Chapter 61 - (10) 7-12

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 7 🎸)

If merely easing rage was my goal, there were many songs I could choose from. But this was a test. If I only solved the issue and didn't help the person move forward, the underlying anger would eventually return. What I needed to play here was a song that not only soothed rage, but overcame it. For this, none more impactful than those spiritual rock songs inspired by Tool.

Which was likely because their music was healing. At least, that was from my own experience! And it wasn't just me who had felt that. Back in my past-past life, I'd stumbled on rumors that the band purposefully wrote music that helped their audience move past their rage. Because of this, their fans could heal and improve with the band. This was a large part of what made them a group that lasted over decades instead of one that blinked out in a short few years.

When I introduced the original music to the little cultivators from my past life, they quickly realized that there was something special about it.

Daoist Lime Torrent even created a song heavily inspired by Ænema. I was especially fond of it. Since the judge didn't give me more information about the hypothetical target's anger, I figured it would do.

Now to see if I could pull it off, since it usually required a whole band to be effective.

I pressed my fingers to the strings, inserting my spiritual energy into them, then the rest of my instrument. When I forged my battle guitar, I had added enchantments to it. Most of them were for adding distortion effects, or simple illusions, but the main one amplified the sound. I inserted my spiritual energy into the instrument and adjusted it to sound good inside the arena.

Finally, I lifted one fist to the sky and extended my pinkie and index fingers, creating a hand seal reminiscent of devil horns that activated an illusion of a spotlight and fog.

"Rock!"

Music was at its finest when accompanied by a little showmanship.

I whispered the line of throaty vocals that began the song, then brought my arm down to play the first repetitive notes.

While my original voice was nice, it wasn't anything special; however, after using the disguise technique, I sounded exactly as I intended. Which, for this song, was deep, melodic, and angry. And, if the crowd in the arena didn't like it, they could go fuck themselves. I only cared about impressing Pearlescent Rose with the healing power of rock! And looking like the badass I was as I played.

Compared to the original song Lime Torrent created inspired by Ænema, this arrangement of it was simplistic. Though I gave it my all to pull off its incredible vocals that could make a cultivator feel the song deep in their soul, it still lacked the drums that could make someone's blood rush and the baseline that was often the heart of every rock song.

But despite not having the fullness in sound a whole band would have given it, what it did have was the essence of complaint. Which was the soul of this song's beginning. This led to an expression of hatred for people. Fake people, idiotic people, those who try to con others, and those who were easily conned. A list that went on and on of the fuckers that made life worse, bringing about a loathing that was entirely unhealthy but wholly embraced. Each note expressed a deep need to see all those fools obliterated. Washed away. Removed and destroyed. But since that wasn't possible, at least removed from the listeners' life so they could start anew. And maybe, just maybe, things would change for the better. Because change had to be better than the way things were.

Essentially, with each word and chord played, I encouraged Pearlescent Rose to cut out the toxic people in her life.

Finally, I closed the song out by playing a chord that echoed through the arena. The last note of the first rock song in this universe played specifically for an audience. I raised my hand once more and clenched my fist to turn off my illusory effects.

There was total silence. Slack-jawed individuals stared at me from all around.

Fuck yeah! I just blew everyone's minds!

Fairy Pearlescent Rose stepped closer. "That was..." she began, then delicately cleared her throat, "new. Too new. I'm going to need another example."

She may have said that, but I noticed that curious and excited gleam in her eyes. Her interest was piqued. Which, of course, it had! Rock kicked ass!

"I can play all night, Senior." Playing the guitar, even with songs that required detailed work, was nothing compared to the complex and sometimes anatomy-straining hand seals used in alchemy. "But, hopefully, just one more song will do."

She smirked. "Then, can you do what Treasured Morning Dew couldn't and play me a song that makes me want to seduce you?"

I coughed. What?!

It was one thing to watch someone try to attract an uninterested judge, it was another to get asked to do it.

"That's not appropriate for me." I mean, fuck, I currently looked around 17-18 and my mind was far over a thousand years old, but my body was still physically 12 and nearing 13 under this disguise. Even if that wasn't the case, purposefully attracting someone who wasn't interested, while I was also uninterested, was extremely unappealing.

Plus, I knew that as soon as I played a spiritual rock song based on either Closer, 4 Degrees, Rev 22:20 (Dry Martini Mix), and Sex & Candy — which were spiritual songs that could definitely make someone bothered — these people just might assume I was easy and I didn't have the time to kick sense into all of their asses. I was here to spy on this sect so I could get home, not teach these people about respect and consent. That would take too much time and I hoped to be out of here in a month. It was just easier to save those kinds of songs for myself and maybe a few trusted students who wouldn't misjudge me for knowing songs like that or misinterpret my intentions.

Now that I was considering what songs to play, there was one based on a metal song that I think suited this little fairy. "That said, I can do something even better."

"Oh?" She tilted her head to the side.

While inserting my spiritual energy into my instrument, I played the first chords of a song that was inspired by Korn's Twisted Transistor. "I can make you want to seduce music itself."

"Now this, I have to hear."

I grinned and once again activated my spotlight and fog illusions before fully committing to the song.

Since I had been through a lifetime already, I'd experienced how lonely the process of cultivating was. This judge, in particular, had to be by herself often, with only music to fill the time.

I used the lyrics to call out to her — a solitary soul, twisted up inside to where no one could empathize.

Pearlescent Rose's eyes widened. And I took a powerful step forward while keeping eye contact.

I continued the song, describing her as someone who had no one except the wild music that called to her very soul. With each word and note, I reminded her that the world wasn't fair, that everyone around her was uncaring to her loneliness. It was only music that reached inside, welcomed her, and made her feel understood.

I played the last chord and took a few steps back before reaching up and ending my spotlight illusion. The arena was overwhelmingly silent. Of course, it was. I just hit them with a sound they'd never heard before. I was so badass that I blew their minds twice in a row!

The judge's cheeks grew pink, and she cleared her throat. Her eyes sparkled, and she stepped a little too close. Ah, I could tell that the song did what it was supposed to do, which was make the listener feel like they wanted to seduce the music itself.

Pearlescent Rose held up a finger. "How about one more song?"

I looked down at her, since I was taller. "While I'd play another dozen songs for you, I don't know if the crowd here is willing to listen. Or if the other judges want to stay here so long past sunset."

"Oh, right." She took a step back, glanced behind her, and scowled at the other judges. Then she turned to me with a smile. "Welcome, Musician Linlin, to the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect."

Muahahaha! Success! Now I just needed to find that scroll along with the right evidence, and I'd be home!

***The judges started escorting us three new disciples into the sect. As soon as we passed the red and gold gate, Little Spring finally couldn't contain his excitement.

::You were amazing!::

::Of course I was. Who am I?::

::Sister Lin!::

::That's right.::

::Um. But that last song was a little—::

I sent the brat a glare before he said something stupid.

He coughed, looked away from me and pointed to the mountain on the south. "Which peak is that?" He asked the judge for the Beast Blood Contractors.

"That is where the Puppeteers and Beast Blood Contractors live and work."

::Sister Lin, I would never say that it wasn't good. Actually… It was a bit too good? So good it seemed dangerous?::

::It wasn't nearly as dangerous as some other songs I could have played.::

::Like what?::

::Well, I know a song that can melt your face off.::

He stumbled. Then scratched the back of his head as he apologized to the judge next to him. ::Please never play that for me!::

I held in a chuckle.

"The middle peak is where the Sect leader lives alongside the poison body cultivators and poisoners," the judge continued.

Pearlescent Rose gestured to the peak on the north. "And that is where the dread painters and demonic musicians live and study." She smiled at us, "Gold String Delicate Touch and Fairy Linlin. You'll both live there, eventually. To get used to your new environment, you three will first have to live in the outer sect."

Goddamn it. If they were going to make us spend months earning our way into the inner sect, I'll have to figure out another way to spy on these fuckers.

"Don't worry." The Beast Blood Contractor said. "This is just temporary. Every Foundation Establishment member gets promoted, except for those who choose to remain in their positions."

"Just tell them how it is," a woman missing one eye who looked like a puppeteer said. "They're outsiders who have already cultivated somewhere else. While their skills were enough to get them into the sect, we don't know them."

Pearlescent Rose frowned at the woman. "Be kinder to our new recruits, Doll Monarch."

