Across the room, Lu Xubo startled. He looked up at Li Xiang and Wang Xiu clashing. “Li Xiang—!”

Ying Lin grabbed him by his collar and held him in place. She frowned at him. “Li Xiang can handle it. Our job is to be the smokescreen that allows her to fight freely!”

Lu Xubo stared over, biting his lip. “But I… but if she…”

Ying Lin frowned at Lu Xubo. “Believe in Li Xiang! She isn’t weak. We’ll do our job, and she’ll do hers. If she gets in danger, then step in, but until then… believe in her!”

Lu Xubo swallowed. With some effort, he dragged his eyes away from the battle in the corner. “If… you’re sure.”

Ying Lin rolled her eyes at him. “Honestly, not being able to believe in her even this much… do you know how many times I’ve watched Master die in front of me? And I still believe in him! Your faith is so weak!”

“I… I… no! I believe in Li Xiang!” Lu Xubo said firmly, nodding to himself.

“Then pretend nothing’s happening, and let’s do our job properly,” Ying Lin said, frowning at him.

“Junior Sister, you’re wise beyond your stage,” Lu Xubo said graciously. “Even lecturing me, a fourth-stage cultivator, at third stage…”

“Mmm. Well, if you’re Master’s student, you’d naturally come to understand these things,” Ying Lin said. She adjusted her robes and grinned at him. “After all, under his tutelage, it only took me a few days to reach third stage!”

“Only a few—eh?” Lu Xubo said, startled. He stepped back. “A few days?”

Ying Lin frowned at him. “No, no. Don’t look startled! You’ll attract the guards’ attention!”

“Ah, yes… right…” Lu Xubo rolled his eyes. Who wouldn’t be startled after hearing that? Just how talented is this Ying Lin?

Li Xiang and Wang Xiu battled back and forth. In the close quarters of Chen Xigui’s room, Li Xiang’s straight sword had the upper hand over Wang Xiu’s long, flat razor blade. Frustrated, Wang Xiu growled and slashed her sword around in a wide arc meant to bring the walls down. Li Xiang leaped the slash. Instead of cutting down the walls, however, Wang Xiu’s sword sparked off Hui’s barrier. The barrier flickered, and behind the scroll, the talisman burned down, but it held.

“What… this—” Wang Xiu snarled, frustrated. She swung her sword again.

Expecting it, Li Xiang scored a glancing attack on Wang Xiu’s shoulder. Blood flowed. In return, however, Wang Xiu’s attack slammed full-force into the barrier. The barrier shuddered, then snapped as the talisman burned out.

“Finally!” Wang Xiu grumbled, spinning her sword around to attack once more.

Ying Lin pulled out the stack of talismans Hui had slipped her and slapped a new barrier talisman on the wall.

Wang Xiu swung. A faint shimmer flew over the walls, covering them in the breath before Wang Xiu’s attack hit. The barrier absorbed the blow, and the walls stood.

“This… how?” Wang Xiu asked, eyes wide.

Li Xiang snorted. She spun her sword. Twenty sword shadows materialized from her blade. She stabbed forward, and the twenty swords stabbed with her, all rushing for Wang Xiu.

Turning her blade sideways, Wang Xiu hunkered behind it. At the last second, the sword shadows broke off of Li Xiang’s sword and darted around Wang Xiu’s blade, seeking for blood. Wang Xiu lifted a hand off her blade. Her hand turned a gunmetal gray, and darted back and forth, knocking the sword shadows aside. At the same time, however, Li Xiang drove her backward, still thrusting forward.

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Ying Lin’s eyes sparkled. She watched the fight eagerly, drinking in the action. Occasionally, she nodded, her far hand twisting and turning to emulate Li Xiang’s strikes.

Lu Xubo watched on with his eyes at a slit. His jaw clenched every time Wang Xiu attacked, a vein throbbing in his forehead. Slowly, his hand clenched shut as his entire body went rigid. Win, Li Xiang. Survive!

