Hui’s vision faded as he flew up. The last thing he saw was the snake ancestor, settling back down in her throne. His vision went black.

White. Blinding white.

Hui threw his hands out and barely saved his face before he slammed into the skeleton. He bounced and spun, rolling away down the top of the snake’s skull. After a few bounces, he slammed his feet down and bounced upright. Hui brushed his robes down and looked around casually.

Other disciples stood around on the skull. Some, just emerged from the realm like them, had bloodstains or dirt on their robes and mussed hair. Others stood around, pristine, simply watchers-on. Among the watchers-on, Hui caught sight of Fa Chuyou and nodded.

She huffed and turned away.

Eh? Elder Sister, why…

Wait! I know! I told her she could refine my skin, and then vanished for a month! Elder Sister, I’m so sorry!

Mmm, it’s fine. The gift from the snake ancestor’s skin should help her forgive me. Probably.

Hui bit his lip, then shivered. Argh! I’m so sorry, Elder Sister! Please don’t punish this small cultivator for being late with his loan payment—ahem, coming to you to get his skin refined!

“The realm is now closed,” Erlan proclaimed.

Hui jumped, startled, and stared around him. At last, he caught sight of Erlan, hovering overhead on his calligraphy brush.

Erlan looked down at Hui and gave a doting smile, as if glad to see the disciple he’d scouted grow. He lifted his hand to his chin and scanned his eyes over Hui, as if he could see every detail of Hui from the inside out.

Again, a shiver crawled down Hui’s spine. He inched away, casting about for Bai Xue. Elder Sister, help! This small cultivator is in danger…

No, no. Calm down, Hui. Yunxu, the Sect Master, knows I’m here. If he’s okay with it, then Erlan, who calls him Your Eminence, surely knows as well. If… they both know, then… then, does that mean…

Wait, what does that mean? I don’t know! Someone tell this small cultivator!

The cultivators around Hui began whispering. Hui glanced around, listening in.

“Where’s Xi Guanxi? He entered this year, didn’t he?”

“After Xi Guping vanished in Blood Mist Valley, now Xi Guanxi vanishes in the trial realm as well? Is the Xi Clan cursed?”

“Does someone here bear a grudge against the Xi Clan?”

Hui licked his lips and attempted to fade into the background. It’s not that this small cultivator bears a grudge against the Xi Clan, it’s that their technique is just too dangerous! And anyways, this time it’s Xi Guanxi who came after me, not the reverse, okay? Leave this small cultivator alone. It’s a coincidence, all a coincidence!

Someone grabbed ahold of Hui’s shoulder. Hui jumped, startled.

“Feeling guilty?” Bai Xue asked, grinning.

“No, no, of course not,” Hui said, a little too fast.

“Of course. You’re not the kind to hold a grudge,” Bai Xue said, still grinning.

“Bai Xue!” Hui complained, narrowing his eyes. He struggled free of Bai Xue’s grip.

His ears prickled again as his name came up in the whispers around him. Hui went still, listening.

“Hong Xue and Xie Hao? Again? Those two…”

“I’m for it, I’m for it! It’s very sweet!”

“Eh, not you too. We already have Fa Chuyou…”

“But what about Jing Aimei?”

“Jing Aimei? What about Jing Aimei? What beauty hasn’t Hong Xue hit on, by this point? If she isn’t okay with it, she’d have dumped him long ago!”

Bai Xue draped himself over Hui’s shoulders again. “Shhh, don’t listen. They’re jealous, that’s all.”

Once again, Hui extricated himself. “Hong Xue, show some restraint. We’re in public.”

“Eh? Does that mean… I don’t have to show restraint in private?” Bai Xue murmured.

Hui scowled and elbowed him in the gut.

Erlan cleared his throat. The disciples instantly fell silent. Casting his gaze over the disciples, his eyes settled on three of them: Bai Xue, Liu Baozhai, and finally… Hui. After a moment, he drew his eyes away and looked at all of them together.

“To everyone who passed the trial realm, congratulations. Once again, unfortunately, no one has obtained the true inheritance. Therefore, in two hundred years—”

As Erlan spoke, a dry cracking sound rang out. The air shuddered, then suddenly dried up. No more blood qi emanated from the skeleton. The skeleton trembled underfoot, then fractured. A crack ran from the tip of its skull all the way down to its 108th vertebra.

Erlan’s eyes widened. “This, this… The inheritance hasn’t been received, but the realm was damaged to this extent?”

Hui licked his lips nervously. He almost took a step back, but forced himself to stop at the last second. Don’t move now, Hui! They’ll know it was you!

Bai Xue furrowed his brows. “Did something happen in the realm?”

“Er… probably nothing,” Hui said. Bai Xue doesn’t know?

Wait! I took a long time in that realm. Maybe… all the other cultivators had moved on ahead of me, into the next realm! Then they’d have no idea what happened to the blood qi sea!

Hmm, speaking of, I need to feed the blood qi duck some blood qi later. I certainly have plenty, and I haven’t cultivated that poor duck at all lately.

Though… most of all, I need life qi! Life qi, life qi, why is it so hard to cultivate life qi?

Bai Xue glanced at Hui. “Hui, when we went to the Blood Mist Valley, the blood mist suddenly vanished.”

Hui coughed. “That… yes.”

“And now we enter the trial realm, and the skeleton suddenly… fractures?”

“Uh… what a coincidence?” Hui tried.

Bai Xue put a hand to his chin. “Come to think of it, back when we entered the Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect’s hidden realm, it collapsed early, too.”

“Certainly… it’s, ah… a mystery,” Hui said, licking his lips.

“Xiao Hui, don’t take this the wrong way, but when I get back to my Clan, I’m banning you from all my Clan’s hidden and secret realms.”

Hui sighed, but didn’t fight it. It’s… that’s, probably fair…

Erlan cleared his throat and continued. “In a short time, we will send a few disciples on a… diplomatic mission to Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect. Those who passed the trials have first precedence on the mission!”

Bai Xue clicked his tongue. “I’m almost done tormenting Zhang Zhou. I don’t need to waste my time on a diplomatic mission. More than that, I don’t need my face associated with a demonic sect. I’ll pass.”

“Me as well, I…” Hui paused. Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect. The ones who attacked my sect with qi seeds! They’re working with a demonic sect? Ah! It’s all coming together! Isn’t this my chance to discover the truth behind that incident, once and for all? I should go, I should go!

And… of course… qi seeds! Qi seeds! Life qi, right when I need it! If they have more qi seeds, then this small cultivator will never worry about qi again! My death qi is full, my qi is high, I now have a ridiculous reserve of blood qi that I can’t even properly use… life qi, here I come!

Hui coughed. “That is… I should probably go.”

“Oh? Well, if so… when I leave, is there anything you want me to… take home?”

“Eh?” Hui asked.

Bai Xue nodded. He struck a heroic pose, eyes sparkling with determination. “Think about it. I might as well steal something when I go, right? Am I even a right—demonic cultivator if I don’t commit theft against a demonic sect?”

“Elder Sister, I have no idea what to say to that,” Hui said flatly.

“You don’t have to decide now. Think on it, think on it.”

Above them, Erlan continued to speak for a time, but most of the disciples around them began to chatter in low voices, the same as Hui and Bai Xue. At last, conscious that he’d been ignored, he cleared his throat and threw his hand out. “With that… dismissed.”