Chang-li soared through the air, his leap carrying him a dozen yards forward and up to the puff of condensed cloud he had just formed by exerting his will. He landed in the cloud, sinking into it up to his knees, and caught his breath as the opposing will pushed back against him like a lead weight on his soul.

He continued cycling the pattern Noren had just taught him. All around him was empty space filled with a thin golden mist, what Noren had called "lux aura". By exerting his will, he could cause that mist to form into clouds, as he'd just done. That wasn't difficult, nor was aiming his leaps particularly hard. But doing it while keeping up the cycling pattern, all while an immensely stronger will pressed against him, that was exhausting.

Sweat ran down his brow; Chang-li was panting hard, his heart rate much higher than it should have been. He stretched out with his will and began to form another cloud. It was like he was trying to push a heavy boulder up a steep hill. Gritting his teeth, Chang-li exerted himself. Then, just as the next cloud was beginning to coalesce, there was a pop.

Noren appeared in front of him, hovering in mid-air, arms crossed and gloating. "I see you," he said, and snapped his fingers. The cloud on which Chang-li stood dissolved at once. Chang-li dropped like a stone, flailing his arms and legs, struggling to gather enough of the golden mist around himself to halt his fall. Noren kept pace with him, looking as calm as a summer's day, not a hair out of place on his head, while his will crushed down hard against Chang-li's.

"You are too noisy," Noren said. "You must focus on that cycling pattern I gave you. Right now, you stand out like a peacock in a barnyard."

Chang-li was still falling faster and faster, the wind whistling against his ears. "Don't you have to find Joshi?" he grunted.

Noren waved a hand. "He's already waiting for our next try." Then he snapped his fingers again.

A cloud caught Chang-li; he sprawled on its surface, glaring up at his master. "I almost had it," he said.

"The point of this exercise was to maintain your control over a small part of this lux well's aura without alerting me to your presence," Noren said. "You failed."

The cloud bore Chang-li rapidly upward, back to the bridge platform. Joshi was sitting in the grove, arms extended as he cycled.

"Well, that was yet another disappointment," Noren said. It was the tenth time they had tried the exercise. "Chang-li eluded my gaze for nearly three full minutes. You, Joshi, are not doing nearly as well. Do you know why?"

Joshi's eyes were closed. Without breaking his cycling, he replied, "Chang-li is better at masking his will than I am."

"True." Noren gestured for Chang-li to sit. He began to pace as he considered the two disciples. "You have both reached the Peak of Spiritual Refinement, a level which less than a tenth of those who start on the path of cultivation ever reach. Perhaps you expect me to congratulate you on this, but I do not. You both have the potential to go much, much farther. And I am not satisfied with your preparation just yet. You both have serious flaws with your willpower control. That's not unexpected. Most Spiritual Refinement cultivators flail around, using their will like a club to bash their opponents and the world around them. That," he said to Joshi, "is your greatest problem."

Joshi grunted. "Agreed. I am meditating on it now."

"Good. We will continue to work." Noren turned to Chang-li. "You, on the other hand, are proving adept at this particular exercise because you don't want to use your willpower at all, and so are exerting it as little as possible. It takes me some time to pinpoint you when you do that. But it's not enough just to try to hide, nor are you as insignificant as you like to think. You must master the technique I have given you. You cannot hide by making yourself small. You must hide by making yourself invisible and passing through your opponent's willpower aura."

"Explain to me what aura means here," Chang-li said.

Noren laced his hands behind his back as he paced. "I think you both can tell that your use of willpower is limited right now to a few yards away from yourself."

"I managed the entire battlefield," Joshi said.

"Still a limited area, and not for very long, and not against cultivators as strong or stronger than yourself," Noren said. "A cultivator at a higher peak can extend his aura out to a hundred yards or more. The Emperor's Aura covers miles and he has a technique to spread it out even thinner. When he wishes, his effective aura can cover the entire empire."

Chang-li's breath caught at that thought. "I felt his aura when he came to Vardin City. He seemed to just tame the luxes everywhere around, and everyone bent to his will."

Noren answered with a nod. "Yes, that was his primary aura. It's larger than anyone else in the empire. With that, he can cover an area perhaps a mile wide. But his secondary aura, which is exactly what I'm using against you, it's another matter. Secondary aura is the area which you cannot directly influence with your will, but you can sense what is happening, especially looking for lux disturbances or the sign of another cultivator's existence. You have no hope to hide yourself from a Lux Domination level cultivator's primary aura. His secondary aura, though… that's what we're practicing against now."

"How is this helping us?" Joshi demanded. "You said you would teach us great techniques, but this seems, well, useless."

Noren scowled. "It is the exact opposite of useless, but if I told you what it was we are after, well… You're going to have to take it on faith."

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"That's asking a great deal."

Noren sounded annoyed. "In other sects, to question your Grandmaster is unthinkable."

"Other sects don't have the disciples and the Grandmaster competing for which is the biggest liar," Joshi observed. "If you want our help, we need more than this."

Noren looked at Chang-li. "Do you agree?"

Chang-li had been finding the training interesting for the sake of interesting, as well as a good chance to work with his newly-expanded understanding of his own willpower. But he nodded. "When have I ever asked for less information than I could?"

"A fair point," Noren agreed, and clapped his hands. "Let me see. The Guardian of the Vault will be watching for invaders and thieves. Our hope is that the guardian is slumbering, in which case he is only relying on his secondary aura. If you can remain hidden from that, you will be able to plunder the vault and take what awaits you there. If you can, then we will go to the next step of this discussion and I can tell you exactly what it is you have acquired. Until then it must remain a mystery, because the more you know, the more danger you will be in."

