“S-senior?”

The poison master let out a calming breath, then carefully dropped the soul gem into Gold String’s palm.

“It’s done.”

“Really?!” He clutched the gem tightly.

“But he’s still injured and in a coma.”

I briefly squeezed Gold String’s shoulder. “Good thing we wrote the perfect song to heal him.”

He bit his lip, then nodded.“Yes, bandleader!” Then he bowed with his hands clasped toward Noxious. “And thank you, senior! If there is anything I can do to help you and the sect, please ask. I will repay this debt with my life if I have to.”

The poison master sighed. “For now, just… go clean up. I’ll have to have a long discussion with your ancestor once he’s awake.”

He bowed again, then hurried off.

And that was when the Nascent Soul turned toward me. He looked pissed.

::Fairy Lin, the Great Martial Aunt of the Indomitable Will Sect, I presume?::

::What? Who is that?::

::I overheard Grandmaster Black Cauldron.::

Of fucking course he did.

::But you sent me that information which confirmed it.::

Damn it.

It was a good thing I could now enter the space if this situation became dangerous.

::Only the orthodox faction would have such an advanced way of dealing with the demonic sect’s soul enslavement technique. And only an ancestor of a major sect like you would know it at your insignificant realm.::

I crossed my arms. ::So, are you planning to soul-search me? You can try but you’ll regret it.::

He scowled.

::You know, since I’m still the best shot your sect has at fixing the damage your flawed bath did to your disciples.::

He ran his hand through his black and yellow hair, causing some dust from his earlier fight to fall out. ::I know that.::

::I also saved my friend, your niece, from a disease you couldn’t resolve.::

He looked away. His cheeks turned red.

::My band also helped save the sect by purifying the evil souls in that damn scroll you guys stupidly kept around. Besides, you have no right to be furious with me for hiding my identity when you looked like you were about to murder me.::

::I wasn’t planning to harm you back then! I was just trying to scare you a little and stop you from leaving:: He grimaced. ::But now that you’re acting as a member of an unorthodox sect, you can see for yourself the discrimination we face.::

Sure.

::You saw how long the Alchemists’ Guild took to send help. And that was with your insistence! It’s like that with everything! Do you understand why I’m so hostile to the righteous faction when they believe we’re evil and in league with the demonic cult simply because of our practices and techniques?::

I sighed. ::Not everyone in the orthodox sects believe that. And I never did. I didn’t believe it even after you were a huge asshole to me for no reason.::

::...I may have been a little too harsh with you back then.::

::More than a little, you punk!::

He narrowed his eyes at me and used his divine sense to try to gently pressure me, which didn’t work. ::I’m still two major realms higher than you.::

::And if you believe I’m only a mere grandmaster alchemist after working with me, you’re a fool. I’m your senior when it comes to alchemy and I should be respected as such.::

He paused for a moment as he thought it through, then nodded.

I clasped my hands behind my back like the little master I was. ::Imagine if you’d asked me for advice when we first met. You could have resolved your niece’s issues yourself. Instead, you made an enemy out of me because of your own thoughtless anger!::

His hands clenched into fists then relaxed. ::… You’re right, forgive me.::

What?! He said that so easily. And, by the look on his face, he actually meant it.

After straightening my back, I nodded. ::I accept your apology. But you should also apologize for insulting Immortal Zhenren at the convention before my master’s friends hear about it and call hell down on this sect.::

He clenched his fist and paled. ::I’ll apologize for that too. At the time, I was desperate. I had to do everything I could to save my niece.::

::I understand. Dread Lotus is worth doing stupid things for.:: She and my fellow band members didn’t hesitate to come to my rescue. Friendship like that wasn’t nothing.

I glanced across the way where Dread Lotus and Azure were happily discussing the next song they wanted to compose now that they’d seen their music in action. They should have been cleaning up, but whatever.

“How about we take this conversation back to your immortal cave once we’re done here? We can even have a practice session.” Dread Lotus suggested.

“My cave does have the best acoustics.”

