Although Erlan paused at Hui’s declaration, when Hui made no move to attack, he turned back to the storm of souls. The corrupted formation glowed in red and black, still revealed after his ink-hand attack earlier. He studied it, a hand on his chin. Even for a fifth-stage cultivator like him, sealing up the souls and taking them away proved an intimidating task. Unlike Yunxu, he did not possess much knowledge of the soul transferal array. This soul array… I thought it would be a simple task to seal it up and steal it away. To hear Yunxu talk of it, handling the entire formation is child’s play. Instead…

Perhaps it’s because the formation has gone berserk, but it rejects any techniques I use. And that strong yin qi… it’s not as if every demonic cultivator is a ghost cultivator, or skilled in yin techniques. If I had time, and merely that craven Xiao Hui to deal with, this would be a simple task. After all, the mountain naturally obscures fluctuations from within, according to Yunxu. Oddly, though, Xiao Hui is wearing someone else’s face yet again, and acted as if he could summon reinforcements, even though his whole sect is dead. I’ll have to move faster.

Wearing other people’s skins… every time I encounter him lately, he’s clad in someone else’s skin. Is that his hobby? What a demonic hobby… He really is better-suited for our Black Asp Sect than this Starbound Sect.

Erlan gestured, summoning his brush into his hands. Moving swiftly, he drew a few dozen lines in the air. Black ink trailed after his brush, drawing a net. He waved his hand, and the net flew toward the souls, rapidly growing larger as it did. Under different circumstances, maybe we could have chatted about our hobbies. Wearing others’ skins, demonic painting… it’s not as if every demonic cultivator has a hobby. We have a lot in common, really.

Hui threw out a handful of barrier talismans. They struck the air and flashed into life. Erlan’s ink net met the barrier, and the barrier faded. At the same time, the ink net grew weaker. The black ink turned grey. It struck the formation and instantly shattered under a blast of yin qi from the barrier. Hui stepped out, trembling as he put himself between Erlan and the souls. He threw one hand out. “I won’t let you take them!”

I can’t bring the sect back without these souls. I can’t stumble now!

With his other hand, he continued to scribble on the piece of fabric with his blood.

Chen Wuya sat on his shoulder and peered down at the fabric. He pointed with his claw as Hui wrote. “There, add another radical. That character should have a stronger up-stroke.”

Hui nodded, adjusting the talisman formula according to Chen Wuya’s advice. His comprehension of talismans improved as he listened, and his hands moved faster and faster.

Erlan harrumphed. “Give in. These souls will be ours. Sit quietly in the corner, and once I gather these souls, I’ll take care of you.”

Internally, he narrowed his eyes at the formation. That formation is more formidable than I thought. Perhaps I shouldn’t have insisted that I could handle this one alone, and simply accompanied His Excellency.

“No!” Hui looked up momentarily from his talisman writing to throw out a barrage of elemental talismans. Ah, talismans are so convenient. I can use them while focusing on something else at the same time! Everyone should use talismans.

The elemental attacks battered Erlan’s painting before he could finish it. The new net broke apart before it fully formed. Scowling, Erlan turned toward Hui instead. “Fine. If you insist, you can go first!”

He swished his brush. A dragon made of ink materialized and rushed toward Hui with a fearsome roar. Hui threw out his fiery tabbies, but they burst apart the second they met the dragon. He backed away, activating talisman after talisman. A wood-and-ice wall rose up between him and the dragon. In the next moment, the dragon opened its mouth and roared, and the wall turned into splinters. The force of the roar struck Hui and forced him back, rattling against his bones.

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Hui grit his teeth. He took three steps back before he finally managed to hold up, but even then, his body trembled, the force of the roar tearing him apart from the inside out. Blood spurted from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, and he almost lost control of the talisman spell inscribed on his robe. Dammit. I forgot. All my offensive talismans are a much lower level than me, now, except for that void talisman… but I’m all out!

The dragon closed in on Hui. It opened its mouth, revealing simple but fearsome fangs.

“Jin Xian!” Hui shouted.

The air shook. Jin Xian appeared in front of him in an instant. Her entire body emanated a fierce chill, and her eyes and claws were darker than ever. She slammed both hands out and grabbed ahold of the dragon, closing her fingers down on it to pierce it with her poisonous claws.

