Somewhat to his surprise, Chang-li found Min waiting for him the next morning, just outside the Hall of Records. The doors were closed, but already there was a line ten people deep. He and Min joined the end. She was wearing her noblewoman's robes with the red stripe, her hair pinned back, and she kept her chin elevated as she looked around.

"You don't think you're drawing too much attention to yourself?" he hissed.

She gestured to his cultivator's robes. “We’re a matched set. I told you, I shall present myself as the betrothed of a hopeful cultivator of the Morning Mist sect."

"I don't have any paperwork for you.”

She laughed. "Naturally, you wouldn't. What sort of paperwork do you think a cultivator's spouse has? Hers is appended to the license book of her spouse. Since I'm not yet married, I'll fall into a lovely little legal loophole."

He wasn't certain that would actually work but subsided. The doors were thrown open, and the queue proceeded inside. So close to the front, it didn't take him and Min very long to reach the counter.

He didn't see yesterday's helpful clerk. Instead, an older man with stubble on his face and blurry eyes stepped up to assist them. "How can I help you?"

Chang-li took a half-step back from the counter. It was Inspector Ji'in, whose eyes widened with recognition. "What are you doing here?"

Chang-li wanted to ask much the same thing. He cleared his throat. "I, uh..."

Min leaned in. "Is it — Inspector Ji'in? I had not thought to see you here."

There was an odor emanating from the Inspector, unwashed body and alcohol. His robes were rumpled, and his hands were shaking. Clearly, he had not done well in the time since being sent down from the Tower Climb.

"This is my interim post," he said. "But why are you here, Chang-li? Dressed as a cultivator?”

"I've joined a sect," Chang-li said desperately, gesturing at his robes. He took out his papers and held them out. "The sect of Morning Mist."

“I’ve been off the mountain less than a month, and already you've abandoned your post?"

This was not going the way Chang-li had anticipated. Fortunately, Min stepped in. "Inspector, I'm afraid our time here is very limited. My betrothed is going to be facing the challenges of the Tower, and we wish to make a good showing against Young Master Feng and the Soaring Heavens sect."

Ji'in's eyes narrowed. "He's the one who got me demoted, I'm sure of it," he spat. "He didn't like how I handled that unfortunate incident at the start of the cull, where he got a lot of good people killed. I didn't realize his sect had so much pull in this region, but he got me reassigned here, and someone else put in my place. You're going to go up against him? And who's the Morning Mist sect? I've never heard of them."

"They're from Tuflang Province," Chang-li said smoothly. "But they're looking to expand into this area of the Empire, I believe. Their Young Masters are talented cultivators. Joshi is a barbarian trained by a legendary order of monks. He has already made a good name for himself by saving the life of the Indigo Princess."

"Interesting. Is he your fiancé?" Ji'in asked Min.

"Oh, no, no, certainly not," she said hurriedly. “I’m betrothed to… one of the others."

"And they were wealthy enough to buy a scribe's indenture debt?"

"Yes," Chang-li lied. "Now, I was here yesterday filing paperwork to have my sect license replaced. We lost ours to bandits during the journey."

"Oh, yes, that's right, the expedited license. Your sect must have money indeed if you're throwing around coin like that. I have it here."

Ji'in sorted through the shelves beneath the counter and came up with a thin book. It had a leather wrap around the outside, with room for additional sets of pages to be sewn in.

The first page bore the seal of the Imperial Office of Cultivation and the seal of Rice Flower Province. Following that, all of the lies that Chang-li had provided on his forms. Ji’in flipped through. "Don't see mention of any cultivators beyond this Young Master Joshi."

"I will be filling those details in," Chang-li said, taking the book quickly and stowing it in his satchel. "We also put in a request for our sect records.”

"Papers. Let's see." Ji'in began searching the shelves. He came up empty-handed and turned to the other clerks. "Anyone know about these sect records?"

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"Oh, yeah. We're still processing them. They weren't in the recent archives, so we're having to send someone into the older stacks to dig them out. Should be available later this afternoon."

"There." Ji'in turned back, looking pleased. "If you'd like to return then…”

"We're applying for entrance into the cultivator archives," Chang-li said, "to do some sect research. The Morning Mist sect wishes to take the opportunity to learn techniques native to this region and expand their repertoire. They’ve sent me to procure a whole list of different techniques.”

“You'll need to file paperwork for that."

"I filled it out yesterday," Chang-li said.

Ji'in dug out another paper from the stacks. "Ah, so you did," he said. "Very well.” He stamped the form. “This permits you to visit the facility on the top floor. Oh, wait.” He looked at Chang-li. “The facility is limited to cultivators who have reached the Peak of Bodily Refinement. I'm afraid you won't be permitted."

"I've reached the Peak," Chang-li said, still worried that Inspector Ji'in was going to denounce him as a fraud any time now. He produced his license. "I've been certified by the Office of Cultivation at the Tower Cull."

