License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 13

Joshi and Li Jiya raced up the mountain, leaving Chang-li behind to stop their pursuers. The peak ahead loomed over them, another four hundred feet. Joshi's eyes flickered from side to side as he picked out the best path. He caught a flash of movement, perhaps a quarter of the way up the flank of the peak from where they were. "Rivals,” he told Li Jiya.

She gave a single grunt of acknowledgment. He couldn't tell how many there were or the color of their sect robes from here. Knowing they were racing toward victory gave his feet new motion. He cycled red lux, strengthening himself, and Li Jiya matched him. While neither of them had been precisely holding back for Chang-li's sake, they were both more practiced with the physical luxes.

Chang-li had the advantage in spiritual, or at least so Joshi assumed. He had rarely seen Li Jiya wield the spiritual luxes, yet she must if she was close to the Peak of Spiritual Refinement and a serious candidate to win this tournament.

"We have done well,” he called to her, the wind whipping the words from his mouth. "Even if we come in second, it should be enough to propel you into the top three contenders."

"Not good enough,” Li Jiya retorted. "I want that elixir."

Joshi had been intrigued by the new prism's offer of a reward for the best-performing team—a single elixir capable of raising anyone to the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. The brides were all ambitious, or they wouldn't be here. Those they had chosen to accompany them were also driven and accomplished. A single elixir among three claimants would spur dissension in a team.

The monks of Harupa had warned him against such easy-seeming methods of reaching his goals. It was not enough merely to reach a Peak. The method by which one reached that peak might determine their future chances for advancement. There were no shortcuts on the path of progression. So the monks had said, and so Joshi devoutly believed.

On the other hand… "You want that elixir?" he asked Li Jiya.

"Of course,” she called back.

"Yet you yourself are close to reaching spiritual refinement." Joshi studied the path ahead as they raced upward. The easiest route curved around the edge of the mountain. He saw no sign of those they were chasing.

"I am on a tight schedule," she pointed out. "If I have not reached Spiritual Refinement by the last phase of this tournament, I will be eliminated."

"Then what will you give me if I ensure you reach the top of the mountain and make no claim on the elixir myself?" he asked.

"I'm already giving you as many of the rewards as I can,” Li Jiya puffed. "None of this does me any good if I don't win. I don't have anything else to offer except my goodwill."

Joshi considered. He had no real stake in Li Jiya's winning or losing this tournament. They were already attracting far too much attention from the officials. What he needed… was strong allies to protect him from those unfriendly eyes. Perhaps instead of resenting the Oaken Band’s interference, he could cultivate their aid. After all, their master was a man strong enough to wed his daughter to the son of a provincial governor: Min’s grandfather might not be a nobleman or a cultivator, but he was a force to be reckoned with. Like Joshi’s own father, he was a leader, which made him a potential ally.

Joshi made up his mind.  "If you win the tournament, I want a favor. Something I can hold in reserve.”

“Anything in my power to grant,” Li Jiya promised at once.

"And whether you win or not, I want you to give Chang-li a copy of the secrets you brought from Moon Whispers." The more knowledge his friend possessed, the more likely Chang-li would find the answers they both needed. And it was just the sort of thing they could barter for gold without risking their own sect secrets.

Li Jiya glanced over her shoulder at him as she ran. Her hair streamed out behind her. Despite their furious pace, three times as fast as an ordinary man could possibly run, she was not out of breath.

"I left my sect behind. That doesn't mean I'll betray their secrets."

"Why protect them? They were willing to let your brother die for the sake of their secrets."

Li Jiya's expression darkened. "So they were,” she spat. After a moment more, she said, "Very well. But only if we win this challenge."

"Done." Joshi agreed and put on another burst of speed, racing out ahead of Li Jiya.

He rounded a bend on the mountainside, and there were the other two, just a short way ahead of him—one bride and her escort. Both were women, so he couldn't tell which was the bride and which was the cultivator. He didn't recognize them by sight, though their robes were those of the Azure Flame sect.

One glanced over her shoulder and saw him. They both put on a blast of speed. If Joshi had been certain which was the bridal candidate, he would have tried to leap in on them and knock her from the fight at once. Instead, he sent Magen racing on ahead, trying to get a look. The lux creature zipped around the pair. Neither wore any distinctive ornamentation. They were both dark-haired, beautiful young women, their features close enough that they seemed to be sisters or cousins.

If that were the case, perhaps attacking one would cause the other to come to her aid. Joshi told Magen to circle around them at knee height. Then, when the lux creature was in the perfect position, he lashed out with a Thousand Fist technique. The reflected blow from Magen took one of the two in the kneecap. She stumbled and fell. The other paused briefly, but catching sight of Joshi hot on their heels, she raced on ahead.

Joshi allowed himself a quick smile. So that one was the bridal candidate. He crouched, filling himself with physical lux, and then leapt high into the air, aiming right for the fleeing woman. He enforced his fist with red and yellow lux as he fell. He’d need more than just a shockwave to catch a full-fledged cultivator off guard. The yellow resisted his commands, fighting, but he wrestled it alongside the red.

When his Meteor Punch crashed into the earth, the yellow lux exploded out of him, sending up a gout of fire and flames. It took the bride by surprise. She stumbled away, and he was on her, punching.

His upbringing among the Darwur had conditioned him not to engage in physical fights with women, as they were almost always shorter, weaker, and with less reach than himself. The monks of Harupa had included plenty of female cultivators who had knocked that notion right out of him. Once cultivation was involved, the basic physical distinctions between a man and a woman became far less important. This bride was either at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement or nearing it. She was unquestionably stronger than Joshi. His only chance was to keep her off balance.

