A black cat, brown dog, and gray monkey, all watched through the forest’s fog. The cat stood on top of a plum branch. The monkey hung with one arm on the same branch. The brown dog sat on the ground, below the monkey.

"We’ve seen the start of all six exams now. What do we think?" the black cat asked in a young woman’s voice.

"I think they’re consistently improving," the brown dog said in an old man’s voice.

"You’re giving these brats too much credit. The Spring Generation will obviously be better than the Winter Generation. But, it doesn’t matter that enrollment increases if no talent appears," the gray monkey said in a child’s voice.

"I actually was speaking of talents. Don’t place your idiotic assumptions on me, Monkey," Dog said.

"I am putting it on record now that it is Dog who is starting this fight," Cat remarked.

"Talents? Now, last year there were geniuses, but who could you possibly favor out of this year’s batch?" Monkey said.

"I personally have high hopes for this Xiang Gen in Stargazing," Cat interjected.

Dog snorted. "That girl, Pan Lijuan, did well in choosing Grand Heart. I would even allow her to pet my head. Now that I think about it, Monkey, your Thousand Thought Exam has already passed, and you didn’t really get anyone notable did you? Maybe in a way, you’re right that there’s no talent coming in."

Monkey’s face reddened. "You mutt-" His teeth grated.

"Stop fighting! We’re all allies here. The strength of our allies is our own strength. We all know who the real enemy is, right?" Cat said. A red gleam flashed in her eyes.

Dog and Monkey both turned towards a certain direction. Dog’s lips stretched to reveal his fangs. Monkey’s fur straightened until it became a silver sheen.

"Revenge for last year’s conference," Monkey began.

"Those southern sects won’t know what hit them," Dog growled.

Cat smiled. Now that their priorities were set straight, her exam can enter the next stage.

…

Ashina Shibara stood in place. Ashina Israk took a view of the forest. They were taking the Stargazing Examination. Luckily for them, there was still an exam left for them to take.

"Why are we stopping?" Israk said.

"We’ve been traveling in circles." In her hands rolling were two small stones. "There’s no point in trusting a compass anymore."

"You were able to find me, a standing pavilion shouldn’t be much harder."

Shibara frowned. "I have more methods, Brother. Let me try them."

Israk shook his head. "Look at your other palm."

Shibara did. The cinnabar mark, originally a circle, had split into four spots. "They’re timing us!"

"More importantly, we don’t know when the test ends. Sometimes you overthink things. If it is just me taking this test alone, how would I pass?"

Shibara looked at her brother and began thinking. "This forest can only test potential. Will, instinct, intuition, comprehension, awareness, intelligence- As long as you have the required amount to cultivate, you should be able to pass with confidence no matter what you do."

"Then, let me choose each path randomly. Are you confident in my potential?" Israk smirked.

Shibara stood behind Israk. "Your ego supplies enough confidence for the entire clan."

…

Ruidie was lost. She crouched on the side of one of the winding stone paths as other examinees passed the path from both directions. Both directions. At least half of these people were going in the wrong direction.

The paved paths within the forest were arranged in a repeating geometric pattern that stayed the same as you walk through them. Some of these paths were curved lines, and she had seen people walk these curves despite the likeness that they wanted to go straight instead.

What kind of natural phenomenon is this? Even lightning and thunder isn’t as confusing as this. She had to be under some sort of influence, which meant one of her senses was affected. If the light was slightly different, her sight would be compromised. There is an aroma of herbs that can cause hallucinations. Even hearing can affect her balance. Maybe they poisoned me with this cinnabar mark.

On her palm, the four cinnabar dots turned into five dots arranged in a circle. When the new dot appeared, the size was the same as the originals. She found this harder to explain than the forest. Ignoring her questions, just based on the pattern alone, it was impossible for there to be twenty dots as the ring of dots would become full. She was willing to bet money that not making it to the pavilion at a time before that point was a failure condition.

A black butterfly flew by her. The slight purple tint at the ends, the two blue marks on its body, and the complex patterns of its black wings. So this species is native to the capital as well. It flew around in a circle and down a path.

