The entire sect assembled in the garden where the newly proclaimed Grandmaster stood waiting. The junior disciples seated themselves cross-legged in three rows of four, with Brother, Stone, Cui, Shou and Yang at the front and the more recently added disciples at the back.

Joshi, Chang-li, and Li Jiya all stood in a line to one side. Min was standing with them, biting her lip and fidgeting. Chang-li couldn't help glancing toward her as his mind whirled. She looked guilty. What was going on here?

The newcomer was clearly a cultivator. Chang-li could feel his lux-rich core from here, and his presence had the same sort of feel as the higher-ranked cultivators Chang-li had known. His thumb-ring bore the same design as Joshi's but was made of gold and much larger.

Could someone else have stumbled upon a trove of Morning Mist secrets and be running the same scam? No, Chang-li thought that was unlikely. The simplest explanation, and the one that explained Min's increasingly guilty expression, was this had the markings of a Brotherhood scheme.

"I have returned from my great spiritual journey," the Grandmaster said, declaiming, locking his hands behind his back and surveying the disciples.

He looked like a Grandmaster, Chang-li had to admit. There was no stripe of color edging his robes, which indicated he was unmarried. That wasn't common among high-level cultivators but divorce or widowhood could remove those bonds.

"I, Noren, am among you once more to bestow my wisdom on my beloved disciples and you, my new acolytes.”

Chang-li spotted several of the newcomers nodding along, their expressions rapt. Even Shou and Yang were leaning forward, eagerly listening.

Only Brother Stone had a worried look on his face. Chang-li tried to catch his eye but Brother Stone wasn't looking his way.

"I am pleased with your progress here. Beloved disciple Li Jiya is well on her way to proving her worth and dedication to the Emperor. I look forward to celebrating her wedding in a few short weeks." He threw out one hand, encompassing Li Jiya and that entire half of the garden.

Li Jiya looked slightly relieved. Chang-li realized that she might not know this Grandmaster was a fake. She had not been filled in on the fact that the Sect of Morning Mists was a fraud concocted by Chang-li, Joshi, and the Brotherhood just a few months before. To her, they looked like a down-on-their-luck sect who had been bailed out by the Brotherhood. It would be best if she continued to think so, especially if she did win this tournament and go off to be one of the Emperor's brides.

Chang-li resolved to mention it to Joshi and Min, but that meant he'd need to play along with this Grandmaster.

Noren, he reminded himself. The man's name was Noren.

“My star disciple, Joshi, has come much further along since last I saw him, reaching Mental Refinement. Well done! And here, our newest Young Master Chang-li has reached that peak as well, and also, taken a wife. From an illustrious family, too! Congratulations, my disciple. I have something for you." Noren fumbled about before producing a small object from his robes.

He tossed it to Chang-li, who instinctively caught it. Chang-li stared down at a brand new silvery sect ring, twin to Joshi's except without the patina of time on it, bearing the Morning Mist logo on it.

"Well?” Noren prompted.

"Thank you, Grandmaster," Chang-li managed. He put the ring onto his left index finger. His right hand would have been more correct, but as he was developing his skills as a cultivator, he felt more and more comfortable with his left hand.

Noren smiled proudly. "Congratulations, Young Master. May you have many more years of glorious service in this sect. Now, I am here to greet all of our new acolytes. Disciple Joshi, you have done well at swelling our ranks." Joshi folded his arms across his chest and managed a barely polite nod. Chang-li was relieved. He seemed to be playing along for now.

"Let me see what you have learned. First row, second row, third row. Rise and bow." The three rows stood, each of them bowing awkwardly toward the Grandmaster.

Noren folded his arms across his chest. "This will not do at all. Discipline, I see, has been lax in my absence. Without discipline, there can be no training. Without training, there can be no growth. Without growth, there can be no advancement. Therefore, discipline is the first step in the heavenly climb. Face forward," he instructed. The three rows managed to all face him. He held up a hand. "Now, bow." He snapped his fingers. They managed a passable bow this time.

"Good. Now, turn to your seniors and bow." The acolytes bumped into each other again as they turned, facing Joshi and Chang-li. At another snap of the fingers, they bowed again.

"Face front," Noren commanded. "Each of you, what is your basic cycling pattern?"

Under his direction, they performed Purification of Mind and Soul, Chang-li running through it himself. The Grandmaster strode through the ranks. "Good, good. You, acolyte—“

The young man stammered, “N-Nai, m-master.”

The Grandmaster nodded. “Acolyte Nai, there is a blockage in your anterior left dominant channel. You've been relying too much on the purification tablets. They are meant as a cleanse, not a replacement for cycling. What other cycling patterns do you know?"

"Ah," the acolyte said. He looked uncomfortable to be put on the spot, probably because three weeks previously he'd been a fisherman living down in the Flotsam.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Chang-li was proud of how far his acolytes had come, but he had to admit they were not yet full-blown cultivators. None had managed the first condensation on their path to Bodily Refinement, though considering they’d spent a matter of hours inside the tower so far, that wasn’t surprising.

Acolyte Nai demonstrated the Way of Washed Linen and then the Swirling Mists pattern. He did that one very well, Chang-li thought with pride.

Noren stood watching, a curious expression on his face. "Do you all know this pattern? Show me." At once, the acolytes fell into the pattern. Chang-li felt a stirring of discomfort. Swirling Mists was a technique he had taken from Scribe Wulan's journal, one of the basic Morning Mist techniques.

It occurred to him now that the Morning Mist techniques were very old, and the sect had not been in existence for several hundred years. Was it possible they were doing something wrong, that modern cultivators had learned better?

