Words flashed through his mind. Xixing’s voice, echoing over time and space to sound in his ears once more.

Undead cultivators… I wouldn’t fight one unless I had an entire realm on them. They negate our magic and techniques—our qi splashes off them like water, it can’t even damage them.

Hui’s eyes lit up. He threw all his death qi out in front of him. A wave of black ducks rushed at the wind blade, wings snapping at the air, letting out a quack to shake the heavens. A massive boom rang out as they impacted with the wind blade.

Black smoke and dust billowed. For a breath, Hui couldn’t see anything. Then the black smoke cleared. Only a few ducks remained, the rest dissipated with the black smoke. The wind blade continued to rush at him, uninterrupted.

Unless I had an entire realm on them… entire realm on them… entire realm…

Hui swallowed. Ah. Right. I’m so many realms under Sect Master Mu. My death qi is unable to overturn heavens on its own!

As his life rushed before his eyes, Hui felt intense regret. His body shivered, and he frowned. I need more playing-dead techniques! If I had a teleporting one, or a faster escape technique for my skin technique, or if I had a body-puppet or clone who could get killed in my place…

The wind blade filled up his entire vision. Wind sliced at his face, hair, and robes, pushed along ahead of the wind blade. There wasn’t even time to play dead.

Ah… if only…

A bolt of gold lightning flashed from the heavens. Thunder rolled out, loud as a toppled mountain. When it cleared, the wind blade was gone. As if to impress upon all who saw it how dominating it was, the lightning bolt flashed once more, then dissipated.

“Who dares lay a hand upon my disciple?”

Weiheng Wu towered over both Lan Taijian and Sect Master Mu. Arms clasped behind him, he wore a thunderous expression, hair and pure-white ribbon dancing in the wind. Lightning flickered around him, sparking spontaneously in the air.

Sect Master Mu stared. His lips moved, and barely, Hui made out: “A mere sixth-stage cultivator… I used less than a breath’s worth of qi, but he still—?”

“Master!” Hui shouted joyfully. Relief flooded his heart. He stepped toward Weiheng Wu. Earnestly, from the bottom of his heart with no reservations, he thought, I’m so fortunate Master picked me as his disciple!

A heavy thrum rang out, and Sect Master Lan appeared from a bolt of light. He frowned at Sect Master Mu. “Did you attempt to kill one of my disciples in my sect?”

“Only after he crippled one of mine,” Sect Master Mu replied evenly.

“After he infected our disciples with qi seeds!” Li Xiang interjected, unable to hold back any longer.

Sect Master Lan frowned at Sect Master Mu.

“A long-extinct demonic plant? It’s a wild story,” Sect Master Mu said dismissively, waving his hand.

“Li Xiang cannot tell lies,” Sect Master Lan replied.

“She’s been deceived by that… disciple over there. She doesn’t know she speaks lies.” Sect Master Mu flicked his sleeve at Hui.

All eyes fell on Hui. Only Weiheng Wu’s remained unclouded and firm.

Hui cast a glare at Ding Bo, who stared blankly at his missing leg. He scowled. Ugh, inheriting disciples are such trouble!

“Honorable Sect Masters, if these disciples could speak?”

A group of cultivators approached the gathering, heads bowed and hands cupped. Hui blinked, then recognized them: the cultivators from the square. The first ones he’d healed.

“Speak,” Sect Master Lan said.

Sect Master Mu glared fiercely. An enormous pressure crashed toward the disciples.

Sect Master Lan waved his hand. Purple strands of mist reached up from the ground and wove into a dome over the disciples. Sect Master Mu’s pressure bounced harmlessly off the dome, unable to harm them.

The lead disciple, the Jade Garden Peak disciple from earlier, swallowed. He cast a nervous look at Sect Master Mu, then hesitantly began, growing more confident as he spoke. “We… we were there. Ding Bo infected us without our knowledge during a spar he pressured us into. Weiheng Hui healed us. He is blameless in this matter, unlike Ding Bo.”

Lounging in the back of the pack, Su Yan cocked his head back. “He openly admitted he was fighting for demonic cultivators. He needs to be destroyed.”

Before the overwhelming evidence, Sect Master Mu was silent. Suddenly, he whirled and glared at Ding Bo. “You dare?”

Ding Bo lowered his head. His expression remained as wooden as ever.

Sect Master Mu pointed a finger at Ding Bo. A thin beam of light burst out from the tip of his finger and penetrated Ding Bo’s head. He stared dumbly for a second, and then his head exploded in a shower of blood and flesh.

Hui took a step back, startled. His own disciple… like that? The cultivation world is… He shook his head, watching as Ding Bo’s body thumped to the earth.

Suddenly, Hui’s brows furrowed. Huh? Eh? Wait a second…

“Allow me to offer my apologies,” Sect Master Mu said, voice icy cold. He flicked his sleeve again, revealing a small golden brazier about the size of a palm. A green mist emanated from the brazier spread out through Starbound Peak. In the space of five breaths, the mist drew all the Mysterious Heavenly Forest disciples behind Sect Master Mu, forming a cloud beneath their feet. With a flick of his sleeve, Ding Bo’s body lifted off the ground and laid limply in the mist.

“Stay a while. I have a great many questions for Sect Master Mu,” Sect Master Lan said. His expression remained one of a lofty immortal, but his eyes burned with vicious anger.