The ink bubbled. The dragon let out a pitiful mewl, then directly melted away. Jin Xian’s hands closed on nothing.

She gave a disappointed look at her inkstained hands, then extended her pink tongue and gave the ink a tentative lick. In the next instant, her face twisted. She turned her head aside and spat, whole face twisted as if she’d tasted a bitter lemon.

Hui gave her a look. “Elder Sister… it is ink, after all.”

“Focus,” Chen Wuya chided him, shaking his head at a smudge on the talisman

Senior… I have to make sure I don’t die, too, Hui retorted silently. Still, he took Chen Wuya’s advice to heart. He wiped the blood from his face and settled his breathing, circulating his qi to settle his cultivation, then turned back to his talisman.

“What is that you’ve been working on over there?” Erlan asked. He laughed, a high-pitched sound, then reached into his back pocket and threw out a painting scroll. “No matter. I won’t let you finish it!”

Ah, Erlan’s back on his toes. I liked flat-footed Erlan. He was a much more reasonable guy, Hui thought to himself.

The painting scroll rolled open, revealing a series of figures. One after another, the figures leaped out from the scroll and leaped at Hui, each one revealing a startling technique. Sorcery, sword techniques, even body cultivation and techniques Hui couldn’t recognize at a glance. One summoned a swarm of bats, and another enrobed themselves in a swirling smoke. Eight rushed out from the scroll before Erlan closed his hand, keeping the scroll from opening any further.

“How do you like my 81 Figures technique? I’ve sealed 72 peerless experts inside this scroll, but when I’m done, it will feature a full 81. Xiao Hui, if you put up a good fight, you can be the seventy-third.” Erlan smirked, stepping back.

Jin Xian charged out to meet the figures. She held back two, but the other six burst by.

“Bai Jingwen!” Hui shouted, throwing his hand out. He summoned Bai Jingwen’s seed back to his hand, then threw it at the rushing figures.

Bai Jingwen’s seed splattered one of the figures to nothing but ink, and then her body burst back to life. She slammed into the next figure, directly countering the figure’s strange mist with her fists.

Zhubi leaped up on Hui’s neck and spat venom at the next two figures. One dodged, but the venom struck the other, which began to melt. The one who dodged raced on toward them, only for Zhubi to suddenly lunge, mouth open. Midair, he returned to his huge form. His mouth snapped shut, and a swallowing sound rolled out as the expert disappeared.

The last two rushed at Hui, who threw out his barrier talismans. The experts struck the barriers and bounced off, unable to break through. They hammered at the barriers until Jin Xian and Bai Jingwen whirled around and leaped at them from behind, easily smashing the experts to bits.

Hui’s brows furrowed. Why does this attack seem… a bit weak?

Oh! I know. It’s because these are all experts Erlan has beaten. Which means there isn’t a single expert equal to Erlan's strength here. I’m struggling to handle Erlan, but I can stand up to those weaker than him!

“Is this what demonic cultivation amounts to nowadays? How disappointing,” Chen Wuya muttered under his breath.

“It seems so, Senior,” Hui agreed, shaking his head at Erlan.

Erlan laughed. He lifted his brush, gathering his qi for a mighty attack. “A fourth stage cultivator and his crow manifestation, looking down on me? How ridiculous.”

“When I escape from Fen Long’s realm, I’ll teach you exactly how ridiculous it is,” Chen Wuya shot back.

Erlan’s eyes narrowed to slits. A dangerous smile spread across his face. “I’ve played enough.”

Erlan’s brush shot through the air. A sword appeared, materializing out of the ink. It shot toward Hui, moving so quickly he lost sight of it. Fear shot through Hui, along with the sure sensation that he was about to be struck down. Hui stumbled back, throwing out another dozen barrier talismans. The sensation didn’t abate. The barriers shattered, and Hui sucked a breath, ready for the worst.

A hand appeared in front of him and clasped the sword’s blade clasped between its fingers. Life qi surged, beating back the yin qi. A male cultivator clad in gold and white cast a glance at Hui from the corner of his eyes. “Zhi Ahn… I thought you left?”

“Elder Brother Ding Qinwen!” Hui shouted, earnestly delighted. At last! The summon monsters—ahem, the powerful seniors have appeared!