“When you arrived?” the guard repeated, slack-jawed.

“What’s going on?” The second guard stepped out of the forest. He, too, stared at the sight of the ruined garden.

Hui gave them a bashful smile. “I don’t know what happened. I was just as startled as the two of you. This whole time, I’ve been standing here, staring at the garden. Can you believe it? I wonder what happened!”

The first guard furrowed his brows. “You aren’t the Gao Trio.”

Hui jumped. Oh, shit! Abruptly, he twitched his fingers. The two disguised ghouls jumped up beside him. Hui lifted a sleeve over his mouth and threw his voice.

“Haha, what are you saying?”

“Elder Brother, don’t be ridiculous.”

The first guard drew his sword. “You’re the one who’s being ridiculous. Undo what you did to the garden this instant, or perish.”

Hui silently circulated his qi, checking his internal state. Another five minutes before I run out of blood. Wordlessly, he raised his hands in a fighting stance. The two ghouls stepped up on either side of him, both of them baring fangs and claws.

Even as he took a fighting stance, Hui snuck a talisman from his ring and hid it in his palm.

The second guard drew his sword as well. The two guards charged at Hui from either side, perfectly in sync.

Hui threw the talisman on the ground and jumped back. The two ghouls charged in, leaping in front of the guards. Swords clashed against the ghouls’ claws. The ghouls sparred the guards back and forth, but quickly lost ground. Despite being powerful ghouls, they weren’t a match for the swordsmen. Seeing that, Hui threw out his hand and activated the talisman. Slippery ice spread under the sparring duos’ feet. The swordsmen fell to the floor, and the ghouls tackled them, biting and clawing.

Sword qi flashed, sharp enough to cut the air. Hui jumped back. A thin scratch appeared on his arm, but the sword qi didn’t bite through the crystal.

He raised his eyebrows. Not bad! Instantly, I became this tough. Truly, transmuting the body is far superior to exercising! Apologies, Elder Brother Ding Lao, but this small cultivator is more suited for the magical route than the physical.

The two ghouls fell, cut in half. The swordsmen leaped up, racing at Hui.

Hui flicked his hand, drawing the ghouls toward the swordsmen. Their bodies twitched and lifted off the ground, slamming into the swordsmen from behind. They grabbed onto the swordsmen around the waist.

“Wh…what? Ghouls?”

“He’s a demonic cultivator!”

Flashing a pair of talismans, Hui threw them at the swordsmen. Ice flew towards them. One grabbed the ghoul off his waist and tossed him at the ice, blocking Hui’s attack. The other sliced twice, severing the talisman before it fully activated. The ice attack died in midair, qi leaking from the severed talisman. Eyes flashing, they charged at him, slashing as one. Two waves of sword qi merged and became one powerful beam of sword qi.

Hui retreated, darting back into the loam. He threw out a dozen barrier talismans, nesting barriers inside barriers. The sword qi pierced through one, two, ten of the barriers before it finally stopped, the very tip piercing the eleventh barrier. The eleventh barrier fractured and faded away in the next instant, leaving a single barrier around Hui.

Hui called out to Jin Xian, summoning her to him. She raced toward him, but her qi remained far in the distance, out of reach. She won’t be here for a while yet, dammit! Argh, I shouldn’t have sent her off so easily!

The two swordsmen leaped at him once again.

Hui’s eyes flashed. He gestured upward.

Ducks blasted out of the ground surrounding the swordsmen. Crying out, the two fell back, stumbling back as ducks knocked into them from all sides. Fat black bodies eclipsed their vision entirely. When their vision cleared, the third Gao triplet stood before them stiffly.

The first swordsman charged. The second hung back, somewhat concerned. “Wait, there’s something—”

The sword passed through the triplet’s body with almost no resistance. Sheds of skin rained down.

The first swordsman stared around. “Where’d he go?”

The second peered at the sky, shading his eyes with his hand. He pointed at a distant black blur leaping between the trees. “Over there!”

Throwing his sword ahead of him, the first swordsman leaped atop it and took to the air. The second swordsman followed him a moment later, and the two swooped after the blur.