"And it will help us gain power and learn to cultivate?" Joshi asked.

"Or teach us things that we don't already know?" Chang-li added.

"It will. That, at least, I can guarantee you."

"Then we are ready for our next lesson," Chang-li said.

"Good." Noren turned to Joshi as the barbarian cultivator was climbing to his feet. "Joshi, for this, perhaps a different approach. Did your people never disguise themselves, lie in wait, set traps for their enemies, things of that nature?"

"Of course we did," Joshi said scornfully.

"You must think of it that way. You are eluding the gaze of a powerful enemy, one who has trained eagles to watch from far above. How would you manage then?"

"Move at night," Joshi suggested, "or perhaps create a diversion." He frowned. "What if…"

"I will let you try that yourself," Noren said, interrupting him. He turned back to Chang-li. "And you, Chang-li, you are trying to hide by making yourself even smaller. That's wrong. Let's see." He seemed to consider a moment before nodding. "Imagine that you are standing in a dark room. That is your opponent's aura. You have lit a fire; doesn't matter how small the light is, whether it's a mere candle or a bonfire. Will it not stand out in the darkness?"

"I suppose," Chang-li said.

"Your will is like that," Noren said. "Its very existence is a flame. You cannot hide by making yourself small — nor should you," he added quietly. "You are not as weak and insignificant as you think you are. No. Instead of making yourself small, you must find a way to hide the candle. For instance, if the entire room was ablaze with light, would one more stand out?"

Chang-li shook his head.

"And that is what I am trying to teach you," Noren said quietly. "That cycling pattern will allow you to flood your opponent's will. He will be forced. He will know someone is there, pressing wills against his, and he will look, but he will not find you inside all of that noise and light and lies. Not if you do it correctly. The first thing you have to do, though, is stop thinking of yourself as so insignificant. Now." Noren went to the edge of the bridge. "Time to go again."

He stepped off into the void. Chang-li and Joshi looked at each other. Joshi gave a shrug, then sent Magen spiraling away. "I keep hoping Magen will be able to confuse him for me. It's not working so far," he admitted.

The two of them raced to opposite edges of the bridge and leapt off. Chang-li was already forming his first cloud. Their objective was to cross this space to the far side without Noren finding them. So far, he had tried sinking down farther into the pit and stealthily crossing. He had tried racing as fast as he could.

He had lost track of time, and somehow that didn't bother him. The fruit, which Noren had split between him and Joshi, and the strength of the lux in this place, kept him from feeling any hunger, though Noren had assured them that once they left, they'd feel hungry enough. They hadn't slept, instead taking long breaks to cycle and meditate.

Chang-li was still getting used to the feel of his body now that he had reached the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. It might be his imagination, but he felt taller. Min hadn't commented. Maybe he was wrong. His core was dense as before but purifying out lux into different colors and sending it through his channels was faster.

His fingers felt more dexterous as he wove together techniques. Noren said once they were done here he would begin teaching them to weave techniques with their minds alone. Chang-li was excited for that, and now he used lux and willpower together to propel him from his cloud to another he formed a little farther along the chamber.

He concentrated on his cycling, trying to match his will to the pattern, as he thought about what Noren had said. He shouldn't try to make himself small because he wasn't small. But the best way not to be seen was to be below notice, wasn't it? So he had been taught.

Oh, it was fine to excel in your duties. In scribing school, Chang-li had always been one of the top students. He had to be as a boy from a working background. He didn't have many family connections to help him along the way. His schooling would have to speak for itself. And it had, graduating near the top of his class, he had been assigned to the imperial scribes assisting with cultivation supervising cultivation and tower climbs in a position in which had opened new possibilities to him, even before he had begun his own climb.

But still, you wanted to excel in the eyes of your superiors, not stand out to strangers. A clever scribe made sure his boss knew how hard he was working but to those who came to him for services he was just another faceless cog in the machine. The tall poppy felt the scythe, after all.

Since starting his cultivation path, Chang-li had tried to keep a low profile. Every time it didn't, things went poorly for him. Like when he had raised himself to the attention of the governor of Riceflower Province by getting too close to Min. Although, that had worked out fairly well. By marrying Min, not only had he secured his place as a cultivator, gaining official backing and recognition of his sect, but also Min's company and loyalty.

Their sect had saved Vardin City and sent a supposed member to the imperial harem. That had gained them recognition and status. Which was good. Wasn't it?

Chang-li started to think he understood what Noren was saying. He was still acting as though he was that lone scribe falsifying records in order to steal an advantage. But by doing so, he was giving up the advantages he really had. He wasn't faking being a cultivator. He was a cultivator. One at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement, an achievement few cultivators ever reached. Morning Mist wasn't a forgery. It was a real sect, resurrected from the ashes. And Chang-li was its senior disciple. They were rebuilding the sect headquarters, restoring it to its former glory. He didn't need to pretend to be an insignificant worm.

Chang-li felt his will strengthen all around him as he forged the next cloud. As he leapt for it, he was already gathering in the lux aura to form another. He raced ahead through the chasm, cycling as hard as he could.

He felt a will flare somewhere in the vastness of this place. Not Noren's but Joshi's. Chang-li quickly spun out another cloud. If Joshi was distracting Noren, that might just give him the chance he needed.

Another cloud, then another. Chang-li was nearing the edge; he ordered the cloud he was on to rise, trying to reach the top of the chasm as he leapt to his final cloud.

His heart sank; there, standing on the edge, was Noren. The Grandmaster was smiling.

"Well done, Chang-li," he said. "Keep that up, and you might last a whole 30 seconds against the Vault Guardian. Shall we go again?"

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