Not even Ruidie believed that a butterfly could help her. The minds of insects were not complex at all, which is why they could be subtly influenced by her. It was the foundation of the Art of Insect Collecting. Even being lost within a forest trying to find some pavilion reminded her of Lanzhou.

The girl rose. She was in the middle of a plan right now. Like all the other ones, there was a goal she needed to achieve. She had to consider the information she had so far and tackle her problems one by one.

For all she knew, all of her senses could be compromised. If it was just one, she could just block it, but it wasn’t. She ran forward. No one else was running. Didn’t they care about being timed? Were they trying to preserve face? Some might know what they were doing, but going by the looks of it, at least half of them didn’t.

The direction she ran wasn’t straight, neither was it curved. She turned. One knot to the left. Two knots to the right. Three left. Five right. Seven left. Eleven right. She ran and the world around her blurred by the light blue mist and pink petals. Finally, as her breath began to wane, she caught a patch of azure. Not letting it escape her, she pivoted in that direction through the shrubbery and finally stepped out into a stone clearing where the Azure Pavilion stood.

Two youths had their backs to her and she recognized them.

"Hei Ruidie," the girl said.

"Ashina Shibara," Ruidie answered.

"What a coincidence."

Ruidie patted away any leaves stuck on her southern dress. Her eyes met with the other youth.

"It’s Ashina Israk, Zhao Girl," he said dismissively.

Ruidie’s lips curved up anyway from the acknowledgment.

The Ashina Siblings turned to face the pavilion.

"Let’s go," Shibara said. Reaching the real exam hall meant that they were qualified.

...

Inside the pavilion was a single large hall. Rows of desks faced them. On each desk were the four treasures. Pieces of paper, an ink block, a stone mortar, and a brush. Half of the desks were already filled by other examinees. Yet, it was only a small fraction of the total examinee count.

Israk’s face blanched. "Essay writing! Why?"

Shibara sighed. "Really, Brother? This is an exam. Of course, we’ll be writing essays. And you brought your bow as well."

"The Grand Heart Exam that had already taken place involved a stage for archery and horse riding," a female voice said. A senior student had come up to the trio.

Israk gripped his fist. He shouldn’t have wasted that much time while traveling.

"Are there that many differences between Institutes?" Ruidie said.

"You would need to know about the origins of each school. After all, a hundred years is still too short of a foundation to warrant the respect the Institutes are given, but I won’t say more. It is something you will eventually find out if you pass. No need to worry, the essay is not the only stage of this exam," the student said.

Past the desks were instructors in various stations. The tables held more brushes but also colored ink. Calligraphy and painting. Elsewhere, there were different zithers and lutes. Near the wall, many boards with white and black pieces on top were arranged.

"The exam is divided into three stages. The first stage is essay writing. On each desk is a paper with a unique question written on it. After you finish, bring the papers your essay is written on with you and an instructor will write a new question for the next examinee. The second stage is practicing one of the four arts offered. Calligraphy, Zither, Painting, or Chess. Choose one and create a piece, perform a song, or play a game.

Behind the area where the four arts were, against the back wall of the pavilion, was a long table where five aloof individuals sat and gazed over the hall.

"The final stage is an interview. The four senior instructors and the vice-principal will review your essay. They will also review your painting, calligraphy piece, or game record. They pay attention to performances if you choose to perform. They may pass you on the spot or ask a question. And this is a chance to display anything you could not before."

"How long should the essay be? How much time do we have?" Israk said.

They followed the student’s gaze upward. The pavilion had a balcony where a few instructors and students watched. Beyond the balcony was a large open sky well. "The exam ends in the afternoon when the sun can no longer be seen from anywhere inside this building. Other than that, everything is a choice, so there is no more that I need to say." The student passed them and walked towards another group of examinees that had just entered.

The sun had yet to pass over the sky because it was still the morning.

Ruidie went over to the nearest desk. ‘Five channels deep and seven channels wide, what does one find using the Chart of the True Forms of the Five Peaks?’ What?

She raised her head and took in the entire scene of the exam in her eyes. Ruidie reevaluated the chance that she could somehow pass an exam to a school that studied something she knew nothing about.

