A pair of Imperial soldiers dogged their steps as the khan lead Chang-li and Min away from the arena, toward the tents. Chang-li reached out with his senses. Both of the soldiers were cultivators, somewhere past the Peak of Bodily Refinement, but not yet at Mental.

He knew most soldiers were cultivators. It was one of the main incentives for joining the army, after all, a chance to progress without the backing of a sect. The methods the army used to raise cultivators were brutal and inefficient. Most soldiers would reach the Peak of Bodily Refinement and go no further. Some few, those with a natural cultivation talent or perhaps lucky enough to be chosen for extra training, might make it to Mental Refinement, but not past that.

It occurred to Chang-li that the officers of the army probably preferred that their soldiers be unable to ever truly threaten themselves. Well-trained men at the Peak of Bodily Refinement would be a powerful force, and one that a man like General Li would have little to fear of them turning on him.

There were an awkward couple of moments after entering the tent as they waited for General Li and Joshi. The khan stared off at nothing, while Min stood at Chang-li's side, shifting from foot to foot. Hiroko had seated herself on a stool as far from the door as she could.

Then at last, the tent flap twitched. General Li entered. A heartstopping moment later, Joshi entered. He scowled around, his eyes falling briefly on Hiroko before moving on.

"Very well," General Li began. "Now that everyone here has finished getting the measure of everyone else, I think it's time to speak plainly."

Li's will pulsed out. Chang-li felt it against him. Next to him, Min dropped to one knee. He strengthened his own will and remained standing. The general retracted his will and nodded to them.

"Join me," he commanded, pointing at the open end of the table.

Chang-li and Joshi approached. The general wasn't wearing a sword. Khan Temaj had a long curved blade hanging at his side. There was no need for the general to worry about such mundane weapons. He was a cultivator many ranks ahead of Chang-li and Joshi, even if Chang-li had been able to cultivate himself right now, which he wasn't.

Chang-li looked down at the table. It was a sand map sculpted by careful use of lux, showing what he presumed to be the land around the camp. A small white set of triangles represented the camp down in the southern side of the map. The land rose gradually toward the north until, in the northwest, an enormous mountain burst its way up out of the surroundings. That was the Pillar of Sky, which loomed over the camp even now.

He tried to guess how tall it was based on the contours of the land around. It couldn't be more than 10,000 feet taller than the surroundings, could it? It wasn't part of a chain, either, but a single enormous mountain with a secondary peak a few hundred feet lower, and sweeping slopes that fell away in curving folds, leaving a network of canyons and ravines all around its skirts.

High up on the mountain, a gleaming white tower emerged. His eyes fixed on it as soon as he saw it.

General Li pointed at the tower.

"We all know the Heart of Ice is due to emerge soon," he said abruptly. "My intelligence suggests Prism Eri has designs on the tower. I do not much care what she wants. She will not be allowed to enter, nor will she be allowed to live. I am taking my army and my allied forces and entering the tower. I will not emerge until I am powerful enough to take on Eri and destroy her."

Chang-li stared, his stomach suddenly feeling very hollow. Though he must have misunderstood what the general was saying, because what the man was speaking so casually of was treason.

Temaj broke out in a raucous laugh, slapping his leg. "This is why I have decided to make treaty with the man who has so harried our people," he said. "General Li is a man who gets things done."

That at least was apparent. "When you say able to oppose Prism Eri," Chang-li said cautiously, "you mean…"

"I mean that I shall enter the tower and claim it," the general confirmed. "Before she can do the same. When she realizes I've taken her prize, she'll have no choice but to face me."

Chang-li didn't know exactly what that meant, but the general's intensity was clear enough. Li was speaking so blatantly of his plans, Chang-li feared he and Joshi were going to be executed. There was nothing he could say to General Li to make the general trust him.

Joshi, however, had turned to his brother. "This is how he has brought you to his side, by promising you revenge for our father?"

Khan Temaj raised one hand with an ambivalent gesture. "He has made many promises. I do not know how many he will be able to fulfill. Eri's head. Our people to be cultivators, and our own lands to become fertile with the blessings of lux."

"The cultivation he offers you is a trap," Joshi argued. "Imperial soldiers use methods which get them to the Peak of Bodily Refinement and no further. You must concentrate on building a solid foundation if you wish to be strong. Merely entering the tower is not enough. My father sent me to Harupa to learn, and I have much to share with our people, if you will let me."

Chang-li cleared his throat before the Khan could retort. "In addition, my sect has a number of different techniques useful for cultivators at low levels. In return for access to the tower, we can share what we know with you."

