Hui crossed his arms, gazing ahead to the horizon, standing boldly atop Moonlight Cutter. His long ponytail streamed in the wind, matched only by the blue ribbon that floated alongside it. He flicked his hair and closed his eyes for just a moment, feeling the breeze on his face, then opened his eyes again. A profound expression passed over his face. Damn, I wish I still had Gu Tian to fly for me.

Ying Lin gazed up at him, her eyes sparkling and her pretty pink robes twisting on the breeze. Wow, Master’s so cool. I hope I look half as cool as Master.

Gazing wistfully over her shoulder, Gui Yutong let out a longing sigh. I wish Bai Jingwen was here so I could—

“Elder Sister, is that All-Heavens Sect?” Hui asked, pointing ahead.

Gui Yutong turned ahead and lifted a hand to her eyes, squinting. She nodded. “There it is.”

A sprawling net of chains connected dozens of floating peaks, each one hovering hundreds of meters above the ground. The peaks and chains spread out from a single central peak, this one larger than all the other peaks put together. The largest peak alone sprouted from the earth. The chains connected halfway up the largest peak, and draped halfway up all the smaller peaks as well. None of the other peaks reached higher than the largest peak stood on its own, all slender and small tributary peaks compared to the one massive peak.

“Do each of those peaks have a Peak Lord?” Hui asked, eyes widening. Oh. I think I understand now. No wonder All-Heavens dominates the region. It’s huge!

How on earth will I take this monster down? Even if I recruited all four of the Great Evils, somehow… how many high-realm cultivators does All-Heavens have? Gui Delun was sixth realm… if each peak has a sixth-realm Peak Lord, and there’s naturally ancestors and reserves beyond those, then, then even if I successfully recruit the entirety of the rest of the region’s seniors and—

Gui Yutong nodded. “They each have a Peak Lord. Ah, to be precise… I’m a Peak Lord, myself.”

“You… eh?” Hui asked, startled.

She bit her lip and glanced down. “I’m sorry for not being forthright with you. I… it’s not only because of my father’s influence that I was able to get passes into the sect admittance tournament. I also… had an allotment of passes due to being a Peak Lord myself. But I’m only an Outer Peak Lord. My father is an Inner Peak Lord.”

She lifted her hand and pointed, drawing a circle around the largest peak.

Hui squinted. Where she pointed, a larger length of chain separated the peaks, a circular skirt of nothing but chain that stretched for hundreds of meters between the closer peaks and the further peaks. The eight inner peaks were larger, while the eighty outer peaks hung lower in the sky and were smaller.

Relief washed over Hui. He let out a sigh. “So the Outer Peaks are fourth- and fifth- realm cultivators, while the Inner Peaks are sixth-realm?”

Gui Yutong nodded. “In fact, you can consider this sect admittance trial… a sect admittance trial for finding new Peak Lords!”

“Master! Can I become a Peak Lord, too?” Ying Lin asked, raising her hand.

“You’re dreaming! It’s too early for you,” Hui replied, waving loftily. Ah… everyone wants to say that line at least once!

Gui Yutong furrowed her brows. “She could become a Peak Lord, and remain your disciple.”

“Yeah, come on, Master,” Ying Lin whined, fluttering her eyelashes.

Hui sighed. “We’ll have to see how you do in the trials first.”

Speaking of… Hui checked on his aura and disguise, ensuring both were firmly in place. He nodded to himself. I hope this isn’t a trap, but if it is… oh, well. I’m a clone. This is the best lead I’ve ever had to joining All-Heavens Sect.

Wait, hold on, Hui thought, suddenly realizing. The more Peak Lord positions I take, the fewer peak lords All-Heavens has! If I take all the open peak lord positions, then that’s the best possible outcome, but I might as well take as many as I can.

Take all the Peak Lord positions…

“Ying Lin, ignore your Master. Aim for the position of Peak Lord!” Hui ordered her, jabbing his finger at her.

“Yes!” Ying Lin replied.

He looked at Gui Yutong, raising a hand to pet the snake around his neck. “Do you have any more of those tablets?”

“Eh? I… even three slots is…” Gui Yutong said, casting her eyes down.

“No matter,” Hui said, turning his gaze ahead. I’ll simply have to steal tablets from the other contestants!

For that matter… Rogue, Peak Lord! It’s your time to shine. Get over here and take part in the sect admittance trial! I don’t care how, but gain as many entrance tablets as you can. Steal, barter, beg—have no shame, and aim for the tablets!

But… what about the peak? And… and everything? Peak Lord asked.

Bai Xue will be fine on her own, Rogue laughed.

Peak Lord frowned. I’m doing important things, you know.

Like Bai Xue? Rogue replied.

Ignoring the two of them, Hui threw his hand out. If we don’t have enough clones, make more clones. If we don’t have the tablets, find more tablets! Someone get Jin Xian a tablet, and Zhubi a tablet, and…

And Bai Jingwen? Rogue suggested. Wait, do we still have her?

