(10) 31-36

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 31🎸)

Little Spring's POV

After leaving my immortal cave, I headed toward the treasure pavilion. Almost immediately, the scent of a rodent hit my now-advanced sense of smell.

I'd picked up an unwanted follower.

I ignored her and her giant mouse ears that were curled in sadness. Because I was finally done. I was not going to let her pull me back into her aura especially since there was something more important I needed to focus on: the spy mission.

To lose her, I traversed a few twisting mountain pathways. I even ran between two dark courtyards where the loud sounds of pounding from training or fighting echoed eerily.

But she still didn't leave.

Irritated, I hopped onto my flying sword and zipped in the opposite direction of my target through heavily forested sections of the peak.

Thankfully, I didn't notice her behind me. I hoped she finally realized that I didn't want to see her. Especially after I heard her conversation with sister Lin when she thought I was dead.

***

When I entered the treasure pavilion, it was just as crowded as it had been the last time I visited. Disciples from every peak clamored at the front desk, calling out for ingredients, pills, or weapons. The difference was that everything sounded louder. Also, the scents that I used to ignore were intensified.

If this was what Senior Noxious Fangstrike felt every day, it was no wonder he was such an irritable person.

I quickly headed to the side of the room and into a dark and empty stairwell before I became overwhelmed. The sounds from the room muffled as soon as I took my first step up toward the quiet second floor.

An older Golden Core cultivator with wrinkles around her eyes stepped forward as I reached the top. Pressure from her higher cultivation base gave me pause, but it wasn't exactly a deterrent. It made me wonder just how much stronger I was after the bath.

She glared and opened her mouth to say something, but I showed her the token the Alchemist gave me before my bath. "I'm here for a weapon."

She nodded and gestured to the desk where a Foundation Establishment woman waited with her hands clasped elegantly in front of her. I could also feel the spiritual energy from another Golden Core cultivator in a hidden back room somewhere. There could be even more if they were hiding their presence.

If that were the case, then the security here was way too tight. Like they had something they needed to protect up here that was more valuable than treasures for mere Foundation Establishment disciples. Possibly the scroll we were looking for? Or maybe something else...

If I couldn't place the recording spiritual tool here right now due to this security, then I'd fail my sister. And I would have gone through that horrible bath and almost died for no reason. There was no way I would let that happen.

No matter what, I had to find a way. And the place I had to put it needed to be somewhere I could come to collect it later.

And none of this was accounting for the fact that I had to stick it where the security or a random disciple visiting here wouldn't accidentally bump into it.

There was one good thing though — sister Lin had added an obfuscation enchantment to the device. The bad part was that it didn't turn on until it was placed.

Actually, it had been really amusing watching her craft the tool...

Sister Lin kept humming a strange song as she worked. Her focused eyes seemed to glow as she managed to shrink the tool from the size of a fist to that of a mustard seed.

"Is that rock too?"

Her brows furrowed. "What?"

"The song you're humming."

She grinned and continued working. "Well, in a way. It's actually the ultimate double-oh-seven spy song."

I had no idea what that was, but she looked happy.

With a twist of her wrist and a simple incantation gesture, the tool enlarged. She pulled out a handful of medium tier spirit stones, crushed them between her fingers, and infused them into the tool along the complex lines she'd carved there.

Then she shrunk it down and placed it on the table. It seemed to vanish. After a simple grabbing motion, it suddenly showed up in her hands at the original large size. She drew a square with a hand seal. A mirrored image of us appeared on the device of how we looked a few seconds ago while a moment of sound echoed through the smith. She made a gesture like she was polishing the crystal orb and the image vanished.

"Muahahaha! I'm better than Q!"

"Who is that?"

She jumped.

Had she really forgotten that I was still here?

She cleared her throat. "Think of him as… a genius spiritual tool smith who was an expert at making amazing weapons and devices that are extremely tiny or that look like ordinary items. For example, a camera lens so tiny it could be hidden in the center of a nailhead." She held up the orb and shrunk it back down.

Seeing the joy on her face was so priceless that I forgot to ask what a 'camera lens' was.

I walked past shelves where several disciples quietly flipped through incomplete manuals and placed my token down on the counter. "Can I see all the swords available with this?" Since it would be awhile before sister Lin and I could forge a new sword together, I decided to get something that would suit me.

The clerk nodded and brought over a storage bag from the backroom. As she started to set out various beautiful wood boxes, the girl I had been ignoring walked up the stairs and into the room with her tracking mouse on her shoulder pointing its nose directly at me. Beads of sweat had gathered on her forehead and she wiped them away with a handkerchief. She'd definitely run here as quickly as she could.

I also noticed that she didn't need a token to get up here. They just let her in.

"Little Brother Verdant Spring. Please talk to me!"

Without acknowledging her presence, I started pulling open each box to look at the spiritual weapons inside. Thanks to my training in weapon forging, I could tell that most of them were medium quality earth rank swords, but a couple were high quality. There was even one a half-step from sky rank. It had a beautiful amber jewel on the hilt. The color reminded me of Lin's eyes during the times she put me through hell training.

My muscles practically ached even though I'd merely remembered it.

If I used a sword like this, would it feel like she was beside me, 'encouraging' me to do my best in a fight, even if I was alone?

A delicate hand gestured to the weapon I held. Teasing Mouse smiled nervously. "This one is definitely the most perfect for you."

And I suddenly didn't want it anymore.

I scowled down at her. "Why are you even here?"

Her bottom lip trembled. The security guard and the clerk looked at me like I was a terrible person, but I didn't care.

While she was adorable, I had almost died!

While I had a stronger body now, I also had to deal with uncomfortable side-effects. My hearing was too strong, my sense of smell was almost overwhelming at times and my skin was so sensitive that it actually hurt when sister Lin used her cleaning technique on me. And that was just my new heightened sensations. It wasn't accounting for the fact that my energy had become so strong I couldn't use my techniques normally. At least not without more practice.

I would never have had to go through this and sister Lin wouldn't have to add fixing me to the list of already impossible things she was doing if I'd just listened to her in the first place and ignored this girl.

"S-so you hate me now?"

I turned away from her and noticed that everyone in the room was focused on Teasing Mouse thanks to that aura Lin mentioned she had. Even the security guard who should be paying attention to the disciples who came into the room and left seemed to concentrate on this girl more than her job.

I felt dumb. It took me too long to realize that Teasing Mouse would be the perfect distraction. If I could use her aura against the people here, I could plant the device without anyone being the wiser. But I needed to push her further. I might have to… emotionally hurt her on purpose.

While I agreed that I should stay away from her, I didn't want to harm her that badly. Especially since she was the beloved little sister of everyone in the sect.

"Junior brother, after talking with a few others, I know I should have warned you about the side effects more. Maybe I should have really emphasized the pros and cons of the bath. Or convinced you to wait…"

"Senior Teasing Mouse, while I'm grateful that you introduced me to so many kind seniors, you can't do anything to change the fact that I almost died because of your suggestion."

"But can you please forgive me? I-I still want to be friends!"

"Senior, there are some mistakes that are too big to forgive easily. Even if they were done by accident."

She swallowed and looked determined. "NO! There has to be a way I can make it up to you!"

I palmed the mustard-seed-sized recording tool and glared at the older girl in front of me. "Maybe if you save the life of someone close to me. But do you even have that ability, senior?"

The room grew deathly quiet. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something, looked away, then bolted down the stairs.

Ah… now I really felt like a terrible person. I ran after her but grabbed the door frame as if stopping myself from going down the stairs to catch up. Of course, the hand I used to clutch the frame also had the spy tool which I forced into a small crack in the wood as I quietly watched her leave.

