Hui poured death qi into the barrier, filling it from top to bottom. Death ducks swirled inside the barrier, flapping up against the walls.

Han Qin fell back. Gui Delun stepped forward. Gold light formed a halo around him, protecting him from the death ducks. “Your attack is meaningless.”

Without a physical link to him, I can’t pour death qi directly into Gui Delun, and naturally, as an exorcist, Gui Delun has counters for death qi. That isn’t going to work. Let’s try life qi, then!

Retracting the death qi, Hui filled the space with life qi instead.

Gui Delun laughed. “How kind of you to heal us!”

Silently, Han Qin readied his attack.

Shit. Can’t surge life qi into Gui Delun without letting Han Qin attack, but if Han Qin attacks, he might break directly through the barrier. I can’t allow Han Qin to attack or waste death qi on Gui Delun. Hui furrowed his brows, then slapped both hands down on the barrier. Which means… it’s time for both at once!

Death ducks swirled around the perimeter of the barrier, forcing Han Qin back. As Gui Delun stepped forward, Hui sent life qi in as well, specifically targeting him. Life qi poured from him to Gui Delun, smoothly passing from one to the other.

The thing about life qi is that the receiving body doesn’t perceive it as an attack. Which means… as long as I can hold onto it inside him, I might be able to wreak havoc with the natural balance of his body. I’m no doctor, but messing with his internal organs and hormones should be a good start! Not to mention his brain or eyes. If I can make any major system go wonky, that should at least distract him, if not outright injure him.

Usually, I wouldn’t be able to do much, but I’m… somewhat, kind of, temporarily seventh stage. Right now, I’m almost kind of sort of as strong as him. Strong enough to be able to seriously affect him with my qi!

Gui Delun crossed his arms, looking up at him. “What are you attempting to accomplish? Gaining my favor by healing me?”

Ignoring him, Hui focused on his life qi. Send a portion of my consciousness in with a thread of life qi. Pierce into Gui Delun without dissolving, and destroy him from within!

Zhubi wound protectively around Hui, ready to defend him from any attacks.

Hui plunged his consciousness into his life qi and dove through the barrier. For a breath of time, he passed through empty space. Gui Delun’s head flew toward him at speed.

Seconds before he struck Gui Delun’s forehead, Gui Delun glanced up.

Oh shit! Did he realize my plan? Does he know I’m coming? He—

Hui smoothly entered Gui Delun’s head. He mingled with the life qi he’d already sent inside Gui Delun, the mass of it sitting just on the far side of the man’s skull. Hui braced for an attack, but none came.

--he… didn’t realize? Did I get lucky?

No, no, Hui! Let’s not be cocky. I have to assume he noticed me! In which case, I need to move even more carefully than before. Either that, or move in a way that even if he notices, there’s nothing he can do about it.

But if he noticed, why didn’t he immediately reject me? Or better, refuse the life qi entirely?

Hui paused for a moment, then shook his head. It doesn’t matter. Whether he knows I’m here or not, he may not be able to attack or defend immediately. In this momentary lull before he catches up, let’s wreak as much damage as we can!

No one responded.

Ah, that’s right. Just me.

Alright then! Let’s go, me! Wreak havoc!

Hui took in his surroundings. He stood in the midst of a tangle of mental energy, qi, and life qi. Everything flowed around him, unaware of his presence in their midst.

He lifted his hand and sent a spool of life qi toward Gui Delun’s brain, hidden under the thicket of mental energy. Before it grew close, Gui Delun’s mental energy reacted instinctively. It darted forth, blue strands rushing to meet the life qi.

Hui instantly pulled his life qi back. Hmm… maybe not. It would be great if I could attack the brain, but it looks like I’ll have to pierce the mental energy first, and if nothing else, that will certainly alert Gui Delun. I’ll start elsewhere. Somewhere a little more subtle.

Gathering his life qi around him, Hui stepped into one of the rapid flows of qi surging around him. The qi passage accepted him, and he flew through it, letting it take him on a tour of Gui Delun’s body. I’ll get the lay of the land first. If anything looks injured or weakened, it’ll be easier for me to attack that place both inside and outside of Gui Delun than starting from scratch against some part of him that’s in perfect health.

The flowing qi shuttled Hui through Gui Delun’s body at breakneck speed. He opened his eyes wide, taking in everything as it flashed past. Half of what he saw meant nothing to him, but he took it in anyways. If I start to comprehend things, this might mean something later. For now, let’s just take it in!

Blood. Flesh. Bones. Tendons. Gui Delun’s entire body glimmered with qi, every piece of him refined and strengthened over centuries of practice. A few old wounds caught Hui’s eye, but none appeared weak. All had been closed up and strengthened, not overly strong but neither incredibly weak. His cultivation glittered, life qi flowing in tune with his qi to the point the two nearly became one. At times, they blended so smoothly that Hui couldn’t tell them apart.