The khan closed his mouth on whatever he had been planning to say to his brother. After a moment he stirred. "I'm listening."

"I think you've overlooked something," General Li said calmly. "You are thinking in the short term."

Joshi crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I am saying that my brethren ought to seek out stronger cultivation methods than what you're offering in order not to cripple their advancement, and you're telling me I'm thinking short term?"

"Well, yes," the General said. "You believe strong cultivators with a chance of advancement are more important than an army of low-level cultivators."

"Because they are," Joshi growled.

General Li held up a hand. "But what is truly important? A handful of cultivators at perhaps Spiritual Refinement, or access to a tower which will enable you to raise as many cultivators as you wish to that level or even beyond? A tower which will also stabilize the nearby region, bringing more prosperity to your people."

"So..." Chang-li caught on to what he was suggesting. "You're saying you would somehow tame this Primal Tower?"

"I shall claim it," General Li confirmed. "There are… multiple benefits for me if I do so, but none of that matters just now. Once it is stabilized, it will become an ordinary cultivating tower, with all the benefits thereof."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Then why hasn't the Emperor already done that?" Chang-li asked. He caught himself and bower. "Sir. That is, this one wonders—"

The general cut him off. "Several reasons. For one, it benefits him to have wide borderlands empty of lux between him and his rivals. For another, I think he sees this Primal Tower as a possible replacement for the one he has should it ever be destroyed."

"Then if you succeed at your plan and make this just another ordinary tower, the Empire would be opened up to attacks from the outside?" Chang-li shivered. He'd heard whispers and tales of what lay beyond the borders of the Empire. None of it sounded welcoming.

"It would, but the threat is not as dire as you make it out," General Li said. "Our towers here within the Empire are capped at a fairly low level. There's only a few that allow for cultivation past Lux Embodiment anyway. Any cultivator from outside able to make the journey is already past where they'd find our towers to be useful. Quite simply, they would have nothing to gain here. Except for this Primal tower, which is another reason I intend to claim it myself."

He seated himself in a tall campaign chair beside the table and crooked a finger to Hiroko wordlessly. She brought a tray of cups, then filled one with wine for him. Then she offered drinks round. Joshi accepted. Chang-li did as well, but only to have something to hold in his hands. He was still trying to figure this out. General Li was telling them far too much of his plans. Why? They weren't important enough for him to be sharing this much knowledge.

On the other hand, where exactly were they going to go? They had come fleeing into the wilderness. They needed help. It had to be obvious to the general that they had nowhere else to go.

The General looked at Chang-li. "You are being very quiet, Cultivator Wu. My daughter has spoken highly of you. She says you have brought the best of a scribe's perspective to cultivation and found new ways of looking at it. I admit I have not met many talented cultivators who are also scribes in my journey. We tend to be warriors, soldiers, generals, thieves and backstabbers." He gave a wry smile. "Hiroko says you have a passion for sharing knowledge."

Choosing his words carefully, Chang-li said, "As a scribe, one thing I learned was how to witness agreements. My teachers told me to carefully record everything both sides are offering. That way, a proper contract could be written up and witnessed with nothing unspoken or merely implied. When one side is trying to conceal what they want, or how much it's worth to them, it makes matters difficult. So, if I may ask, revered sir, what is it you want us to do?"

The General's smile narrowed. "A remarkably forthright outlook for a cultivator. I somewhat approve. All right. When this tower emerges, I am going to force an entry onto its top floor, then to challenge the tower's guardian for ownership of this tower."

Chang-li stared, trying to force himself to understand what the general was talking about. What did claiming a tower actually mean?

Beside him, Joshi shifted his weight and crossed his arms. "You would become the tower's guardian?"

"Not at all. When I have overcome the guardian, there will be a very small window of time in which I am both guardian of the tower and in control of it, before I must relinquish that back to a new guardian who will serve at my pleasure." The general let his words sink in. "Then I will be free to leave, but the tower will be mine."

Khan Temaj spoke up. "Meanwhile, my men will enter the tower and begin to cultivate. When Eri appears to contest the General, we will be ready for her."

"You'll have a handful of brand new Bodily Refinement cultivators against an entire well-prepared sect," Joshi snapped. "They are strong enough that they threw away a cultivator at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement and her retinue just to try to get an advantage in this upcoming war. You need cultivators to match. That takes lux, and training, and time. You must let me begin to teach our people what we need immediately."

