hand. "Life will never truly be fair. Sometimes it will flow smoothly and at others, it will be raging and attempting to drown you at every turn. You must learn to deal with this now rather than later. Now I do have a few more things of importance to announce before we return. First, the library is officially open for you all to peruse from and it is filled with many varied cultivation arts. Entrance for those who do not have a given pass will cost sect points. You all will have a starting base of ten sect points but to earn more you must perform tasks given by the sect itself or by other disciples. You can find these tasks now on the notice board."

Elder Ning paused for a moment before she continued. "Tomorrow and in the future lessons will continue on as normal with no more surprise trials. Now, let us return." With a simple wave of her hand mist swiftly fanned out and began to engulf everyone. Bai Feng felt it curl around her once more than everything went dark.

When Bai Feng opened up her eyes again she found the transition had been far less jarring than before and that she was at her desk in the lecture hall alongside every other disciple and the elder serenely standing in the center of the room as if that's where she had been this entire time. Grabbing her bag which had been left on the desk when the trial had begun she made her way swiftly to the exit. Before she left though she took a final glance back.

She spotted Zou Yawen glaring at her from the other side of the room still, apparently still angry with her for whatever stupid reason sitting beside Xiong Shui. There was also among the disciples going to claim their rewards for passing Lu Jia talking to a girl with a small bird on her dress about something. Apparently, he had succeeded where she hadn't. Part of Bai Feng wanted to be furious at him for that but she knew that was unfair to him for so many reasons. He was far from the cause of any of her frustrations today. Sighing as she turned away she left the lecture hall.

From there, Bai Feng walked. Normally she'd be heading to the house for yet another attempt at opening her meridian but she just couldn't bring herself to focus on that right now. Instead, she walked. She wasn't too sure how long she just walked before coming to a stop by the riverside. The buildings of the sect were but a blip in the distance now and she was probably as alone as she could ever be here. Then she just sat down and stared at the river.

Other than the sound of water gently flowing it was very peaceful around Bai Feng. In her head though, it was another story entirely. Old memories she had thought she had gotten past had resurfaced and were demanding she think of them.

Memories of her helplessness when she and her parents had fallen victim to the plague when she was eight. She had survived through some miracle, but they hadn't. Memories of what came after, when having just barely recovered from her own terrible sickness she had lost her only true home when the shiners had claimed it and kicked her out. The only thing she had managed to save before then had been the ring she wore now. Memories of always having to run for she was simply too weak to fight back, lest she meet her end at the hands of some drunk or street thug.

At some point, someone else had spotted her and decided to settle down beside her in the grass, the crumpling sound of it being the only tell of their presence to her. She couldn't bring herself to care about them or who they were as she simply stared into the blue of the river, not even looking at whoever they were as her eyes grew watery.

Eventually from beside her came the soft shy voice of what seemed to be a little girl. "H-hey miss, are you... are you alright?"

Bai Feng continued to stare into the river but answered her. "I... No, I'm not."

The sound of shifting came from the grass before the little girl spoke again. "Do... do you want to talk about it?"

Bai Feng normally wouldn't have even considered discussing her problems with a stranger, but something about the little girl compelled her to speak. "What's the point of me being here, of pushin' myself every day if, at any time, somebody stronger 'en with more advantages than me can jus' make everythin' I do moot. Is it even worth it to try when they can jus' do that? When what ya do won't even matter?"

The little girl was silent for a while before she answered. "I think... I think there is a point. You have things you care about, right?"

Memories of her gang back in Qizuishan and the people she had worked with within it, of her parents and the ring she had to remember them by, and of her new friend Yi An flitted past. "Y-yeah."

"Than... than that's why you try anyways. Maybe you won't be able to always manage and things will go wrong. And what you care for will suffer for it. But if you don't even try, did you even care for it in the first place?"

Shame began to flood into Bai Feng alongside newfound resolve at the words of the little girl. How had she let one bad situation shatter her confidence so? Just what was she doing moping about now? She was weak, so terribly weak compared to everyone else here, and ignorant of so much compared to them, but that was just even more reason for her to try anyway. For what she cared about, she had to. Even if it seemed impossible to not try in the first place was even worse than failing.

She wiped her eyes with an arm before turning to where the little girl had been talking from only to find herself blinking as nothing was there. She had disappeared and the only trace of her presence beside her was the crushed grass. Or had that patch always been crushed?

Bai Feng stared at that spot for a moment before shaking her head. Maybe that little girl had been there or maybe she hadn't and she was just starting to go crazy. Whatever the case, it still left one thing clear in her mind. She was going to do everything in her power to improve herself and nothing was going to stop her.

She got up and splashed a bit of water from the river on her face to wash away anything that might've been on it still before turning back to face the sect. Her cheek still burned in pain from where it had been cut and burned, though she ignored that. But before she began the long walk back she spoke in a low voice to her surroundings.

"Thank ya, whatever ya were."

And then she was off.