Story 6 - Slapping Faces and Entering Sects (Part 23)
The referee called for Liu ChuHua versus Little Spring.
The two stepped up to their places, causing sparks of hatred to practically fly off each other.
"I'm glad that it's you that I'm fighting," McTraitorFace said. "This way, I get to show Sister Lin my real skills."
With a flourish and an aggressive crack, the girl brought out her whip. Then she happily looked at me and waved.
Little Spring calmly took out his sword, stood in the fighting stance I taught him, and narrowed his eyes at her. "She's my sister, not yours!"
"And when I beat your butt, I'll prove to her that I'd make a better sibling!"
The fuck is this? Why were they arguing over something so dumb?
Little Spring was usually so calm and logical for a child of eight. But he stood there, seething, holding his sword like he was about to murder a bitch. "Oh yeah? Well, when I beat yours, I'll prove you're not worthy!"
I covered my eyes and turned my head to pretend like I didn't know those two.
I mean, feel free to smack talk, but leave me out of it!
The referee, who was probably also tired of their shit, raised his hand. "Fight!"
Little Spring ran toward McTraitorFace.
The girl coolly cast her Sly Fire Falcon technique, sending a bird made of flames shooting toward the kid's weak side. Something she must have picked up from his past fights.
Fortunately, between me and the Reds, we'd given him plenty of instruction on how to protect his vulnerabilities.
Without breaking a sweat, he sent a blade of Qi slicing towards the fire falcon, severing it.
The girl experienced a backlash from the forced cancellation of her technique and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Enraged, she took a few steps forward until he came within her whip's range. With quick successive strikes, she pelted his shoulders and arms.
Fortunately, the protective talisman I'd forced him to wear caught all of those attacks, only letting some of the damage through.
The whip's tip zipped toward his eye. He dodged backward, escaping the blinding attack. Of course, doing this killed his momentum. But he wasn't a normal kid who was just learning the way of the sword. He was someone who already knew how to manifest sword Qi and didn't have to fight in close combat.
He sent a blade of it flying towards her.
With an awkward jump step, she dodged the attack.
Her face filled with rage. She flicked her whip out and wrapped it around the hilt of Little Spring's sword.
As she pulled, the kid's weapon flew out of his hand, landing across the arena floor.
She smirked. "Now that you're weaponless, I'll allow you to give up!"
"And listen to you brag about being the better sibling? Never!"
Why did these two sound more like actual siblings than I ever had with the original Bloodsword?
Wait, that was beside the point. Neither of us were technically real siblings. We were all martial brothers and sisters of the same sect. There was literally no reason for this.
McTraitorFace flicked her whip out. Little Spring, using a Qi strengthened hand, caught the end. Then he pulled.
It flew out of her hands.
"Aaaah!" she yelled, then ran towards him.
He awkwardly attempted to wield the whip, but I'd never trained him on it. Eventually, he just threw it far behind him and jumped at McTraitorFace's legs.
They both rolled on the floor while punching and kicking each other.
I sighed. Seriously, what was with this pointless jealousy?
That was when I noticed the hidden knife McTraitorFace pulled out of her sleeve and stabbed into Little Spring's side.
How the hell did it bypass the protective talisman I made him wear?
The kid grunted with pain when she pulled the dagger out. His face paled. Then it was like the pain made him focus, and he used a couple of hand seals to create a massive spiritual palm that smacked her so heavily that she flew off of him.
She landed on the arena floor with so much force that she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her head lifted for a second, then her eyes unfocused and she fell unconscious.
These brats!
"Winner, Little Spring!"
I ran from my spot to kneel beside the dumb kid.
He smiled at me. "See? I'm the better brother."
"Yes, yes. You're the best. Now let's get you healed."
I brought out a healing pill but paused when I looked at his wound. It was turning purple at the edges. Fuck. There had been poison on that knife!
Fucking McTraitorFace!
He grabbed my arm. "Promise me that I'll be your only little sibling."
I rolled my eyes and hefted him up, using the superior strength I earned from my body cultivation. His eyes went wide. "I... I can walk!"
"Don't be ridiculous. Come on, let's get you healed. This is going to be a bit more complicated than I'd like. So let's make room for the last two fighters."
I didn't need to see the next fight, anyway. I already knew that Young Master Zhang would win. His talent and trump cards were superior. Not to mention that, at eight years old, little Zhao XiuYing was two-thirds his age.
The only thing that might be a factor was that he was limited to the fourth layer of Qi Condensation while Icy Tsundere Fairy had reached the 5th level of Qi Condensation last night.
Unfortunately for her, she was dealing with a man who slapped problems with money.
I carried Little Spring all the way to the back room where we had rested while waiting for everyone to get here. After laying him down on the floor, I took a sample of his poisoned blood and put it on my sanitized knife.
Now, the most perfect way to test the poison would be to get a pill testing beast, let it consume it, then test the antidote on it.
However, I didn't have time for that. The kid's lips were already turning purple. Of course, that also told me that the oxygen content in his blood had significantly decreased. He appeared to have no problems breathing.
Then using a highly scientific method (not really), I grabbed two general antidote pills that I had prepared a while ago. I used a little of my sword Qi to scrape off some of each pill onto my knife. Focusing my divine sense on the mixture I watched the reactions.
Visually, on the right side, the blood turned black. On the left side, it turned bright red. But what I sensed from the energies made me frown.
"What is it? Sister Lin?"
"This is a way stronger poison than a kid like Mc—Liu ChuHua should be able to come up with."
His face paled. "Do we have an antidote for it?"
I smirked. "Who am I?"
"Fairy Lin!"
"That's right. So stay calm and relax. Concentrate on cultivating to replace what you lost in the tournament."
He swallowed and closed his eyes. I could tell that he wasn't trying. Or maybe the pain was too much.
It was fine as long as he didn't focus on the pain. I quickly cleaned and sanitized my knife while my mind went over the possible poisons. Based on my senses and the symptoms... Ah. That one.
Blue Fire Three Tears poison.
I frowned.
That was a rare one. Not that powerful. However... It was almost like someone had researched what pills I'd sold to the Alchemists' Guild and had done everything in their power to find the one lower leveled poison I hadn't prepared an antidote for.
Was this the work of a demonic cultivator that infiltrated the sect? Had they somehow convinced McTraitorFace that she'd need that poisoned knife to beat Little Spring? It was possible.
Or it was just a coincidence. I wouldn't know until I spoke with that girl. Whenever that would be.
However, if this was someone's plan, they didn't know what I could do. Being a master alchemist, I knew how to speedily create a temporary general antidote for this poison from the ones I'd already concocted.
Of course, this wouldn't be possible if I didn't know this particular poison well. It helped that, compared to the poisons I could originally handle, it wasn't that strong.
Since we were in the sect, the antidote for it should be procurable. However, judging from Little Spring's face, he didn't have a lot of time before he succumbed. And I couldn't risk wasting a second asking for help that may or may not be available within the timeframe I needed it.
While this poison wasn't that formidable, it still worked quickly against Qi Condensation cultivators.
I took out four general antidotes, each one dealing with different poison sets.
The first one, I cut in thirds. The second, I cut in half. The third, in tenths. And the final one, I crushed into dust. Using the dust mixed with spiritual spring water as a cement, I pasted the three other pills together.
Using a special hand seal and a little too much of my available spiritual energy, I began to harden the Franken-pill while merging the energies. It changed from looking like a tiny fucked up beach ball to a pure dangerous looking mess of colors and power.