“And then maybe we can try a duet or two. I hear you’re good at those.”

Azure froze. Her face turned bright red. “It would be an honor to play a duet with you.”

::I request that you stay and continue to help me treat our disciples. Once you’ve completed the cure, I’ll do whatever I can to return you and your junior brother to your sect.::

He looked serious. And I could tell that he wasn’t trying to fuck me over, which was, frankly, surprising, coming from this fucked up Xianxia universe. ::Fine. But I’d like to keep learning about poisons.::

::That’s out of the question. How could we teach an outsider our poison arts? You’ve already learned too much.::

::Then should I stop teaching your disciples about the Dao of Rock... the same art that purified all those evil spirits and prevented the demonic cult from wiping out your sect?::

He frowned.

::Exchanging information will make us both stronger. That way we’ll defeat even more of those evil bastards.::

::Still. We can’t risk our secrets being known by the orthodox faction.::

::Then I can swear that only myself and my junior brother will study it. It’s not like we want others in our sect to know we’ve learned this.::

He hesitated.

I had him. I just needed to push a little more.

::I wasn’t kidding when I said that the demonic cult is secretly growing. What you just faced was a small force led by one of their leader’s disciples. Next time, they might send out an army so powerful that everyone needs to band together. If your sect faces something like that, it will be wiped out. That’s why I suggest that you get friendly with an orthodox organization or two within the next hundred years. And if you’re going to do that, then your techniques need to lean closer to the orthodox.::

::You dare suggest that we weaken ourselves to become orthodox?::

::Never. Your methods have their place in the cultivation world. But I’m just one ancestor of the greatest sect ever. I can’t speak for my whole faction.::

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His brow furrowed, and he hesitated for a second. ::That… is understandable.::

::If you can’t compromise and make a strategic alliance, then this place will be destroyed! Either by the demonic sect or after a massive war when the orthodox sects use the fact that you didn’t help them to turn their ill-founded prejudice into an excuse. And it would be your own damn fault in that case, just like the issues with the bath were your own sect’s fault!::

Little Spring’s hand appeared in front of my face, holding a cup of tea. “Please calm down, Sister Linlin. Your face has gone red.”

I let out a breath, grabbed the cup, and downed it.

When did this kid show up?

“I’ll take what you said into consideration.” ::And I think, I’ll agree to teach you.::

I nodded. “You should. I’m always right.”

Little Spring smiled cheekily. “Almost always.”

Brat.

Noxious Fangstrike nodded. ::I can see why Immortal Zhenren Sword Within the Light of Virtue chose you.::

I grinned. It was the other way around, but he didn’t need to know that.

Just before I could end the conversation and start helping with the war cleanup, Little Teasing Mouse came running up to Noxious and bowed adorably while handing him a handkerchief. “Senior! I was so worried when I saw that demonic cultivator come out of nowhere! Are you alright?”

He scowled down at her like he didn’t even recognize her. He did not take her handkerchief, so she clasped it to her chest awkwardly, looking incredibly cute.

Actually, I was confused. Why the fuck was this bitch here?

::She helped us find you, but it took a lot of convincing.:: Little Spring’s jaw clenched as he glared at her.

She nervously swayed side to side, and the poison master’s face relaxed a bit.

Wait a second.

That fucker Noxious would never soften towards anyone just because they were adorable. Not unless they were his niece.

This wasn’t normal.

Now that I was looking back on all my interactions with her, that rat girl had done that clasping gesture before. And every time she had, the idiot convinced more people to do her bidding. It was similar to a demonic dance move.

Could this ignorant bitch actually be a secret demonic dancer?

This sect used to have disciples who practiced those techniques. It was possible that she uncovered a manual hidden in their scripture pavilion.

Sure she wasn’t bright, but demonic dancers didn’t have to be intelligent to manipulate others.

In fact, most of them weren’t very smart at all, and that worked in their favor. People often let their guard down around them, believing that the pretty idiots couldn’t possibly think carefully enough to control them.