Israk walked up to one of the desks. "‘Written in Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, what are three methods to extract a square root and three methods to extract a cube root?’" he recited. He looked at the question on the adjacent desks. "‘The Old One took five cups of water, poured them into an empty pitcher, and poured back out six cups of water. How was this done?‘ ‘Review the Six Secret Teachings against Methods of Engagement.’" Israk turned back to the others. "I can’t even begin to answer any of these. Sister, can you answer for me?"

Ruidie asked herself if he really did just say that.

"First, that would constitute cheating, Brother. The instructors in the building can surely hear what we are saying right now. Of course, if we do get away with cheating, we deserve the credit, but I don’t have a method for this specific occasion."

Israk nodded in understanding.

"Second, I don’t know the answers either."

Israk almost knocked over a desk.

"You need to do this on your own, Brother." Shibara turned to Ruidie. "How about you? Is this common knowledge in Zhao?"

"I have never heard of these questions. I might be able to answer a question on the Classics if I find one, but it will be mediocre, so I don’t think I should."

"Wouldn’t you still pass?" Israk said.

"That student never said answering the question correctly or doing well on one of the arts means you pass," Ruidie said.

"It is all determined at the last stage. Based on what you choose, the instructors will judge you differently," Shibara concluded.

"‘Everything is a choice,’ is what the student said." Ruidie looked over the dozens of desks. "We can take our time finding an appropriate question."

Shibara touched her chin. "Perhaps one that we are capable of answering, but difficult enough to impress the judges." She walked into the forest of scholarly materials.

Israk sighed and entered in another direction.

Ruidie watched them go and began her path in another direction, planning to read every untaken question at least once. There were questions on every topic, not just scholarly ones. One asked about the Zhao Code of Law. Another asked the correct method to cultivate sugarcane, a crop the Village Head told her was brought over from the Western Divine Kingdoms. The same kingdoms where those elephants at the West Market that she saw were supposedly from. There were a few questions Ruidie recognized as relating to the Buddhist Scriptures. A good number were likely related to the Canon. 

She glanced at the dots on her hand which had stopped at seven and thought back to Plum Forest. Was this what they taught? Going back to searching, a question caught her eye.

…

Shibara read over many questions without finding one that could highlight her knowledge. Taking a view around her, she saw her new acquaintance, Hei Ruidie, sit down at the corner desk. When she tried to find Israk, she saw that he was already writing at one of the desks. She immediately walked over to her brother’s table to peer over his shoulders. The question on the paper was ‘What lessons did Queen Mother gift Sovereign Kui?’ She turned to Israk’s answer and began reading a familiar piece of text. "‘Heaven and Earth is dark and yellow...’ What are you doing?! That isn’t answering the question at all!"

"I can’t answer any of the questions anyway. This way, I can at least prove I am learned enough to write out the Thousand Character Classic," Israk answered with a frown.

Shibara wanted to shake her head. She also wanted to admit that it was not the worst idea in the world, but the stupidity of the concept stopped her every time. Still, it might be the best path forward for her brother.

She continued to look over nearby tables when she stopped in front of one and sat down. ‘People possess life. Beasts possess life. Plants possess life. Do objects possess life?’ She grinned.

…

On the tiled dome next to the sky well, the dog, cat, and monkey sat, watching the proceedings below.

"Just one question this time, Cat?" Monkey said.

"One is enough. I can make my exam however I like."

"The North sent the Ashina heir down. Isn’t that interesting?" Dog yawned. Only one of his eyes watched the exam as he sunbathed.

"Forget the boy, the things that the Ashina girl tried in the forest feels familiar. Her cultivation is familiar. Is she a disciple of the Grandshaman?" Monkey said.

"The North's Shaman is the one that died, Monkey. What you’re saying is impossible. She should be cultivating the same methods, but I would have thought the Path was already cut off," Cat said.

"Whatever." Monkey was in the midst of peeling chestnuts and eating them.

The sound of struck strings arrived out of the sky well. It was a light melody, appropriately reminiscent of spring.

"Someone finally chose to play. And it’s pleasant too," Cat purred.