Hui poured his life qi into the cultivator. The first thing I need to do is synchronize her qi with my life qi. Otherwise… otherwise, I don’t know what will happen, but it won’t be good!

I could skip this for the lotus clones because they’re effectively part of me in the first place… or, at least, a set of beings who are very close to my own qi and self. If I don’t do this with her… I might reforge her body, but kill her in the process. Or even… well, I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s possible that I could reforge her body and sync it with my qi in its reforging, so her own qi rejects her body… or her body rejects her qi. Either way, it’s the kind of scenario where if it doesn’t kill her, she at least loses her cultivation. Not a place we want to be!

This isn’t like ordinary life qi healing. Usually, it’s fine to inject some qi and allow their body to take it over, or even to completely oversee the process, but either way, I’m injecting a small amount of life qi that will quickly dissipate. There’s no danger.

In this case, I’m going to reforge her entire body. I need to use as much, if not more qi, than she has to complete this. I can’t ignore the danger of qi clashes. I have to synchronize to her qi, or risk both our lives.

Right. Synchronize to her qi…

I have some practice doing this with Bai Xue… ahem! Both in battle and… otherwise. In any case, it’s a very normal technique, very normal! Not private at all! Those who look down on life qi techniques simply lack a fundamental understanding of them. Yes, yes.

Where was I? Oh right, Bai Xue.

Right. But with Bai Xue, because they have a perfect yin body, it’s extremely easy to synchronize… in female form, she can basically accept whatever energy I put out. In male form… well, it’s still possible, and in my opinion, it’s still easier, because I only have to worry about syncing with yang. In an average person, though, they’ll have both yin and yang mixed together in some proportion, and if I don’t match that… I’m in trouble.

Well, before that, this mysterious Elder Sister is in trouble, but…

Ah! It’s not as if I’m not putting this small clone’s life on the line, too. Backlash is serious, a serious danger! This small healer has encountered it at least once. Yes, yes. If I didn’t have this convenient lotus body, my meridians would be as mangled as hers, right now.

In any case… How to synchronize with her qi?

Hui furrowed his brows, then reached out and encapsulated a portion of her qi with his life qi. He circulated his qi around it, creating a kind of miniature dantian. As he circulated his qi, the small portion of her qi began to release fluctuations. Hui closed his eyes and focused. I need to absorb those fluctuations and repeat them with my life qi. But how?

Circulating creates fluctuations. Greater overrides lesser. Hui injected a small amount of his life qi into the miniature dantian, much less than the small amount of her qi he’d circled. Her qi and his qi both released fluctuations, but as they did, her qi overpowered his. His qi trembled, slowly wobbling out of sync. It vibrated wilder and wilder, on the verge of deviating. Hui’s grip loosened. Instinctively, he reached toward it, moving to clasp down on the out-of-control fluctuation.

No! Let it go. Even if it deviates, it’s a small amount… I can cut it out of me. Go! Synchronize with her!

The wobbling grew worse, each wobble growing longer and more powerful. It swung around once, twice, then came to a halt, hanging like a bead in the center of the miniature dantian. The female cultivator’s qi trembled, too. Her fluctuations slowed.

No, no! Come on, fluctuate like hers! Hui reached out and nudged the life qi, urging it back into motion.

It trembled, then jolted to life, instantly matching the woman’s fluctuations.

Yes! Phew. Carefully, Hui reached out to the life qi. It resisted his efforts, but with some force, he managed to shape it. It doesn’t feel like my qi anymore. Well… it isn’t completely my qi anymore, after all. I can still control it, but it won’t be easy.

Now I just have to do that… but enough to reforge her. Hui licked his lips. He looked at the qi left in the woman’s dantian. There isn’t enough. I’ll have to do it in batches.

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Crossing his legs, he exerted a small amount of effort to hover in place next to the bed. Usually, I’d be able to grow a stump or something, but this illusory space is cut off from nature. Not that I couldn’t summon one, but it would take much more effort than usual… in summary, more effort than it takes to hover here for a few hours.

Hui closed his eyes and began to transfer life qi into the woman’s dantian in batches. One after another, he collected bulbs of life qi inside the woman, moving each one along her qi passages to her shattered meridians as they formed.

As he moved the last bulb of life qi to the final meridian, Hui took a deep breath. He scanned quickly down her body, taking a stock of her physical status. Stable. Qi passages, as connected as they can be. Dantian, still functioning. Physical body… well, she isn’t actively bleeding out. There’s enough life qi in her system now that it’s… it’s passable, anyways.

