Hopping back up into the trees, Hui surveyed the area. He tapped a finger on his chin, glancing around. Hmm… somewhere there aren’t many people…

Ding Lao isn’t still hanging around, is he? Closing his eyes, Hui circulated his qi to his ears.

“…good job, everyone! What impressive boulders…”

Hui’s eyes flew wide. Time to get out of here! He sprinted through the trees, away from Ding Lao’s voice. I had to check the tablet, but there’s no more reason to stick around here! This small disciple has his own path for body cultivation, and Ding Lao’s simply isn’t fit for me.

…Besides, this small disciple isn’t a fan of pain.

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Ding Lao, you idiot. Do you want to get roped into—”

“Short!”

“Quick!”

“Shut up! Let me say more than two words, dammit!”

The triplets? Shit! Hui jolted. He glanced around, searching for a place to hide.

Leaves rustled behind him. He leaped ahead.

In the same instant, one of the triplets dropped from a branch above him. The other two dropped down after him, scowling. The first triplet slammed into Hui’s back, and the second two punched the first.

The triplet on Hui’s back squirmed. “Hey! There’s no need for that!”

“Breaking!”

“The rules!”

Hui laid under them limply, body pressed against the branch. Maybe if I just lie here, they won’t notice me!

All at once, the triplet on his back stopped squirming. He jumped off and looked at Hui. “Huh? Is this…”

“Eh?”

“He’s dead!”

Hui’s stomach lurched. Uh oh. Smiling, he climbed to his feet. “Good to see you, Elder Brothers.”

“You died,” one of the triplets accused him, frowning.

Hui bowed. “Respectfully, Elder Brothers, this small cultivator is a death cultivator.”

The triplets glanced among one another. One shrugged, while another crossed his arms and nodded. The third put a hand on his chin. “I guess that makes sense.”

It doesn’t make sense at all. Death cultivators can still die, you know? Ah, though, if I was a proper death cultivator, a blow like the one Huang Yan gave me wouldn’t have killed me. In fact, Xi Guanxi cut Jin Xian in half, and it didn’t bother her at all. So… I suppose it’s a fine excuse!

“Be careful.”

“Stay away from Huang Yan.”

The third waved his hand. “She’s practically in seclusion in the depths of the forest. You’re fine.”

Hui nodded. He bowed to the triplets again. “Then, I’ll be off.”

“Where are you going?”

“Taking a stroll?”

“Watch out for Ding Lao.”

Hui laughed. “I’ve learned my lesson. I—”

He stiffened. The triplets froze as well. Wooden footfalls sounded out, rapidly growing closer. A great weight sounded behind the steps, as if the one running ran on their strength, rather than using their cultivation.

“Scatter!”

“Flee!”

“Shit, I don’t want to get caught again! Getting caught by Ding Lao is worse than getting thrown into the torture chambers!”

Hui and the triplets sprinted off in four different directions.

A breath after they scattered, the branch they’d stood on shuddered. When the shuddering halted, Ding Lao stood atop the tree. He looked around, frowning. “I smell two cultivators, but their smells diverge into four directions. Could it be… a clone art? Or maybe the Gao triplets.”

Ding Lao’s eyes glittered. A grin spread across his face. “This… a challenge! Sometimes, it isn’t bad to play a game as exercise. Even games can cultivate one’s body!

“Hmm, but chasing them alone would be too boring. I should give them an advantage. Something to make this enjoyable for all of us!”

He cleared his throat and hauled back, taking a deep breath. “FELLOW CULTIVATORS! I’m going to seal my senses and give you ten breaths to flee as far as you can! After that… prepare yourselves!”

Hui shivered. True fear shone in his eyes. No! I just escaped. I won’t get dragged back to that hellhole!

Back to the palace? Can I get there in ten breaths? Almost certainly not! Not while I can’t fly on a sword yet. Underground? It’d slow me down, and he found me last time, anyways!

No, no, I’m thinking about this wrong. All I need to do is get him to chase the triplets before he goes after me, so I can sprint off to the palace as he runs the opposite direction. The palace is base! He can’t do anything to me here! I need to survive the first few moments, but after that, I’m golden. In other words, I need to make it just a little harder to chase me than the triplets. I need to hide! Obscure myself!

Think. Where can I hide?

The tablet! It’ll obscure my aura.

Hui turned on his heel and shot down toward the ground, descending almost directly. As he did so, he freed Jin Xian from his storage ring and passed some of his aura to her. She sped off while he descended, quickly becoming a shadow as she rushed off. When he reached the tablet, Hui buried himself a few inches under the dirt, then circulated his death qi, matching the aura of the tablet. Closing his eyes, he focused his attention on his third eye. From under the earth, he could only see energies and qi pulses with his third eye, but it was enough.

A green beam stood atop the branch he’d vacated moments ago, roiling with raw vitality. That must be Ding Lao. I’m directly beneath him, but—after all, who checks immediately behind them in tag? It’s the perfect hiding spot!

The green aura surged even brighter. Hui stifled his heartbeat and breathing and fell still.

Ding Lao chuckled aloud. “Oh? I see you!”

Hui held completely still, petrified. My perfect plan… no!