I turned around as if I regretted letting her go.

And maybe I did. But that could also be her aura affecting me, just like sister Lin mentioned.

The clerk sighed and took out a jade box. She pulled off the lid, revealing several beautiful hairpins. "Instead of a weapon, you could choose one of these sky rank defensive tools. They are an excellent gift. Especially if you plan to apologize for being too brutal."

I glanced at the hairpins and then at the swords. This ended up being a harder choice than I thought it would be. Getting just a sword would be my best option. But…

I grabbed a gold hairpin with a beautiful fire design. It also happened to have the strongest defensive properties. "This one. I have a sister I want to give it to."

The clerk beamed at me.

"And I'll use pills and spirit stones to exchange for this sword." I couldn't leave here without a good weapon, even if I became broke thanks to the horrible exchange rate. Because, well, I might have just made over half the sect unhappy with me.

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 32🎸)

Going through large amounts of information was something I'd mastered even before I transmigrated to this fucked up universe.

Since I preferred to start at the beginning and go in chronological order, I picked up the jade slips that had the descriptions of what the bath used to be like. Apparently, it had felt like swimming in mint with a warm power flowing through the disciple's meridians. Noxious had helpfully included a note describing the current bath as a mild ghost pepper soup. Considering his weakness to my cleaning technique, that might just be an exaggeration. Still, someone somewhere had fucked up.

Next, I read about the experiments Fangstrike's predecessors attempted once they realized that their once near-perfect bath had developed worsening side effects.

Since this was anecdotal and not documented by the original observers, I couldn't say for sure if they fucked up as badly as they thought they had. Frankly, if they were trying to save face, they might have fucked up even worse.

After going through that pile as quickly as I could, I'd developed a headache. Also, the urge to tie up every alchemist here to teach them about the scientific method — specifically, how to document their fucking experiments. Sadly, I had to work with what I was given.

It seemed like most of Noxious Fangstrike's predecessors had focused on solutions involving poisons rather than regular medicinal plants, and instead of removing possible problematic ingredients, the poison-obsessed lunatics had added in more just with opposing effects to counteract the sequelae. Obviously, their experiments yielded little effect.

That said… the direction of some of their ideas was brilliant. If they'd actually worked.

Next, I went over Noxious Fangstrike's documentation. I could forgive the fact that he hadn't organized it by date since he couldn't remember exactly when he'd done each experiment, but he could have listed them by ingredients tested.

Whatever. I'd gone over what I was expecting, and this wasn't as bad as the previous batch. But I would still sit him down and go over some things. For example, what the fuck did he mean when he said he added a goddamn 1000-year-old spiritual ginseng just because he felt like it would help nurture the body and prevent some side effects? This was on top of changing the Silver Ice Grass for the costly Platinum Ice Grass.

One simply did not add 1000-year-old ginseng to a bath when experimenting.

Especially not at the prices he found them on this backwater continent. No wonder this fucker didn't want to shell out for expensive ingredients now. If he couldn't sell his poisons and pills for an obscene amount, I'd believe that he was broke.

I turned to him as he took the leaves off a spiritual plant he was prepping. I glared. He looked back at me, very confused.

Ha!

I moved on to the poisons that shared multiple ingredients with the baths. While I would have to make these later I could still visualize how each ingredient affected the pill.

"Wait a second."

"What?" Noxious asked from across the room.

"Shhhh!"

I mentally went through the ancient poison manual I'd memorized back when I was in the outer sect. It had one of the same pills on the list Noxious gave me, but they were different! The old one called for 10 Five Flames Pepper. This version only needed one.

I originally thought this pill had errors purposefully added to confuse anyone who got their hands on the manual who wasn't in the sect. But I'd seen this same difference in the number of stalks for every poison that used Five Flames Pepper.

That told me that there was something deeper going on here. I'd have to talk it over with Noxious soon.

Before I did that, there was another inconsistency I had to look into. Which made sense because if the issue with the bath was with only one plant, all of these poison masters would have figured it out before I got here.

Shockingly, these guys weren't the usual incompetent assholes I often ran into in this fucked up universe.

There was a flower native to this region called the Irrepressible Blood Chrysanthemum. It had no application outside of this contract bath. That meant that there was no reason to export it to my continent. Actually, by the time I explored more of the world in my past life, this sect, the only place that used it, had already been destroyed. It likely wouldn't have even been listed as a medicinal plant. Which explained why I'd never heard of it before.

Although I hadn't worked with it, I could tell that there was something fucking weird going on. The clues were all coming together.

"Senior!"

"What?" Noxious Fangstrike practically flew over and hovered above my shoulder.

"Irrepressible Blood Chrysanthemum. Let me see one."

With a grabbing motion, he pulled over a jade box from his ingredient shelves and opened it to reveal a beautiful blood red chrysanthemum with a hint of yellow gold in the center. It was now obvious where the colors from the sect's robes originated.

I examined the flower using divine sense and frowned. Nothing was out of place but…

"There is definitely something off about it."

He scowled. "There isn't! I've been using these for hundreds of years. Unless you're saying it causes side effects because it's mixed with another ingredient."

"A senior from one of those anecdotes you gathered mentioned that he used two chrysanthemums because the new flower was weak. What happened to the old version?"

"Oh… that."

This fucker.

I stood up and clasped my hands behind my back. "Yes, that."

"As far as I know, that plant was almost entirely wiped out a thousand years ago. They managed to grow more with seeds they had in storage, but…"

"They looked the same, but had half the potency?"

"Exactly!"

"My seniors discovered that if they doubled the amount and added a Sublime Mint Leaf, it worked the same, with only very minor impurities added to the bath."

That… was not something I'd have recommended doing, but it had seemed to work fine. "I'm guessing that it also added a few side effects."

"They weren't anything a Blood Cleansing Pill couldn't take care of."

"Until the issues with the Five Flames Pepper intensified the problem."

"What are you talking about?"

"The people who tried to fix this bath did their best, but they went about it the wrong way."

"Junior Linlin. Please, just get to the point."

"Does our sect have a horticulture department or do we gather all of our ingredients from outside?"

He smirked arrogantly. "Of course, we have our own disciples dedicated to raising spiritual plants. The whole east side of this peak is saved for growing the best quality herbs."

"Does that include a team committed to breeding plants to be more potent?"

He paused, then glared so intensely that he practically strangled my neck with his gaze. "How did you know about that?"

"I figured it out myself. It wasn't that hard." Especially since I'd heard about something similar in my past-past life.

While I was in college, I talked with a fellow biology major who was a little too interested in plant breeding. Specifically, where it affected marijuana. Thanks to highly questionable politics, MJ became illegal in my country. But the dealers still wanted to sell it and the buyers still wanted to purchase it. So, just like the alcohol distilleries during prohibition, the dealers had to find a way to distribute it and not get caught.

They thought to sell it in very small portions so it would be easy to smuggle. But the original plant didn't have a very high THC count, the thing that caused the effect the buyers wanted. That led to the growers breeding the weed with the highest amount of THC to each other until they had extremely effective strains.

If this sect did something similar only with their poisonous plants, then…

"You idiots did this to yourselves."

Noxious frowned.

"After hundreds of years of breeding highly toxic peppers, you acquired a beast blood contract bath that poisons your own disciples."

"Impossible. We always cut back on the amount we use of that pepper."

"Your breeders increased the poisonous properties. But what do you think happened to the beneficial properties?"

"It stayed the same."

"Or even decreased."

He paled.

"Even if the volume of poison they get is the same, the parts of the pepper that helped make the bath work were reduced. Do you see how this is a problem? Especially when the original amount of peppers used was ten?"

