The ceremony in which they had received their rankings had been overly long and grandiose in Ling Qi’s humble opinion. She was perhaps biased, burned out from so much time making nice to an ever growing number of people, repeating the same polite gestures and words over and over again. Yet despite the lengthy reception, speeches, and meetings with other Inner Sect disciples, Ling Qi had left with a feeling of satisfaction.

  Eight hundred and thirty. That was to be her initial ranking in the Inner Sect. It placed her as fourth among the combat tournament’s disciples and sixth overall when counting the production disciples. Bai Meizhen, as the winner of the tournament, had received the rank of 800, the highest possible rank for a new Inner disciple, and Xuan Shi, the best of the production track, had taken the rank below. Sun Liling and Cai Renxiang had been awarded the ranks of 805 and 810 respectively. The second place production disciple and the last new disciple ranked above her had been a boy she did not recognize, named Du Feng.

  At her current ranking, she would receive a stipend of ten yellow spirit stones every week, as well as the rights to a home and cultivation site centered around one of the first Inner Mountain’s lesser argent vents. In addition to that, ranking above 900 gave her the right to freely attend the lessons of the elders on the first mountain and freely peruse the first floor of the Inner Sect’s archive.

  Yes, she could be satisfied with her current rewards for now, at least until she had time to read the rules handbook she had been given and plan for increasing her rank. She didn’t want to be one of those disciples still stuck where they’d started when next year’s batch of tournament winners came in.

  Unfortunately, that would have to wait. The Duchess had called for them in the wake of the ceremony’s end.

  She kneeled now, forehead pressed to the plush carpet which lined the floor of Cai Shenhua’s temporary accommodations. Cai Renxiang kneeled just ahead of her, allowed to raise her head from the ground but no more. The weight of the Duchess’ presence pressed down on Ling Qi, blurring her vision and granting the white-draped room they were in a dreamy sort of quality. The woman herself lounged in the center of the room, lying upon a powder blue divan. The Duchess seemed to have no care for propriety in this moment, wearing what Ling Qi could only call a loosely wrapped shift that rode up scandalously with the crossing and uncrossing of her marble white legs.

  “Eight Hundred Ten,” the woman mused, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand as she looked down upon them, the light of her gaze burning on the back of Ling Qi’s neck despite not resting directly upon her. “Hardly a beautiful number. Are you satisfied with it, my daughter?”


  “I am not, Mother,” Cai Renxiang replied, keeping her eyes on the ground. “It will serve well enough as a first step in the coming year.”


  The lounging Duchess gave a thoughtful hum, drumming her gold painted fingernails on her hip. Ling Qi shivered as her gaze briefly passed over her, feeling the silent Sixiang shrink further into the back of her thoughts.

  “A good attitude,” she said easily. “You have made errors and miscalculations in both this year and your preparations for it,” she assessed.

  “Your daughter can only apologize for her failings, Mother,” Cai Renxiang said quietly, lowering her head. Ling Qi resisted the urge to squirm in discomfort. It did not feel right, being here while her liege was being chastised.

  “So long as you acknowledge them,” the radiant monster said in a tone that could almost be construed as kind. “Despite certain childish stumbles, I am satisfied. Your time in the Sect has given you valuable experience to carry into the future. It is for that reason that I have spoken to Sect Head Yuan. You will be spending an additional year in the Inner Sect.”


  Ling Qi blinked, keeping otherwise still, confused but happy nonetheless at this revelation. With this extension, she would have two years in the Inner Sect to enjoy the fruits of her labors and to spend with mentors like Zeqing.

  “As you wish, Mother,” Cai Renxiang acceded. “May I know what you wish for me to accomplish given the additional time?”


  “You will achieve a rank above 525 by the end of your stay,” Cai Shenhua ordered, the light radiating from her gaze intensifying. “I would place your sights higher, but there is no purpose in demanding impossibilities of you.” Ling Qi shuddered at the woman’s tone. It was playful, but there was an edge of cruelty to it, made all the worse by the lack of any malice. “Not yet.”


  “It will be done, Mother,” Cai Renxiang promised.

  “Of course it will be,” the woman replied languidly. “In regards to your boy, the one who failed, I expect him to maintain the shape of your Outer Sect order in the following year. He will enter the Inner Sect at a rank no less than your current one in the next tournament. If he cannot even manage that, I will assign you a superior vassal.”


  “.…… I will convey your words to his ears, Mother.” There was a fraction of an instant’s hesitance in Cai Renxiang’s voice this time.

