Magus Hwang’s lab was unusually crowded with Dae and his master present. Hwang Sung had clearly only planned for enough space for himself and perhaps one assistant. The space should have been enough to fit five people comfortably, but with all the clutter it ended up being a bit cramped.

“Are all mages this messy? How do you ever find anything?”

Dae shook his head vigorously in denial of Jia’s accusation.

“Of course not! In fact, I would say that most are extremely organized. We have to keep track of research notes, talismans, and artifacts—and often need to switch between projects at a moment’s notice. It’s best to keep things as neat as possible. My master simply likes to show off his mastery of memory techniques.”

Eui gave Dae a sidelong glance—she didn’t seem to be pleased that he had joined them today.

“What about Magus Hwang?”

The old Magus himself simply laughed as he responded for himself.

“Ohoho, I’m afraid I have no excuse, Miss An. I’ve just never been an organized person. I can usually find what I need—eventually.”

Since the abrupt end of their last session, the old mages had given Jia and Eui some space to think about the implications of their path. Jia had more or less come to terms with the idea that she and Eui would eventually become permanently linked as Yoshika, but she couldn’t really imagine it. It still felt too far away. Would Yoshika completely subsume their individual personalities, or would she still be able to split into Jia and Eui if she wanted to?

There was a lot to think about, but one way or another, Jia and Eui were committed to following their path and finding the answers to those questions together. So they had resolved to continue helping the mages with their research.

“We never did get around to doing those tests with Miss An. We still need to check on a few things to make sure our data properly accounts for your demonic core. Shall we get those out of the way now?”

Eui shrugged at Magus Hwang and followed him to stand on a formation drawn on a conspicuously clutter-free patch of floor. Hwang called over once he had everything set up and activated the formation.

“This will take some time. Feel free to conduct your business with Master Hyeong while you wait.”

Do Hye, who had been unusually quiet so far, turned his attention to Lee Jia and Dae, grinning widely.

“Oho? What’s this? I had wondered why you asked to invite my first apprentice along.”

Lee Jia shrugged, deciding that Do Hye would probably be able to provide some good input as well, if he was interested.

“We’ve been trying to figure out how my cultivation method works so that we can teach it to others. There’s over a dozen omnidisciplinary practitioners now, but only Eui and I have managed to unify the three disciplines into a single cultivation technique. It’s a lot more efficient than practicing them individually.”

Dae nodded along, his tail wagging excitedly.

“Indeed! I’ve been trying to figure it out myself for months, but I’ve made no progress in finding the ‘linking’ meridians that Miss Lee describes. I worry that perhaps there was something special about the demon's trial which allowed Miss Lee and Miss An to open them.”

Do Hye scratched his chin thoughtfully before turning to Lee Jia.

“Hmm, describe for me again the process of your breakthrough to the second stage—that was when you unified your cultivation, correct?”

She nodded.

“Yes, though Eui and I did it together—the same process is what initially created Yoshika as well. It’s like there’s a second, incorporeal body overlapping the physical one. The aura—or domain—is connected to the mind through the head, from there another meridian connects to the heart where ki is distributed through the body, and then one more meridian travels from the heart to the—uh, stomachish area, the dantian. From the dantian, the network of meridians that the Qin think of as the soul spreads back out through the rest of that metaphysical body. As far as I can tell, all it takes to practice our cultivation method is to open those large meridians that connect the mind, body, and soul.”

Do Hye listened intently as Lee Jia spoke, frowning in thought.

“That would be consistent with some of my theories about the true nature of the soul and cultivation, though the specifics of these connecting meridians are new to me. One moment...”

Do Hye closed his eyes and furrowed his brows in concentration. After a moment of meditation he opened them again and sighed.

“Hmm, I’m not able to detect any sign of what you describe within my own domain. Theoretically, the domain of a xiantian cultivator should already act as a sort of bridge between the body, mind, and soul, but it’s an artificial one. The ‘body’ that you see before you is constructed from mana—and I suspect that the God-Emperor and his reclusive cohort are much the same. Perhaps it’s not so much that we bridge the connection, but rather we simply fabricate replacements? I had discarded that theory as improbable, but I may need to revisit it now...”

Dae scratched his head and frowned.