This thing had about five seconds of stability before it exploded.
Frankly, one should never fuck with already tamed energies like this… unless there was an emergency.
Little Spring had passed out. I didn't have time to wake him up — plus, immortal pills didn't need a person to actually swallow them to be effective.
I held his nose until he opened his mouth and shoved the pill inside. It melted on contact with his tongue.
Slowly, his face regained some color.
This wouldn't get rid of the poison entirely, but it would put a stop to its ability to damage him. At least for a few days.
Then I fed him a Lin's Kickass Healing Dan and used my spiritual energy to renew his injured body. It was a shame that the healing pill did squat for poison aside from repairing the damage it left behind. The knife wound, which had looked jagged and nasty, repaired itself.
That was when I finally noticed the muffled sounds going on outside.
From what I knew about what each person could do, that didn't sound right!
This kid might have to face whoever won up there.
I shook Little Spring, and he jerked awake.
"Quickly! We have to see this."
He grimaced. "My clothes are bloody."
"You can change later! Let's go!"
We ran to the staging area.
Young Master Zhang — who looked like he just got his ass handed to him — collapsed to the jagged rubble that was left of the ground.
In front of him stood a referee, who held the corner of a giant metal fan. One that Icy Tsundere Fairy was about to use to crack the pre-teen's skull open.
I hadn't seen her wield that before. Was it a trump card, or something she purchased with her points?
Of course, after McTraitorFace, I wasn't going to rule out the possibility of her receiving it from a demonic cultivator. And, considering the horrible state the arena floor was in, possibly some other fun tools.
Seriously, how the hell did the goddamn stage get so fucked up? There was ice, charred spots and broken stones all over the place.
It was so wrecked that even I couldn't tell at a glance what exactly happened.
"Winner, Zhao XiuYing."
Zhang WeiWei ran to his young master and gave him a pill.
Meanwhile, small Icy Tsundere threw her fan into her spatial ring and strode off stage while flipping her hair back.
Well, it was also possible that I'd just misjudged her ability to hide her strength.
***
After I explained to Little Spring about his current poisoned state, I pulled out the tent and guarded Little Spring while he changed. Of course, considering that the next round would be announced pretty soon, I also told him to cultivate for a few minutes.
The good thing about having the arena floor completely messed up was that it took a while to repair it.
Once he'd had some time to change and cultivate, I stepped into the tent and set up the obfuscation formation.
Little Spring slowly stopped cultivating. "Sister Lin?"
I sat down in front of him and crossed my arms under my chest. It was about time we had a serious fucking chat.
"What's really going on with you?"
He scowled. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"First, there was the thing with Young Master Zhang where you told him to get on his knees and apologize."
He opened his mouth to defend himself, but I held up a hand to stop him.
"Next, it was Liu ChuHua." I glared at him. "You know that I have no intention of taking her as my junior sister. I only accepted you as my junior brother because of our past life."
He looked sheepish. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Do I look like a mind reader to you?"
"The furthest thing from it."
This brat. I flicked his glabella, and he scowled at his feet as he rubbed his forehead.
"I'm not a mind reader. If you don't communicate, I won't understand you."
Story 6 - Slapping Faces and Entering Sects (Part 24)
"Take a minute and reflect on how you feel. What made you act the way you did?"
Little Spring pursed his lips. Then we sat there in awkward silence for several minutes.
What? Did he think he could outwait someone who'd lived a thousand years? Ha!
He clutched his sleeves. "You say that this sect will be our home. I can see how happy you are here. I mean, even though it's been difficult getting this far, you've shown everyone here what I've always known. That you're a strange eccentric genius."
Well, I was a genius, so I'd let the 'strange' part slide. I nodded for him to continue.
"Every place I have ever called home I've left behind." He'd said this as if emphasizing the loss of something more than a simple building.
"I... I'm worried that you'll leave me. When Liu ChuHua said that she would replace me... It was... I couldn't help but imagine her beating me and taking my place. When she fought me, it was like I was fighting to keep you."
Damn. This silly kid.
I didn't know exactly what he'd been through, but I knew that his mother had died leaving him completely alone.
He'd been doing so well over this last year that I hadn't thought about how that would make him see me — the only person in his life he could treat as his family.
But even if I wanted to tell this kid that I would always be by his side, I didn't want to give this child such an empty lie. Not when there were already enough things I was keeping from him. Besides, this universe was already beyond unsafe. Even in a sect like this one, they taught young children how to fight. Not as some kind of fucked up bullshit, but for their own protection.
Frankly, it wasn't a situation I liked, but given my current position, there wasn't anything I could do about it. And the last thing I wanted was to take away a child's power to defend themselves just to keep them ignorantly happy. Which meant that I needed to get a little real with this little protagonist.
"In the thousand years that I've lived, I haven't seen anything stay exactly the same. When we enter the sect — and we will enter this sect — our circumstances will change. But that is not a bad thing.
"As we both make new friends and enemies, we'll likely grow apart. However, that too is part of growing up and living life. And by the time it actually happens, you'll probably be the one interested in going out by yourself and gaining experience."
I had zero doubt that this kid was going to crave adventure.
Little Spring scowled at me as if to say that he definitely would not.
"Look, I'm your older martial sister, not your master. As ingenious as I am, I cannot teach you everything you need to know." The kid chose to study immortal cooking for fuck's sake. "There are some things that you can only learn from the people here."
His lip trembled.
It had zero effect on a thousand year old monster like me. Besides, I wasn't finished.
"That said... In this life, no matter how much time has passed — and unless you choose otherwise — I will always be your older martial sister. Even if we grow apart, that will never change. I'll always be on your side when you need me to be." I even had a rule.
He nodded and swallowed. His eyes looked a little watery, but he wasn't about to weep. Which was ideal because I still hated dealing with crying brats.
I smoothed his hair back. "No one ever said that growing up is easy."
It might have been my imagination, but the kid looked more determined than ever. Though what he was determined to do, I had no clue.
"Now, tell me what you did wrong in your last fight."
He straightened up, then looked a little sheepish. "I allowed my emotions to get the better of me. And they were used against me."
"Correct! Liu ChuHua used that against you, drew you into a position where she could get up close, and she attacked you with a very special poison dagger. After that, I had to give you a temporary antidote. Which won't work for more than a few days. If you get any more injuries, it might exacerbate the poison. So don't get injured!"
"Yes, Sister Lin!"
I grinned. "Good."
Honestly, I wanted to keep lecturing the kid for a couple more hours on how dumb he'd been and how — if the situation gets dangerous — he should give up or risk dying, but we didn't have that much time.
Little Spring frowned. "Ah, Sister Lin. I don't think Liu ChuHua was trying to use my emotions against me on purpose. I think she really wants to be your younger sister."
I flicked his glabella. "It doesn't matter whether she did or didn't. What matters is that it worked once. You can't allow it to work a second time or our enemies will use that weakness against you."
"I'll try not to let it get to me again!"
I hoped he would be able to. Unfortunately, overcoming psychological weaknesses was rarely that simple.
"Now, let's go see who we'll be fighting next."
***
As we exited the tent, Liu ChuHua ran toward me from the Medicinal Qi cultivator, who'd taken care of her.
Little Spring stood in front of me, but I sidestepped him and waved him back. This was another young cultivator I needed to have a little chat with.
"Fairy Lin!" She looked like she was about to break down.
I sighed. "What do you want?"
