"... yeah, okay. Not going to fight you on this. But you did ask." 

...aaaand apparently she upset Jasmine, shit. Maybe Jasmine, having made the decision to pursue godhood, would rather not be reminded of what might happen if she fails?

...well, now is not the time for figuring that out. The Head Archivist is waiting.

She looks up at him.

"I think I've made my decision, but I have a couple of final questions.

Would the internal calculation engine offer storage and indexing of information--writing, maybe sound, possibly pictures--that either I haven't memorised yet or that's too large or complex to be feasible to memorise? That's one of the main things we use electric calculation engines for where I'm from, but maybe that experience is leading me astray.

And another thing where it might be leading me astray: are there...poisoned techniques, that damage the calculation engine of a cultivator unwary enough to install them? ...'install' might not be the right terminology: it's a literal translation of what we'd say in my native language."

She was going to also ask about whether a 3rd-realm "finest scholar" would be capable of understanding the risks involved in attempting 4th (unlike her current intellect), but under the circumstances, that can wait.

"By default it can only store text, but text can do a lot more than most people can imagine. If you've worked with similar tools before, you might be familiar? There are numerous secondary augmentations for expanding that with additional forms of data, that you could purchase from our library or from the open market, if that seems like the best use of your resources. 

You are correct that there are indeed poisoned techniques that harm or corrupt the wielder, and show unusual wisdom for your youth to notice the possibility. I wouldn't consider the calculation engine in particular to be vulnerable, but history is full of examples of scholars editing their technique records to hide traps for the unwary, or heterodox sects whose teachings were designed to better enable the master to prey on the student. Creating such traps is beyond the skill of most, though, so orthodox techniques owned by those who are your inferiors in qi theory are pretty much always safe - simply do not practice heterodox arts given to you at bargain prices by shadowy figures or the confusing records of enemy geniuses - I've seen your caution before, and it would be foolishness of the highest order to pass up the greatest treasures you can win for fear of such traps." 

"That sounds very reasonable," she says, smiling only a little awkwardly. 'Don't use unvetted soul-mods from shady people; the spiritual-computer comes with text-editor software and A/V is possible but costs extra (and can be added later)' are not quite the best possible answers those questions could have had, but overall towards the optimistic end.

(She wonders if he actually knows how old she is, or if he's assuming she's Jasmine's age. It might not make a difference: thirty-eight years of life experience probably seems like very little from his perspective.)

She nods firmly. "I'll take the Great Academy Immortal Education."

"Excellent!" He opens a drawer in the desk, and pulls out a five-volume set of heavy textbooks with cardboard hardcovers, which he hands over.

"Two bits of advice for you, before you hand things over to Jasmine. First, you *can* refine organs twice if you have two human souls in the same body, but it's not recommended to try until every organ is refined at least once each, and second, you should look up the Void-Soul Meditation Scripture sometime. Not a good first foundation at all, but relavent to your interests. That should be enough to be going on with." 

Wow, that delicious marshmallow is very big. Definitely not one of the ones where it's feasible to read the whole thing before qi theory class tomorrow.

She grins. Risks and all, the fact remains: she's going to be learning magic.

"Thank you."

And with that, she gives Jasmine the front.

It's faster this time, which is good, because they are in fact on a clock. 

"It's Jasmine speaking now, sir." 

"Ah, excellent. Now, if it were this time yesterday, I imagine I would have presented you with the Immortal Guard Katas and the Dancing Dragon Duelist and you would have chosen the latter, and then we would have spent the remainder of your time discussing possible secondary arts for you to study?" 

(Both of these techniques have been on the table the entire time they've been in the room, among the various other books.)

"Ah. Yes, that seems likely." 

"And now, presumably, you're interested in something else?" 

Jasmine looks longingly at the Dancing Dragon Duelist. 

"Yessir." 

"What is your current plan?" 