“But master, I haven’t been able to find these connections either. I’ve been delaying my third stage breakthrough for months in favor of trying to solve this issue.”

“True enough. Hmm, describe your method to me.”

“Well, I’ve followed the same pattern that Miss Lee described. Trying to sense a connection to my body through my aura, or vice versa. If I could just find the meridian—blocked or otherwise—I could at least begin the process of opening it, but it’s as if it doesn’t exist. My only theory has been to try to reach the second stage in the other two disciplines to match my magic.”

Do Hye grunted.

“Hrm. Not an entirely unreasonable idea. Perhaps the disciplines do need to be matched in order to join them, I can see some logic in it. However, consider this—what if it’s not so much that they need to be matched, but rather that they need to be untrained?”

Lee Jia and Dae’s eyes widened in shock at the Grand Magus’ hypothesis. Dae shook his head.

“With all due respect, master, that makes no sense! The connection wouldn’t just disappear because of our cultivation, would it?”

“Perhaps not, but one thing that all the disciplines have in common is structure. We mages gather mana into our awareness until it fills our entire aura, martial artists gather ki into their bodies until it begins to fuse with their flesh and bones, and spiritual artists gather qi in their dantians until it begins to condense into a more powerful form. Perhaps the structures created by these techniques prevent cultivators from being able to perceive the connections between the aspects of their true self.”

Jia watched Dae’s face fall as he processed his master’s words.

“Then...in order to unify my cultivation I would have to disperse my mana and begin my mental cultivation over?”

Do Hye nodded casually, either ignorant or uncaring of his apprentice’s distress.

“If my hypothesis is correct, yes. As you are now, it’s impossible for you to see the connections because of the rigid structures you’ve built in your mind. I expect that spiritual and martial artists suffer the same difficulties.”

Dae made a pained expression, his ears and tail drooping as he groaned in frustration.

“Argh! I would lose so much! This would be so much easier if we had empirical evidence that it would work, but to sacrifice everything I have worked for just to try?”

Do Hye scoffed.

“You haven’t even been alive for two decades, boy. You’ve made good progress in the time that you’ve had, but if you could do it once, you can do it again. Be thankful you even have the option—I’d try it myself even after a thousand years of study, but the attempt would kill me.”

Lee Jia and Dae both gave Do Hye an incredulous look. It was a bold claim to make, and Jia doubted that he would be so confident about it without a convenient excuse that precluded him from having to back up his claim.

“What are you waiting for!? There’s no better candidate, is there? A few equals perhaps, but it’s the duty of any scientist to make sacrifices in the pursuit of knowledge!”

Dae scowled, but after a deep breath and a sigh of resignation he nodded and sat down to meditate.

“I hope I don’t regret this...”

Jia looked between the two in shock. Right here? Right now? This was going too fast for her to keep up with.

“Wait!”

Dae opened his eyes with a start and looked up at Jia, raising an eyebrow curiously.

“There is someone. A better candidate—the best possible one, actually. Someone who’s got both experiences already. An omnidisciplinary cultivator who had the rigid structure of advanced cultivation, but returned to the first stage just recently.”

Do Hye laughed, clapping his hands once.

“Hah! Of course! How could I forget?”

Jia narrowed her eyes at Do Hye—as if the Grand Magus who loved to flaunt his memory would have just forgotten. Dae glanced between the two of them in confusion.

“I’m sorry what? Who are we talking about?”

Jia smiled at Dae, glad she could save him from the uncertainty of restarting his cultivation for potentially nothing.

“Yan Yue! She had just barely managed to awaken her mana sense before Elder Qin punished her by dispersing her qi. If Grand Magus Do Hye is right, then there’s nobody in the entire academy in a more perfect position to learn unified cultivation.”

Dae’s face brightened up at the realization.

“Ah! Of course, I had forgotten that she had lost her cultivation. I’ll admit, I am somewhat surprised that you’re still working so closely with her after everything that happened.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. It’s complicated, but she’s willing to help and she’s harmless for now.”

“I see. Well, I didn’t mean to question your judgement. As you say, there’s likely no one better to test the theory, and perhaps if she can learn the method successfully we’ll be able to tutor others on it more effectively.”

Jia began to nod before pausing.