"I..."
"Are you here to apologize for stabbing and poisoning Little Spring?"
"P-poison?!"
So she didn't know. "Where did you get that knife?"
She bit her lip. "I really had no intention of poisoning him."
"Whether you meant to or not, it still happened." I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "And I don't think you understand how truly infuriated I am with you."
Frankly, the only reason I didn't beat her ass right then and there was because we were in the middle of a tournament. She was also only 7-8 years old. Just a dumb kid who didn't know any better.
Didn't make me any less pissed.
She gulped. "What can I do to make it up to you? Please don't hate me!"
"You can start by telling me where you picked up that dagger."
She grimaced. "That's not easy to say."
"Why? Did you promise not to say anything?"
"No! It's just, I can't remember the face of the person who gave it to me. They'd said that they were my fan. And that they understood how much I wanted to show you how deserving I am. They explained that Little Spring and you always use protective talismans. Then they gave me that knife and said that it would be the only way I could win against either of you."
As I suspected. Someone was working against me. They must have added the poison to the knife and not told this girl about it.
Frankly, even if it was a member of Fairy Verdant Bamboo's faction, they technically had done nothing against the rules.
She bowed deeply. "Please don't be upset with me."
"Fairy Lin versus Zhang WeiWei," the referee called.
I sighed. "Someday, after I make it into the sect, we'll talk again. Perhaps I'll have forgiven you enough by then to continue this conversation."
Then I walked onto the stage. I stopped in front of the bodyguard and the referee.
Zhang WeiWei's black eyes glared at me. "I have to win."
I smirked. "So do I!"
With a flourish, I took out my sword.
He frowned and pulled a couple of throwing daggers from his wrist sheath. "You don't understand. My master needs to be avenged!"
I chuckled. "Tell you what, if I win, I don't mind avenging your master in your place... that is, if Zhao XiuYing wins her next fight."
His face turned red. "You didn't see the humiliation my young master endured!"
I rolled my eyes. "With how messed up the ground was? I don't need to. Besides, what makes you think you can win against her?"
"Even if I can't possibly beat you, I still have to try."
There were two types of servants who entered the sect. Those that would inevitably choose to go their own separate way, and those who stayed incomprehensibly loyal to their original masters.
This guy was the latter.
Apparently, the Zhang clan ran their guards through one hell of a brainwashing program.
Well, if he wanted to get his ass handed to him, I'd gladly help him out.
The referee yelled, "Fight!"
He bolted forward, then started zigzagging, closing in on me.
This wasn't a bad move to use against most cultivators in Qi Condensation. It was a shame that he was up against me.
Using the smallest amount of Sword Qi I could for this move, I said, "Hundred Cuts!"
A spray of tiny sword Qi slices hurtled across the arena to reach him.
His eyes widened. He made a hand seal and used a movement technique just as the Qi was about to reach him. But I'd studied his movements all throughout the fights. I already knew where he was going to land. So I threw out a spiritual palm to intercept him.
He barely had time to widen his eyes before he was pushed to the ground. He struggled and spat out a mouthful of blood.
He was trying to grab something from his spatial ring, so I stooped down and pulled it off his finger. Then I put my blade to his throat. "Surrender."
His face turned red.
"Fine." I lifted my dainty foot. "I had hoped you'd make it easy on me since I'm not sure I can control my strength properly. I hope I don't turn your head into a cracked watermelon."
"I-I surrender!"
"The winner is Fairy Lin!"
He got up and spat another mouthful of blood onto the floor.
I grimaced.
The bodyguard looked me right in the eye and said, "I hope you remember what you said at the beginning of this fight." Then he awkwardly trudged back to the enclosed area where I'd healed Little Spring. Probably to go check on his young master.
Why did I feel like I just signed myself up for an unwanted burden?
***
When I returned to the waiting area, I stood in front of Little Spring and crossed my arms under my chest.
"Remember, you're still technically poisoned. Don't work yourself too hard and don't get hurt again."
"Yes, Sister Lin!"
"That said, never give up easily."
"Of course!"
"Treat this as a life and death situation."
He sighed, obviously exasperated. "I understand."
I just watched him get poisoned and almost die not too long ago. That short lecture I gave him earlier wasn't nearly enough to vent my frustrations.
Meeting McTraitorFace again didn't help.
The referee stepped onto the arena floor again. "Little Spring versus Zhao XiuYing."
The two kids stepped up to their places across from each other.
Little Spring had his sword out and Zhao XiuYing held her massive fan.
The two taciturn kids didn't speak or try to smack talk. They simply stared at each other and waited. Honestly, it was a bit boring. And it scratched at my already irritated nerves.
"Just start it already!" I called.
The referee looked at me, flabbergasted.
Then, as if to get on my nerves, he waited another entire minute while staring at me before saying, "Fight!"
Ass.
Icy Tsundere Fairy started off with her classic icy wind move, but Little Spring had experience dealing with that type of technique.
As the stream of icy wind nearly blew him over, he stabbed his sword into the ground, pinning himself in place. Then he delivered a spiritual finger to poke at her weak spot — her literal Achilles tendon.
Unfortunately, Zhao XiuYing stepped out of the way of his palm attack. But she couldn't keep using her icy wind technique. Not at the sixth layer.
It was at that point that Little Spring ran up to her in a snaking pattern.
He slashed towards her head. She held her fan up to block.
With a flourish, he used a special move that I'd taught him — quickly changing directions and attacking a lower body part. Unfortunately, he took too long to reach her ankle, giving her enough time to drop her fan down and block.
Considering that she didn't have a long break, she probably hadn't replenished all of her used up energy.
The two exchanged several more blows in quick succession.
The girl kept hitting the same spot on Little Spring's sword and freezing it.
Damn, this kid needed to gain more experience.
Little Spring frowned. He finally noticed something off and tried to get her to hit a different part of his sword, but her aim was too good.
He jumped back and sent a blade of Qi toward her. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood to let him get away because she chased after him.
A few more strikes later, and Little Spring's weapon cracked.
His eyes grew wide. She used a powerful fan attack to hit the blade at just the right spot to break it in half.
I winced. Well, there was a reason I taught him more than the sword.
I expected him to drop his weapon. Instead, the brat stared at his messed up blade, eyes wide. Seriously, the fuck was he trying to do?
If it were me, I could still fight with a broken sword, but this kid hadn't had that experience yet.
Icy Tsundere Fairy didn't allow Little Spring to recover. She attacked his temple.
The kid just barely managed to parry with the remaining part of his blade.
"It's over." The girl smirked.
Story 6 - Slapping Faces and Entering Sects (Part 25)
Little Spring ignored Zhao XiuYing's snide comment. His eyes lost focus, like he was concentrating on something else entirely.
She drew close and struck toward his temple, using the back of her fan. The kid might look lost in thought, but he deftly blocked her attack with his broken sword. Then he used his Qi strengthened body to throw it back toward her.
To get rid of the momentum, she had to take several steps back.
Even I was impressed that the kid managed that. Her spiritual weapon was no joke!
As if the light clicked in Little Spring's head, his eyes cleared. Suddenly, he sent out a crescent of sword Qi from the stub of his weapon.
Me and several others watching him stood up.
Because this brat just taught himself the Any Blade is My Sword mindset!
I didn't fucking learn that until I was in my late teens!
Well, it wasn't like he hadn't seen it enough from me... but still; he was only fucking eight!