This made so much more sense than her having a black hole halo. And it explained why everyone who spent time with her was brainwashed into joining her faction.

Holy shit! If she was one... Bloodsword had to have been under her influence that whole time!

I almost felt bad for that disgusting cringelord. After she died, he moved mountains and destroyed powerful clans just to collect treasures to bring her back to life.

Well, the keyword was almost. He was still a complete asshole even before he met her, so fuck him in general.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t confront her since I didn’t have any proof.

But what I could do was stop her from influencing my poison arts teacher.

I used my cleaning technique on myself and everyone around me.

“Eeeep!”

“Ow!”

“What was that?”

“Why?!”

Noxious jumped a little and stared at me in shock and fury.

The rat girl started crying.

Even Little Spring’s husky ears flattened against his head.

She wiped the moisture from her eyes. “Why would you do that, junior sister? That hurt!”

I briefly glanced at Noxious, who had snapped out of it before fully turning toward the girl. “Oh! I’m sorry, sister. But there was a really nasty stench on you that I couldn’t stand.”

She stopped crying and her mouth opened in shock.

Little Spring crossed his arms and nodded. “You should thank Junior Linlin. It was a very awful smell.”

Nice, the kid had my back. I secretly sent him a thumbs-up.

“T-thank you.” Her face turned bright red.

I cleared my throat. “Anyway, where were you while we were fighting for our lives?”

She dug her foot into the ground. “Ah, you see, a few of my senior brothers came with me and wouldn’t allow me to fight. They were afraid I’d get hurt.”

Yeah. More like she manipulated them into protecting her.

Noxious nodded to me, then left, flicking his long sleeve behind him. ::Let’s meet at my alchemy room tomorrow and we’ll continue our treatment research... Also, I know we’re working together, but NEVER do that to me again.::

I grinned as I watched him fly off. ::I can’t agree to that. I’ll do it again… but only if you’re in danger or need help snapping out of an illusion or something similar.::

::... Ffffffine.:: He replied very grudgingly.

“Wait! Senior!” Little Teasing Mouse called while raising her hand toward him.

I grinned. Thanks to me, her attempt to get to that guy utterly failed. Muahahaha!

::Sister Lin, let’s finish up our cleanup quickly so we can go rest in the space. I want to make you something!::

Little Spring cautiously set down a plate of Crispy Sesame Eagle over Spiritual Rice.

The smell of the dish was like nothing I’d ever had before, but there were hints of citrus and sesame oil. My mouth watered.

The sauce the kid covered the meat in appeared bright red and spicy. Green onions and sliced cooked carrots topped the dish, adding a pop of different colors. When I touched the rice with my chopsticks, it stuck to the wood. Each short grain looked perfectly white, slightly translucent, and filled with gentle spiritual energy.

“Sister Lin, it won’t taste as good if it gets cold.”

I grabbed a portion of rice and placed it on top of one of the small pieces of eagle meat, then I brought it to my lips and paused.

The kid’s ears folded back, showing his nervousness. Adorable.

Alright, enough teasing. This was my revenge for him calling me almost always right.

I took a bite. The taste was exquisite, and this was coming from someone who’d practiced grain liberation for a thousand years. But what stood out to me was the spiritual energy that entered my body due to the eagle beast’s meat. It wasn’t too much, and it was high quality. Some aches I hadn’t even known I’d had, eased. Even the small injuries to my Qi pathways had improved an infinitesimal amount.

It was incredible.

All too soon, I stared down in shock at my empty bowl. “Who stole my food?”

Little Spring beamed at me. “You ate it all yourself.”

Ah, for some reason, the fake sun in the space was very hot today.

I cleared my throat. “Are you sure this is your first time working with this ingredient?”

He nodded, then pointed to his nose and eyes. “Due to the side effects of the bath, everything smells stronger and the colors look more distinct. It’s really helped improve my immortal cooking.”

I set my chopsticks down. “This was the best dish you’ve ever made for me!”

“I think so too.”

He sat down with his own bowl and started eating.