She rolled her eye then turned to us. "If you want to reach the inner sect, you rogues are required to find and mentor two outer sect disciples. You have to instruct them until they show a healthy and significant improvement in their cultivation or battle strength before we can trust you enough to promote you."

Pearlescent Rose crossed her arms. "There, was that so hard?"

Doll Monarch scowled.

The Beast Blood Cultivator chuckled. "You can threaten them into it if you want."

"Earthly Bronze Boar! You shouldn't be encouraging coercion," Rose chided. "Not when bribery and persuasion are more effective."

He grinned and turned to us. "You'll soon experience how viciously our disciples fight to get promoted. The resistance and resentment for how easy you have it will be significant. And it won't only come from the outer sect."

They stopped at a massive courtyard with a red door made from strong and expensive spiritual wood. Actually, after spreading my divine sense out, I could tell that this was the best living space in the area. The others were plain, with multiple individuals staying inside them.

Ah, so they were giving us the most expensive lodging in the outer sect. We'd soon have jealous assholes trying their hardest to shit all over us. Classic Xianxia.

Doll Monarch crossed her arms. "Space in the outer sect is at a premium, so you three will have to share."

She tossed us each a key, then left.

Pearlescent Rose Smiled at Gold String and me. "The shortest time any rogue cultivator has made it to the inner sect was two weeks. As my prospective students, I hope to see you beat that record."

I grinned. "Watch me do it in one." Because I didn't have time to deal with some hazing ritual fit for a shitty college campus. If I had to do this anyway, then I'd use it as an opportunity to collect information.

"I hope so." She sighed. "I was specifically warned to not help either of you, so I'll head up before I'm tempted to give you hints."

She sauntered away, leaving us with Earthly Bronze Boar. He sent each of us a red jade pass. "This will allow you to roam around the outer sect and give you access to the Lesser Scripture Pavilion. I will send someone with your sect uniforms tomorrow. Make sure you wear them if you go outside your courtyard."

"Is someone going to come along to beat us up if we don't?" Little Spring asked.

He smiled viciously. "Yes. They'll claim that you're an intruder. At the very least, wear red and gold." Then with a parting, "Do try to survive," he left us there.

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 8 🎸)

The courtyard had three separate houses. I took the nearest one and left Little Spring and Gold String to argue about who would stay where.

While inside my room, I set up my defensive formations. The kid could set up his own arrays and — as a rogue cultivator — Gold String, would have some way to defend himself as well. I'd still set up a formation around the courtyard tomorrow for extra protection.

Once all my formations were in place, I slipped into the space's forge room. With a wave of my arm, I spread out all the spare supplies I had left.

If I was going to introduce the Dao of Rock to this sect, start a band, and mentor two cultivators, I needed more spiritual instruments. As the only person in this world who knew what those looked like and how to craft them, I would have to produce them myself.

The only issue is which instruments I had the time and materials to forge.

I tapped my chin and mentally went over my supplies, while including the ones Little Spring still had.

Hmm. Was it better to make a few more guitars or to hammer out a whole set?

A keyboard was right out with the time I had, but I could create a spiritual bass guitar, electric guitar, and a drum set. And maybe a cowbell for Fear the Reaper?

Oh! We had to have an acoustic guitar. Some songs just worked better on acoustic. I would still have to add enchantments to it, but they'd be different from the ones used on the electric-style spiritual guitar. Mostly, durability and some volume amplification as well.

Considering how fast I'd have to make them, they'd be real pieces of shit, but they'd work for a Foundation Establishment four arts cultivator.

Just imagining putting a band together and getting them to all play the song I want to hear made me happy. These poor unorthodox cultivators had no idea what chaos was about to hit them. Muahahaha!

"Ah, Sister Lin. Are you okay?"

I blinked, then turned to see that Little Spring had shown up while I was contemplating. He looked at me like I'd gone crazy.

What? Had I laughed out loud or something? Whatever. I cleared my throat and straightened my spine. "Of course I am!"

Then I eyed Little Spring. "How would you like to try playing the drums or the flute?"

He frowned. "Maybe the flute?"

Really? I thought for sure the brat would be a drummer. But a simple flute might be easier for a kid to learn. It also wouldn't be hard to make. "Alright. I'll add that to the list."

"... What else is on the list?"

I let him know, then paused. "We shouldn't think about only forging instruments. No good spy mission is complete without gadgets!"

Sadly, I didn't have a Q to make them for me.

"Gadgets what?" He looked so confused. Adorable.

"I'm talking about spiritual tools to help us spy and record information. Also, some that will help us sneak around."

"Like some kind of portable obfuscation array?"

I paused. That would be fun. Sadly, the environment a formation was in could affect it, so a portable array like that couldn't exist. At least, not with our supplies and cultivation levels.

"Something close to that. Now that we understand the disguise technique better, we should be able to make our presence mostly vanish."

"Like with the Presence Scattering Obfuscation Dan?"

I shook my head. "That pill works much better than the disguise technique. But, if we combine the technique and maybe an illusion tool on a bracelet of some kind? Yes! That would hide us in a pinch."

I made a mental list of the tools I could make fairly quickly with the ingredients I had on hand: Spiritual Guitar, Spiritual Bass, Spiritual Drum Set, Spiritual Acoustic Guitar, Spiritual Flute, Secret Recording Tools, and Illusion Bracelets.

I sighed. "We have a problem."

"What?"

"All the items I need, take time to make. The instruments, I should be able to finish all but the drum set today," because making a drum set was forging a minimum of five instruments. "But the spy tools will take a week or more to craft."

"Even if I help?"

I grinned. "With you, I can do it in two-thirds of a week."

I turned the flames up and pulled out a few pieces of Echoing Aluminum and casually threw them in the crucible.

At this point, I'd made so many spiritual instruments that I could make them with my eyes closed. Back when I was teaching the four arts cultivators about rock, I had to craft them all myself since I was the only one with the knowledge of how they were supposed to look and sound.

Just thinking about how I traveled around and collected all the different sounds needed to make a keyboard on thousands of little recording crystals... It drove me half-mad.

Ah, that reminded me of back when I first introduced rock to the world. I had bribed any zither master willing to try a new musical instrument into playing them, just so I could hear the music from my past-past life. I'd had to make masterwork zithers for each of them, along with expert guitars, drums and basses.

And what happened next? The older generations scoffed at the music. They moaned that it hurt their ears or melted something. What nonsense… except for that melted thing. That actually happened.

Those old fuckers yelled that the songs were morally depraved. They claimed — without evidence — that the ancient society where I'd uncovered them was unsophisticated, and that their disciples wouldn't be able to ascend if they learned it.

Those assholes were lucky I didn't introduce them to dubstep. The first drop might have literally blown their minds.

Fortunately, a good portion of the younger generations ignored their demonizing and tried it for themselves. And what happened when they did? They loved it. It inspired them to write their own songs.

Though my favorites were the songs from my world, I still picked up the ones inspired by the rock from my world that had interesting effects and some of the original songs that interested me. At the time, I had better ways to accomplish those effects, so I only memorized them because I enjoyed them or because of my curiosity.

If I'd known that they'd be so useful, I would have made a guitar sooner. Then again, the effects required a large amount of spiritual energy, so it wasn't like I'd have been able to play them before Foundation Establishment, anyway.

I filled up a barrel with spiritual spring water, grabbed several pieces of Three Stars Silvery Iron Wood from Little Spring, and threw them inside to soak. This would become the base of my acoustic guitar, but it needed to get wet and malleable first.

"Sister Lin."

"What?"

"Before we get started with the forging process, shouldn't we come up with a plan for our mission?"

I paused. Then teleported some of the sand from the lake into the mold box I'd created when I made my first guitar in this life months ago.

"Well, it's pretty straightforward, isn't it?"

"No… It really isn't."

Right, the kid was still a kid, even if he was the protagonist of this world.

I sighed and asked him a question to get him thinking. "What is our goal here?"

"You told me on the way over that we need to find evidence of this sect getting involved with the demonic cultivators."

"What else?"

"That we need to find a dangerous weapon."

"The Scroll of 10,000 Evil Souls."

He nodded.

I created several hand seals, formed a bass out of spiritual energy, then pressed it into the sand. After that, I added more sand and flattened it down.

A few months ago, I discovered that the sand by the lake was perfect for making molds like this. It was very fine and tightened together well.

"So, how are we going to go about doing that?"

