With the transformed, glowing Feng hovering over him in the air, Chang-li was just about out of tricks. He hurled another net technique to buy himself time and scrambled away. Feng, laughing, began to summon the lux in the air all around. It swirled like a whirlpool, with Feng as the center of its vortex, filling him. Chang-li could feel the strength of Feng's core. He was bristling with lux, more full than Chang-li had ever felt anyone.

Chang-li tried to siphon a bit of lux off of the vortex himself, but he couldn't. Feng's grip was too strong. He was laughing still, ignoring Joshi's attempts to strike him. He threw out another technique. It exploded, knocking the barbarian away and Chang-li to the dirt. He raised his face cautiously.

Feng turned his back on Chang-li and started for Joshi, weaving another complicated technique in his hands.

"Time to end this," he called.

"Joshi, run!" Chang-li shouted. He still didn't have any idea what he wanted to do, but he needed time to come up with something. Joshi didn't actually need to be told. He turned and raced off into the edges of the mushroom forest, with Magen bobbing at his heels. The little lux creature, at least, did not seem to be impacted by Feng's control.

What else could he do? Without lux of his own, without a technique that could even scratch Feng, it was hopeless. Maybe, while Feng's attention was on Joshi, he could run for an exit. Surely there was another way out, in the great purple crystal structure that rose on the other side of the lux canal like a mountain of violet glass. He could take the exit but that would be to abandon Joshi to Feng. He couldn't do that, not after what he'd protested to his image in the training chamber.

He was a cultivator. Cultivators didn't give up. If they did, they died. But what good was a cultivator with no lux?

A mad idea hit him as the lux continued to swirl and focus into Feng. He'd already absorbed so much of it. How much more could he take? Chang-li hesitated. He was risking it all on a desperate gamble, and yet he couldn't think of anything else with even the slightest chance of success.

He raced to the moat of lux encircling the great crystal. Before he could reconsider, he plunged the blade of his sword into the gleaming lux, being careful not to let it touch any part of his body. His sword, already built to accept lux, sucked it up eagerly.

Chang-li cycled, pulling the lux in through his left hand, running it through his core, and then venting it out his right side as fast as he possibly could in the Breath of Heaven technique. He didn't close the loop this time. There was no need to try to reabsorb lux from the air, even if he could have wrested control from Feng. Instead, he was a conduit between this moat of liquid lux and the tower itself.

Lux streamed through him, so much, so rich, so dense, it would tear him apart if he kept it up. Chang-li gritted his teeth and cycled harder and more intently than he'd ever done in his life. He could feel the lux density in the air increasing, see the swirling as Feng continued to absorb lux.

There was another explosion from the forest, and then something came hurling through the air, growing larger by the second. It was Joshi. He twisted as he fell and landed on the ground in a crouch with a wince of pain. He tried to straighten up, then sagged back down.

"I think my leg's broken," he said. He was only twenty feet from Chang-li now. He glanced over. "What are you doing? Are you mad?"

“Overloading him," Chang-li managed through gritted teeth. "Only thing I could think of."

Joshi's eyes widened. "Yes, yes, that might. Magen!" he called, and the lux creature appeared at his hand. Without another word from Joshi, it dipped into the stream beside Chang-li. Joshi scowled in concentration as he too began to cycle. He didn't have the refined technique Chang-li was using. Instead, he just channeled Swirling Mists, venting lux out of himself as swiftly as Magen was feeding it to him.

Chang-li couldn't pay attention to his friend's struggle. He was attempting to stay alive, keeping the lux flowing through his channels before it could destroy him. His core hurt. It had raised up again into his chest, next to his heart, which made it faster for him to cycle the lux in through one hand and out through the other, probably the only thing right now keeping him alive.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Feng approached them, hanging in the air like a great silver statue, silvery robes dangling out behind him, laughing maniacally as the lux flowed into him.

"You fools! You'll never beat me. I see you bowed before me in humble submission, and I accept your obeisance. Now taste my power one last time." He raised his hands skyward, channeling a technique, pulling in lux from all around.

Chang-li's lux channels were burning. His body felt as though it were being ripped apart. He couldn't take much more of this. He hung on just a minute longer. Just a bit longer. He vented the lux faster and faster. The air all around him was a spinning cyclone of unrefined lux. Feng felt absolutely unstoppable, his core so rich. It didn't feel like anything Chang-li could have imagined.

