A spark of white light appeared at the end of the long, dark tunnel. Hui charged for it, reaching out. Come on! Just a little further!

A last rune rose up, larger than all the runes before it. It stood in Hui’s way, solid as a brick wall. Hui stumbled, drawing to a halt. How do I…?

The rune pushed forward, pressing him back. Hui stood his ground, gritting his teeth. I won’t give up now. There has to be a way! There has to be a way through!

Glowing brightly, the rune shook. A thick energy built up on its surface.

Hmm. Energy? Hui considered, then killed his qi, voiding his body of it entirely. He pressed both hands against the rune, then let his qi flow again.

The energy from the rune rushed into Hui. A powerful qi surged through his body, thick in his veins. It flowed into his dantian and filled it almost instantly, too much for Hui to handle. Even then, more qi flowed into him, more than he could handle. It kept coming, unstoppable.

Hui’s veins stood out on his body. His blood vessels burst, and in the real world, blood began to flow from his nose, ears, eyes, and mouth. Shit! This is bad. But if I stop absorbing it, the rune will attack and kill me! I—I…

To us! Give some of that qi to us! Healer shouted.

Hui nodded. That’s right! Right! He reached out to the node inside him and sent the qi flowing into it. Qi surged into each of the clones, but especially into First.

Thank you. Thank you! First called, grateful beyond gratitude.

Qi continued to flow, an overabundance of it. All the Huis filled up, and then some. Abruptly, the rest of them began to bleed as well. Although First continued to absorb qi, he couldn’t absorb enough to offset the rest of them filling up. Hui’s body began to shake again.

Hui’s cultivation rushed upward. It hurried toward the next stage, rushing toward the bottleneck. A block appeared in his mind, a wall he couldn’t hope to break through. Hui frowned. That’s right. My path. I have to comprehend my path before the next step! I have a good idea of what it’s going to be, but I wouldn’t dare claim something like complete comprehension. Then… then… I can’t break through to offset the qi surge!

Then…

Wait! Everyone! Change the qi into death qi and life qi! The conversion rates are terrible, but right now, isn’t that a lifesaver? Mortal shouted, excited. Hurriedly, he introduced a mote of death qi to a section of the overabundant qi. The qi tainted to black, and a tiny amount of death qi appeared, which he guided into his soul’s dantian.

Hui nodded. He began to do the same. The pressure on his qi passages fell off, as did the pressure on his dantian. Ever so slowly, songbirds joined the birds in his dantian, while ducks gathered in his soul’s dantian.

From outside, Ying Lin put a hand on her chin, distracted from her observation of Li Xiang’s battle. Master frowned, then smiled, then his brows wrinkled, he started bleeding from his seven apertures, stopped bleeding, started bleeding again, stopped again, and now he’s smiling while simultaneously exuding a dark and a brilliant aura? What is happening to Master? He seems to have had an entire adventure while standing completely still!

The rune flickered. The thick energy no longer built up on its surface, and instead, it began to fade. It let out a high-pitched whine, almost like a cry for help.

In response, all the other runes resonated and sent energy into the large rune. The Huis shook as even more qi flowed through the rune and into them. Death qi poured into his dantian, and life qi swirled in his dantian. When they grew full, they sent extra qi to First, who greedily absorbed it all.

I think another clone woke up. Ah, maybe two… First commented. Send more qi, more! Even if more clones don’t wake up, I can change it into mental energy and use it to comprehend the soul array!

Mental energy! Hui said, realizing.

That’s right, mental energy! all the Huis cried out excitedly. They converted the extra energy into mental energy, and poured that out to comprehend the runes around them and further freeze up the passage to the large rune.

Ying Lin’s brows furrowed as seven-colored rays appeared around Hui’s head. And now… his head is surrounded by some kind of scintillating aura? Master, what is happening over there?

Hui’s head pounded with mental energy. Life qi whirled in his dantian, and death qi swirled in his soul. His own qi surged through his passages, his entire body burning up. There’s too much. I can’t. I have to—I have to…

Qi gathered in his palm, growing hotter by the second. He lifted his hand, subconsciously pointing it at the battle behind him.

No! Li Xiang is back there! What if I hit her? I can’t break my concentration and open my eyes. I have to fire it somewhere else!

But where? The ceiling? The wall? It’ll shatter my barrier and keep going, right through the wall, and then what’s the point of the barrier at all? All Chen Xigui’s allies can run in! I—

The bolt grew stronger and hotter. His hand shook. Under the force of the heat, his palm and fingers began to soften, like overcooked vegetables.

Can anyone else—

Before he could even finish the thought, negative responses came from all the clones. I’m doing the same, we all are! None of us can afford to take any extra energy! Healer shouted.

Outside, Li Xiang caught sight of the mass of qi in Hui’s hand. She kicked Wang Xiu, knocking her off-balance. “Hui, now!”

Hui’s ear twitched. He fired the bolt with all his strength.

Wang Xiu’s eyes widened. She tried to flip out of the way, but Li Xiang materialized a thousand swords around her, locking her into a box of blades. Wang Xiu slashed out, cutting the box open with a wave of red energy that crashed into the wall like a wave of water, but it took a moment too long. Hui’s beam slammed into Wang Xiu and cut right through her. A fist-sized chunk opened in Wang Xiu’s chest, sizzing. Blood popped as it flowed into the super-heated wound.

Li Xiang ducked the wave of energy and darted in, refusing to let up on Wang Xiu for a second. Suddenly on her back foot, Wang Xiu fell back. With the fist-sized hole in Wang Xiu’s chest, Li Xiang’s excellent swordplay made an absolute difference that no cultivation levels could overcome. In another few moves, Li Xiang had Wang Xiu pinned by the throat.

“End it,” Wang Xiu snarled.

Li Xiang sliced down.

In the runic space, the giant rune rattled where it sat. Breaks appeared on its surface, cutting lines through the golden shape. Hui frowned and drew a little more qi. All of them, all of the Huis, drew the last surge of qi from the rune.

The rune shattered. The barrier on the curtain broke. In nearly the same instant, the light from Ya Ai’s life tablet dimmed.

Dammit. Ya Ai, wait for us! Hui threw open the curtain.