"I can see that. But… we don't have any of the original peppers. And even if we did have them, we'd have to grow them on opposite sides of the sect."

Did this guy not know any horticulture? "Are you saying that because, your pollinators might accidentally breed the two strains making the original peppers extra spicy."

"Exactly! Wait. You meant extra poisonous, right?"

"That's ridiculous. Just build an isolation formation if you don't already have one. Your disciples are probably hand-pollinating them anyway."

He frowned. "That's for the horticulturists to figure out. I'm not responsible for them."

Was he serious? "You're a master in the Nascent Soul realm! Even if you aren't caring for the plants yourself, you should investigate how that department is growing the herbs you use every day. You're irresponsible if you don't."

His cheeks turned bright red. "I do not need a lecture from my junior."

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Dread Lotus."

He winced.

Now that he'd been properly embarrassed, I continued, "Locate a senior from the horticulturists who has the original seeds. And if you can't do that, then send a disciple out to the farthest corner of this continent to search for it. Either way, we need the least toxic variant as soon as possible."

"Alright," he said, then paused. "What if we can't find the original Five Flames Pepper?"

"Then we'll have to do things the hard and long way."

He frowned and paused for a second as if talking with others through a secret sound transmission. Within a few moments, several Golden Core disciples entered Noxious Fangstrike's alchemy room and bowed deeply. He threw a bag at the one with the highest cultivation. "Take this and hurry to the teleportation platform."

"Yes, senior. We'll take this secret to our graves."

Then the group vanished.

"That was a little extreme, but I approve."

He scowled.

"With the demonic sect messing with the sect's poison body cultivators, there is no telling how badly they'd want to prevent us from getting the right ingredients."

"This only takes care of one plant. You mentioned the Irrepressible Blood Chrysanthemum. Are you planning to fix the issue with that?"

"I can't fix the plant in such a short period. But I have an idea on how to resolve its side effects. It will just take some trial and error."

He nodded.

"But before I start on the chrysanthemum, we need to see how much the original pepper strain reduces the sequelae. We have to take this slowly or we'll mess everything up."

"I… understand." He frowned. "Are you sure it is only these two ingredients that are creating these awful side effects?"

"One step at a time, senior. Once we've solved these two. If there are more plants responsible for harming our sect's disciples, then I'll figure it out later."

He stared off into space while looking a little melancholy. "I can't understand how I didn't see this before. It seems so obvious now."

Fuck. I needed him on his game and not wallowing in his and his sect's mistakes. "It's not that you aren't brilliant, senior. It's just that I'm an actual once-in-a-billion-years genius."

He coughed and looked at me like he couldn't believe I'd said that.

"Don't feel too bad. I still have plenty of things I need to learn from you about poisons."

"For some reason, I suddenly don't feel like teaching you."

"Well, you don't have to. But I'm not confident about creating a perfect cure if you don't teach me. And Dread Lotus might yell at you."

His brow furrowed and he rubbed his temples with one hand. "I can't win against you."

Of course not! Who did he think I was?

Then, as if realizing something wonderful, he smiled. "But I can put you through a hellish training regime."

He chuckled sadistically.

This fucker… That was what I usually did to Little Spring! How dare someone use my own punishments against me?

He pulled out several jade slips. "We'll start with these. I expect you to have made every poison on here by the time you go back to your band members."

This sneaky motherfucker… How did he know I wanted to learn this shit quickly?! This wasn't hell training. It was speed learning. Muahahaha!

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 33🎸)

With a slap to the side of my new cauldron, six yellow and purple colored pills flew out. I caught them in a jade bottle and then stoppered it closed. With that, I finished concocting the Giggling Painless Killer. A poison that was more like an anesthetic than an actual poison. Of course, as with any painkiller, too much could kill, but the right amount might be beneficial.

This particular one was used to make beasts incapacitated, either for capture or killing.

"Hold on a second!" Noxious Fangstrike took the bottle from my hands and studied the pills inside it. He frowned.

"Are you sure you've never concocted these?"

I rolled my eyes. "You watched. You even corrected my actions when I was about to use the whole Azure Fire Cherry instead of just the pit."

He huffed. "It's just too hard to believe."

I scoffed.

His gold eyes narrowed at me. "Do you really not know that your movements make you seem like you're a master pretending to be an amateur?"

Fuck. Well, I was a master, but I hadn't pretended since this was my first time concocting this.

He had even given me helpful instructions before I did something the way an alchemist would have and not a poison master.

I clasped my hands behind my back. "Well, I am a—."

"—genius. You've said that already. Multiple times." His golden eyes became unfocused like he'd taken emotional damage. "I'd warn you to not get too full of yourself, but I think I've learned more from you today than you have from me."

I coughed. Oh, that. During the prepping process, I had accidentally shown him how to make some of the poisons stronger. Oops.

But that wasn't my fault. The recipes were obviously missing a key method due to sect secrecy. At least that was what it looked like.

Actually, this seemed like a good time to fuck with him.

Very seriously, I looked Noxious Fangstrike in his eyes and said, "That's because if I say I'm the second-best alchemist in the world, no one else would claim to be first. You see, I've traveled back through time to save the knowledge of the poison masters from complete destruction."

We stared at each other for a second.

Then I pointed at him. "Hah!"

He coughed and his cheeks turned red. "Who'd believe such nonsense?"

I nodded. "You'd have to be really gullible."

"I definitely didn't think you were telling the truth! Actually, I was merely considering if the alchemist who saved little Dread Lotus might not be right in the... well, never mind." He gestured toward the door. "Go play with my niece. She's been yelling at me for the past two hours to let you return."

That meant that my band was ready! Perfect!

"I'll come get you when the peppers arrive, so you'll have a few days at least."

***

While I was on my way back to the practice grounds, Little Spring joined me on his flying sword. "Sister Linlin!"

I nodded. "How did everything go?"

He smiled. "It went well!"

The kid definitely meant that he'd planted the spying tool without getting caught.

"I decided to pick up a better weapon while I was there." He pulled out a spiritual sword that was a half-step away from sky-rank. It had the smell of a newly forged item.

I scanned it with my divine sense and nodded. "Looks serviceable for you. Good choice."

::Sister Lin! I'd still like us to make a new one together once I've been cured.::

I hesitated. ::We can do that. But, maybe it would be better if I returned your mother's heirloom.:: While I could produce stronger attacks with it since its rank was higher than my guitar, it wouldn't be long before I could forge something of a similar quality for myself.

He shrugged. ::Neither of us can wield it right now since there are cultivators here who saw it at the convention. I'd feel better if you kept it in case there is an emergency and you need it.::

This thoughtful brat. ::Sure, but let me know if you ever want it back.::

::I will.:: As he put his hand up his long sleeve, he looked like he wanted to say something else.

While I wanted to let him, we were almost at the practice grounds, and I still hadn't asked him to help.

I pulled out Ghosty's necklace and tossed it over.

His eyes grew wide, and he practically scrambled to catch it.

::It's about time we make an attempt to cure Ghosty McGhostFace.::

His eyes visibly sparkled. ::Do you think they're ready?::

::They do and they're ready to try. But I can't place a necklace by itself in front of them without looking really suspicious, so I'd like you to watch us while wearing it.::

He nodded seriously, then paused. "Ah, Sister Linlin—"

I flew into the sound-isolating formation, landed, and faced my band members who were still practicing.

::What?::

He came to a stop next to me. His shoulders relaxed. ::It can wait.::

The three musicians stopped playing. Each of them wore a very determined expression.

"Are you ready to show me how you've improved?"

"Yes, bandleader Linlin!"

Muahahaha!

"Excellent!" I patted the kid on his shoulder. "Senior brother Verdant Spring is going to be our audience today if you're ready."