If I have to, I’ll start fresh. But shouldn’t he at least have some marks from where I attacked him with life and death qi earlier? A little damage to show from that effort I put in? Hui frowned, putting a hand on his chin. He pushed himself and his qi in the direction of Gui Delun’s hands, heading out down the arms and away from Gui Delun’s main body.

As he passed through, he peered around with his third eye. Unlike Liu Guang, Gui Delun had a normal mix of threads, gold and dark. His were unusually thick, strengthened or perhaps trained, and possessed an unusual firmness to them. Rather than threads, they appeared almost like pillars, sturdy and strong. Hui considered, but shook his head. I had to pay a heavy price the last time I interfered with threads at my level. Considering my somewhat dubious level now, I’m playing with fire to interfere with Gui Delun’s threads. If I have no other option… well, even then, I’m not sure I’ll be able to alter those pillar-like threads.

He reached Gui Delun’s wrists and peered around. A constant current of qi flowed past. Beyond it, red flesh stretched all around. Veins pumped blood. Muscle fibers contracted. Globs of fat clung here and there, few but nonetheless present. Thick tendons stretched overhead, enormous to the tiny him, following bones into Gui Delun’s hands.

Hui put a hand to the flesh. He sent his life qi into it, encouraging it to grow. Faster. More. Overgrow! Cover his hand in extra flesh! Bloat it with tumors!

Gui Delun stiffened. He looked down, brows furrowing. His hand bulged, flesh rushing from his palm and the back of his hand.

Han Qin stepped back. “A qi deviation?”

Snorting, Gui Delun clenched his twisting hand. “A pathetic attempt to injure me, doomed to fail.”

Life qi burst out from every cell around Hui. Hui jolted backward, dodging the sudden influx of life qi. Searing heat burned from the life qi. The motes of qi formed tendrils, then attacked the places Hui had inserted his life qi, burning them away. In moments, Gui Delun’s body returned to as it was before Hui attacked it.

Damn it. I guess I should’ve been prepared for—

The life qi tendrils rounded on Hui. All at once, they jabbed at his consciousness.

Oh fuck! I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the tumor attack! Hui turned and fled. As he ran, he streamed life qi into everything around him, urging everything he could touch to grow. Some of it didn’t respond. The bones and tendons stayed steady, barely disturbed by his passing. But the flesh, the skin, the hair and the blood, it grew, bursting up after him. The burning life qi tendrils quickly seared them away.

It's fine. Even if he heals it, the more I do it, regardless of if he heals it or not, the easier it should become! And… Hui threw his hand out. A mote of his life qi flew off into Gui Delun’s qi passages. It didn’t do anything, but simply bobbled away. Too distracted by his attack, Gui Delun’s life qi ignored the harmless mote, letting it pass by.

Still attacking Gui Delun as he fled, Hui sent off another few motes. Just in case.

Tendrils of life qi suddenly burst from ahead of Hui, closing off the way ahead. Hui looked left, then right, then reached for his death qi.

Nothing came to hand.

That’s right! I forgot. I don’t have death qi right now! I only drew my life qi into here!

Uhh… I… shit! Er…

The life qi closed in on him. Hui flinched back, then fell backward, lying limp in Gui Delun’s qi passages.

I’m dead! Ignore me!

The life qi tendrils didn’t hesitate a moment. They directly drilled into Hui’s body. Heat dug directly into Hui’s consciousness. His mind weakened, wavering.

Right, I forgot. I’m a qi construct right now. If I died, I’d simply wink out.

An image appeared in Hui’s vision. Gui Delun smirked down at him. “What a trite ploy. Do you think no one has ever tried to attack me internally before? Pathetic child.”

Dammit. I can’t die here. Hui’s consciousness faded. His vision darkened. The qi construct trembled, growing blurrier and dimmer by the moment. Gui Delun’s tendrils pierced through every part of him, burning him to pieces. Bits of him broke off.

Can’t… think…

“Don’t kill him. Capture him. I need him,” Han Qin said.

Gui Delun harrumphed. He raised a hand to his chest and gestured. A faded blot of light emerged from him, floating over his palm. He glanced at it, then handed it to Han Qin.

Han Qin covetously wrapped his hand over the light. He stepped forward, then halted. “This barrier… it isn’t dissolving?”

“Talismans,” Gui Delun explained.

Han Qin frowned. “He’s so devoted to playing dead that he developed his entire set of techniques around attacks that would remain after he died, one way or another?”

“The man is entirely irrational.” Gui Delun sat in the lotus position, closing his eyes to meditate.

Han Qin looked at the light in his hand, then frowned at Gui Delun. “Is he really so easy to kill?”

“He made a mistake. Anyone can make a mistake,” Gui Delun said.

Looking at the light, Han Qin glanced up at the enormous snake, then frowned deeper. His brows furrowed in faint suspicion. He peered closer at the light. He can’t truly be dead. Not this easily.

Looking at the light one last time, he tucked it into the dimensional pouch at his hip for safekeeping. He frowned at the meditating Gui Delun, but shrugged to himself. It doesn’t matter. Either he’s alive and he’ll show himself, or he’s dead and he won’t. I can wait.

I’ve already waited this long.