A burst of green qi swept through the cultivators outside the barrier. It smashed into the barrier and shattered the first layer. Hui jumped and summoned another handful of barrier talismans to his hand, ready to throw them at the slightest provocation.

Huang Yan stepped out of the crowd of attacking cultivators. Though she wore black, she made no effort to hide her cultivation base’s fluctuations or the wood-element nature of her qi. “Stop wasting your time on that ghoul. Crush those fools and break the barrier!”

At her words, the attacking cultivators fell back from Jin Xian and charged at the narrow line of cultivators outside the barrier. Jin Xian attacked them as they turned, but couldn’t move fast enough to attack them all. Huang Yan charged up at her, lotuses blooming under her feet. She struck hard at Jin Xian, forcing Jin Xian back for the first time. Jin Xian snarled and bared her fangs at Huang Yan.

Huang Yan drew her sword. She took a breath and advanced toward Jin Xian. “Fragrant blossoms, unleash your fangs. Five Steps, Five Flowers!”

Wait, she’s a flower cultivator, but she couldn’t see the lotus beauty? Hui frowned, confused.

She stepped forward again. A lily bloomed beneath her feet. At the same time, she slashed out with her sword. The blade danced in the shape of a lily’s petal, and gouged out a chunk of Jin Xian’s flesh. Jin Xian fell back, but Huang Yan took another step and appeared directly in front of her. A peony appeared beneath her feet, and her blade lashed out again. In three more steps, a plum blossom, an orchid, and a resplendent white lotus, as incomparable to the ones that had supported her before as the Heavens are to Earth, appeared beneath her feet. At the same time, three savage sword attacks bit into Jin Xian. Bone poked through Jin Xian’s slashed flesh. Black blood poured down, soaking her robes. She snarled at Huang Yan and moved to counterattack.

Ah, I see. She’s a sword cultivator who uses a flower-adjacent style. That makes more sense, Hui thought, putting a hand on his chin.

Huang Yan slashed her sword backward. Black blood splashed over the flowers. As it did, the flowers rapidly bloomed to their most resplendent, then withered. Correspondingly, a withering power poured into Jin Xian’s wounds. In the space of a breath, Jin Xian appeared as no more than a withered corpse, dried up and wrinkled.

Hui put his hand over his right eye and threw himself into Jin Xian. Her pain slammed into him, rattling his mind. He nearly severed the connection on instinct, but managed to hold himself back. If I don’t step in, I’ll lose Jin Xian!

Jin Xian snarled. Ravenous hunger welled up inside her. All her prey had been robbed from her, the meal she’d just eaten ripped away, and she wanted revenge. She drew on her last remaining power, ready to throw herself at Huang Yan in a suicidal attack.

No, no! Now is not the time! Hui repressed her instincts and forced her to lay still. She plummeted toward the ground, away from Huang Yan.

Huang Yan snorted. She darted after Jin Xian, already slashing with her sword. “You’ve overestimated yourself, thinking you alone can betray your sect and my sect and escape alive. You’ll die a dog’s death here, under my sword.”

The sword pierced Jin Xian, and in that moment, Hui released her savage instincts and stepped away. Jin Xian surged at Huang Yan, eyes glowing with vicious light. Huang Yan darted back, eyes flying wide.

Blood flew, splurting over Huang Yan’s robes. She clasped a hand to her neck, startled. Blood ran between her fingers, pouring rivulets down the back of her hand.

Jin Xian chomped a bit of flesh a few times, then swallowed in evident satisfaction. Her shriveled-up body began to recover, desiccated flesh regaining some of its plumpness.

Huang Yan’s eyes burned with hatred. “You—you dare?”

In response, Jin Xian opened her mouth and laughed, revealing her bloodstained teeth.

A chill ran down Hui’s spine. Er… Elder Sister, could you… try to tone it down a bit? We’re righteous cultivators, righteous! We don’t… eat people…

The images of Jin Xian bloodily tearing into cultivator after cultivator replayed in his mind. A little voice in the back of his head replied, A bit late for that one.

Hui grit his teeth. Ah, dammit! It’s fine. They deserve it! They’re the evil ones. Not me!

