Hui snapped his fingers.

Tseng Caihong tensed, then frowned. She looked around her, turning her eyes back to Hui. Her brows furrowed. “What did you do?”

“Ah? I thought Senior had the All-Seeing Eyes. Can’t you see for yourself what I did?” Hui taunted her.

Mortal reporting back! Activating long-distance teleportation formation. Hello, Li Xiang! Do you read me? I’ve got some clothes for the sect!

This is Peak Lord. Bai Xue, do you hear me? Sending a long-distance teleportation formation your direction. Please reply urgently. I’ll be sending yin energy over this channel, prepare yourself.

Sectgoer, calling in. Song Wei, fresh bathwater for… ahem, I mean, qi-dense water for your pond. Please respond, waiting online.

Wildman here. Expect an influx of beasts. Gui Yutong, I’m counting on you.

Xixing, hey! Remember us? It’s me, Rogue. Ah, I mean, Hui! I’ve got a vast amount of pill resources here, about to send them to you!

Healer on the Fourth Tier, splitting off from Peak Lord. I’m going to grab as many fourth-tier apprentices as I can.

Been a while, everyone. Sixth on the pill tier, splitting off from Rogue. Going to recruit as many cultivators as I can.

Hui smirked. All those lotus seeds I scattered weren’t for nothing. I’m not going to die without taking as much as I can with me.

Or rather, I’m not going to die at all! But I’m going to make you pay for trying to squash this bug! Pay… with your loot!

I held back until now, but there’s no reason to hold back any longer. Ahhh, I really wanted to loot the top four tiers as well. Too bad, too bad. Plans can’t always go off perfectly, huh? Half is still good, though!

Ah, no. More than half, since the eighth tier was empty and I double-looted the fourth tier. Hmm, hmm. Pity about the healing tier and the sword tier, though. I guess the music tier is sad to miss, too, but since I don’t know any music cultivators, it’s not as big of a deal to me.

Tseng Caihong’s eyes darted left and right through the floor. She shook her head. “A meaningless effort. I will raze your lands to the ground. There is not a single expert in the Southern Sect Conference that can stand up to me. No matter what you steal away now, I will reclaim it when I destroy your homeland.”

Hui backed away silently. Casually, he drew barrier talismans on the air around him as he went, activating Hundred and Eight Layers after Hundred and Eight Layers and surrounding himself in a shell of thin golden light. That is a problem. I can’t rely on the barrier. I already knew it was crumbling. That’s why I came here in the first place.

The moment I was revealed, Tseng Caihong’s invasion of the Southern Sect Conference became inevitable. No… from the start, perhaps, it was inevitable. She needs bodies to fuel her pseudo-immortality. Since she isn’t stupid enough to rely on her own supply… that is, use cultivators from the Eight Tiers Palace to fuel her pseudo-immortality, she’d eventually turn to the Southern Sect Conference, the weakest group, no matter what concessions we made or hostages we sent.

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And… I don’t think we can defeat the Eight Tiers Palace yet, either. We need more time.

In other words, we need a different solution. A solution that allows the Southern Sect Conference to grow stronger before Tseng Caihong’s invasion. A way to give the Southern Sect Conference more time.

The image of the time fragment flashed before Hui’s eyes again. He considered for a moment, only to shake his head. No. It’s no good. I don’t understand time enough. Even Chen Wuya struggles to comprehend time. I can’t even activate it, let alone do something meaningful. It’s still far too early for me to rely on time.

But… there is something else I can rely on. Something I’ve been holding back on all this time.

Tseng Caihong’s eyes narrowed. She charged at him again.

Hui rushed to meet her. As he charged, he rubbed his hands together, forming a lotus seed between his palms. One, a second, another. Each one, he quickly inscribed with a talisman, his fingers flashing too quickly to be seen.

Pulling her hand back, Tseng Caihong loosed a palm strike at Hui. The force flew at him. Hui dodged, but the passing wave still burst his barriers apart. They fell around him, shards of golden light striking the floor like glass.

Flipping his hand around in a circle, Hui gathered up the shards of light. He threw his hand out. The shards flew at Tseng Caihong, whistling through the darkness.

Tseng Caihong narrowed her eyes. Her hands blurred, and she snatched the lotus seeds out of the light shards. The shards of light struck her and fell to nothing, completely harmless from the start.

She cocked a brow at Hui. “My eyes see all.”

“Mmm, I know, Elder Sister,” Hui said. He snapped his fingers.

The void technique shuddered out from each lotus seed. At point blank, they hammered into Tseng Caihong. Her form blurred under the weight of the voids trembling. Holes opened in her body, holes that gaped straight through reality.

If you can see all, then of course you’d see that those are lotus clones. Ah, but I’ve never used my void technique in talisman form here, have I? My apologies, Elder Sister. I suppose you can’t know it even if you see it, since you’ve never seen it before. It’s rather unfair of me, isn’t it?

Ah, but battle isn’t meant to be fair. Fair fights are for fools and duelists!

As Tseng Caihong trembled under the weight of the void techniques, Hui closed in. He raised his hand, summoning a qi sword to his hand. The talisman formula of the Seven Steps of Autumn appeared over his head, the spell taking over his body.

“This… pathetic… attempt!” Tseng Caihong spat. She threw the seeds away and curled her fingers, reaching for Hui’s forehead.

“Forgive this small bug for being so pathetic,” Hui said. He tilted the attack upward, aiming for her arm.

I’m putting up a good act, but I don’t think I can win. Hey! Are you guys done yet? I don’t think I’m going to last much longer.

Almost.

Another few minutes.

Haaaa? I’m done. You lazy asses.

Hey, uh, bad time, bad time…

Xi Sanji, stop it! Oh, sorry, wrong channel. Same team, same team!

Done here. I’m ready for the next phase.

A cold palm closed around his forehead. His sword struck home, only to shatter against her flesh. She looked down at him with cold eyes, hatred flickering in their depths.

“Shatter.”

The world froze around Hui, locking him in place. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Tseng Caihong’s qi poured into his body, sealing off his mental energy and qi both. Hui choked on a mouthful of bad blood, unable to even cough it up.

Uh… First? You okay?

Unable to respond, Hui stared up into Tseng Caihong’s eyes, watching the innumerable colors swirl within.

“I’ve seen so much, but I haven’t seen everything yet. You won’t cut me off from my path. Not now, when I’m so close to the end.”

Her hand clenched shut.