The expedition did not leave an hour after dawn. They barely started to assemble in the outer court by the bridge. The porters and servants were there on time. Chang-li noticed uncomfortably how many of the porters were slaves, wearing collars that chewed their necks raw.

The junior scribes waited together in a knot, finishing the breakfast they had grabbed to take with them. After three-quarters of an hour, the real cultivators began to arrive. First, Jade Lotus, with its three weary-looking Young Masters and a small army of lesser cultivators. Chang-li studied them, trying to get a sense of their core and foundations, but he wasn't expert enough to know that yet. It did seem that their robes were slightly more worn than those of the other sects, frayed around the edges a bit, like they were not as wealthy a sect.

Then came Moon Whisper, both of its Young Masters dressed resplendently. Chang-li looked closely at the woman he would be following today. Li Jaila was short and thin, with a regal air and more commanding presence somehow than her brother. Her hair was braided and then pinned to her head in a style that reminded Chang-li of hard-working peasant girls he had known from his childhood. Unlike the Young Masters from Jade Lotus, the two Moon Whisper Young Masters both wore cultivator's rings on their index fingers bearing the sect crest.

Finally came Feng, dressed resplendently with his juniors around him like attendants escorting the emperor. He swept in and looked over their gathering with a sneer. In addition to his sect ring, he wore a second iron band on his left hand. The usual symbol of one who had achieved the Peak of Mental Refinement. Worry stirred in the pit of Chang-li's stomach. If Feng had reached the second peak, he would be a formidable enemy indeed.

Just stay out of his way, Chang-li told himself.

Feng commented loudly to his juniors about the slovenly look of the expedition and how disarrayed they seemed. "This is not fit for a noble lady like the Indigo Princess to behold. She will think us shameful country folk."

Chang-li knew from his scrutinizing of the roster that Feng would be accompanying Hiroko's party today. He didn't like it, but there would be nothing he could do.

Here, at last, came the Gem nobles down from the upper court, escorted by two patrols of their elite guard and a whole bevy of servants. The waiting crowd whispered and nudged, pointing. "The dowager! Is she coming?"

In the middle of the group walked the Dowager Pearl, swathed in black. Inspector Dah hissed to the elite scribes "There's more of them than we expected."

"I provided a 15% safety margin in my estimates," Chang-li said quietly. "We have enough purification rations and supplies for three days, even with these extras. But I must consult with the cultivation official to see in which group the dowager will be placed."

"I'm sure she'll remain with the indigo princess," Scribe Jun said, and the boss took a deep breath and settled.

"Of course, you're right. That's already the largest group. I shall add myself to their party and personally ensure their safety. I want all records kept in triplicate," he said unnecessarily, having already given that order the day previous.

Chang-li's satchel bulged with notebooks and Wulan’s scribe's kit, while his precious cultivator journal rested in his soulspace, ready should he need them, next to a stash of purification rations he had palmed while assisting the quartermaster's clerks to load bags. They were just in case there should be some opportunity for him to remain in the tower longer.

At last, the procession set off. The sun was now well on its way upward in the sky, the spring morning promising to bloom toward an almost summer-like heat later on. The soldiers went first across the bridge, followed by the cultivators and then the squad of nobles. After that came officials, clerks, scribes, and high-ranking servants, followed by the ordinary servants and porters, followed by the slaves and another batch of soldiers bringing up the rear. In all, Chang-li counted 130 people.

The climb up the mountain to the entrance seemed interminable, though it was a journey of only about one li. They could proceed only as fast as the Dowager Pearl, and she seemed to be in no hurry as she strode along, leaning on a walking stick. At last, they reached the entrance, where the guards on duty straightened up. They began to ask for cultivating licenses and log books, but Magistrate Bao hurried to the front and spoke to them. Of course, it would take far too long to check everyone's records, and so Chang-li's forgeries would go untested today. He was honestly a bit disappointed.

He passed under the watchful gaze of the watchers into the tower. The first time he had come in through the breach, he had been in awe at the size of the wound on the mountainside. It was a hole like the mouth of a cave, jagged, even after years of erosion should have softened the granite edges. The opening was as tall as three men and wide enough that eight could pass through abreast.