I briefly glanced at him. His face was filled with worry, and I sighed. "It's possible that we'll fail this mission."

His eyes grew wide.

"I may have been given bad intel. There wasn't any time to look into it if we wanted to enter the sect as quickly as possible." The city lord had given me the option of bringing him just the Scroll of 10,000 Evil Souls. But I wasn't sure I trusted a guy who made sharks with sword Qi shooting noses with a spiritual tool like that.

"Then why choose to do this?"

I grinned and held up my index, middle, and ring fingers. "Because, even if we fail, I will still accomplish three other goals of mine."

He blinked.

I dropped my hand and shrugged. "If we don't succeed, we'll merely need to win spots for the inter-sect tournament in four... or is it five years? Then we just have to reveal our identity to our sect and possibly go home from there."

He nodded.

"However, this area is unknown to us, making it dangerous. I would rather not wait for a tournament that we don't even know if we'll get in." While I was confident in our skills, I wasn't sure I could convince a sect to give up two of their slots for disciples who came from outside. We might actually have to win the tournament to pay them back, and that sounded too time-consuming. "I want to prove this sect is working with the demonic cult and return as quickly as possible." And I would get to take down that stinking snake, Noxious Fangstrike, while I was at it.

I grinned just thinking about it. Then my sleeve jerked. I looked over to see Little Spring's worried face.

"Then what are your other two goals?"

"In my past life, these demonic sects were wiped out, which meant their inheritance in the poison arts vanished. I want to make a copy of as much of their poisoner's library as possible. And if we're only here a month, then I'll have to do it quickly."

He frowned. I could tell that he was wondering why I would bother.

"Poisons are more useful than you'd think. As long as they're used in a moral way, they can be helpful instead of harmful. But to do that, I'll need a vast knowledge of all poisons. This kind of information can only be collected over millennia."

"If you find it important, then I trust you."

Good kid.

"There is a chance that even without me doing anything, this sect will vanish. Though it may take a decade or two."

"Knowledge from your past life again?"

"Well, that and I never heard of this sect until recently."

"Could that be because they're too weak?"

I shook my head. "Generally, unorthodox sects are stronger than righteous ones of the same level, or they'd be wiped out. No. The reason this sect is doomed is because their Poison Master insulted Immortal Zhenren at the alchemy convention. Once our seniors hear about this," likely in two years once Peak Master Enduring Flame gets home, "they'll reach out to their contacts on this continent. Because the distance is so far, it will take them time, but they'll eventually come to an agreement and destroy the Irrepressible Beast Blood sect."

His eyes widened.

I grinned. That was right, you did not fuck with the Indomitable Will Sect. Even if it took a while, we wouldn't allow anyone to insult our seniors. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if one of my juniors heard about what Violet did to us from those three Golden Core girls and started attacking Violet's businesses for me.

"And your last goal?"

I used spiritual energy to grab the crucible. Carefully, I poured half of the aluminum into the mold, then I threw it back into the furnace. While I waited for it to cool some, I grinned at Little Spring. "Putting a band together to heal Ghosty."

The kid blinked rapidly, then nodded.

While the aluminum was still malleable, I grabbed a tool and swiftly carved a complex series of enchantments into the metal's surface and spread a coat of Black Enhancement Gold along the lines. Next, I crumbled two mid tier spirit stones and used a hand seal to fuse their dust and energy along the path I'd carved. Before it had cooled too much, I poured the rest of the aluminum into the mold and allowed it to rest.

"As part of making a band, I'm going to spread the Dao of Rock to every one of these demonic musicians willing to learn."

He opened his mouth. "But you just said that this sect is doomed. Won't that mean what you're doing now will be in vain?"

I frowned. "You think when a sect disappears, all its disciples get slaughtered or something?"

"They don't?"

I scowled. "Do the Indomitable Will sect's disciples ever leave?"

He opened his mouth, as he probably remembered that they go on missions often. It would be impossible to kill everyone off because there was no telling where they were.

"The only time I'd heard of whole sects getting wiped out to the last cultivator was when they were small and had called all of their disciples back to wage war. When a sect gets destroyed, the reason it can't be put back together is mostly because the leaders and teachers of the sect died. The enemies would also either steal or destroy all of their secret manuals. But, sometimes the enemy sects will not only plunder manuals and treasures, but they'll abduct disciples too. If I teach the Dao of Rock to as many demonic musicians as I can, then they can bring it with them when they go to other sects. This way, there will be a greater chance of it sticking around and spreading... like a cold virus."

Muahahaha!

I used spiritual energy to throw the nearly complete instrument into the forge. "Now, help me control the fire while I hammer the shittinessout of this five-string bass."

"The what?"

Ah, I should probably teach the kid some English words. It might be useful as a code.

"Never mind that for now. I need you to focus. We have far too many things to forge tonight. Because tomorrow, we'll steal from the Scripture Pavillion!"

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 9 🎸)

With Little Spring's help, we finished all the instruments, including the drum set, before the sun rose. As Foundation Establishment cultivators, we didn't have to sleep every day, so we merely cleaned up and left the space. A commotion outside caught my attention.

I stepped out of my room to see Gold String Delicate Touch standing in the middle of our courtyard with his arms crossed. In front of him was a pile of muddy red and gold uniforms that had been thrown on the ground like trash. As if to emphasize its stinkiness, flies buzzed around the pile. The wolf-eared asshole who had delivered the uniforms was in the beginning of Foundation Establishment. That appeared to be the only reason Gold String hadn't crippled him for the insult.

"You expect us to wear these?"

Wolf-ears shrugged. "I was only asked to deliver these to your courtyard. And I was told you'd pay me ten mid-tier spirit stones for it."

He held out his hand.

This brazen little shit. Usually, only protagonists and young masters were this arrogant.

Gold String's jaw clenched and I could practically see a vein bulge on his forehead.

Little Spring exited his room like a furious storm while carrying Xiao Bai. He stopped in front of the uniforms and the messenger.

"What's your name?" The kid asked while Xiao Bai growled.

"Third Wolf Howl."

He nodded. "You realize that we're about to become inner sect disciples, right? We can make your life a living hell."

Rather than pale and cower, the disciple smiled and bowed condescendingly. "I'm merely the deliveryman. These clothes came with a message."

Little Spring set the puppy down. "I have a feeling I'm not going to appreciate it."

He smiled. "They said, 'These rags are good enough for rogues like you.'"

Were they just rags? I scanned the pile with my divine sense and tsked. They were regular uniforms, but the quality of the materials wasn't bad for a mid-tier sect. They'd just been dropped in mud and possibly manure several times to get this dirty. These jokers hadn't even shredded them. It was almost cute that they thought this level of bullying would rile us up.

I'd been living in this goddamn Xianxia universe for over a thousand years and seen worse from thirteen-year-old girls. More times than I liked, that involved — horrifyingly — ruining someone's reputation by using aphrodisiacs and some convenient person or creature. Fucked up shit I wished I could erase from my head. It was also a reminder that someone didn't have to be a demonic cultivator to be a deranged individual.

Gold String's eyes narrowed. "Who told you to tell us that?"

Wolf Howl grinned. "My Beast Blood Contractor Seniors." He turned to Little Spring. "They're especially interested in you, fellow disciple Verdant Spring."

The kid narrowed his eyes at the messenger. He looked like he was about to start some shit in a protagonist-y way. With his luck, this might end up being the cause of a domino effect of experts he needs to take down. We didn't have time for that and it may play into the scheme of the arrogant assholes who sent Wolf Howl over.

Actually, I didn't know what they wanted out of this, but even if I did, I wasn't sure I'd care. There were too many other things I needed to do today — for example, find mentees and raid the scripture pavilion.

I walked over to the pile and used the cleaning technique on the clothes. I may have accidentally cleaned everyone there, too. The annoying flies vanished. The wolf guy yelped while Gold String merely flinched. Both of them turned to me with wide, horrified eyes.

I picked up a red silk robe and smelled it. "There, perfectly clean." To the cellular level, even. "They are in pretty good condition, too. I think the mud bath you gave them brought out their luster, like a pearl." I tossed it back on top of the pile and pulled out my guitar. "Now for your tip. Pay close attention because you'll never hear anything like this again."

