Without holding anything back, Hui activated the full strength of his cultivation. He burst back up to his full size, instantly healing his wounds at the same time. Activating the snakeskin technique, he shed his skin and escaped Tseng Caihong’s grasp. He dropped to the floor.

As he did, he called on the qi he’d gathered in Eight Tiers Palace, both Jizhi Zhimei’s qi from her lake and the yin energy from the ice palace in the Fourth Tier’s secret realm. When I was absorbing Jizhi Zhimei’s qi, I was pretty sure it was enough to break through. Now’s the time to cash in on that!

Tseng Caihong turned lazily, watching him with bored disinterest. “Even if you succeed, there’s still nothing you can do to harm me. I’m far more powerful than a small bug like you.”

“Even so, Senior, I’ll power up in the meantime!” Hui returned.

He tucked Zhubi into his robes, over his heart. He’ll stay warm there, and safe. As safe as I can keep him in battle.

Whatever she did to him, it’s no good. I can’t win this fight, so there’s no point trying. Instead, I need to trick her into telling me what she did to Zhubi, so I can figure out how to undo it.

She shook her head at him. “Seventh, eighth, ninth, you are all ants before me.”

“Senior is an Immortal?” Hui asked, backing away toward the gelatinous mass. Whatever that stuff is, it’s related to Zhubi’s current condition. I need to know more about it.

Tseng Caihong scoffed. She closed in on him in an instant.

Expecting the attack, Hui ducked, dodging her straight line charge. He fled, racing directly for the mass.

His cultivation level continued to rise, hurtling toward the roof of the seventh realm. Light gathered around him as qi boiled inside, heating his body from the inside out. The stuffy feeling grew stronger. His condensed qi coiled with the overbearing wave of yin and qi. Hui focused half his attention inward, molding his qi as the pressure of its own weight condensed it from light form to a liquid, from a liquid to a solid.

No. Not an Immortal. Perhaps… a Wandering Immortal. An Earthbound Immortal. But… Hui squinted at her. She should be long dead. Wandering Immortals break the rules of the world and walk the mortal realm at an Immortal’s level of power, but ultimately, they failed to ascend. They’re like phosphorus. They burn brightly, but only for a moment before they burn themselves out. Their life is measured in years, at the best, if not months or weeks. The blink of an eye, to a cultivator.

I was wondering how Tseng Caihong controlled ninth-tier cultivators like Jizhi Zhimei, especially once I discovered the unrest within the Palace. If she’s a Wandering Immortal, it all falls into place.

Except for how she’s still alive.

The qi inside him settled, solidified into a crystal-like core. The core trembled, then beat, emanating a pulse of energy and light not unlike a heartbeat. His energy surged, redoubling with each passing moment. Taking the pulse, Hui circulated it through his passages, harnessing the energy.

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The energy fought him. Hui furrowed his brows, faintly confused. He trembled.

In his mind, a path opened. It wandered through the darkness, uncertain and wavering. My path… Death reversal, right?

The darkness remained. Nothing clarified in his mind.

There isn’t time for that. Later, I’ll do that later! He shoved it aside for now, pushing himself back to the present. His cultivation firmed, his physical prowess at the eighth realm, though his path remained unsettled, leaving his cultivation somewhat unstable overall.

Tseng Caihong scoffed. “A failure.” She closed in on him again. Her hand closed on his head and clenched.

Pulpy green goo squeezed out between her fingers. Hui stumbled back a few steps. His head regrew as he escaped, a bud pushing out of his head, swirling to reveal his face and hair once more.

I need enlightenment to finish stepping onto the eighth stage. For now, I’m pseudo-eighth stage. It’ll have to do. Somehow, I’ll use this to escape.

Hui smiled at Tseng Caihong. “A failure, yes. Like Senior! Who failed to step into the Immortal Realm.”

“So what? Who needs the Immortal Realm, when I can rule here?” Tseng Caihong returned.

Ah! My shot in the dark was correct. Interesting, interesting. Hui tilted his head. “Senior, before you crush me like the small bug I am…”

Tseng Caihong frowned. “Have you said that before?”

Hui cleared his throat. His face twitched, the usual smiling façade twisting for a moment. “Why… why did you hurt Zhubi?”

“Zhubi…? Oh. The snake.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you? You’re clever. I had to power my continued lifespan somehow.”

“By… by doing what?” Hui asked, grasping at straws. A familiar energy exuded from Zhubi’s body again. He desperately refused to pay attention to it. It can’t be. I don’t want to believe.

Tseng Caihong raised her brows. “Surely you know.”

Hui swallowed. He trembled. One hand went to Zhubi, over his heart. “The… the resentment demons.”

She laughed. “Precisely. I devour the lifespan, karma, cultivation… the right to exist from living beings, and use that to fuel my continued existence in defiance with the heavens. When I’m done, only husks remain. They should die, and yet, with the Heavens as distracted as they are… the husks, given enough time, meld together. They become something else.

“They twist. They transform. Hundreds and hundreds of husks pile up together, until they become one confused, lost, empty thing. The thing you call a resentment demon.”

Zhubi shook slightly against Hui’s chest. Hui hugged the snake to himself. “Turn him back. Turn him back.”

Tseng Caihong shrugged. “I can no more return him than I can return the beast cultivator’s pitiful Sacred Beast, or anyone else I’ve absorbed over the years. Ah, you know, the quality I require is so much greater these days. In the early days, I could absorb mortals. Then it was cultivators, then high-quality unique souls… Perhaps I ought to absorb that troublesome tier of beast cultivators. I’ve let them grumble for too long.”

She paused. “Ah, but they do handle the resentment demons for me…”

Hatred bubbled up in Hui’s veins. His lip curled. Death. All she deserves is death.

No. First, let’s take everything. Everything we can.

I can’t win this fight. I can’t. I shouldn’t lose track of that.

Remember. Escape. Escape… and loot.

Everything is over. The truth is out. There’s no reason to hold back any more. Everything is on the table. If she’s seen through my real cultivation level, then I can assume she’s seen through everything.

Now is the time. If I don’t activate everything now, I’m throwing it away.

Hui took a deep breath. He settled his cultivation and emotions, repressing both down. Lifting his head, he looked at Tseng Caihong.

She cocked an eyebrow. “Are you done struggling?”

Hui laughed. He shook his head. Raising his fingers, he said, “Tseng Caihong, that’s what you misunderstand about small bugs.”

“Oh?”

“We’re never done struggling.” Hui snapped his fingers.