"So you have. And an endorsement for bravery. Well, well." Ji'in was looking at him and frowning, wrinkling his brow. "I feel like there's something I'm trying to remember, and it's just out of my..." He shook his head. "Never mind. I suppose it's good to see a scribe making good, although I hate losing my best apprentices to a sect this quickly. You may proceed upstairs."

"I'm espoused to a cultivator," Min said. "I should be permitted to enter as well.”

"It's not a matter of permission. It's safety," Ji'in said. "No one below Peak of Bodily Refinement can take the lux densities necessary on the third floor. If you wish to visit the library on the second floor, there's an atrium, or you are free to inspect the lesser archives."

Chang-li turned to Min and raised an eyebrow. "My lady, there's no need for you to remain in that case.”

“What's stored on the second floor in these records?"

"Oh," Ji'in waved a hand. "The records of all the tower culls in the province for the last century or so, historical readings on sects, and of course the texts and techniques for raising cultivators to the level of Bodily Refinement." He laughed. "I don't really know why those are kept. No one ever browses them anyway. Every sect has its own techniques and hardly bothers to keep them safe. They say you can reach the Peak of Bodily Refinement almost without aid if you know a decent cycling pattern."

Min's eyes sparkled. "I think I can find enough to keep me occupied today."

“Your license, madam?"

She drew herself up. "I told you, I am the betrothed of a cultivator, a lady of the Gem Court. I neither have nor need a license."

Ji'in sighed. He turned and his eyes met Chang-li's. For one expressive moment, they shared a look. Nobles never appreciate paperwork, do they? “I’ll file you under Cultivator Scribe Wu's permit then," Ji'in said. He produced another form, but unlike the girl from yesterday, didn't send Chang-li off to fill it out. Instead, he bent over it himself, laboriously scrawling the names. He checked Chang-li's license for the correct characters for Wu, then turned to Min.

"And you, lady?"

She hesitated. "Guo Min."

"Guo of camp or Guo of--"

"The Guo family of Riceflower Province," she said with a sigh.

Ji'in's eyes widened. He straightened up and then folded his hands in a respectful gesture. "Forgive me, my lady. I didn't realize you were of that family." He finished filling out and stamping the paper then appended it to Chang-li's own form before filing them together. Then he took a pair of tokens from under his counter. One was copper. The other looked as though it were made of steel. He handed the steel token to Chang-li and the copper to Min.

"The clerk on the second floor will settle the matter of payment for any records you access," he told them. "Have a nice day."

The stair to the second floor was along the wall between a gap in the little cubbies. It was far less opulent than the lobby, a simple wooden stair leading upward. They passed down a hallway on the second floor, which then let them into a smaller round room. Seven doors let off of the room, six counting the one they'd come in on. In the center was a spiraling metal staircase leading upward. There were several couches scattered around the room, which was dark with no natural light, but scattered about with plants that grew anyway.

The tiled floor whispered under their slippers as they approached the desk. A bored-looking scribe in her mid-30s manned the desk. Chang-li presented their tokens. She looked at his and then jerked a finger at the stairs.

"Go on up. You'll settle your bill here when you’re done.”

She seemed disinclined to give Chang-li any further information. With a shrug to Min, he stepped past the counter and began mounting the stairs. They spiraled upward through a hole in the ceiling. As he went, he could feel the lux density around him increasing, going from what he considered ambient for the tower levels he had visited to a denser feel, almost oppressive.

He found the lux pressing in even without him trying and had to take up a quicker cycling technique to filter it through his core, separating out the impurities and flushing them from his body.

He found he could use the Swirling Mists technique without having to be seated and concentrating on it. Another improvement since reaching the Peak of Bodily Refinement.

He stepped off onto the third floor. This one was tiny compared to the previous two. The small atrium where he found himself was barely wide enough for him to walk around the stair hole, which was thoughtfully surrounded by a wrought iron railing.

There were only two doors on this floor, on opposite sides. On one was the character for "mind," and the other, the character for "spirit." Chang-li guessed that the first held records and techniques pertaining to the Mental Refinement stage, while the other room would have the secrets of Spiritual Refinement..

There was no indication of where later stage records were kept . He knew very little about higher stages of the heavenly climb but there must be fewer records of those stages of progression. Perhaps they were kept only in larger libraries such as in the provincial capital. They must be under tighter guard than this.

Chang-li approached the door marked "Mind," his palms suddenly sweaty. The lux density on this floor was oppressive. He was having to vent it from himself constantly. He reached out with his left hand and pushed the door open.

Inside, all he could see was a swirling gray mist. Chang-li hesitated on the threshold. It didn't look particularly inviting. On the other hand, inside lay the secrets of the next step of his journey.

He crossed the threshold.