I turned to look out at Fairy Lake, so I wasn’t tempted to steal his portion. “The good news is that we’ll be able to stay in this sect long enough to fix your side effects. It will allow you to control your extra-sensitive senses. At least, that’s the goal for the treatment.”

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The kid practically inhaled his bowl.

The noodle dragon flew over and hovered in front of me. “There has to be a catch.”

“Well, we might have to stay longer than I’d like.”

“How long?”

I grimaced. “I doubt it will be more than ten years.”

The spirit huffed. “So you don’t know.”

“I’m okay with that,” Little Spring said.

I nodded. “Good.”

He smiled. “There is so much to discover about beast taming here, and this is my only chance to learn these unique techniques before we go back. You saw how useful they were against those two Golden Core Cultivators.”

Were... were those techniques? I didn’t see it. But I guessed Little Spring understood them, and that was all that mattered.

“They’ll allow me to contract with more beasts and train them to never attack you.” His eyes stared into the distance with determination.

This kid was so damn thoughtful sometimes.

I grinned. “Then, while we’re here, we’ll learn everything we possibly can.”

I also needed to contact the junior sect leader soon so he could stop whatever plans our seniors put into motion to destroy this sect. I didn’t want my first Dao of Rock seed to get destroyed because of a misunderstanding. Besides, Noxious had already apologized, and getting someone in the Nascent Soul realm like him to do that was very difficult.

“So, how much treasure did you find in the city lord’s vault?”

I grinned. “I handed out my band’s shares when Dread Lotus gave me the prize for winning the Battle of the Bands, so I’ll give yours to you now.”

I placed three high tier spirit stones in front of the kid along with a bag full of mid tier stones, several spiritual tools that did various unique things that he would find useful, and a box of precious spiritual spices.

He grabbed up the box immediately. “Sister Lin! Why didn’t you give this to me first?”

“As soon as we entered the space, you started cooking, and I had a lot to consider.”

He sighed. “But what about all the junk you left beside the new structures I put up? What are we going to do with it?”

Right, I had ended up grabbing everything that was and wasn’t nailed down while I invaded the vault. Unlike the kid who had moved a whole building inside, this was just extra stuff.

I shrugged.

He bit his lip in thought. “It’s all good quality materials you can’t get on our continent. We should sell it when we get home.”

“I’ll let you handle that.” I couldn’t be bothered, since my goal was to take as much as I could out of spite.

Little Spring grinned. “Sure!”

He paused then frowned. “Those demonic cultivators... they’re really terrible, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.”

“Will we ever defeat them for good?”

I grimaced. “It’s possible. I’ve seen it. But this is a different timeline. Things have already started changing compared to my past life.”

His hands tightened into fists.

The kid needed encouragement. “We just have to keep improving ourselves and help those who can help us.”

“But we still might fail.”

“Even if that’s a possibility, don’t let their existence affect our current peace. If we can’t enjoy life now and then, what’s the point of striving to live for billions of years?” I knocked on the stone table with my knuckles. “Just you wait. I’m going to be there to watch stars cool and galaxies die.” Muahahaha!

He lifted his bowl and grinned. “Then I’ll be there to make sure we eat good food together!”

Xiao Bai barked.

“Oh! Right.” He pulled out another bowl. “You used a lot of energy and need to eat too. Try this. It doesn’t have any sauce.”

“Bork!”

“I know, I know. But unless I know the spices won’t hurt you, I’m not giving you any.”

The two kept bickering nonsensically.

I leaned against the table.

The wind blew over Fairy Lake, rustling the grass beside the massive pile of ceiling tiles formed from blue spiritual clay; white marble floor tiles, each with its own enchantment that would allow them to be stepped on by a giant and not crack; and the bag of spiritual gold leaf I tore off the pillars.

Life was good. And music, especially rock, made it better.

End of Volume 3

Fairy Lin will return in - Story 11: How to Save a Sect in Six Simple Steps

Apologies to those who were expecting Story 11: Lin’s Terrible, No-Good Long Walk Home