The wind struggled in his grasp. Exhausted, Hui let out a breath and fell back against Fei Hu. Even so, he refused to loosen his grip on the wind. He watched it struggling, forcing his third eye to lock onto the whisp. Dangerous, too dangerous! Even someone as experienced at playing dead as me almost fell to the final trap of this realm! If it hadn’t been for Fei Hu, I might have been destroyed by the wind, without a chance to fight back!

He put a hand on the beast’s shoulder. Now old, Fei Hu licked his hand gently, unable to heft itself upright. Gently, Hui pet it, gratitude in his every gesture.

Ha, to think, the final trap of the realm… is to collapse the realm’s cycle of reincarnation and blame it on the attacker! The weak-minded cultivators of this world would never survive such a thorough mental attack. Even I almost gave in. But luckily, I saw through it.

The kicker was the way the world drew me in. I’ve collapsed a number of secret realms, and they never drew at me, not even the occupied ones. This realm is the first that welcomed me to experience the death of its world firsthand. If I was an ordinary cultivator, without the experience of collapsing innumerable… ahem, accidentally overturning a secret realm or two, I might have thought such an experience was ordinary, or at least, might have begun to wonder as such. But no! They never did such a thing. Thus, I can only assume this realm was a trap.

As for calling the wind Fen Long…

The trap. The trap itself, is exactly what Fen Long has been practicing. If I’m right, he gave himself up to this realm, and used this realm to experience the endless cycle of reincarnation. What clued me in was what Senior Chen Wuya said at the entrance to the realm: ‘His qi is this place.’ I began to wonder, what if it wasn’t only his qi? What if Fen Long himself… was this realm?

Every grain, every beast, every boar, deer, and bird… was Fen Long! Even the mountains and the stone void and the wind… all are Fen Long! Or more properly, Fen Long has become all of these beings, in order to experience not only his own reincarnation, but the reincarnation cycle of an entire realm. After all, if he, like Chen Wuya, remembers past lives, it’s quite possible that his path is related to reincarnation. Studying reincarnation is difficult without dying… but it’s easier if you can ‘die without dying.’ If Fen Long is this realm, then no matter how many times he ‘dies,’ all that happens is that his own energy cycles back into him. Even if the world collapses like it just did, I’m sure that eventually, the mountains and valleys would form anew, and birds, beasts, boars and deer… all would eventually come to populate this realm again!

Hui looked at the ball of wind in his hand. “Am I right, Senior?”

The wind twisted in his hand. It wobbled back and forth, and finally began to glow with a spring-green light. Behind him, Fei Hu glowed with that same light. It reached toward Hui one last time, but then joined into the wind and vanished.

“Fei Hu—” Hui stopped himself. No. In the end… Fei Hu was only a projection. A part of Fen Long, the same as the rest of this realm.

And yet, I… He fell silent, not able to properly think the words. A great melancholy opened up in his heart. I couldn’t even return Fei Hu’s kindness. I was only able to be protected by it, but never able to reward it for its great service to me. Even knowing it was a part of Fen Long, I still…

The spring green light grew brighter. Hui stepped back, nervousness growing in the pit of his stomach. The light twisted, rapidly taking form. It passed through each creature in the realm—the grain, the boar and deer, the bird, the beast, even the mountains and valleys—and then took the form of a young man, about the same age as Chen Wuya’s true body. He had a handsome, honest face and long hair that tied itself back neatly into a crown, his body athletic and weathered like a swordsman’s. The light became solid, and as it did so, the young man reached up. White robes materialized on the air, a delicate spring-green pattern twisted through their silk. The young man wrapped the robes around himself and smiled at Hui.

“Indeed. Congratulations on finding me. In all these centuries, I’ve been trapped within this realm, unable to re-condense myself from my thousands of selves. No one else ever successfully found the true me. If you hadn’t come, I might have drifted eternally in this state, unable to become myself again until my lifespan ran out.”

“Ah… yes,” Hui said, shifting awkwardly, profoundly uncomfortable.

Fen Long lowered himself and bowed deeply to Hui. “Thank you. The debt of gratitude I owe you can never be repaid.”

“Ah… um, that…” Hui licked his lips. Caught between backing away and helping Fen Long up, he finally overcame himself for long enough to lift Fen Long back to his feet. “Senior, there’s no need to bow to this small cultivator. I willfully did all these things of my own accord, for my own ends. There’s… there’s nothing you need to thank me for.”

Especially considering that you… were also Fei Hu, and the only reason I was able to escape with my life.

Fen Long’s eyes lingered on Hui’s withered hands. “Even so, it seems finding me cost you a heavy price.”

“No, no.” Hui circulated his life qi. Instantly, his vision blackened. The world wobbled, and he swayed on his feet, a second from passing out. Hui slowed his circulation and frowned as everything returned to normal. Confused, he sent his senses internally. All his qi had nearly run dry, life and ordinary qi alike. Only his death qi remained thick, and in fact, had grown thicker than ever. It pressed at his final reserves of life qi, on the verge of breaking through. Shit. I can’t even regenerate my body without risking my little life! If my death qi breaks through and infects my ordinary qi or my body, in this weakened state, I won’t be able to do anything to stop it.