Dread Lotus put her drumsticks together with a clack and crossed her arms. "Why?"

Thankfully, I'd already come up with a good excuse.

"Isn't it better to start playing with an audience early on? Performing for others is the main point of spiritual music, after all. It's how you'll eventually make spirit stones and contribution points."

Azure Melodic River casually held her keyboard against her waist like a basket. "Actually, at our realm, we mainly obtain points by going on sect missions."

Dread Lotus nodded. "Our Golden Core seniors are the only ones who earn anything by playing for injured Nascent Soul cultivators. They even perform for those outside of the sect, helping to increase our overall resources."

I crossed my arms. "With healing songs this powerful, who do you think you'll play for?"

Dread Lotus smiled with a little too much excitement. "This will definitely stir up the sect." And she sounded like she was here for it.

The other two went silent as they realized that the Dao of Rock would allow them to compete for profitable healing work with their seniors. Frankly, seeing them like this was fucking priceless.

"So, which of the five songs should we practice first?" Azure Melodic River asked.

"How about Three Fires Light the Way?" Gold String said.

That one was an original fast-paced ballad by Red Moon Melody. She wanted to create a song about losing herself to her internal trauma, coming to terms with it, and slowly finding a better way forward with the help of her band members. She used the imagery of getting lost inside a dangerous secret realm and having three flying spiritual torches light the path to safety. It was a shockingly beautiful and surreal song.

I hoped that it would help Ghosty through his own trauma.

"Alright."

"Actually, bandleader," Dread Lotus said, "Before we subject Little Verdant Spring to our playing, why don't we do a playthrough of each song to make sure we perform perfectly with you here?"

The others nodded.

Damn. That was too reasonable. I was too eager to help Ghosty and almost pushed my band into doing something that would make them uncomfortable. We could afford to take some time to get it right.

The kid tugged on my sleeve. "There's an area over there where I can train. I'll wait until everyone is ready." ::My current strength is still hard to control.::

Ah, this brat. I must have done something right as a teacher if my students eagerly trained when I put them in a position to slack off.

I raised my hands. "Fine. We'll practice the whole set first."

***

"Sister Lin," Gold String, said after we finished all 5 songs, "respectfully, how are you fine?"

"What?" I looked around. Everyone, including Dread Lotus, who had been through body cultivation, drooped like mortals who had been lost in the desert for hours.

I scowled. "Well, first of all, I didn't use my full strength. This is just practice. I didn't realize this much would be so hard on you all."

Actually, I may have pushed them a little to make sure they had enough in them to heal a Nascent Soul. And they did!

"Are you kidding?" Azure Melodic River said.

"I take it that you've been using your spiritual energy to your maximum this whole time?"

Dread Lotus took out a spiritual fan from her ring and used it to cool herself. "We had to if we wanted to keep up with you."

Ah. Oops. "You three played so perfectly that I almost forgot that you only learned these songs a day ago."

Gold String coughed. "But how are you performing so well while using so much less energy than us?"

"You just haven't had the years I have to find ways to use less while achieving the same result. Think about it! Not only are you playing a new instrument, you're doing it perfectly and at a Foundation Establishment level. To get here so quickly costs something, and that is spiritual efficiency."

They looked at each other.

"You've done well. Beyond what I expected." I threw each of them a recovery pill for musical cultivators that I made with Noxious Fangstrike between poisons. It wasn't my usual quality work, but it was still better than most Foundation Establishment Alchemists could do. "Take a break for two incense sticks worth of time, then we'll play for Senior Verdant Spring."

"Yes, bandleader!"

***

Off to the side where he wouldn't be able to hear our practice, Little Spring used Drunken Sword's style to train. He was surprisingly good at it.

From the way he swung toward the open ocean, I could tell that the kid was trying to control his strength. He kept lessening the amount of energy he used, making the strike thinner and smaller.

Now that I thought about it, he was still missing a signature attack. One that would look different enough from the Indomitable Will Sect's sword techniques that no one would suspect us. A powerful technique that could use the volatile and potent energy he now had. And not some fucked up bullshit from that manual Bloody Crimson Sword Edge left behind for the kid. I wouldn't trust anything in that book.

I waited until he finished a set. "Want to learn something new?"

He jumped. "Sister Linlin?"

I pressed my finger to my lips and looked over at my band members. Gold String was meditating while Dread Lotus said something with a grin to Azure Melodic River.

The keyboardist's face turned bright red. She quickly popped a pill and started to rotate her cultivation base.

They definitely weren't paying attention to me at all.

"Usually I wouldn't teach you this, but we're in a difficult situation. And it helps that you recently acquired enough energy to pull it off."

He nodded. "I'll learn everything you're willing to teach."

Frankly, this was a technique I currently didn't have enough energy to use, which fucking sucked to think about. It was originally a Golden Core equivalent sword technique, but it wasn't exactly Indomitable Will Sect standard.

::You remember Thousand Cuts?::

He nodded.

::The goal of this new technique is to do something similar, only, it creates sword Qi that looks like a storm of golden flowers.::

::How is that possible? Can you show me?::

::No. Well, a little.::

I held my hand out for his weapon and he handed it over. I moved into the starting position, and through the twelve other steps that made up the technique.

He frowned. ::It doesn't look that impressive.::

I nodded. ::Frankly, it takes too much time. The Indomitable Will's standard techniques are several times better, at least. But, it is still a very beautiful attack, and it's one you can use at your realm without backlash.:: While it could be performed by someone with Foundation Establishment quality energy, the amount needed to pull it off was the equivalent of a mid Golden Core Disciple.

I went over each move again and discussed the meaning behind each one and how they stacked on top of each other to build something. It was a deeply philosophical technique.

The kid initially practiced each part without using energy. As he trained, he became faster and faster until he was almost a blur.

::Enough. Show it to me but use your sword Qi this time.::

::Yes, sister Lin!::

As he moved, the tip of the sword drew a line of golden Qi in thin overlapping arcs. The last of the twelve moves caused the lines to condense. Then he thrust his sword forward. Sword energy in the form of golden flowers blasted out toward the ocean. Once the petals lost momentum, they drifted down and disappeared like fireworks.

"It's called Blossoms in the Golden Tempest."

It was a stunningly gorgeous technique, which was why I had decided to learn it in my past life. Though I'd never used it in an actual fight.

Frankly, the beauty that was hidden in this world, like this technique, was why — even if I fucking despised some aspects of this dumbass author's Xianxia — I would never want to go back.

::How was it?:: He looked at me with hopeful eyes.

::You need to practice more. Once you have it mastered, it should be three times larger and five times more powerful.::

His white, husky ears drooped.

I was positive that his adorableness was now weaponized.

::But it was incredible for your first success.::

He beamed.

I glanced back at my band, who stood up and started practicing again. ::Looks like they're done with the break. Let's finally play for Ghosty!::

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 34🎸)

"There is one last step we'll have to do if we want these songs to heal a heavily injured Nascent Soul senior." I looked each of my gathered band members in their eyes. "Any guesses?"

Dread Lotus tapped her chin. "The music is powerful by itself, but it needs an outstanding performance to increase its effectiveness."

This was why she was the second in charge. I pointed to her. "That is a large part of it."

Azure Melodic River frowned. "Is there something else?"

I grinned. "Battle Formations."

Gold String chuckled.

With a flick of my sleeve, I turned toward him. "What? You don't believe me?"

"I trust you, but how do battle formations help increase the power of healing music?"

I held up a finger. "Normal battle formations don't. But I will teach you a special variation that will be used when performing. Though Dread Lotus can stay where she is since she'll act as the life gate of our formation."

She blinked prettily. "I'm special."

