Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (13?)
"And this will be a real cure."
Her eyes wavered. "He's healthy. It's just that it's taking time for his body to recover fully."
"Your son's disease is a wasting affliction. It's one that accumulates impurities in his five organs and six bowels. Also—"
"There isn't anything about his condition that I don't know."
I ignored her interruption but skipped over the rest of the symptoms since she already knew. "A few years back, a physician in Golden Core was generous enough to take a look at him due to her friendship with the city lord. She wasn't able to find a solution to his illness. Also, she didn't believe that he would live much longer."
"This wouldn't be the first time a physician has been mistaken."
"For his wasting affliction to be this incurable, then the impurities that gather inside him accumulate and harden incredibly fast." I held up a finger with a grin. "Luckily for you, I happen to be the one person on this continent who knows the cure for this disease."
It helped that an alchemist in my past life developed a treatment for this disease. It wasn't difficult or expensive to make either, it was just that nobody had bothered to research it before that person.
Unfortunately, by her hardened jaw and firm expression, I doubted that she believed me.
"Right now, the demonic cultivator you're working with is keeping him alive. If I had to guess, they come by often to infuse a small fraction of the life energy they've gathered into your son... Energy from plague victims."
The maid didn't even flinch at the horror of my statement.
"Do you realize the kind of karma you're building by helping him, then benefiting off hundreds of thousands of deaths? How that karma will affect you and your son's future?"
This was a universe where specialized Immortal Ascension cultivators could even create techniques based on karma, so I wasn't merely using her superstitions against her.
She swallowed. "You don't understand! My son is going to become a great man. His dream is to become a successful official. He'll earn merits and buy us a home where we can live comfortably." She glared at us as if, just by existing, we were taking her future away.
I could figure out where she was coming from. I could. Barely. But I couldn't agree with her. "If you give up the demonic cultivator's location, he'll live a long mortal life. I'll make sure of it..."
Her lips thinned as if she'd zipped them shut.
Fuck. I was never good at convincing strangers like this.
It would be so easy to just pressure her mind a bit with my divine sense. I could get her to talk so much easier.
Unfortunately, demonic cultivators often left nasty traps in the minds of their subordinates. These would either give a backlash to any cultivator that tried to influence their people, or it would straight up kill them.
Just before I could try a different tactic, Little Spring stepped up beside me and clutched my sleeve. He looked Hu Xiaofan right in her eyes. "Do you honestly think that someone who created a plague will keep your child alive once they're done with this city?"
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "H-he said he'd teach me, so I can treat him myself." She smacked her mouth.
Goddamn it! This kid's protagonist halo was too strong. He said one thing and got her to spill her secret. Whatever.
At least he was on my side.
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue scoffed. "And you believed someone who murdered thousands?"
"I didn't know that at the time!"
Little Spring stared up at her with his big eyes. "How did you even meet him?"
He must have reminded her of her own son, because her face softened. Then she grimaced. "I noticed Old Man Tan wandering around the city. He looked like a poor grandfather who'd lost everything because of the plague. His face appeared so kind. Like someone who often fell for those antique vase scams."
Basically, he looked like someone who would fall for one of those Nigerian Prince scams from my past-past life. Unfortunately, he was the real con-artist.
"I was lonely. It has been a long time since my husband passed. So, I brought him to the kitchens, gave him a meal and talked with him."
She bit her lip, then continued as if desperate to explain her actions. "When he noticed my sick son, he told me that he could cure him... And, in exchange, all I had to do was take some seeds that looked like rice grains and add them to various mundane and spiritual rice supplies throughout the city. It would be easy since, as a maid for the city lord, I often went to different locations to gather ingredients."
"I didn't know at first, but eventually, I figured it out. I confronted him, but..."
"You stayed silent, so your son would keep living, even at the cost of everyone in this city," I said flatly.
She looked down at me. "You say it like that, but I had no choice."
I really wanted to roll my eyes here. Because of course she didn't have a choice. She was a weak mortal facing a cultivator. But I doubted that she felt much remorse for the consequences of her actions.
Or she thought that, since it was already done, she couldn't undo it unless she preferred to lose her life.
I also couldn't forget that she directly fucking benefited from the lives of the plague victims.
This Hu Xiaofan had been desperate, with no bottom moral line.
She made the perfect target to become the disciple of one of those evil assholes.
Demonic cultivators always had a reason.
"If I give Old Man Tan up... How would you cure my little Hu Huan?"
"It will be a fairly short process. I'd start with a combination of acupuncture and a very special tonic that can help unblock his meridians and purify his five organs and six bowels. This first step will allow you to see your son look healthy again instead of just appearing active. Then I'll prepare a medicine to cure the underlying disease, but that's the easy part."
She looked at me skeptically.
"If my sister says she can cure him, then she can do it!"
"I call her Best-Alchemist-Under-The-Heavens Lin for a reason," Clear Eyes spoke up. "She created a cure within hours of seeing the plague."
I wasn't surprised that Little Spring vouched for me, but I was a bit surprised to see the teen do so.
Maybe that long ass name was growing on me.
"Fine. I'll tell you." The maid's lips thinned then, as if she was walking towards her death. "He could be in my rooms. Or there is this street where he often goes to beg for food." More like where he gets the homeless population to help spread his plague. "There is also a nearby cave to the west that he once brought me to."
Salamander crossed his arms. "Are those the only locations you've seen him?"
She looked thoughtful for a second, then hesitantly said, "I doubt he'll be there but, at one point, he was living in an abandoned shack right outside the city."
She let out a cry and clutched her head. Suddenly, her knees gave out from under her. Just barely, I managed to catch her arm and help her lay down.
She gritted her teeth."W-what's going on?"
I pressed my hand to her forehead. It burned. I didn't even need my divine sense to tell that Old Man Tan had cast a curse on her. One that would kill her if she betrayed him.
It was similar to the spell I had on Ghosty, but using the type of energy the demonic cultivator used as opposed to spiritual energy.
I grimaced. "You're dying from a curse."
Little Spring crouched down beside the woman and took her hand. He bit his lip and looked up at me with worried eyes. "Sister Lin, can't you stop it?"
"Not in my current realm."
I glanced at Salamander. He shook his head in denial as well.
"There is nothing we can do."
She glared at me in desperation. "M-my Hu Huan? Tell me he'll be okay!"
"Even if you're not here, I'll keep my end of our deal. I'll make sure your son is cured and is able to live a long mortal-length life." I'd already promised, and I didn't believe in bullshit like making children accountable for the mistakes of their parents. Unfortunately, this universe wasn't always so forgiving.
But fuck it.
Cultivators went against the heavens. And while kids could grow up to be assholes, they also had the chance to become someone half decent.
As Maid Hu Xiaofan let out her last breath, Little Spring blinked back tears.
He let go of her hand and stood up. His face did not look good.
Had this situation reminded him of his own mother, who had passed away almost two years ago?
Fuck. Traumatizing shit like this made me want to leave him in the sect. At least until he grew up more.
Making a hand gesture, I used the cleaning technique on the lot of us.
Sword Master Salamander coughed.
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue jumped and looked at me with exasperation.
Even Little Spring had been shocked so badly that his eyes stopped becoming watery.
"Was that really necessary, Best-Alchemist-Under-The-Heavens Lin?"
"Yes. Absolutely. She was in contact with the creator of this plague. There is no telling what's on her body."
A few horrified maids ran over to us, asking for explanations.
Then Hu Xiaofan's son came running up to his fallen mother.
As soon as Hu Huan reached her, he collapsed. Tears ran down his cheeks.
Little Spring pulled him aside and started talking with him.
Well, maybe seeing someone experience the same thing he had and being able to help them was possibly cathartic for my little martial brother.
That would be better than the alternative.