  “As for you…… Ling Qi, was it?” Cai Shenhua asked, her burning gaze falling fully upon Ling Qi’s back. “Raise your head. You have performed well and proved the worth of my daughter’s judgement.”


  “This one is humbled beyond words at your regard, Honored Duchess,” Ling Qi said, carefully raising her head from the carpet but keeping her eyes down as her liege was doing.

  “Good. I feel little need to offer you specific instruction,” the ruler said lightly. “End your time no more than five ranks behind my daughter.”


  “Of course, Duchess Cai,” Ling Qi replied evenly. She could do that.

  “What a good girl you are,” the woman said with a throaty chuckle. “Lastly, in eighteen months, the next competition between my province’s three Great Sects will take place. I expect you to assemble a suitable group with which to win the junior division.”


  Ling Qi considered the order. She knew that there were competitions between the sects, but that didn’t sound like a straightforward combat tournament if they needed a group.

  “I will not disappoint you, Mother,” Cai Renxiang promised again. “I thank you for offering me such chances to raise our family’s name.”


  “You are welcome. Now go. Your new sister is being somewhat disagreeable,” the Duchess said, lazily gesturing toward the exit to the room.

  Ling Qi waited, preparing to rise just after Cai Renxiang did, but the girl remained. Surprisingly, she saw the weaker light which radiated from her liege grow brighter, if only fractionally. “Mother, may your humble daughter ask of you a question first?”


  She felt more than saw the Duchess’ radiant eyes widen fractionally. “Hoh? Very well. You have earned that much.”


  “I simply wish to understand Mother’s reasoning in aligning so openly with the Bai clan and making true enemies of the Sun,” Cai Renxiang said, her gaze remaining steadfast on the ground.

  “Do you believe I have made an error? I thought you fond of Miss Bai,” Cai Shenhua replied.

  “I only wish to share your wisdom, Mother. I would never presume to believe that a friendship between children would drive such choices,” Cai Renxiang said.

  The older woman laughed, a rich throaty sound that echoed in the hazy interior of the room. She sat up in a single smooth motion, her loose robe clinging precariously to her shoulders after the sudden movement. “True enough. Do not sell your efforts short though, my daughter. Your friendship offered a seam in the armor of the ancient indifference of that clan.”


  “I am glad to know that I was of some small use to Mother,” Cai Renxiang said.

  “But I have not answered your question, have I?” Cai Shenhua mused. “It is true that the Sun are dangerous and powerful. Sun Shao retains many friends in Celestial Peaks, and the Jin stand firmly on his side, forever jealous as they are of their absolute control of the Empire’s harbors being interrupted by the Bai. Although his immediate children are dead, there are many nephews, nieces, and cousins who may yet carry the banner of the Sun family as well,” she said, a sharp smile on her lips. “And Sun Shao’s weaknesses are also his strengths. His sentiment, passion, and tactics led to the sacking and conquest of the Temple Cities and brought low Bai Fuxi and his siblings.”


  Ling Qi listened carefully, knowing that when it came to Imperial politics, she was still woefully ignorant.

  The Duchess’s smile faded then. “Indeed, the departed Emperor An saw that man for what he was: a chance that would only come once in history. Yet in the end, that opportunity has run out. Tell me what you know of the relationship between the Zheng and the Bai, my daughter.”


  “Their enmity runs deeper than history,” Cai Renxiang answered slowly. “They have been rivals since the day that Bai Xiao Lin slew Zheng Fu from ambush at Jinyu Pass.”


  “Correct, of course, if not wholly right,” Cai Shenhua tutted. “It is true that the Zheng clan was pleased to see their rivals humbled. However, there is a limit to that. In the end, the Bai and the Zheng are the last remnants of pre-Imperial days. There is a kinship there, even in the depths of enmity. Once, the Ministry of Integrity might have risen as a counterbalance to the eventual Zheng interference, but their rising star losing his Way ended that path. As things stand, a realignment was inevitable. Do you understand, Renxiang?”


  “.…… I do, Mother. Thank you very much for explaining in such a way that I might understand,” Cai Renxiang replied, rising to her feet. As Ling Qi followed her out, she couldn’t help but feel that the future was not going to be peaceful. It seemed that she would be living in interesting times.

  But she had been tempered by the forge that was the Outer Sect. Come what may, Ling Qi would meet the future and survive.

  Threads 208-Opening Day 6

  “I would like to know more of the Meng,” Ling Qi decided. “I have made my contacts, and maybe even an ally, but they are just too opaque to me.”