That Qi attack must have caught Zhao XiuYing off guard, because it struck her shoulder. Unfortunately, she had a protective item hidden somewhere and came out unscathed.
The little fairy was so enraged that she increased her effort. Her fan nearly doubled in speed when she next attacked him.
He deflected it once again, but it was getting harder. His sword was too small and her fan was just too big. Still, Little Spring stayed steady as a fucking rock.
In the middle of a barrage of attacks, he sent a spiritual palm at her. She barely deflected it with her fan, then fought off another two small sword Qi attacks.
Considering he only started learning how to cultivate a little over a year ago, this was damn impressive.
"I! Will! Not! Lose!" she yelled. Then she jumped back and pulled a talisman from her ring. She activated the spell while glaring at Little Spring. It turned into a thin bolt of lightning.
The kid was so shocked that he didn't get out of the way. The bolt struck him. Fortunately, he still had the protective talisman on him. Unfortunately, whatever level of lightning she used, it obliterated his protection.
Fuck. This should be the point where the kid gave up. Maybe he didn't think of it, because, when she took out another paper, he still said nothing. He didn't even hint that he was interested in conceding and was instead trying to close in on her.
She flicked the paper at him.
Fuck, was he about to get killed by this damn lightning bolt? Because I knew for a fact that it would kill him if it struck. Or, at the very least, break his sect token.
Little Spring jumped back and to the side, then he used the Unusual Backstep Sword Escape to remove himself from the path of the lightning. All with a god damn broken sword!
The bolt struck the arena floor, leaving a familiar black mark.
The kid was impressive. Unfortunately, Icy Tsundere Fairy had deep pockets.
She took out a third talisman.
He sent a blade of Qi slashing towards it, but she activated it before that. Her talismans must have been at Foundation Establishment (just barely within what the rules allowed for) because it crushed the thin Qi Condensation stage Sword Qi.
The referee appeared in front of Little Spring and stopped the lightning with a simple shielding technique. Easy for a Golden Core. Then he called, "Zhao XiuYing, wins!"
The two bowed to each other.
Icy Tsundere Fairy flicked her hair back and sauntered over to the waiting area.
Little Spring took a second to pick up the pieces of his broken sword. He stared at it for a second, bit his lip, then walked over to me. He handed me the metal bits. "I'm sorry. It's broken."
I stored them in my ring. "I'll make you a new one."
He blinked up at me. I grinned and smoothed his hair. It had become messy because of the fight. "You did well not getting hurt."
His lower lip trembled. "I'm not sure about that. I think that if I'd tried harder or done things differently, I could have won."
"Let me tell you as someone who has lost over and over and over... and over and over."
He scowled up at me. What? Could he not imagine me losing?
"Losing a bit of face is better than losing your life. And losses are only really losses if you don't learn from them."
Then the brat hugged me in front of the whole damn stadium.
I stiffened and patted his head. "Hey, let go. We're in public, you know."
He sniffed a little, and after I tugged his sleeve a few times, he let go. He didn't look like he'd been crying.
Well, whatever. Kids needed hugs.
"Hey, instead of being sad. Get good, then get revenge."
"Yes, Sister Lin!"
***
It didn't take them long to clear the arena floor; however, Icy Tsundere Fairy needed time to recover from her last two fights so the referee told everyone to take around a half hour break before the final.
During that time, I didn't just sit on my ass cultivating inside my tent. That only took a few minutes. I made plans on how I could approach Icy Tsundere Fairy.
Considering that she was the last obstacle between me and my home, I wouldn't make the mistake of taking her lightly. She might be only eight years old, but she could take on a Zhang Clan member and beat his ass.
Considering all the limitations put on me, I had no illusions of my superiority. I mean, I had superior abilities, but raw power (used properly) could still trump advanced skills.
While I didn't know everything she'd hidden away, I could still make a few guesses.
First, the special items she could use needed to be something in or under Foundation Establishment.
This covered an insanely large number of possible items. But, judging from her prior use of talismans, she would likely use several of those as well. Of course, I didn't know if she came here with those talismans or if someone gave them to her during our rest time before the finals like McTraitorFace.
What mattered was that I might be able to take one lightning strike between my body cultivation and a proper spiritual shield. However, there was also a possibility that it would break my sect token, so I shouldn't take that chance.
That said, I had the pieces of Little Spring's broken sword and most of a half hour left.
I pulled out a few spirit stones and created a secret craftsman's formation. It was one that made metal malleable. This worked on both hot metal and cold lower ranked spiritual metals. Like the one used in Little Springs' old sword.
I pulled out a few of the tools I had collected ever since the magical space went out of commission.
Then I went to work. It took all of my enhanced strength, but I pulled and twisted it into shape.
Slowly, I changed Little Spring's sword into my own secret weapon. Muahahahaha!
***
Little Spring stepped inside the tent. "Sister Lin, they're about to start again."
Then his eyes widened as he looked at my precious secret weapon in horror. "What is that?"
I shoved it into my ring and grinned. "A surprise."
"It's..."
"Not pretty, I know."
He grimaced. "I don't think..."
"—It will be effective against Zhao XiuYing? You let me worry about that. It's not what weapon you use, but how you use it."
He nodded sagely, but I didn't think he really understood me. Whatever.
"Now, are you ready to watch me kick a little girl's ass?"
"You're technically a little girl, too."
I scowled at him as we exited the tent. I also took out a protective talisman and stuck it onto my arm just in case.
"Fairy Lin versus Zhao XiuYing!"
Once again, and for the last time in this tournament, I stepped onto the arena floor.
Zhao XiuYing also walked over, posture filled with confidence.
"You have anything you want to say before we start this?" I asked.
"I'm going to defeat you, one way or another."
"Pretty tough words for someone I could throw across the arena with one arm."
She snorted coldly and took out her massive fan. "And what words do you want to say before I crush you?"
With a huge grin on my face, I pointed my sword at her and said, "Ten moves!"
She blinked.
"I will defeat you in ten moves."
She scowled at me, obviously not believing it.
"I don't care if you defeated 888 arrows or whatever they say you did. You're not getting first place here."
My eyes moved to the box where the Peak Masters sat on either side of the Sect Leader. I couldn't see them, but I knew that Fairy Verdant Bamboo was up there eyeing me and hoping I would lose.
The referee yelled, "Fight!"
I sent a slash of sword Qi at Zhao XiuYing.
As I expected, she dodged. Unfortunately for her, I knew where she was going to land and had already sent another blade of Qi there.
She used her fan to block it. A small slice cut into the metal edge of her fan.
I had also expected that. Her weapon wasn't for show.
With a wave of her massive fan, she sent out a thin but powerful stream of icy wind toward me.
Instead of taking it head on like Little Spring had, I held my sword out in front of me and broke the wind up.... At the same time, I started running closer to her.
I had a limited amount of sword Qi I could use when reduced to the second layer, so any attacks I could make from close up helped to conserve my energy.
Her eyes grew wide when she realized how close I was. I guessed she'd assumed that since Little Spring and I had the same master, we had the same fighting techniques. Ha! I hadn't taught that boy everything I knew.
She barely had time to get her fan up when I slashed at her throat. Her fan caught my blade but she was pushed back a few inches due to my strength. Of course, at the same time she tried the same freezing bullshit that she used against Little Spring. Amusing.
"That won't work against this sword!" I feinted like I was coming from her upper left, but moved my sword in a swish to reach her upper right. It came down toward her head.