From my space, I grabbed a cup filled with water from Fairy Lake, and handed it to Hu Huan to drink while he talked with Little Spring. Honestly, there was no safer way to clean out a system than spiritual spring water.
He wasn't going to die immediately, but I didn't want to forget about him or the promise I made. If I left to deal with the cultivator, I might come back to find the child dead.
Besides, this poor kid needed to be healthy to prepare for what was to come.
While Little Spring distracted him, I stealthily stuck a few spiritual spring soaked acupuncture needles into acupoints that would affect his worst blockages.
Hu Huan didn't even notice that he'd turned into a porcupine while my brother controlled his expression perfectly.
If I didn't see Little Spring stiffen a bit, I would have thought that he hadn't noticed.
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue looked both fascinated and horrified.
What? We didn't have a lot of time. And I needed to treat this child.
How could we ask little Hu Huan to go through the stages of grief if he was too sick to stand?
While I let my needles and the water do the work, I turned to Sword Master Salamander. "Do you have confidence of being able to find this... let's call him Demon Thorny Devil Vine."
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue managed to comment, "Is Old Man Tan too tame of a name for him?"
I shot him a warning look.
"Considering that the curse only took effect when she mentioned that last location, I suspect that he's currently at that abandoned shack." The Sword Master looked grim.
"And he'll be waiting for us." I stuck one more needle into the child's leg.
"No, just me." Salamander said, then he rested his hand on Mad Tongue's shoulder. "I can't risk bringing you into a fight against an enemy we know nothing about, so I'll have to leave Clear Eyes Mad Tongue here to protect you. Please stay in the city, Little Senior Lin, so I know you and Little Spring are safe."
At the thought of having our only Golden Core cultivator going that far away and being there all by himself, I grimaced. "You're right, there is no telling how strong he is. But you shouldn't go over there without backup."
He smiled. "Then it's a good thing you already informed Peak Elder Grass Sprout about this incident. She's on her way."
"On her way or not, I expect you to run if he's Nascent Soul or above."
"From what we've learned so far, I doubt that he's at Nascent Soul. At least for now. Not if he's going around pretending to be a beggar and a refugee."
I briefly recalled the last nearly homeless looking Nascent Soul rogue cultivator I'd seen, Daoist Black Jade, who was still in closed cultivation. The guy had looked like he'd been traveling for well over a year and hadn't had a lot of chances to take care of himself.
"You really expect too much of Nascent Soul Cultivators." I tilted my chin up and practically commanded. "I want you to be careful. That means that you better come back here alive and intact enough that a healing pill will get you up to one hundred percent."
The corners of his eyes crinkled, and he smiled. "Yes, Fairy Lin!"
Then he turned to Clear Eyes Mad Tongue. "Make sure Senior Lin and Little Spring are safe while I'm gone."
"I'll take care of them, whether you say something or not."
"And stop…" He trailed off. Knowing him, he likely wanted to tell Mad Tongue to stop saying shit that might get him killed. Of course, then he must have realized it was pointless because he sighed. "I'm off."
Then my old friend pulled out a sword and flew away.
Honestly, I was more nervous than I was letting on.
This whole situation hadn't happened in my last life.
My friend had probably come here with some alchemists and found nothing. Thorny Devil Vine had likely gotten away with his plan for as long as the plague lasted... then he either left to go do something else just as heinous or had been killed randomly.
But I'd never know for sure.
The most frustrating thing about time travel was that, despite knowing a significant amount of what happened in the past, there were even more pieces that I couldn't discover or hadn't understood.
Fuck. I just hoped I didn't just get my friend killed before his time.
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (Part 14)
Since it had been a few minutes, I sent my divine sense into Hu Huan.
His organs and meridian blockages had already started the clearing process. There were a few areas where small bits of leftover toxins were sticking. This was worse than I originally suspected, but it wasn't that bad.
The acupuncture had done its work, so I pulled out the needles.
To clear up his condition, I took back his cup of spring water, refilled it and added a shaving from a mild cleansing pill that could work for mortals.
It did have side effects. But I was sure those would be helpful.
Little Spring continued to chat at Hu Huan about what the mortal would have to do as the new head of his household. The poor kid blankly sipped on the drugged water with my forceful encouragement.
Once he'd finished the cup, I interrupted. "Hu Huan."
He jumped and turned to face me. "Before your mother died, she made a deal with me to treat your disease."
He blinked. "H-haven't I already been cured?"
"You were being kept alive through force and had your pain receptors blocked. You were still on the verge of death. That's why you barely looked any better."
His mouth opened, but then his eyes turned to where a group of cultivators I'd seen work under the city lord were respectfully retrieving his mother's corpse. The maids must have called for them earlier because they'd arrived within minutes of her death.
I put a hand on his shoulder. "Your mother wanted you to live a long life and become a government official. And as your benefactor, I want you to help many people and not give in to corruption." I added that last part so he would strive to balance out some of the bad karma he'd accumulated by benefiting from the massacre. It would be up to him whether he succeeded or not.
Of course, asking him to do that could backfire, but I was willing to make the bet. The author may have made a Xianxia universe filled with assholes and immoral shits, but there were still a few decent individuals that helped make living here not a complete hell.
"I've finished your initial treatment so you'll begin to feel healthy soon."
He blinked, his eyes unfocused. Poor child was probably still in the denial stage of grief.
I cleared my throat. This next part might be hard on him. "Sometime in the next few minutes, you'll experience a pain in your stomach and the call of nature."
His eyes grew wide, and he clutched his abdomen.
"This is normal... The next hour is going to be very uncomfortable for you, but once you've excreted all the toxins, you'll feel better than you have in your entire life."
I had a feeling that this was about to kick start his anger stage of grief.
"Ah!" He pointed in a direction and ran off. Probably to go find a restroom somewhere.
Little Spring scowled at me. "Couldn't that have waited?"
"The kid had foreign energy infesting his system, barely keeping him alive."
"You could have done the treatment later," Clear Eyes pointed out.
I narrowed my eyes at the teen. "Look, if I didn't flush out those energies along with the impurities from his disease, then Demon Thorny Devil Vine may have used them to kill little Hu Huan before I could fulfill my promise. You think I'd let that happen?"
Both Little Spring and Clear Eyes Mad Tongue looked thoughtful.
Even if the things I did seemed strange or eccentric, they always had a reason.
I crossed my arms and grinned evilly. "Besides, sometimes, when you're grieving, you need a distraction. And nothing distracts a person more than explosive diarrhea."
Vaguely horrified expressions appeared on both of their faces.
The kid tugged at my sleeve. "Sister Lin, please never give me explosive diarrhea."
Mad Tongue looked pained. "If you ever feel the urge to help me in my time of need, please do not."
I scowled. "I didn't purposefully give... It's a side effect! A side effect!"
Little Spring did not look reassured at all, but he still changed the topic. "While we have the chance, shouldn't we go back and make more of those trick—"
The whole yard suddenly rumbled, cutting the kid off. A few of the gathered maids screamed and crouched low or clung to wood columns. One of them accidentally sent the basket of laundry flying into a mud puddle.
From the dirt ground of the courtyard, a line of thorny, glowing pink vines grew up like some kind of eldritch… bush? Hedge maze?
It only came up to my waist before it stopped growing, so it wasn't all that impressive.
Still, what the fuck was this?
I sent out my divine sense, stretching it out as far as I could go without breaking the seal on my soul's appearance.
The lines of bushes ran through the entire city in a familiar pattern.
In a dozen areas, massive pink wyverns used their braided wings to pull themselves from beneath the ground. Each was at least twice the height of the one we fought earlier.
A large swarm of demonic vine tumbleweeds rolled from each of the holes the wyverns made. They rampaged through the streets, knocking over citizens and smashing into cabbage stalls.
There were way more of these vine entities than we'd thought.
