Ruidie slouched at her desk and spun a brush between her fingers. “Instructor Lei, another question.”

“Another one? How many more are there?” Lei Shiwen kept his gaze on at his table and was writing something like always.

The class already ended and she once again remained at her seat. “About the next essay. If I wrote on the differences between Northern Xue’s accounts and Southern Shen’s accounts of the Five Pivotal Battles, how well do you think I would do.”

The man sighed. “For the last time, I am not telling you.”

“Why not? It is just an opinion.”

“I am impartial.”

If I hear that phrase one more... “Fine, one last question. Today, your lecture momentarily mentioned the changes in the Grasslands over the Millenium of Instability. In the library, what books talk more about this?”

Shiwen momentarily glanced up. “Is it possible you finally have an interest in class now that we’re catching up to the present?”

“I just want to know more about the Ashina Clan.”

The man shook his head as his remaining hopes fleeted. “The book you’re looking for is Changes of the Northern Sky written by Shi Lan. This author’s works, especially his annotations, are difficult to find, but the library should have it."

Ruidie nodded and stood up, preparing to leave.

“How are classes,” Shiwen said abruptly.

She glanced back. “They are actually going quite well. You already know I’m doing fine here. Anatomy was never a problem. Instructor Sang from The Way has mellowed out after I began showing results. As for Natural Sciences… Ahem- It would not be a lie to say I know the most in the class.”

For all her classes, the effort she placed in studying had to have been greater than anyone else. It kept her busy for her entire afternoons and evenings. When the sky darkened, Shibara would appear at the library to drag her tired self to eat dinner back at the dorms before she sneaked back. She spent very little time doing anything else, it was studying until she was exhausted. No matter what, she would learn everything that she could. She felt the progress she made.

“Then that’s fine,” he focused back on writing.

“Since you asked, it’s only fair I get another question.”

“Is that how this works?”

“What are you always writing?”

Shiwen raised an eyebrow. “Usually treatises, or annotations on treatises. But right now, it's an instruction book of fighting with a spear.”

“A martial arts manual?”

“No, it is different. I wouldn’t call this a manual. If it was, it would require more from me than just sitting in this room writing. But I would like for it to be eventually incorporated into the Military Styles.”

“Military Styles?”

“The official martial arts manuals distributed to soldiers and taught at the five main officer camps, training camps in which veterans teach talented youths from military families. The most commonly practiced manuals right now are Sixth Military Sword, Fifth Military Saber, and First Military Spear. Notice the difference?”

“The spear hasn’t experienced any changes.”

Shiwen nodded. “The latest addition to the Military Spear Series is the Eighth, but the First remains the most commonly recommended manual. It just goes to show how effective it is. Even additions are fiercely debated. Right now, I’m trying to write is a candidate for the Ninth Military Spear.”

“Do you want to beat the First?”

“No, this won’t be popular. It has very specific uses.”

“You make it sound so special, but I’m not just going to believe it is.” Although it was only for a moment, Rudie caught Shiwen’s frown. Success.

He stopped writing. “On an open field, when a group of fifty cavalry charges at your group of twenty spearmen, what should the spearmen do.”

Ruidie spoke immediately. “Use the spear tip to puncture the ground diagonally. Use the puncture to steady the spear ends as they hold their spears. Wait for impact.”

“And, how do you know?”

“It is the only logical thing to do.”

“Exactly.” He placed a hand to his chin. “You’re a spearman facing a swordsman. What is the first thing you do?” He left out any other details.

“I’ll hold the spear parallel to the ground towards the swordsman.”

“Hold it how? What’s your stance? Is your left foot forward or backward? Is your left or right arm bent? If the swordsman sweeps your spear away left, how should your stance change?”

“I don’t know,” she answered.

“But what if you did?”

Ruidie understood.

