Hui flicked his wrist. “Take this!”

Gui Delun looked at him. Hui looked at Gui Delun. Nothing happened.

Eh. Is it too soon? Hui wondered, licking his lips nervously.

“Was that… an attack?” Gui Delun asked slowly.

“Eh, no. I simply had to stretch my arm,” Hui said, grabbing his hand with his other hand and pulling gently. “Wrist stretches are important, Senior.”

Zhang Minyan squinted at him. “What are you doing?”

Hui backed away. “Nothing, nothing.”

Gui Delun chuckled darkly. He lifted his hand. A ball of golden light ignited in his palm. Burning bright, the miniature sun instantly became too bright to look directly at. It grew larger and larger. Gui Delun raised his arm as the ball grew. In a moment, the light reduced him to a silhouette. “My mistake was not burning you to ash the first time. This time, you will have no opportunity to play dead.”

“Ah…” Hui’s mouth dried as the miniature sun continued to glow. He backed away.

Zhang Minyan frowned at Hui. “Did you interrupt us by accident…?”

Li Xiang darted around to stand beside Hui. “Weiheng Hui.”

“Li Xiang,” he replied, equally businesslike.

“Do you have a plan?” she asked.

Hui hesitated. He nodded. “Yes.”

“Mm,” Li Xiang said.

“What? That’s enough for you to trust him?” Zhang Minyan asked.

Li Xiang nodded.

She can tell truths from falsehoods, after all. Ah, I could easily lie to her with such a short statement, but… not to Li Xiang. I don’t want to lie to her. I want her to be able to believe in me. Hui clenched his hand. He narrowed his eyes, squinting past the brilliant light of the miniature sun. Sweat rolled down Gui Delun’s face. He wiped his brow and frowned slightly, confused.

A smile quirked the edge of Hui’s lips. Excellent. It’s working.

The real question is… will it work fast enough?

Gui Delun scowled. He threw the miniature sun at the three of them. “Leave my sight forever.”

Zhang Minyan darted ahead. “Whatever your plan is, finish it up fast!” She flicked her sleeve. A moon the size of her fist appeared, cloaked in a miniature night sky, glittering with tiny pinprick stars. As it flew forth, it inflated, growing to the size of the sun in a moment. The night sky expanded, too, as dark as the sun’s radiance was bright. Four perfect stars burned in the distant night, circulating around the moon.

That’s not how stars work… oh, whatever. It’s a magical technique, Hui thought, shaking his head at himself.

The moon crashed into the sun. Cold dust flew, and flames billowed as the two clashed. Where the dust met flames, glass formed and shot out, impaling a few stray cultivators. Li Xiang whirled her sword, knocking a stray shard aside. Hui changed to his crystal form, and the glass shards shattered against his body.

Hui waved his hand again.

Gui Delun frowned. Sweat dripped down his back, drenching his robes.

Li Xiang looked at Hui. “Should I attack?”

“Not yet. Wait for my signal,” Hui said shortly, too focused to manage any more. He waved his hand again.

The life qi he’d left inside Gui Delun circulated according to Hui’s will. Integrated into Gui Delun’s life qi, it barely stood out from his own qi. It circulated faster and faster, heating Gui Delun from the inside out. At the same time, Hui pressed his life qi into the walls of Gui Delun’s qi passages, urging them to grow, grow, grow. Gui Delun’s life qi quickly killed any borderline cancers, but distracted by Hui’s growth attacks, its automatic attacks couldn’t prevent him from circulating his qi inside Gui Delun.

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Gui Delun grunted. His eyes glazed as he turned his consciousness inside himself.

Zhang Minyan snorted. “Can you afford to ignore me so easily?” She jabbed her hand forward. The four stars circling the moon flew forth and slammed into Gui Delun’s sun. Gui Delun’s sun fell back, pushed by the power of the four small stars.

Gui Delun kept his eyes closed. His consciousness chased after Hui’s. He reached out a hand. “Small bug. A pitiful trick.”

Zhang Minyan’s eyes lit up. She flicked her sleeve.

The first of the four small stars self-destructed. The sun jolted back. Emanating an aura of darkness, the second bright silver star shuddered, then exploded. A tremor ran through the sun, and the sun fractured. It wobbled, on the verge of destabilizing.

Gui Delun grimaced. His eyes flew open. “You continue to pester me?”

“I’ve been a thorn in your side for centuries. Now, I’ll prick you to death!” Zhang Minyan declared. She drew back her leg and gave a powerful shin kick to the thin air. The last two stars detonated, forcing the fractured sun toward Gui Delun.

“Oh, that’s a good one, Senior! I’ll have to remember that,” Hui said, excited. Prick you to death… I love it!

Zhang Minyan frowned at him. That was not a good line. What’s wrong with this kid?