Jin Xian rushed at Huang Yan. The two crashed into each other, rapidly exchanging blows. Huang Yan landed blow after blow on Jin Xian, but Jin Xian shrugged them off. On the other hand, every time Jin Xian drew blood, she absorbed it into herself. Slowly, her body plumped, fighting off the withering. Although they appeared evenly matched, Jin Xian slowly gained on Huang Yan, while Huang Yan accumulated wounds and fatigue.

Outside the barrier, the cultivators fell back. Although the ones who could fight against the seal were the most powerful of the three sects, there weren’t many of them in comparison to the dozens of Black Asp Sect and Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect cultivators. Blood coursed down Li Xiang’s arms. Beside her, a cultivator desperately wafted incense over their giant tiger to heal a huge gash in its back, and to her other side, a cultivator in fine silks tossed back a handful of pills and regrew his missing leg. A bloodied cultivator with wild eyes charged into the midst of the attackers. They charged deep into the attackers, attacking wildly. Two of the attackers fell before one of the attackers unleashed a bizarre wave of darkness that fell over the cultivator. Their bones rattled out the other end, aged and ancient. All over, the cultivators were wounded and desperate, on their last legs.

Hui cast a glance upward. Did it not work? Did I fail? He looked outside the barrier and licked his lips. I could go out and join them, but… but I’d only have my talismans! With such a low cultivation base, if a single attack hit me, even an ordinary physical blow, I’d be nothing but blood mist in the air! Forget playing dead, I’d directly become dead! No, no, no!

He walked up to the edge of the barrier and touched it. His hand met solid, hard barrier. I can’t throw talismans from within the barrier, either.

Though… what a thought! I need to make a one-way permeable barrier, the next time I get a chance!

…If I get another chance.

In that moment, silver light slashed through the black ink. The black ink struggled to heal itself. The silver light burned, and the black sky shattered, breaking apart into pieces that fell apart until they were as small as flower petals. Instantly, the cultivation bases of the righteous cultivators in the hollow surged. They charged toward the barrier, eager to join the fight. Not wanting to hold anyone back, Hui quickly made a hand sign and canceled the barrier, and the cultivators charged into battle.

Hui cheered, for once excited to see Lan Taijian. When you can’t beat them straightforwardly… clutch the golden thigh, no matter how hideous it is! We peons don’t need to face this traitorous attack alone!

Glancing around at all the other cultivators charging, Hui charged as well, but a bit slowly. Hanging in the back of the pack, he stood on his tiptoes to see the battle and threw talismans into the thick of things, aiming the attacks at the Mysterious Heavenly Forest and Black Asp Sects’ disciples.

Lan Taijian hurtled from the sky and landed among them, flanked by a woman riding a terrifying lizard, the representative from Azure Fang, and a man dressed in all silver from Silk Heart Sect. He cast a dangerous glare across the field and harrumphed. Throwing his hand out, he cast his sword into the battlefield. Every cultivator his sword touched toppled, unable to stand up to someone at his tier.

The instant Lan Taijian landed, a cold laugh sounded out from behind the demonic cultivators. Erlan stepped into the field, drawing not a sword but a brush. He swiped the brush at Lan Taijian, sending a glob of ink flying at the man. Lan Taijian held out his hand, and his sword thumped into his palm. He slashed at the ink, cutting it in two. It fell apart and splashed over the ground, instantly eating into the earth. He and Erlan leaped into the air and began to duel, ignoring the disciples below.

The other two representatives continued to smash their way through the lower-level disciples, unhindered. The female representative from Azure Fang sent forth her lizard, which belched blue flames into the disciples, roasting their skin to ash. In the other half of the battlefield, the silver-clothed representative from Silk Heart Sect showed no powerful magics of his own, but produced a seemingly endless stream of magical items, each one of which had shocking power and exploded into mysterious magics with strange effects. He waved a flower, and a Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect disciple turned directly into a tree. Discarding the flower, he drew a tiny pavilion from his bag of holding, and a dozen disciples vanished, only to reappear in miniature in the tiny pavilion.

Suddenly, the forest shook. The trees all around them trembled. The wooden floor began to break apart, branches unwinding. Sect Master Mu appeared overhead, hair floating on the wind. He glared down at them. “You dare to cause trouble in my sect?”