Instead, Noren seemed to shake himself. "Well done. Resume Purification of Mind and Soul. Until you have reached the Peak of Bodily Refinement, that will be your best friend. I wish you all to practice cycling every hour of the day. Cycle while you perform your chores. Cycle while you eat. Cycle while you practice. Cycle until you can do it in your sleep. Dismissed," he said. “Senior acolytes, take them to the training room and walk through the eight katas. I will speak with my disciples now.”

Brother Stone shot Chang-li a worried look. Chang-li mouthed, "I don't know either." Brother Stone issued the pack of acolytes upstairs, leaving Min, Li Jiya, Chang-li, and Joshi behind.

Noren approached, throwing his arms wide and greeting. "My beloved senior disciple Joshi, you have done well." He turned to Li Jiya and bowed. "Lady Li, thank you for gracing our sect with your presence. I am pleased to hear the honor you are bringing us."

"I am grateful for your return, Grandmaster," she said, and bowed, placing her hands together as she did so in deep respect. "Not only is it good to have a senior able to meet on equal terms with the other sects, but also our time training the acolytes has distracted us from this competition. We pray that now that you are here, you will be able to lift this burden from our shoulders."

She shot a glance at Chang-li, who felt a need to defend himself. "If we get Shou or Yang to the Peak of Bodily Refinement, they’ll be able to help us in the challenges," he pointed out.

Noren turned to him, beaming. "Wu Chang-li, you are everything that has been described to me."

Well, that was troubling. Who had described him to this man, and for what purpose?

"Your work with the juniors is well appreciated, but Lady Li is correct. Your focus must be on advancement and performance at this tournament. I will speak to you personally about a training plan at another time. Lady Li, have you anything you need of me specifically?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Then I shall pay my respects to the Dowager Pearl and the senior cultivation officials here at this tower before returning to you, my beloved disciples."

He nodded his head to each, then bowed to Lady Min.

"Lady Min, please continue your duties as senior spouse here for Morning Mist sect until such time as another joins us."

Chang-li nearly missed as the man shot a quick look at Joshi before clearing his throat. "I take my leave of you for now. I shall return after tea time, I think. The Dowager is said to throw an excellent afternoon tea."

He left the garden. The four looked at each other in confusion. Li Jiya said, "Well, it's good to have someone here ready to take proper charge of the sect. I shall be in my quarters meditating."

Once she was more or less out of earshot, Joshi and Chang-li both turned to Min. Keeping his voice low, just in case anyone was eavesdropping, Chang-li said, "What's going on here?"

Min looked miserable. She wouldn't meet his eyes. Her hands twisted the hem of her robes. "My grandfather thought our sect needed someone to convey a certain sense of dignity," she mumbled. "He told me he was arranging for a sectless cultivator who was already past the Peak of Spiritual Refinement to join us in the role of sect Grandmaster. I thought I had more time," she blurted out. "I meant to tell you, I just haven't had a chance."

Chang-li took a deep breath. He forced himself into Double Branching River, his most complicated cycling pattern, as he strove to remain calm. This was everything he had feared. The Oaken Band Brotherhood was taking control of the Morning Mist sect, proving they never had been anything more than a front, despite everything he had tried.

Joshi, on the other hand, looked relieved. "I will speak with him to ensure he knows this nonsense of a betrothal between me and Princess Hiroko is not to go any further," he said. "But, if he takes some of the duties off of our shoulders and allows us to concentrate on advancement, so be it. I want that floor boon, and I want another endorsement on my license. With those, we'll be in a good position to write our own terms for another tower. Perhaps he can give us some advice on reaching the Peak of Spiritual Refinement."

Chang-li felt as though control of his destiny was slipping away from him. "Who is he? Where did he come from? I mean, he must know that we're fake."

"We are a named sect," Joshi said. "We have disciples and now a Grandmaster. How much more established can we wish to be? No, this is excellent. He will keep anyone from looking too closely and asking questions we'd rather not have." He nodded. "Yes, Lady Min. Tell your grandfather that I, for one, welcome his presence. He seems to be a reasonable man. As long as he does not make demands of our time, then let him wear the name of the sect." He looked from Chang-li to Min and cleared his throat. "Perhaps I should excuse myself."

He rose and let the room without a look back.

"I'm sorry," Min said at soon as the door slid shut. She wasn't meeting Chang-li's eyes. "I should have told you. I wanted to tell you, but — no, that's not true," she contradicted herself. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd be upset, but I knew you'd find out sooner or later, so I was going to tell you. I swear I was. But we just..." She shook her head. "Every time we had a moment together where I thought I could tell you, we were training or working together on sect matters or, you know, spending time together, and I could never bring myself to ruin the moment. I..." There were tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Chang-li asked. His voice sounded harsh on his own ears. He tried to moderate his reaction. "I've always known you'd be loyal to your grandfather and the Brotherhood, and that you and I see the sect differently."

"But we don't," she protested.

Chang-li shook his head. "Of course we do. It's all right. As long as he stays out of my way, I suppose it's for the best." He felt hollow inside as he spoke and realized that this was hurting more than it probably should. It felt like the moment when he'd been removed from his post as a scribe.

He looked down at the ring on his left hand and wondered if that's why he'd put it there, not on the right, which still bore the mark of his scribe's ring, even weeks later. He had replaced his scribe duties with the sect. It had become his new home and dedication. And now it being taken from him too. Leaving him with what?

"I think I need some time to be alone," he said. "You should probably go and tell your grandfather his man has arrived, and ask if he has any more surprises in store for us. And then tell me about them if you feel like it."

Min’s shoulders slumped. "Of course," she said, "I'll do that."

Chang-li didn't watch her go. He turned his back and headed for the private room they shared together. He sat on the mat and tried to meditate, but could not clear his mind of thoughts, no matter how hard he tried.