Joshi tried to keep the worry from his face as he followed the men from the yurt. A pair of Imperial soldiers and a pair of Darwur warriors kept pace with them.

Beside him, Chang-li was tense. Joshi certainly understood why. They had come expecting to bargain their knowledge for access to the Heart of Ice, but with the general here, everything had changed. How could his brother have made an alliance with the man who had killed their father? What was Joshi to do about this?

It was evening now, the sun having sunk beneath the horizon. The camp was lit by roaring fires that blazed everywhere. The eastern side of the encampment was filled with Darwur tents and people. The western side, Imperials. Only here in the middle was there a mixture.

They were led past the great command tents and then north out of the camp. Far beyond, the Pillar of the Sky rose dark against the horizon, its snowy cap gleaming slightly in the dim light. And there, marring the familiar face of the mountain, a beam of white light stabbed up heavenward. That was the Heart of Ice, or where it would emerge. He was so close to his goal.

Outside the camp, people had gathered, Darwur and Imperial both, not mixing. They stood around a great square marked off by knee-high ropes. Joshi felt unease. There in the center, waiting for them, was the General of the West, Joshi's brother, and Hiroko.

Hiroko, like Min, was dressed in Darwur clothing. It was odd to see her clothed in anything other than her accustomed indigo. She looked out of place, her shining dark hair bound up on her head very differently from the braids that his own people preferred. She looked worried, and beautiful.

Joshi steeled himself. He didn't know what was going to happen, but somehow he didn't think it would be good.

Along with their escort, the three Morning Mist cultivators stepped over the ropes and into the square, where Min halted in front of the two men and bowed deeply. She spoke.

"Great General of the West, exalted Khan of the Darwur, I, Senior Cultivation Spouse Guo Min of the Sect of Morning Mist, bring you greetings on behalf of my sect. We have come to the Darwur to seek entry into their tower in order to cultivate."

Someone was translating her words for the Darwur. The crowded shifted and murmured.

"We do not expect you to let us enter for no gain of your own," she said. "We have brought secrets of cultivation and will be glad to show some of your people how to begin the climb here in your own tower."

"We have already made such a bargain with the General of the West," Joshi's brother said.

Joshi held still. This was all for show. Something had already been decided. What Min was saying now was for the benefit of everyone here watching. He didn't know what it meant either, but he would let her speak. While he knew the Darwur far better than she did, Min was an accomplished negotiator and certainly understood Imperial customs more than he did.

To his surprise, it was the General of the West who spoke.

"The bargain I have made with you is to bring forty of your warriors to the Peak of Bodily Refinement in exchange for entry into the tower. The cultivation methods I teach are not suitable for going farther. This sect, Morning Mist, offers a chance for a few of you to go higher. I do not stand in their way if you wish to make a bargain with them. It will have no effect on our agreement."

Chang-li and Joshi exchanged a glance. What was the General of the West planning here? He must be getting something out of this.

Joshi's brother frowned. "I have not been impressed with the skills my exiled half-brother learned from the monks of Harupa. Why should we bother to entertain this offer?"

Min bowed again. "When he left you, your brother had taken merely the first step toward the Peak of Bodily Refinement. Now he stands at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. Higher than anyone here, save the Great General of the West himself."

A murmur ran through both halves of the crowd.

"Is this true?" Khan Temaj demanded of Joshi.

Joshi met his eyes. "It is."

Temaj frowned. "And yet, what good is a cultivator with no lux? In these lands, with our warriors, we have held off many cultivators of high rank because they have no lux. I am not convinced of its value."

There was a pause. Min darted her eyes back, and Joshi realized it was his turn to speak. He cleared his throat.

"My brother, my people, I left you in disgrace. Since then, I have found my path, my sect, and my future. I returned because I wish to share that path, that future, with you. Will you allow me to demonstrate?"

"How so?" Temaj demanded.

Joshi was almost out of lux. However, he had the benefits that cultivation had given him. And he had Magen, which none of his people could be expected to recognize as a benefit. He did not want to call out and challenge his brother. If he won, he would disgrace his brother and weaken his ability to lead. If he lost, then there would be no reason to listen to him. "I would fight any three men of our clan apart from you," he said.

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His brother scowled. "Three men at once?"

Joshi nodded. "Yes."

"What weapons?"

"With my fists," Joshi said, "against theirs. I have no lux in me. All I can do is demonstrate what cultivation benefits a man."

"Khan Temaj," the general said in a bored voice, "your brother has offended me. On one occasion, he sought to take my life, and then he dared to present himself as a suitor for my daughter's hand. If your men kill him, I shall give them an officer cultivation technique, which I have also promised to you, guaranteeing them to reach the second Peak."

Khan Temaj barked a laugh. He turned to the warriors assembled near him. "Who here is willing to take up the general's challenge?"

The crowd went wild. Joshi didn't see a single man holding back. His brother called out, "Kohayan! Lamai! Achnen!" The three selected men came forward.

Joshi only knew one of them, Lamai, who had been his brother's stirrup rider since boyhood. The other two men were huge, taller than Joshi, with their braided hair falling nearly to their waists and scars all over their arms testifying to fights they had taken and survived.

The three stepped forward confidently. One man cracked his knuckles together as he grinned at Joshi.

