Liu Guang frowned at the cultivator in front of him. Multiple arms sprouted off of his body at every angle, hanging limply by his side. He seemed entirely unaware of them, even the one that had grown out of his forehead. As Liu Guang watched, Xie Hao winced and trembled, as if under a great deal of pain, but nothing physical struck him. Still, every time he winced, every hand sprouting from his body curled up in pain, and every arm stiffened.

Is this… part of his technique? Liu Guang wondered, more confused than anything else.

Abruptly, Hui opened his eyes wide. He shouted and pushed down, jostling the cultivator on the table. Startled, Liu Guang stepped back, but in the same instant, Hui closed his eyes again.

Liu Guang furrowed his brows and stroked his chin. He’s taking quite some time. It’s a good thing I mastered a clone technique long ago, or else this test would take forever.

Focusing desperately, Hui urged the life qi on, forcing it to form new meridians. It slipped out of his grasp like an eel, resisting his efforts to pin it down. Every time a scrap of physical shape emerged, it vanished the next second, eaten up by the liquefied life qi.

Dammit. This was so easy for me! Why is it so hard to do to someone else? Is it because lotus clones are uniquely suited for life qi techniques? Can this not be done on a human body at all?

His mental energy arms continued to weaken. The woman’s qi stabbed out and stole another portion of his mental energy away, and that arm flickered, on the verge of falling apart. Come on. Come on!

If only I could ask the other clones for mental energy… no, no. Even if I could, they’re undergoing their own trials right now. I can’t disturb them! Shaking his head at himself, Hui focused again. Leaving most of the hands to hold the energy, he turned his attention to a single hand. The meridian under it whirled in a constant cycle of half-forming, then re-liquefying. He reached out and froze the part that had formed, and more formed around it, crystalizing out of the whirling qi.

Hui’s eyes glittered. The crystallization technique! He ran his hand over the orb of qi, operating the crystallization technique. The crystallization of the woman’s meridian accelerated. Crystals formed a vague outline of the meridian, and quickly grew to fill it in.

Across the woman’s body, Hui’s hands operated the crystallization technique. The meridians took shape. For the first time, their growth outpaced the liquefaction.

Yes! Hui continued to operate the crystallization technique, even as the woman’s qi attacked him. One of her meridians crystallized, then another, then another. Finally, only one meridian remained. Hui focused all his energy on it, consolidating his energy into a single hand. Condense!

On Hui’s body, all his hands fell off, except for the hand on his forehead, which grew so large as to overwhelm his face. His face became nothing but a single giant arm, reaching out at the air.

Liu Guang frowned. What an odd technique. Are the hands truly a part of it? I can sense energy condensing around them, but to what end?

The meridian resisted him, refusing to completely take form. A small amount of liquefied life qi remained, swirling around inside the meridian’s crystal veins and melting little bits of the meridian as it swirled. Hui frowned. If I can’t crystalize it… then I’ll just remove it!

He pinched his hand and drew it out. The liquefied life qi trembled, resisting his urge. Hui furrowed his brows and tightened his grip, pulling again. The life qi condensed into a bead and rolled backward, actively resisting his control.

I created you. You started as a part of me! If you won’t come freely, I’ll pull you out forcibly! Hui yanked again. Again, the bead resisted. It hovered in the meridian, threatening to destroy it.

A gentle cry caught his ear. A little golden bird flitted out, landing on his hand. It tilted its head at him.

That’s right! The songbirds! Hui pointed at the bead.

The bird sang out and took to the wing. With a fluttering of wings, a great cavalcade of songbirds followed it. They danced forth. The woman’s qi struck at them, but they darted away, easily dodging the clumsy attack. One led the charge, darting down to snatch a bite at the bead. The bead dodged, but then another bird came, and another and another. The eighth bird snatched the bead and flapped away, holding it high and triumphant in its beak. It whirled around and landed on Hui’s arm. Chest puffed out, it proudly deposited the golden bead in Hui’s palm.

Hui opened his eyes… and found nothing but blackness. Confused, he touched his face. Something huge blocked his way.

Huh? Confused, Hui canceled his techniques. The blackness fell away, and he could see once more.

Liu Guang smiled at him. “Have you completed your art?”

“Ah… yes,” Hui said.

Liu Guang stepped forward and pressed his fingertips to the woman’s forehead, examining her status.

Hui glanced down at his hand. A small golden bead sat atop his palm, crystallized at last into something like amber. He frowned at it, then blinked and frowned at the floor. Why am I surrounded by arms? Wait… did I grow actual arms when I grew mental energy arms?

It makes a certain amount of sense, but… why? Is it because I used life qi, or something…?

Oh well. The real question is… what is this bead? He looked at it again, then sent a pulse of qi into it. Life qi and faint fluctuations of his and the woman’s qi emanated from it.

Huh. Weird. He tucked the bead into his sleeve and turned back to Liu Guang, waiting for his assessment.

“Remarkable, truly remarkable. I didn’t think her cultivation could be salvaged, but not only should she be able to continue to cultivate, but she also only lost a few stages, rather than having to start from scratch. For as serious as her wounds were, this is an incredible achievement. What technique did you use?” Liu Guang asked, smiling at Hui.

