It was later the following day when Lily finally made her way to the library. Given it’d been a couple days since they’d seen each other, he’d been a little surprised— he’d had worksheets set out for her that she hadn’t come to collect— though not really disappointed. It wasn’t like she didn’t have plenty of stuff to work on with her own time…

  “Master Mingtian?” She stood behind him, holding one of the wooden cases he’d given her, looking so saccharinely hopeful that he almost recoiled at it. “I have some questions…” but then again, it was also exciting. Teaching someone who wasn’t also a supreme master of formations in their own right… it’d been a long time since he'd done anything of the sort, and there was just something fun in seeing how far she could go.

  “Not your master.” Lily didn’t respond to that, and he just sighed. “Well. Let’s grab a table, then.” The answer came to him unbidden as he moved through the library towards one of the less frequented spots— quite far. “You did well in your excursion, from what I’ve gathered— what’s bothering you?”

  “So with the qi gathering formation, when using the luminous rune to…” the talk quickly devolved into the extreme minutiae of formations science, starting at the the uncommon uses of runes themselves and then transforming further, touching on the higher essence of the craft— the making of runes, themselves. He wasn’t entirely sure— pretending to be mortal as he was, he wasn’t really exposed to those upper echelons of power all that often— but it was likely that he was the only person in the entirety of her small realm that could answer her questions. Almost certain that he was the only one who could answer her questions with such confidence.

  She was a perceptive child. About thirty minutes into their discussion, she’d scattered a whole ream of paper over the table, splattered with various runes and different permutations, and most importantly, ideas. She was very good at picking up what he laid down… and, determined enough not to give up when she reached a barrier… but also, especially when he was there to guide her, not so stubborn that she would simply continue bashing her head against a wall. In pretty much all aspects, she was perfect disciple material…

  He grimaced lightly. No— no, he was very much not her master! No matter how much assistance he gave her…

  “And if you were to put these runes together in this order, then… oh! That’s why it failed to smooth out the qi flow, and then this interfered with the secondary… I think I see now.” He smiled, nodding at her. She understood. It wasn’t a talent of hers, per say, but… she was good at grasping the essence of things, and her training with formations had only improved that. “Though, that still begs the question— why did the cong become impossible to move when I placed them? It even increased their toughness…”

  He smiled. “You’re missing a piece of the puzzle. Have you ever heard of arrays?”

  “Isn’t that just another word for formations?”

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  He nodded, waving one of his hands in a sort of— “yes and no,” gesture. “The word can be used that way by the uninitiated, but there is a very particular difference between arrays and formations that should become readily apparent. Formations rely on runes, while arrays rely on the natural resonance of the qi of the world. Take for example, one of the simplest and most profound of arrays— the wuxing array. By placing elementally aligned objects and through careful architecture, great benefit can be reaped from relatively simple practice.”

  “That…” she frowned. “That makes a lot of sense. So you’re saying that my qi gathering formation was also, in part, an array of some sort?” He nodded. “How then do arrays connect to formations? There’s got to be some intersection… though, is it like arrays and say… smithing, or alchemy? I—” she paused, frowning. “Don’t answer that.”

  He tilted his head in confusion. “Why not?” Then again— “it’s not like anyone knows.” He definitely knew, but in turn, he was certain that nobody in the lower realms had any idea as to the connection. It was a very advanced topic— one that only really began to be adumbrated in the Heavenly Realms. Only in the Celestial Realms was there any true understanding as to the topic.

  Lily glared at him for a moment, before just sighing, slumping. “I guess if you don’t know, then nobody would.”

  “Perhaps one of the sects could help you?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Right.” It was both kind of adorable and a little disturbing how much faith she had in his formations ability. She was right, of course, but there was no way for her to know that. “Sorry. I dunno, it’s just…” she chuckled weakly, at something only she could know. “I guess it just feels… disingenuous to always have the answers just handed to me. Like… when this is through, and I’m part of the Bloody Saffron Sect, will I truly be able to stand on my own? Or am I just relying on what you taught me?”

  He was silent for a moment— resisting the urge to laugh at her predicament, given how serious she was being about the whole thing. “I think,” he said finally, “that you’re overthinking this.” She glared at him, but he just met her gaze evenly— her anger was about as effective as a wet kitten’s. “Think about it. In all your fields of study, how many of them are you expected to figure out everything that you’ve been taught? In your math class, are you required to discover what comes next before they teach it to you?”

  She opened her mouth, paused, then crossed her arms and glanced down, all surly. “No…”

  “You’ll get there eventually. And even if you don’t— is discovery the truest measure of your skill? There are plenty of formations experts out there who can understand something fully without ever discovering what they use. Do you think that I discovered everything I use?” Most of it, he had, but the basics… even he’d had to learn the basics from a series of teachers and the extensive sect library, back in the Abyssal Skies sect. “Learn as much as you can, but— if it truly worries you— endeavor to retain your flexibility and creative thinking when it comes to formations. Don’t ever take anything at face value— and don’t ever think that anything can only be used in one way.” He gave her a smile. “You’re already pretty good at this, but just something to keep in mind, as you prepare to start cultivating in earnest.”

  She frowned a bit longer, then sighed, and nodded… the very faintest edge of a smile coloring her face. “Sure. Thanks, Master.”

  “Not your master…” but she had already started asking questions on another aspect of the art, and he was forced to focus on that instead.

  It was a good day. Productive…

  He wondered how far she could go.

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