He looked back toward his quarters, then hesitated. Should I go back? Or will Elder Sister be waiting there to bully me…?

In my past life, home was always…

Hmm. Well, surely Elder Sister won’t be that vengeful? She didn’t strike me as someone totally without manners.

Hui gazed toward the village for another few moments, then turned away. You know what? Let’s not risk it.

He jumped into the air, flying away.

Across the city, the reaper looked up. She scoffed and turned away, ignoring him.

In the distance, Hui settled down in a blank piece of stone near the Underworld’s stony walls, then settled in to meditate. My children are safe and pursuing strength, the sect is looking for intruders… I think I can leave them for now. What I need to resolve first, before I reincarnate or anything else, is the resentment demons!

I created them. Fundamentally, they’re my problem. Just because Si Wang, a reaper, can easily handle them, doesn’t mean anyone else can. I don’t really have anything against them attacking Eight Tiers Palace—it’ll keep them distracted and too busy to kidnap my kids, if I’m lucky—but what if they decide to go after the Southern Sect Conference instead? It’ll be a bloodbath! Those resentment demons… they aren’t much stronger than fifth-realm cultivators, but the nature of resentment is such that you either need masterful control of death qi or the kinds of techniques that touch on laws of the world itself in order to handle them. Only ascendant or near-ascendent cultivators… that is, those at peak eighth stage and up, can use law-level techniques. Putting aside a certain duo of eccentric seniors, there aren’t many near-ascendant cultivators in the Southern Sect Conference.

On the other hand, the Southern Sect Conference does have an entire sect of death cultivators. Hmm, and I have a few friends among those cultivators. I should stop by and mention it to them next time I go back to the mortal world, see if I can teach them how to handle resentment. Just in case the resentment demons ever break through. Ah, it’s also a handy technique for manipulating all kinds of qi! Like rot qi, and the first time I used death qi, and…

Hui paused. Wait. Hold on. I can handle death qi with ordinary qi. I bet I could handle ordinary qi with death qi, if I use the same techniques, but backward. It’s not a sure thing, since death qi is the one that infects, and it’s what I’d have to use to manipulate the ordinary qi… but it’s worth a shot. The next time I enter the mortal world, I’ll give it a try.

In any case, I should handle the resentment demons before they become an actual problem. If not to dispel them, then at least to point them at the enemy, and make sure they disperse once their resentment is assuaged. Which means, it’s back to the mortal world with me!

He sent his consciousness upward. I’m not heading toward Starbound Sect. I need to launch myself toward the great wilderness of the other three cardinal sects. Since I left plenty of seeds along the way over there, I should be able to find a route that way.

Lights shone in the darkness, spread out in a dozen directions. The void behind him gaped. It didn’t draw, it merely waited, letting its hunger be known in an absolute kind of way. The hairs on Hui’s neck stood up. The overwhelming urge to look back struck him. He began to turn, only to halt himself forcibly. Whatever’s behind me is no good. Looking back can only lead to bad things, horrible things! This small Hui isn’t going to look back. Hurry, hurry…

Biting his lip, Hui quickly scanned the lights. His eyes landed on one of the further lights, and he threw himself for it. As long as it’s close enough!

The darkness zoomed past. As he moved, something scraped his back, something that whooshed by a hair’s breadth behind him. Hui flinched away even as he escaped. Er, er, there may be more to escaping the Underworld than merely slipping through the cracks! Whatever Elder Sibling is out there breathing down my neck, please let this little Hui pass! I’m not good, I’m not tasty at all!

He snapped into a seed. Sunlight poured down all around him, filtering through the forest’s leaves to nurture the dark lotus seed on the forest floor. A sprout emerged from the seed, spreading leaves to gather the sun.

Hey, hey. You aren’t even in water, so don’t germinate without me! Hui circulated his qi, forming a body from the seed. The sprout remained, bobbling from the top of his head.

Hui reached up to pluck the sprout. The second he began to pull, his entire body screamed in pain, pain more intense than he ever felt in a lotus body. Startled, Hui stopped. As soon as he no longer applied pressure to the sprout, the pain vanished.

“I’m not allowed to pluck it?” Hui queried the lotus seed. What? But this is… who’s going to take me seriously with a sprout on the top of my head?

The sprout swayed silently on the wind.

Hui sighed. Oh well. It’s not like I’m going to go lecture some disciples or something. If the cultivators I meet along the way fail to take me seriously, all the better! I don’t want to seriously fight. Not now, not ever!

He leaped up, soaring into the sky. In a moment, he pierced the canopy of the forest and looked down on it, slowly spinning.

He hovered over a narrow ravine between two peaks. On the other side of the mountain, a storm raged. All around, clouds gathered. Only here, beneath him, nestled in the safety of the ravine, did the forest flourish. Everywhere else, it grew sparse and thin, struggling against the thin light of the perpetually-clouded day.

Is this, beneath me… a sun-forest? The opposite of a rainforest, a forest growing in a small patch where the sun hits and it actually grows warm and bright enough for trees.

Ah, I suppose most rainforests are cloudy most of the time…but then, it’s a bit cold here for a rainforest. Too cold, and rain too dense, except in this small sheltered space. I wonder why no one’s settled here…?

The trees shook, then parted. A massive monkey peered inquisitively up at him. At least twenty meters tall, it narrowed its eyes. A wave of aggression washed over Hui. Hui flinched back, startled. So that’s why! And he doesn’t seem to like people. But… I’m not just people. At least, not right now. He called out his qi and circulated it through his plant body, exuding as much plant-like aura as he could. I’m just a plant. Never mind me!

The monkey peered at him, then chittered under its breath and turned away. The forest closed in behind it, and it vanished.

Hui breathed a sigh in relief. He cupped his hands to the monkey’s back. Thank goodness! I have no quarrel with mysterious spirit beasts. Other cultivators might dare to catch you, but not this small cultivator! The thing I value the most is my precious life. I’m not going to risk it chasing a goose—ahem, monkey, like you! It’s so good that Senior can see the truth of peaceably letting others live.

Soaring higher, and casually drifting a bit away from the forest, Hui lifted a hand, searching for the mountains that ringed the Eight Tiers Palace. In the distance, a behemoth mountain blocked off his view. He peered closer, then nodded. That must be it. Let’s go!