Hui glanced over his shoulder. Two cultivators flying on swords popped up between the branches, hurtling after him. He scowled. Dammit, stop chasing me! Leave this small cultivator alone! I only absorbed a little life qi, don’t be so stingy!

Gesturing, he cancelled the crystallization technique and bounded off. The second the technique ended, his knees buckled, and his head swirled. Hui slumped forward, almost falling off the branch. He summoned a pill from his storage ring and gulped it down before leaping onward. In a few steps, his head cleared.

Guess blood loss still hits a cultivator like anything else. Or… did I just burn that much blood?

I feel lighter now. More flexible. Crystallization isn’t without its downsides!

The swordsmen rapidly zoomed up behind him. In the space of a few steps, they’d almost caught up. Hui gritted his teeth, then drew his sword. He grabbed the handle tight, pointed the blade down, and pushed qi through it. The blade burst into the air, dragging Hui after it. He squinted against the wind. Leaves and branches battered his body. He burst out into the sky above.

The sun beamed down. Wind stirred his hair. Hui blinked, unused to the sun after so long in the twilight of the forest. The glittering palaces atop the trees’ canopies beamed in the sunlight, so much closer now than ever before.

Hui took a deep breath. Beautiful.

In the distance, a formation of flying cultivators swooped toward the forest on swords. Hui turned slowly. From the east, a loose conglomeration of cultivators rode beasts of all shapes and sizes. A treasure ship approached from the south, glistening cultivators standing proud at its prow.

The Southern Sect Conference!

Instantly, Hui slapped his forehead, releasing the ghoul skin and collecting it back into his storage ring. He pointed his sword at an angle and blasted off toward the formation of flying cultivators. At a guess, the Southern Sect Conference is made up of the same sects who came to our fighting tournament. If so, then… the beasts are Azure Fang. The treasure ship is likely Silk Heart. Which means the sword cultivators… are Starbound Sect!

Behind him, the two swordfighters burst through the forest’s canopy and into the sunlight.

“Disguise yourself all you want, demonic cultivator! We’ll cut you down!”

“How dare you destroy our garden? As a guest, no less! I knew we never should’ve allowed that demonic scum in!”

Ignoring them, Hui hurtled toward the Starbound Sect cultivators. As he flew, he searched the crowd, trying to pick out the leader. Please be there, Master! If it’s anyone else, please not Lan Taijian!

From amidst the cloud of white-robed cultivators, one frowned directly at Hui. Fierce eyebrows furrowed. Long black hair fluttered on the wind. Lan Taijian crossed his arms and squinted in Hui’s direction, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

No! Why, Heavens! Hui bemoaned silently. Still, he surged toward the sect. Even if Lan Taijian doesn’t like me, surely he won’t watch on silently as a foreign sect attacks a Starbound disciple!

…Well, he might. But hopefully someone in the crowd will come to my aid!

He began to fall as the burst of qi faded from his sword. Hui pushed more in and soared toward the white-robed cultivators again.

Behind him, the two swordsman surged. One waved his hand, sending out a green bell. He rang it once, sending waves of green energy out over the forest. The other poured all his energy into his sword and sped toward Hui’s back at top speed.

Hui threw out a pair of barrier talismans. One flew toward the bell, and the other flew at the swordsman. The swordsman slashed, cutting the talisman in half before it could activate. The other burst into a gold bubble, but the first wave of green energy smashed it to splinters.

Hui’s scalp prickled in fear. I need more powerful talismans! Dammit, this small cultivator’s talisman formulae are too weak! Ah, why is it always so hard for this small cultivator to cultivate in peace? It’s like the world is conspiring against my peace and quiet!

I… could have… maybe, spent a few more minutes cultivating before I went to deal with the traps… but! But, that’s just—ah, I’m too concerned about my precious sect brothers and sisters to leave such dangerous traps armed!

He drew a deep breath and reached out toward the Starbound Sect contingent. “Elder Brothers! Help! This poor Starbound Sect disciple is about to die!”

The green waves from the bell reached him before the swordsman did. It slammed into his back and threw him forward. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Hui went limp and killed his cultivation. His sword fell, and he plummeted toward the Starbound Sect cultivators. Catch me, my sect! Surely everyone won’t abandon a pitiful, small junior like me?