Hui nodded to himself, hand on his chin. Of course Sect Master Lan is upset. A crisis that could overtake the entire cultivation world almost began in his sect, thanks to Ding Bo. If I hadn’t been here to detect it, would there have been a future for our sect? To think, all those disciples, including Li Xiang, infected with qi seeds… Whether Ding Bo had his Sect Master’s approval or not, this is a serious matter. If he didn’t, Sect Master Mu is concerningly weak. If he did…

If he did, it wouldn’t be unexpected if we went to war!

A shiver crept down Hui’s back. Go to war? This small cultivator? Never! I’m unwilling! Even if it’s easy to play dead in a war, you have to suffer, be injured, feel pain, skip eating, fight, earn valor… leave me out of it! I want to enjoy a placid life, playing around in the sect, making friends with beauties!

Valor, pshaw! Glory, ptui! This small cultivator needs none of it! Give me peaceful times and an easy life, any day!

“Out of shame for what my disciple has done, please allow me to retreat,” Sect Master Mu said. A stormy expression warned that he would not take no for an answer.

Pressure built between the two Sect Masters. Sparks flashed where their auras met. Behind Sect Master Mu, the weaker members of his sect collapsed. The higher-tier cultivators trembled, knees shaking.

Heavy weight fell on Hui’s shoulders. Hui dropped to a knee, unable to bear the weight. The other cultivators on the mountain trembled or fell. Only Li Xiang and Su Yan managed to stay upright of the lower-tier cultivators. Lan Taijian and Weiheng Wu showed no expression on their faces.

Weiheng Wu made a small gesture, and the pressure lifted off Hui. Hui stood upright, coolly brushing off his robes as though nothing had happened.

Sect Master Lan flicked his sleeve. A pitch black sword appeared in his hand, dotted with spots of silver like the midnight sky. As he moved his hand, the stars in the sword shifted, as though his sword held infinity within it. It exuded a heavy pressure of its own, almost as weighty as the Sect Master’s own pressure.

One of the disciples near Hui gasped. “Starbound Sword? The sword the Sect Master forged from a fallen piece of the Heavens?”

Opposite him, Sect Master Mu drew his wooden sword. The mysterious light swirled thickly in a rainbow of colors. The green mist retreated, giving them space.

Sect Master Lan slashed. A wave of black void rushed at Sect Master Mu. Narrowing his eyes, Sect Master Mu struck downward viciously. A beam of prismatic light smashed into Sect Master Lan’s void.

The void broke through. It rushed at Sect Master Mu.

Clicking his tongue, Sect Master Mu summoned a palm-sized wooden shield from his sleeve. Scarred and worn, the shield bore an ancient air. In the space of a breath, the shield grew ten meters tall and wide. The void wave smashed into the shield, cutting a gash across the shield’s center. The shield trembled, then spiraled back into Sect Master Mu’s sleeve, growing smaller as it fell.

Even as the shield fell, Sect Master Mu threw a sprout at Sect Master Lan. The sprout grew, instantly bursting into a stem, then a tree. Twisted and wrinkled, branches reaching like gnarled arms, it gave off a bizarre aura. The roots jabbed downward and the branches climbed up, twining together to net in the sky and the earth.

Sect Master Lan narrowed his eyes and pointed the sword at the tree. A starlight-colored sword beam rushed from the tip of his blade toward the tree. The beam blasted a hole in the tree. It wavered. Silver light rushed through it from the inside, beaming out from the gnarled strands of the tree’s bark.

All at once, the tree exploded. Bark and fragments of branches flew everywhere. Hui jumped and shieled Li Xiang. Ignoring him, she stepped forward. Her sword danced like rain, and the branches fell aside, not so much as scraping her flesh.

“Sect Master Mu? Sect Master Lan? What’s going on?”

The last two sect representatives appeared over the mountain. The Azure Fang sect master frowned, wiping liquor from her lips, while the silver-robed merchant stared around, bug-eyed and nervous.

In that instant, Sect Master Mu whirled and rushed off, carrying the rest of his disciples after him. The green mist blocked out the shape of Sect Master Mu.

Sect Master Lan frowned. He drew back his sword, then hesitated. After a moment, he lowered it, then flicked it back into his sleeve and retracted his pressure.

Right, no matter how angry he is, Sect Master Lan is still the master of a sect. If he attacks Sect Master Mu right now, he’ll injure the Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect disciples. How could a righteous sect stand up and claim to be righteous after destroying so many lower-level innocents of another righteous sect?

Even if he were to defeat Sect Master Mu, Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect has Grandmasters and other high-tier cultivators. Defeating the Sect Master would force them to come after us to prevent other sects from seeing them as weak and snapping them up. And then—what I don’t want! Our sects would fight each other to extermination. War!

Hui nodded sagely. Good call, Sect Master, good call!

The Azure Fang Sect Master took another swig of alcohol and glanced at Sect Master Lan. “Eh? Did I interrupt something?”

The silver-robed cultivator from Silk Heart Sect rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Under his breath, he muttered, “Where’s Sect Master Golden Merchant when you need her?”

Hui whipped around. Could elder expert please repeat that? Sect Master Golden Merchant? Don’t tell me, the Golden Merchant from the last Bai Clan banquet?

Wait, the all-silver theme… er, let this small disciple hazard a guess. Are you the Silver Merchant?

“So… why’d Sect Master Mu leave?” the Azure Fang Sect Master asked, glancing at Sect Master Lan.

Sect Master Lan let out a heavy sigh.