Based on the number of other cultivators surreptitiously looking around, and more than a few staring in open wonder, Chang-li wasn't the only provincial bumpkin here. The top ring of Vardin City, which circled the entire tower, Min had called the Crown. It stuck far out from the tower and was entirely covered in brightly colored buildings. All of them seemed to have been built from the same white material that formed the petals. Perhaps the buildings had been grown into those shapes, now painted in a riot of colors.
The Crown ought to place the petals below in nearly perpetual shade, but thanks to a clever array of mirrors on its underside, sunlight was captured and redirected to the petals. After being here for over a week, Chang-li still wasn't used to the splendor and scale of the city. This was his first trip up to the Crown, and he was not disappointed. He had come up on one of the eight stairs leading from lower-level petals up onto the ring, then along the broad avenue that formed the ring's sole street. The buildings on the outer edge of the flower were lower to give the inner buildings a view out across the lake and valley beyond.
During his time here in Vardin City, Chang-li had seen dozens or hundreds of porters and workers from the Flotsam climbing between the petals, carrying heavy loads up to supply all the city's needs. Today, they seemed to have been banished. Everyone he saw was clearly wealthy, their clothes and accessories proclaiming their stations. Anyone wearing white with a colored edge was a descendant of the emperor, technically a member of the Court of Gems, though that term was only used for the eligible young men and women seeking cultivator spouses. He spotted dozens of them, mostly red and orange-ranged, though he spotted a green-edged robe on a middle-aged woman as he processed past.
Mixed in were merchants and nobles wearing their finest, guildmasters bedecked with the emblems of their professions, and various officials sporting their ranks and offices. They lined the avenue around the ring as Chang-li and the Morning Mist Sect joined the throng of cultivators heading for the governor's palace.
Li Jiya had arrived yesterday wearing Morning Mist robes, unaccompanied by anyone from her former sect. She had said nothing of the break, merely stated that all of her paperwork had been appropriately filed and she would be ready to present herself with the other brides tomorrow for the official beginning of the bridal tournament. She'd approved of their lodgings, though her eyes narrowed when Min informed her that the Oaken Band Brotherhood was providing both housing and a new batch of disciples for them.
Today everyone who could claim any affiliation with Morning Mist was present. Li Jiya led the way, her dark hair streaming out loose behind her. She wore a circlet of white flowers around her head and carried no weapon. Her Morning Mist robes fluttered in the breeze as she went. After her came Joshi and Chang-li, both bedecked as befit the young masters of a sect. Joshi had a ring; Chang-li didn't. He wanted to have one commissioned for him, but they hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Min followed, wearing her sect robes, close enough to whisper to Chang-li as they went. After that came Brother Stone, the three senior disciples, and their two dozen new disciples. Chang-li hadn't even memorized all of their names yet, but some of them were showing quite a bit of promise. He had the senior disciples running them through the basics but tried to observe their training at least once a day to give pointers or pass out newly deciphered Morning Mist Sect scrolls for them to study.
They had entered a lower level of this tower three times now, thanks to Min's intercession with the city officials. Min was almost to the Peak of Bodily Refinement. Chang-li was excited about the prospect of getting her there soon. He'd have to ensure that they had time to train together once this bridal tournament began in earnest. Of the others, the three senior disciples had all made great strides toward the Peak of Bodily Refinement, but Chang-li expected it to be months before they reached it. Only Brother Stone had reached the peak, and he had the benefit of prior cultivation. None of the new disciples were anywhere near their first core condensation.
That was fine. Chang-li wanted all of them to have a solid foundation, so he was teaching them several different cycling patterns, encouraging them to try them all and find which worked the best for them, and emphasizing that different cycling patterns were useful for different lux techniques.
Li Jiya had stopped in yesterday to look them over and listen as he explained his philosophy with her lips pressed together. She had said, "In Moon Whispers, a master or senior disciple would have a single cycling technique he encouraged his students to focus on. If the student mastered that and found it insufficient for his needs, he would either seek out another master, or, if he showed great promise, be taught a second technique from the sect vaults.”
"How many cycling techniques do you have?" Chang-li asked her.
Her eyes narrowed as she considered him. "Four."
"And how many masters?"
She sighed. "My great-grandfather took me under his wing. The tutoring that my brother and I had was not equivalent to that of a common disciple in our sect."
"Why not? The stronger the disciple, the stronger the sect."
