The soul oath Noren had taken to the Emperor was an unpleasant weight. He had assumed he'd be able to create enough wiggle room with it to operate somewhat freely, but it seemed that his Intent was holding him tightly to the terms of the oath he had meant.

  Noren spent a fraction of a moment in contemplation as he pushed past the protections around the tower. He wove his will around himself to prepare him for what might be inside. His Intent had grown in strength this past year while he resurrected Morning Mist from its restless grave, taking what Chang-li and Joshi had begun and shaping it to his own plans.

  Noren had spent many years of cultivation under the name of Kang. It had taken him over a century after he had reached Lux Embodiment to put his finger on what was wrong with his own cultivation. His Intent wasn't versatile enough. Like many cultivators, both of his own day and the modern era, he had assumed that a variation on "become stronger" was enough for Intent. After all, it stiffened his will nicely and allowed him to process huge quantities of lux.

  The problem was, at some point, you had to stop and look at yourself and ask why you were becoming stronger. Some cultivators found the answer in ascension or in rule over their lessers.

  Noren wasn't particularly fond of either option. While he did intend to ascend one day, every scrap of rumor he'd heard about the heavens indicated he'd have a much better time if he ascended alongside a loyal sect of allies. And rule over the weak was so uncomfortable. You spent all your time dominating people, and then before you knew it, someone stronger came along and took it away from you.

  Some time back, he, still using the name of Kang, had retreated to a mountain cave to contemplate for a few decades. Being forced to live on the dregs of lux he was able to gather with his constructs had proved a most instructive period for him, and at last he had gained the insight he needed to change his Intent.

  To his surprise, he'd found it centered around his old sect, Morning Mist, which he had hardly spared a thought for in these past centuries since its destruction. Oh, he'd been horrified and devastated to see it destroyed and had made the attempt with the scribe Wulan to take steps toward resurrecting it. But when that attempt had ended in failure, Noren had more or less washed his hands of the whole affair and headed for more congenial climes. To find his Intent so wrapped around the fate of a sect that didn't even exist had been life altering. It had explained why his will had grown weak in his years of wandering. Without the sect to anchor meaning in his life, he has been adrift.

  Coming back to discover someone had already begun an attempt to resurrect it, well… Noren didn't believe in divine intervention. Any time he'd met someone who'd had an encounter with the heavens, it was clear those who had ascended out of this realm were still just as selfish and internally centered as they had been on this plane. But it was enough to make him wonder.

  Now his Intent pushed hard at him. He might be able to wiggle out of that oath to the Emperor, but if he did, he'd be leaving his sect vulnerable. If Morning Mist was destroyed again, Noren had no doubt that his own Intent would shatter one final time. He couldn't allow that. So he had to intervene.

  He had sworn to the Emperor not to allow Eri to acquire this tower’s treasure. If she did, there were only two scenarios that could follow. First, she might ascend to the heavens. In that case, while no one would be exactly happy, and the Emperor would no doubt embark on the extremely dangerous and time-consuming attempt to destroy her bond to this tower. However, it would not have a great deal of impact on the politics of this empire.

  What was more likely, and what the Emperor surely feared, was that Eri did not plan to ascend. Instead, he suspected she had an artifact which she would empower with the concentrated luxes waiting in the tower. If so, she would become a rival to the Emperor in truth.

  The Emperor kept his Prisms limited, preventing them from climbing much farther, and forcing those who did become powerful to ascend, because he wanted no rival to his own power. Noren was certain the Emperor had already passed the Potentate stage and perhaps was even more powerful than an Archon. His deft use of Lumos and ability to be anywhere in his empire within a few heartbeats were the proof of that.

  If Eri were to have a secret weapon, she would not be immediately as powerful as the Emperor himself. He had centuries of practice on her, as well as the sworn allegiance of many powerful cultivators. But she would be able to make him take notice. If Eri wanted to keep a single tower for herself, then it was likely she would. But if she wanted to expand her domain she would have to go against the empire. Noren would put odds on the Emperor winning. Still, he wouldn't want to risk more than a few hundred coins on it.

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  Content with his soul protections, he popped into the tower. As Chang-li had said, the place had undergone a few transformations, losing its illusion of the natural world and revealing itself for what it was, a space between spaces where time, power, mind, thought, and soul were all confused.

  He hovered in a void as a great hurricane raged around him. Spiritual luxes clashed with each other as bolts of pure Lumos zapped from horizon to horizon. Harsh winds buffeted him, the result of two incredibly powerful cultivators clashing against each other, their will causing fragments of Intent to break off and rush about.

