The academy commanded many li of land beyond the walls which surrounded the school proper. It held dominion too over a small forest and many villages and farms which provided for its upkeep. It was easy to tell when they had crossed into these lands as even the simplest villages flew the hexagram sigil of the hystors.

When they arrived at last at the school gates, a hystor in plain wool robes was standing on ceremony for her.

“Greetings, hystor,” Daphne said, stepping out of the carriage.

“The Middle School welcomes you, Lady Daphne of the House External Greenglade,” the hystor said with a small bow. “The archystor requests to meet with you at your earliest convenience.”

“Of course,” Daphne said, tilting her head. “I would be honored to speak with the archystor.” Based on her studies, the title referred to the sect leader of this school! Even as a core disciple, it was still a great honor to meet such an esteemed figure of their sect on her first day back. She directed her coachman to bring her carriage to the archystor’s tower where he contemplated on the dao in closed door cultivation.

Daphne made all haste to greet the archystor, tasking her servants to bring her trunk with her. Through her awakened eyes, she could sense his potent qi circulating through his dantian cores and the twelve meridians. His cultivation was significant, far more than hers certainly, though she could not say for certain how much stronger he was. Maybe not strong enough to achieve immortality considering his aged features on display, for surely cultivation would have kept him young, but he was still surely an old monster to rule this sect where even the sons and daughters of patriarchs learned his scriptures.

“This one greets the archystor,” Daphne said, bowing to him. “Would you like to inspect my trunk?” It wasn’t quite a spatial ring, but alas, she had yet to find one. Such treasures were simply rarer in this realm.

The archystor’s thick brows drew together. “Inspect your trunk? There’s no need for that, Lady Daphne. You are a student here, so it would not be proper to treat you in that manner.”

Daphne understood his meaning instantly. This old monster was giving her family great face by not inspecting her things. “Ah, of course,” Daphne said, nodding. “If I might ask, why did you wish to see me then?”

“I hope you understand that I would very much prefer it if no accidents like last time were to befall you for the rest of your stay,” he said, stroking his long beard.

“I would prefer that too,” Daphne said.

“Good, then would you be opposed if I were to assign one of my hystors to supervise you whenever you are … experimenting with your magic?”

She frowned. What need was there to ask her about this? He was the sect leader. If he wished to assign her discipleship to an elder, who was she to refuse?

“We would swear him or her to an oath of secrecy obviously,” the archystor said, “and whatever discoveries you stumble upon will be kept safe.”

Daphne was being given a lot of face right now! How could she dare keep the sect leader waiting with her answer? “That would be more than sufficient. Thank you for the offer.”

His shoulders relaxed and he nodded. “As always, the full resources and facilities of the Middle School are open to yourself, Lady Greenglade. You need only ask.”

“Ah,” she said, “I would not wish to trouble yourself with my requests, archystor.” Though she did not think his odds of attaining immortality were high, she did not know the full state of his cultivation either! He could be a crouching tiger or a hidden dragon of this realm, or maybe he just liked how he looked with a flowing beard? Stroking it gave one an aura of profoundness that a clean shaven face simply could not match.

“Nonsense,” he said. “My door is always open to my students.”

Did he not have his closed door cultivation to attend to? Did he not practice the Dao of Disappearance? What sort of master actually taught their disciples by himself? If one did not have better things to do than teach their disciples, was he really worth learning from?

“But how can you concentrate on your own studies?” Daphne asked.

He snorted. “I am an old man now, and I have levied a long life. If I truly wanted to keep pushing the boundaries of magic, I would have refused being elected as the archystor of this institution.”

Ah, of course. He would be seeing the yellow springs soon, and so wished to pass on his learnings to his disciples before that time came. What a benevolent elder! Though, in hindsight, perhaps the Dao of Disappearance simply wasn’t practiced so strongly here? After all, Daphne herself had not been abandoned by her parents at some humble village at birth, which they should have rightly done considering she was a favored daughter of heaven and destined for greatness.

Being raised as an orphan was extremely beneficial for one’s cultivation.

“I understand, archystor,” Daphne said. “Thank you for the offer.”

“Good, good. I’ll leave you to settle in then. Classes begin in two days,” he said.

Familiar with when an honored elder was dismissing her, Daphne tilted her head in deference before extracting herself from his office.

“Shall we head to your rooms now then, Lady Daphne?” her maid asked, pulling out a feather umbrella to hide her from the sun’s glare.

“Yes, let’s,” Daphne said. And after that, she could survey the school grounds. She’d have to find out where all the best meditation spots were.

The student dormitories were a building entirely separate from the archystor’s tower, made of brick and glass. It was a sprawling affair, richly decorated in paintings, sculptures, and tapestries in a style that was foreign to Daphne’s eye. Nevertheless, Daphne loved all things beautiful.

It was why she loved herself most of all.

Everywhere she glanced about in the dormitories were arrogant young masters trading pointers in the arts and martial arts, while misstocrats cultivated the dao of stitching. A mixed group of men and women practiced playing on the harp, lute, and drum, while another of their group recited what seemed to be poetry. It shamed her to say that none of them played the guqin.

Wherever her fellow disciples cultivated, it definitely wasn’t here for how could anyone meditate with so much activity around them?

As she drew near to her room, a commotion outside it caught her eye. Two well-dressed ladies bearing silk fans were trading words with what was definitely a strawborn peasant. Her dress was a simple affair of undyed wool, and the length of her heels remained at one inch. It was forbidden by law for a strawborn to wear heels higher than that, which was a right reserved for the nobility.

“You should be grateful that the hystors took pity on you and accepted you into this school again,” the one with braided hair said.

“If your performance continues to be as poor as it was last year, you will definitely fail the trials,” the one with dark hair said. “Still, it will not make much of a difference whether you pass or fail. None of the stoneborn think much of your talents, and without a patron, this will be your last year here. Better if you save yourself the trouble and just leave now.”

Daphne scoffed. Was this how her junior sisters thought bullying worked? Clearly they had not been raised properly by their parents if this was the sum of their abuses! Worry not my juniors, she thought. This Thorned Rose shall teach you! She cleared her throat.

“Lady Daphne!” the two ladies exclaimed as they noticed her. “Are you doing well? We weren’t sure if you’d be returning after the unpleasantness last year.”

“I am fully recovered,” Daphne said. “And why wouldn’t I return? Everyone encounters a little trouble in life. It is no great surprise for us to overcome such things.”

“As you say,” the braided girl said.

Daphne nodded and looked pointedly at the peasant. “And who is this supposed to be?”

“No one you need to concern yourself with,” said the dark-haired girl. “She’ll be gone soon enough.”

“Only those with talent can rise in this place,” Daphne said. The qi of this peasant girl wasn’t low for her age, though not as high as Daphne’s. “Go home to your parents with what dignity you have left.”

“I’m an orphan,” the peasant girl bit out.

A fortuitous sign, Daphne thought. There were many orphans in any realm, but was she one of the fated few destined to be more? Despite her lowborn status, she had been accepted into this school and for two years now. She was starting much later than a normal disciple would—an aristocrat’s child began attending at the age of twelve for comparison. If there was any talent in her, then adversity would only draw it out!

Iron sharpens iron. Truly her act of bullying served the will of the heavens and was best for all involved.

“If a servant like you wishes to stay here, then you might as well serve,” Daphne declared. “I have yet to unpack my things. Perhaps you will understand your situation then.”

Wisely, the girl did not protest and followed after her, for that would have forced Daphne to cripple her cultivation.