Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (1 ?)
With a pivot and a slash, I finished my morning practice under the oak tree in our small, peaceful courtyard.
"Sister Lin! I discovered something good!"
I shrunk my sword back down to its hairpin size and raised a brow at Little Spring, who had recently reached the peak of Qi Condensation. He had done it all on his own too, with only a Qi gathering array and this location's increased spiritual density.
I could only blame the sect trials for encouraging him into doubling his efforts. Maybe traumatizing was the better word?
Whatever.
At least it had been boringly peaceful these past few months. If those demonic cultivators were still within the sect, then they'd hidden so well that even the Seven Shadows Pavilion couldn't find them.
Currently, the cute kid proudly carried two oversized plates of steamed buns. Each of them looked fluffy and professionally arranged.
Since the early morning, Little Spring had been messing around in the kitchen doing whatever with the new ingredients he brought back from one of the sect's various markets. I assumed that he'd made some half-decent meat buns, and he wanted to show them off.
That meant I had to wear my food critic hat again. When he started on his path to becoming an Immortal chef, I didn't realize that I'd end up working so hard just to give this kid enough feedback, so he focused on improving without feeling like he would never get better.
While shoving my sword hairpin into place, I walked past the small pond to meet him at the table under our gazebo.
I used the cleaning technique to ensure every surface was spotless before I settled down on the stone bench.
Little Spring set a plate down on the table in front of me, then sat, and waited eagerly.
I took a bite. The chicken and scallion flavor was rich which complemented the slightly bland dough.
I had expected something new but... weren't these just the same ones as yesterday?
"Your meat buns are consistent. This is one of the harder things to accomplish and takes great skill since your ingredients can vary from day to day."
His eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Fairy Lin! But what I wanted to talk to you about wasn't my current dish."
Oh, thank fuck. I was no immortal chef, and I was slowly reaching my limit for helpful critiques. In fact, I'd been considering paying some contribution points to con—er, hire one of the sect's chefs to come give advice in my stead. "If it's not about your cooking, then what is it?"
He waved his hand at the table and brought out his thick cookbook that he'd received in that hellhole of an inheritance dimension. He quickly showed me eleven different sets of recipes. They were located throughout the tome, but they all had one thing in common.
I stood up and pressed my finger to the long title at the top of the current page. "These are recipes to increase a body cultivator's realm... without pain!"
Frankly, I was so shocked that I had to actually read through the instructions instead of skim through them. Because I'd never encountered something that could quickly increase a body cultivator's realm with no pain. In fact, I'd thought it was impossible. But of fucking course, the dumbass Xianxia author would make an exception for his protagonist.
I half hoped that I could come up with a bath using these spiritual foods as ingredients, but after running through the list in my mind, I realized something horrifying and closed the book.
"What's wrong?" Little Spring's brow scrunched with worry.
I grimaced. "It's pointless."
He bit his lip. "But, without using these — If you keep doing body cultivation — won't you have to go through those horribly painful baths?"
How did this brat know about those? Wait, there was only one person who knew about what I'd been through.
"Ghosty McGhostFace!" That Motherfucker!
I grabbed the necklace around Little Spring's neck and flicked it. It trembled. Still not coming out?
I flicked it again. The middle-aged-looking man appeared as an illusion in front of us.
"You told on me!"
He shrugged. "After the trials, the kid here wanted to know what training I'd helped you with... And it wasn't like you had me swear to keep silent."
I glared at him.
"And I never explicitly said that you were taking painful baths to increase your cultivation!"
This fucker.
"Besides. Isn't this a good thing? However expensive these ingredients are, it has to be better than almost dying over and over again just to gain that bit of extra strength."
I narrowed my eyes at the specter. He huffed and floated around as if he were a master.
I wanted to throw the damn necklace, but I stopped myself since I didn't want to throw Little Spring as well. With a sigh, I dropped the soul gem. The kid relaxed and took a long-awaited bite of his steamed bun.
Apparently, Ghosty had had enough of my glare because his image slunk down into his home while saying, "Don't contact me for a while, I'm about to enter a delicate part of my cultivation."
"You realize that this style of body cultivation will drain our resources and force us to push back my acquisition of supplies to make you a substitute body?"
He coughed and returned. "Fairy Lin! I'm sorry! I was wrong. You should focus on Qi Cultivation. It's obviously the superior form of cultivation!"
I pulled out a spirit stone, and wrapped it in a particular way with my Qi that would interact with the original loyalty enchantment I placed on him. Then I threw it at him. His image wavered, which meant it was still in place… proving that he really thought telling the kid was best for me.
"That. I actually felt that!"
No shit. "Go cultivate!"
"Yes, Fairy Lin!" Ghosty skulked back into his gem, and I viciously took another bite out of the steamed bun Little Spring brought me.
"I think we can find the ingredients for the first three meals at least," he said, with way too much optimism. "It just might take us a little longer."
I opened the book back up and glanced at the first three marked recipes. The initial two would bring a cultivator through the Qi Condensation phase equivalent, and the third would get them through the beginning of Foundation Establishment.
What did a majority of body cultivators call those stages again? Skin and Muscle Strengthening, Bone and Marrow Refining, and Meridian Widening?
It was a completely different way of looking at cultivation compared to normal Qi cultivation or even sword Qi cultivation. In fact, each body cultivation system had its own distinct steps at each stage. Because of this, their names were often shortened to First-half Qi Condensation Equivalent and other similar naming styles.
"Even for these first two recipes, it will take a good amount of time to gather all those ingredients. And it will be stupidly expensive."
He frowned. "If you want to reach the peak of the Qi Condensation equivalent, then you may need to hold off on your tribulation."
Considering that this next tribulation just might finish the job my last one couldn't, putting it off was perfectly fine if it gave me a better chance at survival. Frankly, I had no plans to attempt it until I was fully and perfectly prepared.
I sighed. "The problem here isn't the ingredients themselves but the quantity of them." Because each of these meals had to be eaten once each day for 25-100 days depending on the recipe.
"Actually, we could definitely afford the first two sets to bring us up to the peak of Qi Condensation…" that amount of money made me want to cough up blood, but we could do it, "as long as you don't mess up when you make them."
"I won't!"
I narrowed my eyes at him briefly. "The problem here comes with the recipes for the next realm."
"What's wrong with them?"
"The ingredients are impossible to get in this quantity. Look at the First-half Foundation Establishment key ingredient."
"Haunch of the 500-year-old Golden Feathered Fire Lizard?"
Despite its majestic name, the lizard was actually a super dumb dinosaur-looking spiritual beast. It liked bathing in areas near lava… and its feathers were flammable (this was obviously where it got its 'Fire Lizard' name).
The monster regrew its burnt feathers at inhuman speeds or else it would look like a bald bird half the time.
Actually, I'd heard stories about cultivators who had been searching for these monsters, only to walk right past them due to them looking like a plucked chicken.
They weren't rare creatures... However, they were so unintelligent that they normally didn't live very long.
"How many of these spiritual beasts do you think there are that are aged 500 years or older?"
"Well, according to the recipe, we'll need 50 haunches."
"And how are you going to get 50 of them?"
He pursed his lips as if he was seriously considering this problem. And the longer he took, the more I wanted to throw his tome at him. Then his eyes brightened.
"What if we could capture one alive?"
"We'd still only have a pair."
"Then we could knock it out with a trick pill, take what we need, then — do you remember telling me about those recovery pills you can make at Foundation Establishment?"
Was this brat serious?! Did he not know how costly it was to create those pills?!
"Well, if we use your pills to help it regrow the meat we've taken, then we would only need to do it 25 times… and we wouldn't even have to kill it in the end!"
Let's see, this idea was a little horrifying to contemplate and unbelievably expensive… but would let the creature leave with its life.
I had to applaud the kid. This was absolutely something a Xianxia protagonist would come up with.
It was also very doable as long as I adjusted the formula every five or six times to compensate for the continuous loss of energy and mass. In fact, if we did it right, not only would the dumb dinosaur not feel any pain, but it could leave here stronger and healthier than when it first arrived.