This could only mean that our enemy was already in the Nascent Soul realm.
And Salamander was off fighting that hyperintelligent vine fucker!
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to worry about him. I had to believe that Elder Grass Sprout could reach him before his situation became too dangerous.
Because, being the formation master I was, I knew that this whole fucked city was in a massive slaughter formation.
And this palace was right in its center.
The only good news was that a demonic-type array of this size and level would take around 25 minutes to become fully lethal. Then everyone would die.
There wasn't a lot of time.
But it would be enough to get to and destroy the Life gate and Death gate flags.
We just needed to reach them before the demonic formation fully activated. Well, this city didn't have a flying ban. So... I pulled out my flying sword spiritual tool and attempted to activate it. It refused to even hover a foot off the ground.
It just figured that whoever set this situation up would add a fucking flight ban to their goddamn city wide trap.
I sent a telepathic message to everyone, ::Stay calm. Our situation seems bad, but it's not the worst. The city is in the middle of a slaughter formation activated by Demon Thorny Devil Vine. We've uncovered his involvement in disseminating the plague, so he must have decided to cut his losses. He's going to use this formation to steal all the life energy from the city.::
Frankly, using an energy-expensive array like this wasted a majority of the power he would gain from this city — which was probably why it was his last resort.
Fairy Swift Dove's calm voice entered my mind, ::Senior Lin! Should we help the alchemists retreat?::
::We are not going to leave all these people to fend for themselves. Besides, the new flight ban surrounding the city will make it quicker to stop the formation than to escape.::
::But how are we going to destroy it? We didn't bring a formation master with us who's strong enough to dismantle something of this level, right?!:: Drunken Blade sounded stressed.
::Don't you dare underestimate me. I am a formation master of sufficient level and I've already calculated where the Life and Death gates are.:: I hope that information helped steady the others. ::We're splitting into two groups because we have to get to them as fast as possible.::
Speaking of which, I started running in the direction of the Life Gate and motioned for Little Spring and Clear Eyes to follow.
::Fairy Swift Dove, I need you to lead the sword cultivators and alchemists near you to the Death Gate. It's closer to you.::
Mentally, I sent her a map where the Death Gate would be located... right on top of where a vine wyvern perched.
As rapidly as possible, I explained what they could expect fighting it, how to defeat it, and how to get the flag underneath it. ::Also, I need you to wait for my signal. While pulling out the flags at separate times. will still interrupt the formation, the only way to kill it quickly is to pull them both out at the same time.::
::We'll wait until we can't.::
::Good. We're dealing with a highly intelligent demonic cultivator here. Stick together and watch each other's backs.::
::Yes, Senior Lin!::
Ah, it was so nice to work with competent people. No complaining that we should leave the city to fend for itself. I didn't even get a, 'This isn't what I signed up to do.' Just a simple yes and doing their utmost to follow orders.
The Daoist, formerly known as Young Master Zhang, ran around a corner and reached our team. Of course, now he was called Spear that Weaves Through Lightning.
"Senior Lin!" He said with a huge grin on his face as he fell into step beside us. "I'm here to aid this side, so it isn't uneven."
"Good!" I wouldn't look down on any extra help, even if he wasn't as useful as an additional foundation establishment cultivator.
"Also, they sent me with a couple batches of trick pills." He brought out two bottles. I took one and waved the other back to him.
The spear cultivator would need it more.
***
As the fog slowly thickened, I guided us down streets where people raced around like frightened chickens or dashed towards shelter. Fortunately, most of the mortals were already inside somewhere.
A few of the cultivators we passed fought off vine tumbleweeds. Since they looked like they were handling the situation, we conserved our energy.
About halfway to our destination, the ground cracked and rumbled.
We attempted to keep going. Unfortunately, a trash-can-sized cylinder of vines rose from the cracked road a few yards in front of us. Then another couple of pillars beside it followed.
Finally, the last two appeared, creating five digits and the vine palm they were attached to.
Mad Tongue narrowed his eyes at it. "Why a hand?"
"Does it really matter? It's blocking our path."
"Can't we just go around it?" Little Spring asked as he cast a spiritual palm to block the pinky from crushing him.
"The streets on either side of us have massive Vine Wyverns. We can take on this small hand easier."
Spear That Weaves sent a physical slash at the pink index, slicing a good chunk off.
Of course, he then almost got his ass handed to him by a crushing attack from the middle finger next to it. Fortunately, he stopped it with his spear's shaft. The force pushed him back, causing his feet to leave lines on the road.
I grabbed the back of his collar and used a combination of my body cultivation and spiritual-energy-enhanced muscles to drag him away from the entity.
"Fight from a distance!" I said then let him go. I'd have to lecture him on this when we made our way back to the sect.
"I'm trying to conserve energy."
"This isn't the enemy for that."
Spear That Weaves grimaced, then sent a slashing Qi attack toward it.
Another finger attempted to flick Clear Eyes.
Mad Tongue threw blades of sword Qi at it, stopping the attack. Chunks of glowing pink vines flew off the demonic vine entity and turned brown.
Then, as if to prove me wrong when I talked about it being easier than a wyvern, an arm grew out of the ground, lifting the hand high into the air.
It fell toward us like a flyswatter.
We all used our techniques to jump backward by a dozen yards before it could smush us.
The ground shook with its attack, causing cracks to shoot out and break the building foundations around us.
It flicked a finger, sending a vine shooting out toward me. I dodged using Impossible Leap.
Grimacing, I swept my sword in an upward arch. "Thousand Cuts!"
The swarm of tiny blades hit the vine hand. Two-thirds of it burst into debris.
Unfortunately, the fingers quickly regrew, like snakes weaving together. Then they doubled the speed of their attacks, trying to keep us from its weak base.
Spear That Weaves was also having trouble because of his lower cultivation. Despite my earlier warning, he kept using his physical blade to fight them off.
Frankly, this wasn't a great opponent for any of us, except maybe Clear Eyes Mad Tongue.
Wait! Wasn't this a chance?
I tossed Little Spring the pill bottle he'd given me earlier. "Test out one of your trick pills!"
"How?"
Right, I had never taught him about these. "Just toss it at the base of the arm!"
He used a bit of spiritual energy and threw it where I'd directed.
Unfortunately, the demonic vine entity wasn't going to let us kill it that easily. The arm slammed down on the pill, crushing it before it could damage its roots. The pale yellow ball turned into a cloud of gold.
Wherever the pill dust touched, the plant dimmed and shriveled. Unfortunately, new vines wrapped around the dead portions and helped stabilize its form.
The hand lifted into a slapping position while shivering with intensity.
We'd probably angered it. Which made for a great distraction.
Clear Eyes must have seen the opportunity because he ran under it.
Just as the vine arm began to smash down, he plunged his sword into the ground near the plant's base and sent a massive sword Qi stab into its roots right where the weak point was.
The entire arm changed from glowing pink to tinder brown.
The lifeless vines came crashing down on Clear Eyes. He raised his sword. "Hundred Cuts!"
This wasn't like my Hundred Cuts or even my Thousand Cuts. This was a technique cast at the Foundation Establishment level. The sheer amount of energy this took up would have drained me three times over.
It created a massive gap in the vine arm, allowing him to avoid getting crushed.
Mad Tongue jumped out of the hole he'd made with a giant grin on his face. He also had a saw mills' worth of debris resting on his shoulders and piled on top of his head.
I had the urge to use the cleaning technique but I needed to conserve energy. There would be time to sanitize us all later.
After doing some quick calculations, I estimated that we still had around fifteen more minutes before this formation became fully active and killed us all.
Fortunately, we had a clear path toward the Vine Wyvern. Of course, the fog from the slaughter formation made it difficult to see. It even worked against my divine senses to a minor degree.
"Keep going!"
