Chang-li had no idea how long they had been inside the tower. Without the sun and moon to indicate time, he had to go by the rhythms of his body. Ever since reaching the Peak of Bodily Refinement, those had become less familiar to him. He suspected that when plunged into a lux-rich environment such as the tower, his body had less need for food, sleep, and water.

They had paused twice now to eat, meditate, and rest. Both times, Chang-li had slept for what felt like an hour or two. The disciples rested for longer. If Joshi had slept at all, Chang-li had not seen it. He sat cycling, with Magen echoing the patterns of his core. As the disciples slept, Chang-li practiced his own mental defenses, wondering what lay ahead.

Joshi dropped his hands to his knees. Magen returned to normal, a ball of slightly blue-tinted light hovering above Joshi's shoulder.

"I think I understand the meaning of the next step," he said. "Do you have that passage from the scroll you read me before? The one we agreed seemed relevant to our cultivation?"

Chang-li knew exactly which he meant. He'd copied it down into his own cultivator's journal. Not the one he had begun after meeting Scribe Wulan. That one was already full. This second volume, he had started on the first floor of the tower during training, and it was already nearly half filled with his thoughts and scribblings. He took it from his satchel and flipped through the pages, looking for the words Joshi meant.

While the stages of Physical Refinement come with obvious signs as the body responds to its better command of lux, Mental Refinement can be more subtle. However, having interviewed hundreds of cultivators, it is clear that there are three steps here as well. The first step is to see clearly. The eyes are of all the senses the most easily deceived, especially by one's own mind. When the mind is beset by strands of lux, it is vision which is most affected. Cultivators report seeing people who were not there, or failing to see obstacles in their path, or striking at enemies who were feet from where they believed them to be, due to the cultivator's own mind refusing to reveal the truth. This is referred to as the first veil, and once the Mental Refinement stage cultivator has pierced the first veil, he is well on his way to the next peak.

Chang-li looked up. "That's what happened to me in the first fight with the weapons. I saw what was really there instead of what my eyes were relating.”

Joshi nodded. "Yes, I too have pierced the first veil. Magen is giving me an advantage there. His eyes are never deceived. When I realized mine were, I could use his vision to help me understand. Go on."

The next veil is that of touch. Do not underestimate how strong the illusions of touch can be. You may perceive a burning flame as a pleasant breeze, even as it sears the flesh from your bones. I once saw a man who could not perceive his feet against the floor. He struggled to find balance and had to rely on sticks to help him sense where he was. Perceiving this veil is far harder because the mind, when under attack, provides very convincing illusions affecting the whole body. The suggested remedy for a cultivator struggling to pierce the second veil is to bind his eyes and seek to use touch to feel his way forward.

"I'm certainly not doing that," Chang-li said flatly. "In this place, we could be torn to shreds. We'll practice that sort of thing when we are not attempting to reach the center of a floor before Feng."

"If we reach the Tower Guardian in time but are unable to match Feng on an even footing, what good does that do us?"

"Doesn't do us any good to die here either," Chang-li argued.

"You are wearing your shackle again," Joshi said.

Chang-li glanced down at his own wrist, which was, of course, free of the bracelet still in his satchel.

"The shackle on your mind," Joshi said. "You have lux vision, do you not? Rely on that."

Chang-li snorted. He looked back at the passage in his book.

The third veil is the hardest of all, for it is a veil unique to each person, the veil of the heart. This stage is referred to as Mental Refinement, and so often cultivators focus on the thoughts in their mind, yet where they trip is in letting their hearts lead them. This test is unique to each. The only preparation I can give is to urge each young cultivator to weigh his own deeds and actions carefully.

That wasn't a great deal of help. Chang-li closed his journal and put it back in his satchel. He thought about making notes on what they had encountered so far, but it was pointless. If they got out of the tower, he'd have time to record his memories. If they didn't, he was wasting time on a book no one would ever read.

"Three veils," Joshi said thoughtfully, "and we have pierced the first."

"I'm not entirely certain that I've mastered the first veil," Chang-li said doubtfully. He tried the Mind's Wall, raising his core and opening his lux senses.