But that would be if we even managed to find one. And we'd have to reach Foundation Establishment first.
"Fine. I'll use some contribution points to start looking for one." Because it might actually take a few years to find. "But even if we do manage to capture a Golden Feathered Fire Lizard at the right age, there's this Yellow Emperor's Sweet Revitalizing Kiwi here in the third recipe."
"Isn't it just a simple spiritual kiwi?"
I glared at the brat. "Even if we collect the Lizard, we still won't be able to do this third recipe because of this kiwi. This is not only an immortal chef ingredient but an alchemy ingredient as well. One that helps cultivators widen their meridians so they can increase their cultivation speed." Not that we needed that with my Unparalleled Perfection Cultivation method.
The kid blinked. "How rare is it?"
"It is not that it's rare, it's that everyone and their fathers desperately want to widen their meridians. It's so special that finding one would even lead to a fight between a loving mother and her son. And according to this insane recipe, you'd need 25 in order to take just you to the Peak of Foundation Establishment."
"So, we'll need 50 of this one as well. A set for each of us."
That made me want to cough up blood again! Because it was too damn costly. Frankly, I had considered only cultivating my body to the peak of Qi Condensation. But if I joined him down this path… the fortune I'd received from all the bullshit I went through during the sect trial would dry up like a river during the severest of droughts.
This was why I avoided body cultivation. It was a goddamn money sink. Worse than owning a boat in my past-past life.
"But I'm sure we can find enough of them, given time. Isn't the reason we came to the Indomitable Will sect because it has all the good resources?"
Well. He had a point. Perhaps I was thinking too much about how little I had and how hard it was to find good materials back when I was a poor Qi Condensation Cultivator. Regardless, "Even with the sect helping us, it would still cost us two fortunes."
"If it's only a matter of making spirit stones, then we'll just have to earn more. Isn't that what you taught me?"
Ah, I see my young martial brother has learned to use my own weapons against me.
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (Part 2
After Little Spring and I finished our disturbing conversation, I had Unyielding escort me to the Indomitable Will sect's majestic headquarters.
This was where my martial nephew worked most of the day.
I'd been helping to streamline their paperwork system in exchange for an amount each month that would make a Golden Core Cultivator cry with envy… one that had looked decent before Little Spring told me about those recipes.
Goddamn it.
Honestly, I think the whole reason Bloodsword married Radiant Tiger Lily, an Immortal Chef, was because he ended up finding that body cultivation method.
Out of all of his wives, Tiger Lily and I had the least amount of interaction... She kept to her kitchen and herd of students while I kept to my immortal cave. Unless she was the bitch who stole Verdant Bamboo's spiritual rabbit and cooked it, ate it, then blamed it on me... Fuck. She was, wasn't she?
If I ever saw her in this life, I'd be sure to ruin a meal of hers in revenge. Muahahaha!
But aside from that, I understood why he married her. It would be easier to marry a talented chef than learn it himself… I almost didn't despise this line of thinking. I mean, the thought of it was messed up, but also — fuck cooking.
Not that I'd actually hook up with a chef just to get them to create meals for me. Not when I could hire one… or raise my little brother.
Frankly, if my next tribulation wasn't poised to finish the job the last one started, I wouldn't even bother with this expensive body cultivation method. Unfortunately, I needed all the defensive capabilities I could find.
This included things like spiritual tools, formation flags, protective talismans, and body cultivation. Anything and everything I could get my hands on that could save my ass was something I would hoard, because my life literally depended on it.
I entered through the side building where most of the harried little cultivators who got stuck doing menial paperwork sat in lotus positions. They leaned over desks where piles of papers and stacks of jade slips kept them busy. One of them, Daoist Early Rise Swift Brush, who only ended up becoming a golden core in my last life, walked up to me, eyes excited. He handed me a jade slip.
"Senior Lin! Can you see if I'm practicing the Dao of Paperwork well?"
I pressed it to my temple, looked over the draft contents, and nodded.
This little cultivator was well on his way to becoming a paperwork master. "Impressive. It was almost as if I could physically touch the documents."
He smiled happily. "That's because I copied each one by hand several times to get it perfect before adding it to the jade slip."
Okay. Maybe he was a little too into this Dao of Paperwork. If he kept at it, he might actually develop it into a real path to immortality instead of it being an off the cuff inside joke I'd made in my past life.
I cleared my throat. "How is the Sect Leader?"
"He's in the main hall. It sounds like something serious is happening."
I nodded.
Another young cultivator walked up to me and nervously held out a wooden box. "Ah, Senior Lin. Can you hand this over to the Sect Leader? It's an object he asked us to deliver to him as soon as it arrived."
These kids often sent me in there with deliveries.
I had a feeling they were testing my loyalty. Or my bravery. Or they were using the fact that I was Peerless Resolve's Martial Aunt — someone he wouldn't scold for interrupting a meeting — to avoid getting yelled at.
Chuckling, I grabbed the box, scanned it with divine sense to ensure that it wasn't anything dangerous, and stored it inside my ring.
I'd been back at the sect for a few months, and the system I introduced was already allowing my friend to take more time out of his day to cultivate. I had hopes that this would lead to him breaking through to Immortal Ascension in a few hundred years.
Unfortunately, aside from the massive amount of paperwork the Sect Leader had to go through each day, there was also one of the more annoying things he had to deal with… meetings.
Meetings he couldn't delegate because they were with respected cultivators who were so old that their concept of time was skewed. Granted, my concept of time was also skewed (especially after traveling to the past), but I at least tried to keep things concise.
Tried.
***
I entered the beautiful lotus-themed hall and walked down the massive room to where a group of solemn-faced cultivators stood.
I recognized a few of them as members of the information gathering and disseminating part of the sect, Seven Shadows Pavilion. There was also Three Eyes Sun Blade, the master of Majestic Sword Peak. Oh! Wasn't that Peak Master Enduring Flame from the 'excitingly' named Alchemy Peak?
Enduring Flame was a man who reminded me of an older and slightly less obsessed version of Pill Otaku. One of the key differences was that, instead of having cauldrons everywhere, he had flames. On his robes. On his jade crown. Even the pendant on his belt was a flame... And some of them were actual real strange flames, showing just how hardcore his control of them was.
A majority of alchemy in this world used earthen flames, which was the slightly more magical version of the mundane ones in this world. A medicinal Qi cultivator could get away with only using these simple types until they reached late Golden Core or early Nascent Soul. However, if they wished to progress further down their path, they would need to find a strange flame that could let them produce more advanced pills. The higher in realm a medicinal Qi cultivator progressed, the more strange flames they would have to collect.
The fact that Peak Master Enduring Flame casually showed so many on his person was a visual representation of how impressive he was... it was still a bit ostentatious. But at this guy's level, he could do what he wanted and nobody could say shit.
This also reminded me that I would eventually need to gather strange flames again, but that would come much later.
The Sect Leader glared at the young cultivators from Seven Shadows Pavilion. "So you're saying that this 'Demonic Vine Plague' is wreaking havoc across a quarter of Heaven's Wall Empire?"
Wait. Demonic Vine Plague?
I remembered hearing about that. But it was so long ago. What was it again?
"Well, it's only affected five cities so far. It has already wiped two out. If they can't get it under control, then it could prove a problem for the entire continent!"
"And they're requesting that we send in as many alchemists as we can to research a cure?"
Wait a second.
This was something that hadn't affected me in my last life because I was from a country far from Heaven's Wall Empire. It was an epidemic that almost threatened the whole continent. One that alchemists could find a treatment for.
I fucking learned about this plague!
Back when that braindead wife of Bloodsword, Violet Pill Fairy, had first married Bloodsword, the bitch had constantly bragged about inventing a cure for the Demonic Vine Plague.
She would go on at length about how many spirit stones she'd made off of doing so. Then she repeatedly said a portion of her profits went toward helping those in need before once again bragging about how much money she made.
It was fucking infuriating.
But what angered me the most was that when this bitch saw a plague, the first thing she thought of was increasing her own wealth.
