Exhausted, Healer returned to his peak. He rubbed his forehead and blinked, happy to see his simple palace. I’m so tired. Ceremonies, registrations, the repression of Gui Delun’s peak, ugh. I’m dead. I want to sleep. Really sleep, not just meditate. If I never see a wedding again, I’ll be happy.

Oh, wait. Peak Lord is…

At least that one’s not my problem. Hui swooped down toward his palace.

As he descended, a blast of light hurtled up at him. A mass of lotus beasts chased after it, rising up on long tendrils. At the sight of Hui, they sped up, herding the light toward him.

Hui sighed. She broke free again, didn’t she? He flicked his sleeve, forming a net of lotus fronds. It grew rapidly, spreading around the light. The light immediately slowed, but not fast enough. The woman’s body appeared a moment before she slammed into the net.

Hui closed his hand, and the net closed around her. Waving his hand, he called the now-netted woman over to him, and with another wave, cast the sound-proof barrier. With a deep sigh, he shook his head at her. “Elder Sister, would you believe me if I said it was a slip of the tongue, calling you a test subject? I really have no interest in torture or testing the way Liu Guang does, and I find what he does disgusting and horrific. In fact, I’m planning to kill that Senior. So what do you think? Do you still think I should die?”

She snarled at him. “I won’t believe a word you All-Heavens dogs say! You should all die!”

“Mmm, I agree,” Hui said.

“Death to All-Heavens! I’ll fight to my death!” she pledged.

“Yes, quite so,” Hui agreed.

“No matter what you offer me, I’ll never give in. I hate All-Heavens with my soul. If you kill me, I’ll curse you. Even if you dissipate my soul, I—”

“Yes, yes, Elder Sister. I agree,” Hui said, nodding.

She stopped. “Are you mocking me?”

Hui put his hands up. “No, no! I would never mock Elder Sister. No. It’s my earnest desire to destroy All-Heavens Sect, too.”

“Why? Someone who joined All-Heavens Sect…” her voice trailed off. A thoughtful expression crossed her face.

“I thought it might be easier to destroy it from the inside,” Hui explained, shrugging.

“Why?”

Hui looked at her. “Have you ever heard of Starbound Sect?”

She froze. “You, too?”

“Eh?” Hui asked.

“I’m from Starbound Sect. I was out on a mission when the sect was destroyed by All-Heavens. My name is Fan Hulian. And you?” she asked.

I never saw Elder Sister in the sect… but then, it’s not as if I spent a long time in the sect before I left. I couldn’t leave Master’s peak for a lot of it, and I wasn’t particularly close to my fellow disciples… if it wasn’t for owing everything to Starbound Sect, and for Li Xiang, I don’t know I’d be so devoted to bringing them back.

Hui cleared his throat. “Small disciple is… Weiheng Hui.”

Fan Hulian’s eyes widened. She blinked. “That… Weiheng Hui?”

Hui nodded. Yes, yes, the giant coward, the one who sullied the sect idol, I know—

“The one who ate the Sect Master’s ducks?” she asked, barely stifling a giggle.

Quack, went his dantian.

Surprised, Hui snorted. “Eh… yes. That Weiheng Hui.” Now that I think about it, if she wasn’t a fan of Li Xiang, and didn’t pay much attention to any of my battles in the sect, if she was the type to spend a lot of time out on quests for the sect, that… would be what I was famous for.

Pausing in her laughter, she squinted at him. “You don’t look like him.”

Hui glanced around, then drew at the snakeskin covering his face, revealing his true face. “I’m hiding my identity, Elder Sister.”

“Hmm… but if you can change faces that easily, can’t you also fake Weiheng Hui’s face?” she pointed out.

Hui thought to himself for a moment, taken aback. You know what, she’s right. I’ve spent so long pretending to be anyone but who I am, that I don’t know how to prove I am Weiheng Hui. Wait… I know. Replacing his snakeskin disguise, Hui flipped over his hand, calling forth a black death qi duck. “Do you remember this, Elder Sister!”

“Ah—those ducks! The ones that passed through the entire sect that one time,” Fan Hulian said, nodding. She paused. “That was you? Everyone was very concerned about—”

“Yes, yes. In any case, Elder Sister, we don’t need to dwell upon that,” Hui said, waving his hand.