Li Xiang patted Hui’s hand gently.

Gui Delun pushed his hand out. The sun trembled, then re-formed, though smaller. The smaller sun fell back, pressured by the weight of the moon. Leaping back, Gui Delun snapped his fingers. The sun detonated, taking the moon with it. Zhang Minyan coughed and spat blood.

Across from her, Gui Delun did the same. He coughed twice as much blood. Veins stood out on his forehead, and his face glimmered bright red with sweat. He pointed at Hui. “What are you doing to me?”

“Eh? What is Senior talking about?” Hui asked innocently.

Gui Delun scowled. Rather than continuing to ask, he darted for Hui, raising his sword.

Hui darted back, while Zhang Minyan and Li Xiang charged in. “Senior, I married your daughter. She was quite beautiful, you know?”

Gui Delun ignored him, fighting the other two.

“Ah, but actually, she was in love with an Elder Sister from the Bai Clan. Haa, and now the two have a child. Isn’t that wonderful? It’s the miracle of life!” Hui said, nodding. He spun his hands around, calling to the qi inside Gui Delun.

“That wretched Bai Clan,” Gui Delun growled.

“You know, that son of yours—”

“I have no son!” Gui Delun snarled.

Hui nodded. “Mmm, I’d refuse to acknowledge an incestuous child like that, too! You know he was desperately in love with Gui Yutong, right?”

Gui Delun’s brow twitched. “And she still defended him?”

“Ahh, we can only wonder what it means,” Hui said, shaking his head. Probably that Gui Yutong is a kind young lady with a big heart and a mild obliviousness toward male suitors, but you know what? I’ll let Gui Delun draw his own conclusions.

His lips twitched. He slipped in fighting Li Xiang, and she landed a glancing blow on his upper arm. Instantly, he whirled around and slashed at Li Xiang. Li Xiang went flying.

Hui sucked in a breath. Li Xiang—

No. Now isn’t the time. He laughed openly. “Gui Delun, you were trying your best to run the sect while your daughter ran off and galivanted around with everyone. Can a man who can’t keep his home tidy keep his sect tidy?”

Gui Delun struck Zhang Minyan aside. He advanced on Hui deliberately, glowering.

“Oh! Obviously not. Do you know how many worms I wriggled inside this rotten sect of yours? Nine. Four of my clones, and five of my friends, all included as Peak Lords in your filthy, rotten sect. And you call that leadership? You can’t even keep your known enemies away. No wonder you’re backed into a corner now, fighting your own Patriarch for a chance at retaining your power. Pathetic. Sad, weak, useless little man.”

“Coward. Spineless. Why should I listen to a small bug who can’t even lift a sword?” Gui Delun grumbled.

“But Senior, look,” Hui said. He gestured all around him. “That cowardly, spineless, pathetic little bug not even worthy of squishing managed to raise an army to rival your sect from nothing, while all you did was burden and blight your own sect and lead it to its own downfall.”

Gui Delun’s teeth ground. He said nothing.

“Eh? Senior, could it be? Are you… weaker than a tiny bug like me?” Hui gasped, slapping his hands on his cheeks in an expression of mock surprise.

At the same moment, he slammed his qi outward, attacking Gui Delun from the inside out. In this moment of emotional turmoil—force a qi deviation! Ruin his mind and his body! And then, and then—!

Gui Delun stumbled. His qi ran backward, running riot inside him. He spat five mouthfuls of blood and staggered to the side. His face twisted into a hideous rictus of anger, his veins so sharp that they cast shadows on his face.

“You know nothing. Nothing of my struggles! Of my trials!” Gui Delun roared. Maddened, he rushed at Hui. His qi raged around him. His muscles bulged.

Oh shit! Fuck! I should’ve planned for this! Dammit, sometimes people in qi deviations go on rages, I knew that! And who would he attack but this small, innocent cultivator? Dammit! Hui turned and fled at full speed.

“Master.”

Both Hui and Gui Delun paused.

Tang Fei stood there. One hand hung limp by her side, the other one curled into a fist.

“You. You traitor!” Gui Delun howled. He ran mindlessly at Tang Fei, drawing back his sword.

Tang Fei stepped forward. She twisted her hand. Hui’s sword appeared in it. As Gui Delun closed in on her, she tightened her grip.

Hui flicked his finger. The sword trembled, and Tang Fei’s body stiffened. She leaped forward, following the Seven Steps of Autumn, and stabbed Gui Delun in the gut.

I’m sorry, Elder Sister, but I couldn’t let you have your revenge in the end. You aren’t a swordfighter. You can’t handle Gui Delun’s years of swordmanship, and he knows it. But if I can make you suddenly use an advanced technique…

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Tang Fei. But I can’t take a single chance!