Seeing the scholar before him, Zixin moved forward, reaching out his hand to take the coin from the Scholar's hand. Xiu Ying slapped Zixin's hands away and spoke, appearing rather annoyed, "Dear brother, doing this is rather rude. Do you fear that this act of giving it to her will bite you back? Then, accept it, you cannot change the past."
Hearing the word past be said, Zixin went quiet. He simply looks at the Scholar once more before moving his attention away from her.
Aiko, who stood there with them, was rather confused. What promotion? This thought ran through her mind. She decided to ask Xiu Ying, but before she was even able to speak, Xiu Ying said, "Please, don't ask; I will explain it simply. Why wouldn't I explain it? Leaving you out of this conversation is rather rude, and we certainly don't want that."
Aiko nods, appreciating that Xiu Ying took the initiative to explain it to her.
Xiu Ying then started to explain in a simple yet easy-to-understand manner, it was as though she was trying to explain this to a child, "Promotion, what does this word mean? Do you have any idea?"
Seeing that Xiu Ying is going with this approach, Aiko gladly answered, "Promotion is a concept where an individual status will be raised after completing a certain task. For example, a nurse will be able to become a doctor after they pass an exam where they will be licensed as a doctor in a certain field. But, to get hired would be a completely separate thing."
Xiu Ying's smile widened as she spoke, "Good, a good understanding is a good foundation for all knowledge. Your idea and explanation is a good one. And from the looks of it, you have already used the general clues to conclude that this is a promotion and not a promotion." Xiu Ying continued, "Well, to get back to our main topic, what does this promotion do? Let me first explain, how is one even allowed to get a promotion? What are the criteria?"
Xiu Ying walked around the stage and explained as she walked. It seems like she wants to see how much attention Aiko is willing to pay to learn about it.
"Acknowledgement is one of the important criteria. One must be acknowledged by the person above them to be allowed to be given the coin. For example, the nurse wanted to become a doctor, but for that to happen, they must first obtain the acknowledgment of a doctor from the field they wish to follow." She continued, "Another criterion is knowledge. How well one understands and uses their knowledge of their field. So, even if you know many different aspects of your field but cannot use it properly and have a low understanding of it, you will not be allowed to be given the coin."
"But, please keep in mind that all promotion still depends on the field itself. What other criteria would that field have for you to be allowed to obtain a promotion? This is a simple question with many varying answers depending on the field."
Xiu Ying then stopped walking to look at Aiko as she spoke, "Then, what do you think this dear Scholar would be promoted to today?"
Aiko was a little confused as to why she was being asked this question. After all, how would she know?
"It seems to be somehow connected to Zixin. And it also seems like he was the one to give her the coin, so, if I were to guess, it would have something to do with his field of knowledge. So, is it in the field of medicine? From the time I have spent with Zixin, I have learned that he has good knowledge of it." Aiko guessed as she tried to use the evidence around her.
Unfortunately, Xiu Ying shook her head. She kindly explained, "Zixin certainly has knowledge and that is good thinking, but he didn't give her such a coin. What our dear Scholar was given was a Bloodline coin."
Hearing this made Aiko confused yet interested; after all, a Bloodline promotion sounds rather interesting.
Seeing that her words had piqued Aiko's curiosity, Xiu Ying chuckled and continued to explain, "First let me define what a field is. A field in this scenario would be a path, a path that one would take to reach a certain point within the road." She then started to explain about the Bloodline, "Bloodlines are made by several people who gathered together upon a certain belief. In other words, this would be a clan. Aren't you also from one?"
Aiko didn't expect Xiu Ying to ask her such, but she still answered, "Yes, it may not have been a prominent one before, but due to my hard work and effort, it finally rose to be the number one clan in our Land."
Xiu Ying nodded at this, happy to know that clans still exist within the outside world. Xiu Ying then started to walk once more as she explained, "Bloodline promotion is rather simple. Bloodline members, or clansmen would be able to give their bloodline coin to someone they find worthy. This worth will vary among Bloodlines and among members at certain times. The person given this will then be allowed to get promoted to said Bloodline. It will first start as a branch family, which means that said person will start as someone of lower importance in said Bloodline. You can probably guess that said person will also be able to get promoted into the main family of said Bloodline."
Xiu Ying then turned to look at Aiko, waiting for her to ask a certain question. Aiko understood her and asked, her curiosity to know more is free to be seen, "Then, if that is the case, what reason should one wish to be a part of a Bloodline? I can already assume that there are benefits that come with it, such as fame, power, and status. But I have no interest in such, I believe that there may be another reason for joining a Bloodline."
Xiu Ying wasn't the least bit surprised by Aiko being able to guess this. She then started to walk towards Aiko as she spoke, "It is rather simple. Joining a Bloodline allows someone to be able to walk two paths. Normally speaking, a normal scholar who came from no Bloodline would not be able to walk two paths. I suppose I should also explain what two paths mean. I already explained what a path is, then two paths would be when a scholar wants to do more than one field. Let's go back to the doctor example, the doctor found a new passion other than being a doctor or found a new talent. They then wished to join a Bloodline to follow that new path."
Xiu Ying stopped in front of Aiko, their height difference made her seem imposing despite her warm smile.
"You can probably guess it right now, but I will say to confirm your guess. Scholars can only pick one path, they are not allowed to and are incapable of picking multiple paths unless they are from a Bloodline. But there is a catch to this, the lucky one will need to follow the path that the Bloodline they joined established, or to put it simply, are well known for." Xiu Ying chuckled as she explained.
Aiko wasn't the least bit threatened, she understood that Xiu Ying was simply trying to get a read of her. After all, if these two Rulers don't learn about each other well, how can they cooperate effectively when they need to?
Aiko then asked the most interesting question, her smile becoming more child-like, "Then, what path would the Longevity Bloodline hold?"
Seeing Aiko ask this, Xiu Ying walked towards Zixin and pointed at him, "The Longevity Bloodline allows its members to be able to pick all paths and walk all paths at the same time. Meaning, that all other Bloodlines would only be able to give one the capability to follow two paths, the main path of the Bloodline and your chosen path." Xiu Ying continued, as she turned her gaze to Zixin, "The only person in our Bloodline who is going out of his way to follow all paths would be my dearest brother. Am I correct, brother?"
Hearing her call her just 'brother' there made Zixin feel like he was being held at the hands of a cruel God, but even then, he simply stayed quiet, knowing full well that Xiu Ying was simply trying to tease him.