“Hey, is this a good time?” one late night, when Jianmen was alone on his night shift at the reception’s desk, Josephine Wong, wearing a jacket over a purple dress, came into the inn: “I could have called first, but you know me … I don’t wanna.”

 

“Hey, always a good time for you. What brings you here?” Jianmen put down his phone and stood up: “Care for some wine or tea? To celebrate your progress?”

 

“Aww, you can tell?” Josephine Wong chuckled and spun around like a young girl who just got a new dress.

 

“Well, tribulations have their special scent and radiation.” Jianmen waved his hand in the direction of the diner, a special hand-crafted clay bottle appeared in the mid air, as well as two modest looking mugs.

 

“Oooh, this is one of your special brews?” Josephine sat down by Jianmen and asked.

 

“Indeed it is. This is made from some of the rare fruits I have in my personal farm, and stored in my personal time cellar for a year. I gave my students the same thing after they just went through their tribulation - diluted, of course.” Jianmen smiled and poured the wine in both the mugs.

 

“Hmm. Thanks.” Josephine Wong took one of the mugs and took a quick whiff: “Is the recipe for sale?”

 

“Not right now, I still need to adjust it a bit to taste - what’s the word - less spicy.” 

 

Josephine Wong took a sip, then covered her mouth with a smile: “Yikes, it’s like drinking wine made of pepper and Szechuan Buttons - what kind of fruit did you put in there?”

 

“Well, that’s the taste of Abyssal Thunder Cherries mixed with Viper Melon Seeds.” Jianmen looked at Josephine Wong in the eye: “Could you taste them?”

 

“Taste them? I couldn’t even taste anything!” Josephine Wong chuckled and took another sip: “But it works though - I can feel that the punishing power remained in my wounds is fading away. Slow, but it’s definitely something.”

 

“Hmm, glad I can help. I hope the taste won’t dissuade too many if I can’t tune the taste down.” Jianmen shook his head and took a drink from his mug.

 

“Well, it’s definitely gonna sell, regardless of the taste.” Josephine Wong showed some slight discomfort when swallowing her drink: “There’s not many options out there for power wielders to alleviate the residual punishing powers of the tribulation, and this tastes way better than the blood of abyssal squids or cloud whales, you can believe me.”

 

“Huh, I’ve only drank the blood of cloud whales once. It could use less salt.” Jianmen joked.

“And some water too. Imagine having to chew your drink.” Josephine Wong chuckled with a hand over her mouth.

 

“How long did it take you? Did anybody try to sabotage you?” Jianmen asked.

 

“It took three days, and some indeed tried.” Josephine Wong shook her head, and the looks in her eye instantly turned sharp and a little furious: “It’s good that I prepared for them, so I was able to defend myself, AND I was able to deliver some devastating blows to them using my traps.”

 

“Congratulations, again.” Jianmen raised his mug.

 

“Thanks. ” Josephine Wong took another sip: “But I am not here for your thanks. Here.” She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small scroll and an envelope with a magical seal on it: “Here’s your approval notice, for your applicant status as a visiting scholar. Your name is… Mr. Lun Wang.”

 

“Thank you.” Jianmen nodded with a smile, and he brought out a small black box with satin exterior and handed it to Josephine Wong: “This is for you.”

 

“You know, the shape of this box is very misleading.” Josephine Wong smiled and opened the box, then she saw a small piece of translucent crystal inside: “So you think this is it?”

 

“At least, part of it. I’ve had this for a while, just never thought this being perhaps the ingredient of the mysterious ‘Stone of Negation’.” Jianmen shook his head: “It is quite intuitive to use - if you could establish a connection with it. But it requires quite a lot of power and energy to use properly without wasting its potential - so consider this as an added note of caution in the user’s manual: use with caution and tremendous preparation.”

 

“Will you be able to help us? You know, this is actual Division work, even if it failed you still get paid handsomely.”

 

“Probably not immediately. Unless you are willing to wait until I finish my ‘visiting scholar’ studies and projects.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll see. I’ve been quite busy with Division work, and also need some time helping my students get everything started as well. So it probably will take some time before we actually get to it anyway.”

 

“Let me know then.” Jianmen nodded: “I heard about the students after all these years. Good luck!”

 

“Thank you! I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while. And in part thanks to you, I found a couple quite talented young people so I just took them in. And I will need more people by my side in a not so distant future. Speaking of which, I think I’ll need your help on the tutoring - I am confident in my abilities, but could always use extra help.”

 

“Of course, of course. Always happy to help you.”

 

“Okay, what can you tell me about this? I mean, I trust you with all my heart, but I still have some explaining and convincing to do.” Josephine Wong examined the small piece of crystal closely and asked.

 

“Watered down version? It’s like a scar of the universe, and sort of a token of gratitude from it. It’s like the universe saying: ‘Thank you for fixing up something of me, here’s a piece of my personalized coupon.’”

 

“Okay. Try hit me with a not so watered down version? I mean I just got to a higher level. I could be the Grand Witch of a coven if I want to.”

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

“How are you feeling?” standing right by the entrance of Xianshi Inn, Jianmen asked his two students: “How long ago did you last go to school?”

 

“Umm, just barely over a year ago?” Jason shook his head and raised the straps on his backpack: “I am half excited and half terrified - what if this is just another engineering school for me?”

 

“Jason, we’ve talked about this a thousand times - it IS definitely just like engineering school.” Caroline rolled her eyes and laughed: “Plus the magic, the learning of spells, the practice of combat and even duels, and the occasional concoction of poison pills and you-know-what potion.”

 

“Look, I know you’re joking, but I’m not talking about the school per se, I’m talking about me.” Jason scratched the back of his ears and then nose: “I just don’t know if I can handle the pressure of school life again.”

 

“Well, this time it is something you are actually interested in and good at.” Jianmen patted Jason on his back.

 

“Damn, Boss. ” Caroline laughed out loud.

 

“What about those magical school shenanigans? Like a secret room with a monster inside, or some professor being infected by an evil dark lord?”

 

“Yeah - I can’t guarantee anything about it not happening, but I promise you I’ll be there.”