What this dear wolf-eared friend needed was to be put in his place. Of course, this meant I had to choose the right song. Big Mama Thornton's blues song "Hound Dog" was close, but I think I needed Elvis Presley's famous parody-inspired version. Well, technically, what I was about to play was a spiritual tune inspired by that song I'd developed for fun. It could make any canine-type beast feel like their father was yelling at them for being a disappointment and not living up to expectations. At least, that was the intention.

I ran my spiritual energy through the strings and played the first chords. Everyone turned toward me, eyes filled with curiosity.

Once I started singing about a bad dog, Wolf Howl scowled. He might have said something, but I couldn't hear him over my guitar. At the second chorus, Xiao Bai howled his agreement that Wolf-Ears here was a no-good bad dog.

I came closer to the unorthodox beast tamer. He couldn't take his widening eyes off me as I approached, while essentially calling him a lazy dog. With a powerful step, I encroached into his personal space. He took two steps back. His ears flattened and his spine curled as if a weight had been placed on him.

My next step forced him out of our courtyard.

Once I played the last note, he appeared thoroughly chastised.

"There. Your life and a good song is your payment. Now stay out." I slammed the gate closed right in his face.

I may have heard him whisper 'crazy' something under his breath, but I wasn't sure and couldn't give enough of a fuck about someone so inconsequential to my plans.

When I turned around, I saw Little Spring grinning. "Little sister Linlin, the way you handled that situation was… impressive."

I froze. What did this little fucker just call me?

Wait... He joined the sect first and was the same cultivation as I was, so he could be considered my older martial brother, depending on this sect's rules.

I narrowed my eyes at the brat. ::You dare!::

::Never, martial sister Lin. It's only for this mission. I swear.:: He cleared his throat and started organizing the uniforms.

I stared down at him and controlled my temper. This was necessary to throw off suspicion and get us home. We couldn't fuck up here.

Gold String nodded. "I agree! Little martial sister Linlin was very powerful."

Yep. I did not like that. I had gotten too used to our sect where everyone called me Senior again. It was difficult to go back to pretending to be a junior.

"Call me Teacher Linlin because I'm going to instruct you on how to play the bass."

He took a step back and held up both hands. "I like my zither."

"This is a type of instrument of an ancient design." Considering I'd first seen one over a thousand years ago, I wasn't completely lying. "Made by one of the best smiths on this continent." If I did say so myself. "You know you want to try out the strings to see how it sounds."

"Sister Linlin," Little Spring said while gently stopping Xiao Bai from jumping into the pile of newly clean clothes. "Pushing little brother Gold String Delicate Touch might not be the best way to get him to play with you."

::Brat! You're enjoying this too much.::

::Never!::

"Fine." I played a scale on the bass for him, then a bass solo that really pushed the technical limits of this version of the instrument. When I finished showing it off, I placed it back into the space. "Just decide soon. Because if you don't want to learn, I'll teach someone else, and they'll get this impressive bass."

He swallowed. I could see that I'd tempted him a bit. "I'll let you know if I change my mind."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Maybe I was wrong about him and he was too old and stuffy. No, I couldn't give up just yet. We needed a good musician like him if we were going to get Ghosty out of his coma.

Little Spring handed me several red and gold uniforms that shimmered in the sunlight, then he handed another few sets to Gold String Delicate Touch.

"Why don't we change and see what we can learn about the sect at the scripture pavilion," Little Spring suggested.

"Of course, older brother," Gold String Delicate Touch said before grabbing his clothes and hurrying back into his room.

I nodded to the kid. ::You're doing a good job staying in character.::

He grinned and walked toward his room. ::Even though I have to call you, little martial sister?::

I scowled. ::You call me that in private and I'll put you through the next level of hell training. If you think last time was hard, you'll wish I'd go that easy on you.::

He tripped a little, then rushed into his room.

***I finished placing the last flag of a simple security formation while standing on top of our courtyard's wall. It would let me know if anyone entered without our permission.

Gold String Delicate Touch returned, wearing a red and gold uniform that matched mine. Obviously, I wore mine better.

"Fairy Linlin," he said, "You know formations?"

"Who hasn't picked up a thing or two?" I glanced down at him. "If you want to stay alive, don't enter my room."

He nodded.

As I jumped down, Little Spring walked over wearing his uniform. Xiao Bai excitedly dove into his arms as if he knew we were about to explore a new place.

I pulled out my cheap flying sword. "Let's go!"

Gold String threw down a very old flying calligraphy brush that grew large enough to step on. It really appeared awkward to use. Then again, stepping on a sharp sword to fly in the air didn't look comfortable either.

Once we were in the air looking down on the outer sect, it didn't feel as dark and ominous as it had in the twilight. Thousands of buildings sprawled out over large foothills. The tallest one had the multi-story lesser scripture pavilion.

It didn't take long for us to set down in front of the old woman in Golden Core who guarded the pavilion's entrance. We showed her our jade passes.

She frowned. "You can look at anything on the first floor, but you need a thousand contribution points to enter the levels above that."

Fuck. With her guarding this place, I wouldn't be able to steal shit. At least not without some major preparations. Since we might only stay a month, earning the points to collect all the poison books would be prohibitively time-consuming.

Little Spring bowed and stepped inside, followed by Gold String Delicate Touch.

When I didn't enter, she frowned down at me.

"Senior, do you have a copy of the sect's rules?"

She sighed and pulled out a thin manual from her ring. It was tattered and had a few suspicious reddish-black stains on it.

I stopped myself from automatically using the cleaning technique on it and forced myself to grab the thin book. I quickly thumbed through it, memorizing each line.

"Bold of you to step out of your courtyard without knowing the rules."

I shrugged. "I can take anything the outer sect throws at me."

"Hah!" she said, expressing her disbelief.

I discovered that killing wasn't permitted unless during duels. But those could only take place in a specific dueling area.

Of course, fighting was allowed anywhere. Pure-fucking-chaos. But it explained why a Golden Core cultivator guarded a lesser pavilion. She was here to kick anyone out who tried to fuck with the sect's precious manuals.

I froze when I saw the thing I really wanted to know. There, at the end of the page, as if damning me, it stated that seniority would be given based on a disciple's master, then realm, and after that, it would be decided on who entered the sect first rather than age.

Motherfuckers.

I handed the manual back and tried really hard to use the cleaning technique on just my hands. It took a lot of restraint on my part since the floor obviously hadn't been cleaned in a few days.

Clenching my now clean hand into a fist, I entered the pavilion. The first thing I looked at was the books on Demonic Musicians. If I was going to mentor some kids in the Dao of Rock, I needed to know what they were learning first. It couldn't be the normal four arts techniques — Zither, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting.

Four arts cultivation was similar to the way of the sword. Those who practiced each art cultivated by improving their techniques and coming closer to the heavenly concept of the four arts. They could even gain the approval of the heavens in the form of an epiphany.

What I had to do was find what was different about these Demonic Musicians. Were they even close to a zither player?

After flipping through a few basic manuals, I quickly learned that the path of a demonic musician was fucking weird.

Traditionally, the music played by a four arts practitioner could do a variety of things. Healing or harming the soul was its best known use. It was perfect for helping Ghosty. But aside from that, it could affect the mood of the listener, similar to what I did with the Wolf Howl. Those skilled enough could even send a musical Qi attack that could cut an enemy down. The techniques a musical expert could pull off were very versatile. But this Demonic Musician thing was... It was like someone had extracted the part of the four arts that they wanted to focus on and added something allegedly new and powerful. So strong that it was cursed as being demonic by the people that it was used on when it had nothing to do with evil energy at all.

Sadly, these manuals didn't go into detail about it aside from mentioning that it activated when demonic musicians played together and synced their emotions. I'd have to look into it more when I entered the inner sect. Especially since this might be a lie added to the manual to throw off someone not in the know.

Next, I read through a beginner poisoner manual and a spiritual herb list. There weren't any new plants I hadn't heard of already, and the intro was filled with lies and misconceptions about alchemy. Few people would be able to sift the lies from the truth without a great amount of knowledge, which I happened to have.

This just proved that I couldn't trust the information on demonic musicians. Fuck.

Gold String leaned over, his brow furrowed. "Formations, demonic music, and poison? Aren't you worried that you'll pull yourself in too many directions?"

I put the manual back on the shelf. "Everyone needs hobbies."

"Maybe, but poison is a bit extreme for a hobby."

I stared into his eyes. "A wise man once said that when you're in a war, knowing what you're up against is half the battle."

