Now that he was on the peak, under Mount Mu, Hui couldn’t help but look up. Mount Mu’s impressive understructure spread out above him, the roots twisting through the air in a mirror image of the branches above. The very tip of the taproot dangled slightly to the side of the old hut, barely any larger or wider than the slender roots of a dandelion by the tie he could reach it. He lifted his hand and placed it on the taproot. Life qi pulsed under his palm, powerful even in this distant reach of the tree.

It kind of feels like I’m looking up someone’s skirt, Hui thought to himself. A second later, he slapped his own face. Bai Xue, how dare you taint my thoughts! If it wasn’t for Bai Xue, I’d be a good and pure disciple, without any strange and lascivious thoughts!

Mmm, well… I did come over from a different world, after all, with different moral standards. I probably still wouldn’t be a good and pure disciple from this world’s standpoint, no matter what I did.

Settling into a lotus pose, Hui began to circulate his qi, slowly absorbing the qi and life qi around him. As he cultivated, he let his mind run.

I still have to restock my talismans. Oh, and that barrier technique, a one-way passthrough barrier… One that lets everything in but nothing out, or nothing in and everything out. There’s situations where both could be useful, so I’ll make both! For example, if I need to put a barrier over my poor dead body, but still fire off attacks, the second will be better for that, or if I need to trap dangerous disciples or… hmm, the first could even be used as a kind of net to absorb all kinds of attacks and hold them outside of their owner’s reach! Imagine if someone threw a sword at me, and I trapped their sword in a barrier where it could enter, but not exit. I’d have disarmed them in a moment! Excellent, excellent. Barrier techniques are the best!

Of course, I also need a stronger barrier formula. Mine is already fading, and I’m only at the fourth tier. When I face the fifth tier’s Heavenly Tribulation, I need a barrier that’s strong enough to hold it back!

Actually… Xixing gave me those pills, which I cultivated to figure out my body cultivation technique, but Bai Xue also promised me new talisman formulae. I wonder if this small disciple could be so bold as to make a request?

But how do I contact Bai Xue?

Hui put a hand on his chin, momentarily pausing his cultivation. After a second, he waved his hand. After I’m done catching up on everything, I’ll stop by Starbound Peak. They’re sure to know, if anyone does.

Mmm… should I use my snakeskin and go in disguise? After all, I don’t want the All-Heavens Sect cultivators or the Starbound Peak cultivators to recognize me. What are the downsides? It’s technically a technique from a demonic sect, but it’s an ancient technique directly from the snake ancestor, and doesn’t use any nefarious energy to run. As far as any of the cultivators around me will know, I simply look… however I decide to look with the snakeskin! The chances anyone recognizes the technique, or recognizes it as a demonic technique, are miniscule.

Ah, it’s decided. I’ll go in disguise!

Hui started to hop to his feet, but then settled again. First, cultivation and restocking my talismans. After all, I want to be in top shape if I end up facing one of those All-Heavens disciples!

Days passed. One songbird after another appeared in Hui’s dantian at an even pace. Even directly siphoning Mount Mu’s life qi as he was, Mount Mu itself stood strong, careless of his actions. From time to time, Hui gazed up at it with awe and gratitude in his eyes. I’m merely a worm, gnawing its roots. Mount Mu is so full of qi and power that it hasn’t even registered my existence, even now!

Though, if I cut a bit of its bark… Ah, there’s no need, no need. I’ll let it sleep and quietly express my gratitude by draining its life qi.

At last, his dantian filled. He could sense a barrier in front of him, a blockade that he had to burst through to go higher. Rather than fight against it, Hui simply repressed his qi, condensing his stocks to much lower than that level. I don’t need to tease Senior Heavenly Tribulation. I’ll meekly hide in the realms of a fourth-tier cultivator until I’m ready to comprehend my own Dao, and more importantly, ready to face that terrifying, deadly tribulation!

Hui opened his eyes and stretched, yawning. He rifled through his storage ring, coming up with the fine talisman paper and ink Bai Xue’s father had gifted him. I might as well use this now. I can always make more paper later.

So decided, he spread out the paper before him and began to copy talismans.

Time flew by. His brush sped over the paper. Whenever he ran out of qi, he cultivated quietly under the root of Mount Mu until he recovered, then started again. A month passed, then two. At last, he flicked his sleeve, gathering up his talismans.

I need new formulae. Many of these talismans are limited by their formulae, and can go no higher. The fire talisman, the barrier talisman… the wood talisman in particular! I’ll have to ask Bai Xue for more talismans.

Hmm, and I wonder if our Starbound Peak has any talisman formulae? It’s time to go out and discover!

He paused on the last stack of talismans. This stack was the smallest of all; only three talismans bore this formula. However, the three talismans radiated more killing intent and raw qi than the rest of the talismans combined.

A pile of ruined talismans laid nearby, crumpled and stained with ink. He cast a glance in their direction.