***
Little Sprint and I Consistent Stepped our way down the city's dirt streets followed by Clear Eyes Mad Tongue and Spear That Weaves Through Lightning.
A few small vine tumbleweeds chased a group of mortal civilians down a road that crossed our path. This time, there weren't any helpful cultivators around.
All without slowing down, we took turns sending a slash of Qi at the round weeds. The pink balls shattered into debris right before they could attack a girl that was having trouble keeping up.
The group waved their thanks, but we were already far past them.
***
We were only a few hundred yards from our target, the Life Gate when we reached a long stretch of empty road.
I sped up.
That was when a crowd of several dozen burst from the buildings that lined the street and blocked our path.
I was honestly just going to sidestep them all and keep going... but I slowed to a stop.
Because these people had glowing pink vines wrapped around each of their limbs and horrible expressions on their faces.
They shuffled toward us on stiff legs controlled by demonic vines.
Moans of pain escaped from several of them, echoing through the once quiet streets.
The only thing this situation needed was one of them saying, 'brains,' while holding their arms out.
Wait a second! Earlier today, hadn't I compared this demonic disease to the black plague if a zombie virus caused it?
When did I take over Clear Eye's job as the damn crow's mouth of the group?
And why did Demon Thorny Devil Vine bother making motherfucking Vine Zombies?!
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (15?)
More of the infected moaned in pain. At this point, I was certain that all of these people were still alive!
Spear That Weaves took out his bottle of trick pills and flicked a few of them at the edge of the continuously growing zombie horde.
The pills crashed into the infected, exploded into clouds of gold, and surrounded the bodies.
The pink vines that wrapped around limp limbs darkened and shriveled.
They became unconscious and collapsed to the ground. Their zombie buddies stepped over them to keep coming at us.
Wait. The amount of people kept increasing, pouring out of buildings and side alleys. The demonic cultivator must be desperate for more energy and was trying to use them as a distraction to prevent us from getting to the Life Gate.
"Seniors! We can't waste time here." Spear That Weaves said. "I can handle these with the trick pills and my weapon. Please go on ahead!"
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue nodded and jumped onto the plastered stone wall that separated a line of houses from the street. To keep moving, he ran forward while kicking away any of the vine-covered hands that attempted to grab his feet.
Little Spring followed after him.
I briefly squeezed Spear That Weaves' shoulder. "Don't get overrun. Retreat is always an option."
"Yes, Senior Lin!" He threw another pill at the horde and I handed him back the bottle he gave me. He needed it more than I would. And in the worst-case scenario, Little Spring still had his.
As I jumped onto the top of the wall and started running, I called back, "Also, don't die!"
He looked exasperated. "Don't curse me!"
He'd be fine. Probably.
Okay, I couldn't help but worry about him, since he was only a few years older than my current body. Still, we didn't have time to deal with these vine zombies. But we also couldn't let them attack us from the back while we dealt with the monster guarding the gate.
They didn't have any cultivation. If he wasn't able to take them down, then I would doubt the vision of my sect's most honored Spear Grandmaster.
Using an Impossible Leap, I quickly caught up to Clear Eyes and Little Spring.
The fog had thickened to where we could only see twenty feet in front of us.
We came to a large intersection. A massive Vine Wyvern, four times the size of the first one, stretched its wings threateningly.
As it moved, the sound of a hundred squeaky doors echoed through the intersection. Which was, apparently, what it sounded like when thick vines rubbed against each other.
The eerie glowing pink dots inside its triangle eye sockets focused on us.
If we came any closer, it would definitely start attacking.
And we had to fight this fucker to get at the flag that it stood on top of.
Mad Tongue pulled out his sword, then glanced at us.
He had a half-crazed expression — like he wasn't sure that he could defeat it but was going to try anyway.
"Do you think its size matters?"
I looked him right in his eyes and very seriously said, "Yes. Yes, it does."
If we were in a Manhua version of this universe, then black lines would have darkened his forehead.
I grinned. "Listen up. If you're dealing with giant creatures, they'll have a larger mass. And that means that they'll have more power behind their attacks. However, without an increased realm, they will also move slower to start out. It will take them more time to turn. Use that against them."
Little Spring nodded.
Clear Eyes looked like he had calmed down.
"Come on." I pointed my sword at the entity. "This vine monster isn't going to kill itself, and we only have ten minutes."
"We have to stop this thing in that short amount of time?!"
"That's right. You only have a short amount of time to kill it."
He opened his mouth.
"You can do it!" I encouraged.
"I believe in you!" Little Spring added.
"Hey! Don't act like I'm the only one who's going to fight this giant monster!"
I gestured to myself and my junior brother. "We'll make sure you aren't attacked from the side so you can better strike its weak point."
"We can watch your back too!" the kid said. "It will be a nightmare if those infected people run over here and get in the way of your fight."
"I also need to keep in touch with the other team to make sure they're killing off their vine wyvern, too."
"Their what?"
"I can't simultaneously beat this monster and keep track of the other group of cultivators at my current realm."
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue grimaced. That crazed look started to reappear on his face again.
It must be hard accepting the fact that he was in the main fighting position while his 'seniors' were merely defending his ass from random attacks. But that was reality.
Annoyed with our stalling, the wyvern lowered its head. A line of pink saliva flowed from the not-mouth on its wood-like mask and landed on the ground.
Where the liquid hit, a barrier of thorny vine bushes sprouted. A large defensive wall protecting its weak spot now stood between us and it.
It taunted our group by silently roaring.
"Tch." Mad Tongue grimaced. "I should have attacked it earlier."
And I should talk to his master about renaming him to Daoist Hindsight.
Clear Eyes sent a slash toward the wall. It broke up then, due to the relentless pink saliva, it regrew within moments. Then he started to run towards it.
While spreading out my divine sense, I split my mind into three and simultaneously watched each fight.
***
Spear That Weaves darted in and out of the mass of vine zombies close to where we left him.
He threw pill after pill at the shuffling crowd. The medicinal dust that hit the figures stopped them and caused each body to fall to the road.
The young cultivator was doing very well for being overwhelmingly outnumbered
When a couple of infected came too close, he used his spear to push them back. Then he flicked another two doses from the jade bottle to crash onto their chests.
The zombies collapsed.
The horde stepped over them and continued their push towards the Spear that Weaves.
In the blink of an eye, he took out a dozen more by filling an area with pill dust and having them chase him through it.
Unfortunately, there were just way too many people, and the pills he'd brought weren't enough to get them all.
The infected, whose numbers constantly increased, started to surround him.
A vine-covered hand pulled at his robes.
He kicked the zombie away.
Another attempted to claw at his arm with the sharp pink thorns. He dunked and dodged.
His situation wasn't looking good at all. I was half tempted to go back and help him.
Then, Spear That Weaves tossed the last of his trick pills.
***
In the other team, Incapacitating Wind and the alchemists under her threw trick pills at a crowd of zombies that must have attacked them once they reached their wyvern.
I really should have looked at this team more while we were on our way over. Whatever, they were doing fine.
Also, maybe it was the demonic fog getting in the way of my divine sense, but it seemed like their demonic vine wyvern looked more like a demonic vine duck.
Swift Dove sent a barrage of waterfall-like sword Qi strikes at the monster.
Roots burst up from the cracked road and attempted to attack her from behind.
Drunken Edge jumped between her and those sneak attacks. He fought them off while swerving wildly. Frankly, his movements made me think that he was actually intoxicated.
It was worrying and made me wonder if someone had purposefully taught him the wrong stances.
The one good thing about his movements was that he dodged out of the way just before any tricky root could hit him. He then sliced the roots inches above the ground.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of them. More grew out of different holes and surrounded the man. He had to double his efforts to defend both himself and Swift Dove's back.