And how did she do it?
By patenting the recipe at the alchemist's guild and requiring everyone to give her 80% of the profits.
That didn't sound that bad, except that she set the price sky high. They sold at one hundred times the cost of the materials.
Then she had the gall to say that she'd use a portion of her profits to give them away to anyone who couldn't afford her prescription. And that the reason she charged such a ridiculous price was so she could freely hand those pills to the ones who 'truly needed it.'
It sounded great and really Robin-Hood of her. Except, how many people actually heard about her willingness to give away the medicine versus those who died from needing it?
I'd looked into it once. The numbers made me never fucking trust the bitch.
This plague was the perfect chance to earn some good karma and get a little revenge.
"Martial Nephew Peerless Resolve!" I called out with a grin.
My friend coughed and glanced over at me. "Little Aunt Lin, I'm in the middle of an urgent meeting."
"And I wouldn't interrupt if it wasn't important." I paused for emphasis and waited until I had everyone's attention. "I know of a pill recipe that I can update to solve this plague."
Peak Master Enduring Flame brightened. Honestly, he looked like he wanted to scour my brain for spare recipes. It was a look I was sadly getting used to.
The Sect Leader perked up. "Is this a cure Immortal Zhenren told you about?"
"It's medicine I also worked on," I lied happily. Take that, Violet. I was going to steal your credit. Muahahaha! "But since I haven't seen the plague, I'll have to go there in person to double check. I won't disseminate a remedy until I'm positive it works."
At one point in my past life, I'd just lost another alchemy tournament to Violet. Then I heard her once again brag about that cure. Wanting to see if the bitch has really accomplished what she'd said, I checked at the Alchemists' Guild to see if it was true. And if I had discovered that it wasn't, I would have shoved it in her face so hard.
Unfortunately, she had told the truth. The bitch had created a treatment... one that had to be repeatedly taken until no signs of the plague returned. Considering that it took two months to completely remove the disease, it wasn't super effective; however, it did work, and that was the important part.
However, I couldn't just patent the medication and wash my hands of this situation. I was a goddamn grandmaster alchemist. Like fuck would I consider taking that bitch's early work and representing it as my own without ensuring its quality myself. I had motherfucking standards.
"Little Lin," my friend frowned, "I wanted to keep you in the sect longer."
"And I wanted to stay longer, but they'll need my help."
Ending the fucking plague... and stopping that bitch from earning money off it was more important to me than staying in the sect just so I could slowly collect items in the sect for my tribulation.
And I definitely wasn't going on this mission because I was trying to put off my terrifyingly strong tribulation that could easily convert my new body into dust.
Not when I needed to get stronger.
::If you successfully stop this plague, then what would you like the sect to compensate you with?::
::I have a list of ingredients here that should be simple for the sect to collect. However, the one that I absolutely need your help with is 55 Yellow Emperor's Sweet Revitalizing Kiwis.::
He coughed, but his face stayed in its near facial paralysis-like state. ::What do you require 55 of those for?::
Well, if I passed this tribulation, I'd have to immediately start preparations for the next one — and body cultivation was now part of it. I mean, even an idiot could see that if this tribulation was beyond difficult, the next would get even harder. Only fools or super lucky main characters didn't plan their development a hundred steps in advance. Muahahaha!
::I need it for a body cultivation technique!::
::It must be a very impressive body cultivation technique if it requires so many Revitalizing Kiwi.::
Frankly, if the meals did what it sounded like they could do, then I had to at least try it. Worse case scenario, I'd keep using the body cultivation method I'd been using.
What was that method called anyway? Since I created the baths and my friend had developed the exercises and techniques to go with it, I don't think either one of us actually named the thing.
::But why are you practicing body cultivation? I thought you were focused on Qi Cultivation and the Way of the Sword like your master?::
Well, I couldn't tell him about my crazy tribulation or he'd suspect me so I had to tell him a partial truth. At least for now. ::Immortal Zhenren's enemies are mine as well. Body cultivation should help me increase my chances of survival when they eventually come after me.::
My friend paused before continuing,::If they ever do attack you, this sect will have your back.::
The fact that he wasn't just saying that was one of the reasons I liked this sect. It might be filled with weirdos and people who liked to fight each other on multiple levels, but they always had each other's backs against enemies from without.
::If you're able to completely solve this plague, the sect will get you your 55 Kiwis.::
Ah. ::Well, since you're going to ask the Seven Shadows Pavilion to search for those, can you also have them search for a living Golden Feathered Fire Lizard of at least 500 years?::
::Little Aunt Lin. You should be capable of making a request like that at the various job seeking pavilions throughout the sect.::
::I mean, I could do that, but then someone would know it was my inquiry. The leader of the demonic cultivators is still out there.::
::You've made your point. I'll make the request for you.::
I grinned.
He spoke aloud so the others in the room could hear him. "Are you willing to go with one of the alchemist teams we're sending to help with the plague?"
"Of course! But first, can you tell me what places it's spread to so far?"
Three Eyes Sun Blade, who had been quiet this whole time, finally responded, "It's ravaged two small cities in the southern area of Heaven's Wall Empire. From there, it spread to three other nearby cities."
If I remembered correctly, Violet Pill Fairy had mentioned that, before she discovered the cure, it had taken over all corners of the Heaven's Wall Empire. This meant that there was still time before she developed her pill recipe successfully.
"This plague is very strange," The Sword Saint continued. "While there has been no evidence that demonic cultivators are involved, my peak is still going to provide the alchemists' teams with protection during their stay in the various cities."
"And my alchemists, thank you for that," Peak Master Enduring Flame said. Then he turned to me. "Now, let's discuss what ingredients we'll need to send with you. I have a few in mind that will be good to have on hand in case of an emergency."
I grinned. "That is exactly what I wanted to speak with you about." It was nice to be on the same page as someone.
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (3 ?)
Since we were in a slight time crunch, Enduring Flame quickly planned out an ingredient list with me.
The great thing about working with a big sect — all the plants I specified, the Peak Master added to the list.
Well, most of them.
He caught a few that I put in there just to see if I could get away with it. The glare he sent me was, hands down, hilarious.
"One of my Elders, Fairy Grass Sprout, will manage all the teams on this mission from the sect. She's readying all the ingredients as we speak, and she'll send a portion of them to each of the teams before you leave."
I nodded.
Now that we took care of that, it was time to see a young old friend of mine. Someone who may have survived this mission in my past life.
I turned to Sword Saint Three Eyes Sun Blade. The old master looked expectant.
"I've heard good things about a sword cultivator named Salamander. If he's going, I'd like to be on his team."
He blinked. "Sword Master Salamander? He's leading the sword cultivators for one of the teams."
It was strange hearing him be called Sword Master again instead of Sword Saint.
Actually, the author who wrote this fucked up universe had a love for titles. Regular cultivators had ones attached to their Daoist name, like 'Fairy' or 'Immortal Zhenren.' And starting from Golden Core, Sword cultivators (and the even rarer Spear cultivators) had names that differed from others.
Basically, Golden Cores were given the title Sword Master; Nascent Souls were Sword Grandmasters; Immortal Bone Creation practitioners had the honor of being called Sword Saint; and if a cultivator was lucky enough to reach Immortal Ascension, they were given the mouthful title of Venerable Sword Immortal.
I had a theory that they had these cooler titles because the dumbass author had a hidden obsession for sword cultivators.
Or maybe it was because, since they relied on epiphanies to improve, reaching those stages was more difficult for Sword cultivators, so they deserved a more badass sounding title. Whatever. It was the original author who came up with this shit. I just lived here.
Seriously though, epiphanies were hard as fuck to earn. In a thousand years, across my various practices, I'd only had around twenty.
They were like lightning strikes of inspiration that struck so close to the truth of the universe that the practitioner gained approval from the heavens. This approval significantly increased the practitioner's cultivation or gave them inhuman insight into a path to immortality.
It helped that this world was like most Xianxia, where sword cultivators were some of the strongest people within their realm. Most of them could take on a senior with a cultivation one whole stage higher and survive. A few were so good they could kill those same seniors.