Azure Melodic River's cheeks turned pink. "I can't refute that." She turned to me. "But, sister Linlin, playing perfectly is already hard enough on us. Adding a battle formation on top of that seems extreme right now."

"Don't worry. We'll start with something easy." And if any of these songs seemed a little effective, then I'd increase the complexity and strength of the formation.

I pointed to two different spots. "Azure, you'll have the simplest choreography."

"What? Choreography? Isn't that something Demonic Dancers use?"

I hadn't heard about those assholes for a long time. Demonic Dancers were not evil cultivators but were close enough to them that my 'death to demonic sects' button wiggled every time I heard about them.

Essentially, they enthralled the minds of even immortal Ascension cultivators. Many decent people had their lives ruined because of them. Also, their marriages.

"Does this sect have those?"

Dread Lotus shook her head. "We used to, but they left for other unorthodox sects."

"Alright, yes. It is something similar to what they do but as a battle formation instead. So, we'll need Azure Melodic River to slowly move between this place and this one every 88 counts." I pointed toward spots on either side of our drummer.

"Yes, Bandleader!"

"Practice now so you can get the timing perfectly."

She nodded.

I shared a grave look with Gold String. "You and I are going to have to carry these two."

"Hey!" Dread Lotus sounded offended.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "When it comes to this formation!"

"Oh."

I shook my head. "As the front liners, we'll have to do the most movement."

"Is this for entertainment purposes, or are we the first defense?"

Damn, he was smart. "You're right. If we were playing a song meant for battle, our positions would be the front-line attackers and defenders. We'd be protecting our slower-moving band members who give us the biggest musical momentum."

He nodded seriously.

"I think I understand why you wanted us to practice with healing music first."

He wasn't entirely wrong, he just didn't have the entire picture. That said, it was better to learn battle formations in a situation like this one — where a single mistake wouldn't accidentally backfire.

"For now, we'll keep it simple. Move for 8, pause for 32."

Gold String nodded. "And where will I go?"

"We have more freedom than those two, but we will need to settle on opposite sides of each other. It's just that I'll be closer to the center as the lead singer."

"Alright, I can handle that."

Dread Lotus lifted her sticks and waved them. "But what would happen if we used this formation for a battle? I'd get destroyed if I had to stay still."

They were getting ahead of themselves. But it wouldn't hurt to answer their questions. "If we ever had to use this formation in a fight, you'd have to move as quickly as possible. Then we'd have to keep the formation up even while you move."

"Wait! Does that mean I'm in control of the formation?"

"What do you think?"

She grinned excitedly.

"This formation concentrates all of our musical energy onto a single line, which makes it perfect for destroying or healing a single higher realm cultivator. Though it would be better if we had more complex choreography that exactly matched with each song, but we can decide that later if we need to." I turned to Little Spring. "You have the most important job of all."

"Being your audience?"

I grinned and gestured to a place at the front, normally reserved for the mosh pit. "Your listening spot is right here."

He moved into position.

I turned back to my band. "There are more complex arrangements that we could use in a fight. Ones that would help us confuse and fight off many enemies at once. But for now, this is enough."

Besides, I wasn't positive I wanted this unorthodox sect to learn too many Battle of the Band formations.

::A single play-through won't wake Ghosty up completely. But he should show signs of improving after listening to an effective song. We'll just need to know which one works. So, pay attention to him.::

::Sounds good.:: "I'm ready, junior sister."

This brat.

After a quick check to ensure we were all in position, I started to play the intro lines of 'Three Fires Light the Way,' the ballad I had the most hope for.

My guitar echoed through the practice grounds and then Dread Lotus came in with the drums, which made the mood pick up. Shortly after that, Gold String's bass made our sound feel fuller. Lastly, Azure's keyboard added complexity. It was almost like she'd brought the magic.

We sounded damn good together. Both our understanding and playing were in sync. If Ghosty was going to be healed by this song, we were performing it perfectly to get a response. And our Battle of the Bands formation, while not as powerful as it could be, enhanced our music to a height that any injured cultivator should feel deep in their soul.

I still had hope up until I played the last chord and glanced at Little Spring.

He shook his head.

Fuck!

Well, if that didn't work, we'd have to try another!

***After performing two more original songs and Spirit In Repair, there were still no signs of improvement. We just had one song left. It was, frankly, a song I had included, not sure it would help at all.

Healing music worked by figuratively wrapping the Nascent Soul in healing bandages. But this last one was closer to giving them a latte with a quadruple shot of espresso while telling them to do what they want and fuck what everybody else thought.

It was extremely cathartic. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant for physically healing the soul.

The song, "Everything Will Be All Right," was inspired by a rock cover of Taylor Swift's Shake it Off and I wrote it together with Fairy Winter Medley, the same girl who melted her seniors' faces off. She had been very talented.

But even though this wouldn't heal him, it was still a song that defied the heavens. It would give him the energy to keep his condition stable.

Aside from that, the song was also really fuckin' fun. Something we needed after all these failures.

Dread Lotus started off with the heavy drums. Then both Gold String and I came in, being badass and building up the song's energy.

Once I started to sing, Little Spring's jaw dropped. ::It's this song!::

I raised an eyebrow.

He must have realized that he shouldn't have distracted me during a performance because his husky ears flattened and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

As our music continued, he began to nod along, becoming deeply immersed. He unconsciously jumped up and down a little.

That was how it should be. Music brought joy. It healed. Even if we'd failed with the other songs, we still had hope. We wouldn't give up. There would always be another day to try again.

Ghosty would be all right.

Since my band members had repeated our formation for so long, they'd started moving more naturally and adding creative flourishes that enhanced the experience. This caused our performance to reach its peak.

Of course, that was when the hair on the back of my arm stood up. A small spiral of storm clouds gathered above us.

Fuck.

I grimaced. This wasn't unexpected. We were, after all, perfectly playing a perfect song so incredible that it went against the heavens. But I wouldn't let a music tribulation ruin our flawless performance.

While these clouds weren't as powerful as my Foundation Establishment tribulation, they weren't at a level I could look down on. Not while I was singing my heart out. Because part of being able to say that 'everything will be all right' and mean it, was having the power to back those words up.

As the energy in the clouds gathered overhead, thunder echoed. Winds blew through our hair, whipping it from side to side. Salty air from the ocean and the smell of ozone invaded the practice ground. But I kept rocking out, singing, shredding on my guitar. Heavens were gonna heaven.

Dread Lotus, who had taken up the role of backup singer, yelled "Woo-hoo hooooo!"

I used my strings to send a Thousand Cuts upward, just as the clouds opened up, sending a lightning bolt crashing down. As the two powers connected, they blasted apart, sending colorful sparks of energy falling around us in time for the perfect ending.

For a second, everyone stayed still. Then Dread Lotus and Azure yelled in joy and briefly hugged each other. Which, of course, caused that fangirl to turn bright red.

Gold String rubbed his face. "I can't believe we actually succeeded at playing a perfected-quality song."

Little Spring ran up to me. "You were amazing!"

"Of course we were!" This was the group I'd carefully put together, after all. "My band members are not only talented, but they put in the work to swiftly perfect these songs."

It was a feat that wouldn't have been possible for mundane musicians. Hell, it was difficult even for cultivators, but these three crushed it. Frankly, I had never been more impressed with musical cultivators than I was now.

The three musicians, who had been drained of all their energy, finally collapsed to the floor. They barely managed to sit in the lotus position to try to recover. Since they worked hard, I handed another pill to each of them and turned to Little Spring.

