Mingtian closed the door behind him, feeling rather pleased with himself. Just like back when he’d helped that one immortal’s sect sort its disciples together to promote friendships instead of competition… those had been the days. He was pretty sure Lily and Avyr would get along, but if not, no big loss. If they did, though… Lily’s formations would be an incredible power multiplier for a first step cultivator, and Avyr’s cultivation would be an incredible help to Lily’s development as a budding formations master.

  Now, for the more difficult part of the whole plan— playing mortal politics to make sure Avyr was actually admitted in the first place. He sighed, lamenting for a second that supreme planet obliterating power wasn’t part of the solution. Not if he wanted to keep his job, at least…

  Mortals. How could they deal with it? Sometimes, he almost found the normal ones for the stranger, and Lily the normal one, for seeking to surpass herself. To remain mortal forever… or, for a single mortal lifespan. He found it hard to imagine at times.

  “Are you sure they’ll be fine in there alone?” Janus’s voice caught him up out of his thoughts as he approached the stairs, reminding him— “Lily won’t be in any danger, will she?”

  This again. Mingtian rolled his eyes. “Between the two of them, I think Lily’s the most dangerous. She’s been progressing adequately in her formations studies.” Adequately according to his standards, which he was sure was probably a little different from the usual standards of a mortal in East Saffron. Seeing Janus was still looking worried, he just gave him a slight smile and a wave. “They’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  “…fine. Hopefully, you’re right.” Then, without much further ado, he stalked off to one of the back rooms to do… something or another, Mingtian wasn’t honestly sure. It didn’t even really matter— they had very different tasks for the day. Janus would take care of the library, and Mingtian…

  He’d been invited to meet up with a few important figures, and Li Lexi had made it clear that it wasn’t the sort of invitation that could be declined.

  He gave polite nods to the regular patrons as he worked his way down towards the back of the library, and the occasional word of reassurance— mostly just telling them that they would be safe, and that Lexi was more than capable of dealing with anything that came up, which somehow even seemed to work. Their reverence towards cultivators was always a bit interesting to see— not quite as fervent as the mortal realm he’d grown up in, more informed… and yet, for that, made all the more profound.

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  Mostly.

  Kinda.

  It was complicated, which seemed to be a running theme when it came to the strangeness of the lesser realm.

  Lexi was waiting for him at the back of the library, near the entrance the students used every lunch break, leant against the open doorframe. Unusually, he unkempt curls had been wrangled back into the neat bun, her ever-present look of exhaustion so slightly ameliorated with a touch of some cosmetics or another, her clothes neat pressed and covered again with a strange not-quite shawl that screamed of officious station. White, with a tinge of red— the same colors the outer disciple had worn, that once.

  Sect colors. Suddenly Mingtian was feeling a little regret that he hadn’t brought formalwear… “where is the meeting taking place?” Lexi just waved him out of the door without speaking, and— realizing he wasn’t going to be getting anything more out of her, he followed her a short while until she led him through the underpass to the academy. Well. He supposed that only made sense.

  They emerged on the other side, entirely distinct from the Library’s side. Gone were the towering blocks of precision made buildings, plaster and concrete and steel, replaced with something older. Much older. This architecture reminded him far more firmly of the higher realms— carefully wrought wood, tile roofs, a cluttered mess of buildings pressed together without any of the precise planning that was easily apparent on the other side.

  He wondered how that’d come to be.

  He also imagined he wouldn’t like the answer.

  It was only after they’d passed through the academy’s chain link fence and come to its main doors that Lexi finally spoke. “This will be dangerous for you. As a mortal. Of all the precincts we’re certainly not one where you’ll run into problems with cultivators a lot, but…” she left the end of the sentence unsaid, but the implication was obvious.

  It was not the only petty tyrant that Mingtian had dealt with before, but it was the first one in a long, long time he’d spoken to from an inferior position. He was actually kind of excited! Though, he had to hide that from Lexi… “thanks for the warning.”

  Lexi huffed in exasperation. “It was less a warning and more a promise.” And with that incredibly ominous statement, she pushed open the doors and ushered herself in.

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