He continued. “This manual won’t be for martial artists wanting to learn a style. It is for when someone who has never learned the spear is given a single day to prepare for a battle. When cities were besieged and soldiers were lacking, the local populace was commissioned. When villages were threatened by bandits, villagers prepared spears. A manual without forms that needed to be practiced, but with instructions that needed to be memorized. If you observe your opponent do ‘that’ action, do ‘this’ action. A theoretical approach.”

“I get the idea, but I still have trouble imagining it.” She had never learned the use of any weapons, she figured out grapples, locks, and tosses on her own before having Grandma correct her.

“The line that I just wrote is ‘Keeping stance, simultaneously extend the left arm out to the level front straight, and pull the right upper arm to a one-third turn, three-eighth tilt. The spear should be at a seven-eight turn, two-third tilt.’”

“This is something people need to understand amid fighting?”

“It is.”

“Isn’t this supposed to be for villagers?”

“It should apply.”

“These turns and tilts are just approximations?”

“Correct.”

Ruidie shook her head. “Then if it was me, I would phrase it as ‘Keeping stance, extend the whole left arm North Three, and pull the upper right arm East Southeast Two. The spear is at Northwest Four.’“

“What is Four?”

“The position of the sun in the sky when the time is Four Period, in other words, morning.”

Shiwen’s eyes went unfocused. He no longer paid attention to his surroundings but his thoughts.

When Ruidie saw this, she sat back down at her seat as she trailed a smile.

Shiwen flipped back some of his sheets of paper. “Then how about this line…”

…

The sky mixed dark blue and orange.

“Have you entered cultivation?” Shiwen asked at the end.

Ruidie’s smile wasn’t quite there.

“Do you understand the methodology? Not just the beginning, but also the end?”

“An energy self succeeds a physical body. A heavenly consciousness succeeds an energy self,“ she said.

He nodded. “Don’t think that anyone can enter this school on a fluke.”

Her smile remained shallow.

“Do you remember receiving a walnut back during the Stargazing Exam?” he said. “The individual who likes throwing those walnuts often writes hints on them.”

Ruidie eyes widened. “I got it.”

Once again she left through the open screens at the back of the room instead of the door.

…

Ruidie retrieved the walnut from the drawer in her room. She tossed it up and caught it on its way back down. On it carved two small words. ‘Memory Palace’.

She entered the library, went up to the familiar receptionist who visibly sighed when he saw her again, and tossed him a scroll. Written on the scroll were five texts. Memory Palace, Changes of the Northern Sky, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, Sea Island Mathematical Classic, and Method of Interpolation.

“For Memory Palace we only have one copy. If you want to take it outside, print another copy at the southern wing to keep on the shelves.” The student gave back the scroll with locations he somehow knew written on it.

So it is a book. Ruidie nodded and went to look for it when she spotted Shibara sitting at a table on the second floor.

Shibara spotted her as well.

Ruidie went over. “I am finally getting arithmetic books. Though I still need to find time to study them.”

“If it's better, just focus on cultivation. You shouldn’t bother with Yuwen Du.”

“Yuwen who?”

“The bet.”

“What bet?”

“Actually, never mind.” Shibara has since learned that the girl enjoyed trapping people with jests. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

“I will. What about you, don’t you usually borrow books and bring them back to your room?” She had to admit, Shibara studied just as much as she did.

“These are personal research. There are a lot of references, so it makes sense to study them here. I can understand why you hole up here every day.”

Shibara held Essential Techniques For People’s Benefit in her hands, a text that even Grandma had a copy of back at Lanzhou. Nearby was Methods of Engagement, a military treatise Ruidie remembered appearing on the Stargazing Exam, just as Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art did.

Ruidie leaned closer. “Back when we first met, you mentioned my hazel eyes, remember?”

“They must be from your mother.”

“I know the story. My grandma once traveled to the north, and there, in a destroyed tribe, she found my mother, a girl who somehow found a way to escape death.”

Shibara turned and she could see her reflection in Ruidie’s eyes. “Your mother was probably from one of the Uyurta Tribes.”

“Really? What was their relationship with the Keruk?

“We were at war because the Uyurta allied with Zhao.”