"I'm aiming at a Martial initial foundation, with Hidden and Beautiful as additional aspects in due time. Same requirement for a technique that can be cultivated purely mentally as Kedri. The intent was that I would take control of the body for short term high intensity adventuring, and she would for crafting, research, planning, and such." 

"A Martial technique with not so much as a breathing component is a pretty big ask, you know." 

"Nonetheless. We need to be equals, in this." 

"Very wise." 

He thinks a moment. 

"Once again, I can think of three foundations that might suit. The Void Monk Meditation, which is an orthodox art belonging to a small sect who practiced it exclusively, though they never had anyone over 5th. The emphasis is on total stillness - durability and countermagic flow from that root, though the real techniques for that are Arcane secondaries. It ranks ... acceptably, among the defensive arts we teach our students, several of whom reached 4th with it." 

"The second is the unimaginatively named 'proof of concept #343', affectionately nicknamed the Truesoul Expression by its adherents. Created by a 6th realm qi theorist who is no longer with us, quite some time ago to prove a point about the motion of Beautiful qi, it expresses Beautiful and Martial elements and can be cultivated purely by meditation and introspection. It has very good synergy with shapeshifting techniques, and with various esoteric techniques that rely on an understanding of your own identity that exceeds even that of normal cultivators. Pedigree is not outstanding - two subsidised programs each producing no more than a single 4th realm, and a smattering of later users who never exceeded third." 

"Finally, we have the Bound Bandit's Revenge. Quite heterodox, pushing the limit of what we'd normally teach, but the theory specialists have gone over it and it seems safe enough and quite innovative, and well, it would be good if it could get tested out properly. A Martial art with a Hidden secondary aspect, it has quite a story associated with it. We caught this 4th realm bandit a hundred years or so back, most of his band died in the fighting but he was captured and imprisoned in a medium-security - well, by 4th realm standards - prison. While he was in prison, he figured that out and managed to start cultivating even while locked down, we didn't see a thing until he was already invoking the 5th realm tribulation. He traded the technique for a more comfortable, albeit higher security, prison to live out the rest of his days. The technique itself involves using spiritual tensions to replace physical tensions, it ought to be a good balanced combat foundation, albeit a little unrefined. The Hidden aspect relates mainly to concealing and misleading about qi activity and technique use - it's unclear how much of that you'll get at the first realm, since nobody has used this technique as a primary from the beginning, but it has a lot of potential. And of course, with a technique like this, you'd get more attention from the archive - one of my personal disciples has been very interested to see it in action. And moreover, the original creator is available to interview, if you can convince him to talk. That's a valuable resource most people don't ever get." 

Jasmine hmmms. 

"What do you think, Kedri? It sort of has to be that last one, right?" 

(...she needs to learn the local honourific practices, doesn't she. She hopes she didn't come off as rude.)

(It does rather sound like the Head Archivist is trying to push Jasmine towards picking that one, for reasons that are non-zero because he wants a test subject for it. But he clearly does also have a good sense of what Jasmine wants, and a duty to fulfil, and there's not really much they could do to defend against him having ulterior motives anyway.

Overall, while she's a little suspicious, it's not enough to sway her from the surface-level conclusion.)

"You did say it was impossible to achieve great things by ordinary means. And that certainly doesn't sound ordinary.

Like when our positions were reversed, it's not the one I would pick for myself, but it does sound like the right one for you."

"Yeah, okay." 

"I'll take the Bound Bandit's Revenge." 

"Excellent! My disciple will be in touch."

The Bound Bandit's Revenge is hand-written into a cheap paper journal. 

"As far as further advice goes, I think the Third Ice Fist would suit you well. And do make sure to get separate Beautiful and Hidden foundations. You'll be tempted to get a hybrid but that won't suit your needs at all. Anything else?" 

"Can you recommend a technique for mitigating the need for sleep?" 

"Ah, yes, the normal techniques would be a little wasteful in this case. Try the Tower-Warden's Liver, I know that's what your foundation's developer was using, and it's quite common among the Warden tribes." 

"Do you have any last second questions, Kedri?"