The little fairy used a movement technique and escaped backward.
With shaking hands, she pulled out another talisman paper. It was the same lightning type she'd used earlier.
Unfortunately for her, I had turned my miss into another slash, sending an arc of sword Qi in the direction I deduced that she'd escape to.
It sliced right through the paper and landed against a protective barrier. From the flickering, I could tell that my attack had drained a significant amount of energy from it.
Her eyes grew wide.
As clever as these kids were, they were still kids.
She hurriedly took out another paper, and I finally pulled out my secret weapon!
As soon as she pointed her talisman my way, I shoved the long stick of metal into the arena floor and jumped back.
Zap!
Lightning zipped toward me and hit the massively ugly lightning rod I'd MacGyvered.
As the great philosopher, XKCD, once said, 'Science. It works, Bitches!' Wait, maybe they were a comedian of some kind? A webcomic? Whatever. I couldn't remember everything from a thousand years ago.
What mattered was that I'd stopped this bitch from using her favorite high-powered attack with a ridiculous stick of metal... that I imbued with subtle lightning-attracting properties thanks to a small formation. Muahahahaha!
Story 6 - Slapping Faces and Entering Sects (Part 26)
I grabbed the rod. It was still scalding, but nowhere near hot enough to hurt my toughened skin. After I pulled it out of the floor, I happily ran toward Zhao XiuYing.
I guessed that I'd frightened the shit out of her because she bolted in the opposite direction.
Yes! Fear me! I am your reckoning. Muahahahaha!
Since I had her on the run, I sent another slash of sword Qi at her back. It hit, but her protective talisman absorbed all the damage.
That forced her to realize that running away would not work for long.
I moved fast, using my body cultivation to its fullest. Once again, I closed in on her. She barely fixed her mentality in time to block my blade with her fan. Then she tried to throw me off her with an Icy Wind technique.
I dodged and slashed down at her Achilles tendon. Most of my strike was absorbed by her talisman, but that was when it broke! My blade dug into her skin and pierced her heel.
She screamed and fell to the floor.
Wanting to end this quickly, I placed my sword against her neck.
"You get one chance to surrender."
For a second, she looked so pitiable that any normal person would want to comfort her... but what Xianxia ever had normal people cultivating? I certainly wasn't one of them.
It seemed like the whole stadium, for a brief moment, held their breath as they waited for the show to end.
Icy Tsundere Fairy very calmly took out a talisman that had been hidden in her sleeve. "Never!"
Fire erupted from the paper. Power at the peak of Nascent Soul emanated from the flames!
Motherfucker!
Of course, thank fuck, I had that little gourd pendant. It grew in size just before my protective barrier burned to ashes. The jade cork popped out, and the bottle started sucking in the attack's energy as if it had a tiny black hole inside of it.
Unfortunately, the spell was too powerful. Fractures spread across its once exquisite surface. They glowed a suspicious, angry red.
For a second, I was terrified that my pendant wouldn't be able to suck in all the fire… but the cracks grew dark. Then the gourd crumbled to dust.
I stared at the remains and almost coughed up blood.
Fuck! My plans! I was going to use that pendant to survive my goddamn tribulation.
Now I had to wait until I found or purchased another quality protective item.
I glared at Zhao XiuYing, who shrank back. Then horror filled her face as she realized what she'd just done. Silent tears started to fall from her eyes.
Ugh. This was why you didn't give children access to fucking military-grade talismans.
Fuck. While I wasn't an expert at making them, I had some experience using them. Especially during wartime.
The item she just pulled out was something only an Immortal Bone Creation realm Master could create. And the materials used in it were so expensive that it could take me all the way up to the Nascent Soul stage from the first layer of Qi Condensation.
Who the fuck would waste one of those fuckers on me?
The referee walked over, his brow covered in sweat. Yeah, this guy would have been fucked, too. And the elders inside the box were all too far away to get here in time to stop it. I mean — if they were prepared for it — sure, they could have reached me. But nobody was expecting a goddamn child to pull out a fucking military-grade talisman!
Fuck demonic cultivators!
"Winner, Fairy Lin!"
The crowd cheered. The pleasant sound almost wiped my anger away.
With the biggest grin on my face, I waved back. It was nice to be appreciated.
***
It took a while to clean up the arena floor. They even had a four arts cultivator decorate it with paintings of flowers hanging in mid-air. They even turned part of the field into a painted bamboo forest.
Then they brought out each of the recovered kids who had taken part in the finals... aside from Icy Tsundere Fairy, who was being detained for questioning.
Young Master Zhang appeared much better than the last time I saw him, but his face was still pale. His bodyguard stood next to him, hovering like a mother hen.
McTraitorFace looked like she was going to be sick, but kept it together.
Wang Chunyu, the most forgettable guy here, held his head up high.
Several sect elders floated down from their box. One, I recognized as the only Spear Grandmaster of Majestic Sword Peak, Unwavering Thunderous Strike, flanked by two Sword Grandmasters I was not familiar with.
Then Elder Fifth Flower Drop from Mystical Bamboo Peak and Elder Drinking Crescent from Divination Peak dropped to the ground. The woman carried her fan coquettishly and avoided looking at Crescent's face… which was covered by an ancient and massive talisman of protection.
Yeah, he was a bit of an eccentric, but what could someone expect from a diviner that powerful?
Elder Five Palms of Body Peak jumped down, causing the newly repaired floor to break under his feet.
Fuckin' show off.
Grandmaster Unwavering Thunderous Strike stared at the only spear wielder of the group.
"Young Zhang QiangQiang! I was not planning on taking a disciple in this life, but what I saw from you changed my mind. Are you willing to accept this Spear Grandmaster as your Master?"
The pre-teen practically shook as he said, "Y-yes!"
Unwavering smiled with satisfaction and made a come here motion.
Young Master Zhang strode over to stand behind his new master. They would perform the actual acceptance ceremony later in private. It was nice to see this brat find a good master.
The man we all secretly called the Spear Saint never took a disciple in my previous life. Zhang QiangQiang must have had an impressive fight with Zhao XiuYing to force him to change his mind.
I still can't believe I missed it!
One of the Sword Grandmasters stepped up to my fellow cannon fodder.
"Disciple Hu Bolin!" The Tiger Brother stiffened. "Are you willing to take me as your master?"
"Yes!" The preteen beamed as he ran to grab his spot behind the sword grandmaster.
Elder Fifth Flower Drop gestured to McTraitorFace with her fan. "Little Fairy Liu ChuHua. Are you willing to accept this Peak Elder as your master?"
She hesitated for a second, glanced at me, then turned and bowed to the elder. "Yes!"
At least this was a different master than the one she had in her past life.
I knew a bit about Fifth Flower Drop. She wasn't a terrible master. Her disciples had all become strong and elegant women.
Elder Drinking Crescent stepped forward. His deep hoarse voice emanated from beneath the talisman. "Young Wang Chunyu. I have performed a divination. Out of all the disciples I've seen in this trial, you are the one with the most fate with my cultivation technique. Are you willing to become my disciple and join me on Divination Peak?"
"Yes!" Then he excitedly marched to his new position.
Next, that show off, Elder Five Palms laughed boisterously. "Young Zhang WeiWei!" The bodyguard's eyes grew wide. I guess he didn't predict that a body cultivator of all people would call his name. And I couldn't blame him, since even I thought he was here to pick a fight with one of the Sword Grandmasters again. "Are you willing to worship me as your master?"