Threads of lux ran all through the walls of this chamber, predominantly yellow, but with a few strands of orange and no red at all. He reached out with his lux, following the yellow. It responded to him far better than red or orange ever did. He let his mind run along the lines as though he were bobbing along a river. His senses extended outward. There were five passages here, just as there had been from the other two crossroad chambers, and as he sensed the lines, he felt the farthest left passage was different from the others. The lux there was denser, the channels just a little deeper.

He opened his eyes, his core thudding down into his stomach with a now familiar nauseating sensation. "The left-hand tunnel. Do you see anything different about it?"

Joshi stood and strode over to it. One of the disciples stirred a little, then went back to sleep. Joshi peered into the yellow beyond. "It looks like the others to me."

"The lux channels feel stronger somehow. I think that's the way we should go."

Joshi was frowning. Always before they had started at the rightmost branch and backtracked. "I don't like changing our pattern. How certain are you?"

Chang-li hesitated. It was a feeling. Nothing more, but he was learning to trust his feelings, and he had more of an affinity for yellow than Joshi did. Neither of them would deny that. "It's that direction.”

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"Then we go that way.” Joshi went to his pack, took out a bandage, and wound it around his eyes. He tossed the roll of bandages to Chang-li, arcing it perfectly toward him.

Chang-li, though surprised, caught it without fumbling. His body's senses and instincts had improved significantly now that he was at the Peak of Bodily Refinement. Perhaps Joshi wasn't so mad after all.

He tore off a strip and wound it around his eyes. Though he could still see light through it, it obscured his vision. He opened his lux senses and sensed the traceries leading down the fifth corridor. His fellow cultivators were dense patches of lux, the contents of their cores pressing in against his awareness. Brother Stone's core felt stronger than the other three disciples, even though they were all at the Peak of Bodily Refinement.

Joshi's core was a raging fire, dense with lux that circled and swooped in patterns Chang-li couldn't follow.

Joshi took a step ahead. Chang-li sensed it, both with his lux vision and from the gentle disturbance of the air as Joshi passed. His confidence increased just a bit. Perhaps he could do this.

When the disciples awoke, Joshi commanded them to don their packs. They didn't comment on the bandages or on Joshi choosing the leftmost path to lead them down.

The yellow lux dimmed and strengthened as they went, undulating like waves all around them. Chang-li could feel it in the walls, so he never brushed against them. When a bloom of lux just in front of him flared up like a bonfire, he was just in time to throw out his arm and stop Joshi from taking another step.

"Wait!"

A blast of cold shot up from the floor, chilling the air all around as it filled the tunnel in front of them with a thick layer of ice. Chang-li stepped forward and rapped a knuckle against it. It sounded feet thick. He channeled yellow lux to his hand, almost laughing with pleasure at how easy it was, and burned a hole straight through the ice. As soon as his lux torch reached thin air on the other side, the ice wall crumbled away.

He turned to Joshi, grinning triumphantly. "I'm taking the lead here."

"Indeed you are," Joshi said, and they continued down the yellow path. With his expertise with yellow lux and the ease with which he sensed the challenges coming and burned through them, Chang-li wasn't surprised when, in what seemed only an hour or less, they came to the next threshold.

"I suspect we have made up some time on Feng and the others here," Joshi said. "Well done."

Chang-li swelled with pride. He was tempted to pull the bandage from his eyes and take a look in the room beyond, but instead he tried to sense in other ways. His lux vision told him there were four creatures waiting in the room beyond, fewer than the previous chambers. There was a blast of heat, then a wave of cold.

Was this what the ancient texts had warned of? Were his senses being overwhelmed?

"Their cores are filled with red, orange, yellow, and green lux," Joshi observed.

Chang-li tried to sense. He couldn't get that detailed an impression of the creatures. Whatever they were, one took a step toward the entrance. He could see its core moving. The ground rumbled slightly. A hot breeze tickled past Chang-li. These creatures must be absolutely enormous.

Brother Stone cleared his throat. "Forgive my impertinence, Young Masters."

Chang-li turned, surprised to hear himself included with that title. Brother Stone was nervous. Chang-li didn't have to see him. He could hear how his weight shifted from foot to foot, and he was rubbing his hand surreptitiously on his staff. "You're not planning to fight like that, are you?"

Chang-li touched his blindfold as Joshi spoke. "They are training tools."

"Yes, but this is life and death."