"…"

Little Spring spoke up. "That sounds very profound, little sister Linlin."

I placed my hands behind my back so I wouldn't be tempted to flick the brat's glabella. "Senior Joe would be very happy to hear you say that."

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 10 🎸)

Little Spring walked over while carrying a tome on Beast Blood Contractors. His brow furrowed and his eyes lost focus.

"Find something troubling?" I asked.

"It's just. Very different from what I thought it would be like."

I grabbed the tome from his hands and looked through it. Since I couldn't believe what I read, I skimmed through it again.

I didn't know much about beast taming, but even I knew that there were several standard contracts.

The one most known for being a beast taming trope in Xianxia were slave contracts. From what I remembered, these made the beast die if its master did as well; however, if the beast died, the master wouldn't suffer any backlash. This forced the beast to keep the owner alive at all costs.

Another one was the Equals contract. In this world, both parties using this contract, agreed to work with each other so they both improved. There would be equal backlash if either party died which ranged from no pain at all to death depending on the terms.

The rarest type of contract was the subservient contract where the tamer would feel backlash or die when their beast died, but the beast wouldn't receive anything negative. Usually, this type of contract was reserved for incredibly powerful beasts contracting with weak cultivators. From what I'd seen, it was unpleasant for the tamer as they practically served their tamed beast.

This Beast Blood contract was an equals contract like I'd never seen before. It required a bath in an alchemical solution that included the willingly-given blood of the beast. It connected the two as partners for life and allowed the tamer to share their beast's physical strength. Of course, this manual didn't mention the major drawback of the technique — that the tamer would grow animal parts and gain the weaknesses of their beast as a side effect.

I closed the tome. As I expected, the bath's recipe wasn't listed. Surprisingly, I couldn't even guess at what spiritual herbs they'd use to accomplish it.

As curious as I was about it, I was not here for beast-taming secrets. I had other things I had to do this month.

I handed the tome back to him.

::I don't recommend going through with their strange taming method.::

::Yes, sister Lin!::

Gold String frowned. "You looked through that so fast. Did you even understand any of it?"

I shrugged. "I once heard of a man who could flip through books faster than me and still retain all the information." Of course, that ability was from a different fictional universe.

"Impossible."

"Jealous?"

"What? No."

"Well, I am." I could only replicate a fraction of that ability back when I was in immortal Ascension. "Anyway, I'm done here."

Gold String blinked. "You just casually flipped through a bunch of manuals. You couldn't have found out much."

"I have more questions than answers at this point, which is why I think we should go find some kids we can con—vince into letting us mentor them."

Gold String frowned. "Are you going to bully them like you did to me?"

I pulled out the bass to show it off.

"I am giving you the chance of a lifetime. Look at these curves." I strummed a deep chord, sending a beautiful sound through the pavilion. "And this clear, lovely sound. You know you want to play it."

He placed his hands behind his back as if preventing himself from grabbing it. He scowled.

I threw it back into the space and shrugged. "Look, I won't force you into it. Nothing is worse for a musician's cultivation than playing music they hate." This was a concept I had firsthand knowledge of.

"You were very forceful earlier," he said.

"That's because I want you. You're a talented sprout who would make an excellent addition to the band I'm putting together. But not if you can't appreciate rock."

"… Oh." His eyes turned thoughtful. Maybe I was finally getting him to consider it?

Little Spring tugged on my sleeve. "Little Sister Linlin, I still have a lot to read here, so I'll see you later."

::It will be good for you to read about a different cultivation method. Just keep in mind that this sect practices an unorthodox path. It may look more powerful than what we practice, but it often comes with horrible and sometimes growth-stunting side effects. Their techniques also have weaknesses that can be easily targeted compared to ours.::

::I'll keep that in mind.::

I nodded, then turned to Gold String. "If I find a worthy student, the bass is going to them."

"It's your instrument," he said before turning back to the manuals on demonic musicians. He was totally pretending that he wasn't fascinated by the new genre of music and a never-before-heard sound.

Maybe I needed to play more songs for him to get interested. Three couldn't be enough. And after a few more, and maybe a lecture, if he still didn't want to learn, I'd focus my efforts on more malleable students.

***All it took was a quick check with my divine sense to find where the demonic musicians practiced in the outer sect. There were several sound-restricted spaces for them to play in private, but there were also a few areas where teachers could lecture to everyone.

A disgruntled-looking attendant guarded those open-air lecture spaces. After coming to an agreement with him, I exchanged a few healing pills for a few hours in the largest space. Next, I paid a random musician walking by to spread the news that I'd be lecturing soon on the Dao of Rock.

When I stepped onto the lecture area's main stage, I looked out over the empty seating.

In my past life, I'd introduced rock to this world with no master plan. I gave kids several hundred songs — most of them only half-remembered. They took them and explored the genre. But those students never had a cultural connection to those songs. It didn't help that the music practiced by cultivators tended to mirror Classical Chinese music in that they were often, though not always, monophonic. This meant that they had a single beautiful melodic line with note variations not seen in most classical Western-style music. Of course, the increase in range and variation made it difficult to harmonize or have a counterpoint melody, which the Western styles excelled in.

What my students did was brilliant. They took some of the familiar melodies that could translate well on the guitar and built rock songs around those, artificially creating a bridge between the beautiful songs they'd been studying their whole lives and the rock they'd come to love. Though, I imagine it helped that rock was the child of blues, a style of music that was in between monophonic and harmonic.

Unfortunately, by the time those kids wrote music that connected the two styles, the elder's perceptions of rock had already been colored in a negative light. They refused to change their minds, the stubborn donkey-brained assholes.

While it was important to find a mentee right away, it was even more important that I introduce rock to this culture in a way that would appeal to these demonic musicians so that the future I remembered didn't happen again. My plan started with introducing several of the songs that bridged the gap.

Even after I decided how I'd structure the lecture, there was still no audience.

"If you play, they will come."

I started by increasing the volume on my guitar to half its max. Next, I played a song called "Phoenix Revived" created by Fairy Winter Medley. It was a piece reminiscent of A Phoenix Seeks His Mate. By the time I finished, I had finally gathered a crowd. Some of them looked confused, others fascinated. A couple of older Qi Condensation musicians had irritated expressions on their faces. One or two Foundation Establishment cultivators even showed up. They secretly held recording crystals. I didn't call them out on it since I wanted this lecture to spread far and wide.

I played two more gap-bridging songs that became more harmonic before I lectured about music theory, chord progression, and working together to build a complex song made of standardized notes that harmonized with each other.

Then, instead of taking questions, I began to play a series of songs, bringing everyone in the crowd with me through the comparatively short history of rock.

I started with the song that became a model for rock and roll itself, Tutti Frutti from the 1950s, written by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie. Next, I explored the 1960s with While My Guitar Gently Weeps written by George Harrison and originally performed by the Beatles. Obviously, I couldn't resist adding Purple Haze written by one of the best guitarists in my past-life's history, Jimi Hendrix, who pushed the technical limits of the electric guitar. Then I moved into the 1970s with a classic that nobody could resist, Free Bird.

By the time I switched to the 1980s with Don't Stop Believin' by Journey, I'd filled up the whole lecture hall.

Well, they wouldn't be musicians if they didn't attempt to understand a new genre of music.

I finished up with Come as You Are by Nirvana from the 1990s.

Of course, without a full band, the effect was muted, but the spirit was there.

Now that I'd explained the concept of harmonic music and shown a progression of music, that was when I started explaining where Rock came from.

Since it would make me sound fucked in the head if I told these cultivators that their universe was inside a dumbass Xianxia web novel and that these songs came from the real universe, I decided to go with a more plausible lie: That I came across these songs in the ruins of an ancient civilization. I described the vast inheritance that included hundreds of songs, both mundane and spiritual, with a rich history that was lost to time.

I then continued by lecturing on the basics of the Dao of Rock before ending my long lecture by saying, "If this music inspired you and you want to learn to play it, come up to me any time, and I'll teach you."

I expected a few cultivators to come greet me. There were certainly a few excited eyes in the crowd. But a cultivator at the peak of Qi Condensation with a sour face stepped up.

"Don't waste your breath. No one here will learn from you."

I crossed my arms. "Are you going to stop them?"

"No, but if they approach you, they'll be punished by Eight Blaring Tones."

"And who is that?"

Sour Face sneered. "Your esteemed senior in the inner sect."