Hui licked his lips. “Er, maybe… maybe it did.”

Fen Long offered his hand. “I’m extremely weak right now, but I can still assist you in this state.”

Ah! Is Senior saying, even as weak as I am, my qi reserves are so much larger than yours that it’s inconsequential to refill yours? Scary, scary!

Hui paused, then reached out and put his hand in Fen Long’s. Well… Senior could destroy me with a flick of his finger, anyways. If he wants to kill me, there’s less subtle ways to go about it.

Qi flowed into him. His body relaxed, instantly refreshed. He circulated the qi, quickly converting some to life qi, as lossy as the transfer was, and put that qi up against his death qi to block it from attacking him more strongly.

From out of Hui’s robes, a ball of mangled black feathers threw itself at Fen Long and struck his chest. Claws flashed. “Fuck you, Fen Long!”

Fen Long stared at the ball unblinkingly, a faint furrow in his brow.

Hui stiffened. He quickly bowed apologetically. “Senior, please forgive me! I didn’t think!”

“Locking me away like that. What’s your game? Fuck! Let me out already!” Chen Wuya snarled, continuing to claw at Fen Long. Unlike with Hui, his claws couldn’t so much as break Fen Long’s skin or fray his robes.

Abruptly, Fen Long laughed. He snatched Chen Wuya out of the air by the feet and peered at him, dangling him upside-down from his free hand. Caught wrong-way-up, Chen Wuya thrashed, flapping his wings at Fen Long’s face and pecking madly. Ignoring his attacks, Fen Long smiled. “Old friend! It’s been too long.”

“Whose fault is that? Come here. I’ll peck you to death,” Chen Wuya snapped, frustrated. He bent over and pecked at Fen Long’s fingers.

Fen Long laughed. He looked at Hui. “It’s odd that Chen Wuya was able to escape from the pocket dimension I sealed him in. I should have completely sealed him off from outside interference.”

Hui coughed and stared at the sky. “Er, it’s quite the coincidence that I was present when Senior Fen Long’s spatial realms collapsed twice.”

“Only twice?” Chen Wuya muttered, taking a moment from pecking Fen Long’s fingers to give Hui the side-eye.

“Several… several times,” Hui said weakly.

Fen Long frowned at the two of them, then smiled. “You seem close.”

“Closer than I’d like,” Hui muttered under his breath.

“Bosom buddies,” Chen Wuya said dryly, at nearly the same time.

Tilting his head, Fen Long peered close at Chen Wuya. “This form… why haven’t you resumed your human form?”

Spluttering incoherently, Chen Wuya redoubled his attacks in Fen Long’s fingers.

Hui cleared his throat. “Senior, you… you sealed Chen Wuya. He hasn’t escaped yet.”

“No? How long has it been?” Fen Long asked, confused.

“A… a few centuries. Er, perhaps, a millennium or so?” Hui tried.

“Too damn long,” Chen Wuya grumbled, finally stopping his attack for long enough to wrench his claws out of Fen Long’s hands and crawl back upright.

Fen Long’s brows furrowed. He looked at Chen Wuya. “I thought… I thought I made the exit obvious.”

“Oh, you did. You did,” Chen Wuya said, voice dangerously low.

“Then… even now, you can’t…” Fen Long said quietly, his smile melting.

Chen Wuya snorted. “I’m not the one who’s in the wrong.”

“What about Zui Jiu…?” Fen Long asked, lost.

“Er… Senior chose to die in her realm,” Hui said, fidgeting a little. I think. I never saw her escape… so, she… probably didn’t…

Fen Long’s expression fell. “I… never meant… I just thought, a little nudge in the right direction, might—”

“Ha! A ‘little nudge?’ Asking me to give up my path, my entire dao, is a ‘little nudge?’” Chen Wuya cawed.

Fen Long pressed his lips together. He looked at the floor, his expression empty.

Hui stepped forward. He hesitated. This isn’t a good time, but… is there such a thing as a good time for this? “Fen Long, your All-Heavens Sect has… has become a force of oppression. Under the rule of Gui Delun, it has deteriorated into a monolith that thinks it can produce wind with one wave of the hand and rain with another, single-handedly declaring righteous sects as demonic and vice versa as it so wishes. This… surely was not your desire?”

“I…no, I would never, I—” Fen Long’s voice stuttered to a halt. His shoulders drooped, and his head fell. He bit his lip and shook his head. “Did… did everything I created fail? I only… wanted to help, but…”

Chen Wuya hopped over to Fen Long’s shoulder and patted him on the head with a wing. “Hey, at least your sect hasn’t been branded demonic and eradicated yet. It could be worse.”

Fen Long stared at Chen Wuya. “Starbound Sect was…? I… had no idea.”

“Er, ah, it was, it was your sect that eradicated it. That is, Gui Delun. I’m, ah, I’m an inheriting disciple of a peak lord from Starbound Sect,” Hui introduced himself. This clone… this clone’s chances are already staked on Fen Long not killing me! There’s no harm in explaining myself.