She ran away… Peak Lord said.

No, no, she already has one, Hui replied, waving his hand.

Eh? Huh? Peak Lord asked, startled.

Sectgoer, you too. Even if you have the heart-demon, we still need you now. Come on back and become a peak lord of All-Heavens Sect with us! Hui called.

If you’re sure, Sectgoer responded.

A thought came to Hui, and he paused, putting a hand to his chin. Wait, wait. Everyone, make sure you coordinate your disguises before you show up. We don’t want to all show up in the same face.

Right, right. We’ve got it under control! Rogue replied, nodding. Ah, I can’t change my face, though.

Nor I. Sectgoer and Peak Lord, it’s up to you! Oh, and if any more clones wake up, Peak Lord, make sure you communicate that to them, Hui said.

Am I rushing over or not? Peak Lord said, frustrated.

Well, wake them up first, Hui said reasonably.

In any case, I can always create the smaller lotus clones if I must, but they… aren’t as intelligent as myself, or even a mortal. If the sect admittance trial includes intelligence tests, isolation tests, or puzzles, the lotus clones will fail it. I can control them directly with one of my old ghoul-controlling thread techniques, but not if we get isolated. They’re capable of simple tasks, but they can’t complete complex tasks on their own. I’d rather leave them as a last resort.

He nodded to himself. Yes. My goal now… is to become as many All-Heavens Peak Lords as I can!

Myself and my allies. Ying Lin, Zhubi, Jin Xian, Bai Jingwen… yes, I’ll count Bai Jingwen as an ally for now! The more peak lords I replace, the fewer I have to take down in the battle to come. All-Heavens, this small Hui will make you regret admitting new peak lords into your sect forever!

Speaking of allies, should we reach out to Li Xiang and Bai Xue? Rogue pointed out.

I’m still relatively close to Li Xiang, physically speaking, Sectgoer mentioned.

Hui smacked his hand into his palm. Yes! Why not? The more, the merrier! If you encounter anyone else, tell them to come over as well!

Er, maybe not Bai Xue? Peak Lord said.

Aww, is someone all protective now? Rogue teased.

Well, well, if, if we, if we, uh… Peak Lord stuttered.

It doesn’t hurt to ask. She can tell us if she can’t, Hui replied, shaking his head at Peak Lord.

Good luck, everyone, First added quietly.

Watching Hui gesticulate wildly and make strange expressions to himself, Gui Yutong leaned over to Ying Lin. “Is your master alright?”

Ying Lin nodded. “Master does this sometimes. It’s very normal for him.”

“If… you insist,” Gui Yutong muttered.

Ying Lin raised her hands to her lips. “Master, you’re drifting into the trees!”

Hui jolted back to the moment and pointed Midnight Cutter upward. He turned back and cupped his hands to Ying Lin. “Many thanks, Elder Sister.”

Gui Yutong pressed her lips together, suddenly uncertain of her choice. I know I owe him a great debt, but is this man really worthy of the sect admittance pass?

She pointed at the outermost and lowermost peak, the one hovering at the outside of the sect’s net, low to the ground. “I can’t take you any further than this. The sect admittance begins there. All those with tablets will be gathering outside the gates. You should join them.”

“Thank you, Elder Sister,” Hui replied, bowing again. He pointed his sword down and swooped toward the peak. Before long, he caught sight of a large gathering of other cultivators near the bottom of the peak. Leading Ying Lin down, Hui landed and mixed in with the other cultivators. As he walked around, he took in the competition, scanning the other cultivators. Mostly fourth realm, some fifth. No sixth realm to my eyes… well, I imagine there aren’t many sixth realm cultivators who aren’t already part of a sect. There might be a few who wanted to change, but I imagine they’d be in the extreme minority. Even attracting this many fifth-stage cultivators speaks to All-Heavens Sect’s power.

Hui took a deep breath and nodded at Ying Lin. “Ready?”

Ying Lin nodded. “I’m excited! I’ll be joining a sect for the first time!”

Hui paused. Ah… ah. Did I ever tell Ying Lin about my goal? That I’m not earnestly joining All-Heavens, but instead, trying to take it down…?

Oh well! She can’t make a mistake and give me away if she doesn’t know! I’ll tell her when she needs to know, Hui reasoned, nodding to himself.

Ying Lin tilted her head at Hui. “Huh?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Hui said, waving his hand.

She leaned in, and a voice sounded in Hui’s head. Don’t worry. I’ve pieced together enough to understand. Master wants to revive Starbound Sect, right? And All-Heavens is your enemy. Ying Lin understands!

Warmth overwhelmed Hui, and he smiled at Ying Lin. What a good disciple!

Though, uh… would she mind sharing that mind-speaking technique with me?