Jun Li sat outside the forest, idly watching her snake companion cozy itself next to her, coiled up in her patchwork hat.

  Almost half an hour had passed as Jun Li waited for Elder Yao to return and formally conclude the trial.

  As time passed, the accumulated fatigue of the past eighteen hours began to make itself known, and Jun Li wished for little more than to return home and rest.

  “This is everyone, then.” Elder Yao silently appeared amidst the gathered crowd of disciples, only drawing any attention after she had announced her presence.

  “Consider yourselves the fortunate few, I’ve had to deal with no small number of stragglers and drop-outs over the past few hours.”

  Looking around, Jun Li noticed that indeed, there were fewer disciples gathered here than had set out at the beginning of the Trial; in particular, the group of three from the previous day, including the disciple who had accosted her, were nowhere to be seen.

  “I’ve carried those embarrassing few who utterly failed back to the Sect.” Elder Yao’s sneering tone made her disregard for those she found lacking scathingly clear.

  “Go on then, line up and hand over your satchel of Beast Cores, your Jade Slip too, for identification.” Listening to Elder Yao’s instructions, Jun Li quickly gathered her things and stood to join the line of disciples.

  As she found a place in line, she noticed that the Princess, Zhao Xiaoli, made no move to join the crowd herself. Though as the line quickly moved up, Jun Li was forced to set that thought aside.

  At the end of the line, Elder Yao held out her palm, waiting for Jun Li to offer up her satchel of Cores. Jun Li quickly handed over her satchel, heftier than she remembered, and made ready to offer her Jade Slip, but unlike with the disciples before her, Elder Yao paused for a moment, as though unsure.

  Jun Li had no choice but to wait as Elder Yao raised her eyes and swept her gaze over the gathered disciples, stopping only to look in the direction of Zhao Xiaoli. “…I see, very well then.”

  Lowering her gaze back to Jun Li, Elder Yao held out her hand again. Snapping out of her uncertainty, Jun Li quickly offered her Jade Slip for Elder Yao to read.

  Elder Yao grasped the Jade Slip before quickly returning it. “Jun Li, is it? You may go now and wait for the results.” Jun Li quickly stashed her Jade Slip away and gave a slight bow. “Ah, thank you…”

  Walking back to the stone she had waited atop before Elder Yao appeared, Jun Li couldn’t help but speak up, seeing that Zhao Xiaoli had yet to join the line of disciples. “Are you not going to… go hand in your Cores to be counted?”

  Zhao Xiaoli laughed lightly in response. “Ah, there’s no need for that, don’t worry. Besides, it wouldn’t be proper for me to compete for the rewards of an Outer Sect Trial when, by my Cultivation, I’m supposed to be an Inner Sect disciple now.”

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  “I suppose so…” Seating herself beside Zhao Xiaoli, Jun Li picked up her patchwork hat and gently tucked her snake companion in the collar of her robe. “But why continue to hunt down magical Beasts with me after your breakthrough then?”

  Zhao Xiaoli waved her hand as if to brush off the comment. “No better way to familiarize oneself with the limits of your new cultivation than to test it in combat. Besides, I may as well help out a friend along the way.”

  Tucking her hat over her eyes, Jun Li smiled. “Well… thanks for that, then...” Before the two could talk further, Elder Yao’s voice rang out from the center of the crowd. “Since nobody else is coming to hand over their cores, I’ll assume I’m done here. If I call your name, come up to receive your reward.”

  “Jiang Cai, with thirty-eight Cores. Third place.” After Elder Yao called this name, a disciple Jun Li didn’t recognize distinguished themselves from the crowd and moved up to collect a small box offered by Elder Yao. ‘Thirty-eight… I never finished counting how many Cores I had, but… I think I did better than that, if only barely.”

  “Sun Huan, with forty-seven cores. Second Place.” Hearing the next name called, Jun Li’s hope quickly deflated. ‘I definitely… didn’t gather enough to surpass that.”

  Looking to the crowd, Jun Li noticed that she recognized the disciple walking towards Elder Yao; it was the disciple with the saber on his back, who she had raced down the side of the mountain, and who had placed third in the last trial.

  ‘Hmm? I gathered more Cores than third place, but less than second place…?’ Before Jun Li could consider her doubts further, Elder Yao continued to speak. “Jun Li, with sixty-three cores.”

  Stunned, Jun Li raised her head in confusion as Elder Yao concluded. “First place.” Slowly, Jun Li moved to receive her reward, still processing what she had heard. ‘How could it have possibly been sixty-three…?’

  “Here you are...” Elder Yao unceremoniously dropped a small, lacquered wooden box into Jun Li’s hands. “Do be sure to thank your friend for their… egregious act of charity.”

  Turning to follow Elder Yao’s gaze, Jun Li saw Zhao Xiaoli, seated peacefully and watching the proceedings from the sidelines.

  Realizing Zhao Xiaoli had helped far more than she realized, Jun Li felt a complex tangle of emotions.

  On one hand, she hated to take charity from someone she considered a friend, but on the other, she couldn’t refuse any advantage that might bring her closer to the goal of uplifting her family. ‘I just wish… she had asked me, rather than palming them off to me while I’m not looking…’

  “Now then! With the trial over, I would normally guide the lot of you back to the Outer Sect, but this time, I’ll have my hands full introducing a new disciple to the Inner Sect.”

  Casually dismissing the crowd, Elder Yao turned her attention to Zhao Xiaoli. “Then, Princess, if you would accompany me to the Inner Sect, I’d be glad to give you the full tour.”

  Standing up, Zhao Xiaoli gave Elder Yao a shallow bow. “Certainly, Elder Yao. I’ve only one matter to attend to before we head out.”

  Turning to Jun Li, Zhao Xiaoli took a breath and paused to find the right words. “Junior Sister Jun… I’ll see you in the Inner Sect.”

  Hearing this, Jun Li couldn’t help but swallow her misgivings and smile. “Well, I’ll be right behind you then.”

  Satisfied with Jun Li’s answer, Zhao Xiaoli turned to Elder Yao. “Then, Elder Yao, I’m ready to take that tour of the Inner Sect.” Hearing this, Elder Yao nodded, pleased to be working with a disciple of passable talent. “Wonderful, follow along then.”

  To the side, Jun Li watched as Elder Yao escorted Zhao Xiaoli back up the mountain pass to the Sect.

  At the end of an eventful nineteen hours, Jun Li’s fatigue weighed down on her, and she could do little but look down at the box she had received as a reward. ‘I don’t even remember what was supposed to be in this thing…’

  Jun Li sighed, and on tired legs, slowly began the long walk back to the Outer Sect.