Of course, while their vine entity was not as large as ours, that didn't mean that it didn't have its own abilities.
It used its wings to grab a couple of glowing pink tumbleweeds that had been rolling around and threw them at Drunken Edge.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space to dodge both the roots and the vine cannonballs.
Shit!
***
Little Spring and I stood side by side in ready stances while Clear Eyes Mad Tongue darted around the monster using his movement technique.
Every time the teen paused to change directions, he'd throw a beautiful blade of sword Qi at a different part of the wyvern. He was trying to find the places it paid the least attention to so he could use that against it later.
Suddenly, demonic vine roots burst from the ground near us. They shot toward the teen.
I swung my sword in a physical attack, cutting them off at their base mere feet before they could pierce Clear Eyes' back.
Little Spring followed up by stabbing his blade into the ground, where they'd popped up. Then he sent a blast of Qi in to slice the roots further down while collapsing the dirt around them.
This must have pissed the wyvern off because it flapped its wings. Blades of air sliced toward us.
I grabbed a defensive talisman from my spatial ring and used it as a barrier between us and the attack.
Because the talisman wasn't supposed to be used this way, it quickly burnt out. A blast of the remaining wind pushed us back several feet.
That was not supposed to happen. That meant that it was stronger than I'd originally estimated.
How the fuck were we going to kill it in time?
***
Being surrounded and in a bad position didn't mean that Spear That Weaves Through Lightning was out of commission just yet.
He swung his weapon and swept the zombies' legs out from under them.
Of course, most of them just stood up again, but a few ended up in a heap, as if cuddling.
After several more clever attacks, a literal pile of vine zombies started to grow and connect. Their vines braided together like rope and grew stronger.
They'd soon combined enough that a mesh of knocked-out people had turned into a giant snake. There was even a child sticking out of the snake's tail.
What the fuck?!
Fortunately, the fog affected my divine sense enough to blur most of the details or the sheer weirdness of it might have distracted me from the other fights.
Spear That Weaves looked up at the snake and stood in a stance like he was about to take it on.
::It's okay to run if you need to!::
::Senior Lin. I got this!::
Just as the snake of zombies reared its head to attack the young man, he thrust his spear forward. Lightning — well, maybe it was closer to electricity — zigzagged out of his weapon's tip and tasered the shit out of the snake.
Smoke rose from the collapsed mass.
The vines might not burn, but they definitely weren't taser-proof.
Well, fuck. That was an interesting technique! He must have comprehended it when he dodged all those talisman attacks in the finals.
It also explained his full name.
And somehow, the lightning left the people relatively uninjured and only damaged the vines. Of course, since these demonic plants were a mix between a disease and a parasite, I knew that these infected weren't cured just because of a little electricity.
***
To the other team I sent, ::Someone protect Drunken Edge!::
Incapacitating Wind had just finished her fight with a zombie. When she heard my telepathic message she looked toward her fellow sect member to see that his ass was about to get entangled by tumbleweeds.
She didn't hesitate and threw out her weaponized cauldron spiritual tool.
It zipped through the air at the vine cannonballs hurtling toward Drunken edge.
The tool and the glowing pink balls collided at just the right angle that — instead of bursting apart — the evil weeds bounced back to where the duck smugly bobbed its wood-like bill.
One ball smacked its face, causing it to stare at my fellow sect members like it couldn't believe they had the audacity to do that.
Apparently, the vine duck disliked it so much that it waddled its massive body away from the place it was guarding and loomed above the sword cultivators ready to smash them with its wings.
Unfortunately for it, Swift Dove used this opportunity to strike at its weak spot — the base where its roots connected to the main plant.
An icy sword technique burst from her white blade. It both sliced and froze the area around it. The vine duck went from hot pink to cold tundra in a matter of moments.
Yes! They did it. Now they just needed to find the Death Gate.
***
I watched as root after root burst up from the ground, always from different directions. Little Spring and I worked together to chop them up.
Unfortunately, this was getting us nowhere. We didn't have the time anymore since we'd already wasted minutes just trying to keep ourselves and Clear Eyes alive.
Considering the giant wyvern's strength, it looked like I'd have to step in with some big moves. I'd have to cast something at the Foundation Establishment level. Of course, the reason I'd been avoiding that was because of the horrible backlash I'd suffer.
Let's see, lightning seemed to work well against these plants. While it didn't seem to kill them off entirely, it did appear to have a debilitating effect.
That left only one technique I knew of that I could currently cast. The Three Fires Phoenix Energy Technique.
It was something I'd picked up on a whim in my last life and never mastered before outgrowing it.
I turned to the Wyvern, readying myself to run towards it. And that was when I noticed it raising its wings high into the air, all while staring hatefully at Little Spring.
It flapped both wings. Thick air blades shot toward my junior brother. Then they melded together and rotated to make one thick blade that could blow apart several houses.
Since he was focusing on slicing up the attacking roots, he wasn't paying attention to the wyvern. But even if he did, I didn't think he had anything on him that could take care of an attack like that.
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (16?)
I grimly jumped in front of Little Spring, held my sword defensively in one hand while I used the other to pull several talismans from my ring.
Not wasting any time, I forcefully activated them all at once.
The wind blades stopped in front of me. All of my talismans decayed into dust. I barely had time to shove the kid a hair's width out of the way before an actual wing bypassed my defensive stance entirely and rammed into my stomach at full force.
I couldn't breathe.
Thorns pierced my skin. My mind turned white from the shock and pain. I flew backward.
Fuck.
It interrupted my split-mind technique. Fortunately, I had just confirmed that the other team killed their demonic vine duck.
My vision darkened at the edges as my back slammed into a plastered wall ten yards from where I started. The stones cradled my figure. Debris from the plaster pelted my skin and covered my clothes in dust. Several rocks popped out of place.
One hit me on the head as if calling me an idiot for not preparing the protective talisman Fairy Verdant Bamboo had reluctantly given me as backup protection.
Well, fuck you too, wall.
A sourness spread within my chest, and I uncontrollably coughed up three mouthfuls of blood. It left a red stain on my white robes.
My stance had been perfect!
I had used defensive tools.
I'd even relied on my body cultivation to withstand the attack!
Unfortunately, the wing had hit me with too much force. I also hadn't wanted to use the space because I didn't want to risk exposure. The last thing we needed was for some random demonic cultivator to sense my sudden disappearance and start to ask questions.
"Sister Lin!" Little Spring jogged backwards to reach me. To protect both of us, he sent several slashes at the attacking pink vines and tossed out way more trick pills than necessary. The cloud of gold dust created an impassable barrier for the evil plant.
Poor kid was worried, and it was causing him to be wasteful. I'd have to teach him how to be calm in these types of situations later. Hopefully, before I reached Foundation Establishment.
Shit. If that wyvern's attack could injure me this badly, I was going to need better body cultivation to get through my tribulation. Also, armor. Maybe a whole new outfit and style. I missed pants.
But that would be for later
We needed to finish this and collect our supplies from the sect!
Since I needed a second longer to recover, I sent Swift Dove a message.
::Good work killing the vine entity on your end!::
::Senior Lin?!::
::Find the flag but don't pull it yet. It should be at the base of the root system. You may need to dig it out.::
::Yes!::
I took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off my face. It was a test of will to force myself to not waste internal Qi on sanitization.
Little Spring shoved several spirit stones into my hand.
Smart kid. He knew exactly what I needed. I cycled my cultivation, quickly replenishing my spiritual energy by using the stones.
It was time to end this thing.
To do that, I'd need to cast the Three Fires Phoenix Energy technique.
I mentally prepared myself to be out for several days, and went over the medicines I'd have to prepare to fully recover from a massive backlash.
There weren't any other options. We only had four minutes left and Clear Eyes still hadn't killed the demonic wyvern.