"No."
"Then get over—No?!" Elder Five Palms blinked at the kid, then scowled. "Maybe you don't realize who I am."
"I want to train on Majestic Sword Peak with my young master."
"You understand that the Zhang Clan has no hold on you anymore."
"Even so."
Damn. That preteen had some guts.
"Zhang WeiWei!" QiangQiang said. "Do you think Elder Five Palms can teach you what you need to know to become powerful?"
He gradually nodded.
"Then go with him."
The bodyguard turned to Elder Five Palms and bowed. "Then I will accept you as my master."
"This brat! You're lucky I'm impressed with your loyalty. Now get over here!"
Since they had finished accepting their disciples, the Elders stepped aside. Usually, they'd run off to start introducing their new disciples to their peaks, but they probably all knew that something interesting was about to happen. Elder Five Palms even took out a bag of melon seeds and grinned like he was about to watch a good show.
Finally, it was our time to take the spotlight.
The Sect Leader and Fairy Verdant Bamboo both drifted down to me.
I admit it gave me a bit of joy to see her face flushed red with fury.
image
Little Spring and I both bowed and said, "This Junior greets the Sect Leader and Peak Master Verdant Bamboo."
After they acknowledged our greeting, my friend and Sect Leader spoke up, "I understand that Little Verdant Bamboo here would give you her inheritance if you won the wager."
"Those were the terms."
"This is ridiculous! You can't expect me to give some random child like you the legacy my master left me."
Of course, she would use her superior position to get out of the bet. I doubted she had it in her eyes since the moment she made it.
In fact, it was possible that she hadn't been responsible for any of the trickery going on at all. Not if she planned to never fulfill the bet in the first place.
"Silence." The pressure from an Immortal Bone Creation expert crushed down on my past life's master. I could sense it, but he was so in control of his power that it only touched the bitch. Very quickly, she shut her mouth.
"Little Lin. You have something to say to Peak Master Verdant Bamboo?"
I nodded.
It was time. Muahahaha!
"Peak Master. Both of us will be part of the same sect in the future. We'll have to work together for the betterment of the sect and not just for our own selfish desires. I cannot, in good conscience, take away the precious inheritance your master left you."
The Sect Leader tapped his chin. "You did go through a bit of extra trouble because of this bet, though, didn't you, Little Lin?"
"Yes, Sect Leader!"
"Then let's do this." He faced Fairy Bamboo. "As a Peak Master, you must have a few high-quality protective spiritual tools laying around and maybe a few useless trinkets. I think I remember seeing one that was a gray stone or something? Give that and a few defensive items to Little Lin and Little Spring as compensation for this nonsense. And this should end any hostilities."
"Yes, Sect Leader!"
Verdant Bamboo's face relaxed.
Hahahaha! As if I would accept a goddamn hot potato like her inheritance. I wasn't crazy.
If I had forced her hand, the sect would find my poor little body dead and robbed in some ditch the moment I left the sect… and possibly even before then.
No fucking thank you.
Because I willingly gave it back, I had not only protected my own ass, but I also received Verdant Bamboo's goodwill.
My past life's master might have questionable morals and be just as brain dead as the rest of Bloodsword's harem, but she knew how to look favorably on those who showed no malice to her. To those who obtained her goodwill, she cared for them ten times better than they treated her. I was using this fact against her.
It also helped that, unlike a lot of the characters I'd seen in this dumbass harem Xianxia world, Fairy Verdant Bamboo was not the type of person who would consider losing a stupid bet like this to be losing face. At most, she'd say that she was merely being magnanimous to a talented Junior.
While all this wouldn't guarantee my safety, I didn't expect anything to. This universe was never safe. There was only the illusion of security.
It was an important illusion, though.
That illusion was what I wanted for myself and Little Spring as we increased our strength. Which was just another reason to join this sect.
And of course, one of my main reasons—
Fairy Verdant Bamboo tossed me a simple looking grey stone circle that had a rope tied to it. For those who didn't know better, this was an item that appeared so mundane that it couldn't get any more mundane.
For me, who knew what its function was, I couldn't help but quickly pack it into my ring before my excitement showed on my face. Then she casually threw us each a simple protection pendant. They were nowhere near as strong as the jade gourd I just lost — only able to take a few peak Golden Core strikes at most. It was better than nothing at all.
Besides, even this might be a little eye-catching until I reached Foundation Establishment.
"Thank you, Peak Master!"
She sighed. "I have some things I need to take care of." Then she glanced back at Little Spring. "Disciple Little Spring!"
He jumped, obviously not expecting to be called on.
"I can't help but see that we have fate together. While Immortal Zhenren is powerful, I'm actually here in the mortal realm. I can be an active master for you while he can only offer you advice in your dreams."
Did she just?
Little Spring peered at me.
"Why are you looking this way? This is a choice you have to make yourself."
He glowered at me. "Sister Lin, what would you do if I really did decide to take Peak Master up on her offer?"
Smirking, I pulled out a jade slip. "This has your cultivation technique written down. If you prefer to go with Peak Master Verdant Bamboo, then that is your decision. You haven't officially worshiped Immortal Zhenren as your master, so you have this right."
"And you won't stop me?"
I shrugged. In the beginning, when I was filled with rage at being thrown back in time, I'd wanted to manipulate this brat into being my loyal follower. But now? I just wanted him to be a halfway decent individual... for a cultivator. And maybe have my back in a crisis.
"I'm only your older martial sister. I won't make your choices for you. Even if they're bad ones…" I paused. "Well, choosing her wouldn't be so bad, since — if you come with me — you'll be risking your life. Merely contacting Immortal Zhenren has the possibility of ending our lives." I was very serious about that. This was his one chance to avoid a potentially meaningless death at the hands of a being that was so far above everyone in this realm that his mere breath could crush us. "That said, technically, if you choose to become her disciple, then I'll be your Great Martial Aunt. Considering how impressive I am, that might be—"
Little Spring quickly bowed to Fairy Verdant Bamboo and cut me off. "This disciple apologizes to the Peak Master! I'm afraid I'll have to decline your generous offer."
"Then perhaps we'll cross paths in the future." She flicked her sleeve. "Sect Leader, I'll take my leave. Rest assured that me and mine won't harm these two children."
Once he acknowledged her, she flew off.
My friend turned to us. "Are you ready, or would you like to rest first?"
Now that the token suppressing my cultivation was broken, I felt very refreshed. "I'm ready!"
Story 6 - Slapping Faces and Entering Sects (Part 27/27 End
Sect Leader Peerless Resolve, my martial brother and I flew over the sect on a leaf shaped immortal boat.
I normally didn't feel jittery; however, the closer we came to my goal, the more excited I became.
And that was when my old friend had to ruin my mood by reminding me of a few important things.
"I just heard from the Seven Shadows Pavilion. That's the information collecting arm of the sect." He explained while glancing at a confused-looking Little Spring. "We found all the demonic sect spies directly responsible for interfering in the trials."
"They admitted to everything?"
"Not exactly. These were cultivators that have been turned into slaves. The ones that didn't kill themselves when we discovered them weren't able to tell us much."
No shit? "Well, they must have answered some questions, right?"
"According to the talkative ones, they were ordered to murder you both, even if it broke their cover."
"So, they messed with the birds, the arrows and sent that girl to break out one of their elders?"
"Yes," he spat out. "They even gave little Zhao XiuYing a powerful talisman they'd stolen from the War Time Treasury. That's one less weapon we'll have when we need it!"