Ruidie deflated. “I didn’t know that. Please blame Instructor Lei for my deficient knowledge.”

“You have no thoughts? We were the ones to kill your entire maternal lineage.”

“I at least know that even among the same Grassland tribes they still fight each other. They could have easily conflicted with another Uyurta tribe. Still, I wouldn’t care either way.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m also looking for a book on the subject of Grasslands.”

“I can already tell you a lot. My ancestors led the Keruk Tribes to overthrow the First Khaganate and establish our own. Eventually, control was split between the east and west courts. Taizong defeated the Eastern Keruk and we recognized him as our Great Khan. Finally, Zhenzong, often criticized for his infatuation with Grassland customs when he was prince, reorganized the Northern Protectorate to the current Eastern Keruk Administration.”

Ruidie was about to reply when Shibara suddenly inclined her head and looked at the ceiling.

“Great, now I'm thinking about it again.” Her lifted arm hid her face from Ruidie.

“Shibara?”

“Why did we lose? Why did the Grasslands lose? We never lost as we did against Taizong. I asked myself this over and over again. No actually, it was the other clansmen who continuously asked me. I wanted them to stop so much that I eventually came up with the answer. We lost because the House of Li was originally northerners. They fought like us during the changing of dynasties. They knew the ways of the Grasslands. They understood their enemy, but we never understood ours.”

“Why does it have to be ‘we’ and not ‘I’? If you don't want to think about it, then don’t.”

“I have to care.”

“Can’t you stop?”

“You will understand when millions rely on you and you alone, and what they weigh.” She stood up. “It’s getting late, I’ll go back first. And also, Ruidie, if you still need more pressure and motivation to succeed in opening the door, I just achieved the middle state of the Heart Path yesterday.”

Everyone should face their own problems. Yet, this was the first time Ruidie felt so inadequate to even consider helping to carry a burden.

She kept her stare forward, finally understanding the immense amount of talent that just walked past her.

…

She found Memory Palace at the corner of the third floor and closed herself in her usual study room. She turned the latch and sat down.

The pages were not especially old but she realized that this was not the original copy either. Besides the name, there was no author, but a small note stating ‘Translated by Adur of House Sira”.

She opened it.

It was clear that this was not a cultivation method, but a technique. Successful completion and ability to take advantage of this technique did not even require a specific cultivation realm, but the utilization of a large amount of intent and a controlled mind.

There were many mental exercises and it honestly reminded her of the Art of Insect Controlling.

Simply put, it was a memorization technique. The first half was visualization practice. The second half was the actual technique. She had to choose a location that she understood every part of. Be able to walk through every part of the location and interact with it in her mind. This would become her memory palace. Create and place anything inside, and she would be able to access it anytime in the future.

This wouldn’t help her enter cultivation at all, but maybe it was a shortcut to her studies. Maybe it could solve all her problems except for entering cultivation.

Ruidie took out her stone pillow and rested her head as she read while laying down.

She chose her courtyard home back in Lanzhou. The front building had two storage rooms and three sections. The yard was divided into a stone path and four gardens. There were no side buildings, only two walls. The back building had two sections.

It was supposed to take days to complete, but she spent the entire night reading the text because there were no classes tomorrow.

…

“Success,” she muttered. Shouldn’t this be more difficult?

Inside her mind was her old room. She imagined a porcelain bowl and it appeared.

She reread the entire text from the beginning. Inside her mind, on the floor, a book suddenly formed from nothing. The pages flipped, and words were being written as she read. In the end, It was Memory Palace, a perfect imitation. I have to read a book fully to memorize its text.

A second book suddenly formed. Essential Techniques For People’s Benefit. The pages flipped, but they were empty besides sparse words here and there. She had long forgotten the contents of the book from the last time she used it. The technique helped her store what she imagined, but not regain memories.

Art of Insect Collecting appeared next. This was a book she had completely memorized. she flipped it open and the first page was empty, but as she recalled her memory, the words began appearing.

