In a separate room, Sectgoer slashed at a construct. It raised its sword, and his blade bounced off the construct’s. Sectgoer cursed under his breath, dropping back.

“I said, focus on the flexibility of your waist! Firm calves, strong ankles!” Chen Wuya chided him, darting down to rap at his skull.

Hui ducked instinctively, dodging the blow. “I’m learning a sword art from scratch. Have some mercy!”

“I won’t let you learn it wrong, too. I refuse. Besides, you’re the one who begged me to teach you a sword art!”

“That was so I wouldn’t have to use the only technique I know, the Starbound Sect basic sword art! After all, All-Heavens almost certainly could recognize that technique. I thought you’d teach me something easy. I wasn’t expecting you to try to teach me your ultimate secret art! Don’t you know an easier sword art than the Seven Forms of Autumn? One a beginner can learn?” Hui tried.

Chen Wuya scoffed. “Who do you think I am? Of course I do.”

“Then—”

“But I refuse. You’ll learn the Seven Forms of Autumn or die trying,” Chen Wuya declared, flying a circle overhead.

“Why?” Hui despaired, frustrated.

Chen Wuya clicked his beak. “That boy’s going to injure himself. Even if he’s a ponce and a fool, he’s the only inheritor of my style. If he keeps going, at this pace, the final inheritor of the Seven Forms will end up a cripple, and my technique will die out. You need to learn enough of it to show that boy where he’s wrong!”

“So in the end, this has nothing to do with me!” Hui burst, annoyed.

“Well, obviously. In any case, you shouldn’t be sassing me. You should be on your knees thanking me for deigning to teach you one of the supreme sword forms on the entire continent, nay, the entire universe!” Chen Wuya declared, fluttering his wings for emphasis.

Hui took a deep breath. Senior is right. It is an ultimate technique. The sword technique of one of the ultimate swordsmen of the previous generation, which even Han Qin acknowledged. And yet… and yet!

No, no. Suppress the heart-demon, Hui! Listen to Senior! Learn!

With some effort, Hui bowed to Chen Wuya. “Please, Senior, I beg you to teach me this technique!”

“That’s more like it. Now. Again, from the beginning!” Chen Wuya said, slapping Hui on the head with his wing.

Gritting his teeth, Hui raised Moonlight Cutter. One more time. One more time! This time, for sure!

--

Peak Lord sat quietly inside his barriers, comprehending the first of the artifacts that laid before him. All at once, his eyes snapped open. He rubbed the talisman formula on the floor beside him, dismissing the barriers.

Instantly, the constructs rushed him. Hui drew on the air with qi, creating a talisman formula before him. He pushed his palm out, and the talisman formula glowed, activating. An enormous dragon made of light materialized, rioting through the room. Despite the size of the room, only the very tail of the dragon fully materialized. It thrashed, knocking the constructs aside, but quickly rushed into the wall and vanished.

Hui put a hand on his chin. How large is that dragon? Ten thousand meters long? How unnecessarily large! Unless I’m out in the open, and my opponent is miles away from me, how on earth am I supposed to use this spell? No, no. I’ll make it smaller, more reasonable. Hui bit his lip and scribbled the barrier talisman on the ground beside him, reinstating the barrier before the constructs could reach him. He drew the new talisman, the one he’d learned from the artifact, beside the barrier talisman and began adjusting it. There, make that smaller… the size is mostly aesthetics. If I make it smaller, I can make it cost less qi… or, hmm, what if I condense the size but leave the qi output the same? Then I’ll have a smaller, less impressive attack, but one that does much more damage in a smaller area!

Hui considered, then nodded to himself. Let’s make three versions of the talisman, and then I can use those to hold back the constructs while I comprehend the next two artifacts. Man, it would be awesome to get three, four, five… what if I get three talismans out of each artifact? Nine talismans? Dare I dream?

Drawing out some spare paper, Hui scribbled down a few copies of the dragon talisman. He threw them out, then raised his barrier again and focused on the next talismans while he let the dragon talismans ravage the constructs.

This realm is actually very convenient. I wonder if All-Heavens realizes how much the slight pressure of being under threat of battle can do for comprehension? I hope the other clones are taking advantage of this…

Turning back to the other two artifacts, Hui settled himself and focused again. My old talismans were getting stale, anyways, not to mention their low original realm. It was time to upgrade!

--

Rogue spun around, manipulating the ducks. They whirled around him, rushing through the constructs. The constructs turned, raising their swords against the ducks, but there was little they could do. The ducks swarmed around them, darting in to snatch bites of their construct body and delicious construct qi. Quacking happily, the ducks gulped down the qi, then whirled about and darted back in, seeking out another mouthful of qi.

Ah, how boring. I’ve already mastered the art of disguising myself as a rogue ghost beast cultivator. There’s nothing particularly hard about this battle. A hundred mindless constructs at about my level? Pfft. Duck food.

It’s not that I’m confident, like that heart-demon Sectoger has. It’s just boring. I’ve already done this a thousand times. Do I have to do it again? I’d rather be teasing my fellow clones. That’s far more amusing.

A surge of energy came from a nearby room. Rogue perked up, curious. That energy. It’s Ying Lin, isn’t it? Our cute little disciple, whom the other clones have kept from me. I want to have a disciple too, you know?

But… why is her energy surging? Is she in trouble? She’s only fourth realm, after all. Should I break through the realm’s walls and go rescue her? He lifted his hand and pressed it against the stone, examining the shape of the trial realm. All around him, the ducks continued to fly, attacking the constructs on their own will.

A second later, a grin spread over his face. He laughed aloud. How quaint! Ha, to save time and effort, rather than a hundred small realms, this space… is in fact one large realm, divided into a hundred rooms. Ha! A space and energy saving configuration.

I wonder what the realm would do if I burrowed through the wall?

Hmm… well, thoughts for another time. I shouldn’t be burrowing through realms right now, not when I’m trying to… well, not destroy realms, but instead pass trials!

He extended his qi through the wall, examining Ying Lin’s condition on the other side. After a moment, his eyes widened, and he laughed again.

“Fifth realm tribulation? What a smart disciple! She doesn’t want her master to know that she’s reached our strength… ha! As if that would trouble us. We’ve long understood that you’re fated to surpass us, Ying Lin.”

Hui paused. He opened his mouth, then shut it and smiled. “Ah, but no. I’ll let you keep your secret for now. The other clones don’t need to know. Ying Lin, you can continue to be our disciple for a little longer.”

Retracting his qi, he turned back to the constructs. A second wave of constructs spawned, these ones much stronger than the first. Hui whirled his hand, and the ducks gathered up around him, bunching up into a thick swarm.

He laughed. “So then, future duck food… who wants to be eaten first?”