“How foolish. Did you really think I couldn’t see through it?”

Please forgive this small cultivator for daring to hope—!

With a laugh, Ding Lao hurtled off into the forest, chasing into the distance.

Hui let out his breath. He waited another few seconds, then burst out of the ground and charged off. To the palace! Before Ding Lao catches up with me!

He got a meter into the air before he toppled back to earth, yanked down by his ankle. Hui turned.

A root, tipped in a strange, almost child-like hand, wrapped around his ankle. The root emanated intense vitality, but its hand emanated none at all. An empty void, it drew at the entire world around it. Where the hand latched around him, no sensation escaped, not even numbness. From the hand, cold coursed up his leg, and his leg withered up under the root.

Eyes wide, Hui drew his sword and slashed through the root. It writhed wildly, leaking clear fluid. Hui kicked the root off his leg and hopped for the nearest branch, propelled on one leg. As he leaped, he circulated a songbird from his dantian toward his leg. Gold qi coursed through his veins, wiping away the wrinkles, but slowly. The cold persisted, alongside an uncomfortable weakness.

Dangerous! That root is beyond dangerous. If I had to battle off that root and qi seeds at the same time, I don’t know if I could survive. Add in the Lotus Pill blossom… this Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect is armed to the gills!

Hui paused on the branch. He pressed a hand against the tree and reached out to the life qi deep in the tree. The life qi rushed to his hand, leaving the tree aged and ancient behind it. More life qi collected in him than from a usual tree, but not enough to replace the life qi he’d used.

How many trees would I have to absorb to replace a single songbird? The whole forest? Compared to the forest, the qi seeds…

Hui’s eyes widened. Have I been going about this all wrong? All this time, I’ve thought I’d warn the Starbound Sect cultivators. Instead, why don’t I simply dismantle the traps before they launch?

He descended toward the tablet again. This time, he sat down in the lotus pose and focused his energy on the tablet. The false sensation of enlightenment rushed up at him, but he easily dismissed it this time. Death qi to repress life qi. If I absorb the death qi, can I also absorb the life qi?

He lifted a hand and placed it on the tablet. The death qi sat stagnant before him. He circulated his breath, drawing in the death qi. It refused to budge, stuck deep in the tablet.

Hui frowned. He repressed his qi, then released it, letting the qi around him surge toward him. Even so, the death qi stood motionless.

It’s the repressive aura. That must be it! The death qi is repressing the life qi, but it’s also repressing itself. To break through… He flicked a finger. A golden songbird materialized and fluttered toward the death qi. Another flick. A black duck zoomed from his finger and chased after the songbird. The two hit at the same time and sunk into the tablet.

The life qi activated the death qi’s repression. The death qi moved to repress it. Before it could fully activate, Hui snapped his fingers. The songbird detonated, obliterating the death qi around it. Death qi instantly flowed back in, closing the gap.

If only I had enough life qi, I could brute-force my way through the tablet. Since I’m running low… this is my only hope! He slashed his finger to the side.

Before the tablet’s death qi could completely replenish itself, the duck’s death qi replaced the death qi where the songbird had detonated. The tablet’s death qi surged back and melded into the duck’s death qi, assimilating it.

Now. The critical moment! Hui’s eyes flashed. He jabbed his finger at the tablet.

The duck’s death qi responded to his motion.

Yes! I don’t have full control, but I have some control. Enough to break through where the tablet’s death qi is already weakened! He frowned and closed his eyes again, focusing all his attention on the death qi. One centimeter at a time, he guided it to where the gash cut the tablet in two. There, the death qi’s repressive force weakened. Using the duck’s death qi as a wedge, he drove deep into the gash. Deeper, deeper.

Cold. Unnatural, icy cold.

Here we go! Hui jumped up and stood atop where the duck laid under the tablet’s surface. He slammed his palm down on the break. The break jostled, and the duck’s qi surged from the tablet’s surface to its underside, creating a tunnel. Another palm-strike. The duck qi spread outward, opening a hole in the center directly to the roots beneath. Hui pressed his hand to the tunnel’s upper entrance and drew in the qi beneath.

Icy cold met his hand. It withered, rapidly weakening.

Hui furrowed his brows. The life qi. Where’s the life qi? It has to be here! Just a little more!

Ignoring the pain, he pushed further. The withering spread up his arm, to his elbow. Coldness surged higher, to his shoulder. It bit at his shoulder joint like icy needles jabbing into the bone. He gritted his teeth. Come on. Life qi! To me!

Warmth. The slightest hint of warmth. A gold ember passed through his palm.

He pushed harder. More! All of it!

Life qi poured through the gap into his palm. It surged up his arm and into his dantian. His arm healed as it passed, gold sparking over his skin. Hui breathed evenly and drew it in, more, more. Come to me, life qi! I’ve got a nice home for you in my dantian!

“Two down. Two to go!” Ding Lao’s voice echoed from the distance.

Hui jolted. The tunnel trembled under him, and the life qi dropped to a single thread. Quickly, he focused back on the qi and continued to draw it to him. Hurry, hurry! I don’t want to get thrown back into muscle hell!