The life and death qi poured into Hui. Ding Bo jumped back, wary. The life qi closed his wound, from the depths outward. Before it closed the surface wound, Hui clamped down on it, circulating it in his dantian instead. He drew out his death qi, emanating a powerful aura of death, and laid absolutely still.

“Hui!” Li Xiang howled, eyes wide. A second later, her vengeful gaze softened. Still, she hurtled at Ding Bo, sword flying.

Ding Bo whirled at the last second. The two battled back and forth, swords dancing. Li Xiang’s sword was a brilliant flash of silver, while Ding Bo’s shimmered with mysterious light, leaving multicolored trails as it swung.

White bolted from the heavens. Lan Taijian appeared overhead, expression grim. Planting his sword in the air, he stood atop a lesser sword and frowned down at the proceedings, emanating powerful pressure directly at Ding Bo. Ding Bo stumbled.

Instantly, Li Xiang’s sword flashed. It swept through Ding Bo’s leg, severing it at the knee.

Ding Bo screamed pitifully, falling to the side.

Hui peered through his dimming eyes, curious. He saw no threads, no hint of the life and death he’d seen with the severed arm. Was that a one time lucky encounter? Or should I exit my body? He started to expel his life qi, then abruptly cut back. I’m not going to heal Ding Bo, and I do not want to irritate Zhu Diyi. For once, I should do the bright thing and stay in my body.

A second later, Hui internally shook his head at himself. No! To cultivate is to risk one’s life. To risk one’s life is to cultivate. If I miss this chance for enlightenment, when will another chance come along? Gritting his teeth, he pushed the life qi out of his body.

Hui fell out of his body. Expecting it this time, he barely noticed as the world went silent and monochrome. He trained his eyes on Ding Bo’s severed leg.

Fine threads, thin as hairs, shivered from the end of the leg. As before, they died before his eyes, darkening to black. Hui crossed to the leg and closed his hand over its end, circulating his death qi through his hand. Black passed through the leg’s end, severing the threads. They died in clumps, falling away. The qi in Ding Bo’s leg faded away, dying rapidly. As Ding Bo’s leg lost qi, Hui knew he sealed it with his actions. This leg was completely dead. Even a true heavenly healer would struggle to reattach it. Anyone less than a heavenly or immortal healer would be unable to do anything to save it. No pill or spell could undo what he did.

He turned, looking at the stump of Ding Bo’s leg. I wonder if I could—

A cold cough sounded out from behind Hui.

Not even bothering to see if it was Zhu Diyi or the reaper, Hui sprinted for his body and swan-dived inside.

Li Xiang stood over the crippled Ding Bo. Ding Bo stared up at her, blood pouring from his severed limb. His face paled. He stared up at her, then bowed his head.

Lan Taijian’s hands flickered through a technique pattern. An illusory lead seal appeared in midair, then fell on Ding Bo. His eyes went wide. He tried to crawl away, but Li Xiang pierced his hand. The lead seal slammed into Ding Bo. Instantly, his eyes darkened. His cultivation trembled, on the verge of shattering. At the last second, Lan Taijian waved his hand, and the seal vanished.

Ding Bo trembled, weak. His cultivation shook, exuding a weak aura, then collapsing a level, back to the second stage. Hui sat up, curious, then smiled. His cultivation is sealed. He can’t escape anymore. He’s helpless.

Wait, shit. If someone uses that on me, what can I do? I can’t play dead if my cultivation’s sealed! I need another technique. More death-faking techniques!

“What happened here?” Lan Taijian demanded.

Li Xiang cupped her hands respectfully. “Disciple greets Master. Ding Bo attacked fellow disciples of our clan and Azure Fang with a long-lost demonic plant. Weiheng Hui and I apprehended him.”

“And healed the fellow disciples,” Hui added. Standing up, he casually brushed down his robes. Life qi healed his remaining wound, and with a mere brush of his hand, he cleaned blood off the front of the robes. The robes stitched themselves together as soon as the wound closed.

Ding Bo’s eyes boggled. He scowled. “You coward!”

“Get creative with your insults! Can no one think of anything better than coward?” Hui demanded, unimpressed.