If I didn't know what the backlash would do to my body, I'd be a little excited to use a Foundation Establishment level spell again.
I jumped out of the wall and used my movement technique to get closer to its weak point. Fortunately, Mad Tongue had stealthily sliced a path to it, making it easier on me.
Actually, it kind of looked like he was about to —
The teen darted up to the area I was heading and stabbed into the ground before I could get there.
A burst of light shot out from his sword and burrowed into the base of the wyvern's root system. Not only did it carve a small ditch into the very fucked up road, but it also sliced the vine entity in two.
The whole thing split in half, almost like an old cartoon. Then it collapsed into several massive piles of kindling.
D-did this guy just kill it off without me?!
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue looked back at us with a huge smile.
"I did it!"
Well, whatever.
Casting a Foundation Establishment level Technique in Qi Condensation was a recipe for an injured meridian system in old age.
And at this point, we only had a minute left. Shiiiiit!
::Did you find it?:: I asked Swift Dove.
::We found it exactly where you said it was!::
I jumped to where the wyvern collapsed and used two Thousand Cuts to make a hole down into its base. There! Right in the center was the flag for a demonic formation.
Its stick was made from Purple Yin Wood. A leather-like cloth — the origins best not thought about — replaced the normal silk. And, of course, the paint used to mark demonic symbols had been created with the poisoned blood of a hundred people.
Exactly the type of disgusting flag I expected to see.
::Now!::
I kicked it with spiritual energy. It flew up and landed on top of a nearby broken cabbage cart.
All around us, the vine hedges melted back into the ground. The pinkish-gray fog cleared up to show a blue sky.
I could practically hear the cheers coming from the other team. And I did hear a loud whoop from Mad Tongue.
Muahahahaha! We'd done it!
We saved everyone in the city from a massive demonic formation array!
Of course, that didn't mean that all the vine entities that had gone on a rampage through the streets had stopped killing people.
I held out my fist and wiggled it in front of Little Spring.
He held out a pill bottle to me. "Sister Lin. Please take one!"
"One contribution point for not being aware of your surroundings."
The kid looked helplessly exasperated. "You're not even, Senior Salamander."
"One point... or bump my fist."
He started to reach out, then hesitated.
"Bump it!"
He blinked his eyes as if he couldn't believe I was doing this, but then he gently tapped his fist against mine.
Yes!
Of course, then he shoved the pill bottle under my nose.
A familiar medicinal scent?
Was this one of my personal healing pills? I mean, I was injured, but not to the extent that I'd need one of these. Not when something lesser could take care of my wound.
I nudged the bottle away, and the kid pushed it back. Then he gave me a look that told me that he'd help me if I didn't take it now.
Ah, fine. Whatever. I'd have to move to the next prescription in my Lin's Kick Ass Healing Pill Series once I reached higher levels of Foundation Establishment, anyway.
When I put the medicine in my mouth, it vanished and I had to focus on cycling my internal Qi to get the healing energy to the places that needed it. Which was mostly my stomach.
The holes of the thorny vines left in my abdomen had turned my robes red.
I cast the cleaning technique on all three of us, taking care of the blood, dirt, and any possible pathogens. Unfortunately, while it removed the stain, it couldn't mend the holes.
"Eeep!" Clear Eyes Mad Tongue glared at me like I'd slapped his ass. Which I totally didn't understand. Being clean was soothing. Why get offended? "Best-Alchemist-Under-The-Heavens Lin! Was that really necessary?"
"Absolutely."
Little Spring tugged at my sleeve. "Sister Lin, do you think—"
High above us, a doubled over Peak Elder Grass Sprout zipped past as if she'd just been punched in the stomach. Right before she landed on a nearby pagoda, she stopped herself in midair.
Her hair looked like it had survived a hurricane. Blood dripped down the corner of her lips and her robes had several holes torn into them. All in all, she did not look good.
Fuck. If she was this injured, how the hell was Sword Master Salamander doing?
She spat and wiped the blood off her chin, but her eyes looked incredibly focused, as if following the path of a rabbit she was hunting.
Her hands blazed through a dozen hand seals until a massive golden cauldron materialized behind her.
A bell-like noise rang through the streets as an old man in tattered robes appeared in the air. His knuckles were stuck to the surface of the cauldron, showing that he'd attempted to punch her.
He moved several yards away from her in the blink of an eye and laughed wildly. This was obviously Demon Thorny Devil Vine — the demonic cultivator who'd created the plague.
"Is that it? This... weak technique is your last defense?"
She smirked. "Didn't it block you?"
Thorny Devil Vines' voice echoed through the streets. "You righteous sect cultivators always think you're right, don't you? But you never notice the suffering people go through every day. But I see it."
Shit! These Nascent Soul assholes were about to fight right above us. If they really got into it, forget the fucking slaughter formation killing us. Just a small technique going awry could take out half the city!
Part of me wanted to escape directly into the space for our safety, but it was too early for that.
"You care a lot about suffering for someone who's caused so much of it!"
He laughed like she'd told a good joke. "Oh, I admit that I'm the one who spread my adorable pink babies. But that doesn't mean that I don't care. In fact, I'm ending everyone's suffering early."
Wow! How thoughtful of the guy! A real Xianxia-style Doctor Kevorkian.
Elder Grass Sprout held her hand behind her back and started casting another technique in secret. She didn't take her eyes off her enemy. "For someone who is pretending to be altruistic, you certainly are benefiting from it."
He smirked. "Ah, but I'm not the only one. In fact. If you had any idea who's backing my rise to greatness, you'd throw yourself at my feet and prostrate yourself."
Well, from that sentence I could be positive of two things.
First, Thorny Devil had an influential person aiding him. They were probably from a secret demonic sect, but I couldn't rule out a corrupt righteous cultivator either.
Second, he was about to murder everyone who heard him hint about his backers.
The demonic cultivator threw out a crushingly powerful technique that I could feel vibrating in my bones. My vision blurred from the pressure. Since I couldn't even look at this technique directly, I covered Little Spring's eyes and gestured for Mad Tongue to close his.
I didn't want these two to hurt themselves by seeing something they couldn't comprehend at their level.
Thorny Devil's technique crashed against the blast that Grass Sprout threw out.
The waves of energy canceled each other out, but that didn't mean that the energies hadn't spread out throughout the city, shaking the ground and making it difficult to stay standing.
Both the kid and the teen visibly paled.
These Nascent Soul fuckers were too strong compared to my currently weak body.
::Cycle your cultivation. It will help.::
::Should we move into my space?::
::Not yet.::
"Ah, Senior Lin!" Clear Eyes Mad Tongue's voice cracked.
::At least if we were here, if it gets bad I can send us into your space long enough to protect us from their techniques. If we run farther back, I might miss something. Their powers are messing with my eyes.:: Fortunately, my divine sense was still working perfectly.
"Shouldn't we be running away?"
"If you think that you can outrun a Nascent Soul technique, then..." It was no wonder this teenager died before I had the chance to meet him in my past life.
"Look, there are still enemies running around. If we end up in a fight with another wyvern while leaving and their combat goes wrong, we could end up distracted and dead. Right now, we've already cleared out the dangers near us and we're at least close enough to the Peak Elder that she can protect us if things become dangerous."
When the attacks finally dissipated, both Grass Sprout and Thorny Devil coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
Mad Tongue opened his eyes briefly and looked grim. "Do you really think she'll be able to protect us when she can't protect herself?"
Well, no. I was mostly preparing to use the space, but I wasn't going to tell the observant teen that.
Our peak elder was not looking good. At least on the outside.
"Did you think I wouldn't see that technique of yours?" Thorny Devil Vine chuckled as he wiped the red from his mouth. "Your movements were obvious to my eyes."
