Zhao Zhen had been thinking all day of a plan to kill his comrades.

If only he hadn't been outnumbered. He was certain he could take Cai Hao or Hua Xia on alone, but the two together would easily overpower him.

He supposed that was why Mistress Eri had wisely sent them out in groups of three. Three would be enough to deal with any opposition, while keeping them from turning on each other. Still, with every step he took toward the far mountain now looming over them, he knew sooner or later he'd have to make his move. It was inevitable. From the moment he'd received his gift from Mistress Eri, he had known.

His own priceless artifact was a disc, about the size of his hand, translucent and multi-faceted. It hung from a chain around his neck, the weight a reassurance as he ran.

Mistress Eri had not told them what their treasures did, only that they would find them useful. He'd spent hours mastering his. While it looked simple, as he had studied it and pushed his lux through, he'd realized what she had truly given him: the Lens of Master Doon, a legendary cultivator who had been sectless and notorious as the Soul Drinker.

Doon had sought out other powerful cultivators and challenged them to duels. He invariably won, but instead of killing his opponent, he broke their core, stripping them of lux, and leaving them as an ordinary mortal.

Zhao Zhen had always thought that story was missing something. Any cultivator could defeat another and take their lux. But the legend had emphasized how much power Doon had gained. Now Zhao Zhen understood why. The Lens could take much more than just the lux from a fallen cultivator. Usually, that would result in loss of potency of the lux involved. A cultivator had to refine lux to be compatible with his own core, after all, and lux taken from another cultivator never matched as easily as lux from the surroundings or from power beasts.

This, though, this was different.

He'd realized it accidentally on the very first floor. A couple of Peak of Bodily Refinement cultivators from the army had gotten in his way. He'd been forced to kill them, though Mistress Eri had said not to bother wasting time.

When he did, the Lens had resonated with his Intent - I take from the weak. He'd felt it all through him, a perfect match. The device had, without his even trying, funneled their lux into him, and more. Knowledge of their techniques, even tiny fragments of their will had all poured into him. It was as if the Lens had stolen their souls. Those cultivators were far beneath him. What he had gotten from them was just a taste.

Now he imagined what the Lens would grant him from cultivators at his own level.

Zhao Zhen had been stalled at the Lux Embodiment stage for a very, very long time. He had bowed his head and sought entry into Mistress Eri's sect some decades back, hoping to learn what he was missing, betraying his previous sect's secrets to Mistress Eri for a place at her table.

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She'd never trusted him. This was the first time in all those years that she'd given him such a valuable assignment. And such a priceless relic to go with it!

Zhao Zhen understood now. She had been testing him, watching all this time to see if he would keep his word. Now she was offering him a choice. Did he follow her direct orders, or did he violate every law of hospitality and prey on his own sect members?

There were no such things as laws or rules in cultivation. Only the single, critical law: take from the weak and use it to become strong.

In that way, this device was the most pure example of cultivation he'd ever seen.

Resolved now, Zhao Zhen took care to keep the device concealed, lest the other two see he was planning to take their cultivation, and more. He would take the artifacts they had been given as well.

Hua Xia had a necklace. She had not, of course, revealed what it did, but he had seen her channeling lux in and through it. It was a concentrator or purifier of some sort, and his mouth watered at the thought of combining it with his own treasure. With both of them together he could do incredible feats.

Even more enticing, though, was the sword Cai Hao carried. It grew and shrank at his whim. It could be a hand-sized dagger or an enormous blade twice his own height. Not only that, but it sliced through lux techniques and absorbed them. He'd watched Cai Hao use it on Tower Beasts in the previous floor, absorbing their techniques to power his own. He had never matched Cai Hao's skill with a sword, but now he could just take that skill for himself, in an instant reaping Cai Hao's years of practice.

Yes, indeed. All three artifacts would work together to make him the strongest cultivator he'd ever heard of.

And then…. Excitement filled him. If he could use Cai Hao and Hua Xia's cultivation to ascend to the Lux Dominion rank, then perhaps he could reach even the heavens.

None of the others understood what it was they were doing here, but Zhao Zhen had been a cultivator for over a hundred years, and his former sect had trusted him with many secrets. He knew what cultivation towers were really good for. Mistress Eri had sent them to clear a path for her, but he no longer believed she was worthy. Why should he let her use this tower's boon, when he could claim it himself?

Take the artifacts. Kill the others. Ascend to the heavens. And who knew where his own path might end?

All he had to do was find a chance.

Now, as they approached the foot of the mountain, his heart raced, and he hoped he'd have his opportunity soon. A shining path led upward toward the cloud-wreathed peak.

Here at the foot stood a small village of neat huts with tile roofs. The villagers peered out from their doorways as the cultivators strode through. A magistrate, flagged by his attendants, waddled out of the largest building to greet them. "Great cultivators, how can we serve you?" he asked.

Hua Xia looked down her nose at the magistrate. "Our business is at the top of the mountain, with the monks of Dorashan."

"I shall have messengers sent with word of your arrival. You must stay with us this night and feast," the magistrate said, extending his arms wide. "We will—"

Cai Hao merely twitched his hand. Without moving his sword extended from the short knife he carried to a blade five feet long.

The magistrate looked down at the length of metal in his chest. His mouth opened in a surprise that Zhao Zhen found downright comical. Blood dripped from his mouth, staining his white beard.

The magistrate collapsed.

His attendants, looking horrified, started to bend, but Zhao Zhen commanded them: "Run. All of you." It would be more fun that way.

As he and the other two scattered to chase the villagers down, killing them and taking their lux, he kept an eye on the other two cultivators. His opportunity had come at last. Why had he ever been afraid to take this step?

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