  “Unsurprising. They are an old clan by any measure save for that of the Bai,” Hou Zhuang said.

  “Naturally,” Ling Qi agreed.

  “One key to hold to with the Meng clan is that even those you might perceive as open to change and progress do not accept the imperial way of things,” the older man advised. “Even the Luo hold a significant faction which wishes to modernize in the imperial way. The Meng do not. You will find no significant support for the imperial cult nor its philosophers there. What their more open members wish is to push revival and improvement of old practices on their own terms.”


  “You believe this is the group that contacted me,” Ling Qi deduced.

  “Most likely. This faction is the one most engaged with the court and outsiders. Most of the Meng fear your Duchess terribly, but this group views her as an opportunity. The Emerald Seas are in flux, the shape of its new order not yet set, and to them, this is a chance to reassert primacy of their practices, rather than hiding away and preserving them,” Hou Zhuang lectured. His words were calm and the diction clear like those from an elder.

  “Their more conservative cousins no doubt see this view as a foolish risk,” Ling Qi analyzed. Their support for her made sense then. The arguments she had used to support her endeavor fit with their narrative of the past informing the present.

  “Just so,” Hou Zhuang said. “I’ve added the dossier to your ring. Time is up. Perceptions of time may only be stretched so far.”


  And like that, the color returned to the world, and the noise in the stadium once again filled her ears, along with the voices of her companions.

  “You have grown quiet, Baroness,” Meizhen said, glancing her way.

  “Just lost in thought,” Ling Qi deflected. “I was contemplating how the matches might be arranged.”


  Her vision flickered, a wisp hidden in her hair glancing back. Hou Zhuang was still there, the picture of an exhausted man in a light doze.

  “It is not good to wander so. You nearly missed the actual announcements,” Meizhen said.

  “Apologies, Lady Bai,” Ling Qi said with a hint of amusement.

  She looked down over the field where the sixteen preliminary winners now stood. Above, the air flickered with illusion, the characters of the contestants’ names spelled out in flashing silver. She blinked as she looked over the names and realized something.

  “I hadn’t recognized Chu Song,” Ling Qi said, startled.

  “Who?” Xia Anxi asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “My first opponent from last year,” Ling Qi said absently, scanning those present. They fell on the muscular girl she had noticed before. Chu Song had changed: her hair was cropped short, and she wore heavy flanged armor rather than the lighter sort she had used last year. She’d picked up a few scars as well. “I hadn’t realized she was participating.”


  “Ah, that girl,” Bai Meizhen said with distaste. “I hope she has learned to control her tongue, for her own sake at least.”


  Xia Anxi glanced at them with mild interest, but the names in the air were moving to arrange themselves into brackets.

  The first match would be Gun Jun facing down a young man Ling Qi did not recognize. The second featured Lu Feng facing one of the three second realms who had squeaked through. The third match had Gan Guangli facing another of them. The fourth was Chu Song and another new face she didn’t recognize.

  Han Jian was the first in the fifth match, facing another of the yellows. An apology for his hard match the year before? Shen Hu’s face briefly came to her mind.

  Ling Qi continued to scan the brackets. Ma Jun was in the next one, and she would be facing Fan Yu. The seventh match was Xiao Fen and some poor unfortunate, and the eighth held Han Fang and the boy with the boar spirit.

  It seemed, even more than last year, that most of the first round of matches were going to be one-sided. She suspected that one way or another, the Sect would be quietly promoting many older disciples after this year, now that the Duchess’ tests were done. They would need to, if they wanted the Outer Sect to maintain any kind of equilibrium.

  “Many easy matches there,” Lao Keung concluded.

  “True. It is more even than last year though,” Ling Qi said. “Most are at least in the third realm.”


  “The Baroness has high standards.” Xia Anxi chuckled. “Not a bad thing.”


  Ling Qi coughed into her hand, realizing that she had forgotten how matches usually were for these initial duels. She was right though. Even those whose names she didn’t know were still talented by any measure; they were still people who had attained the right to a barony by their cultivation. It was just… They were facing terrible competition this year.

  She would at least keep an ear out for the results of Ma Jun’s match. Ling Qi thought she had the advantage, but Xiulan had shown her what someone desperate enough with only a partial breakthrough could do……

  She had trouble picturing Fan Yu with such passion fueling him though.

  “A good showing for the Argent Peak Sect and the Emerald Seas as a whole.” The voice of the Bai ambassador quieted them as she spoke up beyond quiet conversation with Cai Renxiang. “The youth of this province will carry your people well in the future.”


