The sword swooped toward Hui’s stomach. Scintillating light spread ahead of it, slashing through Hui’s robes and scoring a line in his flesh.

Burning the first talisman mark, Hui suddenly sped up and fled out of the path of Sect Master Mu’s attack. His body went cold as a hundred years of his longevity left his body, but in return, Sect Master Mu’s sword fell short.

Hui breathed out. Thank goodness I have that life-saving talisman! Otherwise, this small cultivator would be in two right now.

I haven’t finished the regenerative body technique yet! And even if I had… I feel as though a single touch of that sword would exterminate me in body and soul. I can’t risk a hit from someone that many tiers above me!

Sect Master Mu slashed again and again. His blade reached Hui’s body, and slashed through an empty skin. His lip twitched, but rather than react, he stepped forward and cut again. This time, his sword met flesh… and a ghoul sagged over in front of him, leaking dark blood on the floor. Scowling, he made a grasping gesture at Hui. A gravitational force gripped him and dragged him forward, into the path of Sect Master Mu’s sword.

Hui gritted his teeth. Nothing for it! “Second talisman. Petrify flesh!”

Sect Master Mu’s attack stuck halfway in his side, unable to cut him all the way through. His brow furrowed slightly, and a second later, he laughed. “I suppose a tiger should use all its strength even when hunting rabbits.” He drew his sword back. The strange prismatic light pulsed, racing up and down the blade.

Hui staggered back. His qi swirled, in complete disorder, and cracks spread across his entire petrified body. Even… a single attack—

It’s fine! He hasn’t gotten serious yet! Third talisman: Soften flesh!

…I need better names.

His body trembled. Flesh ripped off his midriff, flying into the air as a bloody mist. Hui grabbed his guts and held them in, staggering back. Blood poured down his body. He spat up one mouthful of blood after another, unable to hold back the rushing blood, then fell backward.

Now. Petrify! Freeze the injuries I exaggerated with the softened flesh before they can heal!

His body thumped to the withered floor. Grappling at his qi, Hui forced it to stop running wild and instead quiet down. Clamping it dead, he spat a last mouthful of blood for dramatic effect and laid still on the floor, thoroughly dead.

Sect Master Mu paused, sword still drawn back, ready to strike. Slowly, he stood. “In the end, you were nothing special.”

Yes! Nothing special! Leave this unobtrusive small cultivator alone! Hui cried silently.

Turning, his gaze fell on the remaining righteous cultivators. He sighed. “In the end, we can’t have anyone escape.”

He placed his feet and twisted, holding his sword behind him, all his weight swung backward. Qi gathered around him, bursting out from his body to thrum in his sword. The prismatic light pulsed, sending scintillating rainbows across the battlefield. Sect Master Mu’s eyes flashed with the same light.

Lan Taijian and the other sect representatives spun toward Sect Master Mu, sensing danger. As one, the three raced at Sect Master Mu, each activating their strongest abilities.

Sect Master Mu scoffed. “Three… no. Two blows, and this will be over.”

Rather than reply, Lan Taijian raised his sword. His aura surged to the peak of the fifth realm. Sword qi surged around him, so sharp it cut the air around him. In a breath, sharp slash marks covered the ground at his feet, and silvery glints appeared around him.

The other two representatives unleashed their auras as well, suppressing the battling disciples around them. They burst out, taking on Lan Taijian’s opponent between them.

Eh? Where’d Erlan go? In fact, all of Black Asp Sect… did they leave? Hui wondered, from his place prone on the floor. He wanted to sit up and look around, but refused to break his technique. Not now. I can worry about Erlan once I’m not in danger anymore.

A boom split the sky, louder than thunder. Shockwaves slammed into the fighters below, buffeting the higher-realm cultivators and flattening the lower-realm cultivators. Hui quietly braced himself for the blow, but oddly, the pressure didn’t strike him.

Sect Master Mu stared up, frowning. “Who?”

The other representatives turned as well, eyes wide with shock.

A single figure appeared in the sky above. Long white robes fluttered on the wind, swaying in time with the man’s waist-length hair. He stood atop a sword, and gazed down at them with an impassive expression.

Sect Master Mu scowled. He sliced upward, screaming, “Weiheng Wu!”

A beam of prismatic sword qi flew at the sky. It cut through the air, leaving a void in its wake, tearing apart the very sky. The backlash of its aura bit into Hui and cut a gash in his petrified flesh. This strike was utterly incomparable with any attack Sect Master Mu had made up to this point, an annihilating blow from a high-realm expert at the peak of his power!

Weiheng Wu flicked his sleeve. Reality rippled. The beam deflected aside, tearing past into the sky. His hair swayed gently in the breeze of its passing.

Sect Master Mu gritted his teeth. “Impossible! A mere fifth-stage cultivator—”

Sixth stage, Hui corrected silently, still playing dead. Even as he thought it, a nagging feeling drew at the back of his mind. Internally, he cast a second glance at Weiheng Wu. Unless… don’t tell me, did Master…

“Get up,” Weiheng Wu intoned.

“You dare order me?” Sect Master Mu grit back.

“Weiheng Hui. Get up.”

A laugh escaped Sect Master Mu’s throat. “You’re too late! Your precious disciple is already—”

Hui let out a light cough as he climbed to his feet, deactivating the petrification and activating the soft-flesh technique at the same time. His wound rapidly healed, and he brushed down his robes, then bowed bashfully to Weiheng Wu. “Disciple belatedly greets master.”

Sect Master Mu stared. He staggered back, then laughed. “A… a lowly fourth-stage…”

Hui bowed to him as well, slightly nervous. “Apologies to Senior, but this small cultivator wants to survive.”

Sect Master Mu threw back his head and laughed, a horrible sound. He jabbed his sword at Weiheng Wu. “Every time! You, why are you always on the wrong side? Whenever you’re around, it all goes—”

“Don’t blame your paltry powers of comprehension on me,” Weiheng Wu scoffed. He turned to Hui. “I sensed your aura and a Heavenly Tribulation. You shouldn’t attempt to pass into the fifth stage yet. With your slow comprehension… it might take another twenty years before you qualify.”

Hui bowed low. “Disciple hears and obeys!” Naturally! I don’t intend to face the Heavenly Tribulation until I’m guaranteed to survive! Not everyone has the unstoppable life force of the lotus beast!

“Twenty years? You overestimate him,” Sect Master Mu grumbled.

“With your comprehension… it took you over a century to pass the fifth stage, didn’t it?” Weiheng Wu stated flatly. “Could it be…” he squinted. “Two… no. Three centuries?”

Master! You’re stating the truth in a very provocative way, again! No one else understands that you’re just stating facts, okay? Those are fighting words to everyone else! Hui cried silently.

Sect Master Mu howled and hurtled at Weiheng Wu, drawing his sword back as he flew upward. “Don’t look down on me! I’m a Sect Master. A pitiful Peak Lord like you—”

Weiheng Wu slapped down at Sect Master Mu, his palm descending like lightning. At the same time, lightning flashed out from his palm and smashed into Sect Master Mu’s prismatic sword qi. The two clashed, emanating light too bright for Hui to see through. He lifted a hand to his eyes and squinted, trying to see through it. What’s going on in there? Master… must be having a hard time, right? He’s up against a Sect Master, after all!

--