Then, even as he readied his grand technique, Feng screamed. His head went back. Beams of golden light, emerged from his eyes and mouth like pillars of fire. More beams shot out of each of his fingers and his feet. Gold cracks appeared all over the silvery surface of his body, widening faster than Chang-li could watch.

In a flash Feng blew apart. The shockwave washed over Chang-li and Joshi. Chang-li stumbled backward to the brink of the moat. Joshi grabbed at him with one strong hand and yanked him back from the edge. They fell forward into the dirt.

Ears ringing, Chang-li pushed himself up. There was no sign of Feng. He got to his feet unsteadily and helped Joshi up.

Joshi was favoring his right leg. "Did he? Is he —?”

"I think so," Chang-li said. He took a deep breath. His body ached. His lux channels felt as though they'd been scoured with acid. Even the thought of cycling any more lux was repugnant. Chang-li wanted to do nothing more than collapse to the sand, but it didn't feel like it was healthy for him to remain here any longer.

He retraced his steps to where he’d emerged from the cultivation chamber and hunted around, eventually finding a dull chunk of smooth stone under a layer of dirt. He’d only seen the tower boon briefly, when Feng threw it at him, but he recognized it at once. The stone was drained of almost all of its lux. Chang-li didn’t know if it could be recharged and used again, but he wasn’t going to leave it behind.

"Come on," he told Joshi. "Let's get out of here."

With staggering steps he went to where his satchel lay abandoned near the edge of the forest. He checked that Wulan's pen case was still there, added the cultivation chamber stone, and slung the satchel over his arms. Then he returned to Joshi, pulling out the water flask and sharing its last few drops with his friend.

"Thanks," Joshi said. "How did you come to think of that? And what happened when you vanished?"

Chang-li shook his head. "There'll be time for that later. It doesn't feel healthy for us to be here. Not after what I just did. Let's leave the tower and then talk."

"Agreed," Joshi said. He leaned on Chang-li, and together they hobbled across the nearest bridge and up to the great purple crystal.

A doorway yawned. Chang-li hesitated. "I hope that Feng really did defeat the Tower Guardian, because I don't think I can," he told Joshi honestly.

"Come," Joshi urged. "Let's see."

The inside of the crystal featured an enormous glowing pool of lux. It ran out through a pair of channels to the exterior of the crystal, where it fed the moat. Chang-li avoided those as he made for the obvious stairwell leading down. There was no sign of a guardian. Feng had been telling the truth. He had defeated the Guardian and won the Tower Boon, which he'd then given to Chang-li.

Chang-li was starting to realize he and Joshi had just defeated and destroyed Feng, a cultivator much farther down the path than they were, as well as several times stronger. He didn't feel the slightest pang of regret. Feng would have killed him without question. He'd killed multiple of Li Jiya's disciples, and he had taken great delight in saying what he intended to do to Chang-li, Joshi, and their entire sect. There might be times to stay a hand, hesitate, show mercy. This was not one of them.

As they made their way toward the exit, Joshi spoke. "We did not succeed," he said.

"What are you talking about? We beat Feng."

"We did not get the Tower Boon. I don't know if what we've done will be enough to pay off our sect's debt."

"Does that matter?" Chang-li asked. He hesitated before the dark steps leading down. He couldn't see the bottom from here. "I mean, this tower cull's done. You'll get your endorsement on your license, assuming we can make some sort of deal about the debt. Are you —?” He hesitated because he wanted to ask if Joshi was planning to stick around with the sect, but he didn't want the answer to be no. The foreigner had become his friend through their cultivating together. Not cultivating at Joshi's side would feel strange, though there was no question of Chang-li stopping. Not now. Not ever.

"I have not reached the end of my own path," Joshi said. “For now, with Feng out of the way, it seems my identity is secure. If we are able to take the sect to another tower cull and continue our climb, then I think it advantageous to do so."

"You'll certainly be helping the sect out," Chang-li said. "But sooner or later, somebody's going to catch on."

"Not if we have made the sect a real thing," Joshi said. "But that's a discussion for another day. Right now, let's return. If possible, we should seek out Min and the sect without attracting too much attention to ourselves."

Together, they started down the stairs.