This strength was the reason the sword remained my principal weapon until the day I died — even if I wasn't technically a sword cultivator myself.
"Sword Master Salamander has been looking after my grand disciple, Clear Eyes Mad Tongue, who is going on this mission to gain experience."
Oh, no… That naming sense was just awful. I hoped young Mad Tongue would earn a better Daoist name when he grew up.
I smiled at the Sword Saint. "I'll be sure to look after your grand disciple while I'm there."
"As long as you can keep the cultivators from my peak plague-free, I'll be more than satisfied, Martial Aunt Lin. They're there for your protection. Not the other way around."
This was why I loved working with sword cultivators. They were the absolute best people to watch your back. "With me around, even if the plague touches them, it won't be for long."
Enduring Flame cut in, "When will you have a finished recipe to hand over to my disciples?"
"Once I've confirmed its efficacy and patented it at the Alchemists' Guild. It should be finished within a day. Two at most. The guild can spread it to more alchemists in the area than we can." And it will prevent Violet from earning money from it. Muahahaha.
I also refused to make it free. After watching a few people I knew in my past-past life almost die from the bullshit the drug companies pulled with insulin — where they turned a necessary life-saving prescription into an opportunity to squeeze people dry — I had zero expectations that anyone outside of my sect would give the pills away to those who needed it. That was why, once I patented it at the guild, I would only set a high percentage of the net profit of each pill to go into my pocket. From my experience with alchemists, this would encourage them to give it away or sell it at cost just to spite me.
Of course, there would still be a few alchemists who would hike up the price anyway, but they'd do that regardless.
I also didn't worry about having too few alchemists creating these pills. The ingredients weren't rare, but they were still limited. If fewer alchemists fought over them, that should help keep the prices lower.
Peak Master Enduring Flame nodded sagely.
***
Once we'd settled on a few more details (and after I handed the Sect Leader his package), they gave me two hours to get my shit together and meet Sword Master Salamander at a specific teleportation platform on Majestic Sword Peak.
I hurried back to the courtyard I shared with Little Spring and ran to where he diligently practiced with his blade. He sheathed the new basic sword I'd made for him using some of the Spiritual Silver I'd received from the Sect Leader. Honestly, I'd wanted to make a better one for him, but my realm was too small. I could only wait until I reached Foundation Establishment to forge him the sword he deserved.
Actually, after we'd entered the sect, I'd made it a point to return the sword that was a keepsake from his mother — the one he'd given to his first wife after marriage in my past life. The kid had refused to take it back, saying that I could return it only when I had one that was better.
The adorable child was worried for my safety. After getting his sword broken in the tournament, he must have realized that a good quality sword could save my life.
Little Spring turned to me with the biggest grin on his face and his eyes glowing with excitement.
"Sister Lin?! It finally finished!"
Huh?
Without explaining any further, he vanished.
The kid's space finally completed its upgrade!
He hadn't used an obfuscation array, but my divine sense hadn't picked up any strange spatial fluctuations or hidden treasures being used.
Wait! I think the kid mentioned that part of this upgrade would include better security features or something. It made sense that a space like this would have a way to hide itself so the owner could use it as an emergency escape. I mean, if other cultivators could notice it, then it would make for a pretty fucking useless escape route.
Originally, it might have been able to perfectly hide its owner from their enemies.
Knowing what I did of Xianxia and magical spaces, it was possible that it had long ago become old and damaged. The spirit must have shrunk the area it covered and removed unnecessary features.
After the kid fed it several special items, it had repaired itself a little.
Little Spring likely had several more special items to go until it upgraded back up to full strength.
Since the kid had given me access to his space, I went inside it, choosing to land right in between Fairy Lake and the cottage. Except that the cottage looked more like a small palace now.
It had red walls, intricate gold trimming, and a beautifully curved hip-and-gable roof.
And the spiritual spring water, which had been about the size of a small pond originally, had enlarged to the size of a large lake.
In order to hold a lake of that magnitude, the land had expanded by about ten times the previous size.
Surprisingly, all the plants we'd left in here were now at their most perfect harvestable time.
The vines had flowers ripe for making more Lin's Super Awesome Repair Dan.
I even spotted a couple of peach trees that had sprouted from the pit's Little Spring must have planted.
What the actual fuck was going on?
Little Spring ran to a gazebo that had definitely not been there before and sat on a stone bench. He grinned and grabbed at something in midair.
The air shimmered with a glittering yellow light and a small, spectral golden dragon appeared in the kid's hand. It started to squirm until the kid released it.
"Sister Lin, this is the spirit of this place. And Spirit, be polite to my sister."
The tiny dragon crossed its little arms and wiggled its tiny noodle body at me tauntingly.
Hmm, a spirit of a space like this was not something to take lightly. Little Spring could since he was essentially the master here, but both myself and it knew that I was only a temporary guest. If that was the case, then it would be better to be polite to it, similar to how I treated Senior Auspicious Paifeng. I bowed politely to the little dragon. "This junior greets Senior Spirit."
The little dragon seemed to ignore my greeting. It flew out of the gazebo, did an irritated lap over the lake, only to return and hiss at Little Spring. "Fine! I'll be polite!"
Then, as if it were a petulant child, it bobbed its horned head towards me, causing its wavy whiskers to straighten. "The Spirit of the Spatial Expanse greets Fairy Lin."
"I've already told it to follow your orders."
Well, if that was the case... then nothing changed.
I sat down at the table. At this angle, it looked a lot like a semi-translucent golden toy.
"So, Senior Spirit needs to accept my instructions?"
It glared at me and blew out a small stream of bubbles.
This thing was fucking fascinating.
In this world, there were three types of beasts. Spiritual beasts who originated from animals or monsters (reaching human intelligence at their High Golden Core equivalent). Then there were Mystical beasts (creatures like Nine Tailed Foxes or Mystical White Snakes) who had human intelligence at birth.
The last type was Ascendant beasts. These were mythical creatures like Qillins and Phoenixes. They had above human intelligence at birth. However, they were so rare that even after living in this world for a thousand years, I'd never seen one in the flesh. However, I didn't doubt that they existed. This was a Xianxia universe, after all.
But that didn't mean I would see one in my lifetime. They were that rare.
This little spirit was probably the closest I would ever get to seeing an Ascendant beast. At least until I ascended to immortality and had a few thousand years to casually look for one.
Of course, main characters had a habit of getting into hidden places where they encountered mythical creatures as if they were stray cats.
Maybe if I stuck with the kid long enough, I might meet a real one sooner.
While the space being open was great and unexpected, and while meeting the little dragon was really fucking intriguing, I still had a time limit.
There was something important I had to discuss with my martial brother. "Little Spring!"
"Yes, Sister Lin?"
"I volunteered for a mission, and I need to leave in two hours."
"What's the mission?"
I briefly explained about the plague, how I knew a possible cure, and how I had to go with them to help.
He nodded. "So we only have a little over an hour to prepare? It's a good thing the space opened."
Right. He probably wasn't going to like this. "I think you should remain here where it's relatively safe."
And just as I thought, his lips thinned into a straight line, and he looked at me with obvious hurt. "So you want me to stay here… alone?"
I almost rolled my eyes.
"You're not alone. There are plenty of seniors who can look after you."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "The people here are fine, but they're not you. They're not family."
Hey, this wasn't the world of Lilo and Stitch. "Part of the reason I wanted to come to this sect was to give you a stable environment to grow up in. If you follow me to every mission I go on—"
"—Then I can watch your back."
I raised my brow at the kid. "I'd rather have you safe than in danger." Sure, I'd dragged the kid here when he was only 8 years old, but being on the move was always a temporary state. The plan was to stay protected in the sect and grow stronger as we grew older. Not to gallivant around where a pissed off Nascent Soul having an off day could squash us like flies for the hell of it.
"If I'm close to you, then you'll have access to my space. You'll be able to use it to escape if you get in danger. But if I'm not, then I don't know if it will work for you. You need to take me with you."