  “You are most generous, Ambassador,” Cai Renxiang replied. “I am proud to know that we have impressed the eyes of the mighty Bai clan, if only a little.”


  She listened to their back and forth as she and the others rose from their seats. The two were trading the proper pleasantries, all reinforcements of the notion that the Bai and the Cai were dedicated to their support of one another.

  Soon, it wound down, and she and the others followed Cai Renxiang and the adults down the stairs that led to the ground floor. She found herself walking a step behind Meizhen as she turned her perceptions inward to the contents of her storage ring. She would have quite a lot of study to do.

  For now, they were heading down to collect their winners. The plan was to speak with the Bai a bit longer and then go their separate ways until the Duchess’ arrival in the evening, leaving them with the afternoon free to take care of their own business.

  In Ling Qi’s case, she had promised Wang Chao that she would meet him at the crafting competition to introduce him to Xuan Shi.

  They soon reached the bottom of the stairwell and exited the stadium. They were given a wide berth by the other guests, who no doubt wished to avoid offending such a party. Outside, they came to a stop overlooking the now fully erected sea of guest pavilions. She and Cai Renxiang stood opposite the Bai delegation there.

  “It has been interesting meeting you, Lady Cai, Baroness. I look forward to working with you in the future,” Xia Anxi said lightly. “Hopefully, the next time we meet, there will be time for less martial subjects.”


  “It has been good to see something of what your command is like,” Lao Keung said in his turn. “I have confidence in our cooperation.”


  “I am honored by your trust,” Ling Qi said. In these sorts of exchanges, it was important to speak in the proper turn with subordinates first and leaders giving the last word. “I am most pleased to have taken your acquaintance.”


  “Lady Cai keeps good company,” Meizhen said, her voice almost warm. “It will please me to see you again this evening.”


  Ling Qi caught both of the new young Bai’s gazes sliding toward her friend, seemingly discomfited. It really hadn’t sunk in what it meant when Bai Suzhen had called Bai Meizhen “kind” last year.

  “I have been glad to show you hospitality in my mother’s absence,” Cai Renxiang said politely. “Ladies Bai, you have honored me and the Emerald Seas with your attendance.”


  “It is not an undeserved honor,” said the Ambassador Xilai with a small tilt of her head. “Please excuse us then until this evening.”


  Cai Renxiang and Ling Qi both bowe,d and the Bai delegation began to take their leave, the ambassador gesturing for Meizhen to walk beside her with the others trailing behind. Ling Qi was surprised to see Xia Lushen remaining behind, his menacing shadow a step or two behind.

  “Sir Xia?” Cai Renxiang asked.

  “I am sorry, Lady Cai, but there was a question I had for your subordinate,” the scholarly man said kindly. “If I may?”


  “Of course,” Cai Renxiang said immediately.

  Ling Qi straightened up attentively.

  “It is known to me that you possess a fairly potent relic of these… underground people. While goods will surely flow from the tribute your Duchess has established, I am a man who enjoys remaining ahead,” Xia Lushen said, his smile lending him a pleasant air. “I would like to purchase it from you.”


  Ling Qi’s mind raced back to her clash with the shishigui assassin who had almost opened her throat to the faintly glowing dagger of green stone still lying in her house. “Ah, I am not necessarily opposed, Sir Xia……”


  “Yes, I do not want to rush you,” he said. “Please consider it and get back to me by the end of this gathering. I may be able to offer more than simple stones.”


  With that, he took his leave, taking the nerve-wracking presence that trailed him along, and Ling Qi let out a breath.

  Cai Renxiang gave her a sidelong look. “You acquitted yourself well.”


  “Thank you for saying so,” Ling Qi said, turning along with her liege to look over the pavilions. “I am glad Gan Guangli succeeded.”


  “Yes,” Renxiang agreed.

  “Will you join him now?”


  “Not now. This is the time for his own subordinates. My presence would be unhelpful.”


  Ling Qi didn’t know about that. Her doubt may have colored her words. “I see.”


  Renxiang let out a breath through her nose. “I have made the time to give him my encouragement before Mother’s arrival. Duty must come first.”


  “That is fine,” Ling Qi said. As long as her liege was taking care of herself.

  Sixiang sighed.

  Maybe so, but she was the one who was here, Ling Qi thought wryly. “Tonight then, my lady?”


  “Tonight,” Renxiang agreed, and there, they parted ways.