“Wait—are you saying I’m a bad teacher?”

Dae averted his eyes and chuckled nervously.

“Hehe, y-your teaching methods work well enough for those, uh, receptive to them. Miss Minami and Miss Seong seem to have taken your instructions well, for example.”

Jia narrowed her eyes, knowing full well that what he was leaving unsaid was the fact that just about everyone else found her teaching methods to be utterly incomprehensible. Rika had the same opinion and was far less hesitant to express it than Dae was.

Dae was saved from her retort by Magus Hwang returning with Eui in tow.

“We’re all finished here. The analysis of Miss An’s core should give us all the information we need to reevaluate the previous results using our new formula.”

Do Hye cleared his throat and interjected.

“Ahem, I believe you mean my new formula.”

Hwang Sung waved him off impatiently.

“Yes, yes. It will take us some time to analyze it all, so for the time being we are finished here. We can continue next week, unless you have more to discuss with Master Hyeong.”

Jia bit her lower lip as she considered that she had a great deal more to discuss with Dae, but that this wasn’t really the time or place for most of it. Instead, she shook her head.

“No, I think we figured out all we need to for now. I’d appreciate it if you could let him join later sessions as well, though. It’s an ongoing project, and it’s hard to find time to meet when I’m stuck at home.”

Magus Hwang nodded graciously.

“Of course, Miss Lee. I’m sure that Master Hyeong will prove a capable assistant to our research!”

Dae bowed respectfully.

“Thank you, Magus. I will do my best not to disappoint your expectations.”

Do Hye chuckled and reached out to ruffle Dae’s hair.

“Of course you will! You’re my apprentice, after all! Why, if I had to choose between you and Hwang, I’d pick you as my assistant every time!”

Hwang’s hair-feathers puffed out indignantly as his face went red with fury.

“I am not your assistant! This is my research, and I am merely allowing you to cooperate!”

“Haha, of course, Magus Hwang. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Well then, Miss Lee, Miss An, I suppose we will see you next week—oh! Actually, tomorrow there will be a general assembly in the courtyard for a big announcement. You can look forward to seeing me there!”

Hwang scoffed and shook his head incredulously.

“I can scarcely imagine how you survive under the weight of such an enormous ego.”

The girls and Dae took the opportunity to bow their farewells and depart before the two rival mages could escalate their argument any further.

Jia and Eui met with their friends in the central courtyard of the city-like campus of the academy. The Grand Academy often felt quite empty—having been built to house much more than the two hundred or so students—but during assemblies like this one, Lee Jia was always reminded that two hundred was a bigger number than she realized. The courtyard was packed with people and the noise would have made it nearly impossible to make out any sort of distinct conversation without her enhanced senses.

As usual, Eunae and Rika could be found together—being nearly as inseparable as Jia and Eui—and Dae joined them not long after. Aside from her circle of close friends, some of Jia’s newer friends and acquaintances also joined them. Minami Yuuko dragged Fujino and the others along with her as she met up with Jia’s group, smiling and waving boisterously as she approached—it was hard to imagine that she was the same girl who had angrily escalated a friendly sparring match against Jia into a dangerous, full-contact duel.

“Hi guys! What do you think they’re going to announce today? I hope it’s another mission—we barely got to do anything during the last one, with Lady Hayakawa around.”

Jia shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I got some hints about it before, but other than the fact that it should be some kind of chance to publicly prove ourselves, I have no idea.”

Fujino chuckled and shook his head.

“Why am I not surprised that you somehow knew about this in advance, Miss Lee?”

Jia flushed in embarrassment. It was really just a coincidence, but it seemed she’d left quite an impression on Dae’s classmates. She wasn’t sure which made her more uncomfortable—the vitriolic hatred she got from those who bought into the rumors, or the strange reverence she got from Fujino and the others. Her ears twitched as a voice broke through the cacophonous crowd.

“You’d best not underestimate her. I hear she stole her way into the academy by killing the administrator who was meant to bring her to justice, then set about corrupting the nobility of all three nations with her demonic wiles. Meet her eyes and she’ll seduce you into her dual cultivation harem and steal your power like she did with those poor transfers from Qin.”

Jia turned toward the source of the sarcastic drawl and leveled an irritated glare at Xin Wei.

