He flew after them at a distance, carefully staying out of the range of Jun Ke’s divine sense. He clutched the floor tile, for lack of a better idea of what to do with it. At his small size, it stretched the entire size of his chest, gleaming with a pale jade sheen. Holding on with all his might, he flew on. At least I got something. It’s a floor tile, but it’s an Immortal-level floor tile. My first Immortal level equipment!

…Can a floor tile be considered equipment?

Sighing, Hui ran his hand over the tile, meaning to send it into his storage ring. Nothing happened.

He blinked. Frowning, he looked at the tile. Why not? It shouldn’t be too large. The storage ring can handle much larger items, even when I’m this small.

Oh! Maybe it’s because it’s Immortal-level. I haven’t tried to put anything Immortal level into my storage ring before. I should try it later with another item.

Hugging the tile to his chest, he hummed to himself, then drew on one of his lotus seeds. Lotus roots bound the tile around his small chest, as a sort of armor. It won’t work once I’m large again, but it’s a good breastplate for small me. Plus, it frees up my hands. Hui thumped his newly-fashioned breastplate, pleased with himself.

Turning his eyes ahead, he flew on, careful to stay just out of Jun Ke’s sensing range. I’m coming, Li Xiang.

The group passed over the top of the ridge of the mountains ahead of them and dropped out of sight. Hui sped up, surging to keep them in his gaze. At the top of the ridge, he paused, extending his aura just enough to make sure the Immortals weren’t waiting just over the mountain ridge.

Nothing. I’m safe. He flew over the mountains after the other cultivators.

At the foot of the mountains, hugged by the slopes all around them, a grand manor sprawled along the edge of a glittering, diamond-bright lake. A slow-rolling mountain stream fed into the lake and spilled out the other side, picturesque, cool and crisp. Strands of clouds clung to the trees and the tops of hills, lending the whole scene a celestial aura. The five cultivators, led by Jun Ke, dropped down toward the manor.

Hui tilted his head, confused. Why there? They’ve been going back to the camp every night. Are they done looting now that Jun Ke stole my sword? Or… no, isn’t it more likely that they’re returning to stow their loot?

I guess it’s also possible that they came to the ruins to loot for a week, and that week has passed, and now they’re going home. I can’t know, until I get closer.

But that manor… it could be a stronghold. I should watch, at least for a day. After all, it’s not as if Li Xiang is in great danger. Jun Ke seemed taken with her… as a sword. And there isn’t much safer in the cultivation world than as a cultivator’s treasured sword.

Of course, he could still decide to use her in battle, which I absolutely won’t allow. I need to steal her back before then! That’s right. She isn’t in no danger. She’s in low danger, but still danger! I need to take her away from him as fast as possible. Who knows? He might decide to attack some higher-realm Immortal, or some high-realm Immortal might attack him, and in the heat of the moment, if their swords meet and Li Xiang comes off on the weaker side… by no fault of her own, but surely only that Jun Ke’s fault—then Li Xiang could get chipped, or worse, shatter directly!

No, no. I can’t allow it. I can’t! Too much risk, far too risky. Which is exactly why I won’t leave her in his hands for long.

He settled onto the top of a tree and held onto the branch with one hand, gazing over the manor. At his tiny size, the leaf dipped and bobbled underneath him, bouncing him at the whims of the wind. Without his hand on the branch, it would have easily slipped out from under him.

Lifting a hand, he went to pet Zhubi, but his hand touched only air. Hui paused, then dropped his hand. That’s right. Zhubi is gone now.

It’s better for him, but… but I’ll miss him. I’d only just gotten him back, too… He shook his head. And now Li Xiang’s gone, and Ying Lin’s statuitized, and Master’s… well, okay, Master’s doing what he always does, which is his own thing, and it’s not like I was really expecting anything, but maybe I was expecting just a little bit of something…?

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He settled in to wait, balancing gently with the wind. The breeze pulled at his breastplate, and he patted it back down. Other mortal-looking cultivators streamed into the manor, as if drawn to it.

Hui watched them, thinking, a hand on his chin. I should probably not come into the manor tiny, come to think of it. They’ll be expecting that. But… large me is too obvious, and I’ve already played out the snakeskin—they’ll expect it, this time. How do I approach?

I suppose I have yin-form me. My face still looks like mine, though, so maybe we go with normal me next, without a snakeskin, and hold yin-me in reserve. That way, they’ll always expect a man, until the very last moment.

