Shaking his head, Hui focused on the array. He drew closer, reaching out his qi to connect to it. Unlike Fu Liyu’s array, the one in Bai Xue trembled, unstable. Holes opened in the array, only to close up the next moment, and bits of the spell collapsed into runes at the edges, bleeding out into Bai Xue’s qi. Even as the spell deteriorated, it desperately healed itself, but it was obvious it could only hold on for so long. It can’t handle the power of Bai Xue’s great circle fourth-stage cultivation. It was only meant to deal with the power of a second, or maybe third stage cultivator. If I was infected by this array at the fifth stage, it would probably directly collapse.

But… how did they infect Bai Xue?

He searched deeper, pouring all his focus into the spell. The delicate spell began to evaporate under the dual assault of Bai Xue’s energy and Hui’s focus, and he carefully retreated, allowing it to reform for a moment before continuing. It’s fortunate for me that it’s such a vivacious array, but the extent to which it self-heals is concerning. Though… at the same time, it bodes well for the soul array I have, if that’s common for soul arrays. I don’t want that array to fall apart before the promised ten years.

The array suddenly grew stronger. Hui opened his eyes, startled. Bai Xue looked back at him, equally startled, wine cup held to her lips. “Huh?”

Hui frowned at her. “You’re drinking while I…” Wait. The array refreshed when she drank it. Is the spell somehow mixed into the liquor? He reached out and snatched the cup from Bai Xue’s hands.

“I poured a cup for you, you know,” Bai Xue said, bemused.

Ignoring her, Hui sent a strand of his qi into the wine at the same time as he watched the array. The wine stirred gently, the spirit aura in its depths brought to the front by Hui’s qi. It’s spirit wine, but… I’m still not seeing…

No, no, come on, Hui! Array, come out!

The wine’s spiritual essence stirred, and a single rune appeared in the depths of the cup. The array shone at the same time, and a rune-shaped hole opened in its ragged edge, waiting for the wine’s rune to fill it.

Bai Xue blinked. “What is that?”

“There’s an array inside you. The wine is refreshing it… I suspect it collects inside you when you drink the wine,” Hui explained.

Ying Lin glanced at a cup sitting on the table and swallowed. Good thing I copied Master and didn’t drink it!

“Should I dispel it?” Bai Xue asked. Inside her dantian, her qi suddenly surged, searching. With the array called up by Hui’s qi, she easily found the array and quickly isolated it with her qi.

Hui furrowed his brows. “I… Bai Xue, if you’d be willing… could I study the array inside you and attempt to alter it? I’m… researching… soul-based arrays, and I…”

“Hmm, I’m willing. You’ll have to tell me more about your research later. Perhaps I could help,” Bai Xue offered.

Hui hesitated. “Bai Xue, I’m a wanted man. You…”

Bai Xue waved her hand. “If we bow to All-Heavens’ every whim, we might as well be a tributary clan. Bai Clan has maintained its role as a neutral clan for longer than any other clan. We won’t bow and scrape to every tyrant clan that comes along and decides to suppress the region.”

“Has this happened before?” Hui asked.

“Has a sect attempted to conquer the region? Only every other century,” Bai Xue said lightly.

Hui’s brows furrowed. Actually, that’s a good point. If sects attempt to conquer the region all the time, and All-Heavens Sect has existed for so long, then… “All-Heavens Sect… I didn’t get the impression that it was a new sect. Or a newly large sect. Why is it attempting to conquer the region now?”

Bai Xue leaned in conspiratorially. “All-Heavens Sect has been ruled by its Patriarch since its founding. However, I heard the Patriarch recently—that is, about a century ago, hit a snag in his cultivation. He suffered a deep injury and had to retreat into sequestered cultivation in order to recover himself. Since then, the Peak Lords have been running rampant, doing whatever they like. A few years back, the Patriarch briefly woke. Disliking the chaos his sect had descended into, he announced that he would select a Sect Master to rule the sect in his absence. The various Peak Lords have been consolidating their power and growing their strength, gathering allies in order to please the Patriarch when he next awakens… or, more realistically, to gain such power over the sect that the Patriarch has no option but to select them as the ruler.”

That explains it. “Then, as I suspected, they attacked Starbound Sect more out of a desire to further their political aspirations than for any so-called righteous reasons,” Hui muttered under his breath.

Bai Xue spread her hands. “It’s unfortunate, truly. You have my apologies, but… well, Bai Clan can’t afford to stick its neck out. We’re better protected politically than Starbound Sect, but at the end of the day, a mantis cannot stand up to a carriage.”

“I understand, Elder Sister,” Hui said. I knew I couldn’t count on the Bai Clan for open protection. I already understood that long ago. Still, his chest tightened a bit. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus. For now, let’s figure out this array.

A gasp caught his ear. Hui glanced up, focus broken. Ying Min stood before them, her eyes narrowed, a smirk on her face. “You two… openly? In the middle of the banquet?”