“Guan Yi, please correct me if I am wrong—I’m still learning the peculiar idioms of Qin—that was Xin asking me to beat him senseless, correct? You wouldn’t interfere if I obliged?”

The huge boy was a few paces behind Xin Wei, and though he spared a troubled glance at Yan Yue—who was keeping to herself at the periphery of the gathering—he focused his impassive gaze at his friend and nodded.

“That was my interpretation as well, Miss Lee. However, I would advise you not to assume such code applies to all of my countrymen—it is a language entirely unique to Xin Wei.”

Xin Wei raised his hands defensively as Jia and Eui approached, then nearly panicked when Eui didn’t stop.

“Wait, wait! It was just a joke—a joke! Of course I am aware that such rumors are entirely baseless and—by the Emperor, call her off!”

Eui had nearly closed the distance, brandishing a knife, when Guan Yi stepped between them.

“I believe that Xin has learned his lesson, Miss An—for the moment, at least.”

Eui clicked her tongue and put the knife away before returning to Jia’s side.

“Tch, spoilsport.”

Any further response was cut off entirely as a wave of pressure swept through the crowd. Jia recognized the feeling as Elder Qin’s domain, rendering most of the crowd silent with nothing but the sheer power of his presence—he sure did like to show off. He was joined on the stage by Magus Hwang, Master Ienaga, and Grand Magus Do Hye—Murayoshi and Yan Hao were conspicuously absent.

Qin Zhao’s voice resounded throughout the courtyard—at a normal speaking volume. Jia realized now that he was somehow projecting his voice through his domain, and wondered if she’d be able to learn to do the same—after breaking that damned seal, of course.

“Greetings, disciples. I will not waste your time with pleasantries. Today, we have assembled you here to announce that at the end of the year, the Grand Academy of Spiritual, Martial, and Arcane Arts will be hosting the first annual end-of-year tournament. This will be a chance to prove to your instructors, your peers, and yourselves the value of all that you have learned here in the past year. I will allow my colleagues to elaborate further on the details.”

A susurrus went through the crowd as the students chattered excitedly. Another pulse of Elder Qin’s aura silenced them, but Jia could see Yuuko visibly vibrating with excitement as Ienaga Yumi stepped forward. Knowing what was coming, Jia flattened her ears against her head protectively before Ienaga’s shout echoed through the courtyard.

“The tournament will take place at the end of Autumn, and all students are eligible to participate or not at their own discretion. There will be three distinct competitions—single combat duels, partnered duels, and team battles. Single combat is self explanatory, while partnered duels consist of two on two battles. Finally the team battles will be conducted on a larger scale battlefield, pitting teams of up to six against each other.”

Ienaga stepped back and smoothly allowed Magus Hwang to take over. Jia wondered if they always did announcements like this in order to allow each nation to speak equally—that seemed like an unusually petty reason if so.

“There is no limit to the number of students or teams registering, and students are free to participate in any number of divisions. A qualifier will be held during the first week in order to pare the participants of each division down to a reasonable number—sixty four entries for the single-combat division, and thirty two for the team divisions.”

Finally, Do Hye stepped forward sweeping his arms out dramatically as he addressed the assembled students.

“There will be representatives from all of our nations invited to witness the event! This will be your chance to show your countries what you have learned, and prove your worth!”

Jia felt as if Do Hye met her eyes as he spoke.

“This academy will one day become the center of modern cultivation, with you as its pioneers! This tournament is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for each of you to make your marks on history! Train hard, fight harder, and show the world what you can do!”

A cheer erupted throughout the crowd, and Jia felt herself getting a bit caught up in the excitement herself. So this was what he had meant about proving herself. Do Hye and Magus Hwang expected Jia and Eui to perform well in the tournament to display the merits of sending unawakened talents to the academy.

Though she didn’t really care about Do Hye’s schemes, Jia found her blood boiling with excitement for the tournament anyway. Never mind making an example of a few bullies—this was her chance to show the entire academy at once that she and Eui were not to be taken lightly.

She had around six months to prepare for the tournament—nearly as long as she’d already spent in the academy. Most of that time had been spent stuck in place, but it was time to redouble her efforts and end that bottleneck. Her future depended on it.