After all, I don’t think anyone got a good look at my face. I was always tiny when I was running around as me, and in the heat of battle, who’s paying that much attention to faces? I’m probably safe entering as myself.

Probably.

Once I figure out a route in.

Hmm. I wonder if they’re accepting new people to their sect? I am a newly ascended Immortal. I could use that to my benefit…

Down below, beautiful fairy maidens in delicate silks appeared, roaming the celestial gardens with natural ease. Handsome cultivators in fine brocade stood at the ready at every door, preparing to receive guests. Hui sat up, suddenly interested. Oh? Is there some kind of party tonight? Excellent, excellent! What a perfect opportunity to sneak in. As long as I change clothes—and after looting that secret realm in the Eight Tiers Palace, I have plenty of those—I shouldn’t stand out too much amongst the guests! I’ll keep an eye out, and mix in with the rest as they enter! Yes, yes.

Though, if you have such nice clothes, Elder Siblings, why were you dressed like beggars earlier?

I guess everyone needs a good pair of working clothes…?

The first of the guests showed up, a man in luminous white robes. At the door, he flashed a piece of paper, and the male cultivators stepped aside to let him through. Hui’s eyes narrowed. That paper… what is it? An invite? I’ll get a closer look at the next one.

A fierce aura of massacre filled the air. Absolutely terrified, Hui almost played dead on instinct. At the last second, he barely managed to force himself to freeze instead. Moving right now is the ultimate mistake! Stay strong, Hui!

Black robes swept close by his head. Exuding a sharp killing intent without trying to, the man circled down toward the manor. Wearing a metal mask, he presented an invite at the door. Mustering himself, Hui quickly scanned the invite with his divine sense. Red text scrawled across white paper, the symbols meaningless, but full of qi. Oh? There’s qi in it?

Interesting. Qi on paper… isn’t that essentially a talisman? Simple, too simple! Is that really all it is? I’ll watch as the other guests arrive, just to be sure.

The man in black turned. The hollow shadows in the mask where his eyes should be gaped emptily, pointed directly toward Hui.

Hui froze. He instantly retracted any trace of divine sense and killed his qi signature at the same time, becoming nothing to the greatest ability he had. You saw nothing, you didn’t see a thing!

The man stared for another few moments. The man at the door gestured him in, and only then did the masked man turn away and enter the manor.

Hui let out a breath. Phew. I shouldn’t have been so bold. Daring to scan that man’s invite? Too risky, too risky! I’ve really grown far too confident. I should have waited for someone gentler, far gentler.

Still, that first man was clearly a righteous cultivator, and that second one was clearly a demonic cultivator! And yet, they were both invited to the same party? How strange. What kind of party is this? Is it some kind of high-tension negotiation between the demonic and righteous camps?

A few more cultivators flew in. Hui scanned the invitations one after another, gleaning tiny bits of information from each one. After the demonic cultivator, he carefully kept his divine sense limited, only daring to scan each one for a few bare moments. Slowly, he pieced together the full shape of the invite.

I think I have it. It would be better if I could steal an invite, or sit still and scan one, but that would mean accosting one of the Immortals, and I wouldn’t dare! No, no. This will have to be good enough. I’ll have to believe in my meager abilities, if only for a moment.

He reached into his storage ring and pulled out a piece of paper he’d looted from Eight Tiers Palace. Hopefully they won’t notice it’s not Immortal-level paper. But who would scan the paper, right?

Right…?

Hui took a deep breath. He pressed his hand against the paper and pushed his qi into it, until all trace of mortal influence had been replaced by his own qi. Okay. It’s a little suspicious, but it’ll appear Immortal-realm at a glance, probably. They haven’t looked at the invites too closely, from what I’ve seen, so it should be alright if it’s just a little strange.

Lifting his hand again, he bit his thumb and drew on the paper with his blood. With his experience with talismans, copying the symbols he’d seen took him only a few moments. Luckily, the invites used red ink. I’ll have to move fast, before the blood darkens, but I’ll have enough time to get through the door.

He dropped out of the tree and landed like a leaf on the floor below. Uncompressing himself, he quickly swapped out his usual blue robes for a set of gaudy purple robes, adding a few necklaces and rings to match the impressive attire of the other cultivators he’d seen enter the manor. Hui gripped the invite firmly and took a deep breath, psyching himself up. Alright, Hui. Here we go.

Pushing off from the ground, he vanished back over the mountain, flying at speed through the forest in the opposite direction from the manor.