The ledge just outside the hole was spacious enough to allow almost the entire group to wait there as the first few filed in through the hole, where dark green trees with long frond-like branches obscured what lay beyond. A path had been hacked through the trees, and Chang-li knew it led to the first staging area, a space kept clear by regular patrols.

When at last it was his turn to enter, he stepped through. Taking a deep breath, he could feel the difference immediately as lux surrounded him. Instinctively, he opened himself to it, drawing it into his core and letting it refill him. It felt so good, like the first taste of water after days of thirst. It was all he could do not to stop and cycle right here, but he proceeded along with the others to the staging area.

Then, as the officials ran about and ordered everyone into their groups, he performed a modified version of the Swirling Mists technique, cycling the lux through his channels, purifying out orange and yellow so it would be ready, packing his core as densely as he could. He was so near his third condensation, he could feel it. Just a little bit of time. Hopefully, these three days would get him through his third core condensation and to the verge of Bodily Refinement.

Brother Stone joined their group along with two more of the hired workers. He didn’t acknowledge Chang-li, keeping his eyes downcast as Young Master Li Jiya approached their group. She had three disciples with her, all at the same stage as Chang-li. He could tell they had condensed their cores at least once, and he worried they could tell the same about him if they looked. While it wasn't forbidden for a scribe to achieve enough success at cultivating to condense his core, it was certainly rare, especially considering the poor cultivation teachings he had received. But if the Young Master noticed anything amiss, she did not say so. Instead, she rattled off all of their names, each of them replying in turn as she did. Chang-li was impressed that she knew all of them.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"You will listen to every word I say as though it came from the mouth of the emperor himself," Li Jiya stated. "If you do, we shall have no troubles. Oh, here come our noble guests."

A pair of red nobles, one man, one woman, approached. Everyone bowed low.

"You grace us with your presence," Li Jiya said.

Red Lord Jai-Lin inclined his head. There was something vaguely familiar about him, and after a second, Chang-li realized he bore a strong resemblance to Min. Her brother perhaps. The other woman didn't bother to speak.

"Come," Li Jiya said. “Let’s be off.”

"We have only just arrived," the Red Lady protested.

"We want to get beyond here before these other fools frighten every tower beast in the area into a stampede," Li Jiya said. "I have studied maps and have been into this tower three times previously. I know where we are going. There is a grove of Dai Radharan trees about two li northward. We shall camp there and see what we can make of this."

She ordered her disciples to fan out around the group, serving as scouts and first warning. The four guards accompanying them, she kept back to guard the nobles. The porters, which included Brother Stone, she ordered to just keep up. To Chang-li, she said nothing. He had recorded the names of everyone in their group in his book already and was grateful there had been no last-minute changes to their arrangement.

The two red nobles were sharing a single serving man between them. Fifteen in all, the group was four cultivators, four guards, two nobles, one servant, three porters, and Chang-li. A bit smaller than the average group size, which Chang-li hoped meant they would travel more quickly.

He kept his senses alert for tower beasts. They had gone less than half a li when one of the cultivators out in front of them sent up a braided technique, red, yellow, and blue, skyward. Young Master Li Jiya sprang into action at once.

"Halt," she ordered the party. "Defend the nobles."

She hurried forward. Chang-li could feel the lux as she gathered it to her. He hesitated, then took off after her. After all, he was the party scribe. It was his duty to record what happened, and if that meant a chance to watch a Young Master at work, so much the better.

Her disciple had encountered an enormous snapping turtle nearly as tall as a man with a shell made of red lux. It glowed deep with green, surrounding itself with life force. Li Jiya didn't hesitate. She wove a three lux technique, a braid of predominantly orange with strands of red and yellow. Chang-li watched as she formed a long polearm from the lux braid.

“Moon Whisper Fang, come to me," she shouted as she summoned the weapon.

He couldn't suppress the grin. So, she was one of those cultivators who had to call out the name of their technique as they did it. In his book, he recorded the name of the technique. Then, in the script of Wu Lan's sect, he added a note about which colors she had woven together. This was his private log. He would record only the bare facts in the records he was turning in to the expedition, but he wanted to know as much as he possibly could.

