As long as I’m in the mortal realm and close by Starbound Sect… I’d be remiss if I didn’t check in on my children, Hui thought, nodding. He fixed his hems and nodded at Song Wei. “Thank you for caring for my… for me. I’ll be off now.”

Song Wei held out his hand. “Before you go… could I have Master’s seed again?”

Hui scowled. “What did I say about talking about it!” He rubbed his hands together, quickly forming a seed.

“Eh? Even between us?” Song Wei asked.

“Especially between us!” Hui insisted, nodding.

“But Master, I’m begging you. I need your seed—”

“Just—that’s—please, Song Wei,” Hui said, slapping the seed into his palm. “Please, just don’t talk about it.”

“En. Then, I’ll continue my research,” Song Wei said seriously.

Hui frowned. Research?

Eh, oh well. It probably isn’t important. He’s just studying how to grow the seed, right? That doesn’t seem that dangerous. I’ve made the lotus seeds more or less impotent. Aside from growing friendly lotus beasts, it isn’t going to cause serious harm, and I won’t say no to free bodies for myself.

Hui patted Song Wei on the shoulder. “Carry on, then. I’m off to see my children.”

Song Wei nodded. “Yes.”

He stepped out of the small room and found himself in familiar territory. Starbound Peak and its four subordinate peaks stood in close array, jutting up against a deep blue sky. Small clouds coiled around them, almost like dragons. Hui jumped up and flew off, leaving Song Wei behind.

Standing on the balcony of his room, Song Wei tucked his hands behind his back and gave a mysterious smile. “What Master’s waiting for… I’ll definitely bring it to life.”

--

Hui quickly disguised himself as Lao Gongren as he drew close to Starbound Sect again, using the old face of a Starbound Sect disciple and Starbound Sect robes to slip in with a group of disciples. Hovering above the peaks, he glanced around. Where are those troublesome brats of mine? Hopefully not causing problems again.

Across the sect, he sensed the qi signatures of Li Weiqi and Bai Xingxue. He flew over, hovering high in the air so they wouldn’t see him.

Zhubi sat in a tree, his hand on his chin. His hair draped over one shoulder and dangled down below his feet. Below him, Li Weiqi scowled. Go stones laid scattered over the ground around his feet.

Waving his finger at Li Weiqi, Zhubi shook his head tauntingly. He kicked his feet, just out of reach of the boy, a small smile on his face.

“Get down from that tree and face me like a man!” Li Weiqi demanded.

Zhubi shook his head. He flicked his forked tongue at Li Weiqi.

“You’re afraid, is that it?” Li Weiqi tried.

Zhubi rested his chin on his hand and looked down on him. He raised his eyebrows, unimpressed.

Hui shook his head. This child of mine still needs much tutelage in the art of imbuing others with heart demons. To give a heart-demon, first you must know the opponent’s weakness! Zhubi, like myself, has no fear of being called a coward! You can attack him all day for his cowardice, but it won’t make a single dent in Zhubi’s mental state.

Hmm, though maybe I should also impress upon him that one doesn’t give friendly rivals heart-demons.

In the near distance, a branch cracked. Hui craned his neck, peering over. The black-haired Bai Xingxue froze halfway up a tree, holding his breath. He stared at Zhubi, waiting to see if the snake beast reacted.

Zhubi started to glance over his shoulder.

“You aren’t even looking at me now? How much of a coward are you!” Li Weiqi shouted desperately.

With some effort, Zhubi stopped himself from looking over his shoulder and turned back to Li Weiqi, deliberately ignoring Bai Xingxue. He tilted his head at Li Weiqi.

Bai Xingxue hooked a leg over the branch, then scrambled up onto it. He jumped to the next branch, pulling up right behind Zhubi. He gestured at Li Weiqi, mouthing now!

Dropping to the ground, Li Weiqi snatched up a Go stone and fired it at Zhubi.

Zhubi lifted his hand and caught the stone with ease.

The second he was distracted, Bai Xingxue jumped at Zhubi from behind. Midair, his hair turned white, and ice condensed around her hands. She latched onto Zhubi with both arms and legs, holding her own wrists. The second she locked on, ice formed around her, sealing her and Zhubi together.

At the same instant, Li Weiqi fired another stone. Instinctively, Zhubi flinched back. His weight slipped toward his back. Eyes wide, he began to tip backward.

Bai Xingxue screamed in fear. Li Weiqi shouted, horrified.

Eh? A sixth-stage spirit beast—

But he’s in an unfamiliar body on a precarious perch, and he wasn’t expecting the attack! Argh, I have to step in! Hui swooped out of the sky. He grabbed Zhubi and Bai Xingxue out of the air and set them delicately on the ground. Frowning, he shook his head at Bai Xingxue. “Latching on like that? You’re risking your life unless your opponent is much weaker than you, and Zhubi isn’t! A magic-focused cultivator like yourself should hang back and attack from a distance! Doing a little damage at a distance is better than trying to do a lot up close and ending up dead!”

Bai Xingxue pouted. She twisted free of Zhubi and squirmed out of Hui’s grip. Scurrying to Li Weiqi’s side, she wrinkled her nose at Hui. “What do you know?”