"Your Demonic Transcending Foul Air spell took me by surprise. It was faster than I expected. You even started casting it moments after I prepared mine." She popped a Qi recovery-type pill into her mouth.
"Ah, so you know of my technique." He clasped his hands behind his back. He would have looked like a hidden master except for his scraggly clothes. "Usually it's cast slower, but I've mastered it."
Did all Nascent Soul cultivators sound this pretentious? Fuck, did I sound like that when I was their level?
"Regardless, it doesn't matter whether you discovered my Thousand Windy Waves technique or not, the outcome will still be the same."
He laughed. "I'm so very glad that you understand the differences in our skill."
"No, you see, it doesn't matter because..." She made a hand seal. "You're already dead." Peak Elder Grass Sprout pointed to Thorny Devil.
Green leaves popped up on his face and neck. They probably also sprouted lower, but that was blocked by his scraggly robes.
The plants wrapped around him and did things to his body that even his vines didn't do to the living.
Holy shit! I did not want to get on Grass Sprout's badside.
Thorny Devil's body, or what was left of it, dropped like a sack of rice.
Peak Elder Grass Sprout Gestured to the spiritual cauldron behind her, it flew to a spot in midair. Its lid opened and slammed down as if capturing an invisible fly,
I was positive she'd just grabbed the demonic cultivator's soul for later statue face slapping.
Damn, that fight finished faster than I thought. I didn't even have to make a jump into the space for protection.
"I don't feel anything. Is it over yet?" Little Spring asked.
Oh, it was over. But the aftermath wasn't pretty... for Thorny Devil Vine.
I released Little Spring's eyes.
Grass Sprout dropped down to us while smiling. Honestly, aside from her looking like she just got her ass kicked, she acted like she had energy to spare.
It made me wonder how much of that fight she'd controlled by just acting like she was hurt worse than she had been.
"Peak Elder greets Great Martial Aunt Lin!" Then she rubbed the top of my head affectionately.
Hey! I was the one who did that to others, not the other way around!
"This little head is so brilliant. Why don't you come teach over at my peak?"
I smoothed my hair back. "I'll hold a lecture for your disciples if you tell me what happened with Sword Master Salamander and Demon Thorny Devil Vine."
"Of course! Well," she tapped her chin, "when I reached the shack in the woods that Sword Master Salamander mentioned..."
Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (17?)
As she paused, I really wanted to strangle her.
Fortunately, she didn't leave me hanging too long.
"Hold on, let me start at the beginning."
I glared, and she looked amused, but continued. "When I arrived, I noticed fluctuations of spiritual energy and immediately checked it out with divine sense. I found that Sword Master Salamander was fighting with that demonic cultivator. What did you call him again?
"Demon Thorny Devil Vine."
"Right. Well, from the way our sword master was holding his own, I could tell that Thorny Devil Vine was a new Nascent Soul who had a recent power gain."
No shit.
"His power had increased beyond his skill and he hadn't become accustomed to his new powers. It was obvious that he was using the fight to condense his realm."
Was she avoiding talking about Salamander on purpose? "Peak Elder, please!"
She smirked. "Just as I reached them, our sword master had an epiphany. Since it's so rare to gain approval from the heavens like that, I immediately handed him a protection-type spiritual tool so he could safely absorb the beneficial energies. He asked me to take care of your team before I took over."
My friend was safe, thank fuck! And he'd gained a lot from this incident.
"After that, I lured the demonic cultivator away so he wouldn't prevent Sword Master Salamander from achieving greatness and furthering his path. Unfortunately, Devil Vine managed to catch me off guard and our fight ended up over the city."
"So he's safe and uninjured?"
"For now. I need to leave soon to protect him. Though the tool I left him should work in the interim." I imagined that she was also keeping an eye on him with her divine sense just in case there were more demonic cultivators running around that we didn't know about.
"But, before I left, I wanted to come down and tell you that you all did an amazing job of ending that slaughter formation! Even I couldn't have stopped it so quickly."
I eyed her. "That's because you're not a formation master."
"Too true!" She chuckled, then she snapped her fingers as if she'd remembered something. "The Sect Master told me to remind you that your mission isn't finished. At least not until the plague is completely gone from this empire." She leaned forward and whispered. "He said something about making sure you earn your kiwis."
I rolled my eyes. I figured he'd say that. The sect would likely receive substantial treasures from the empire if we were the ones most responsible for curing the plague. This would help my nephew pay for all those immortal cooking ingredients he had to give me once I succeeded. Muahahaha!
Unfortunately for me, just because the evil cultivator was dead, didn't mean that his parasites would die. This wasn't some movie where magic like that happens.
Then there was whoever or whatever organization was behind him.
Good thing it wouldn't be my job to search them out. I pitied the sect disciples who would handle that job.
Actually, it made me wonder if this situation could have something to do with the wars between the demonic cultivators and the righteous sects.
My intervening here might push their plans back farther. Or, make them even more desperate, and force their hand.
She poked my cheek, startling me. "Peak Elder?!"
"Sorry, Little Aunt Lin is just too adorable when angry."
Of course I was adorable! But I still wanted personal space! Even if I looked like a 10-year-old, I had the mind of an Immortal Ascension monster, goddamn it!
Whatever. She was a rare nice Nascent Soul cultivator, so I'd let her off for now.
"And you must be my Little Martial Uncle." She turned to Little Spring who nodded.
"You did a good job helping your sister."
He looked grim. "She took an attack in my place, so I wouldn't say that."
She smiled gently. "If you want to be the one to protect Little Senior Lin, then you'll have to work harder."
"I will."
She nodded. "I have to leave now but, first let me do this."
The Peak Elder stepped into the air and jumped high above us. Her hands moved through several seals before hundreds of tiny cauldrons appeared behind her. Then she gestured for them to move forward, and they exploded outwards.
I spread out my divine sense.
Every time a cauldron struck down, a vine monster burst apart.
The one that was about to attack a kid was smashed into debris. The Vine Wyvern going on a rampage through a side street, was flattened when the cauldron expanded. And the vine tumbleweed that was about to knock over a cart filled with apples was crushed mid jump.
Things like this kept happening throughout the city.
It took the peak elder two minutes to kill all of the demonic vine entities while we had struggled to kill a handful of them.
Frankly, this was the difference between a Nascent Soul and everything below it.
Fuck, I missed being strong.
She called down. "Be careful on your way back. There are several bands of mortals out looting empty houses. It would be bad if you accidentally killed someone."
"I'll be careful."
Then she flew off right as Spear that Weaves arrived.
The spear cultivator ran up to us. "I thought we were all going to die! Twice!"
I jumped onto a nearby debris pile and looked down at my team members. "Each of you did well!"
"I know," Clear Eyes said with a confident grin. "I did most of the heavy lifting."
Yep. This teen was looking for a good ass kicking.
"Oh, you really think so?"
He coughed. "I mean, without your amazing knowledge on formations, we couldn't have done it. But without me killing it, we also couldn't have done it. I have the highest realm here, ya'know."
I grinned evilly and gestured to the surrounding environment. Maybe this bratty teen needed his eyes cleared for once.
They all looked around themselves to see the torn up road, trashed walls, and buildings that were half destroyed.
"Fighting that monster without getting severely injured, was something only you could do in our group."
He grinned.
"Taking down all those infected people, was something we needed Spear That Weaves to do. Without him, they could have easily overrun us."
The teen's smile froze and the spear cultivator grinned.
"And distracting the vine entities was something Little Spring and I had to do. We all did our parts."
He looked chastised. "Hey, I never said that you didn't."
"Without any one of us, without the other team, we wouldn't have succeeded. So, never say that any one of us did the most work."
He held up his hands. "Okay, I won't."
"Because, we may have saved everyone. But it doesn't stop here."
"We have to go back and make more pills, right?" Little Spring asked.