Alright. Here goes nothing.

Hui stood, ending his hover. He pressed both hands down on the woman’s sternum and took direct control of the bulbs of life qi within her. They stirred at his urgings, though reluctantly. Hui scowled. Not ideal, but it’s what I have to work with.

He began to spin them, one after another, synchronizing their rotations so they turned together, as one unit. As the life qi began to emit fluctuations, he drew it out of its bulbs and applied it directly to her body. Her bones and muscles began to liquefy as the life qi melted them down.

The woman screamed. Her entire body tensed, arching off the table. She spat blood, and blood spilled out of her orifices. Her qi instinctively attacked Hui’s, pushing his away from the bulbs of life qi. Without him to control it, the life qi went wild. Half of it continued the liquefaction process, while the other half healed what the first half liquefied. The two rolled back and forth in an out-of-control battle. Together, they formed a negative feedback loop, creating a worse and worse situation.

Not good, not good! Narrowing his eyes, Hui fought back. He grabbed onto one of the bulbs with hands shaped of qi and manually shaped it into her body. The life qi settled down, but her qi didn’t. Rioting qi lashed out and slapped his hands away. Without him to control it, the life qi immediately began the negative cycle again.

Shit. Abort, abort! Hui extended all of his attention into the body, grabbing onto the life qi with all his might. Two of the bulbs stopped moving, but the rest continued to riot.

I need more hands… more hands! Hui furrowed his brows, then shook his head. I don’t know exactly what this will do, but… but I should be strong enough to handle it, now! Using his enhanced mental energy, he focused and reached out, imagining a third hand. The life qi continued to melt down the woman’s body, and her heart thrashed, on the verge of stopping.

Hui bit his lip. If I don’t fix it soon, she isn’t going to make it. I have to do this!

Beside him, Liu Guang hummed, tucking his hands behind him. His eyes flashed. What a concept. It’s a pity it failed, but to attempt life qi liquefaction, to be reborn as a moth is reborn from a pupa… it’s a concept I’ve heard of. Supposedly rare spirit bugs use this technique. But to apply it to a human? What a daring idea! Still… not all dares work out.

Within the woman, Hui lifted his lip, angry at himself. Come on! Hui drew out a bit of life qi and applied it to his mental energy. Grow!

A hand branched out from his mental energy arm, then another and another. As each one formed, he quickly grasped the qi bulbs and stopped them. The woman’s qi battered his mental energy hands, viciously tearing them apart. Annoyed, Hui wreathed them in a thin patina of rot qi. Dammit, I don’t want to do this, but I can’t fix this if she keeps attacking me!

The woman’s qi struck the rot qi and instinctively recoiled. It shed the bits that began to rot and retreated, hovering nearby but afraid to attack.

Huh, it looks like qi has a natural defense against rot qi. Well, if it is a natural process, then that makes sense. Biology tends to have a defense against its natural enemy.

No, no, focus, Hui! Fix this before she dies!

Turning back to the woman’s body, Hui faced an utter mess. He bit his lip, frustrated, then sent the life qi out to fix the liquefied parts. Quickly, the woman’s body reformed. Only portions gleamed with the imbued-life-qi light of reformation, while most of her body remained as it had been, though much healed. In a few moments, he was back to where he’d started, except for her meridians. Those, he kept liquefied.

Her qi loomed close. It emanated a kind of low-level killing intent, the same natural reaction that a white blood cell would have to a virus. Hui quavered slightly, intimidated. Her qi sees me as an enemy, now. It’s no surprise, but it makes this harder.

Swift as a cobra, a portion of her qi struck one of his hands. Hui’s head ached as a portion of his mental energy fell away. Rot discolored the tip of her qi, but only for a moment. In the next second, the qi cut off the segment with rot and let it dissipate on its own.

Hui eyed the woman’s qi. It's a gamble, but—but if I win, it makes everything worth it. Ah, this small cultivator has such poor luck… but facing off against the trial… I can’t give up now.

He nodded to himself, then released his hands again. The liquefaction process began again. This time, Hui limited it to her meridians and the passages immediately around them. Reforge her meridians. Reforge them, and nothing else!

Instantly, her qi struck. Hui winced as hole after hole opened up in his mental energy limbs. The qi took a moment to recharge after every strike, just long enough for him to dread the next one.

His limbs grew thinner and thinner. Under their palms, the liquefied meridians spun faster and faster. The outline of their shape began to form. A physical shape slowly condensed.

Come on! Hui shouted silently, eyes shining. At least this!