::Sister Lin, I can't believe the song you sang back when we were still living with your family was so powerful::

Wait a second! I'd sung that out loud? ::I swear I had been playing that in my mind.::

He shook his head. ::You had definitely sung it audibly. Everyone in the courtyard heard you.::

Fuck. ::I'm surprised you remembered that... I was not very healthy back then.:: The dichotomy between my soul and body had really messed me up. Of course, now I was perfectly fine.

He nodded. ::At the time, I thought you were crazy. Now I know you're also a genius.::

Of course, I was a gen—wait... This fucking brat just called me crazy!

::But what are we going to do about Ghosty? None of the songs helped heal him. Are you going to play those again?::

Oh, he was good at changing the damn subject. But I would get my revenge when he started extreme hell training. I was already planning his schedule. Little did he know, he just added an extra hour of daily practice. Muahahahaha!

::If any of those songs were going to help him, we would have seen him wake up a little. At least long enough to communicate for a short period.:: I clasped my hands behind my back and straightened my spine. ::I think we'll have to do something I wanted to avoid.::

::What?::

::Create a new killer rock song. One that's even more effective than these!::

::But, sister Lin. We don't want to kill Ghosty.::

::…:: How should I explain slang to this brat?

***

Once everyone had recovered and stood up, I grinned. "I never praise the undeserving."

They looked confused.

"But you are very deserving. You played so well that the heavens were jealous of our talents."

"Thank you, bandleader!" They all said.

"You've proven that you're ready to move onto the next step in our Dao of Rock."

"Learning offensive songs?" Gold String clutched the neck of his bass guitar.

I pointed to him. "We'll do that too, but I'm talking about composing our own healing song."

Everyone's eyes grew wide.

"Are you serious?" Dread Lotus asked.

I nodded. "But it can't be something simple. We need a song that will heal a heavily injured Nascent Soul."

Considering what I wanted them to do, I thought they might shrink back and say it was impossible, but all three of them looked excited instead.

I gestured to Little Spring. "Why don't you imagine their background for us?"

::Why do you want me to do it?::

::Because you've spent more time with Ghosty than I have.::

::He doesn't really talk about his past often.::

::I'm sure he's said more to you than me.::

He bit his lip. "Alright, then pretend the senior you're writing this song for has been injured so badly that they lost their original body. They spent a long time in soul form by themselves, before their family found them."

Damn. That was right. The kid probably thought of old Ghosty as his uncle.

"Then, before they could fully heal and recover their energy and body, they tried to protect the people closest to them and were hurt a second time."

"Is this imaginary senior a male or female?" Golden String asked.

I crossed my arms. "Pretend they're a man. And let's say he's in a comatose state so our song needs to reach him even in his deepest sleep."

The bassist's brow furrowed, and his hands shook. "That's impossible!"

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 35🎸)

Gold String crossed his arms. "No matter what realm someone is in, they need to be conscious for music to heal their soul."

I grinned. "How do you know that?"

He paused. "Everyone knows that."

I could explain that research was done in my past-past life that showed that comatose patients responded to audible stimuli, but I decided to put it in terms he would understand.

"If you play offensive music to someone in a forced sleep, would that hurt them?"

"Of course it would."

"Then why shouldn't healing music help them?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it. His brow furrowed, then he paled. He coughed up a half-mouthful of blood. "I'm going to need a moment."

With a flick of his sleeve, he turned before jumping onto his flying brush and vanishing deeper into the sect.

Everyone looked at me.

"…"

Well, this was awkward.

I coughed. "That was unintentional."

How the fuck was I supposed to know that enlightening someone on a simple truth would cause them so much emotional damage that they'd cough up blood? Whatever.

"I'll check on him and make sure he's alright. In the meantime, why don't you two teach Senior Verdant Spring how to play 'Everything Will be Alright?'"

The kid grimaced. "Sister Linlin, I'm always willing to learn anything you're willing to teach me, but maybe we can wait until junior Gold String Delicate Touch is back? It's a bit…."

I huffed. "If I let other people's uncomfortableness prevent me from studying, I wouldn't be who I am today."

"That explains so-so much."

Dread Lotus and Azure Melodic River nodded as if they agreed.

I glared at the three brats.

"Fine, I'll learn!"

"We'll teach!"

I grinned in satisfaction.

***It took a while to catch up to Gold String Delicate Touch, but I found him sitting at an outdoor table surrounded by tall ancient trees. Actually, now that I noticed the walls nearby, I was sure this was his small courtyard.

He sighed when he saw me on my flying sword hovering over him and waved me down.

I landed beside him. "You want to explain what that was about?"

He grimaced while I waited for him to talk.

"I grew up in a very small, and secretive clan of music cultivators who also practiced the four arts."

One that was already obliterated, according to what he mentioned before.

"My clan's ancestor was a Nascent Soul, but he was injured while protecting us from the demonic sect. While he won, it cost him his original body. He reached a soul stone, but he had been so horribly wounded that he fell into a coma."

Ah, shit. Talking about Ghosty's situation must have brought on bad memories for our bassist. If I'd known... well, I probably would have done the same thing. Because I needed him. The best music has always been inspired by those with strong emotions and talent.

"Everyone in my family said that it would be impossible to treat him because he was asleep, but if we'd known that he could heal while being..." He choked.

"He would have been around to prevent the destruction of your clan?"

Gold String nodded.

"If you have your ancestor's soul gem—"

He shook his head. "I was only able to survive because I was on a mission when those demonic sect bastards took everything away from me. I couldn't let them find my traces, so I immediately rushed to join the most powerful faction nearby that didn't have ties to them."

That explained why he was so desperate to grow stronger. I grabbed his sleeve. "The Dao of Rock can help you!"

He blinked. "Sister Linlin, you don't have to sell me on it. I've already joined your band."

I scowled and rested my hand on the table. "What I mean is that the Dao of Rock is perfect for musicians who wish to compose new songs. Composing music, far more than playing it, helps strengthen musical cultivators. Possibly even inducing an epiphany and allowing them to advance faster."

He blinked. "Are you serious?"

I nodded. One of the reasons so many of the seniors of my past life were upset at my students was that rock increased their speed of cultivation. I'd just never expected the Indomitable Will sect's four arts seniors to cut them down the same way a farmer would chop off the head of a cornstalk that was growing too high.

Sure, it would still grow, but it wouldn't be as grand as it would have been.

But not in this fucking lifetime.

"I want you to take point in composing this new song."

"Why me?"

While grinning, I raised my hand in the air as if showing him an invisible future. "Once you achieve your revenge against those demonic assholes. Because I know you will." After all, in my past life, they were entirely wiped out. "You might find the soul stone with your ancestor inside it. Once you do, you'll have a song you can play to heal them."

His bottom lip trembled, and he looked up at the sky. His eyes seem a bit more watery than they were before. "I don't think I'll be able to do that."

I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. "If you think like that, you'll never win. Instead, throw yourself into increasing your strength. If something stops you, throw yourself at it until you overcome it or think your way around it. Become so strong that nothing can stop you! Then kill your way to your ancestor and save him."

"And if he's already gone?"

"Play it for him anyway."

He bit his lip and his blue eyes looked like two lakes filling up with water. He nodded, then stared out into his tiny courtyard.

I stood up and stepped aside to give him some privacy.

This goddamn Xianxia universe... by being the way it was, had done a lot of fucked up things to people who didn't deserve it. Take Gold String. He had lost his whole family and everything he knew. And the only reason he was still alive was because he'd been away. The young man must have such a horrible survivor's guilt.

By pointing out how he could have saved his ancestor, I had made it worse. But I didn't blame myself. No. It was the fault of the fucked up author for building his world like this. Filled with violent assholes and evil sects.

Some day, I was going to punch him in his goddamn face.