Zhu Diyu’s technique. The higher my cultivation, the more difficult it becomes to successfully copy this formula. As the technique becomes more powerful, the difficulty of creating the talisman increases exponentially. Even at fourth level, I’m unable to unleash its full might. But with talismans imbued with fourth tier qi from the start, I can activate it more strongly than I ever did before. These three can be considered my trumps!

He tucked them into his storage ring and sighed, climbing to his feet and stretching.

“Oh, are you done?” a female voice asked.

Hui jumped and looked around him, startled. A woman? On Master’s mountain? One that I didn’t let in myself? This—impossible!

A girl in short pink and green robes sat atop the small hut, one leg out straight before her, the other curled to her chest. She wore her hair in neat small buns to either side of her head with neat bangs, and when she smiled, she showed her incisors. Somewhat small, with a lithe build and small breasts, she burst with energy even sitting still, like a cat coiled to pounce.

She jumped to her feet as she saw Hui’s gaze and leaped down beside him. “I came by earlier, but you were so deep in your cultivation that you didn’t hear me. You were so devoted to your talisman-making that I decided to sit and watch for a while, rather than interrupt you.”

“Ah. You, er, how did you get on Master’s mountain peak?” Hui asked, still taken aback.

She tilted her head, then reached into her robes and drew out a jade seal. “Sect Master Lan gave all of us All-Heavens Sect disciples all-access command talismans, so we can go wherever we please. Isn’t it the same with you?”

Eh? They’ve given greater privileges than the average Starbound Sect cultivator? Usually, the peaks are sealed off to only the disciples that belong to them, unless you’re an inheriting disciple like myself! I suppose they are guests, but even so…

“How can I help you, Elder Sister?” Hui asked, gathering himself. He brushed down his robes and smiled at her, quickly brushing away the remains of his talisman creation into his storage ring.

“Ah! You don’t need to call me Elder Sister. You can call me Tang Fei’er. I’m the cutest disciple in All-Heavens Sect, okay? Everyone calls me Fei’er, because I’m just too cute!” She smiled and posed cutely, putting her clasped hands against the side of her face.

“You can call this small cultivator Xiao Hui, if it pleases you,” Hui said, bowing.

“But your Daoist name is Weiheng Hui, yes?” Tang Fei’er asked, playing with a loose strand of hair. She flicked her eyes toward him, darting a coy glance. To anyone else, it would have looked adorable, but Hui sensed the killing intent in her eyes, however well hidden.

Hui hesitated, then inclined his head.

“I’ve heard you cultivated to fourth realm in less than twenty years. Is that true?”

Hui hesitated again. He bit his lip, then slowly nodded. “Ah, but—but it was mostly coincidence and good fortune. I don’t think there’s any need to consider this small cultivator someone noteworthy.”

“Even if it’s coincidence and good fortune, it still makes you a genius in your own right!” she declared.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Hui said, shaking his head adamantly.

“Weiheng Hui, as the most powerful cultivator of your generation at Starbound Sect, I, Tang Fei’er, the most powerful, most cutest cultivator of my generation, challenge you to a fight!” she said, slapping her chest.

“Er… Elder Sister, you must have made a mistake. The strongest cultivator of my generation is Li Xiang, no?” Hui said, backing away and shaking his head.

Tang Fei’er frowned. “She’s a genius sword cultivator, that’s true, but it took her almost a hundred years to reach fourth realm. Even a blind man could see the true genius here.”

“No, no. She’s much stronger than myself. If you want a fight, fight her!” Hui insisted.

“I’ll fight her, but I want to start with number one! Weiheng Hui!” Tang Fei’er declared, jabbing his chest with her forefinger.

“That’s what I’m saying, Elder Sister. I’m hardly number one. I don’t rank amongst the most powerful disciples of Starbound Sect, even in my generation,” Hui said, putting his hands up.

“I don’t believe that!” Tang Fei’er leaped at him, throwing a punch at his head.

Hui leaped back. A barrier talisman flickered into his hand, and he threw it out before him. Tang Fei’er’s fist slammed into the barrier and shattered it. In that moment, Hui threw himself a hundred feet backward, coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, and slammed into a tree. He tipped his head back and killed his qi.

There! See? I’m not powerful at all. You can’t say I’m the number one!

Tang Fei’er’s eyes flashed. She leaped toward his prone form, raising her fist again.

Qi flashed through his body as Hui activated his crystallization technique and snakeskin technique in the same moment, disguising the crystalized form’s flat planes and sharp edges with the snakeskin. His crystalized form had advanced in the last battle, no longer as jarringly square and sharp-edged, but it still lacked the softness of the human form. The snakeskin filled in the gaps and made up for it.

Tang Fei’er hammered his crystal body with blow after blow. Cracks formed in the crystal, but Hui felt little pain thanks to the crystal technique. He quieted his qi and laid there limply, refusing to fight back or show the slightest sign of life.

At last, Tang Fei’er stepped back. She looked at her fist, then at Hui, then frowned. “Surely that’s not all there is to Starbound Sect’s number one in his generation…?”

Elder Sister, I keep telling you, you’ve got it all wrong! I’m not anyone’s number one in any generation, okay? I’m just a small cultivator who wants to live in peace.