“No. I… I can’t let this happen. No longer.” Fen Long looked up, a fierce light in his eyes.

This is my chance! Hui stepped forward. “Senior… Gui Delun has consolidated his power beyond what you can imagine. He controls half… no. The majority of the sect. With every moment, he adds more to his faction. Even as recently as last…” er, how long did I spend in this realm? “…last recently, he added dozens of new fourth realm and higher peak lords, who likely see him as their sponsor and consider him their leader moreso than yourself.

“Although Senior Fen Long is surely far more powerful than a small cultivator like myself could comprehend, you admitted yourself that you’re weakened, while Gui Delun is at the absolute peak of both his martial and political power. This small cultivator has been gathering strength to… righteously visit retribution upon All-Hea… upon Gui Delun for destroying Starbound Sect. Small cultivator would greatly appreciate if Senior Fen Long waited—”

“And attacked in coordination with yourself? I understand tactics and stratagems. Ha! Yes… at least righteousness has not fully fled this world. In any case, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Such a thing is simple enough. In fact, it doesn’t come close to repaying you, since I was planning to attack myself,” Fen Long said, nodding.

Hui let out a long-held breath. I didn’t expect that to be so easy. I’m… suddenly exhausted, somehow. He looked at Fen Long. “Er… small cultivator has another request.”

Fen Long nodded.

Hui looked him in the eye. “Fei Hu… that beast who protected me. I know it was only a part of Senior, but… it… could I…”

Fen Long shook his head apologetically. “I’m sorry. I can’t release a fragment of myself. The way the technique works, I am either a thousand beings or one. For your sake, I wish I could, but… it isn’t possible.”

Hui bit his lip. He looked down. “I understand. Many apologies for asking for the impossible.”

“No, no. Please. I owe you a debt, I’m the one who’s rude for refusing,” Fen Long said.

“Ha! Watch out that his debt of gratitude doesn’t end in you sealed in a realm for centuries. Though… for you, I doubt any realm could hold you for more than an incense stick’s worth of time,” Chen Wuya mused.

Glancing at Chen Wuya, Hui raised his eyebrows. “Fen Long owed you a debt of gratitude?”

“He owes me a great many things,” Chen Wuya snorted, looking at Fen Long.

“Ah… it’s true,” Fen Long admitted. “As you owe me a great many things.”

“Well, that’s neither here nor there,” Chen Wuya said pompously, fluffing his feathers up.

Fen Long smiled. He raised a hand to Chen Wuya’s head and carefully patted it. “Hmm. That’s right.”

Is it just me, or is the atmosphere getting a bit…? Hui cleared his throat. “Er, Fen Long, I do have one other thing I’d like to ask for.”

“Anything,” Fen Long said graciously.

“Could you, em, release Chen Wuya? Er, I, I have a great deal of lower-realm cultivators on my side, but I lack high-realm cultivators. I know Seniors have a long history, but could you perhaps overlook that for a bit? That is, as long as Chen Wuya swears to fight at my side,” Hui said, giving Chen Wuya a look.

“If you can secure my release? Sure,” Chen Wuya said. “I’ll fight a dozen sects for you if you get me released.”

Fen Long looked at Chen Wuya. He sighed. “You won’t…?”

“Never. I’ve chosen my path,” Chen Wuya replied firmly.

“Then… I might as well,” Fen Long said, nodding. He looked Hui in the eye. “I cannot do it from here. I can only release him from beside the realm itself. In order to release him, I must leave here, and leaving here will doubtlessly alert Gui Delun. I cannot—”

“Oh, I can transport Senior there,” Hui said, nodding.

“You… what?” Fen Long asked, startled.

“Mmm. As long as Senior opens this realm enough that I can contact my network… that is, my fellow cl… cultivators, I can send Senior directly to Chen Wuya’s realm,” Hui said. Well, Peak Lord would have to walk there first, but what’s he doing? Aside from Bai Xue.

“You… do you have spatial techniques? At sixth… no, only fifth realm? How? I thought only seventh-realm cultivators and higher could use spatial techniques,” Fen Long said, shocked.

Hui waved his hand. “It isn’t precisely a spatial technique… in any case, Senior, rest assured that I could definitely move you to Chen Wuya’s side if you promise to free him… and Chen Wuya promises to fight with me.”

Chen Wuya and Fen Long looked at each other. Both shrugged and nodded.

Wow. That was easier than I expected. So… what’s left? Hui thought to himself, putting a hand on his chin. He looked up. “Senior, shall we try to connect to my fellow clones—cultivators?”

“Certainly. I imagine it will take some time, but… let me know if it connects through,” Fen Long said. Gesturing, he summoned up the net of threads. They appeared in the air, visible to all, stretching out in all directions. As he plucked at them, almost like an instrument, the world reformed around them, taking on a totally new shape.

Hui nodded. He sat down. The second his rear touched the ground, he almost passed out, completely exhausted. He looked up at Fen Long. “Er, could I rest for a bit, first?”

Fen Long chuckled. “Take your time.”