On my way back to my room, I spot Zhou Baohu standing by my door, looking a little annoyed he had to be waiting. “Took you long enough, now follow me, Lady Zhou is waiting for you in her office” he says brisky, before walking down a corridor to a section of the compound I have not been to yet. I hurry to catch up to him as he is walking a little too fast.

“Not even going to say hello? Or say please? Way to be rude” I manage to say before the shadows underneath me somehow trip me up. “Hurry up Zhou Mingzie, we do not want to keep Lady Zhou waiting” he says, not even looking back. Wondering what is with the last-minute summons, but I keep my mouth shut while I run to catch up.

We arrive at a large door, intricately detailed with bronze painted dragons throughout the door, tiny Jade shards inlaid where the eyes would be. As I near the doorway, I feel the air charged with a massive energy, the energy I have come to know as Qi. The feeling makes me instinctually flinch a bit, feeling uncomfortable while near it. I hurry through the door, hoping to escape the feeling, realizing as soon as the door closes, the whole room is saturated in that level of energy.

Lady Zhou chuckles at my reaction “I see you haven’t felt Qi at a decent strength yet and stayed conscious” after sipping some tea she continues, “Qi permeates the world, but usually at a low level, throughout the world though, there are regions of stronger Qi, either because we artificially increase it in cities, or those cities or outlying regions have a natural source of Qi that is much higher than normal. Often these regions are elementally focused, like a region of eternal lightning storms.”

“What does that have to do with that door though?” I ask not seeing the connection. Lady Zhou motions to Baohu to get me a cup of tea, “the capital of the empire, like most provincial cities, have a concentration of Qi around them. The Zhou Clan being a powerful clan, has its Main branch in the capital, so before I was exiled, I stayed there. Along with having a relatively high cultivation, I am used to, and in fact more comfortable, around much denser Qi environments, than someone like you”. She stops again to take a few more sips of tea, causing me to reach for my cup too.

“The door is a mobile version of that, as combined with some formations inlaid in these walls, it heightens the Qi within this room to a barely acceptable level, making it high enough so I can actually get to work while in my office” she says just before I drink from the tea, gasping slightly as that same feeling of Qi permeates my body, my body slowly heating up.

“Drink up Little Zhou, I will need you to at least have a little bit of cultivation progress, and you thought I just loved tea, didn’t you” she finishes her cup of tea before pouring herself another cup. “Like the door, this Qi in the tea helps me stay functional in a low Qi density zone with a higher cultivation”. I take a couple more sips of the tea before I am forced to take a breather, setting the tea down to ask a question.

“What do I need to cultivate anything, I am just going to be a scholar? Also, why was I called here in such a hush? I ask, getting an inkling there may be a connection. She nods to Baohu before setting her tea down, “keep sipping at the tea while I explain. You see, I took that schematic for the records room for a reason, while nothing major, it proves you have a potential for higher ranks in your Path, potentially enough for serious investment from the Main Branch. So the Main Branch and I communicated, if you manage to take and pass the Zucai exam in a couple weeks, then you’ll have earned a small stipend and cultivation resources before being brought to Gungzhou, the nearest provincial city, for further study. You will probably be there a couple months, being tutored by some mid-level members of our Clan, before taking the Juren exam. All that comes to tonight, where I will have a series of study materials brought to your room and essentially shut you in your room until you are deemed ready to take the test”.

I managed to finish my cup during her short speech, wanting clarification, “You had made it seem like the Zucai exam was equivalent to a college degree in my world, much less the Juren exam in a couple months, how am I supposed to make that work?!” I manage to get a bit flustered near the end.

“Well, you see, when I described you to the Main Branch, and when I initially told them of your future arrival, I never told them you would not be from our world, nor your age. They likely think you are a mid-level genius, which even in this scenario, they doubt you would be able to make the miraculous achievements and gain the necessary knowledge to pass both exams, But I suspect your world may have some advanced knowledge when in comes to education, combined with our Qi and ranks, will be enough of a boost to pass the Jouren exam. As far as the Zucai exam, our clan, especially upper ranked members, pretty much have the requirement to be able to pass the exam, even if they never make it official for the government side. Our Main Branch, the ones who have any sort of leadership Path or manage branches must be able to pass the Juren exam as well.” She explains, connections going off in my head, seeing where things are going.

“So, then the Zucai exam should only barely be hard, providing just enough challenge to give me a handful of ranks, where the real challenge will be passing the Juren exam. They probably also hinted at me passing both exams being a requirement for you to come back to the Main Branch?” I say, being a bit greedy with the last assumption.

“That may have been assumed” she says before Baohu clears his throat, causing her to smile, “That’s my cue, it seems the little brat got mad at being upstaged earlier, and is going to try and make trouble for you” she says, me not understanding what’s going on, she continues, “The ‘young master’ as you know him from earlier, doesn’t know who you are, but likely got someone to tell him where your room is, and is going to try and convince me to punish you”

“What does that have to do with right now?” I ask, wondering where this is going, “Well, he is on his way here now, where I will let him spew whatever lies he wants, and let you defend yourself. You may be wondering why, simply because challenges make you advance on your Path, which will help you, and it gives me an opportunity to punish him, when the His father is protecting him” she says with a grin on her face, before a banging on the office door can be heard.