Hui darted backward, blocking the flail and sword strikes with Moonlight Cutter. Han Qin shot a fireball from above. Hui slashed upward, meaning to deflect it, but Moonlight Cutter parted the fireball instead. The two halves of the fireball whooshed past him to impact in the dried leaves on either side of him.

Whoa. This sword is sharp! Maybe it is worth a life-debt…

The dried leaves flared into flame, raging high around him. Hui’s legs began to wilt, and his core instinctively wiggled upward, out of his leg. He stumbled, his legs weakening under him.

Seizing his moment of weakness, Lu Lintei leaped forward and slashed out. Hui fell backward, barely able to avoid the horizontal slash.

Dammit, I take it back! It’s too sharp, worthlessly sharp. What’s the point in making blades this sharp, anyways? Argh, flesh mode it is!

Hui swapped to his flesh mode. The heat hurt worse than it did in plant mode, but in return, his legs no longer gave out under him when he stepped too close to the fire.

Han Qin dropped out of the sky, hurtling fire at Hui. “Give in, rat! You’re cornered!”

“Elder Brothers, Elder Sister! This man attempted to devour the souls of a dozen cultivators in order to create an array to bring some form of life into this world. Surely righteous cultivators such as yourself cannot allow this?” Hui shouted, putting on a heroic expression. He charged at Han Qin, ignoring the attacks from Lu Lintei and Zhi Ahn.

“Nonsense. You won’t distract us,” Zhi Ahn bit back.

Hui slashed at Han Qin with Moonlight Cutter with one hand and simultaneously launched a void talisman with the other. Han Qin threw his hands out and circulated his qi, forming a barrier around himself, but strengthening his defenses caused his true aura, the same aura that had locked Sixth down that day, to leak out.

Ding Qinwen pulled back suddenly. He studied Han Qin’s face, and his eyes burned with righteous fury. “This man! He’s higher on the wanted list than Xiao Hui! That aura belongs to Lai Shuren, a Wandering Immortal wanted for destroying multiple righteous sects! If we can capture his clone, it will be a powerful boon for Master Gui Delun!”

Hui smirked. In the end, they care about their internal politics more than about capturing me. I had a suspicion that Han Qin… or Lai Shuren, as Ding Qinwen called him, might be wanted. It’s not as if one can wander around massacring cultivators and go unpunished.

…Wait, a Wandering Immortal? That’s… that’s… he failed to succeed at immortal ascension, but he's basically as strong as an immortal, just with a shorter lifespan! The only other person I know who’s of similar power is Chen Wuya, putting aside Master, who successfully ascended. Hui swallowed, suddenly extremely nervous. I’ve got to get out of here. And find whatever it is that blocks him from locking onto me! No wonder he could crush me with his hand. A Wandering Immortal, dammit!

“Damned All-Heavens cultivators. Always meddling where they aren’t wanted. He’s my prey before he’s yours. Back off!” Han Qin snapped, releasing a wave of pressure.

Hui and the All-Heavens cultivators alike fell back. Zhi Ahn fell directly out of the sky, nicking Lu Lintei on the way down, who simply watched him fall.

Hui blinked, startled by the ferocity of the pressure. That’s at least sixth-stage energy… Did his main body make this clone stronger than the previous one? No wonder he could fight the spider beast.

In the near distance, the spider beast let out a shrill screech and darted toward the melee, eight legs flying from web to web.

But he still couldn’t beat it, so this clone is no stronger than sixth stage, Hui noted quietly.

Gathering himself, Hui politely coughed. “Excuse me, Senior, but the All-Heavens cultivators have been trying to kill me since before you knew of my existence.”

“That’s right. He’s our prey before yours! Don’t get it backward!” Ding Qinwen shouted, charging toward Han Qin with Lu Lintei a reasonable distance behind him. On the forest floor, Zhi Ahn wiped blood from his lips and slowly hauled himself upright.

“You idiots! He’s going to get away if we fight!” Han Qin barked. “You can’t beat me. Give in and destroy Xiao Hui alongside me!”

“Oh, right. Well… I suppose it wouldn’t be any good if he escaped,” Lu Lintei said. She flicked her fingers at Hui.

A wind flew from her hand, picking up leaves off the ground. The leaves slashed through passing trees, sharp as swords, and rushed at Hui. Hui leaped backward, dodging, but the leaves followed him. One after another, they shot through his body, cutting gory holes.

Hurts, hurts, hurts! Hui started to swap to his plant form, but midway, a thought came to him. This is the opportunity I need to play dead, but… I don’t have a plant core in my flesh form, which makes it harder to escape.

What if I only transform enough of me to plant to create a core, then escape that way, leaving behind a bloody, fleshy body?

Hui stumbled, then fell onto his back. He cried out in pain and spat blood, clutching his arms around his injured body. He rocked back and forth on the floor. Convulsions overtook him, his body failing as he retracted his qi and healing abilities.