Li Jiya wove a second technique, predominantly red, with just a hint of blue in it. It seemed to be focused on her legs. She bent and then sprang forward, the technique giving her jump several extra spans. She landed atop the turtle's shell and stuck there as though she'd been tied down.

He tried to see how it had been done. Somehow, her second technique, bound to her feet, had meshed with the technique used by the lux tortoise. Now she was attached to its back as firmly as its own shell. He admired that, even as she swung her polearm down hard. The tortoise yanked its neck back into the hole, and her lux weapon bounced off the shell nearby.

Li Jiya shouted something. Her acolyte sprang forward, pulling a script from his bag. He fed in undifferentiated lux, a sloppy way to use a lux script if what Wulan had written was correct, but effective. The script burst into flame as the acolyte hurled it toward the giant tortoise.

A ring of fire sprang up around the beast. It withdrew all limbs into its shell as orange and yellow flame danced around the edge of the clearing.

Chang-li tried to watch what happened, but the flame obscured his vision. He could sense Li Jiya weaving another chord, but beyond knowing it contained three types of lux, he couldn't tell much. She seemed to favor the physical lux, though he'd seen her use blue already. From his readings, being able to weave together chords was expected of any Young Master at or approaching the Peak of Mental Refinement, and showing adeptness at using at least four kinds of lux was a sign they could be expected to climb higher.

Chang-li himself was determined to start experimenting with chords of his own, two different colors of lux. He already used two, but one at a time, one in each hand. If he could begin to weave chords, that would strengthen him greatly.

Li Jiya gave another shout. The flames dissipated. She was standing beside the upturned body of the tortoise, its shell hacked to pieces and thrown clear. As lux boiled off of it, she caught sight of Chang-li.

"You, scribe! What are you doing? Never mind. Run back and fetch the nobles. This is exactly what they're here for."

Chang-li stuffed his notebook into his bag, turned, and ran. He cycled a little red lux as he did, and consequently arrived back at camp feeling mildly warm, despite having run flat out.

"Quickly! The Young Master has slain a lux beast. She summons the Gem nobles."

The two red nobles hurried forward without further prompting. The rest of the party followed, exclaiming and shouting as Chang-li led the way. He had to hold himself back so as not to leave the party in the forest behind him.

He hadn't quite realized just how much his body had advanced. Driving through this forest was easy for him. He recalled his terror-filled flight just a few weeks before, when Feng had left him to die, and couldn't quite reconcile those memories to who he was now. Perhaps that Chang-li truly had died in the tower. He would never be so weak again.

Li Jiya ordered the two nobles and her three acolytes to stand around the tortoise as its lux dissipated.

"Open your cores to it," she instructed. "No, no," she said as the nobles assumed the Way of Meditation stance. "Who taught you that? What a waste. Drink it in through your nostrils, like you are smelling the aroma of a hot soup, and let it wash through your bodies. No, it has to go to your core before you cycle it back out to your extremities."

She sounded exasperated. The noble lady, Shisa, snapped back at her. "We are performing the cultivation technique we have been taught."

"Then you've been taught all wrong," Jiya said rudely. She tried to gesture what she meant.

Chang-li had to bite his tongue. He understood exactly what she was trying to show them. It was a variation on the first cycling technique Joshi had taught him, but she wasn't a very good instructor. Her acolytes were performing a cycling technique that looked to him like a variation on the Way of Washed Linen, one of Joshi's other techniques.

As the strands of refined lux from the tower beast poured past him, Chang-li couldn't help pulling some in. He sat down at the base of a tree and took his notebook from his satchel, pretending that he was taking notes with his charcoal stick while he surreptitiously cycled the fresh lux through Swirling Mists. It was so much denser than the lux in the air around him, as much denser as that lux was from the outside world.

The turtle's red lux was solid. It had very little orange or yellow, unfortunately, nor was there much in the ambient air. Chang-li was going to have to seek out sources of those if he wanted to condense his core.

There was almost no violet lux here at all. It made sense. If violet lux was secret and forbidden to cultivate, then it must not be common. Perhaps there were other towers where it was more common. He guessed those would be reserved for the emperor's favored.

Still, here he sat like a beggar at a banquet, criticizing the presentation of the soup. Chang-li drank deep of the lux and cycled, while Li Jiya snapped at the red nobles and tried to show them what they were doing wrong.