“Yeah, what do you know?” Li Weiqi said.

“And you! You have weapon qi already. You should be fighting in melee combat!” Hui accused him, shaking his head in disappointment. Carefully, he set Zhubi on his feet.

“Whatever,” Li Weiqi muttered, rolling his eyes.

Hui shook his head. These children. “If Zhubi wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. Isn’t that right, Zhubi?”

Zhubi tilted his head. He paused, then nodded.

“You’re the instructor, right? How do you know him?” Bai Xingxue asked, nodding at Zhubi.

I’m… oh, right. I wore this face when I acted as an instructor. Hui put a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Zhubi and I are old friends.”

“Old friends… did you know our father?” Li Weiqi demanded.

I… well, one way or another, this face knows me. And I also know me, so that’s good. Hui nodded. “I knew him well. Zhubi was a close friend of his, too.”

“Is that why he’s allowed on Father’s mountain? But then, why aren’t we?” Li Weiqi asked.

Hui crossed his arms. “You aren’t strong enough.” Some of those traps I set up could kill you at this basically-mortal stage! You need to hit at least second… no, third realm before I can let you in!

“Not strong enough… everyone keeps saying that! How do I get stronger? How?” Li Weiqi snarled, stomping his foot.

“Hard work,” Hui said.

Li Weiqi wrinkled his nose. “Yuck.”

Yeah, fair enough. Hui chuckled. “Let me teach you a trick that should help you out. Here, sit down, sit down. Lotus pose.”

“I already know how to meditate,” Li Weiqi grumbled.

Bai Xingxue sat quickly. She nodded, looking earnestly at Hui.

Li Weiqi frowned at her. “Why…?”

She gestured him closer. He leaned in, confused. Lifting a hand to her lips, Bai Xingxue glanced at Hui, then whispered, “He’s an instructor. He has to be rich! If we get on his good side, maybe he’ll buy us haws!”

Hui barely resisted the urge to put his head in his hands. You know I can hear you, right?

Somewhat hesitantly, Li Weiqi lowered himself to a sit as well. He looked expectantly at Hui.

“Alright. Close your eyes. Sense the qi around you,” Hui instructed them.

“We know,” Li Weiqi muttered.

“Instead of drawing the qi into yourself, push all the qi out of yourself. Create a void. When that void is completely empty, and there’s nothing inside you, release your hold. All the qi will come rushing in all at once,” Hui said, resting his fingertips together.

Li Weiqi frowned. “That’s the opposite of what the teachers taught us.”

“Worth a try,” Bai Xingxue said, shrugging. Closing her eyes, she focused internally.

For a second, Li Weiqi frowned at her, but then he closed his eyes as well, unwilling to be left behind.

As the two focused, Hui called out to the qi around them. As usual, it reacted sluggishly, but at his realm, even his weak ability to draw qi stirred much more qi than either of the children could. He didn’t absorb it himself, but merely thickened the qi around them, preparing it for the children to absorb.

Bai Xingxue’s eyes opened first. She gasped, and qi rushed toward her, hurtling into her body. Hui quickly stood. “Circulate it. Guide it into your dantian and turn it, gathering it there.”

Bai Xingxue nodded. Her eyes shut, and she swapped to her male form again. The qi continued to rush in, this time into her male form’s dantian.

Beside her, Li Weiqi trembled. Sweat dripped down his face. Concerned, Hui walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder, gently sending a probe inside.

Li Weiqi trembled. Bright blue qi swirled inside him. It had already infiltrated his muscles and bones, almost impossible to expel. Will this work on him? Hui wondered.

No, no. It has to. “Leave the qi that’s ingrained in your body. That part isn’t important. You need to clear your qi vessels and passages of qi. Those are the parts to focus on,” Hui said.

Letting a slow breath out, Li Weiqi stopped trying to void all qi from his body. His focus renewed, he rapidly pressed out the last qi from his passages and vessels. Everything became empty. His body shook.

“Now. Let it in!” Hui urged him.

Li Weiqi let go. Qi surged at him from all around, flying into his body. Rather than directly guiding it into his dantian, he pressed the qi into his muscles, bones, and organs as it passed through, allowing only a small portion into his dantian.

Eh? Why… no. He’s following Li Xiang’s arts. Sword cultivators are practically a subset of body cultivators. Naturally, he needs to enhance his body if he’s going to be a sword cultivator. I shouldn’t correct him. He’s doing what’s right for his cultivation method, the same as Bai Xingxue had to swap forms to do the right thing for theirs. Nodding to himself, Hui retracted the probe and stepped back, letting Li Weiqi handle the influx of qi himself.

Looking over his two diligently cultivating children, Hui smiled. Wonderful. What progress we’ve made! And in such short time. He stood over them as their dao guardian, quietly setting up a thin barrier at the edge of the small clearing they stood in, so no one would interrupt them.

Just as he did so, a group of cultivators rushed up to him. Seeing the two children, they fell back respectfully. The leader gestured to Hui.

Curious, Hui moved to the barrier’s edge and gestured, indicating that he could hear her.

She leaned in. At a whisper, she informed him, “We have an infiltrator in the sect.”