As he died, he casually opened a node and shoved Moonlight Cutter into it. I can’t let my loot get away from me! I can abandon this body no problem, but the loot—no one takes my loot!

Actually, the talismans, too… and my sword… Continuing to convulse, he quickly stored everything he’d made in the node.

One of the clones contacted the node in a panic. Hey, Mortal, you aren’t about to die, are you?

I’m only faking my death. Han Qin is here, but he can’t lock me down like he did with Sixth, for some reason, Hui replied.

The clone, one of the ones searching for Li Xiang, let out a sigh. Thank goodness. After you sent us Ying Lin, and Zhubi, and now all your gear, we were getting worried!

No, no, Elder Brother. This small clone still values his life above all! Hui replied emphatically.

Han Qin harrumphed. “Out of my way, All Heavens cultivators. I’m taking him back with me.”

“You and Xiao Hui both are coming back with us to All Heavens Sect!” Ding Qinwen declared, rushing at Han Qin.

The spider beast hissed and hurried toward them both, maw gaped wide. The three forces clashed. Venom, fire, and sword light spilled through the forest.

Internally, Hui remained calm. Calling on the talisman mark on his forehead, he carefully controlled the plant technique to transform the small part of him where the core had last been back to plant.

Externally, he cried out one last time and kicked hard, then fell still, killing his qi to play dead. Retreating into his core, he allowed his fleshy body to truly die. He sunk his core out of his body and extended a shoot from the seed-core to draw an earth talisman. A hole opened in the ground below, and his core tumbled down into it. He doodled the talisman again at the bottom of the hole, and the earth closed over him.

Zhi Ahn walked over. He lifted his hand. “Just in case,” he muttered, casting a seal on Hui’s body.

Ha! Too late. I’ve already escaped!

Besides, do you think your fourth-tier spell could seal me? I’m a fifth-stage death qi cultivator! I—am most definitely not a demonic cultivator, but I am good at breaking out of seals!

Zhi Ahn hesitated another moment, then knelt and sliced off Hui’s head. Still kneeling, he patted down Hui’s body, reaching under his robes.

Hey, where are you—oh right, the manual, Hui realized. He smirked. It’s long gone. Never let your precious items out of your grasp!

Zhi Ahn scowled and kicked Hui’s body.

Now that was unnecessary, Hui thought, shaking his head.

With a last annoyed huff, Zhi Ahn turned. Carrying Hui’s bloody head by its long ponytail, he wandered back over to watch the fight, carefully avoiding any of the wayward attacks.

It turns out even Zhi Ahn is reasonable. He’s only a fourth-stage cultivator. This fight far outranks his power. It’s better to sit and watch and hope to gain insights, than to launch himself into the battle and meaninglessly lose his life, Hui thought, nodding approvingly.

Shaking himself, he stimulated his life qi and burst out of the seed core, becoming a tiny Hui once more. He drew another talisman on the earthen walls of his tunnel and descended deeper into the soil, tunnelling away. This is still too close. Someone might notice me. It’s better if I wiggle far out of everyone’s way, and not cause any other problems. I don’t want to trouble Elder Sister Lu Lintei again, after she gave me such a nice excuse to escape!

At last, he struck stone. Hui dug around to ensure there wasn’t an easy way around, then settled down at the bottom of his hole. Utter black surrounded him. If not for his mental energy and the natural flow of qi surrounding him, he would have been blind. As it was, his eyes were useless. He closed them and assumed the lotus pose, thinking to himself.

Should I summon the manual and study the new technique? But… I’ve used my digging technique against Han Qin before. True, he didn’t catch me then, but he might have noticed the signs it left behind. As much as I want to study the manual, I think I should leave that to Healer. Instead, it’s better if I absorb more of the rot qi and turn it into death ducks. Since they can eat it and process it into death qi, this is a valuable situation for us all. Besides, I still haven’t found that corpse yet. Everyone will benefit if we can block Han Qin from locking onto us in his true form.

Hui stood and hurried to the end of his current tunnel. Summoning a death duck, he waited while it flapped around. As the duck technically was made of his qi, he could sense its every move without having to see it. Unlike his ordinary qi, which moved and sensed like an extra limb, the duck acted more like a tool or a pet, attached by a leash. Due to the attachment, Hui sensed its movements, but he lacked the ability to perfectly sense through the ducks as he would through his ordinary qi.

After a moment, the duck turned slightly leftward of the tunnel’s end and stared ahead hungrily. I can detect the rot energy, but the ducks are much better at it. If I follow their lead, I’ll reach the corpse in no time! He lifted a tiny hand and scrawled the earth talisman formula on the wall, and a fresh tunnel opened up, disappearing into the darkness.

Fights are for other people. I’ve got a corpse to find! Hui thought, marching happily along.