"There is no better way to train. Do not fear," Joshi said. "If you wish to wait here until Chang-li and I have finished, the monsters have shown no sign of interfering with those in the corridors before now."

"That's not what I meant," Brother Stone said gruffly. "We'll follow where you do. You're our leader."

"Am I?" Joshi asked. There was a wry note in his voice.

"Yes, you are," Brother Stone declared, "and I'll thump anyone who said otherwise. May be a Brotherhood man, but I'm a cultivator now and under your discipline. A man can serve more than one master, so long as the masters know about each other.”

“So be it. Are we ready?"

Chang-li wasn't sure he was, but he was determined to continue his climb. And if that meant charging into a room full of unknown enemies wearing a blindfold, trusting in words from an ancient scroll and the backup of a barbarian warrior, so be it. He drew his sword, preparing a Firepot technique in his right hand. Then, shoulder to shoulder, he and Joshi plunged into the room.

He threw himself to the side at once, prompted by a shift in the breeze, and a chunk of stone smashed against the wall, showering him with shards. Then a blast of air hit him square on, knocking him back. Chang-li threw up his sword as though to block the air, and the blast parted around it.

He found himself straining to see shadows through the thin blindfold. He cursed himself and closed his eyes tight.

One of the monsters took a rumbling step toward him. Chang-li threw his Firepot and felt as the technique hit and was absorbed. In fact, the creature felt stronger now. A blast of flame seared the hair on Chang-li's head, and he managed to twist away just in time. This creature was made of fire. No wonder his technique didn't work.

Chang-li infused his sword with orange and red lux and slashed. It hit hard, so the creature wasn't pure flame, but had a solid body to it. He could almost picture it now, an enormous, four times taller version of the creatures they'd fought before, with sharp claws for weapons and fire wreathing it. He heard as it opened its mouth, a crackling flame noise, and dodged as a fireball came at him.

"Swap!" Joshi yelled, and Chang-li raced for the sound of his voice, not quite knowing what he meant. He felt an impact beside him and dodged as an enormous, heavy foot came down. This one wasn't wreathed in flames, though.

Ice chilled him. He turned, and instinctively weaving a Firepot, tossed it at the new opponent. This time, his technique didn't just land. It spread. He could feel it eating away — no, melting away the opponent. This monster was coated in ice.

So that's what Joshi had meant. He'd realized the situation, and arranged for Chang-li to take the better match. Chang-li charged in, sword in one hand, fist full of flame in the other. He felt flames licking at the hems of his garment, but he didn't care. Another Firepot lobbed to where he felt the behemoth’s head must be, and it hit, showering the creature with flame.

Chang-li carved off an upper limb, which fell to the floor of the cavern and shattered. Then he swung, putting every bit of strength in his upper body into the blow, and caught the creature across the leg, severing it just above the knee. The creature fell forward.

Chang-li danced to the side, easily as though he were seeing it with his eyes, and the monster collapsed. It wasn't all the way dead yet. Chang-li urged yellow lux through his blade, and slicing with fire, severed the creature's head. From the rush of red and orange lux filling the room, Joshi had managed to down one of the others.

Chang-li quickly took stock. The disciples, led by Brother Stone, were clustered around one of the other two monsters. From the feel of the breezes coming from that direction, that behemoth was infused with the power of air, which probably meant the last would be earth-based.

Chang-li turned and joined Joshi in facing the remaining monster. It didn't have a protective outer shell, but as it punched the ground between them, it sent aftershocks reverberating around the room, and shards of stone flying outward. Chang-li caught a slice of stone on his cheek, searing a burning line. He shouted and swung as Joshi punched. A pair of twin punches knocked the monster back, but not very far.

"It's very dense," Joshi shouted.

“Hit it harder then!” Chang-li replied. Joshi punched. Chang-li charged in. The disciples whooped and hollered, and Chang-li sensed as Brother Stone rushed to their side.

The stone behemoth crashed to the ground. Chang-li leapt out of the way of its falling body, then ripped off his blindfold as it crumbled to yellow and red ash like the other three. Joshi grinned back at him. The disciples were slapping each other on the back. “We did it!”

He’d reached the second threshold, learning to use his sense of his own body as a weapon, and crossed.

What lay beyond?