General Li spoke. "Cultivator Wu, Cultivator Joshi, your presence here is an opportunity I didn't think I was going to have. My own men are not capable of summiting this tower. You, however, are. And that is an opportunity for us. A Primal Tower adjusts its own lux density and the difficulty of the beasts within to match those who challenge its guardians. That means if those who challenge it are at the Peak of Mental Refinement, the challenges and density will be appropriate to them. If, however, they are at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement, or perhaps even beyond, the corresponding power of each floor of the tower will be greater."

That made sense to Chang-li. He'd read similar theories in the Morning Mist scrolls. "How does this tie into your own plans?"

The general nodded, a small smile on his face. "I had planned to force an entry into the tower, bypassing its normal safeguards. However, if instead you two summit the tower, it will then lie open, just as an ordinary tower does when harvested. Like the Imperial Lux Technicians who then enter to drain the lux away from an ordinary tower, I will be able to step inside and claim the tower's ownership."

Chang-li was astonished at the secrets being tossed around the tent, things he'd never even heard of before. He felt sure the general was telling the truth. The challenge pulled at him. Ascend the tower, take on the challenges, make a mark on the empire itself.

"Supposing we were willing. What good does that do us?" Joshi asked bluntly.

The General held up his hand. "First, along the way, you will receive the floor boons from the Primal Tower. You can imagine that they are correspondingly stronger than any floor boon you have received so far."

That was a powerful incentive, Chang-li had to admit.

"Second, once I have ownership, I will be able to reward you with the Tower Guardian's Boon. Not only that, I will have great leeway into deciding just what that boon should be. I can pledge to you it will be worth your time."

Chang-li's mouth watered as he imagined what a tower boon granted to him by a grateful high-level cultivators might be worth. The power he had seen from Prisms already, the value he'd received from the Tower Boon of Golden Moon… he hungered for those treasures.

"And of course, you'll be establishing a powerful tower for your own people to use," the general pointed out to Joshi.

"And if we fail?"

The general shrugged. "Then you will likely perish in the attempt, and I will be left with a crippled tower. When I take on Eri, I will be no match for her. Should she win, she will no doubt take her wrath out against your people and anyone else who's wronged her."

"Like the Morning Mist Sect," Min said, speaking up from the side. She crossed her arms. "Forgive me for speaking candidly, General, but I am the granddaughter of powerful men. I understand scheming. If we do this we'll be making an enemy of Eri for sure, and it doesn't seem to me like the Emperor will look too kindly on what we're doing, even if Prism Eri has declared herself in rebellion to him."

The general nodded. "That's true."

"In addition, we had planned to assist Joshi's people with their cultivation. If we're trying to ascend the tower, we won't be able to do that."

General Li cocked his head to one side. "Lady Min, perhaps you would be able to supervise that?"

Min widened her eyes and put a surprised look on her face that Chang-li could tell was completely contrived. "Why, General, I am a cultivation spouse, not a teacher of cultivation methods. Even if I did know helpful techniques, it would hardly be appropriate for me to teach them, would it?"

"Then may I ask what you will be doing?"

"Why, accompanying my husband on his journey," Min said cheerfully.

"Forgive me, Lady Min, but you have not yet reached the Peak of Bodily Refinement."

"Which I intend to remedy just as soon as I set foot inside a tower again," Min snapped, then looked abashed. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn, General."

But he was shaking his head and smiling. "No, indeed. I am remembering how my wife used to accompany me. She was a more fierce and dedicated cultivator than I was, for all that she was born inside the Gem Court, and I was the one called cultivator by the outside world. I will remind you that it is going to be difficult for you to keep up, perhaps even very dangerous."

"Danger gives us incentive to climb," Min said.

Chang-li was still turning all of this over in his mind. He was most worried about the fact that his own cultivation was damaged right now. How much help would he be to Joshi in a fight? He didn't want to reveal his weakness to the General, though, especially not after how the monks of Harupa had reacted. He glanced at Joshi, who gave the barest head shake.

"As it happens," the General said, "there will be some time between the emergence of the tower and when the time is ripe to challenge the tower. That should give you time to lay solid foundations for whichever of the Darwur you wish to take under your wing as disciples."

"Assuming they're willing to listen," Joshi growled.

"We will listen, if you have anything worth teaching," his brother retorted with a glare.

The General shrugged. "There, I have made my case. What say you?"

Joshi and Chang-li exchanged a look. Min's hand slipped into his own. Chang-li did not need to look at her to feel her squeeze of approval.

Chang-li took a deep breath. "General, I don't know that there's anything we can do except to say, yes, we will take up this challenge as best we can."

"Excellent," the General said, smiling. "Now, we all have a great deal of preparation to do. I will speak to you again before we enter this tower."

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