Ruidie picked up the physical copy of Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art and skimmed it as quickly as she could. The parallel book was written in her memory palace. When she was done, she closed the book along with her eyes.

As a test, she wanted to remember the part of the text when fractions were introduced, but nothing happened. The copy of the book in her mind remained closed.

She flipped the imaginary book open and saw the words of the first page. She flipped again and continued until she found the section on fractions.

Wait? I have to manually flip each page just to find something. I can’t just think of a concept and retrieve the information immediately.

This confirmed that her ability to recall something in her memory wasn’t improved either.

This doesn’t help me study at all. It was just the same as having the book in front of her, which she usually did anyway. All this meant was that she could now review study materials while eating or walking, and make cheat sheets for the few tests that could benefit from them.

If she learned this earlier, maybe she would appreciate it more. At least this will help me cut time used to retrieve old books.

Sun shined into the room. It was dawn.

“Isn’t this a bit useless?”

Her heavy eyelids closed. The girl fell asleep.

...

A black starry sky.

Ruidie blinked. What?

She immediately sat up. The ground felt cold, but her attention was kept by what her eyes saw.

A night sky was above. A calm ocean was below.

She stood on a flat plane of water of infinite depth that reflected the sky. The library was gone. Thousand Thought Institute was gone. Taiping was gone. Great Zhao was gone. She was in another world altogether. All she saw was the endless horizon where the water met the void. The world was empty.

Not completely empty. At her feet was her stone pillow.

Ruidie picked it up, causing ripples to spread out from her feet. They continued outwardly without stopping.

She gripped the pillow and spun around. Am I stuck here?

Then she noticed some of the ripples on top of the water were different. In a certain direction, they actually came towards her, but when they reached her feet, it changed direction back away again.

My ripples reflected off something and came back.

She turned towards that direction. Although the stars were bright, it was still difficult to see, but she thought that she saw a structure in the distance.

The girl slowly stepped until she reached the structure.

From outside she just saw a white wall and a gate. On the name board were the words ‘Moonless Courtyard’.

She thought that name felt familiar and flipped the stone pillow in her hands over. However, it was hollow. The metal plaque hidden inside was gone. If she recalled what it looked like-

Ripple!

An object fell onto the water-floor beside her. She looked down and saw the metal plaque. She slowly picked it up. On it were the words ‘Moon-Reflecting Courtyard’, slightly different. But, how did it appear?

Ruidie had an idea and imagined Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art that she had memorized.

Ripple!

There it was. The book abruptly appeared and was now on top of the layer of water. A quick flip showed the text was correct.

So this is a dream?

She pushed the doors open and lost her breath.

On every side of the square courtyard was a two-story building. At one of the corners was a tall pagoda. On the other three corners were gardens. The center was a level white stone square with paths that led outward.

The buildings all had black clay-tiles and dark grey wood.

All the leaves of the garden’s and path’s plants were purple and blue leaves. She bit one and it tasted real.

Ruidie walked around and explored the entire courtyard. Two of the gardens had small ponds connected by a river that went behind one of the buildings. The water tasted real too. All the buildings and their rooms were empty with not even a speck of dust. Finally, the pagoda was locked.

The girl stared at the padlock. She wasn’t going to lose to a lock. A dangerous smirk formed on her lips.

This my dream. How can it be locked? Nonsense.

Opening her palms, a large halberd appeared out from thin air. She already figured how to create any objects.

She freed both hands and held up the halberd. She struck down-

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Ruidie opened her eyes and pushed herself off the floor of the study room.

The sixth bell rang, which meant that it was midday.

Her memories of the courtyard were vivid and clear, nothing like a dream.

She looked down at the pillow made of black stone. It was a dream pillow, like the ones in fairy tales. This is possible? Did Mother leave behind a dream pillow for me?

This was the first time something like this occurred when sleeping on her pillow and It was only after practicing the Memory Palace Technique. Both a coincidence, yet not at the same time.

So what this all means is that… I can now study even while I’m asleep!

“Isn’t this a bit useless?”