690. Futile Struggle (Patreon)

Following after Jizhi Zhimei, the beast cultivators’ Tier Master flew forth, Lao Hu roaring fearsomely as wings burst from its back. Shuhang Han scurried after her, terrified, and behind him came the rest of the combatants. Wan Lu handed out pills like candy. All the cultivators who took his pills surged with power and flew to the front lines, blasting out at incredible speeds. Likewise, Xi Sanji offered a few of the fighters her pills.

Before any fool could take one, Hui quickly ran to Xi Sanji’s side and pointed her at the opposite army. “Elder Sister, why don’t you give them your pills instead?”

Xi Sanji frowned. “They’re the enemy.”

“Yes, precisely,” Hui said, nodding. Your pills are demonic, but considered as poison, they’re heavenly! Recognize your talent and apply it correctly, damn it!

Xi Sanji narrowed her eyes at him. “How are you alive? I killed you. And for that matter, how are you so old?”

Hui cleared his throat, pointing at his neck. “Elder Sister only cut my head off. You didn’t feed me a pill. As for my age… trade secret?” He tipped his head and grinned.

Her eyes narrowed further. She harrumphed. “Fine. Keep your secrets.” Snapping her sleeve, she flew toward the enemy faction. “Who wants some healing pills?”

Hui nodded approvingly at her back. As it should be.

High above, Tseng Caihong and Jizhi Zhimei traded blows, moving far too rapidly to be seen. In the space of a breath, they each exchanged a thousand blows, bodies flickering as they dodged and attacked so fluidly as to become a dance. The gel and Tseng Caihong’s heavy palm strikes eroded away the Hundred and Eight Layers, but with the barrier’s assistance, Jizhi Zhimei managed to pressure Tseng Caihong.

Clicking her tongue, Tseng Caihong jumped back. She cracked her neck left, then right. Power surged up from her core. Lifting a single finger, she gestured Jizhi Zhimei on.

Down below, Hui’s eyes widened. Exactly as I wanted… but fuck, if she fights Jizhi Zhimei like that, my pitiful barrier won’t hold up for long! Hands flying, he quickly scribbled another few talisman formulas on the air. With a flick of his hand, they flew toward Jizhi Zhimei.

“Tseng Caihong, take this!” Shuhang Han drew back his fist.

Hui’s eyes widened. He began to draw another barrier talisman, but internally, he lit a candle for Shuhang Han. That fool isn’t even ninth stage, and he dares to challenge Tseng Caihong? Jizhi Zhimei is fast enough to dodge or deflect most of Tseng Caihong’s blows, but he? He’s going to take a direct hit. My barrier can’t save him.

Before he could land his blow, Tseng Caihong reached backward. Her hand curled around his neck. Gel surrounded him, but couldn’t eat through the barrier.

Annoyance flickered over Tseng Caihong’s face. She clenched her fist. The barrier shattered, and Shuhang Han’s neck broke with a resounding snap. In the next moment, the barrier reformed. Shuhang Han laid dead, but her gel failed to absorb his body, stuck outside the barrier. Clicking her tongue again, she dropped him.

Hui’s eyes glittered. Perfect! The fundamental problem with the Hundred and Eight Layers, the fact that it’s made up of relatively weak barriers that shatter, then reform in layers, is exactly the function that I need to keep Tseng Caihong from absorbing her opponents’ potential and growing stronger mid-fight! True, she could keep smashing the barrier until she reached the candy… ahem, cultivator inside, but in the middle of a hectic battlefield, does she have the time or extra thought to realize that in the first place, let alone accomplish that?

Good, good. All according to plan.

It’s a pity about Shuhang Han, but the man did trap me in a death trap. Honestly? He was too dangerous to allow to live. Imagine if he trapped some lower-level cultivators in that death trap, like my poor children, for example! If I were truly the realm I appeared to be, I’d be dead! Matches the cultivator’s level, bullshit!

I wasn’t going to actively kill him, no. But neither will I mourn his death.

In the moments Shuhang Han bought her, Jizhi Zhimei held her hand out. A whip landed heavily in her palm, and she uncurled it with a flick that sent its tip buzzing through the air with a booming snap. Once more, she closed in on Tseng Caihong.