After a couple of minutes, Gold String stood up. When I saw his face, I immediately looked up at the clear sky and handed him a handkerchief.

"Ah, it must be raining a little today."

He chuckled and wiped his cheeks dry. "It's just a light sprinkle. That's all."

When I turned back, he seemed completely recovered. Though, now that I had realized what he'd gone through, I knew he couldn't possibly be okay. But we all kept going. Increasing our strength. It was the only path to stay alive.

"Gold String Delicate Touch! Tell me! Are you ready to go make rock history as one of the first composers of a new rock song?"

"You mean in this sect?"

"... Yes." I meant in this timeline, but whatever.

"I am, band leader!" He paused. "But before we start composing anything, I want you to teach us the song you promised."

"The one that melts faces?"

He told me 'obviously' with just his expression.

Well, Little Spring was there, so this was the perfect time to do it. I grinned. "Sure. But be prepared. It's faster than you think."

He scoffed. "I'm not worried. I can keep up."

... he did, in fact, have to worry, but I would enjoy the look on his face. Muahahaha!

Oh! "But, before we start crafting our healing song, you all will need some music theory."

***

After we returned to the group, I taught everyone that particular melty song. Once I was sure they could practice on their own where it would be safe and not fucking melt anyone's face off, I began to teach them about the various structures rock songs had and gave them the language to describe each part.

I clasped my hands behind my back. "… So, what makes a rock song rock?"

Little Spring, who was used to my style of lecture, called out, "The instruments!"

I pointed to him. "Close! While they are important, you can always add more than the traditional guitar, drums, and bass."

Azure, who lounged languidly on a chair she'd pulled out of her bag, had figured out how I prefer to handle things. "Is that why you wanted to add a keyboard to your band?"

"Exactly! Because what makes a song 'rock' is more than the instruments used to play it, though they are still important since each instrument and how you play them, brings a different texture to the music."

Dread Lotus, who was fanning herself gently with a red spiritual fan, snapped it shut and casually raised it toward me. "Ah! That explains why Azure Melodic River usually plays the most during some of the more emotional parts. But that still doesn't explain what makes up a rock song."

I nodded. "You figured it out. For starters, when writing a rock song, you need to make sure it has a strong backbeat."

Azure casually propped her chin up as if she was trying hard to not look at someone she really wanted to. "Which explains why Senior Dread Lotus' drums are so important."

"And why, in general, Gold String's bass should lock in with her beat and stick to a tight and completely badass pattern."

The two I mentioned glanced at each other and nodded as if agreeing to cooperate.

"And most importantly," I held up a finger and grinned, "the guitar is almost always the main voice in rock... aside from, you know, the vocals. Though that could change depending on the goal of the song."

I kept lecturing like that for several more hours, but once I finished I turned to Gold String. "So, have you thought about the base melody already?"

I wasn't expecting much, but he nodded. "Actually, there was a song that my family used to play. I overheard it once, but it stuck with me this whole time for how good it always made me feel. I think we should use parts of it in the one we make."

This guy definitely wanted to immortalize part of his clan's history in rock. That was a fantastic idea!

"Let's hear it."

He brought out his zither and played a portion of a lovely melody. It had a slightly sad feeling that also began to build up a healing energy. "Considering that you asked us to consider how we could show the wound first before we treat it, I think we should begin with this part."

I took what I thought was the main point of the melody and began to play it on my guitar repetitively. I even had my inner Qi flow through my body and instrument in a way that would enhance the feeling.

His eyes grew wide, and he pulled out his bass and played the deeper parts my portion lacked.

"Don't start without me!" Dread Lotus almost flew over to her drum set, grabbed her sticks and brought a beat to the intro that complementedwhat we'd started.

I decreased the complexity in the guitar and added nonsense vocals, just to get the notes out there. We could add lyrics later, but for now, the emotion of the song was important.

"When we write the lyrics, we'll have to consider if we should talk about the injury outright or use metaphor."

"I think metaphor would be best for a piece like this," Gold String said. "That way, even though it's about a specific person, others can appreciate it."

I nodded. "Agreed. Now, I don't know how others do it, but I prefer to know where we begin and where we end, so we have a goal to work toward." I played a series of uplifting chords that gave off the feeling of being healed, but were reminiscent of the intro.

Everyone froze for a second, then I repeated the notes. "Of course, we'll have to design the ending fully once we get closer, but something like this is our goal."

Gold String pointed at me and began to play his zither again. "There was another portion of the song that goes like this."

The outro he played used a very similar chord progression to what I'd played. I grinned.

Music was still music. And I choose my band wisely.

"Perfect! Now all we have to do is the hard part. The middle. Which is always a damn struggle."

"That's because it's most of the song," Dread Lotus pointed out.

She wasn't wrong. "It includes the Pre-Chorus, Chorus, bridge, possibly a break, and a second chorus at the very least, as I discussed earlier."

Everyone looked like I'd just hit them with a ton of bricks and they weren't happy about it. Well, we were already off to an incredibly fast start that I doubted any mundane composer could match.

"Our middle should express the struggle of healing."

I began to play something I thought might make for a good pre-chorus, considering where the song was heading.

"Wait!" Gold String changed what I had played a bit. "What if it went like this instead?"

Once again, I picked up what he was playing and modified it to better match up with the guitar. Gold String then added his bass to it, enhancing the sound, but there was something missing.

Azure Melodic River's eyes grew wide. "Oh! I got this!" She placed her hands on the keyboard and practically took over the song for a brief, heartfelt moment.

We all grinned knowingly.

Oh, yeah. It was coming together.

I missed these joyful moments that I used to have with my old students. Creating music with everyone was the fucking best.

Now I just needed to prevent these brilliant musicians from having an argument about artistic differences. How hard could that be?

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 36🎸)

My three band members all stood next to each other with their arms crossed. None of them were backing down as they argued.

I sighed. This was why group creative projects were the bane of every good student's existence. Well, this and group members bailing at the last minute…

Shit. Bands often broke up because of these kinds of arguments. My precious band members better not drop out. If any of them did, I'd figuratively murder them.

Goddamn it. This was happening because I just had to raise that formation flag about artistic differences, right? Fuck.

And why did I think creating a song from virtual scratch was a good idea again?

Right, Ghosty needed something that fit his situation in order to heal. And it was best — and faster — to create a specific one for his situation than to teach these guys all the healing songs I knew since I did not have years to test every one.

So far, we had spent three days developing our new song. With practically no break.

Little Spring had visited to make sure I'd eaten... which I hadn't. And he may have accused me of being hangry.

Fuckin' brat. He made me regret teaching him that word!

I'd been through grain liberation, damn it!

Aside from that kid, we also had other visitors. Mostly, Dread Lotus's family who looked out for her like she was still that delicate flower.

The worst one was Noxious Fangstrike. He kept popping over, using me as an excuse when he really wanted to check on his niece. As if my brain wasn't almost fully occupied in scoring a badass healing rock song that could practically bring a Nascent Soul back to life from the brink of death.

Wait! Could some parts of this song be improved with some inspiration from 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence?

I'd have to consider that later because it sounded like the argument was finally getting to the main issue.

Gold String scowled at Dread Lotus. "Your drumming is too extreme during the outro."

She crossed her arms and glared. "I think it's fine. It's your bass playing that's too complicated for something that should express the feeling of being healed."

Azure Melodic River hesitated, then stepped forward. "As much as I want to agree with Dread Lotus, emphasizing my keyboard would be a better fit here to show the softness of this part of the song."

Gold String gestured to the keyboardist with both hands. "See."

The blue-haired girl winced and looked at Dread Lotus like she was desperate for her to understand her position.

The look she sent Azure had the keyboardist looking pained, but then her face firmed, showing that she wasn't backing down.

