It was only after I began meditating and cultivating that I discovered the three-dimensional map and list of images for unidentified plants and objects. I realized that I hadn't been dreaming, and Storm was using elements of illusion I barely understood to create a detailed cartography construct.

Somehow, as I slept, Storm had been able to return to my inner sea to rest and not only actualize but share the map and database she was creating. Her increased intelligence came with an increase in her initiative. She had blossomed with our survival, and the changes from Heaven's tribulation were as profound for her as they had been for me.

I had to recognize that Storm's new independence, as well as her discovery that she had the means to enter and exit my inner world at will, gave her the imprimatur of equality that had been missing before. She was not my pet, and knowing that she could leave the inner world we shared as she willed filled me with satisfaction instead of fear.

I didn't want to control her, to dictate her actions, to clip her wings. She was a glorious personification of raw power and freedom, and she deserved to be respected for those qualities.

With no need to deal with a hangover, I decided it was best to spend the day productively. I would visit my new territory, placing the token that claimed the land as mine was a priority, but I wanted to gather as much of the information as the computer sprite had managed to compile.

The sprite had done a thorough job of identifying jade tokens that I might want to examine and study, but I had to actually visit Library Hall to read or check out those tokens. There was a newness and grandeur to Four Element Sect's library that had been missing from Flowing Water's. A gravitas of ornate columns and marble construction that more represented the building I'd initially thought should represent a library.

The building was oppressive, the importance of the information contained within a treasure that the architecture showcased. Both buildings had the same quiet dignity and demand for respect and reverence. Both were staffed by the Library Head, their presence evident as soon as you entered. This library Head was much younger than Elder Cix, but she shared the same obsession with knowledge and veneration for the tokens under her control.

She was busy directing her aids like a field general when I entered. Her expectations high, her standards exacting, and her voice echoing in her cathedral of knowledge. The library had none of the calm orderliness of Elder Cix's domain, but that was to be expected as each token that had been copied needed to be organized.

Every technique, every cultivation methodology, and the entire database of information that had been collected had been a vast undertaking. The Emperor had conscripted resources and information from every Sect within the empire, each Sect required to share even some of the more esoteric and rare techniques. He was determined to gift Four Elements the tools and knowledge needed to not only succeed but to flourish.

But all that information came with a price. It needed to be cataloged, assigned contribution cost for some of the rarer techniques and manuals and divided and shelved by appropriate tier rating.

"Are you another idiot sent by Patriarch Umbra to shelve tokens?" The Elder demanded as I waited patiently to be recognized. It had been easy to wait, my awe at the chaos I was witnessing only increasing the longer I watched. Anyone would have been impressed by the organized confusion that was taking place.

"I have identified a few resource tokens I had hoped to borrow or purchase," I answered, recognizing it was safer to ignore the tone of her question and get to the substance. "I had hoped to study the introductory information on a few of the secondary professions."

"Which ones?" She asked, her attitude changing once she realized I wouldn't be disturbing the growing order she was trying to establish from unpacking and organizing the boxes and boxes of donated material.

"Array, formation, and illusion," I replied.

"Identity token," she demanded. She still hadn't introduced herself, so I had no intention of handing over my token, but I was willing to activate the identity feature that would share my name and rank with other Sect members.

"Oh," she said in surprise, "you're Jai Myche. I have a few things held in trust for you." I was more surprised at her change in attitude now that she knew who I was than the knowledge that she was holding something for me.

I did wonder why someone would use a library Elder to hold items earmarked for me. Elder Shadow had been mentoring me for over a year, he was the more obvious intermediary if someone outside the Sect wanted something safeguarded until I could claim it. Perhaps that was the reason. Whoever had something to share with me knew that Elder Shadow would be expected to pass on anything of substance.

This Elder had the same control of the contents of her library as Elder Cix had of his, her control proven when tokens began responding to her command. A small pile of jade tokens that all novice aspirants might study grew. Those that contained information about arrays, illusions, and formations were quickly assembled. Aside from the material I had requested, the Elder removed a neatly contained package from her spatial device.

"Elder Cix made use of the exchange system every library is required to join. We usually only use that system in order to share common knowledge, as well as secondary profession manuals, but there is no rule against sending resources earmarked for specific individuals. Although I have no idea what is inside the package, I would hazard a guess that he has sent you resource tokens that you might find useful," she explained.

"Thank you, Elder," I said, executing a Wai. "I was also interested in Dharmic spells and techniques that might be suitable for a cultivator that has just survived her tribulation. I believe Elder Shadow has upgraded my permissions so that I can access that information."

"One moment," she said as she moved behind a desk. One of the new view screens was quickly accessed and my information was cross-checked with the permissions that I had been granted. She was easily able to confirm my claim. The view screens linked each department together making the need for missives redundant.

"Your affinities are air and water?" She asked once she had assured herself that I did have those permissions.

"Yes, those are my main affinities," I agreed. "But I have managed to gain affinities with and master the elements of lightning, ice, and fog."

"A duel aspect," she mused, "what tier is your spirit root?"

"Platinum," I answered.

I would like to take credit when she looked at me with a new sense of respect, but my spirit root and dual affinities were gained as much by the vagaries of fate as my body's potential. That and a bit of tweaking and help from Genesis, the controlling artificial intelligence.

Another flurry of motion as a few more tokens joined the stack that she had already retrieved was the only visible evidence that she was responding to my request. All told, the pile of tokens she gathered wasn't that large, a dozen jade chips, each token shaped like a dodecahedron. It made stacking them easy, as each token slotted into place, resting one against the other.

"Do you wish to use them here or purchase them to add to your personal library?" She asked.

"The cost for each?" I asked.

"The novice information on the three professions you asked for are two contribution points each. The Dharmic spells and techniques are fifteen contribution points. A grand total of fifty contribution points if you wish to purchase everything I've collected," she said, pointing at each token, separating them into appropriate stacks to demonstrate how each was valued.

It seemed a sizeable amount of contribution points. At Flowing Water, I could have scooped up all the information from the profession tokens for only a single contribution point. A two-thousand percent markup seemed excessive. I hoped the information each token contained was worth the additional price and not simply a function of joining a high-tier Sect.

I purchased the lot and hurried to my apartment to find out what Elder Cix had sent. Of course, the package contained the exact same Dharmic tokens I had just purchased, as well as a message that informed me he was always willing to consult with me as I progressed upon the path of cultivation.

I was furious that I had wasted a respectable amount of contribution points on resources I didn't need. I didn't even consider asking for a refund; I had already injected my Qi into each chip before leaving the library. I knew most people didn't bother protecting their books and tokens with that failsafe, but Elder Cix had impressed upon me the importance of protecting my secrets of cultivation and technique.

It had become a habit. A habit that had cost me contribution points that could have been better spent on resource material to begin leveling up a new secondary profession. On the bright side, it was comforting to know that the computer sprite that I had created, the one that I had modeled on Elder Cix, would not be the only connection to the forceful personality that I had come to respect.

Now that I knew there was a system in place allowing Libraries to share information, I knew there had to be a means and way for communication between here and the mainland. I should have guessed that already. The Emperor had to have a way to stay in contact with the bureaucrats that had been stationed here.