Chang-li whispered, "This is a bad idea. Let's ask Min to-"

"No," Joshi interrupted. "I need to do this."

And he did. He had already failed once to show his people how important proper cultivation techniques were. The foundation you laid from your first step would determine how far you might expect to climb. Limiting themselves to a soldier technique, his people would never develop the skilled cultivators they would need to ensure their future safety. Joshi could not allow that to happen.

Chang-li and Min backed away, stepping over the edge of the rope out of the ring, and Joshi prepared himself. He had only tiny scraps of lux in him, but he cycled the Way of Boulders now, preparing himself for a fight.

Magen hummed in his ear. He instructed the lux creature to go invisible and watch.

The three men spread out in a wedge formation. One approached Joshi head-on, while the other two circled around him. They moved cautiously. Someone had shown them what cultivators could do, and they were taking care to choose their attack for the greatest advantage.

Joshi appreciated that. He did not want to fight men who had no understanding of what he could do. But on the other hand, he certainly wasn't going to wait for them to kill him. These were hardened veteran Darwur warriors. They made everyone he had fought up this this point look like children. He had to take every advantage he could get.

Joshi sprang forward. He might not have more than a hint of lux, but his body was far stronger and faster than any non-cultivator. The man he targeted had only a split second to show his surprise. Then Joshi landed a vicious uppercut to his jaw.

The man staggered back. Joshi followed up with a quick spinning crane kick to his stomach. The man folded around the strike and tumbled to the ground, but Joshi didn't have time to finish him. Magen warned as the other two attackers descended on him in a pincher movement.

He wasn't going to let himself get boxed in, so he raced toward the left-hand man, Lamai.

Lamai's face was screwed up in a vicious grin, and he had a knife in his hand already. He was missing several teeth, and his face was misshapen from previous fights, ears looking like mangled mushrooms. Joshi brought his fists up and smashed into Lamai's already damaged ears. The man staggered back, tears in his eyes, shaking his head. Joshi stepped inside a knife swing and struck the man with an elbow strike to the jaw that knocked Lamai flying as Joshi was already pivoted to meet the attack Magen warned him was approaching.

Across the field, the first man he had attacked was getting to his feet. He had drawn a knife as well.

Joshi needed to disable some of these permanently, or kill them. The longer this fight went on, the more likely one of them would land a lucky strike. He pulled together all the scraps of lux that he had left, and for one instant he channeled his gauntlet, complete with a single orange spike.

He smashed it square against the chest of the third man. The spike slid in, then disappeared. The man's eyes went wide as blood bubbled up out of the wound. There was a cry of dismay from the watching crowd, but others applauded.

Joshi allowed himself a moment's triumph. They had assumed that he was out of lux and therefore useless. They were wrong. But now, he truly had no lux left.

It didn't matter.

The third man collapsed to the ground, and Joshi turned to face Lamai and the first man as they moved in. Lamai's face was transformed with rage. The other man seemed to hesitate. "Come on!" Lamai shouted. "It's him or us."

Lamai rushed forward, slashing at him with a long, curving knife. Joshi dodged it easily. He seized Lamai's wrist and twisted. Lamai screamed. The knife fell from his hand as his wrist snapped under Joshi's grip.

Joshi followed up with a punch to his ear yet again. Lamai fell back. His ear was bleeding now, and his steps were unsteady. Repeated blows to his damaged ears had likely ruined his balance.

Joshi had no time. The other man was on him now, knife in hand, stabbing. There wasn't time to dodge. Joshi deflected the blow. It sliced a shallow cut along his bicep, but he didn't flinch. He slammed his knee into the man's groin. The man screamed in pain. Joshi planted his feet and threw a punch with his whole body and spirit behind it. The blow crashed into the man's ribs and sent him flying back, tumbling like a thrown child's doll.

As Lamai came rushing in, Joshi set himself. He had to make this demonstration good. He had to win their hearts and show them how deeply they needed the techniques he possessed.

The man had another knife in his left hand and was wielding it awkwardly, his right hand limp at his side. Joshi ran toward him. As he approached, he ducked left, toward Lamai's injured arm and swept his feet from under him.

The bruiser handed hard and followed him down. He punched down, swinging with his full mass behind it like a Meteor Punch in flesh. His blow struck Lamai's solar plexus with a sickening crunch. Lamai's eyes bulged out. For one horrible moment his mouth gulped for breath, as he tried desperately to suck air into destroyed lungs, then he collapsed.

Magen watched all the time to warn him if either of his other foes attempted to attack, but they didn't.

Joshi climbed to his feet and looked around. The crowd around was silent.

The man he had stabbed with lux lay bleeding on the grass in a pool of blood. He was dead. He did not have to look to know Lamai was certainly dead as well. The third man had gotten to his feet, swaying where he stood and clutching his ribs.

Joshi strode toward him, and the man dropped to his knees. He tried to bow for mercy but gasped as his shattered ribs shifted and he collapsed headlong to the ground. Through gasps and whimpers he blubbered for mercy.

Joshi allowed himself a nod before striding forward toward his brother and the general. He stood in front of them, looking up, arms crossed against his chest, meeting their eyes, daring them to say anything.

"Well!" he shouted. "How do you like what a cultivator at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement can do, even without lux?"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

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