"Let me ask you, do you think the people who own these houses will be able to sleep in them tonight?"
"Wait. Are you saying that we should help rebuild the city?" It figured that the previous young master would look shocked and horrified.
I grinned. Little Spring took a nervous step back.
What? Did I look scary? Whatever.
"We came here to help with the plague. If we're going to resolve it so we can go back to the sect then we need every infected person to get healthy. That's not going to happen if they have nowhere to rest."
It wasn't like we could just let these people die to save ourselves time and effort.
Spear That Weaves grimaced.
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue patted his shoulder. "That still sounds like something that the City Lord should handle."
I grinned. "I'm sure he will, but until he does, we're going to do it. And our first step is to get all of those people that Spear That Weaves left just laying there, into the buildings that are still standing so I can treat them."
Muahahaha. The look on their faces.
"What about the other team?" Little Spring asked.
"They're going to help us by continuing to make medicine once they've recovered from their injuries."
"What about my injuries?" Clear Eyes Mad Tongue said.
"Out of the four of us, I'm the one who's the most injured and you don't see me complaining. Now take your recovery pills, spend a few minutes healing, and let's get moving."
***
After a long ass day and night of getting plague victims into undamaged homes, helping the injured, and clearing away some of the rubble, we finally made our way back towards the courtyards we were staying in.
Clear Eyes stretched his arms and winced. "I'm not earning enough contribution points for this."
"Good. That means you're earning karma. It will make your tribulations easier."
"Does that really happen?!" Little Spring asked.
I grinned. "Who knows?"
Just as our group turned a corner, a team of cultivators riding flying swords landed in front of the palace. It was obvious from their arrogant disposition that this was the group from the Alchemists' Guild.
They turned their heads as if searching for the reception team that was either too busy or too dead to bother greeting the guild members.
A familiar woman with dark purple hair stood in the center of the group, slowly fanning herself. A spotted white pill testing beast was slung around her shoulders like a scarf. It turned its head and stared at me with beady, hate-filled eyes.
This must be a new beast, because Violet Pill Fairy hadn't trained it well enough. Then again, she did go through them quickly.
Since I'd had a long fucking day, part of me wanted to walk right in, ignoring her and her group. But then I remembered that I still had some questions about this situation.
And if I waited until the next day, I might not get a proper reaction from the evil pharma bitch.
Also, she was on my 'Fairy Lin's People to Kill (When You Can) List.'
Since I currently couldn't murder her, I had to give her a hard time.
"If it isn't my fellow alchemist, Violet Pill Fairy!"
Little Spring tugged on my sleeve. "Sister Lin! Why are you trying to pick a fight with them? I thought we were going inside to rest?"
Spear That Weaves leaned in and whispered, "Senior Lin, should we expect trouble?"
Violet's black eyes darted to me. I briefly caught the sneer on her face before it morphed into a pleasant fake smile.
"Well, if it isn't my junior in the guild, Little Fairy Lin. How have you been?"
"Alive and well, no thanks to the assassins that attacked me after I left Golden Aspect City."
"You must have offended someone you shouldn't have," she smirked and fanned herself like the smug fucker she was.
"So you're not surprised to see us alive?"
"Of course not," her voice sounded sweet. "You had the protection of the guild, Senior Ruthless Divine Medicine and Senior White Lily. Who would dare touch you?"
One of the older alchemists in Violet's group spoke up. "Little Violet Pill, who is this? Does she know the genius who came up with the cure the guild informed us about on the way over here?"
"I'm sure her senior is the one who came up with it," Violet calmly said. "Even though it's named after her, I doubt that she's the one who created it."
This bitch!
She shrugged an elegant shoulder, causing the pill beast to cling to her robes. "Regardless, if I'd been the one to create that recipe, I would earn a huge profit off of it so that I could give it away to those who need it."
"Sometimes I wonder if you're too kind," the older cultivator said. "You'll never make much if you keep doing such philanthropic nonsense."
"As you say, Senior Red Leaf. But I still think my way of making a profit is considerably better than the so-called genius who came up with the current cure."
I glared. "Have you even seen the recipe?"
She shrugged again, this time causing the poor pill beast to bounce several inches off her shoulders. It quickly grabbed her robes and pulled itself back into scarf-pretending-position.
"Not yet. We've been spending all our energy merely getting here as quickly as possible."
Good. "Then tell me, have you heard of the ingredient, Viridian Poison Pine Needles?"
Each of the alchemists in Violet's group looked confused, including the pharma bitch herself.
Fuck. It was as I suspected.
The thing was, I had wondered how the mostly sheltered Pill Fairy would have come into contact with that herb in this era. The fact that the alchemists sent with her also appeared to not know about it was suspicious.
Now, since this was a different timeline, I didn't exactly have proof. And I would never learn the full truth about what happened back then. But I could deduce that Violet did not come up with the treatment for the demonic vine plague on her own.
She had help in the form of Thorny Devil Vine, who engineered the spiritual parasite.
It was possible that she had even discovered him, and instead of killing him off like we did, she instead cut one hell of a deal.
One where Thorny Devil told her the recipe and she would make it so expensive that a majority of the infected would die from being unable to afford the cure.
This way, he still had a steady stream of life energy increasing his realm and the realms of those he worked for — all while she made a stupid amount of spirit stones.
Frankly, as long as Violet earned a profit and wasn't affected herself, she wouldn't give a shit about siding with a demonic cultivator, no matter how many mortals died.
In fact, she probably suggested that he spread the plague further so she could earn even more profit.
It was a win-win situation for the two of them.
This was absolutely something I could see her doing.
"Is that an important ingredient in the prescription?"
"Of course it is. And you're correct, I developed the prototype with my master, then I created a new, improved version of the pill within a few hours of arriving."
Violet looked like she'd never been more furious to be told that she was right.
Red Leaf studied me with interest. "So you're the one who came up with the current treatment?"
I puffed up my chest, pretending like I was a proud 10-year-old. "Yes! I'm Alchemist Lin and I developed the cure for the Demonic Vine Plague."
God, this was getting tiring. How many more years until my body grew the fuck up and I could stop pretending to be a child? Six? Eight?
Red Leaf nodded, his old eyes gleaming.
Violet must have been trying to get on his good side because she glowered at me. Oh. I knew that look. This fucking spirit-stone-hoarder was about to throw down.
It had been a while, but I was in the mood to verbally spar. Bring it, bitch.
"And who is your master?"
"That's a sect secret." For safety reasons, considering that Little Spring and I don't need that kind of target on our backs.
Violet's eyes narrowed. "You know, it's naughty to take credit for work that's not your own."
Said the woman who likely would have taken the prescription from a fucking demonic cultivator and claimed it as her own.
"First of all, I created the current cure based on the one my master developed and I. He's above taking credit for such things."
"He should at least be the one to earn most of the profits, am I right?"
"My master has no need for a few spirit stones."
She scoffed. "Not only are you stealing from your master, but you're also practically claiming his work as your own. Are you sure you're not being unfilial?"
Clear Eyes Mad Tongue must have been exhausted from holding it in because he stepped forward, cutting off what would have been my epic comeback.
"Excuse me for a minute, but I think you're misunderstanding something here." He gestured to our group of four. "You see, we're from the Indomitable Will sect."
She crossed her arms. "And? We're here on behalf of the Alchemists' Guild."
"Our Senior Lin just kicked the shit out of the demonic vine plague—"
Both figuratively and literally.
"—by finding a cure within hours of arriving. Then she discovered that there was a demonic cultivator behind the plague while you were casually strolling up here. Finally, she saved this entire city by disrupting a massive slaughter formation. You're going to speak to my senior with respect or we're going to have a problem."
He put his hand on his sword and glared.
Okay, maybe I'd only kick his ass a little once I reached Foundation Establishment.