I wake up groggily, my head pounding as if a tiger batted my head around like a toy, spotting the woman who did this to me still sitting there sipping tea. “What just happened lady?” I say before that same force comes at me again, this time feeling more like I was getting slapped.

“You will address me with respect, you will call me Matriarch or Lady Zhou” she responds haughtily. “Respect may not have been a thing in your world, but if you wish to survive for long in this world, you will learn manners”.

Touching my cheek while looking back at her, “Why do you sound like my mother, she always talked about Chinese manners this, don’t cause our family to lose face, etc.”.

She puts her tea down before replying “I don’t know what China is, but it seems like she knew what she was talking about” pausing to take a sip of tea “Reputation is very important here in the Jade Empire, but manners aside, what Path did you get?”

“Knowledge, but wait, what is this whole Path and Technique?” I reply confused “I just graduated high school and I was going to be heading to college to work in the government”.

“I don’t know what those equate to in our education system, but it sounds like you finished your childhood schooling and were getting ready for a Zucai exam” She responds somewhat curiously. “Our Zucai exams are the entry level exams for administrative positions for local governments, if you wanted a more prestigious position in a provincial city you would need to pass the Jouren exam”

“You didn’t answer the more important part, why have I attained the Path of Knowledge and apparently I have perfect recall?” I look at her flustered before she looks back at me calmly “Our Paths define who we are, and since you said you want to work in government, it makes sense that would be your Path, as it is the precursor to Path to the Path of the Scholar, the most common Path in the government”. She reaches to take another sip, before frowning and putting the teacup to the side when she sees it is empty, “Perfect recall is also quite the good Technique to get, even if it is a common Technique for your Path”.

“So do I get a new Technique with every rank?” I ask trying to understand this Path system, before she replies while pouring a new cup of tea “Not usually, one typically gets a new Technique every five ranks, and a ‘Capstone’ Technique every ten ranks, but fairly often you can get multiple Techniques at a rank up point, or at varying ranks you can get additional Techniques depending on the circumstances” continuing on after she sips more tea “ Ultimately, Techniques and ranking up your path depends on the struggles you face, just like when cultivating your body”

“You talk about cultivating as if it is an actual thing, where I am from, we have stories about people trying to ‘ascend to heaven’ and all this other nonsense with cultivation, surely you mean it metaphorically?” I say at the increasingly outlandish stuff I am hearing.

“Yes, it is a thing, even though younger kids such as yourself take it to the dramatic extreme with all this ‘face slapping’ nonsense and acting as if that is the best way to rank up the Path of the Young Master” she replies nonchalantly. “Wait, that’s a thing?” I ask, dumbfounded. Why yes, how else do you think people become the leaders of their clans or sects, just like the Path of Knowledge evolves into the Path of Scholar after enough rank ups, the Path of the Young Master can evolve into either Patriarch, Sect Elder, or merge into a variety of other Paths” she says, before adding “That Path just implies you are going down the path of someone excelling in some part of their life, but too many think it gives certain rights”.

“So then where do I fit in all this, and why was I expected?” I ask, still confused about everything going on, “I see lightning, and some random archway appears in my bedroom, and poof I am here”.

“Well little Zhou, I said I my Path deals with divination” she pauses for dramatic effect, apparently even she has not gotten over having a bit of drama “a decade ago I foresaw drastic changes happening to our world, children of another world appearing in ours, and not just in our Jade Empire, but also in the Rising Sun Empire, Kingdom of the Calm Morning, and everywhere else”.

“But that explain how you knew about me, or just how you knew my family just now” I ask still perplexed.

“All Techniques have limitations, even if my Path is high ranked, the technique I used to predict these events have to tie in to me and my family, and I am Lady Zhou, for years I had been part of the main Zhou Clan, but when I told them of the changing times, of a boy bearing the Zhou name coming to our lands, they dismissed it as me losing my touch, and sent me to look over a minor branch of our Clan” she pauses to sip some tea. “While I have no idea what you may do here, as my Technique did not hint at you becoming a strong cultivator, or becoming an Immortal like our Ancestor, I hope your inclusion into the Technique was more than just the link that connected the arrival of kids from another world”.

“Lady Zhou, I am just a kid, with no real ambitions to ‘conquer the heavens’, my mother just wanted me to become competent and successful with the belief government work was how to succeed in life” I mention before continuing, “If I am to call you Lady Zhou, then you should call me by my name, Zhou Mingzie" I finish, deciding that in this world I will embrace my Chinese side.

“Mingzie, you say? Quite the intelligent and wise name you have” She adds in an ominous tone, smirking at the coincidence between my name and my Path.