The two armies faced one another down. In sheer strength, the upper tiers outweighed the lower, their pressure bearing down on the lower tiers. Jizhi Zhimei stood at the head of the army, fighting off their pressure with her own ninth-tier cultivation.

The sword tier’s Tier Master stepped forward, his swords swirling around him like fish. “Jizhi Zhimei, give up his hopeless rebellion. Stop listening to that man’s lies about the Palace Master.”

Jizhi Zhimei laughed. Waving her hand, she deafened the army behind her, then spoke directly. “Lies? You know as well as I do that he speaks the truth.”

Behind the swordsmaster, his army wavered. Almost a quarter of them involuntarily stepped forward, lured by Jizhi Zhimei’s voice.

“And? Is that enough of an excuse for you to turn against us?” he asked, crossing his arms. As he crossed his arms, he blocked the sound of her voice from passing him. Silence fell over the army behind him.

“All I hear is the yipping of Tseng Caihong’s lapdog,” she returned. “A cultivator must walk their own path, seek their own Dao. Are you so afraid to stand alone that you’ll cling to Tseng Caihong’s thigh to the end?”

The swords cultivator narrowed his eyes. “It seems this conflict of ours cannot be solved with words.”

“You knew that before you spoke.”

He raised his sword. Opposite him, Jizhi Zhimei bared immaculate fingernails. The cloaks of silence over their respective armies fell away.

Without another word, the two flew at one another. Behind them, their armies flew forth. They clashed in a blast of sword beams and beast roars.

In the rear, Hui watched quietly, waiting. Now is not yet the time.

Wan Lu flew up beside him. “Weiheng Hui. I’ve prepared the pills you requested.”

“You’re too kind, far too kind.” Hui turned, bowing as he received the bag.

Wan Lu hesitated. “These pills… burning your potential for a burst of strength. One is enough to shatter one’s path and ruin their cultivation. Two is suicide. Dozens… what are you planning? Have you gone mad?”

“I think I might have gone mad a short while ago,” Hui replied. He put his hand on his heart, where Zhubi laid. It trembled, subtly. My self-preservation instincts might have drawn me away from immediately attacking Tseng Caihong, but this plan of mine is no less insane. It’s just that I’ve managed to repress my madness for long enough to realize a few rational truths, and build a plan around them.

To attack someone so vastly more powerful than me is insane. To launch my attack early was insane. To have a plan to fight this powerful cultivator, a plan that only has a small chance of succeeding, based on a few educated guesses of mine instead of concrete knowledge… I’ve gone mad. If I was still fully focused on preserving my own little life, as I should be, I would never attempt any of this.

But… I think… perhaps it’s the madness speaking, but… there are times when the threat is so great, so all-encompassing, that one cannot fail to act. And this is one of those times.

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If I realized it, Tseng Caihong surely realized it long ago.

I must act now. Not only for Zhubi’s sake. For myself. For my wives and children. For this world, that I’ve grown to love far more than the one I left behind.

No matter what it takes.

Though, naturally, I’m not so foolish as to throw away my life in an attack. No, no. It’s simply… simply… simply that I must gamble! Gambling destroyed my father, and by proxy, my first life. I hate gambling more than anything except, perhaps, losing my small life, and now I have to gamble with my life? I hate it, I hate it!

But I have no choice.

“How did you even know about these pills? This recipe is hidden, a secret of our clan,” Wan Lu asked.

Hui cleared his throat, casting his gaze to the side. Er, because I’ve read plenty of cultivation novels, and pills like that are practically a cliché? Ah, I can’t tell him that, though! “Call it intuition.”

Still holding the pills, Wan Lu looked Hui up and down. “What are you planning?”

Hui bowed again, hands still outstretched. “Sincerely, Elder Brother, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.”

“Hmm. Well, ultimately, I care not for the mistakes you make with your life. I owe you a small debt of gratitude for assisting us with one of Xi Sanji’s mistakes, but if you are certain you must walk this path…”

“Very certain, Elder Brother.”

“…Then I won’t be the one to stop you.” Wan Lu released the bag into Hui’s palms.

Hui closed his hands around it. In another moment, he stored it in his storage ring. “Many thanks, Elder Brother.”

Wan Lu hesitated, then tossed Hui a final pill. As large as a baby’s fist, this one was far denser and more sizable than the rest. It landed in Hui’s palm with a heavy thonk, as if it were made of lead instead of crushed herbs. “Xi Sanji brewed this one. I don’t know exactly what she did to it, but… well. You know what that means.”

Hui looked at the pill, then tucked it in his sleeve. “Understood, Elder Brother.”

Wan Lu gazed out over the battlefield. “Ultimately, this was inevitable. Tseng Caihong never put in the effort to keep us together. The day we turned upon one another would come sooner or later. You were merely the tipping point.”

“I know,” Hui said. I put a lot of effort into becoming the straw that broke the camel’s back, Elder Brother.

“I simply hope that the demons do not seize this moment to attack,” he murmured.

“I wouldn’t mind if they do,” Hui said. Allow me to crush all my enemies with one fell swoop!

Ah, not that I know the demons are enemies. They did attack my friends in the assassination tier, but that’s more a function of me being in the assassin’s tier rather than a personal grudge. And while I’m sure they’d hold a grudge if they knew I killed their princess, I, er, killed all the witnesses except my allies in the assassin’s sect, so they’re unlikely to ever discover that.

As long as they don’t attack my pre-Eight Tiers Palace and their preexisting grudge friends, it’s no big deal. Eight Tiers Palace can hold its own against the demons. Eight Tiers Palace’s and the demons’ grudge is no grudge of mine. I won’t run a campaign against a group of people who have only tangentially threatened me.

Jizhi Zhimei and the sword cultivator fought back and forth. From their auras, Jizhi Zhimei’s cultivation was superior to the sword cultivator’s, but the sword cultivator nonetheless held his own. Sword cultivators are known for punching above their weightclass, and it seems he’s no exception, Hui thought quietly, watching the battle.

Wan Lu crossed his arms. “Weiheng Hui…”

“Xiao Hui is fine,” Hui said quietly.

“What are you waiting for? Why not join the battle?”

Hui looked over his shoulder at the Tier Master. “Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

He looked at the battle again. “I’m sorry, Elder Brother, but I only have one goal here. One objective.”

Wan Lu nodded. “I suppose I understand that. But you’re… eighth stage, no? Tseng Caihong is a Wandering Immortal.”

“Mmm, I know.”

“The pills will not overcome that.”

“I know.”

Wan Lu snorted. “Why am I trying to give you advice?”

Hui looked at Hui. “I don’t know, Elder Brother. Perhaps it’s because you’re a good person?”

“Ha. A good person wouldn’t have given you those pills.”

Behind him, familiar auras rushed in. Hui turned, watching the Southern Sect Conference arrive. He smiled. “It’s time.”

The trap is set. Now it’s time to see if my prize takes the bait.