Danger, danger! I didn’t use a technique, I made it up! If I say that, though… couldn’t he easily claim this to be an unorthodox or demonic technique? And if I make up a technique name… I don’t want to accidentally say a technique that it isn’t, and look like a fool. How to handle this, how to…

Hui smiled back at Liu Guang. “Elder Liu Guang, this technique is a secret technique that has been passed down from master to disciple for generations. It has no name, but neither has it needed one, because the disciple is sworn to never teach this technique to another until the disciple becomes the master, and takes on a disciple of their own. Until I pass this on to my own disciple, I will not reveal its secrets and mysteries to anyone, nor will I give it a false name.”

Liu Guang nodded slowly, raising a hand to his chin. “I see. Indeed, there are techniques like that. I had never heard of such an inheritance technique among the healer circles, however… nor have I ever seen a technique like that before.”

Senior, please don’t probe my alibi! It can’t stand up, it can’t! Hui nodded. He bowed to Liu Guang. “Elder, my master was a reclusive man who rarely ventured out and had no interest in social gatherings. Although I cannot know if my grand-master might have been known amongst healers, I know that my master, certainly, had no interest in participating in the world of Jianghu.”

Well… now that’s the truth. Master basically never left his peak, and when he did, it was only for short periods, and he returned directly to the peak afterward. Actually, come to think of it, his visit to the Bai Clan was somewhat out of the extraordinary. Don’t tell me, did Master also… have interest in the… er, specialties of the Bai Clan?

…

Hui licked his lips, then sighed and shook his head. Who can blame him? The Bai Clan is full of the most attractive cultivators in the land. Although… I really did have the impression that Master ascended to heaven a lone dog, so to speak.

Watching his expression, Liu Guang nodded. “I can see that it’s a difficult topic for you. I won’t press. This, however… I would be startled if I saw better from any of the contestants. If I had found you using this technique out amidst the world, I would have directly recruited you, and you wouldn’t have needed to participate in this contest at all.”

“Ah… Elder Liu Guang is too kind,” Hui said, bowing nervously.

“Not at all.” Liu Guang raised his hand again, reaching toward the woman. Qi buzzed around his hand, and he lowered it toward her throat.

Hui stepped forward abruptly. “Elder Liu Guang, could you leave her alive?”

Liu Guang’s hand came to a halt a hair’s breadth from her neck. He looked at Hui, puzzled. “Why?”

Hui bowed. “Elder, this small healer…” something, anything, any excuse! “…er, needs, needs a test subject!”

A test subject? What am I, a mad scientist? Hui mocked himself.

“A test subject,” Liu Guang repeated.

“Yes, yes. This woman… that is, she showed a great deal of resiliency. She’s exactly the kind of cultivator I need to test out techniques on,” Hui ad-libbed. He licked his lips. I really hope Liu Guang is the kind of scum he seems to be, or I might’ve just blown my entire shot at getting in! Ugh, me and my big mouth…

Lying on the gold bed, the woman quietly opened her eyes, just a slit.

Liu Guang considered. After a moment, he nodded and lifted his hand. “As you wish. Dispose of her when you are done, however. She is a demonic cultivator and cannot be allowed to live.”

Hui bowed repeatedly. “Thank you, Elder, thank you!”

“There’s no need for such formalities. Excluding the closing ceremonies, you and I are both Outer Peak Lords now,” Liu Guang chuckled.

“Ah… of course, of course,” Hui said, nodding. Eh? I made it! Yes! Moving over to the woman, he quickly attempted to send her into his node. Nothing happened.

Right, the node is blocked here. Hui paused, thinking.

“Do you not have a storage ring?” Liu Guang asked.

“One capable of keeping living things alive? I’m afraid not,” Hui admitted.

Liu Guang rifled in his robes and tossed Hui a small, soft bag. “This is a spirit beast bag. It’s meant to hold spirit beasts in a kind of suspended animation, but it should work on her as well.”

“Many thanks, Senior,” Hui said, quickly putting the woman into the bag. I’ll take this gift, before Senior thinks of how much it costs and demands it back!

As he put her away, he leaned in and whispered, “Please bear with it, Elder Sister!”

Liu Guang nodded, watching Hui bag the woman. From how much I learned by watching him work, I ought to be begging him to take me as his disciple. Instead, this spirit beast bag can work as a small repayment.

With a wave of his sleeve, Liu Guang dispelled the golden illusion realm. Hui found himself back in the rough cave once more. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. It was far too bright in there, far too bright!

There was something I needed to do. Something…

Ah! Jin Xian! I was going to stall for time, but… where is she? Hui looked around. No sign of Jin Xian remained. In fact, the cave laid empty.

Liu Guang chuckled at the sight. “The participants are already in my illusory realm. If you exit the cave, any companions who came with you will meet you there once they pass their trial.”

Hui smiled, but internally, he swallowed nervously. Jin Xian—or rather, Fang Hua, I’m counting on you!