"It sounds like their influence goes worryingly deep."
He nodded grimly. "If they hadn't targeted you so intensely, I might not have realized it as soon. Now I'll have to find the infection and rip it out of the sect before it festers."
"What about the knife Liu ChuHua stabbed me with?" The kid grabbed his sleeves.
"That too was part of their plan, though one that they hadn't expected to work."
Frankly, I didn't know how deep it went either. I knew there had been some people who'd betrayed the sect during the war, but I'd been too busy not dying to pay attention to that.
Plus, it hadn't affected where they'd stationed me. "Were you able to get any clues on who ordered it?"
"Not yet, but we'll keep looking. In the meantime…" he paused for a second as if he wanted to add 'if you survive' to the end of his sentence, but was too tactful to do so. "I think you both shouldn't go anywhere alone, even in the sect."
"Yes, Sect Leader!"
"We'll be sure to ask Senior Unyielding and Senior Jujube for help," the kid said.
I grinned evilly. "Little Spring, if we become Immortal Zhenren's disciples, then we should address those two as our juniors."
The Sect Leader coughed slightly.
What? I wasn't the one who thought that determining who was junior and senior should be based on who a cultivator's master was.
Deciding it on a person's actual realm made more sense — but I wasn't there when they created this sect. They couldn't blame me for taking advantage of the hierarchy.
***
One of the sixteen mountains called Elder's Peak came into view. Its whole purpose was to house the Immortal Ascension stage monsters who were either in emergency closed door cultivation or who wanted to live around similarly powerful individuals. There were also a couple of retired Peak Masters here.
Considering the situation with my soul, even getting near this place was fucking dangerous for me. But this was where they kept the statues made of both those who tried ascending to immortality and those who succeeded.
Each statue held a piece of the cultivator's will. It was the sect's only way to speak to those in the other realms… except the process to communicate with them had long been lost… and those immortals had larger things to worry about than some sect in the mortal realm.
Well, for the most part.
The reason why I was able to get away with my lies so far was because there had been instances of immortals passing their knowledge onto others through their dreams. A certain grandmaster alchemist in a famous Xianxia came to mind as one example.
The Sect Leader landed the immortal boat in front of the Cave of Ascended. Of course, it looked like a blank wall until he casually waved at it. Then it transformed into a beautiful cavern opening.
After we walked in, I couldn't help but glance at where I had left my own statue in my past life. It was something every Immortal Ascension stage master did before they faced their tribulation.
The empty area was a bleak reminder that I was no longer that powerful person anymore.
As we moved forward, I noticed that there were several more statues here than I remembered. Also, several missing ones.
But other than that, this place remained mostly unchanged for a thousand years.
The Sect Leader guided us through various advanced traps and formations. Eventually we reached a beautiful stone statue of the man I'd always considered my teacher — Immortal Zhenren Sword Within the Light of Virtue.
The cultivator I wanted to take as my master instead of Verdant Bamboo.
When I put my own statue in here, I'd secretly visited this one. Frankly, I'd been looking forward to finally meeting him face to face.
Part of why I was so angry with Bloodsword for getting me killed and for that tear in time and space for sending me back here was because they'd taken that possibility from me.
Also, because that main character was an idiotic fart of a person who needed to die.
But none of that mattered now. Because I was about to contact Immortal Zhenren and make him become my master… then convince him to take Little Spring too.
Ever since I had this idea, I'd been mentally preparing for it. And if I failed, he could easily kill me outright if just contacting him didn't.
"This is the statue of my Martial Uncle," the Sect Leader said. He looked at us and even though he was trying to hide his emotions, I could sense a bit of sorrow in his eyes. "You understand that, for hundreds of years, no one has been able to survive communicating with an immortal."
"I know."
"I recommend that you don't try. The chances that it will work is infinitely close to zero. Even without taking him as your master, you'll be able to contribute to the sect and earn a place here."
I grinned at my old friend. "How about, if I survive, you double the reward we talked about earlier?"
"If you actually succeed, I'll quadruple it."
"I'll hold you to that." I turned to Little Spring. "Don't worry, I'll make it. But, stand back. You won't be able to handle this."
He pursed his lips and stood stiffly, as if he wasn't going anywhere. When I glared, he took a few big steps away from me and pouted.
I brought out the stone necklace I received from Fairy Verdant Bamboo and sat down in the lotus position. Very slowly, I set up a few mental defenses. Okay, they might be pointless when compared to the power of a goddamn immortal, but like fuck would I let that stop me from protecting myself.
I glared at the statue and the familiar face.
There was no reason to put this shit off.
With a clack, I pressed the small stone circle to the statue's shoulder. And I waited.
And waited.
A few coughs came from behind me.
Okay, so this was getting a bit awkward. But I wasn't going to let the absence of communication just yet serve as a justification for decreasing my mental walls!
Sweat beaded on my forehead. My hand on the stone shook. This was the first time I'd been this nervous in… it seemed like ages.
A half an hour passed.
Maybe it wasn't the communication part that was dangerous but the waiting that could kill a person...
That was when the weak sigh filled my head so heavily that my nose started to bleed. I coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
Fuck. My consciousness blurred.
And darkened at the edges.
Had I almost blacked out from a goddamn sigh?
My Immortal Ascension stage soul shuddered as I felt a will focus entirely on me, like the concept of sharpness itself was mere millimeters away from slitting my ethereal body into pieces.
A chillingly lovely voice seething with anger echoed through my mind. If I hadn't had my mental defenses up (and had a soul as strong as mine) I would have passed out from the first syllable. ::You have ten breaths to tell me why I shouldn't kill you for taking this child over!::
::This Junior greets Immortal Zhenren! I am Fairy Lin, a disciple of the Indomitable Will sect.::
::Answer my question!::
Fuck, give me a second. I was getting there. Weren't immortals supposed to be patient?
::I didn't take over anything! I accidentally traveled back a thousand years and landed in my 9-year-old body!::
I could feel the presence pause. Likely, time travel was rare even in the immortal realm.
::That sounds like nonsense.::
::How else could I know how to contact you without dying outright?::
That seemed to strike a chord with him because he said, ::Very well, Little Lin. I'll listen to what you have to say. This better be worth my attention.::
Thank fuck. He was letting me explain.
While I didn't tell him about my transmigration, I told him about how I spent a millennium in this world before my death. How I was about to escape the tribulation to go find one of my secret replacement bodies, when a weird tear in time and space appeared right where I was moving.
::And after that, I found myself back before I'd ever joined the sect.::
Of course, my knowledge of a possible future was useless to the Immortal, but if it stopped him from killing me outright, I'd come clean with even my most embarrassing moments… And now that I thought about it, those happened more often than I would have liked… Whatever.
::I don't understand why you're contacting me. I have nothing to do with the mortal realm anymore.::
::Immortal Zhenren, I have been learning from your notes since I was young. Everything you left behind that wasn't locked inside your mountain has been scoured by me. You have influenced my life and my Dao, as a teacher. When I would speak with the Sect Leader about your accomplishments, I regretted my inability to make you my master. But that was my past.::
I took in a deep breath and clenched my hands into fists. It was funny how I could go through a thousand years of hardship and here I was, nervous when facing someone who could crush me with a thought or a thoughtless word. But, at this point, the worst that could happen was failure. As someone constantly in second place, I was used to that.