The kid was adorable and made some good points. But, as the adult, I couldn't give in.
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (4 ?)
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and raised my chin at the adorable brat.
"I lived over 1000 years in my past life, and in all that time I didn't have a special space like this. I can survive without it. And, considering how long it took to upgrade, I think that relying on it too much will get us in trouble."
He swallowed. "Whether you need it or not, it's still useful! Not using a tool just because you might rely on it too much is a terrible excuse."
He had a point there, but I still wasn't convinced that bringing him just to have access to his space was a good idea. Frankly, I didn't think he could say anything to convince me to take him.
He tugged at my sleeve and looked at me with those adorable eyes. Ha! Did he think this cuteness attack would help his cause?
"Sister Lin, you're doing alchemy on this mission. You'll definitely need my help."
Wait a second.
He pointed his thumb at his chest and smiled proudly. "You trained me to assist you. If you run into an issue and need to concoct a more advanced pill, then I'll have to be there so I can help. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to go on this mission without me?"
This fucking kid!
"It's not like you can rely on anyone else to help you out, either. They don't know your methods like I do."
Why did I feel like I'd just been stabbed in the back by my past self?
And where did he learn to argue so well?
If he stayed here, then he'd be relatively safe. But he wanted to go so badly that he found the one reason I would accept. This little brat!
"Fine. I'll take you with me!"
His eyes shimmered with excitement. "Thank you!"
Then he swiftly hugged me and ran off to start preparing.
The tiny spectral dragon held up a claw and wrote in midair with a golden shimmering spiritual energy:
"Little Spring, 1
Fairy Lin, 0"
Oh. Between me and this dragon, it was on!
Treat this floating noodle like a respected old spirit? Ha! From now on, it would have to earn that respect.
***
Little Spring and I convinced Unyielding to escort us to Majestic Sword Peak's teleport platform area.
Because teleportation was so expensive and posed an enormous security risk, it was in a highly restricted section of the peak, protected by an extensive barrier that could double as a slaughter formation in the right circumstances. For example, if an enemy used a platform to bring in a small team of Nascent Soul cultivators. The barrier would keep them trapped inside... then one of the several guards could activate the slaughter formation, making Nascent Soul Soup... which sounded like the worst tasting soup ever.
Basically, they took the security seriously around here. Even though we arrived with the Sect Leader's inheriting disciple, we still had to go through multiple quick checks to prove that we were expected at the teleportation platforms.
The only consolation was that, unlike the TSA from my past-past life, these guards worked very swiftly since they just had to scan each person with divine sense after checking that they had a reason to be there.
At the very least, I didn't even have to take off my cute little slippers.
When we reached the teleportation platform, a small crowd of sword cultivators who sent out a loud chorus of, "Great Martial Aunt! Great Martial Uncle!"
Little Spring's eyes went wide.
Well, we had mostly been cooped up in our courtyard training for the past few months, so the kid wouldn't have been exposed to this kind of proper greeting.
Now that I counted just the people who were here, there were a lot of cultivators leaving on this mission. Well, they would be split between five cities, so it wasn't as much as it looked.
From the arrangements we made during our meeting, there would be one sword cultivator for each alchemist, and around 10-14 disciples per team.
The alchemists going to the two devastated areas would mostly be focused on research — trying to find out what originally caused the plague and how it spread. And once I released my cure to them, they would produce the pills and give them out to those few infected who were still alive.
A familiar face, though much younger than I'd last seen, walked toward me with a gentle smile. He was also missing a nasty scar on his left jaw. Even after he went through a bodily rebirth he'd kept it to remind himself of a mistake he'd once made but never spoke to me about.
I couldn't help but remember the very last time we met in my past life. Salamander had been old instead of young and spry. His hair had long since turned white. There'd been more than a few wrinkles on his face, which included laugh lines from all the smiling he'd done over the years. We'd sat down together because we both knew that — unless he managed some kind of epiphany — he didn't have many decades left.
If I could have, I would have spent more time with him, but I had to go into closed door cultivation and didn't know when I'd come back.
Salamander didn't have an existential crisis, nor did he talk about his mortality. He could have. As my friend and mentor, he could have complained to me about anything and I would have listened.
Instead, he spent the entire conversation explaining the various techniques he'd been practicing, even showed me some of the adjustments he'd made to the foundational moves that matched his path better. Ones that would later go on to improve my own swordsmanship.
We both knew that it was our last meeting, and instead of focusing on himself and the tragedy of his inevitable death, he'd been trying to instruct me.
In this life, I'd have to pay him back for that.
"Sister Lin?" Little Spring asked, concerned. He'd probably noticed how I kept blinking. I smoothed his hair.
"The air is just dry today," I said.
A teenager — around 16 or 17 — with flame colored hair casually walked beside my mentor. Honestly, if it weren't for his cloud patterned robes, I would have thought the young man was a gangster.
When the two finally stood in front of us, Salamander bowed with grace and strength while the teen bowed with a kind of crazy intensity. I knew for a fact that I'd never seen this eye-catching sword cultivator in the sect before.
"Sword Master Salamander greets Great Martial Aunt Lin and Great Martial Uncle Little Spring."
Then the flame-haired one — who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else — said, "Clear Eyes Mad Tongue greets Great Martial Aunt and Great Martial Uncle."
I had the feeling he didn't respect me as much as Salamander did. Then again, my old mentor would know what it meant for a kid as young as me to come on this mission as the lead alchemist. Man, I'd missed his level of competency.
I cleared the heaviness that clouded my throat and grinned at the two. "I'll be in your care. During this mission, please call me Senior Lin or Fairy Lin. And you should address Little Spring as Fellow Daoist Little Spring. There's no reason to bring unnecessary attention to ourselves during this trip."
"Of course, Senior Lin. It's an honor to be chosen by the little Fairy to be your escort."
Ah, Salamander was just as I remembered him. Perhaps during this lifetime, I could be the one to give him some pointers instead of the other way around. Maybe if I did, he could make it all the way to Immortal Ascension.
"The team we're traveling with is over here." He started walking into the crowd and we followed him.
"Which city are we going to?" Little Spring asked.
"The one with the most recent plague victims."
I grimaced. "They're sending us there because it's the safer of the five options."
"Well, the Little Fairy is the only one who knows the potential cure. We need to keep you as safe as possible."
I waved my hand. "It's fine. I was hoping to stay in the sect for the next few years to train my little brother more. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. So, being as safe as possible is perfect."
"Don't worry. I'll stick to your sides and make sure you're both protected."
"That's fine, but in an emergency, I expect you to do what needs to be done. Even if that means leaving me behind. I assume that as a Sword Master, you're the highest realmed cultivator in our team."
"Yes, Fairy Lin. Next in line is Clear Eyes Mad Tongue, and after him it's Fairy Swift Dove." From what I could sense, those two were both in Foundation Establishment, though Swift Dove was just at the beginning while Clear Eyes was in the middle.
He gestured to the last three sword cultivators and said, "And this is Turning Leaf, Drunken Edge, and Eagle's Cry."
I nodded to them. They were all at the equivalent peak of Qi condensation and their ages varied from a few years older than me to pushing twenty. They glanced at both Little Spring and me with curiosity. Frankly, I was too new to the sect. Even though they knew I was their Great Martial Aunt, they wouldn't know what that meant exactly except that they needed to respect me like an elder, regardless of my outward appearance.
But they'd figure it out.
"You already know Spear Grandmaster Unwavering Thunderous Strike's new Disciple — Spear That Weaves Through Lightning."
Salamander grabbed someone who was practically hiding behind the twenty-year-old Drunken Edge and pulled him over to greet me.
Holy shit! It was Young Master Zhang from the sect trials! And he'd received a Daoist name that was a fucking mouthful to say.
"This one greets Senior Lin!" With bright red cheeks, the young master clasped his hands and bowed.
Well, he wasn't a young master from the Zhang clan any more.
"It's good to see you again, Daoist Spear That Weaves Through Lightning."
He cleared his throat. "Please, just address me as Spear That Weaves."