Lan Taijian’s face twisted. “Is there any proof that the disciples were infected, or that this demonic plant existed at all?”

“Of course. We have the seeds here,” Li Xiang said.

“Good.” He glanced up.

A green blur materialized. Sect Master Mu stood beside Lan Taijian, hair and scholarly robes rippling in the breeze. He stared down coldly at Li Xiang and Hui, barely suppressing his aura. Hui bent, struggling to stand upright. Li Xiang stood proudly, but the strain showed on her face. “Seeds? Is that all the evidence you have? And my inheriting disciple is crippled. I know the Starbound Sect has a history of producing demonic disciples, but your plots should at least run deeper than this.”

We do? Hui’s eyes widened imperceptibly. A few things in his mind shifted, hints falling into place. He tucked that piece of information into a corner of his mind, marking it for later.

“Seeds of an extinct demonic plant!” Li Xiang argued.

Sect Master Mu’s eyes narrowed. Hui felt the intense sensation that they’d just fallen into a trap. “Starbound Sect has Jade Garden Peak, no? It’s not as if the Mysterious Heavenly Forest sect possesses a monopoly on plant cultivation.”

“Why do you defend your disciple? We have dozens of witnesses,” Li Xiang said firmly.

“Witnesses?” Sect Master Mu turned to the fallen disciple who’d most recently been attacked. “Tell me, did you see any evidence of demonic plants?”

Shaking his head, the disciple slowly climbed to a sit. “Er, I… I was struck by someone from behind, and then… strange birds burst through me.”

Lan Taijian turned his fierce gaze on Hui. A chill crawled down Hui’s back. Oh no.

“Strange… birds. And you, what did you see?” Sect Master Mu gestured at another disciple nearby.

“The birds, er, came out of nowhere after I was suddenly attacked, I…” the disciple struggled to remember, then shrugged. “It happened too quickly.”

Killing intent pressed into Hui. He swallowed, nervous. “Peak Lord Lan, please, I can explain…”

“What’s there to explain? You were jealous of Ding Bo’s overwhelming talent and couldn’t bear to see attention on him, even after he lost to you. You set up this whole plot to drag Ding Bo into the dirt, and even dragged Lan Taijian’s beloved inheriting disciple into it as well. There’s long-known bad blood between you and Lan Taijian, no? How pitiful, that envy would go this far.” Sect Master Mu sighed regrettably.

Hui narrowed his eyes. What is the bad blood between our sects? Earlier, maybe it was because of my stealing the secret realm. Now… Ding Bo mentioned demonic cultivators, and Sect Master Mu still backs him up? There’s something going on in Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect, or some bad blood between us that’s worth killing over.

Li Xiang shook her head. “None of that is true!”

Lan Taijian frowned. “Are you sure he hasn’t deceived you?”

Bowing, Li Xiang addressed her master. “I’m sure, Master. I was present the entire time. There was no plot. It was Ding Bo who was the aggressor. Sect Master Mu speaks falsities.”

“Is that true? Do you know the depths to which disciple Hui’s heart sinks? Do you know what he did to Chang Bolin?” Sect Master Mu murmured, cutting his eyes at Hui.

Hui frowned, momentarily taken aback by the name. I haven’t thought about Chang Bolin in years. How does a Sect Master know about him?

No, there’s something going on!

Li Xiang furrowed her brows. “Chang Bolin?”

“Enough talk.” Sect Master Mu waved his finger. A blade of wind rushed forth, flying at Hui.

The pressure of the wind blade froze Hui in place. Fifty meters long, it bore down on him, impossible to dodge. He reached into his robes and threw out all his talismans. “Activate!”

A smaller wind blade, a wooden shield, and a glowing golden barrier burst out from Hui.

The wind blades smashed together. Hui’s dissipated, unable to weaken Sect Master Mu’s blade. The wooden shield shattered, unable to hold up for a second. The barrier burst at a touch, shattering into infinite shards of golden light. Nothing slowed the oncoming wind blade. Nothing so much as chipped it.

The wind blade bore down on Hui, filling his vision. Fear leaped up in his heart. He sucked in a breath. Is this it? Is this the end of this small disciple?