After the meal, the abbot invited Joshi and Chang-li to his private study, along with several of the elder monks. A pair of teen boys wearing novice robes served a pungent sort of tea Chang-li had never tasted before. It was astringent and greasy, with a sheen of oil on top of it. He didn't care for it but sipped politely. Joshi drank with apparent relish.

"Now," said the abbot, "let us consider this matter you have brought to us. You reached the Peak of Spiritual Refinement before this occurrence and on your own?"

Chang-li nodded. "It was several weeks before."

"Hmm, yes, so unlikely to be the result of that peak. What spiritual treasures have you consumed on your climb?"

Chang-li related everything he could think of. The abbot was seated with his hands folded together, his eyes almost closed. The room was very warm, with a fire burning in the hearth and no windows. Chang-li sweated in the dimness.

"Let us see, let us see," the abbot said.

Chang-li could feel him probing with lux. He tensed, then forced himself to relax. He still didn't dare cycle lux of his own, nor even use his lux senses very much, but his keen hearing let him sense the notes being played in the pattern the abbot used.

Around him, the other monks took up seated postures and began cycling a pattern he recognized as the Way of Washed Linen. Joshi fell into the same cycling pattern, sitting wordlessly beside Chang-li.

"You have two distinct lux channel networks," the abbot mused. "Your left and your right side are entirely segregated except here at your core. When did this happen?"

Chang-li explained what he had done and why.

The abbot nodded. "Good, good. So, some time ago, with plenty of time for your spirit to get used to it. Your channels are very well developed. You have cycled long and hard and effectively."

He peered at Chang-li with one rheumy eye opened. Chang-li felt like a specimen being studied by officials, prodded and measured, wondered what the verdict would be.

"Well, it seems as though your progression has gone well up to this point. You haven't fallen prey to any of the usual traps that we see anxious cultivators dropping themselves into. Now I will risk a closer look at your core. Describe the object as clearly as you can."

Chang-li closed his eyes and remembered. "It was a crystal in the form of a disk. About this big." He gestured with his hands. "There was a chain on it originally, of gold links. It felt heavier than it should have somehow, the crystal."

The abbot nodded. "This crystal—was it concave or convex?"

Chang-li frowned, trying to remember. "I think it was concave on one side, convex on the other," he said. "I'm nearly certain of it."

"Hmm. Was it smooth or faceted?"

"Faceted. Many tiny facets all over. So instead of one smooth circle, it was made up of dozens—maybe hundreds—of tiny octagons, all fitted together."

The abbot drew in a sharp breath. Around him, the monks broke their cycling. Chang-li heard a few excited whispers.

"Enough!" the abbot said sharply and the others stilled. He leaned closer to Chang-li. "I am going to ask you to risk a simple cycling pattern. You know Purification of Mind and Soul?"

"I do," Chang-li said. "Joshi taught it to me."

"Good for him," the abbot said. "I thought that extra tutoring we were giving the boy would prove useful at some point. I've never met anyone with less natural tendency for teaching, but he was dogged in learning and said he'd manage somehow. Some of my underlings only agreed to teach him their patterns because they felt certain he'd never be able to pass them along to anyone else."

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"Joshi taught me very well—many patterns," Chang-li said, irritated on his friend's behalf. Joshi didn't seem to mind, though. He sat there stolidly, still cycling.

With a deep breath, Chang-li opened his core and let out the tiniest trickle of undifferentiated lux. He moved it through his channels, cycling Purification of Mind and Soul. He felt the usual relief as the lux cycled around him, easing his aching muscles, relaxing his tension. His core began to vibrate. He stopped cycling.

"Continue," the abbot said sharply.

Chang-li forced himself back into the pattern. His core was vibrating. It rose from the place just behind his navel toward the center of his chest. He could hear it screaming as it vibrated—the core's rotation was wrong. Too fast. The notes destabilizing the core.

"That's enough," the abbot said. With relief, Chang-li stopped cycling. The abbot sat back, looking grim. "Well, from what you've said and what we see here, I think there's no question what has happened to you. You have absorbed a Lens."

Chang-li exchanged a confused look with Joshi. From his friend's bewilderment, he could tell Joshi had no more idea what that meant than he did.

"What is a Lens?" Chang-li asked hesitantly.

"A Lens is a sacred artifact which is used by advanced cultivators to aid them in their further advancement. For a cultivator at the Lux Dominion stage, it can permit them to ascend to what you refer to as a Prism, or conversely to master other arts. It requires your body already to have been transformed with lux, for you to have mastered the ability to distinguish differing shades of a single color of lux, and to control vast quantities of lux with your will. You also need to understand your intent and, of course, to be on a sufficiently advanced floor of a cultivating tower. Then, and only then, the Lens will allow you to achieve certain great steps."

"You should tell the boy that Lenses are merely rumors and suppositions," one of the other monks interjected.

"Nonsense," said a third. "Just because we've never seen one does not make them mere supposition. There are multiple accounts where a device was used for Lux Dominion cultivators to ascend either to Prism stage or to the heavens themselves."

"Yes, but we don't—"

The abbot raised his hand. "As my fellows here are saying, none of us have ever seen a Lens nor used one, which is understandable. We do not begin to come near the cultivation level required to make use of one. But I have no doubt that this is what you have absorbed into your body. I'm sure you can see why this is a problem."

Chang-li's heart was in his stomach. "You mean I've got something inside of me that's meant for cultivators many levels of progression higher than myself?"

"Precisely," the abbot said.

"What am I supposed to do about that?"

"That is an excellent question," the abbot said, "and one which, unfortunately, we do not have an answer for. None of us would begin to understand how to reverse the process and remove it from you. If we tried, I expect you would die. You may need to seek help from a more advanced cultivator—someone of Prism rank, perhaps."

"On the other hand," Joshi spoke up, "our master told Chang-li he must get to the Heart of Ice. I can help him with that once we reach my people. We merely needed to replenish our lux. If we can stay here for a day to rest before we continue. I thank you for your help in determining what is wrong."

"But of course," the abbot said. "Our grounds are open to you."

He gestured. The other monks rose.

Chang-li climbed to his feet. He and Joshi bowed low to the abbot. "Thank you," he said. His tongue felt clumsy in his mouth. There were questions he wanted to ask, but somehow he didn't quite dare.

They allowed one of the initiates to show them to their sleeping quarters. Their gear was there already, with their licenses waiting on the bedrolls. Chang-li picked his up and checked. It now stated he was a cultivator at the Spiritual Refinement stage and that his cultivation status had been assessed by a deputized member of the Office of Cultivation. Joshi was already stretched out on a bedroll. Chang-li imitated him after snuffing out the stinking oil lamp in the corner.

He lay there, unable to sleep. Usually, in that case, he would cycle. But now he couldn't even do that.

"I do not think you should mention this to anyone else," Joshi said in the darkness.

Chang-li had already come to that conclusion. "It sounded to me like the abbot suspects this item can be removed from me—even if it kills me," he said grimly. "And if it's something that can be used to create Prisms or help advanced cultivators advance even farther, then what's my life to them?"

"Precisely," Joshi said. "We will have to hope that the Heart of Ice holds clues for us. Master Noren would not have sent us if he didn't think there was hope."

Chang-li hoped that was the case. He stared up at the ceiling and tried to relax. It didn't work. He heard Joshi's breathing become slower, more regular, but sleep still eluded him.

And so, when the door whispered in its track, sliding almost silently back, and a stocking-clad foot brushed against the floorboard, he heard it.

Chang-li waited. Then, as his senses told him someone was bending over him, he sprang up.

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