Stock still, Hui pressed both hands against the curtained room, his eyes screwed shut. The protection on the curtain squirmed and shifted under him, as complex as the soul array formation. A wall of runes stretched before him in all directions, the runes stacked up in all directions, seemingly infinite.

Hui reached out and pushed a rune. It trembled, exuding waves of qi, and pushed him away.

This barrier! Who created it? Certainly not the same person who created the barrier at the door. That one I easily overwhelmed with death qi, but even if I used death qi, this barrier wouldn’t snap or break. It simply…

He injected a bit of death qi into the barrier. Several of the runes turned black, but they didn’t give. Instead, the runes tainted by death qi faded away under mechanisms beyond Hui’s comprehension. As soon as they left, the runes behind them shifted forward to heal up the holes where the death qi had been. Once again, Hui faced a seemingly infinite expanse of runes.

Hui frowned, lifting a hand to his chin. Death qi isn’t going to work. Destroying them one at a time… It’ll get through eventually, probably, but I’ll be a gray old man by then. I need something better than simple brute force.

He turned to the runes instead. I’ve reduced runes to talisman marks before. If I can do that here, can I maybe understand the spell? And if I understand the spell, I can break it!

Lifting his hands to press against the runes, Hui injected a bit of ordinary qi to feel the reaction from the runes. He nodded, understanding. Hmm, the rejection, the closing, okay. Yes, yes. These runes… then, over here… there have to be opening runes, since these curtains open, as well. Somewhere, somewhere… Over here? No… Oh, there! No, no again! Where? Way over there? Deep behind? Where, where…

Hui pressed his hands against the wall, frustrated. I need more hands. More brains, dammit! It’s still too slow!

The node pulsed, in the back of Hui’s mind. I’m not doing anything. I can help, Mortal offered.

Yeah, we’re not busy. Peak Lord, come on, Rogue joined in.

Healer coughed. I’ll be there in a moment!

First’s quiet voice sounded out. My comprehension of the soul flag… I’ll share it with everyone, now.

A surge of knowledge rushed into Hui’s mind, and at the same time, he felt his mental energy expand by many times. Consciousnesses like his, but not completely identical, appeared beside his. Together, all the Huis assaulted the wall of runes.

Mental energy surged in all directions. A bluish stream, it stretched out from the original Hui into all the other Huis, who each reached out with both their hands and their minds. A flood of information consolidated into Hui’s mind from all his fellow clones, as they all used Hui as the command center for their examination of the wall of runes.

Over here…? No, no. Ignore me.

Ah, hey! I’ve… no, it’s not this, yet.

Hmm… maybe this?

What do you guys think? There’s a small passage over here, it might lead somewhere!

Thank you, everyone! Hui cried out. He took a deep breath and continued to examine the wall, as the rest of the clones did the same, each heading off in a different direction to probe a different part of the wall.

For a while, they worked, noisily exchanging notes and communicating as they did. The silent rune wall became a mess of noise and thoughts, all the Huis mentally shouting at one another as they continued.

All at once, Mortal cried out, Here! Here it is! Everyone, hurry!

Unhesitatingly, all the Huis surrounded Mortal. A narrow corridor snaked through the runes, vanishing into the distance.

Hurry! It moves and shifts at all times. We don’t have long to break through! Mortal called.

Right. Everyone, focus! Use death qi to break runes in our way. Freeze the runes that make the passage with your mental energy! Let’s go! Hui shouted. He charged into the passage. The other Huis chased after him, surging through the corridor.

As they ran, the passage’s walls shook, as if an earthquake rattled them. Thick qi filled the empty space, pushing the Huis back, but they rushed through.

Leading the way, Hui broke the runes in their way with death qi, turning the glowing golden runes black and dead, then crashing through. When he understood where the runes fit, he shoved them into place with his mental energy instead. The other Huis peeled off behind him, locking the cleared sections open. The runes fought, struggling to unlock from their frozen places and close off the corridor, but they pushed against them, using their combined mental energy to keep the passage wide open.

Go! All the way through! the Huis shouted after Hui.