Hui charged ahead, riding Gu Tian’s sword. He glanced back. A dozen fourth-stage or lower cultivators chased him, though those below the fourth stage rapidly fell behind. In the distance, three beams of light quickly caught up with him. One moved more quickly than the other two, and in no time, he made out Gui Delun’s disapproving but expressionless face.

Shit. What stage is he? Probably the seventh stage, at least. I can’t fight that on even footing. How do I get away?

Hui took a deep breath. No. It’s impossible to openly run like this. He’s done pretending this is a fair fight. He’ll kill me as soon as he reaches me. Instead of focusing on running, I need to figure out a way to die convincingly to his opening blow.

He might still hold back some of his power subconsciously with his first blow. That’s my only hope. I die to that… but what if he decides to dismember me, take my head, turn me to ash? I’ve pissed him off, and in the first place, he attempted to exterminate the entire sect in body and soul. It’s unlikely he’ll leave it at killing me. He’ll probably go for a sure kill extermination instead.

How do I survive that? The only way to succeed is to not get hit with it.

Hui took a deep breath. Okay. Think. Think. I have Jin Xian. Fang Hua is probably sleeping, so I can only count on the jiangshi half of her. The lotus beast… ran off somewhere, if she isn’t stuck in the soul transferal formation like everyone else. I still have my own lotus clone, though. The red soul. The sea of blood qi. The treasures I took from Chen Wuya’s realm… but I don’t know what any of them do, and it’s too late to figure it out now. Talismans…

I left Mount Mu in the sect, dammit, but… Hui glanced over his shoulder at Starbound Sect’s peaks, rapidly diminishing into the distance. Master’s Unrivaled Under Heaven Peak, and the newly-adjusted barrier…

Ah, holing up on Master’s mountain is no good. Even if the barrier is strong enough to keep out anyone weaker than Master, I’d cause a stalemate where I wouldn’t be able to do anything, and all All-Heavens Sect would lose in the bargain would be a single fifth-stage or late-game fourth-stage cultivator to keep watch over me. In that situation, where All-Heavens Sect could endlessly monitor me and put who-knows what kind of restrictions and barriers up around the mountain, I’d be unable to revive anyone from Starbound Sect for hundreds of years, if ever.

The only way to succeed…

Hui blinked as he remembered something. Gui Delun didn’t deeply examine the sect because he thought I killed the entire sect with the soul transferal. He can be fooled. He isn’t infallible!

Hui’s eyes flashed. There’s a way. A single route out of this situation. There’s no guarantee. If anything goes wrong, I’m dead, and so is Starbound Sect.

But if I don’t try, we’re all dead anyways!

Gui Delun rapidly closed in on Hui. Hui took a deep breath. He shed his skin and pasted it on Jin Xian as he drew her out of his storage ring. At the same time, he threw out a dozen illusion talismans, and drew all the talismans he’d made of the strongest attack he had, the one Zhu Diyu, the reaper’s boss, Lord of the Underworld, had passed on to him. He lifted his feet, and the sword under his boots vanished, replaced a moment later by an illusion of a sword. Disregarding it, he flew on, while illusions of himself and Jin Xian both flew in all directions. Hui himself veered off to the left, while Jin Xian took his place and flew straight on.

The fourth-stage cultivators hesitated, but the beams of light that represented the higher-realm cultivators didn’t. One of them charged after Jin Xian, one of them reached the place Hui had split and stopped, and Gui Delun, the fastest of all, swooped after Hui.

Hui grit his teeth. He layered barrier talismans over his body and swapped to his crystal form, preparing for the blow. His hands flurried with motion, still busy. I have to survive. I only have to survive. That’s my only goal!

Gui Delun pulled his fist back.

In the distance, the ancient-looking man who’d stopped where Hui had split harrumphed and clapped once. Sound waves burst through the air, and every illusion talisman they hit blew out. In the space of a breath, all the illusions shattered.

Beyond him, a woman with curly hair reached Jin Xian. Her hair darted out, piercing through Jin Xian. Jin Xian tensed, then toppled out of the air and fell to the ground rather than fight back.

Good, good. Play dead. We don't need to kill them, just survive!

Hui’s face went blank. Abruptly, he frowned down at the ground, then stared back up at Gui Delun, eyes wide.

Gui Delun’s fist hurtled at Hui. Waves of pressure rolled off the fist and slammed into him first. The pressure alone shattered Hui’s barriers. He fell back, but raised the powerful talismans and fired them at Gui Delun. The air vibrated between them, and voids opened up, but Gui Delun’s fist pierced through them all. His fist pierced Hui’s body.

Hui’s body shattered. Pieces flew off in all directions. A soul escaped, flying up toward the sky.

“As I suspected. You have a method to cultivate your soul and escape your body before the sixth realm.” Gui Delun scoffed and drew his fist back again. “It isn’t enough. Soul Extermination Fist!”

He punched again. This time, gold light shone around his fist. The soul flew away, but not fast enough. The punch blew a hole in the soul, and the gold light tore it to pieces. The soul managed a last scream before it faded away in the sun.

Shu Mang arrived at Gui Delun’s side, and a second later, Chao Changguang joined them. “That’s the last of them?”

Gui Delun snorted. He twisted his lips. “I smashed the soul transferal formation. I didn’t manage to destroy everyone’s soul the way I wanted, but even if those filthy demonic cultivators had a way to come back using that, they shouldn’t be able to use it anymore.”

“Isn’t that enough? A trifling sect like this…” Shu Mang said, waving his hand.

“Starbound Sect was once a power on the same level as our All-Heavens Sect. We can’t neglect the danger they pose,” Gui Delun stated.

“Is that why you decided to target them? Because they might be able to challenge your All-Heavens Sect one day?” Chao Changguang asked.

“A tiger hunts a rabbit with his full strength. Moreso if that rabbit might one day become a dragon,” Gui Delun stated, turning to face Starbound Sect.

“Do rabbits leap over the Dragon Gate, too?” Shu Mang muttered to Chao Changguang.

“He’s mixing up his metaphors again,” Chao Changguang muttered back.

“In any case, mind your tongues. All-Heavens Sect isn’t mine yet,” Gui Delun said.

“Of course, of course,” Shu Mang said, smiling ingratiatingly.

Gui Delun tucked his hands behind him and gazed to the horizon. “We’ve let these lesser sects run wild for too long. It’s time to bring them to heel. Remind them who their better is. And when it comes to sending a message… we might as well start with the strongest of the lesser sects. Now that we’ve sent a clear message about Starbound Sect… who will dare to challenge All-Heavens Sect?”

“And of course, that goes double for any other faction that dares to challenge you,” Chao Changguang said, smirking.

“Naturally. Isn’t it convenient we had a demonic sect to punish?” Gui Delun said. He smiled, just for a moment.

A shiver ran down Chao Changguang’s spine, and she froze. Shit, that expression…

Beside her, Shu Mang smiled back, oblivious. “Shall we return to the sect?”

Gui Delun’s face returned to its usual neutral expression. Flicking his sleeve, he flew off.

Hours passed. Days. Weeks. Rain poured down, collecting on the earth in puddles.

A green bud pushed through the soft earth. More time passed. Weeks turned into months. Summer came, hot and sweltering, and with it, the summer rains. The bud grew, and finally blossomed. A lotus grew in the middle of the field. It wilted. A single seed fell out of its pod and struck the ground.

The seed trembled. At last, the pod cracked open, and a tiny green hand reached out.

Hui took a deep breath, shoving his way out of the seed pod. Losing contact with all my life qi was more of a blow than I thought it would be. But at least… it worked!

He beamed. I survived!