This kid was going to be alright.
Now that I thought about it, I was glad that I forced the issue and had him go through the sect trials back then.
I suspected that in my past life, demonic cultivators infiltrated the sect and released an Immortal Bone Creation level soul during the kid's personalized trial. The Demonic Elder would have killed him and everyone in the area before the Sect Leader had time to get there and eradicate the evil son of a bitch.
And, even if that didn't happen, and he made it through — he probably would have worshiped some master loyal to the Zhang Clan instead of the Spear Master who actually fit him.
Going in through the back door wasn't always a good thing.
"We're just waiting for the other Alchemists to arrive, then we can activate the teleportation platform to Heaven's Wall Empire."
I nodded. Hopefully, they would get here soon.
After waiting there for a while, Little Spring curiously walked up to a sword cultivator with triangle shaped eyes and asked, "Fellow Daoist Drunken Sword? How did you get your name? Do you practice a martial art that requires you to drink?"
He looked a little sheepish and laughed. "Ah, Great Martial Uncle Little Spring… You see, my master describes my sword techniques as looking so pathetic and moving so awkwardly that it's no different from me being completely inebriated."
Everyone in the group grew silent.
Salamander cleared his throat and said kindly, "Your sword work is unique and very effective for tricking your opponents."
"Sword Master!" Drunken Edge looked like he was about to cry.
Salamander must have decided to give poor Drunken Edge a break because he addressed the group. "If you've been with me on missions before, you know that I like to keep everybody on their toes. It's dangerous outside the sect and your first priority is to watch your surroundings to keep yourself and your teammates safe. To do that, I'm implementing a game I call, 'Avoid the Assassin.'"
Oh shit! I remembered this game. I found it to be very effective training in teaching the younger generations how to pay attention to their environment.
"I will send a harmless slash of sword Qi to you at random times throughout our journey. If you block it, you win one contribution point, but if you don't block it, you have to pay the sect one contribution point."
Some of the newer sword cultivators looked horrified. Even Young Master Zhang, er, Spear That Weaves had a tense look on his face.
"I do this because once contribution points are on the line, you all take this game seriously. That might save your life."
"Yes, Sword Master!"
Little Spring's eyes gleamed. "Will you include the alchemists in this exercise?"
Oh, Little Spring. You don't know what you're asking for.
Okay, I wasn't going to stop him because this would be beneficial training for him, and a good show for me.
"Only if asked, and only when they're not working."
"Then can you put both myself and my sister through it?"
I coughed.
Did this brat just sign me up for training?!
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (5?)
A large group of alchemists arrived on green leaf-shaped boats and quickly separated into their assigned teams.
The four who joined us introduced themselves as Fairy Elegant Sky Tamer, Alchemist Burning Hands, Fairy Softly Floating Grass, and Alchemist Incapacitating Wind.
I held back a snicker at that last one. I'd probably regret it since she was likely a master at trick pills — the best attacking method alchemists had. She was also one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators I'd be relying on.
They were twenty to forty years old, not nearly as young as the sword cultivators. Their realms ranged between the peak of Qi Condensation and Mid Foundation Establishment equivalents.
They still looked youthful, though. I was sure a dose of their own beauty pill helped them with that.
A Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly appeared above us, dressed in forest green robes partially armored with sky rank spiritual tools. I recognized her as an alchemist elder who knew how to take a hit. The corner of her lips turned up as she watched us bow in greeting to her.
"For those who don't know, I'm Peak Elder Grass Sprout from Alchemy Peak. While I won't be going with you on this mission, I will be in contact with each of the team leaders." She held up a mirror. Salamander and I held up ours in response.
She then tossed out several gleaming rings that flew directly to the alchemists possessing mirrors. I grabbed mine and sent a strand of divine sense into it. The herbs I'd requested were inside in a quantity that made me grin.
Ah, I loved it when I got to work with competent sect members.
"These spiritual plants might be necessary to cure the plague, so keep them safe and wait for verification of the prescription. Don't you dare waste these materials by attempting to figure out unknown recipes all by yourself. You will have to pay for them yourself if you unnecessarily waste materials."
A few of the cultivators in the crowd shuffled uncomfortably. I guessed that they wanted to guess the formula using these ingredients before I patented it.
"In the meantime, do your best to study the plague without becoming infected yourself."
Just then Clear Eyes Mad Tongue called out, "Peak Elder Grass Sprout! I'm going to let you continue but—"
Salamander wrapped his arm around the teen's head and covered his mouth. "Please continue Peak Elder!"
Mad Tongue jerked his shoulder, attempting to get out of Salamander's grasp. His face turned red with the effort. Apparently, my mentor knew this kid well.
Seeing that it wasn't working, the Foundation Establishment cultivator tried a few more tricks. He stomped on Salamander's foot and sent a hand poking toward his eyes. That obviously failed. Eventually, he turned limp and glared at the smiling Sword Master.
Elder Grass Sprout cleared her throat. "As I was saying — help the cities with their Anti-Plague measures." She paused and then said very seriously, "If you see them doing something stupid, stop them. And if you wonder if something is stupid and don't know, contact me and I'll tell you!"
"Yes, Peak Elder!"
"The Indomitable Will Sect doesn't do charity. However, during times like these, it's better to stop the plague in its infancy than to let it run rampant across the whole continent and beyond. You're our first chance to stop it! So don't fail!"
"Yes, Peak Elder!"
"Now, I'm going to activate the teleportation platform. Stay close to your team and get ready."
Little Spring nervously grabbed my sleeve and held on for dear life.
Oh right. This was the little main character's first time using one of these long-range ones.
I was about to say some words of comfort when my feet felt like they'd been kicked out from under me.
***
We all reappeared right in the middle of a teleportation receiving platform. My insides felt like they were upside down. A terrible side effect that would go away once I reached Foundation Establishment. Unfortunately, a few of the younger cultivators couldn't take it and collapsed onto the stone ground.
The kid touched his head and his eyes lost focus, dizzy. I grabbed his shoulders on reflex.
"Thank you, Sister Lin."
"It's better when you get used to it. Long-distance teleportation like this puts a strain on the body that short-distance teleportation doesn't."
"You mean, like the ones from the sect trial?"
I nodded. "But as long as lower realmed cultivators used them sparingly, they don't cause any lasting damage."
Senior Salamander raised a hand and quickly gathered us together.
"From here, we travel to Verdant Hidden Cavern City!" he said to our small team while pulling out a leaf-shaped spiritual treasure. With a flick of his fingers, it expanded to the size of a boat. "Everyone get on!"
Little Spring and I jumped onto the tool with the other alchemists and sword cultivators.
As Salamander drove the ship high into the air, he said, "By the way, the training starts now!"
Immediately, I pulled my sword out, enlarged it, and blocked the small piece of harmless sword Qi that attacked the back of my head.
"Ow!" several voices called out simultaneously.
"Senior Salamander! Why?" Drunken Edge said.
Beside me, Little Spring hissed as the bit of sword Qi touched his wrist. From experience, I knew it would feel like someone flicked it and would be more shocking than harmful.
"That's one contribution point from everyone participating, except Senior Lin."
"I call bullshit!" Mad Tongue put his foot on the side of the boat as if he was trying to look cool.
I sent him a warning glare. If he attempted to throw me under, even though I'd blocked the attack, I'd teach him a goddamn lesson he'd never forget.
He must have felt my gaze because he glanced my way, then cleared his throat. "What I mean is that you can't start immediately after saying you're going to start. That's stupid and not fair to the rest of us. So, I think you should let us have this round as a test before you start taking away our points."
The teen grinned widely.
Sword Master Salamander put his hands together in front of his face and looked at Daoist Clear Eye Mad Tongue in concern. "Are you trying to tell me that you're running low on contribution points?"
"Of course not! I'm just thinking of my poor juniors."
He was totally running low on contribution points.
After another blade of sword Qi flicked him, Mad Tongue yelped and grabbed his ass.
"Sword Master!" A look of betrayal crossed his face.
"And that's your second point."
