As Hui slept, Jin Xian sat silently beside him. The ghoul’s body began to change, quietly but surely. Her teeth grew into fangs, and her finger and toenails became razor-sharp claws. The black blood and the puppet qi inside her swirled, growing stronger as well. Within the milky-white that coated her eyes, black and green lights chased one another, showing signs of life.

For a split second, her eyes cleared. A girl sat there, not a ghoul. She looked at Hui, her eyes cold, then turned away, facing toward the door. A silent promise was made in her heart, a silent, burning plan that could not be spoken or acted upon yet.

Time passed. Lying on the floor, Hui twitched. He blinked and sat up, then looked around. I fell asleep again?

Jin Xian looked at him. Pale white eyes blended into milky skin, lips a pale blue, her pitch-black straight hair tucked behind her ears the only contrast to the white.

He sat up. Throat dry, he croaked, “Wha… what happened?”

Jin Xian tipped her head.

“Right, you can’t talk.” He swallowed and rubbed his throat, wrinkling his nose. It smells like blood in here.

Smells like blood… Xi Guanxi… Hui looked at his hands, then touched his forehead. The petal mark emanated a faint heat and an aura of life qi.

Right. I came up with a new technique to surge my power… for a moment of escape! Hui sighed out, suddenly more relaxed. If I meet Xi Guanxi this time, I should be able to survive without having to sacrifice my body. Jin Xian can take my place, at last!

…Argh, this is the second time Jin Xian has stood over me! She’s supposed to take the place of my body, dammit, not fight after I ‘die!’

He looked at his hands, then at the door. Wait, hold on. I was supposed to go back to Fa Chuyou to get my ghoul-skin refined. I didn’t expect to fall into an enlightenment state and completely forget.

Hopefully she’ll forgive me for being a little late? Hui raised his hand toward the stone on his forehead, preparing to shed his skin.

“Hui! Xiao… Xie Hao! Get out here! The trials are about to start!” Bai Xue shouted.

Hand inches from the stone, Hui paused. He furrowed his brows. “The trials…?”

Hui’s eyes widened. “The trials!” Hui jumped upright and sprinted to the door, straightening his clothes as he ran. He reached back and gestured, and Jin Xian vanished into his storage ring.

I had no time to replenish my talismans. I have the new talisman, but… it expends life force. I’m only going to use it if my life is in danger and I have no other option. It’s a life-saving treasure, a last-ditch resort, not something I should use in battle.

For the most part, I still have plenty of talismans. It’s the heaven-defying technique imparted to me by Zhu Daiyu that I’m really missing out on by not replenishing my talismans.

Hui considered for a few moments, then shook his head. Oh well. It’s not as if I’m a true member of this demonic sect. I’ll enter the trial zone for my own fortune, but if things go badly, I’ll back out immediately. There’s no need to risk my life over some paltry trials.

“Xie Hao!” Bai Xue shouted again.

He stepped out of the vertebra and bowed to Bai Xue. “Please accept my apologies, Elder Brother. I got wrapped up in my work and lost track of time.”

Bai Xue swept his eyes over Hui. His eyebrows raised, and he nodded slightly. “Raising your cultivation to the brink of the fourth realm before entering the trial realm? Truly wise, Xie Hao.”

“Huh?” Hui sent his awareness internally, inspecting his cultivation. As Bai Xue said, it spun rapidly, brimming with qi. A wide, hollow space opened in his dantian, on the verge of solidifying. When did that happen? While I was in the midst of my enlightenment?

“Always so coy.” Bai Xue ruffled his hair, then drew his hand back and scowled at it. “It’s not as nice as your real hair.”

Sorry my disguise doesn’t have nice hair for you to ruffle! Hui muttered sarcastically in his heart. Outwardly, he ducked away from Bai Xue and pressed his lips together unwillingly.

Bai Xue nodded upward. “Hurry. Everyone else has already gathered. I ran back when I realized you weren’t among the disciples.”

Hui took off, racing up the vertebra. Bai Xue mounted his fan and swooped upward, keeping pace with Hui. Eyeing Bai Xue’s fan, Hui licked his lips. “Er, Elder Brother, would you mind lending this small cultivator some space on your fan?”

“I could,” Bai Xue said, eyes twinkling with mischief. “For the right price.”

Hui pressed his lips together. Locking his eyes on the snake’s skull, he sped up.

“Eh? Hui, ignoring your senior like that, how rude,” Bai Xue said.

“I’m afraid this small cultivator can’t afford Elder Brother’s price,” Hui replied flatly.

Bai Xue let out a cold snort. “This small Hui is a little too wise.”

