Underneath them, the Immortal World churned. Sects attacked one another, fended off the gold cultivators, or both. Even in the skies, Immortals exchanged blows and traded massive spells that would have destroyed the fabric of the mortal world back and forth. Dodging the errant paw of a passing enormous qi structure of a dragon, Hui wove his way through the battlefields, ignored by the busy warriors.
“The Immortal Realm isn’t usually like this. In fact, it’s the first time in my five loops that it’s been so chaotic. I wonder what happened?” Bai Xue wondered aloud.
Hui cleared his throat. Certainly not a certain buglike cultivator upending the garbage bin back into the Immortal Realm so that all the garbage in the bin came back to life at the start of this time loop. “I have no idea, Elder Sister. It’s quite strange.”
“Yes, it’s certainly odd that the first loop after Song Wei tells me he met my Xiao Hui after many loops with no news, the Immortal world suddenly falls into chaos,” Bai Xue said, looking at Hui from the corner of her eyes.
“Odd, how odd. Truly an overwhelming coincidence,” Hui agreed, nodding along.
“He’s lying,” Li Xiang said.
“Oh, I know that. I’m enjoying watching him squirm,” Bai Xue said, grinning.
“What do you mean?” Hui asked, startled. Did I somehow leave my fingerprints on the garbage bin? How does she know?
Bai Xue gave him a look. “I know my Hui. If there’s chaos and no obvious culprit, I know who did it.”
Ah. I’ve become too obvious. The next time I create chaos, I’ll have to be more careful to set up someone to take the fall, so it isn’t sourceless chaos, but instead, seemingly ordinary fully-sourced chaos. Hui nodded. “I’ll take that into account, Elder Sister.”
She shook her head. “Give the rest of us a chance, Xiao Hui.”
Li Xiang turned about, casually reflecting a misaimed beam of swordlight back toward the cultivator who’d shot it. She looked at Bai Xue. “Why are you aware of the time loop, while I fall victim to it?”
Bai Xue shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know why any of us are aware of the loop. I did try to pull you in a few times, but it never seemed to stick. You’d always end up in Heart Lotus City again, the same as you were at the start.”
“Oh! Maybe it’s because Elder Sister ascended before me?” Hui suggested.
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“Why would that matter?” Bai Xue squinted at him.
Hui cleared his throat. “Er, that is, I uh, I might have a long-running grudge with the Golden Immortal. By no fault of my own, by no fault of my own, of course. The Golden Immortal is obsessed with me. I don’t know why, so don’t ask, Elder Sisters.
“But my point is, he might only be turning time back to when I ascended. In which case, Li Xiang would have already ascended before the time loop started, and already been a part of the realm when the first loop of the time loop began, whereas Bai Xue, Song Wei, and I’m assuming Jun Ke ascended after me, and therefore… had a chance to be aware of the loop?”
Li Xiang looked at Bai Xue.
Bai Xue shrugged. “It sounds reasonable to me, but can any of us know?”
I understand Bai Xue not buying into my explanation. After all, it relies on something ridiculous like the small me being the focus of the protagonist-like Golden Immortal. But I’m pretty convinced myself. He has been searching for me since I was a very very small cultivator, after all. I can’t say I fully understand his obsession, but it does seem to be the case.
“Did Jun Ke ascend after me?”
“Yes… he ascended about a hundred years ago,” Bai Xue confirmed. “He was originally the one in charge of those aware of the looping, until you woke me up.”
That lends weight to my theory. If only those who ascend after me can wake up in the loop, then the loop probably is grounded on my arrival.
“And then you took over…?” Hui asked, squinting, a little lost.
Bai Xue grinned. She bared her fist. “After I beat him up a bit, sure.”
Hui smiled back. “It’s good that Elder Sister is so strong!”
“Speaking of, Xiao Hui, you don’t have any high-realm attacks, do you?”
Li Xiang looked up sharply.
“Er, well… no,” Hui admitted.
Bai Xue shook her head.
“None?” Li Xiang asked, with the tone of someone asking for clarification.
“None,” Hui confirmed.
“I can teach you sword techniques,” Li Xiang offered.
Hui rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you for your offer, Elder Sister, but… er… I’m not exactly a swordsman…”
“At this level, my techniques are unsuitable for anyone who hasn’t cultivated my clan’s technique,” Bai Xue said, shrugging helplessly.
Li Xiang turned her gaze to the battlefield. Her eyes hardened.
Guessing her thoughts a moment before she sprang into action, Hui jumped forward. “No, no, Elder Sister, these, these people have all already been defeated by the Golden Immortal, so their abilities are—”
Li Xiang burst off, leaving Hui and Bai Xue behind.
Hui lowered his hand. He pressed his lips together.
Bai Xue sighed. She shook her head. “It’s good that she’s so straightforward, but she’s a little too straightforward at times.”
In a moment, Li Xiang returned. Under one arm, she held a cultivator who’d been stuffed into a vaguely ball-like shape. She nodded. “Quickly.”
Behind her, a mob of cultivators in blue charged toward them. “Prince!”
Hui looked at the cultivators, then at Li Xiang. “Uh, Li Xiang, did you steal—”
“Quickly.” She flew away.
Hui looked over his shoulder at the charging cultivators in blue, then at the fleeing Li Xiang. Between fighting and fleeing, I know which one I choose! He flew after Li Xiang.
Bai Xue paused one moment longer. She swapped to her male form and swished a fan, exuding a murderous aura as his dark hair flew on the breeze. “Shall we tango?”
The blue-robed cultivators hesitated half a beat. Spinning the black fan, Bai Xue called up a wall of flame to surround the other cultivators, then flew after Hui and Li Xiang.