"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to say this. Attacking me while we're having a conversation is — ow!" He slapped his shoulder and bit his lip.
I blocked another blade aimed at my hip. A few others yelped again.
"Sword Master! Senior Clear Eyes Mad Tongue has a point," The brave little Daoist, Drunken Edge, spoke up. "We weren't ready! Please don't take away our contribution points."
Salamander sent a glare at Mad Tongue and then said, "Quiet all of you, and consider this — if we had been attacked just now by a sufficiently skilled enemy, you would all be injured or dead."
That sobered up the lot of them.
"Next time you go out on a mission, spread out your awareness and never believe yourself to be completely safe. Even if I'm here protecting you all, you'll still have to protect yourself first."
Incapacitating Wind spoke up, "I'd like to take part in this training, Sword Master!"
After she requested it, a few more alchemists followed her lead.
Salamander grinned widely at the amount of suckers — er, students — he'd conned into this game.
The newcomers and Little Spring all hissed in surprise.
"And that's another contribution point!"
The alchemists took it in stride. A few of them even laughed as they gladly paid. It probably helped that their job made earning points fairly easy.
I grinned at Little Spring, who was rubbing his wrist. "You regret it now?"
His eyes glittered. "How did Sword Master Salamander attack us from all these different directions?"
This looked like a good teaching moment. "There is a reason he's called a Sword Master. At a certain level of comprehension, the 'Any Blade is My Sword' mindset turns into 'Any Object is My Sword.' Since this entire ship is being flown using his energy, it has become his weapon."
I let that sink in, and he asked, "But that's not all, right?"
"He's also using the Sword Qi Controlling Technique. This allows a sword cultivator to bend the direction of a slash or more of Sword Qi however they will it. Combine that with the Any Object is My Sword mindset and accomplishing this is very easy."
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Why haven't I seen you do something like this?"
With a glare, I flicked his glabella.
He rubbed it as I explained. "How old do you think I am, and what level do you think my cultivation is at?"
"Peak of Qi Condensation, and I don't know exactly how old you are."
I glared and sent him a telepathic message, ::My body is ten while my soul that holds my memories of my past life is over a thousand. Now, how old am I?::
::A thousand and ten years old?::
Was this kid trying to get kicked? ::Ten. When someone asks how old I am, you say ten.::
::Yes, Sister Lin! But that doesn't answer my question.::
I sighed. "Regardless of whether or not I can comprehend it, something like this takes dense energy to pull off. At peak of Qi Condensation, our Qi is just starting to accumulate significantly and is still in its basic form."
"For all the different cultivation types, Foundation Establishment is marked by a significant increase in the overall quality and a slight narrowing of the direction of your spiritual energy. Also, if a cultivator hasn't developed their Divine sense earlier, they'll finally develop it directly after their tribulation.
"There is a reason it's a separate realm, one that only the most talented cultivator can punch up to. For the average cultivator, a mere disciple in Qi Condensation can't touch a single hair on someone in Foundation Establishment. So, to answer your question, there is no way I could do what he's doing at my current cultivation level."
Several of the other lower realmed kids focused their eyes my way.
Little Spring nodded with his eyes sparkling. "If Foundation Establishment is so much better than Qi Condensation, then what makes Golden Core even stronger?"
Now the Foundation Establishment disciples were listening in, and I had a feeling Salamander was too, even as he turned the boat and increased our speed.
"The mark of a Golden Core — for all the different cultivation styles — is not only a significant change in the quality of energy, but it's also when a cultivator begins to unconsciously touch on the truths of reality. It's why a Golden Core Cultivator can use their divine sense beyond merely perceiving things and create stepping platforms in mid-air."
As someone who'd once been in the Immortal Ascension stage, I once used my divine sense to subtly influence the minds of my body's mortal parents. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to do even that if it put a lot of strain on my body.
Frankly, if I used my divine sense to create platforms like a Golden Core, I might go back to my unstable state.
Seniors tended to keep information about higher realms a secret from the younger generations.
As far as I could tell, it was like this in most Xianxia. How else to explain why the authors never thoroughly showed us their exciting new abilities until the protagonist was just about to become one?
Okay, that might just be part of good writing. Whatever.
Well, I bet most of these kids already knew what I spoke about.
But Little Spring didn't.
He'd only been cultivating for a just over a year now and talking about the next realms hadn't exactly been a high priority for me. The fact that this freakish kid had made it to the peak of Qi Condensation within a year of cultivating didn't help. Frankly, his speed was ridiculous, even considering my kick-ass cultivation method.
Of course, it helped that I threw spirit stones at problems when I could.
Need a specific ingredient? Lacking natural spiritual energy in your environment? Just use money. It's super effective.
I sent a smile towards my old mentor "Actually, Our Sword Master here likely has so much control over his divine sense that he can use it to climb far into the air to attack massive spiritual beasts or tricky opponents who use the terrain to hide. He's impressive even for a Golden Core!"
The tips of his ears turned red.
As I laughed, I moved my sword to the side to block another random attack from Salamander. A few of the other kids yelped and glared at the Senior.
He cleared his throat. "While learning and training are useful. Remember that we're on a mission here. And always be aware of your surroundings."
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (6?)
By the time Little Spring had lost a full twenty contribution points through the assassin game half a day later, we neared our destination, Verdant Hidden Cavern City.
Since this was a new location and the terrain was fairly unique, the kid leaned over the edge of the boat to stare down at the curved roofs below.
This city was halfway up a mountain range near cliffs with a scatter of caves. Probably where the area acquired its name. The other part came from the lush environment that engulfed the buildings in the form of old trees and tall summer grasses that would camouflage the place for those mortals not seeing it from above.
An adjacent river cut its way through the terrain, leaving a few waterfalls in its path.
[insert image]
Little Spring pointed to the massive cemetery that gave the city's location away. Especially since there was a lot of traffic going that direction. Far more than usual, considering the situation.
"Do you think the plague is as bad as we thought?" He asked, brows scrunched.
I counted the fresh graves and frowned. That was a shockingly high number of funerals for a city of 250,000.
Frankly, this was one of the things I hated about living in a Xianxia universe. Too many goddamn pointless deaths. I especially despised the ones that only existed to make the protagonist look grotesquely badass.
It was one thing to read about it. Living it was a whole other matter.
Seriously, fuck the original author.
"No, I think it's even worse than that."
He turned to me. "Sister Lin, I know you have a cure, but will we really be okay?"
"Even immortals can die."
"That wasn't very comforting."
"It wasn't meant to be. It was supposed to remind you to always be careful."
He scowled. "If even immortals can die, then why call them immortal?"
I rolled my eyes. This kid was so together that sometimes I forgot that he could act like a real almost nine-year-old. "Because they've defeated time. It can't kill them."
The kid paused for a moment before saying, "Sister Lin, do you ever wonder what the point of cultivating to immortality even is if you can still die after you've ascended?"
I flicked his glabella. "Even if you're not cultivating to live forever, you're at least doing it to become strong so you can protect your family... which is me."
I thought the kid might say something smart again but he just nodded his agreement like he'd decided to do that long ago. I smoothed his hair. This older sister wasn't raising him for nothing.
"Pay attention, but don't worry too much. We'll be in and out of here quickly."
"I'll try not to."
***
Salamander flew the ship directly to the front of a palace that included most of the city's government buildings.
Several clean mortal maids rushed out to greet us and bowed deeply.
"The City Lord's mansion welcomes the immortals from Indomitable Will Sect!"
I could sense that the City Lord was a peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator — a significant level of cultivation for this area.
Honestly, it surprised me that the plague made it all the way to an insignificant little city like this. And knowing how that happened could help me optimize the cure later.
A young-looking man, who I assumed was the City Lord, walked up to us, followed by three old cultivators at the peak of Qi Condensation. All four bowed.
"City Lord Long Jiayi greets the Immortals from Indomitable Will Sect!"
Having no patience for participating in a boring greeting — and not wanting to bring attention to myself in case a stray demonic cultivator targeted me — I stayed in the middle of the group beside Little Spring.