At the same time, Lao Hu and the beasts’ Tier Master leaped at Tseng Caihong from behind. Claws and teeth bared, Lao Hu battered Tseng Caihong, while the Tier Master cast powerful enchantments on the tiger’s body, strengthening it even further. Seriously pressured, Tseng Caihong fell back. Her expression twisted with anger. She struck out, lashing the gel over her attackers, but the gel fell away harmlessly, peeling off their barriers.

The mass of lotus clones returned to Hui. He held out his hand. They combined together, becoming fewer and fewer clones, until they became seven seeds once more. Flipping his hand, he stowed them in a sleeve.

Tseng Caihong burst free of Jizhi Zhimei and the beast Tier Master with a growl. Dull white joined the seven colors swirling in her eyes, while the colors faded, almost matte. She looked at Hui’s army and grit her teeth, seeing gold barriers glittering around all of them. Whirling around, she hurtled toward her own army, unprotected by Hui’s barriers.

My chance! Glancing at the other army, Hui listened for a moment, then ran a hand over his face, activating the snakeskin technique as he did so, and copied the face of one of the opponents. Momentarily suppressing his cultivation to that other cultivator’s level, he flew backward toward the enemy line, casually joining the retreating warriors, then whirled around. Right as Tseng Caihong’s hand descended on an opponent, he shrieked dramatically. “Look! Tseng Caihong’s devouring us!”

All around him, warriors turned. The musical cultivators went pale. The swordsmen backed away, uncertain. Only the demonic healers remained blasé.

“She’s going to devour us all! We’re nothing but fodder to her! Save yourself!” Without any hesitation, Hui whirled around and sprinted toward his own line, shedding the snakeskin with a quick grab at his face as he went.

Hundreds of the enemy cultivators fled with Hui, whether they ran toward the enemy or simply sprinted into the sky. Hui checked behind him, quickly scanning the other cultivators. Mostly music cultivators. Maybe a hundred sword cultivators, but mostly lower-ranked ones. Hmm, unfortunate. Still, it’s good to remove enemies from the equation. If the other side loses their support, that’s still a win for us.

The mobile-game-looking sword cultivator brandished his swords. The ones that didn’t fit in his hands spun around him wildly, trailing multicolored sparks. “Stand strong!”

Momentarily adopting the person whose face he’d stolen’s voice once more, Hui cleared his throat. “Sen… Tier Master, watch out! She’s about to steal your potential!”

Horror flashed over the Tier Master’s face. He whirled around, raising his swords.

Tseng Caihong closed in on a random disciple in the distance, who barely had time to scream before her hand closed around their head. Gel enveloped their body, and their flesh turned resentment-demon-white.

The other sword cultivators looked at their Tier Master, then at the crumpled, ruined body of the cultivator Tseng Caihong had absorbed.

Hui glanced around him. Another voice would be better… but whatever. He gasped loudly, using qi to accentuate his voice. “Even the Tier Master is afraid? How can we stand a chance?”

At that, some of the higher-level sword cultivators fled toward Hui’s army, faces pale. The magical cultivators’ Tier Master fled, and the rest of her Tier went with her. Even the demonic healers looked uncertain, and some of them faded out of sight, fleeing randomly.

Tseng Caihong lunged forward, reaching for another cultivator. Her army openly fled her, but no one could outspeed her. She absorbed another cultivator and took a deep breath, visibly relieved. The color burned bright in her eyes once more.

Hui turned, quickly taking stock of the battlefield. Tseng Caihong’s army laid in tatters, most of its bulk either fled or turned to Hui’s side. Overhead, Jizhi Zhimei and the beasts’ Tier Masters dropped down toward Tseng Caihong, but the sword cultivator rushed to meet them, the demonic healers’ Tier Master at his side.

Everything is in place. My side has the advantage. Tseng Caihong is desperate. The time is now. Running his hand over his face again, he chose a different cultivator’s face and slipped in with the other side’s warriors once more. This time, he said nothing, but instead worked his way back toward Tseng Caihong. She swooped down, searching for another victim. The other warriors fled, and Hui did as well, but slowly, feigning an injury. Her hand darted for him.

Hui spun. He grabbed her wrist, and with a flick of his other hand, called forth a portal. “Come with me, Elder Sister,” he said with a gentle smile.

Faster than blinking, the portal hurtled toward them. Tseng Caihong went to flee, but Hui swapped to his compressed crystal form and held onto her wrist with the full might of his cultivation. He only held her a second, but that second proved more than enough. The portal swallowed them, and they vanished.