Ying Lin frowned at her, confused. What is Master doing? Is it something wrong? Isn’t he just investigating his friend’s body? There’s nothing wrong with helping a friend.

“Does Young Miss have a problem with it?” Bai Xue asked evenly, unbothered. She gave Hui a look from the corner of her eyes and subtly gestured with her fingers. Go ahead. I’ll handle this.

Hui nodded. He closed his eyes, ignoring Ying Min, and chased after the array. Cautious, he left a strand of mental energy to watch Bai Xue, unable to fully look away.

“Do I—this is untoward! Utterly scandalous! That you dare—you ought to be ejected from the banquet!” Ying Min protested.

“As if you weren’t falling all over that man over there,” Bai Xue replied flatly, bored.

“You dare compare Bai Xue to a servant?” Ying Min snapped, looking down her nose at Bai Xue.

“I would never do that,” Bai Xue said, smirking.

Across the banquet hall, Mo Gonglu stood. Fu Liyu leaned forward, interested in the sudden drama.

Catching a glimpse of Mo Gonglu approaching, Ying Min grew bolder. She reached out and grabbed Bai Xue’s veil, throwing it back. “Hiding your face, I bet you’re hideous—”

Bai Xue smiled back at her.

Ying Min froze, struck dumb.

Mo Gonglu visibly trembled, his eyes wide. His jaw dropped, and he stepped forward without a thought, immediately forgetting Ying Min. He put a hand to the side of Bai Xue’s head and touched a lock of her hair lovingly. “Beauty… what have you been sitting to the side for? Come, come. Let us drink together. Shall I recite poetry?”

Hui snorted. Bai Xue has this handled. He released the small amount of mental energy outside himself and turned his attention entirely to the array.

Inside Bai Xue, Hui circled the array. Comparing this to Fu Liyu’s array… it’s different. If I had to say, instead of accepting energy and doing something with it, it seems to… send energy? And there’s none of the locking mechanisms Fu Liyu’s array had. That might be because Bai Xue’s level is too high, but I suspect that it’s a fundamental difference. In fact, Fu Liyu’s array was almost parasitic. Embedded deeply inside her, the array had become a part of her dantian, almost inseparable, sealing the remnant auras into her. This array, in comparison, is slapdash and thrown together, nowhere near at the same level of sophistication.

He extended his mental energy into the array. The second his mental energy entered it, the world expanded. He saw the banquet hall from a dozen angles. A hidden array appeared inside each person invited to the banquet, visible only to Hui. He cast his vision around and caught sight of Mo Gonglu. As expected. Mo Gonglu has one of these arrays as well. This banquet isn’t for Mo Gonglu’s benefit, but will bring him low.

Do the other girls deserve to have their qi taken? They don’t, but… how will I stop them all from getting their arrays activated? I could change them all from here, but they’ll notice, and I can’t afford to alert Fu Renyi that I’ve discovered his arrays. If he activates them suddenly before I'm done, I'm screwed. Hui bit his lip, then retracted his mental energy, turning back to Bai Xue’s array.

What if I alter Bai Xue’s array to accept qi instead? Leave it connected to the rest of the arrays, but reverse it? If I can give her control over the entire spell array, too, she can choose not to steal all the qi from all the other girls. Plus, that way I don’t get the credit for whatever happens here!

Good, good. Xiao Hui cannot afford to make a splash! I need to keep a low profile. It’s fine if Bai Xue decides to up and rescue a roomful of women, but if a wanted man does it, All-Heavens Sect will come down on my head!

Hui drew out more qi, pouring it into the array. With the array isolated by Bai Xue’s qi, he quickly took control over it. The runes swirled before him, utterly meaningless. If only they were talisman marks. Then I’d be able to easily… easily…

What if I draw talisman marks over the runes? Can I alter the array by adding a talisman layer on top of it? Hui lifted a strand of qi and carefully drew a talisman mark over it. The mark glowed, and the array glowed in sync.

His eyes glittered. He lifted his hand and began to draw, rapidly scribbling over the array. I don’t need to alter the spell itself to reverse it. If I take the energy it sends out and instead send that back into Bai Xue… there we go! As for control… another talisman over the array to connect Bai Xue’s mental energy into the array. She can handle it from there.

Hui’s connection to the array jostled as he slapped the final touches into the array. Hui pushed through it, forcing himself to continue. Even as Bai Xue’s qi stirred, disrupting his, he fought back and finished the talisman. Only when the final stroke landed did he retreat.

Hui slammed back into his body with a jolt. He sagged back, exhausted, mental energy spent, his qi wavering off-sync. What happened?

Bai Xue stood over him. She glanced down and smiled, releasing her hand. Ying Min stood back, hand to her cheek, and Mo Gonglu had Bai Xue by the throat, his eyes wide with rage.

“Don’t worry, Xiao… Xiao. I’ve got this handled,” Bai Xue said, winking.

“No such thing,” Mo Gonglu growled. “You scum, daring to touch my Ying Min!”

Hui blinked. No… what happened?