Of course, then Clear Eyes Mad Tongue went and said, "City Lord, you know, if you ignore all the people dying, your city is rather quaint."
There was a long moment of awkward silence as it registered to everyone what the teen had just said.
Someone coughed.
The City Lord tried really hard to keep smiling at us.
Salamander sent Clear Eyes Mad Tongue a glare.
"What?"
Okay, I was pretty sure I knew why I had never seen this guy anywhere in the sect during my last life.
To be fair, he wasn't wrong.
This place did have some beautiful architecture. But, compared to the sect, it was super Podunk. The constant stream of dead didn't help.
Not bothering to get the teen to apologize, Salamander continued with the niceties as if Clear Eyes had said nothing.
Frankly, he was lucky that the City Lord was desperate for help, or we'd probably have a pointless squabble on our hands. I'd also bet my sword that we wouldn't leave this place without watching him start a fight at least once.
After the boring part of the conversation had been going for a while, I mentally poked my friend and sent him a telepathic message.
He finally asked the question I had, "Have you discovered how the plague came to your city yet?"
City Lord Long Jiayi grimaced, "Ah, I'm afraid we're still unsure about that. While my Verdant Hidden Cavern City might be 'quaint', it has decent commerce. There is constant traffic coming in and out of here due to the iron mines and the spiritual rice fields, so it's impossible to determine exactly how the plague came here."
He said that, but he definitely suspected a merchant brought it over.
Well, that was the most likely source, unless it hitched a ride with some traveling immortal.
::We'll need access to volunteers soon.::
::I'll inform him, Senior Lin.::
"Do you already have patients available who are willing to test out a possible cure?"
"Of course. Their families brought them to the palace clinic. Head Physician Xiang You will support you."
"And speaking of support, are we the only ones coming here to provide aid?"
The City Lord cleared his throat, "Our local Alchemists' Guild contacted their headquarters. They will be sending a few people over, but they'll only arrive in a few days to a week."
Wait, does a city of this size even have a guild?
I sent out a pulse of divine sense to check. Ah, there it was. It had a tiny hall. The highest level member was only a Foundation Establishment medicinal Qi cultivator.
Well, for a city that was 98% mortal, it had some adequate facilities for cultivators. Judging from the forest that practically engulfed the city, there would be many excellent locations for digging up basic spiritual herbs.
This area would be a decent training spot to bring low-level alchemists… Or a certain protagonist.
"The citizens of my city, and I thank you for your help. I've already had the best guest courtyards prepared for you. Please follow my maid, Hu Xiaofan."
A woman who looked to be in her late thirties stepped up.
"This one greets the immortals from the Indomitable Will Sect," she said while bowing.
"Lead the way," Salamander said gently. Then she brought us outside and past the various beautifully crafted government buildings. Seriously, these were built using no nails, and instead had intricate joints that only a superb (for a mortal) craftsman could make. They were mundane pieces of artwork that could stand for over a thousand years as long as a fire didn't burn them down.
Frankly, it was things like this that helped keep me grounded to reality. They reminded me that mortals couldn't be dismissed or taken lightly, even if they lived a tiny fraction of my lifetime.
At least Little Spring seemed to be excited about this new experience. While he controlled himself, he still secretly took peeks at our surroundings.
When we reached the front of a large courtyard, a young sickly looking boy ran up to the maid. Her face paled. "Little Huan! Are you alright?"
The child scowled. "I've been fine since the doctor said I was better."
Hu Xiaofan, nervously looked at us. "This isn't a good time. The Immortals are here to help us with the Vine Plague."
The youth came to a stop in front of us and stared. His eyes sparkled like he was seeing his favorite celebrity. Then, as if an afterthought, he bowed deeply and said, "Hu Huan greets the immortals!"
Well the cultivators from the Indomitable Will Sect looked badass, myself included.
"I apologize. My son has been rambunctious ever since his condition improved."
The eyes of Elegant Sky Tamer, one of the alchemists near me, gleamed. She asked, "Did he get better from the plague?
"Oh no! He was sick even before that. It's just… we've seen what it's like to have our good health taken from us, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me or any of the maids here. Even my son will help in whatever way he can."
The kid nodded vigorously.
I grinned at the little Hu Huan. "We'll let you know if we do."
His face lit up just from me talking to him. To be honest, it warmed the heart.
She awkwardly handed Salamander several keys to three nearby courtyards and left with her child.
I picked the courtyard in the middle with the red doors in front and a moon gate in the back. Neither it nor the other two buildings had defensive formations. I'd have to add those myself.
Before everyone settled in, I gathered them together and addressed the alchemists. "I'll be working on the basic cure here. While I'm doing that, I need each of you to go out and gather information."
"What do you need to know, Senior Lin?" Incapacitating Wind asked. As one of the Foundation Establishment level alchemists, I'd be relying on her. It was good to see her take initiative.
I grinned. "Start with checking their plague prevention methods. I need to know if they're burying or burning the bodies. I need to know if the graveyard is contaminating their ground water. I need to know of any suspicious activity. If you can, find out how this plague is spread!"
"Yes, Senior Lin!"
"Isn't there anything we can do to help you with the concoction?"
"If I need any help, then my junior brother will take care of it. We have the same alchemy method."
Incapacitating Wind then looked like she realized something… probably that I was Immortal Zhenren's disciple. Which meant that mine was the same as my masters — a method that no one else had understood until I came along... and also the fucking reason I had to give in and bring the brat along.
"Before you go, know that I'll be setting up a few large formations for our protection. While I'm sure the City Lord will do everything in his power to make sure we're safe — we need to protect ourselves."
"Yes, Senior Lin!"
"Y-you've learned formations?" Drunken Edge asked.
I puffed up my chest the way a proud 10-year-old would. "I have! And I'm very competent at them. If any of you doubt me, you're welcome to check my work… when you get back."
"Yes, Senior!"
Muahahaha. Some of their faces looked like they really doubted me. These little juniors were cute.
Incapacitating Wind delegated my requests out to those who could best accomplish it. Then my friend assigned Sword Cultivators to each small group.
Finally, the crowd dispersed, leaving me with Little Spring, Salamander, and Mad Tongue.
The last one on that list said, "You know, I get that you're our great martial aunt and all, but you can't be good at both formations and alchemy at your age."
Once again, he wasn't wrong. I would doubt the competency of a ten-year-old too. But there were exceptions for everything.
"As much as I admire you, Senior Lin..." This rambunctious brat didn't admire me at all. "I don't think you'll be able to set up these formations. They need a ton of mind-boggling calculations and expensive flags. I mean, do you even have flags?"
From my spatial ring, I dropped a bucket filled with them right at his feet with a loud clatter. "What do you think?"
His eyes widened. "Wait! How do you have so many?"
"This is only for our one courtyard. I have a whole two other buckets prepared for the others."
It wasn't like I had specifically assembled the three sets... I just happened to have worked on a bunch of flags recently that I'd been planning to sell. And as the senior, protecting my juniors in any way I could was the least of my responsibilities.
Clear eyes crossed his arms. "Just because you have a stupid amount of flags doesn't mean you can actually use them."
Not bothering to answer him, I jumped onto the roof and turned to Little Spring. "Set up my alchemy equipment in the courtyard and start prepping three sets of ingredients."
"I'll make sure the area is spotless for you!" He started running.
I grinned. Maybe it wasn't a terrible decision to bring him with me, after all.
After surveying the courtyard, I made some quick calculations. Then I threw out flag after flag.
This process didn't go as fast as a certain teacher protagonist's I'd once read about, but a method similar to his wouldn't be impossible for me as long as I reached a high enough realm. Until then, this would have to do.
Still, this didn't take too much time. The main issue was the several layered formations. One defensive, one obfuscation and one environmental to keep the air at a reasonable temperature. It also forced the area to have the perfect humidity to maximize alchemy results.
These alchemists were risking their lives by just being here, so I did what I could to make them comfortable and their work easier.
While I was at it, and because I had the extra flags, I also set up a few small trap formations I could activate during an emergency.