  Noren kept his will in check, stretching his awareness around him. He didn't need much to spot Eri and General Li. Most of the flashes of lightning arced toward them, and all the scraps of Intent came from their position. They were two colossi battling in the sky, with their Intents smashing against each other with a force of a thousand hammers.

  They seemed equally matched for now. Noren skirted around the edges of their fight, looking for what he was sure would be there. He found it fairly quickly, a presence trying to hide himself, but thanks to Chang-li, Noren was looking for him. “Hail, trickster,” he called. “My disciple sends greetings.”

  Sun Wukong popped out of nowhere. He eyed Noren, looking him over and scowling. “You're Chang-li's master? I must say, I was expecting something a bit more impressive.”

  “I wasn’t,” Noren said. “You’ll be pleased to know, I’m sure, that my disciple has made a full recovery and ascended to the Lux Embodiment tier.”

  “Did he?” Sun Wukong asked, sounding interested. “Ah, I suppose I lose a bet with myself then.”

  He produced a coin from his pocket, flipped it into the air, reached out with his other hand, caught it, and shoved it into his opposite pocket. “Well, it's good to hear, I’m sure. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business before these two titans finish killing each other.”

  “Yes, yes,” Noren said. “I understand. You’re attempting to escape. Unfortunately, if I allow you to do that, it will increase the likelihood that Prism Eri prevails.”

  Sun Wukong looked suddenly wary. “What are you talking about?”

  “Whoever takes this tower will certainly have the option of ascending to the heavens. I think General Li wishes to ascend. Prism Eri, on the other hand, wants no such thing. She has something else in mind.”

  “Well, if you want to stop the Prism, have at it,” Sun said, waving a hand toward the two clashing cultivators.

  A red flash from General Li as he launched another series of attacks on Eri sent reverberations through the space that nearly knocked Noren tumbling. He retained his position with some difficulty. Sun just bobbed a bit as the wave of power passed over them. He truly was a powerful being, as befit someone who had ascended to the heavens only to descend yet again.

  “All I want,” said Sun, “is to go free.”

  “That’s what you told my disciple,” Noren agreed. “I don’t trust that your motives are as simple as you make them out. However, my goal is to get my disciples out of this mess and preserve my sect. To that end, I need to guarantee that Eri does not win this tower. I’d prefer her to be dead, but I don’t know that we can manage that without risk to ourselves.”

  “We?” Sun Wukong demanded. “What have I to do with it?”

  “The only reason you are hanging out here watching their fight is that you know if you try to disrupt the tower enough to leave, they’ll both sense it and think it an attack. They’ll shut your technique down, and you’ll be trapped here at best, more likely destroyed. You're waiting for that fraction of a moment after one has taken victory but before they've finished bonding the tower. That’s when you’ll attempt to flee.”

  Sun gave him a respectful nod. “I see you do know a bit about these matters.”

  “A bit,” Noren agreed.

  “So have you come here for the tower’s treasure yourself?” Sun asked. “I could be persuaded into helping back your own bid.”

  Noren had considered it. The lure of such power called to him. But as he wasn't yet ready to ascend and didn’t feel like taking on the Emperor in an outright war, he had decided against it. He shook his head. “My best hope is that General Li takes the tower. I think he'll ascend. If he doesn't, the Emperor will make him. There are several levers he’s been foolish enough to leave where the Emperor can get at them, including his daughter.”

  Noren would do what he could to protect Hiroko, especially now that it seemed she had made a commitment to his disciple Joshi. He wasn't going to risk the entirety of the sect for one indigo princess. Eri, though, must be stopped.

  “You certain of that?” Wukong asked. “She is powerful. If you thwart her but don’t kill her, she’s going to be a terrifying enemy.”

  “I had a thought,” Noren said. He grinned. “It’s one that absolutely no one, except perhaps you, would like.”

  Sun turned to him. He seemed to perk up his attention, his eyes narrowed, but a note of humor in his voice. “Oh?”

  “Let me just run this past you,” Noren said. He detailed his plan.

  Sun’s grin became broader and broader. “You are ambitious,” he said admiringly. “That’s a risky plan if I’ve heard one. But the outcome may not be what you want.”

  Noren waved a hand. “I think I’ll be able to handle the repercussions.”

  “On your head be it,” Sun said. “If this plan goes right, I won’t be here. And if it goes wrong, I give myself fairly decent odds of survival, though in that case, I’d likely be forced to be this tower’s guardian, and nobody wants that.”

  “Then we’d better get it right,” Noren said. “If you’re ready?”

  Sun nodded. “Let’s begin.”