Waking up the next morning was tough, especially since it has been nearly two weeks since I last really drank, with my second pounding headache. If it wasn’t for the fact that there was some hangover cure on my nightstand, or t least that’s what the snarky message from Youhao said on the card next to the cup. Despite the pounding going on in my head, it was not the only pounding going on in my head. I hadn’t realized, but yesterday was an eventful day with the long party that lasted from the afternoon well into the night, along with the scholarly competition during the morning. This may not seem important, but I hadn’t actually slept in what seemed like forever, meaning the benefits of both those events came to me last night.

[Cultivation Increased: Mortal Realm High Grade obtained]

[Conditions met: Path of the Master Scholar Obtained]

[Path of the Scholar removed]

[Path of the Young Master removed]

[Path of the Master Scholar rank 11]

[Path of the Master Scholar rank 12]

[Scholar’s Filing Cabinet -> The Master’s Storage]

[Technique: Excellence is my Middle Name]

These changes were more noticeable than you may think, as Path mergers were an important step in anyone’s life. Since the commonly accepted theory was that the cumulative number of ones ranks in their Paths could not exceed a hundred, then multiple paths started becoming an issue earlier than expected. Prior to my merger, I had already collectively earned twenty-nine ranks, which may not be that big, but good Path mergers became harder to gain the higher you climbed, even if they inevitably happened to merge. I had to assume that winning a scholarly challenge when both of the Paths were at least rank ten was the merge condition, allowing me to go to a collective twenty-one ranks.

But what was the real benefit to me, was the Technique upgrade and the new Technique I gained at rank twelve. [The Master’s Storage seemed like a more generalized dimensional storage, but likely had some sort of “authority” attached to opening it. Activating the Technique didn’t confirm anything besides the fact that it was a bit bigger and could store more besides books and documents. It took me a second to notice a keyhole in the lid of my now storage trunk. There hadn’t been a key in the previous filing cabinet, which hadn’t seemed weird to me back then, since only I could open and access the space. I didn’t think to look for it at first due to that, and since I could open the trunk without a key manifesting, it made me suspect there was some way to grant others access to the dimensional space, presumably just opening and depositing things into it.

As for my new technique, I was not completely sure, it obviously had something to do with my abilities, maybe some sort of boosting Technique? Maybe it even provided some sort of “stamp of approval” that could be important later. Unfortunately, I couldn’t prove anything other than the fact that that Zhou Excellence Mingzie kind of sounds nice to the ear. With everything settled for now, I chugged down the hangover drink before getting in and taking a cold shower to help wake me up.

Since it was Monday, I still had work to get to, so I still had to dress up for work and actually be out the door before eight in the morning. After a bit of rushing, I managed to get to work on time, but then I noticed another weird change due to my Path merger. Previously my [Commanding Presence] only really mattered between servants and I, as well as among other Young Masters. But since it merged, it also manifests in scholarly pursuits, or my work apparently. The Head Secretary commented on it, as well as the Head Lead, when I walked in. When I mentioned my Path merger, they both congratulated me, giving me the classic shoulder pat that older guys give younger men for their accomplishments. Lastly, the Head Lead gave me a tip on how to tone the Technique down, as it is less necessary in this field, even if there are times when it is nice to have. He mentions that a level of calmness combined with the self-awareness of it’s activation is a good starting point.

Heading into my office, I take those words to heart, ensuring I stay calm while I drink the coffee, I brought with me. After the first week, I learned how to do a few things to streamline my work, as well as just be more efficient in general. Combined with it being a Monday, so things had not yet piled up, work was more or less simple. I had the usual number of forms to double check to ensure everything was right, and since I had bookmarked the places I needed to reference for this level of double checking, it only ended up taking a couple hours to get through everything. The only thing that made me start to worry was a form for a request of funds seemed a bit off. Not to say anything was wrong with the numbers, I had even managed to get in contact with the original requester to ensure everything was correct. What made it seem off was that the numbers were just slightly over the normal, even if they were well within boundaries. At first, I thought it might be an earlier repeat of my first day, but early on I found nothing out of the ordinary. All in all, I just mentally marked the request as some sort of unexpected expense and hoped this would be the only anomaly in the project it was connected to. Since this project was relatively early in its progression, I just had a lingering feeling there would be further complications that would come to bear sometime this week or next week.

Getting everything set aside and filed away, I eventually decided to put it out of my mind and get my work settled before leaving for lunch, and my own self-study.