As he fell, he crossed his arms, thinking to himself. This realm… I wonder if it’s physically inside the remains of the snake ancestor? We gathered a snake, then passed through its blood and bones. Where are we headed next, I wonder?

Ahead, a light blazed out. He smiled and hurtled toward the light, excited to see what awaited him.

The light rushed up. A great wind rushed into his face. He squinted his eyes shut and burst through into the next part of the trials realm.

Darkness awaited. A few pale, stony prongs stretched up into the sky. Below, a black wasteland stretched into the distance. Bony white closed off the sky above. Hui drew out a wind talisman and the snake and waited. He plunged down, down. Meters above the ground, he activated the wind talisman. It bounded him back upward, and he landed gently.

Hui brushed himself down and adjusted his robes, then froze. I’m fourth stage. I can fly on swords, now. Why… why didn’t I…

He put his face in his hands. Argh! I’m glad no one could see me just now.

Drawing Gu Tian’s sword, he gazed at it, then sent qi into it. He exerted qi downward. The sword leaped in his hand, fighting his grip. Eyes flashing, Hui released the sword.

It flew up into the sky, blasting out of sight. Hui stared, then put his hands over his head and ran. A few steps into running, he grabbed a barrier talisman and hunkered, eyes on the sky. Flying swords are dangerous, dangerous! This small disciple got too bold!

The sword hurtled back down and plunged into the earth tip-first. Hui let out a sigh. He walked over to the sword and hefted it out of the ground, then sheathed it again. Okay. So. Maybe I should practice a little, first. Li Xiang had to practice a lot, didn’t she? Naturally, I’ll have to practice as well! I shouldn’t expect to succeed on my first try.

Li Xiang… I wonder if she’s doing well? She was at the high end of the third realm before I left. By now, I wonder if she’s passed through into the fourth realm, the same as me?

Hui let out a sigh. Xixing and Bai Xue are here… why couldn’t Li Xiang…

No, no. Xixing got captured, and Bai Xue has more connections than an ordinary Sect Master to get her out of trouble if she gets caught. If Li Xiang was here… she’d have to had been captured. She couldn’t sneak by like me, with her sense of justice and inability to lie. No, I’ll just… look forward to seeing her when I return home.

Home. The Starbound Sect. To think… I have a place I can wistfully think of as home. He smiled to himself, staring up at the bony vault of the ceiling above.

Claws scraped at his shoulder. Startled, Hui dropped to the ground, going limp. In the same instant, he released Jin Xian from his storage ring.

Dammit, again, I’m the one on the ground while Jin Xian is fighting!

It’s this ghoul skin. I can’t shed my skin in it, so it’s harder to escape or replace myself until I take it off!

Jin Xian hopped forward, lifting her hand. Long claws burst from her fingertips. A ghoul snarled at her, lunging. She slashed. The ghoul staggered back, clutching its head. A second later, the ghoul’s head shredded apart into long slashes. Putrid blood ran down its neck. It shuddered, then sagged to the floor.

“Ghouls?” Hui’s eyes lit up, and he climbed back to his feet, careful to only release his hold on his death dantian. Ghouls are the easiest enemies to deal with! I have a great affinity with ghou—

Ahem! This small cultivator is a righteous cultivator! I absolutely do not have any affinity with ghouls! It’s merely a coincidence that I… wear a ghoul’s skin, and have passed as a ghoul for several months, and cultivated a corpse… I…

Hui coughed into his fist. He pressed his lips together, embarrassed. “I… really don’t look much like a righteous cultivator, do I? Ah, but it’s all coincidence, nothing but an unfortunate coincidence!”

Ghouls wandered toward them from all directions, growling low in their throats. Jin Xian darted out. Her claws flashed, and the ghouls fell. Death qi emanated from their fallen bodies. With a flick of his sleeve, Hui held up the snake and absorbed it.

“Is this… the realm? Killing ghouls?” Hui murmured.

The first wave of ghouls fell. Jin Xian stood, completely uninjured, blood dripping down her bared claws. She licked her claws, milky eyes flicking across the wasteland.

Hmm… no, I think I understand this realm. We can only use the power in the snakes… well, I’m using my power through the snake, but it’s the same idea. The snake we pick at the start determines how far we can get, and when it’s used up, it’s used up.