Up the vertebra. The higher vertebra emanated fearful fluctuations from the caves dug into their sides. Hui ran past lightly, softening his footfalls so he ran silently, suppressing his qi so he emitted nearly no fluctuations.

A heavy bell tolled out over the sect. The sound blasted out, rippling through the air. Hui cowered against the vertebra as it vibrated under him, resonating with the bell.

“Ah… I wonder if you’ll make it in time. Once the bells begin to toll, the trials have been opened. When the toll of the final bell fades, the trials are closed for the next hundred years. The bells toll thrice, and thrice only,” Bai Xue yawned, glancing around.

Hui stared upward. Over a dozen vertebra stretched before him yet, each one longer than the last. A whole coil of the snake had yet to be run. He ran on, but he saw his defeat laid bare before him. Panting, he pushed himself to his top speed. The vertebra vanished under him, but so much laid ahead of him yet.

I won’t make it. Even at my fastest speed, I can’t make it.

The bell tolled a second time.

“Oh no. Looks like you won’t make it,” Bai Xue said, examining his nails.

“Don’t you want to enter the realm, too?” Hui snapped.

“I can still make it,” Bai Xue replied, grinning.

Hui grit his teeth. It’s just owing something to Bai Xue. Surely… surely…

I don’t want to owe anything to anyone, let alone that lascivious furnace! Dammit! Is there really no other option?

He touched the mark on his forehead, then lowered his hand. Owing Bai Xue is better than burning my life force. In the end, it’s only a favor. I’ll pay him back. I don’t want to miss the trial realms entirely! If I don’t take this chance now, another chance might not arise for another hundred years. In the end, I want to become powerful enough that no one can threaten my poor little life! If I pass this chance by… who knows when another one like it will come by?

Hui took a deep breath. “Bai Xue, I’ll…” He gnashed his teeth. His voice faded to a whisper. “I’ll… owe you one.”

“What was that?” Bai Xue asked, lifting his hand to his ear.

Hui glared. “Bai Xue!”

Grinning, Bai Xue swooped over. He snatched Hui up and zoomed into the air, darting toward the snake skull in a beam of light. The two shot through the snake’s maw, blasting past its fangs as the third bell rang. The sound echoed out, a physical wall of force that pushed even Bai Xue back. In the back of the snake’s gaping maw, a dark vortex swirled.

A young man stood before the dark vortex, straight hair flying on the air. He turned and looked at them. His eyes darted directly to Hui, and he smiled.

Yunxu! Hui realized, staring. Yunxu, that man who ran into me and Bai Xue long, long ago in the woods… is he…

“Excuse us, Sect Leader!” Bai Xue shouted. Pouring all his power out, he transformed into a blazing ball of fire and rushed toward the dark vortex.

No wonder his cultivation base is so terrifying! Hui ducked his head and huddled against Bai Xue, avoiding eye contact.

Yunxu chuckled and stepped aside. As they blasted past, a voice echoed in Hui’s ear. “You still owe me a favor.”

Fear chilled Hui to the core. His head snapped up, and for a moment, he made eye contact with Yunxu. The voice in the Blood Mist Valley? The one who loaned me his trapped gem, the gem that reversed the spell array?

The red gem shifted in his storage ring, rising toward the surface, as if called to Yunxu. Hui clasped his hand over the ring, holding it back.

Wait… then, is he… is Yunxu the boy from the illusion? Is that his ancestral home? Then he’s the one who was dreaming of that place that almost seemed like Earth, my home planet. And the gems, the red gems that swap people’s souls around, he was involved in those… he was the one who inverted the spell array. Then, Gu Tian was brought back by the Black Asp Sect Master—by Yunxu—with a different soul in him…

Is the Sect Master of the Black Asp Sect, Yunxu, swapping souls around? Hui’s eyes lit up as all the pieces fell into place.

A second later, his brows furrowed. But… why?

And why Gu Tian, a low-level cultivator from a righteous sect? Does he have some karma to settle with him? A horrible grudge? But he doesn’t seem to be treating Gu Tian poorly. Besides, who killed Gu Tian? Yunxu? But how would Yunxu get inside that secret realm? It belongs to the Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect. Master threw me inside, but still, I’m a disciple of a righteous sect. There’s no way they’d let a disciple of a demonic sect inside.

No, I’m still missing pieces.

The black void swallowed him and Bai Xue up as the bell finished tolling. A second later, it winked out, leaving Yunxu alone in the asp’s mouth.

He laughed, shaking his head at Hui and the expression of bewilderment written across his face. “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you? Ah, though… the final hint is…”

Yunxu turned his head. He stared out the asp’s mouth, far into the distance. Miles and miles away, so far no mortal’s eye would be able to see, Starbound Sect stood, directly in line with the asp’s open mouth. He let out a quiet snort and narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten.”