Li Jiya hesitated. "My leaving the sect has destroyed them," she said bluntly. "We were already in bad shape before we lost my brother. Now I have gone, and they are done. Sects understand outer disciples will change to another sect if they think they can get a better offer. Giving too many valuable techniques only encourages that. If you teach these disciples a dozen different techniques, other sects will poach them just to learn those cycling patterns. And how is it a sect as obscure as yours has access to so many different patterns?" she demanded.
Chang-li shook his head and kept silent. They were allies in this bridal tournament, but she wasn't truly a member of their sect, whatever robes she wore. There were some secrets he would be keeping for himself.
She was right, though. They did have an abundance of techniques. Between the ones Joshi had learned from the monks at Harupa, the four different patterns that Chang-li had deciphered from the Morning Mist scrolls, and the two that he had learned himself in the temporal training chamber, he had thirteen different cycling patterns he could call on. He didn't use all of them equally. Joshi's favorite, the Way of Boulders, did little for him, and though he had explained Double Branching River and Breath of the Heavens to Joshi, his friend had as of yet made no progress toward mastering them himself.
Li Jiya was probably right. The average cultivator only needed two or three patterns. Teaching so many to these disciples right off might well confuse them. On the other hand, Chang-li disliked hiding information just for the sake of hiding it. These Morning Mist secrets might have been lost forever if he hadn't raided the library. How many other sects' knowledge lay moldering in some vault somewhere because the last member of the sect had, like Li Jiya, abandoned them for better prospects? He didn't want that to happen here.
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Morning Mist was not the only sect in this procession. They had been instructed to arrive at nine o'clock in the morning, and so apparently had the other competitors. Ahead of them, a great mass of cultivators and disciples wearing red and orange robes that made Chang-li think of flames was processing toward the great open gates of the governor's mansion compound. Behind them came blue and green-robed cultivators. Both sects seemed to have three or four times as many as Morning Mist, but Chang-li wasn't worried. He would wait to see the quality of the cultivators.
They filed in through the wide open gates, the crowd pressing in as close as they could. Beyond the gates, only the invited sect members were permitted. The sects were directed to a wide open square in front of the impressive governor's palace.
A wall ran all around this quadrant of the city, only about eight feet tall, enough to block eyes, but not to serve as any kind of defense. The governor's palace had a large central building and two vast wings. On the other side of the square where they found themselves was a long, tall, building, featureless other than an abundance of windows. From there the city scribes, magistrates, and others who would oversee the day-to-day affairs of Vardin City no doubt filled those halls on ordinary days.
Chang-li tried to get a look around at the throng. He thought he could count eight different colors of robes here, but it was hard to make out over the vast sea of people. Min pressed in closely to him. "I have an invitation to attend the Court of Gems this afternoon," she whispered. "I'll get more details there from the other cultivator spouses."
Chang-li could already appreciate how useful it was to have someone dealing with the back-channel politics that came with being a sect. He'd never realized just how complicated it would be. Any time he'd dreamt of cultivation, he'd seen himself as a disciple under the tutoring of a master who would worry about such matters. To be the one in charge was disconcerting.
As the sects filed in, people emerged from the Governor's Mansion. The Dowager Pearl was marked by her dark robes. Two more Dowagers flanked her. Chang-li would have to ask Min what the etiquette was for addressing Dowager Pearls if there were more than one of them. He couldn't even remember if he'd learned the name of the one who'd conducted the Golden Moon Tower Cull.
There were officials in their robes and emblems of state, all lined up and waiting, and a man whose features he could recognize even from this far away. His blood froze for a moment. It was Min's oldest brother, Yuan-li, the acting governor of Riceflower Province. The man who had threatened to have Min locked up in a monastery, who had arranged for their wedding but not even bothered to be there. Chang-li was not at all fond of this particular in-law.
In the center of the tableau were a pair of people who could only be Prisms. The first, the slender woman he'd already met before, Nai Lin. The second was a tall man, dark hair and chiseled features. He must be Nai Hong. His eyes flashed as he surveyed the crowd. Both of them wore robes of iridescent rainbow silk, the colors shifting and changing with every movement they made.
Chang-li could feel their presence from here. It wasn't as overpowering as when the prism had arrived at the end of the last tower cull. He wondered if they were deliberately keeping their auras contained. He'd read about the kind of aura a high-ranked cultivator could produce, and he had no desire for a full taste of that effect.