Of course, there’s exceptions! If you’re an exceptionally powerful cultivator with a huge sea of qi, you can power the snake indefinitely. Similarly, if you have a lot of replenishment pills like Bai Xue, the damn silkpants, you can refill the snake from your own power. And I imagine there’s secret techniques as well. After all, a powerful body cultivation technique would allow one to smash through this realm, like how Jin Xian, an independently powerful corpse, can kill these ghouls without exerting qi externally.

He snorted. I doubt anyone’s ever broken the seal on the blood qi lake and absorbed its power for their own before… Ah, oh well! They can’t complain. I only used what I had on hand. If anything, Jin Xian is more of a cheat than my gem!

The earth rumbled. A second wave of ghouls clawed their way through the blackened earth. Hui stomped on one as it climbed out, shattering its skull. It slumped back into the soft ground.

“That was… second realm. Foundation Building. If I had to guess, we’ll probably face two more rounds, third realm, then fourth. Jin Xian will be able to fight until the third realm, and then it’ll be up to me.” Nodding, Hui backed away and sat down to consolidate his realm. Before he closed his eyes, he looked at Jin Xian. “I’m leaving it to you. Protect me!”

Jin Xian let out a guttural grunt and raised her claws.

As Hui focused on cultivation, Zhubi yawned and shifted. He slithered down Hui’s arm and poked his head out from the sleeve.

The shadow snake reared up and stared at him, its tiny body faintly trembling.

Zhubi tilted his head. He leaned out and sniffed at the shadow snake. A strange light appeared in his eyes.

The shadow snake trembled harder. It cowered down, curling into the palm of Hui’s hand, and hissed at Zhubi.

Zhubi wriggled further down Hui’s arm. He nudged the shadow snake curiously.

The shadow snake lashed out at Zhubi. Its fangs bounced off Zhubi’s scales.

Darting back, Zhubi gave the shadow snake an injured look. He hissed admonishingly and turned around to wriggle back up Hui’s arm. Rather than settle under Hui’s sleeve, Zhubi crawled up Hui’s arm and across his chest. With a harrumph, he settled into his familiar spot around Hui’s neck. He lifted an eyelid and looked down on the shadow snake, a superior smirk on his face.

The shadow snake hissed back.

In the distance, Jin Xian burst back and forth. Ghouls shredded to bits of gore under her claws. She whipped out and bit one’s neck, chomping down. Bone shattered, and their neck disintegrated.

One of the ghouls slipped past her and hurtled toward Hui, slavering at the mouth.

Jin Xian whirled. Another ghoul struck her in the back, drawing her black blood. Her brows furrowed, and she threw a hand out. A drop of black blood flew from the cut on her back and burst through the ghoul’s head.

The ghoul staggered forward another few meters, then collapsed, centimeters from Hui’s feet.

Jin Xian glanced at Hui. Black marks and a hint of intelligence swirled in her eyes. When she saw he was still meditating, she turned silently and returned to slaying the ghouls.

In the time it took an incense stick to burn, Jin Xian slayed every ghoul in the area. With a great swipe of her claws, she felled the final one. A few cuts and scrapes marked her body, but she bore no serious injuries.

For a few breaths, the dark plains laid empty. Jin Xian straightened up and stood, still as a doll.

Hui’s eyes opened. His realm wasn’t fully consolidated, but it was steadier than it had been before. He reached out toward Jin Xian, sending a string of death qi to her back.

Jin Xian shuddered, then relaxed. Hui sent his consciousness into her. He sought out the strand of green qi, pouring his death qi into it.

The green qi wriggled. It burst to unlife, sending a thousand threads through Jin Xian’s body. Jin Xian’s eyes glowed as green strings wove their way across her irises. Green strings appeared at her fingertips and lashed at the air.

“Use those. Capture a few ghouls at the third stage!” Hui commanded her.

Jin Xian inclined her head obediently.

Hui retracted his qi and returned to his meditation. Ah, good thing I remembered that before we advanced to the next realm. This is a great chance to discover if Jin Xian can use the puppet technique.

Gray hands pushed through the black earth. Fluctuations at the third realm burst through the air. Jin Xian lowered her stance. The green threads thrummed around her. Green light burst from her eyes, and she launched into battle.