::In this life I have yet to worship a master. I request you take me as your disciple! Or at least allow me to use your name for protection.::
::I have never considered accepting in a disciple.::
It wasn't over yet! ::I understand that your reason against it has always been because you wanted to focus on your cultivation.::
::That is still the case.::
I mentally leaned in. ::Ah, but with me being in a whole other realm, you can just ignore me.::
::That's ridiculous. What master would ignore their own disciple?::
My previous one? ::Then you'd have the most self sufficient disciple in history. One who'd already made it to Immortal Ascension before. And I'll do it again but faster. You'll be able to brag to all your friends!::
::Little Lin, do I seem like the kind of Immortal who would go around bragging?::
He had a point. From all accounts, Sword Within the Light of Virtue was the type of person who would let his actions speak for him.
There had to be something I could say to grab his attention. I mean, I was obviously amazing, but I had to convince someone who actually made it to immortality of that. Perhaps I could start with the thing that started it all?
::Would you like to hear how I've progressed your logical alchemy methods?::
::My theory that everything happens for a reason and can be deduced through trial and error?::
Finally!
::Not only did I make progress, I've used it to complete pills at the highest rank a cultivator in the mortal realm can.::
::What did you do?::
I started explaining my history with alchemy. How I'd had trouble with it at first until I found his notes. I briefly went over each thing I learned over the years. The new hand seals, the organized and detailed note keeping. Then I hinted at the methods I improved on, but I didn't give him a full explanation.
By the time I finished answering his questions, I had barely touched on the points I had discovered. And by then, several hours had passed.
::As much as I would like to continue this conversation, there are concerns up here I must take care of.::
Oh, I was not going to let him get away. Just before I opened my mental mouth to hook him back in he continued, ::So… you'd like me to accept you as a nominal master?::
This... was too easy? Wait. I needed to respond. ::Yes! Oh… and my junior martial brother's as well.::
I could feel his massive presence sweep over the cave as it took in the Sect Leader and Little Spring.
::Strange. I feel no fate with you or your martial brother. Perhaps this has something to do with your time displacement. Someone who has expanded on my teachings as much as you cannot be unconnected with me.::
That was probably because I was a transmigrator, but whatever.
::It is only right that we defy the heavens to make our own fate.:: Muahahaha!
::Nicely said. Very well, I'll allow you both to worship me as your master…::
Finally! I did it! I'd turned my lies into truth!
::However, this means that you'll also become members of Indomitable Will's sister sect in the immortal realm. It's called the Immortal Will Sect.::
There's a related sect over there? And what's with that awful naming sense? ::If it's a sect Immortal Zhenren has approved of, then, of course, I'll join!::
Of course, it was only after I agreed that I realized that he'd sounded like someone who'd eaten something terrible and was excited to get other people to taste it.
Whatever. I'd worry about it in a few hundred years, after I've ascended. Besides, I was probably overthinking. Immortal Zhenren wasn't the kind of person who liked to share misery.
::After my ascension, when we greet each other, I will give you a proper meeting gift.::
::Little Lin, your improvements to my Dao of Alchemy is the best meeting gift you could have possibly given me. Since I'm not there, I suppose I can leave you with everything from Righteous Defense Peak that the sect hasn't taken away from it.::
Taken away? ::Master, In all the years I lived in my past life, we never opened your peak.::
::What?::
::Didn't you have a very good reason for closing it off to everyone?::
::Oh! No! I must have left the security measures on when I ascended.::
My eyebrow twitched.
God damn it, Sect Leader Peerless Resolve! You kept telling me that there was a reason he closed up that mountain when the truth was that no one wanted to spend the time and effort to get past Immortal Zhenren's Xianxia style security system!
::Here, I'll tell you how to enter the mountain. When you're strong enough, you can take over as Peak Master.::
He then went on to explain… for a goddamn hour… how to undo every little trap and formation he'd installed.
By the end of it, I felt like I had lost my soul. But I remembered everything. Like fuck would I allow my one chance to obtain my dream home get away from me simply because I couldn't memorize a few hundred... thousand mechanisms.
***
After we said our goodbyes, I used the cleaning technique to rid my robes of blood stains. Since it was there, I also cleaned Immortal Zhenren's statue.
Satisfied, I walked Little Spring through the acceptance ceremony. Both of us bowed three times to our new master's image and the strand of will he'd left behind.
Finally, I had a master I could be proud of!
Someday, after I ascended, I'd offer him tea.
Once we completed that, the Sect Leader brought us back to the immortal boat.
"So, are you taking us to Righteous Defense Peak?"
"Very humorous, Little Lin." My old friend turned the boat and headed in the exact opposite direction of my mountain. "Immortal Zhenren already had a conversation with me about this. You may know how to enter, but you're not allowed to take up residence until I decide you're strong enough."
What? Master why?!
"I mean, just imagine if you, a little Qi Condensation practitioner, became a Peak Master? You'd be dead by the end of the day."
That... was exactly what would happen.
I mentally grasped at the mental image of my home that seemed to fly away the further we went from it.
My precious peak! Wait for me a little longer.
I already waited a millennium. What were a few more years… or decades?
If I weren't such a badass, I might cry.
"It's okay, Sister Lin. I also spoke with Master. He's someone to look up to, isn't he?"
He communicated with the kid? "Immortal Zhenren is absolutely impressive! Do you think I'd lead you down the wrong path?"
He paused for a second longer than necessary before saying, "Of course not!"
Brat. Did he assume I wouldn't notice? Was he still doubting me after all this time? "I would never choose a bad person to be our master." Not after what I experienced before.
He briefly hugged me. "Thank you for getting us into a sect where we can worship such a good master."
Another hug? And he actually appreciated the fact that I got us into the sect, for once? That must have been one hell of a conversation!
I patted his head. "What did you discuss, anyway?"
"Nothing much..." That was a fucking lie if I ever saw one, but whatever. He could keep his little secrets. Then the kid smiled like he wanted to scold somebody. "However, he did let me know how contacting him put you in extreme danger."
I mean, I did say that communicating with him would be life threatening. Did he think I'd undersold the risk to our lives?
Now that I thought about it, maybe I could have elaborated more…
"In the future, I'll try to make sure you're more aware of the risks."
He scowled. "I'd like it better if we don't put ourselves in that much danger in the first place."
Kid... as the main character of this universe, you won't have a choice.
Enough of those dark thoughts, I had a prize to collect!
I turned to my old friend and grinned. "Martial Nephew, I believe you owe me a small fortune of spirit stones, several boxes of herbs and a few dozen ingots of the various metals we discussed."
Little Spring was missing a sword, and I needed to make it.
"Actually, I owe you four times that amount. I'll make sure you receive it within the day."
I nodded.
We came to a stop at a small home halfway up Indomitable Peak. It couldn't compare to the luxurious one we'd stayed in before the trials, but it wasn't bad. Of course, it wasn't as nice as an actual immortal's cave, but it would do.
"Since I'm taking care of you, I'll provide proper accommodations. Of course, staying in a courtyard like this is very costly. To pay for it, I'll have you help me out with a few insignificant tasks to earn some spirit stones."
A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered him saying a similar phrase about trivial tasks in my past life.
I had to stop that torture from repeating itself! This time, I would not spend a decade drowning in goddamn paperwork!
"Martial Nephew, have you ever heard of a 'template?'"
He shook his head.
"No?" I smiled with teeth. "Then, I think this would be a good time to discuss this advancement in something I like to call the Dao of Paperwork..."