“If you’re Weiheng Hui, why didn’t you say that immediately?” Fan Hulian asked.

Hui waved his hand. “In front of Liu Guang? We’d both be frozen in stasis right now if I did. Besides, you didn’t believe me now. Would you believe me then, when I was totally unable to prove myself?”

“Oh… that is fair,” she allowed.

Honestly, going back and forth like this… should I have identified myself immediately, or does she refuse to believe that I identified myself? Ah, oh well. At least she believes me now. Hui shook his head.

“I had to act villainous for that villain. I understand why Elder Sister got confused, but…” Hui shook his head. “You didn’t need to attack me so quickly.”

“If you’d been held in agony for months, would you hesitate to attack?” Fan Hulian asked, shaking her head.

“Yes,” Hui said honestly. I’d play dead and hope to be thrown out! After all, Liu Guang wants live test subjects, not dead bodies, and he admitted himself that his stasis isn’t perfect. It’s a long-game ploy, but ultimately, it’s a safer bet than attacking him. If I’m caught, then presumably he’s already defeated me once. I’m unlikely to be able to beat him again while injured from our previous fight that he defeated and captured me in, so I might as well try playing dead!

She blinked at him. He looked back at her.

“… You’re serious,” she said.

“I’m always serious,” Hui returned, nodding.

Fan Hulian stepped back. “You can release the net.”

He hesitated, then shrugged. I’m a higher realm than her. If she tries to attack or flee, I can easily stop her. I only didn’t the first time because of my finely honed death-faking instincts. He opened his hand, and the net unwound from around her.

Stretching, Fan Hulian looked around her. She nodded at him. “So… what is your plan?”

“I’m still set on taking down All-Heavens Sect. If you wish to contribute, then… continue playing the part of my test subject, and you can join me when I revive the sect and we attack.”

“Revive the sect? How? Oh—you mean recruit new disciples and rebuild the sect from the ground up?” she asked.

“Ah… close enough,” Hui said, shrugging. I don’t need someone who doesn’t know me questioning my methods right now. It’s righteous enough for me, and it ought to work. That’s all that matters. Once I bring back the sect, then people can argue over whether what I did was righteous or not. It’s like what Master always said. Ah, and Chen Wuya, for that matter. Righteous and demonic are labels applied after the fact. The person who wins gets to decide what is right, and what is evil.

“How are you going to do that from within All-Heavens Sect?” Fan Hulian asked.

“All-Heavens Sect and Starbound Sect cannot survive under the same heaven. For one to thrive, the other must die. This… is the only thing I agree with Gui Delun on,” Hui said quietly.

Fan Hulian took a deep breath. She nodded. “I understand.”

Ah, well, it’s nice to have such a simple understanding. In this world, it’s easy to declare a blood feud. Even something like declaring my intention to burn another sect to the ground is considered within reason.

Hui nodded at her. “Elder Sister, I’m very exhausted. Can we descend to the palace? I need to take a nap. At the very least.”

Fan Hulian nodded. “Of course. How should I address you from now on?”

Pausing, Hui thought for a moment. Already descended a pace or two in the air, he looked up at Fan Hulian. “If you want, call me Master. I’ll outwardly treat you as a disciple. If Liu Guang asks, insinuate that we’re only acting as if you’re my disciple because it would be too troublesome to explain the truth.”

“Understood,” Fan Hulian said.

We just married two people, and now we’ve taken on two new female disciples. What next? Two spirit beasts? Two seniors taking a shine to us? Hui sighed, descending lazily toward his palace. The lotus beasts rushed up to greet him. He fell into their arms and closed his eyes. “Carry me down to the palace.”

The lotus beasts chirped in response.

Fan Hulian looked at Hui, her brows faintly furrowed. This is the guy who ate the Sect Master’s ducks? That lowly second-stage disciple? He has an entire entourage of servant cultivators and has become a Peak Lord in All-Heavens Sect?

No… hold on. He was a second-stage disciple just a few years ago. Now I can’t fully sense his realm. He’s a higher realm than me. How many years have I cultivated, and yet he’s overcome all those years and surpassed me?

She looked at Hui with a different light in her eyes. Pursing her lips, she nodded slowly. So this is what it means to be a chosen child of heaven. I should have known that no cultivator bearing the surname of Weiheng would end up ordinary!