Again with this stupid hazing?

"Without his approval, no demonic musician will learn from you."

I grinned. If no one would learn from me publicly, I could just teach them in secret. The idea of creating an underground rock movement was pretty intriguing. When things were forbidden, they became even more appealing to those misunderstood youngsters. And what kids were more misunderstood than those in a violent unorthodox sect?

I memorized the faces of those whose eyes sparkled the most. If I had enough time, I'd make enough instruments for them to practice on and start a secret rock scene. Muahahaha!

Sour Face frowned. "You don't look upset."

"That's because I'm not the one missing out." I waved them all to get out. "My lecture is over."

As the audience slowly left, I played the best song to end on, Closing Time by Semisonic.

I added Eight Blaring Tones to my general shit list. If they pushed my buttons I might move them to my Fairy Lin's People to Kill (When you Can) List.

***Being denied mentees wasn't entirely a bad thing. It gave me an excuse to do what I originally came here to do — snoop around the sect. Mostly, I listened in on conversations and discovered gossip I didn't give a shit about. Some of it was pretty juicy, though. For instance, there was a fairy who was flirting with one cultivator in public but spent the night with another.

There was also a puppeteer who had crafted her most recent puppet to look suspiciously like a senior brother of hers.

The last piece of information I learned was that a poison body cultivator was having trouble and was on the cusp of being labeled 'trash'. Apparently, he had taken the poisons he needed to increase his realm twice, but they hadn't worked. Some jerks in an alley I passed were going to use that as an excuse to steal the third set he'd just purchased after saving up for a year.

Frankly, the lack of information about the scroll or demonic cultivators was annoying. Those goddamn movies from my past-past life lied to me. Being a spy was fucking boring.

As I reached a fountain where outer sect disciples gathered water, I heard a rhythmic sound coming from a nearby courtyard like a heavy drum. I used my divine sense to take a peek and found that it was just a poison body cultivator practicing an unorthodox martial art against a leather-covered Iron Wood log. Each of his strikes sent a crack through the metal-strong wood. While I'd never seen his techniques before, I could tell from the force behind his punches that he was proficient in them.

Damn. And here I'd thought I'd found a good drummer. Not for the band I'd need to help wake up Ghosty, but for a mentee. There was no way a guy this talented would give up body cultivation to become a demonic musician.

Just before I pulled my divine sense back, the same half dozen poison body cultivators from the alley burst into his courtyard.

"Three Drops Silent Toxin," the tallest of them said.

"You could have chosen a better way to talk, Fellow Daoist Broken Serpent." He nodded to the others in the group. "What brings you to my courtyard?

"Just give us the poison pills and we'll leave," Broken Serpent's familiar voice said.

Three Drops cracked his neck and stretched his arms. "And if I refuse?"

Malicious laughs sounded from the group.

Three Drops Silent Toxin didn't wait for the mob to answer further. He threw the first punch at Broken Serpent's face. Even I heard the crack as the hit connected, sending the man flying out of Three Drop's gate. He landed at my feet, spat out a mouthful of blood, which I backed away from. Next, he jumped up and ran back into the fray.

"It's not like you need those pills!" One of the guys said while throwing a punch at Three Drop's weak spot under his armpit. The strike made contact, sending the man barreling into a wall. He coughed, spraying those closest to him with blood.

Yep, that was still the grossest way to tell how damaged someone was.

Broken Serpent sneered. "Come on, let's take him to the dueling area and put him out of his misery."

Hmmm. If this Three Drops was at an unsurpassable bottleneck, like these thief assholes believed, I might be able to get him to switch paths. While not everyone could cultivate multiple paths like I could — thanks to my Phoenix Constitution — having a second path wasn't that rare.

And, if I succeeded, I could snag a mentee.

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 11 🎸)

"Or you could give up your pills and we'll let you live," Broken Serpent offered.

Three Drops Silent Toxin seemed to think about it for a moment, then punched the nearest guy — a bald poison body cultivator — in the face before taking out a knife.

Baddie clutched his nose and took a few steps back, then joined two others in dog-piling Three Drops, who managed to stab a fox-eyed girl in the shoulder before getting dragged to the ground face-down. They started tying him with Qi-reinforced ropes.

What a fuckin' mess. These cultivators were unorthodox for a reason. I mean, there were so many weak points they could have hit but didn't. And the knife hadn't even done much damage.

Broken Serpent grabbed Three Drop's dark hair and forced him to look up at him.

The guy may have gotten caught, but he had left his enemies injured and was still struggling.

"Last chance," Broken Serpent said, "give us the poisons or we'll drag you to the dueling grounds to die."

Three Drops spat on the man's cheek.

Disgusted, he wiped the spit off his face. "Death it is!"

I liked this kid. He had spunk.

As the three cultivators lifted Three Drops to his feet, I walked into the courtyard with my hands behind my back, looking like the badass master I was. Then I used my internal Qi to pressure the body cultivators. They froze. The girl with the dagger in her shoulder coughed up a mouthful of blood.

They all stared at me, a little shocked.

"Senior?" Serpent asked through gritted teeth. "I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to us juniors."

I ignored him and glanced at Three Drops. His dark lavender eyes narrowed at me.

"Become my mentee and I'll save you from these assholes."

"…"

"I can also help you with your cultivation."

He must have gone through a lot of shitty experiences because his expression told me he suspected I'd set this whole thing up. "I don't need it."

Well, if he wanted to seek death, I wasn't going to stop him from being an idiot. He probably had his own circumstances, anyway.

"Alright. I'll just find another mentee." I let up the pressure and started walking away.

The six body cultivators began giving Three Drops Silent Toxin small punches that likely stung like a bitch but didn't do much damage.

"Ow! W-wait! Senior. I was kidding. I agree! Of course, I agree!"

I used Impossible Leap to appear right beside Three Drops. Next, I grabbed the ropes binding him and pulled him out of the brawl like he weighed nothing. I used another movement technique to appear right outside the group of poison body cultivators.

Mentee get! Muahahaha!

They froze when they realized he wasn't there. Then they turned to me with wide eyes.

I grinned at them. "Scram."

They quickly scattered into the deeper parts of the outer sect.

"It's good to see that the cultivators here aren't total idiots."

"Senior, are you a rogue cultivator who just entered the sect?"

I set Three Drops down and scanned him with my divine sense.

"Yes. And you can call me Senior Linlin."

I sliced his ropes off with sword Qi then scanned him with divine sense. Three Drops had 28 bruises and 5 torn muscles. He also had a shit ton of poison in his system. While that was expected from a poison body cultivator, there was something off about it. From what I'd read in the past about this type of body cultivation, the poisons were supposed to be in perfect balance, but his were all messed up. They were, however, fucked up in a way that made it appear balanced. It was kind of like solving a math problem incorrectly, but still getting the right answer. It was no wonder he couldn't improve.

His situation might be more complicated than I realized. That said, it wouldn't be impossible to fix.

I handed him a peak-quality generic healing dan. He moved to pocket it greedily — like any money-starved cultivator who thought they could just heal up in a couple of days.

I scowled and grabbed his hand. "Eat it."

"Yes, Senior."

When I let go, he carefully put it in his mouth. Moisture gathered at the corner of his eyes. For some reason, I felt like I'd bullied him.

What the hell? That was mine originally.

He sat down to cycle the healing energy. Once his injuries vanished, he stood up and glanced at me. "Senior, are you a body cultivator? I didn't hear about the sect accepting one this time."

"They didn't."

"Oh! Then you must be a beast blood contractor!"

"Got it wrong again." I took out my guitar and strummed a tune.

He froze with a strained smile on his face. "Can I take it back?"

I grinned. "Only if you throw up the pill I gave you."

He looked up at the sky as if he regretted his life choices. What a punk. He has the perfect personality for learning the Dao of Rock!

"Don't worry. I'm not going to force you to learn this instrument."

He looked excited.

I brought out a drum set. "Instead, I'll introduce you to percussion. I have a feeling you'll like this."

He took a step back and held up both hands. "Senior. I'm not a demonic musician."

"I don't remember reading a sect rule that says body cultivators can't become one."

"No, but musical cultivators are all physically weak. That will affect my combat abilities."

I scowled at him. "Don't assume that. It actually depends on the cultivation method and instrument they play. Do I look fragile to you?"

"No." He eyed the drum set suspiciously.