As Nai Hong raised his hand, silence fell over the crowd. His presence increased just a little. Behind Chang-li, some of the newer disciples shuddered. No one moved. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to Vardin City and to the Southeastern Region's annual competition to find the woman we shall present as Bride of the Emperor."
The crowd cheered wildly. The prism waited until the noise died down, then continued. "The Emperor's Brides, his pearls of great price, are chosen only from the ranks of the most talented cultivators. To even apply for a position, they must have the backing of a dowager pearl and have achieved the rank of at least Peak of Mental Refinement, though any who does not achieve Peak of Spiritual Refinement by the final phase of this competition will be eliminated without further opportunity. They must be paragons of cultivation, of virtue, of knowledge, and of dedication. They represent what we, his subjects, owe the Emperor: our lives, our loyalty, and our devoted service. These women are here to compete for the honor of representing their sects and home region of the Empire, the best of what Riceflower Province and the surrounding nearby provinces can offer our divine master."
There was another cheer. Joshi made a muttered comment under his breath. "Be careful," Chang-li whispered. "We don't know how much the prism can hear." Joshi subsided.
"These women will be assessed not just on their cultivation prowess but on their beauty, their knowledge, their organization, executive aptitude, and their devotion to the Empire. Whichever bride is chosen will spend ten years in the company of the Emperor and his family. She will enter the gates of the Imperial Garden and there serve her time with loyalty and devotion, even as she improves her own cultivation and learns from the greatest scholars and officials in the Empire. Should she be so favored as to bear a child to the Emperor, she will remain within the walls of the Imperial City for the remainder of her life, assisting to run the Empire silently from beyond the scenes. Should she not be so favored, then after her term she will emerge once more as a Dowager Pearl to devote the rest of her life to overt service in the Empire, just as these Pearls here with us have demonstrated." He extended a hand toward the trio of black-robed women, who all nodded.
Chang-li wondered why exactly Li Jiya wanted any of this. Yes, it was prestigious, but if she won, she'd be spending ten years in the Imperial Palace. Dowager Pearls were not permitted to marry, even if they had not borne a child to the Emperor, nor could they rejoin a sect and continue cultivation. They were the backbone and sinew of the Empire, as important as any official, and perhaps that was Li Jiya's aspiration. He couldn't see her face. She stood in front of him, and from the way her body was tense, she was drinking in every word.
“These women represent the future of cultivation. Through his brides, the Emperor’s bloodline descends to us mortals. Our sects are tied to him by chains of blood and loyalty, and through his children, the Emperor adopts all cultivators into his own family.” The Prism waited, allowing the spectators to applaud. Chang-li heard Joshi grumbling wordlessly.
"We welcome to us today eight sects, each offering a girl. Mei Ling, of the Dream Blossom Sect. Yue Xian, of the Celestial Phoenix Sect. Lian Hua, of the Serene Water Sect. Zhen Yi, of the Crimson Orchid Sect. Li Jiya, of the Morning Mist Sect. Bai Feng, of the Silver Crane Sect. Chun Hua, of the Golden Willow Sect. And Xue Lan, of the Azure Flame Sect.”
As he named each sect, their cultivators raised a cheer. Chang-li lifted his voice when Li Jiya was mentioned, and was pleased to hear his disciples joining in.
“These eight will compete in a variety of challenges over the next two months to determine which shall become the bride of the Emperor. At the end of that time, the Emperor himself will grace Vardin City with his presence as he comes to greet his new bride and take her back to the Imperial homeland. But even the losers will find great honor and glory in the competition. I urge each sect here to strive and remind them that there will be opportunities here that other sects would kill for. With that said, I shall allow Magistrate Dioa to reveal the first task."
He swept a hand toward a balding man off to the side. The man was actually taller than the prism, but he had none of the prism's presence. He hurried forward, hands tucked into his sleeves, and bowed to the waiting crowd. "For the first phase of the competition, each of the bridal candidates will enter the fifth floor of the tower along with her retinue. She will there face a variety of challenges. These are the equivalent of champions found in other towers, but with the help of Prism Nai Hong and Nai Lin, we have added far more than would ever be present in a single tower.”
Chang-li couldn’t wait to get in and try it for himself.
“At the end of this phase, the three lowest performing teams will be eliminated. Should any bridal candidate be killed in the course of this portion of the challenge, her sect will be eliminated."
As the assembled crowd cheered Joshi turned to Chang-li, eyes blazing. “You were right. This is a good path for advancement. We shall destroy these challenges and take what they leave to make ourselves stronger.”