Hui and Li Xiang blasted out of the dark void alongside a handful of fellow disciples, all of them with their hair bedraggled and their robes in disarray. Before they even had the time to look around and fix their robes, a ferocious explosion shattered the air. Silvery light shimmered over the sect, then dissipated, a hole gaping bigger like a popping bubble in slow motion. Even as it opened, All-Heavens disciples in white and gold poured in. In white hemmed in black, the Starbound Sect cultivators rushed to meet them. From a distance, it would be impossible to discern the two forces, as if the sect attacked itself!

Hui stared. “It… hasn’t been a month, has it?” I thought it would take a month for Gui Delun to return to his sect, let alone to return, gather forces, and come back here. What happened?

“Treacherous All-Heavens Sect! You dare?” Sect Master Lan roared, charging into battle. He swung at the encroaching disciples, sword glowing with blinding light.

Gui Delun flashed in front of him. He deflected the Sect Master’s sword with the back of his hand, allowing the All-Heavens disciples to continue to flow in. Starbound disciples raced up to meet them, and the two forces clashed with a thunderous sound.

“Is it against the rules to call upon our allies’ teleportation portals to demolish a demonic sect?” Gui Delun replied coldly.

“You—which was it? Azure Fang? Silk Heart?” Sect Master Lan snarled.

Gui Delun sighed. “Naturally, all righteous sects stand allied against a treacherous demonic sect in their midst!”

Sect Master Lan’s eyes widened. After a second, he snarled. “Traitors! All of them, traitors!”

Hui’s eyes widened as well. The other sects couldn’t refuse All-Heavens Sect to this extent? Master was right. I couldn’t possibly stand up to a force like this alone!

“A demonic sect dares call righteous sects traitors? You betrayed us first, when you turned away from the path of righteousness and became a demonic sect!” Gui Delun shook his head and tutted.

“Became a demonic—explain yourself, Gui Delun!”

Down below, spells slammed into one another. Brilliant light burst out as spells were launched, countered, destroyed. Starbound Sect sword cultivators sliced through the All-Heavens vanguard like a hot knife through butter, only for the All-Heavens vanguard to turn about and pincer them from both sides. All-Heavens and Starbound Sect cultivators tumbled from the sky one after another. When the two struck the ground, the survivors, knocked from the sky, battled ferociously despite whatever wounds they had.

Gui Delun jabbed his hand out, pointing into open space. “The soul transferal array, the one you supposedly destroyed down to the roots of the very mountain it stood upon. It isn’t gone at all, is it?”

“Such an accusation… do you have any proof?” Sect Master Lan gritted through clenched teeth.

In response, Gui Delun charged forward, toward the place he’d pointed. Sect Master Lan stepped into his way, barring his path with his sword.

“Sect Master Lan. You can end this all by proving your innocence, in this moment,” Gui Delun said, raising an eyebrow.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t have brought an army,” Sect Master Lan snapped. He slashed at Gui Delun, who stepped back.

In the sky, fourth stage disciples clashed. A few fifth stage All-Heavens disciples charged out of the army, only to be met by Starbound Sect’s Peak Lords. Lan Taijian took the lead, blazing into battle with a flash of swordlight. With one sweep of his sword, he severed one of the fifth-stage cultivators and ten fourth-stage cultivators standing too close by his target. Jade Garden Peak came to life, as bizarre plants surged into the sky, plucking cultivators off their swords to crush them below. The Butterfly Pavilion Peak Lord raised her pipe to her lips and blew. A strange, multicolored fog blew from her pipe toward a group of All-Heavens disciples, and when it passed, only bones remained. The Cauldron Lord threw out pills toward the enemy which detonated or released clouds of noxious fumes, while simultaneously tossing pills toward the Starbound cultivators that temporarily increased their cultivation or healed their wounds. The pitch of the fighting instantly intensified as the Peak Lords went all out.

Hui bit his lip. He touched the bird charm. If only Master was here, then…

No response. The bird charm laid cold and silent under his hand.

Lan Taijian scowled at Hui. “I forced you in there, and you escaped in days? This… dammit, you were supposed to stay in there with Li Xiang until this was all over! All my plans, gone to waste!”

Hui blinked. Eh? Wait, was Lan Taijian trying to trap me and Li Xiang in the realm? Me… I’m probably a coincidence, but Li Xiang… if he sent her in there with the expectation she’d be trapped for years, if not decades or centuries, and skip the fighting, then…

Then, doesn’t that mean Lan Taijan knew about her soul being swapped?

“Xiao Hui,” Li Xiang said, looking at him.

Hui nodded. He drew his own sword and stepped onto it, and Li Xiang shot into battle. A second later, Hui followed behind Li Xiang, flicking talismans into his hands. He threw them out ahead of Li Xiang, carving an opening in the All-Heavens line that she charged into. Her sword flashed left and right. All-Heavens disciples’ blood flew all around her, a bloody tempest that never stained her robes. Magic hurtled toward her, but she parried it with a sword strike.

Standing slightly behind her, Hui provided support. Whenever someone struck at her from an unexpected angle, a barrier talisman appeared to block their blow. When one of the All-Heavens cultivators built up momentum, a sudden blast of fire or wind disrupted them. In return, Li Xaing made a front line, cutting a furious swathe into the All-Heavens disciples.

A whistling sound caught Hui’s ear. He turned in time to see a sword hurtling at him, inches from his face. His hand flickered, and a thick, two-dimensional wall-like barrier sprung up between him and the sword. The sword darted around the barrier and slashed out at Hui. Hui’s blood spurted. He staggered back, clutching his stomach, while blood seeped into his robes.

The All-Heavens disciple smirked and charged, reaching out to summon their sword back into their hand even as he drew his arm back to launch the finishing blow. “Overestimated yourself.”

Fire seared up from the All-Heavens disciple’s feet. He staggered back, startled, into a solid, cold body. A hand snaked around his shoulders, and black claws raked open his throat, injecting a poison so virulent that it rotted his flesh before he could bleed. He clawed at his throat, struggling to breathe. Before he could overcome Jin Xian’s claws, she hauled back and bit into his head. Brains and blood slithered down his face. He screamed soundlessly as Jin Xian devoured him.

Hui straightened up, quickly swapping to his plant mode to heal his shallow stomach wound. “Elder Sister… we’re fighting this whole war to prove we aren’t demonic, so, er, could you… tone it down…”

Jin Xian met Hui’s eyes and took another bite, slurping the cultivator’s brains.

“You know what, er, you do you,” Hui said, turning away.

In the few moments he’d had to fight the All-Heavens cultivator, Li Xiang had burst ahead. She blazed through the All-Heavens disciples, a bolt of silver and blood red. As the Starbound Sect disciples saw her, they rallied to her side, especially the Starbound Peak sword cultivators. In the space of a few breaths, Li Xiang took control of the Starbound Peak cultivators and led the charge toward the All-Heavens disciples.

Hui leaned forward on his sword, chasing after Li Xiang and the Starbound Peak disciples. Jin Xian ran alongside him, wreaking havoc amongst stray All-Heavens disciples as they passed. Hui threw out the lotus beast, releasing the death qi seal as he did so. Green flesh formed around the seed, and she charged into battle, wading madly through All-Heavens disciples. All-Heavens disciples threw magical attacks at her. Careless of her own wounds, she fought back, black eyes wide, teeth bared. One searing fire attack burned her body to bits, but a second later, a new body formed around her seed, and she fought on.

As Bai Jingwen wrought death all around, Hui reached out to Jin Xian. Find Xixing and Sis Mei. Make sure they’re safe!