"Tell you what. Let me teach you for a week, and put your utmost effort into learning — if you end up hating music, we can go our separate ways and I'll consider it payment in full for the pill. I'll also protect you while you're my mentee."

"I already can't refuse."

"I won't force you to learn. You always have a choice." I returned the drum set to the space. "Now, do you happen to know someone else in a similar situation to yourself?"

He grimaced. "You mean a desperate outer sect disciple?"

"Who is also under 30."

He frowned. "No one who would want to become a demonic musician."

"Then what about someone willing to try it for a week? Who also has musical talent?"

He struggled for a minute, then hit his hand against his palm. "Oh! There was this fairy I went on a mission with last year who might be interested."

"Then lead the way!"

***Three Drops Silent Toxin brought me through winding streets into the lightly forested section of the sect. Eventually, we reached a large building where smoke from several forges spiraled into the sky. The yard outside was surrounded by tall trees that cast shade on various work tables. One was littered with bones, gears, wires, and tools. A girl with black hair and panther ears tinkered with a human-shaped puppet made out of treated spiritual beast bones.

A woman with white hair and panda ears stood beside her, sneering and whispering into her ear.

She scowled, "Look. I asked you to give me advice, not to berate my choices."

Panda Ears crossed her arms. "Shadow Panther, your choices are the mistake. All your problems would be solved if you return to building and controlling beast-form puppets. Our technique needs the bones of spiritual beasts to work. The best way to use those bones is to create puppets in the shape of the original beast. All of our control methods are based on that assumption, so what you're trying to do is stupid."

Three Drops Silent Toxin pointed to Shadow Panther. "That's her."

Perfect! A puppeteer! And, judging by her ears, a beast tamer, as well.

This girl had the potential to be a whole band by herself! As long as she had some musical talent, I could turn her into a rock star. Muahahaha!

I walked over to the table, put my hands behind my back, and puffed up my chest. "I think she just needs to make her own method that works with this sect's fundamentals."

Panda Ears scoffed. "And who are you?"

"She's Senior Linlin, a rogue cultivator who just joined the sect," Three Drops Silent Toxin mentioned helpfully.

She crossed her arms. "I didn't know that we had any new rogue puppeteers."

I ignored her and peered at the puppet Shadow Panther was working on.

Puppets were, essentially, a very complex spiritual tool. While I'd focused mostly on weapons, instruments, and defensive tools, I had certainly made many of these back in the day. Each one earned me a hefty sum of spirit stones and divine treasures for my work.

It was the cost that usually led puppeteers down the path of puppet maker as well. Especially in a backwater area like this that didn't raise up enough spiritual item smiths.

"I can teach you how to make this work... for a price."

Her eyes widened.

"While she is our senior, I wouldn't listen to her if I were you," Panda Ears said. "Rogue cultivators don't have a good foundation, and she's obviously new, so working with her will upset the inner sect disciples."

Shadow Panther bit her lip. "What's the price?"

"Be my mentee for at least a week."

"A week?!" Panda Ears scoffed. "I doubt you can solve a problem Shadow Panther has been working on for years in only a few days."

I sent her a vicious smile. "Reality doesn't care about your doubts." I gestured to the puppet. "I haven't even scanned this puppet with divine sense but I've already picked out three areas she can fix that will help get her puppet working. Can you do that?"

She snorted delicately. "That's not that hard, since this whole thing is a mess."

"No, it isn't. It's very clever and just needs a few adjustments."

Shadow Panther turned to me, her eyes sparkling. "If you can actually help me, I'll be in your debt and I'll learn absolutely everything you are willing to teach me! I promise to be your most humble and dedicated student."

Panda Ears stepped forward. "That is, if you're able to help her. If you can't, then go look elsewhere for a mentee."

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. "Just show me the area you have the most trouble with."

Shadow Panther pointed to the sun-bleached spiritual beast bones that made up the knee joints.

"This joint here. I just can't get the bones to work right. My puppet always ends up looking unnatural when it walks, almost like it's flopping around."

I nodded. "Changing the joints to move bipedally is one of the hardest parts. It seems like you're using the wrong joint shape for this bone type. Aside from that, you are also neglecting the energy channels. How they tunnel through the bones affects the sturdiness and movement. You'll have to reshape these bones so the energy channels don't conflict with the way you're using them."

She frowned as she looked over the puppet. Then she paled. "Oh! You're right. I can't believe I neglected that." Her panther ears drooped. "But how do I fix it?"

Unfortunately, Panda Girl hadn't stopped hovering, so I turned my back to her. "That's a secret. I can only tell you once we get to my courtyard. I refuse to expose my forging secrets to an outsider."

"Of course, senior!" She started placing everything into a red bag with a gold panther embroidered on it. "It's an honor to be taught puppetry by a master like yourself."

"Ah? Did I forget to mention?" I was too excited to teach someone who could become a full band. It must have slipped my mind. "I won't be mentoring you in puppetry. Not exactly."

She froze and slowly turned to me. "But... you obviously know what you're doing when it comes to creating puppets."

"Well, I am a master item forger. I have to be to create new instruments." I pulled out my guitar. "You're going to be learning about the Dao of Rock."

Her eyes — which looked a bit betrayed — darted to Three Drops Silent Toxin, who shrugged. "Good times should be shared."

"Ah. So I'll learn music... and not puppeteering?" Her face appeared soulless as she spoke.

"I'm not going to force you."

She smiled wanly. "You're the only one I know who has tried to work with me at what I want to accomplish without admonishing me. I don't think I have much of a choice."

"Well, I don't want you to give up puppetry entirely. I was actually thinking of a way you could use your human-shaped puppets to play rock."

Her eyes sparkled. "Really? Then let's go!"

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 12 🎸)

As I escorted Shadow Panther and Three Drops back to my courtyard, I started giving them introductions on the Dao of Rock. Since I planned to put these two through hell for the next week, I figured that I should start early.

After lecturing for a while, I paused to let the topics sink in.

Shadow Panther's brow furrowed. "Ah, Senior Linlin?"

"What?"

"If I remember correctly, the test for rogue cultivators to enter the inner sect needs you to help us improve our cultivation or combat effectiveness."

"Yes."

"If that's your goal, then I don't see how having a demonic musician puppet would be stronger than a poisoner or sword-wielding puppet."

I stopped and narrowed my eyes at her.

She held up both hands. "Not that demonic musicians are frail… I just don't have a good grasp on what they're capable of."

"Actually," Three Drops said. "I'm having the same problem. It's hard to visualize how this 'rock' can help me with my strength."

"Then I guess I'll have to show you that the Dao of Rock isn't weak. It could be what saves you if you get into a tight spot."

We turned a corner to see a crowd of cultivators gathered in front of my gate. Most of them were at Qi Condensation, but three were in Foundation Establishment — which included the leader. He had golden-yellow hair that surrounded his face like a mane and round lion ears. Next to him, a guy wore a beard that reminded me of that live-action Monkey King movie from my past-past life. The last Foundation Establishment guy was heavyset with a small rhino horn growing out of his forehead.

Lion tamer grinned when his fox-like eyes spotted me. He stepped forward. "Little sister Linlin! Welcome to the sect. I'm your older martial brother, Hard Iron Roar."

Ugh. This guy looked like trouble. I was half-tempted to ignore him and enter my courtyard, but — if I could avoid it — I wouldn't get on their bad side while I was spying on this sect.

I bowed. "Greetings, older martial brothers."

The satisfaction in his eyes made me want to punch his face. I might be trying to get home but I wouldn't allow these kids to take advantage of me.

"I heard that you were having trouble finding mentees."

"You must have misheard. I already found some." I gestured to my two shiny new students who smiled awkwardly and bowed to greet their seniors.

"Impossible!"

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

He cleared his throat. "I mean. From what I understood, there are no demonic musicians who would mentee under you."

"You say that like they're the only ones who can learn about music."

He opened his mouth.

"Anyway, I'm busy. Let's talk later when I have more time."

A vein ticked on his forehead. He breathed out. This fucker had some obvious anger issues and I had zero intention of spending more time with him.

I took a step toward my courtyard but he blocked me. "Since I'm already here, I'll say it simply. When I saw you play yesterday, I realized that you were the most interesting woman I'd ever seen. I can't stand the thought of you facing any hardships in the sect. If you become one of my women, I can protect you."

Eeeew. So many levels of ew.