He rushed in with a flurry of blows, punching in a dozen different directions. Behind him, Li Jiya shouted, "I'll be right there." She must be tussling with the other sect member.

But now the bride candidate regained her footing. She snarled and raised her hands, weaving a technique between her fingers, lacing red, green, and blue lux together to form a shield. Joshi's next blow was deflected, and his momentum carried him to the side. She snapped the weave shut. Joshi barely pulled his hand back in time as the technique closed like jaws. He could feel the bite in the air inches from his fingers.

She was already casting another weave with her right hand—this one orange wrapped around yellow, similar to Chang-li's firepot. He and Chang-li had practiced enough together for him to have a good counter. Joshi formed a small, round red shield on his left wrist with a spike of orange lux. The weave splashed against his shield, his orange spike piercing through the orange casing of his rival's technique.

The yellow lux inside crashed against his shield, not with the flame he'd been expecting, but with a blast of ice that reached past the edges and chilled him. Joshi lashed out with a sweeping roundhouse kick, catching the bride in the stomach and kicking her backward. She gave an "oof" as she flew back and landed, twisting deftly, one hand raised.

Joshi prepared himself for her next technique. Instead, a crushing blow fell against him, unseen. He nearly dropped to his knees under its weight. It was like the whole mountain had fallen on him. She was using her will as a weapon. Joshi gritted his teeth and struggled to stand.

This was the technique of a cultivator at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement for certain—able to use her will as an extension of herself. On the other hand, fighting against this was the perfect opportunity for Joshi to train his own will. He still didn't understand what it would take to go from where he was to the Peak of Spiritual Refinement, but the few hints he and Chang-li had unearthed suggested it was tied up in learning to properly exercise his will.

Joshi focused hard, imagining a shield in front of him. That instinctively drew his red lux out and formed it into a physical shield, which wasn't what he'd intended at all. He’d wanted to focus his will, not his lux. The bride lashed out with her other hand, a sweeping whip of orange lux darting out. Joshi stepped to the side to put the lux shield in the path of the attack. His dodge should’ve been smooth, but her oppressive will made him stagger.

Behind him, he heard a woman cry. He couldn't look back to see whether it was Li Jiya or her opponent, but as he remained on the field, Li Jiya must still be in the fight. Joshi brought his arms up, his red lux bracers in the air in front of him.

So be it. He would push through. He put his head down and took a step forward. The bride's face writhed in agony as she reinforced her will. Either she wasn't truly at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement, or she wasn't very practiced at this yet. Though Joshi could feel how much stronger her will was than his, she couldn't seem to bring it properly to bear.

He took another step. She was intent on him, her eyes burning with focus—so intent that when Li Jiya appeared beside her, swinging the crescent-bladed polearm, the bride noticed only an instant before it fell across her. She turned, throwing up a red lux shield of her own, but too late. The polearm descended, cutting through her shield, and came to rest on her breast.

The tableau froze. Eri appeared, hovering above them, sitting cross-legged, with her hair streaming out behind her. She was smiling and laughing as she observed.

"Well, well. I did not have such high expectations of your sect. It seems I shall need to spend more time looking into you. Well done." She waved a hand, and the bride vanished.

Joshi ignored the prism. He caught his breath and started once more up the mountain. A moment later Li Jiya fell into step beside him.

Eri continued along, floating just ahead of them. "You haven't lost sight of the goal? That's excellent. Perhaps I should warn you that the next group is only a minute or two behind you. Your friend did buy you a few seconds with his sacrifice. So that was nice."

Joshi didn't like to hear her use the word "sacrifice." Surely, just like the others, Chang-li had been pulled from this place. The prism was just trying to get under his skin. He didn't have any time to worry about it, though. The peak loomed ahead of them. A sloping scree field about three hundred feet long led up to it. On the far side of the scree was a craggy face of rock. It was dangerously sheer but it did offer another way up.

"Which way?" Li Jiya shouted back to him.

In answer, Joshi dashed out, crossing just below the bottom of the scree field. Better to climb the cliff than to risk getting caught in an avalanche of scree. Li Jiya followed. "They're nearly here!”

Joshi reached the bottom of the cliff and started up, Li Jiya right behind him. They raced forward, upward, Joshi wishing he had more ranged attacks.

Joshi glanced back. A pair of cultivators had reached the bottom of the scree field, but instead of following them toward the rock face, they turned and began to make their way up the loose rock. They made surprisingly good time.

"Can we dislodge them?" he called to Li Jiya.

"I don’t see how."

They both had their hands full with climbing. A technique might dislodge the scree if they had a hand free to weave, but it would also stop their own climb.

There were a pair of male cultivators with this bride. One of them was within fifty feet of the top of the scree, and Joshi still had almost as much cliff to climb.

"Remember your promise," he told Li Jiya.

Then, before he could allow himself to think, he used his Meteor Punch ability to push off from the cliff face itself. To his relief, it worked. Used so close to the surface, it only launched him backward and didn’t explode the rock. He twisted in the air and came down just above the foremost of the cultivators. His landing shook the entire hillside.

The cultivator in front of him looked smug as he readied his spear for a lunge. Then the whole scree field began to give way under their feet. The cultivator's eyes went wide as his legs went out from under him.

Joshi fought to stay upright as the whole field began to slide. A plume of dust filled the air. There was a great shrieking crunch as the rocks gathered speed. He was sliding down them, carried along by a wild river.

The rival bride was knocked off her feet and disappeared beneath dust and stone. Joshi's own footing slid away, and he was torn from his perch, thrown forward. Heavy stone crashed over him. He had just time to think how foolish he was for relying on the word of an imperial cultivator before everything went dark.