The worst part was that, this guy's character-type always fucking showed up in every Xianxia. And in this universe, it felt like they appeared every five steps. Usually protagonists killed guys like this to save their next braindead wife. That inevitably led to them getting chased by the asshole's unreasonable father or ancestor for revenge.

Frankly, I should have realized that aging up my appearance would make these gross fuckers show up again. Back in my past life I seemed to run into them every few decades or so. I'd often have to squash them like bugs to get my point across. It helped that I had a massive and powerful sect behind me that would often take care of any fallout.

Now that I thought about it, Little Spring had been very aware of the audience while I was playing. He probably saw that something was up when he told me my song was dangerous.

Whatever. It wasn't like I couldn't take care of myself.

I crossed my arms. "Stop speaking nonsense. I don't need your protection."

"Heh. I don't think you understand your position. It's well known that demonic musicians are physically weak. If you become my dual cultivation partner, I can offer you safety and cultivation resources."

How the fuck had he made it worse? With assholes like this littering the dumbass author's Xianxia universe, was it any wonder why I'd sworn off finding a romantic partner?

I resisted pulling out my sword and hacking him to death. Instead, I took out my guitar and said to my new students. "Stand off to the side and pay attention. I'm about to show you the power of rock!"

They bowed and took a few steps back. "Yes, Senior Linlin!"

I flicked my sleeve as I turned back to Hard Iron Roar. "I don't know how things work here, but I'm not weak. In fact. I can beat all of your asses."

He scoffed, then gestured to the ground in front of him. A massive Lion spiritual beast appeared. Its fluffy ears twitched, and it growled at me. Next he pulled out a sky rank sword spiritual weapon. "As your older martial brothers, we'll show you exactly how weak you are."

The other two Foundation Establishment cultivators pulled out a Fire Ape and a White Three Star Rhino that stomped threateningly at me.

Frankly, I was shocked they didn't attack me on sight like City Lord Bountiful Tenacity's beasts. It made me curious about their taming techniques.

Hard Iron Roar ran a hand through his hair and grinned arrogantly. "Still think you can beat us?"

I reminded myself that melting this guy's face might be a bit too harsh of a punishment. But I could definitely cause him to pass out and lose face. I knew just the melody to help me do it. The short song was created by Three Winds Sleeping Serenade who excelled at music that put people to sleep. It was heavily inspired by Tom Cardy'sAbout 8 Hours and was the most aggressive and metal lullaby ever.

I focused my mind and inserted spiritual energy into my guitar. As soon as I played the first chords, the beasts ran toward me.

Of course, I wouldn't be just relying on my music. I sent a blade of sword Qi at each of their weak points. The lion and the ape dodged, but the bulky rhino wasn't able to move fast enough. It crashed to the ground and slid to a stop.

When the lion reached me, it raised a paw the size of my head and slashed down. I jumped back while blocking the attack with my battle guitar, just in time to match the original beat, causing my instrument to ring out and enhance the song.

Hard Iron Roar's blade flew toward me, but I blocked each attack in time to the song, using it as a replacement for percussion.

"Can't you just become my woman?" Hard Iron Roar called.

"No!" I sang and struck the sword on the weak point I noticed it had, sending it flying to embed into the wall. Since it didn't return, I assumed it got stuck.

The lion attacked me once more, but I jumped over the attack and sent out three lines of sword Qi, slashing its chin, eyes, and ears, leaving deep wounds. It briefly struggled to continue, but fell down with a loud bang.

"No! Golden Lion!"

I suddenly jumped back to catch the Fire Ape's fist against the edge of my guitar. Then I simultaneously threw out sword Qi attacks at its heart, above its spleen and at its eyes — the famous weak points of the Fire Ape. They landed and carved deep gashes into the beast's fur. It didn't kill it, but it weakened it enough to make it fall asleep from my song.

I continued to play as I walked over to the three men. "Go to sleep, motherfuckers!" I sang… or maybe yelled. Either way, I aggressively willed these bitches to pass the fuck out.

Their eyelids drooped. Monkey Beard pulled out a staff, which he used to briefly hold himself up before he fell face first into the ground, and started snoring. Rhino Horn Guy put on golden knuckles before dropping to one knee. He punched his own arm to stay awake, but ended up falling onto his side with his eyes closed.

The cultivator who held onto consciousness the longest was, unsurprisingly, Hard Iron Roar. He pulled out two lioness beasts who immediately attacked me. I played the last chord, forcing the man to sleep. He fell onto the street and rolled to his back.

I kicked one golden claw away while swinging my battle guitar at the other. The force and energy I put into each attack sent both flying. They hit the courtyard walls on opposite sides. Fortunately, the walls were made of decent materials since they only dented a bit.

The two beasts stood up and shook their heads.

I grinned. "Why don't you two back down or your master's cultivation base gets it?"

I rested my foot on Hard Iron Roar's dantian.

They stilled. I could see them struggle between their care for their tamer and their natural hatred of me. Eventually their care won out.

This sect had a damn impressive taming technique.

My two mentees had wide eyes and looked like they wanted to applaud but weren't sure how to go about it. I looked forward to hearing what they had to say about the Dao of Rock now. They should also realize how badass their teacher was. Muahahaha!

"Little Sister Linlin?" The kid's disguised voice came to my ears, but I didn't take my eyes off the beasts. Of course, I also heard a few young feminine giggles near him. What the fuck happened while I was gone?

"Ah, Senior Verdant Spring. Did you find your two mentees?"

Xiao Bai ran up and placed his paws on the stomach of Hard Iron Roar beside my foot, as if we were playing a game. "Good puppy!" I bent down and patted the dog on his head.

"Bork!"

The lionesses shivered and backed into the wall.

When I glanced behind me, I saw Little Spring surrounded by a few girls who appeared to be around eleven or twelve. Many of them were blushing and trying to get the brat's attention by whispering comments to him behind fans. It was almost like watching a miniature version of that donkey brained fucker, Bloodsword and his harem. What the actual fuck? Was this part of his protagonist halo?

I scowled at the shitty déjà vu this was giving me, then sighed.

As his martial sister and teacher, I could only give this brat the tools to understand the world around him so he could make educated decisions. He had to make his own choices in life. Even if they were the wrong ones. Like taking mentees who obviously had a crush on him. Girls in this universe could be deceptive and vicious as fuck. Especially the young preteens who didn't know any better.

Little Spring ran out from the crowd, his brow furrowed.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Ah, this guy thought I was weak, so I taught him a very important lesson on how strong four arts cultivators can be."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Sister Linlin, want me to take care of the cleanup here? Now that you've found some mentees, you must be eager to start teaching them."

Oh! That would save me a lot of time! What a good, thoughtful kid! "I'd appreciate that." I pointed back toward the girls. "Did you pick up a bunch of mentees?"

He glanced back at his followers and scowled. "No. I ignored them, but they won't leave me alone."

Ah! So, he hadn't taken them as his students. Excellent decision! "Have you not pressured them using your divine sense?"

::I was going to use spiritual energy, but I thought they might tell that I came from a righteous sect from its energy, even with the disguise technique.::

::If you're not confident about masking your energy, then that's a wise choice.::

"I haven't had too much practice with divine sense. I'm worried I'll crush them to death and get kicked out."

Of course! I knew I'd forgotten to go over something with the brat when I'd taught him how to use his divine sense.

"I can help you with that."

He nodded.

"You'll want to surround them with divine sense and gently put a physical pressure on them. Like this." I showed him what I meant by using it on him.

"You can try to resist me as well."

His eyes widened. "So strong," he mumbled.

::Never forget that I'm your older martial sister, brat.::

::Yes, Sister Lin!::

"Now practice on me, since no matter how much divine sense you use, you won't hurt me."

I felt a light pressure on my mind, then body. I shook my head. "This strength would definitely hurt them. Go lighter, but have an intent to make them make way for you."

He nodded. And I felt the pressure lighten but change in demeanor. "There you go. That's the right amount to use against kids like them."

Of course, by the time I'd finished my lesson, the girls had all scattered. Good to see the kids in this sect weren't all stupid like Hard Iron Roar. It gave me hope that I wouldn't somehow run into one of Bloodsword's wives here.

"I better take care of this mess before they wake up. See you in a while, Sister Linlin!" Little Spring used his spiritual energy to lift and carry two of the three inner sect disciples. He waved as he turned a corner, with Xiao Bai running close behind him.