Of course, Noxious Fangstrike, who had entered our practice grounds with the worst possible timing, said, "I think my niece is right."

I glared at him. "You don't even know what we're talking about... Senior."

"Stay out of this, Uncle. We need to figure it out ourselves."

He shrugged. "I'm merely being supportive."

I crossed my arms. "Do you want to hear 'The Song that Never Ends,' again?"

He gave us a disgusted look. "No. If I never hear that… sound again, I'll be satisfied."

During his last visit, we had chased him out by singing it to him. It brought me joy just remembering it. Plus, knowing that it was deviously cursed and that he was bound to have it suddenly pop into his head when he least expected it? Muahahaha! Perfection!

"I think," I looked around at everyone to emphasize that I was serious, "we should confirm our lyrics here before we finalize this portion. They'll tell us if we need it to be softer or more intense." Then I turned to Noxious. "Now, do you have a reason you're here or are you just..." being an ass, "wanting an update?"

::I promised I'd get you when the peppers arrived,::he sent through a telepathic technique.

Which meant that it was time to work on the cure.

Damn. We were so close to resolving this shit and finishing our song, too.

"Everyone, let's take a break. Once you come back with rested minds, you might perceive things in a different way."

They nodded.

"And don't let a possible slap to your face get in the way of composing a rock song so incredible that it can heal even a comatose Nascent Soul."

I stared at all three of them, so they understood my meaning.

"Yes, band leader!"

Gold String, who had the most at stake here, appeared chastised and immediately left the area.

Dread Lotus stayed behind while Azure hovered nearby like she desperately wanted to say something. Considering how she constantly took Dread Lotus' side, she almost made me think bringing her in was a mistake. Fortunately, she'd shown promise today that reminded me of when I first met her.

Seeing her speak up for herself and her artistic choices gave me hope that her fangirling might die down and turn into genuine friendship. I really hoped they could get along. If she kept bending blindly to Dread Lotus's opinion, she would never go further down her Dao of Rock.

"Uncle, remember to be good to Sister Linlin."

He held up both his hands in exasperation. "Of course, I will."

"And don't yell at her like she's one of your disciples."

"I think she is more likely to yell at me."

They both looked at me, horrified. "What are you talking about? I am always respectful to my seniors." I wouldn't have survived as long as I had otherwise.

::Do you even consider me your senior?::

::Of course! When it comes to poisons.::

"Let's go, junior Linlin." He flicked his sleeve and flew off.

***The first thing I did when I walked into Noxious Fangstrike's alchemy room was make my way to the worktable to look over the 'old' peppers using my divine sense. They looked very similar to the new ones, except that their color wasn't as vibrant and they didn't have a potent scent. Once I confirmed that their Scoville scale—er, poison level—was weak, I took out a knife and delicately cut one open to expose the seeds.

Flames appeared around the pepper nearly scorching the tabletop, but they didn't burn the actual ingredient.

Noxious almost grabbed it from off my work table. "Are you crazy?"

"Of course not. I'll grow these myself."

I carefully removed each of the 'old' seeds and sent them into the space to soak in a bowl of spiritual spring water I had the kid prepare earlier.

If Little Spring was planning to continue down the path of a beast blood contractor, then we would have to cultivate these ourselves. Of course, I'd have to free the bath from its odd side effects first so it could be considered an orthodox cultivation method or we might actually get kicked out of the sect.

Noxious Fangstrike crossed his arms. "I already sent some to the horticulturists."

I narrowed my eyes on him. He remembered how those guys didn't even question the pepper breeding they did, right?

He huffed. "With instructions! And I'll visit often to make sure they're doing everything correctly. I won't neglect this side of alchemy anymore."

I nodded. "While I was away, I didn't have time to think up solutions, but I considered a few directions we could take the bath in."

"Oh?"

"But I need to grow a copy of each plant by myself to compare them with those you receive from the sect. Especially if I'm going to work around the Irrepressible Blood Chrysanthemum's issue."

He frowned. "Alright. I'll get you some seedlings. The horticulturists won't be happy about it, though."

"They can be angry all they want. They're the ones who messed this up first."

From the tightly held fury in his eyes, I could tell that he also had similar thoughts.

"While you procure those, I'll concoct the original version of the two-chrysanthemum-bath using these old-style peppers. But we'll need a willing test subject to go through with it so we can record the difference and ensure that it's an improvement."

***

By the time he returned carrying a massive crate full of seedlings, I had a bath bubbling inside his cauldron that was enlarged to the size of a barrel bathtub.

I grinned down at its red bubbling surface. Proud that I'd produced a high-quality version during my first attempt at concocting this bath.

When he set the plants down, I sent them into the space where Little Spring could plant them for me.

When I looked up, Noxious was staring at the bath excitedly. He walked over to it and closed his eyes. "Ah. This feeling. It is closer to the version we had when I first entered the sect."

"That's because it's missing all that poison your sect inadvertently added."

With a wave of his hand, a huge spiritual snake appeared beside him.

On reflex, I took several steps back. I'd had too many beasts attempt to murder me for no reason to do anything else. Even now, I could see from the way it stared at me that it wasn't happy to exist in the same room.

The spiritual beast had a 'V' shaped head with a round snout. The scales all over its body were a fascinating mixture of black and pale yellow. It had a faint musky scent that reminded me of the horrible stench Noxious produced back when I first met him.

It didn't attack me though. Which was good. It seemed like, even before the bath, their taming methods were effective.

Actually, the reason I was so impressed with this unorthodox sect, and something that made it easier for me to willingly go so far to help them, was the control their tamers had over these beasts.

His snake was only a dozen yards away, but it wasn't curling in on itself as if preparing to strike!

It had only been a few years since I was attacked by that one-eyed, one-horned Halloween song of a viper. And back then, I hadn't been close to it nor the biggest threat. But now I was so near to it that I could see the tiny scales on its eye ridges, but it only looked irritated!

Seriously fucking amazing! It almost gave me hope that someday I too could have a fluffy spiritual beast pet.

Almost…

"This is my Ten-Thousand Scents Grand Stinking Goddess. Her name is Inky Air Corrupter, and I am planning on making her my new spiritual beast companion." He gestured to me. "Little Inky, this is junior Linlin. She's going to help us save the sect."

She bobbed her patterned head.

If Noxious Fangstrike's previous spirit pet was also a Stinking Goddess, then it explained the yellow highlights in his hair and his gold eyes.

The snake bit her tail and added her blood to the bath just before Noxious jumped inside it.

It took me a solid five seconds before I could actually open my mouth and yell, "Are you crazy?!"

"Someone has to test it."

"It doesn't have to be you. No, it shouldn't be you."

"What? Is the great alchemist Linlin not confident in her work?"

I crossed my arms and huffed. "Of course I am. But this is the Qi Condensation version. It's not going to do much."

"Trust me. It's fine since Inky is only a low second rank beast. You only use the other baths when both the pet and the cultivator have a similar power level."

"Still y—"

"And since I went through the old bath, I will see if it's different from the one from my youth."

This crazy asshole shouldn't be testing this on himself! Scientists should not do tests on themselves. Fucking idiot. What if I had poisoned it? How could he be so damn reckless? "I asked you for volunteers!"

"I am a volunteer. And since I can compare this to my previous experiences, I am the best person to go through with this. If anything goes wrong, I'll trust in your genius to fix it."

Goddamn, why was he making sense? Especially the part about my genius.

I still wanted to kick him. This bath was only half-fixed, so I was only planning on testing it on someone older and desperate… okay, both of those descriptions fit Noxious. What I meant was that we could have used someone in their last decade from the outer sect who wanted to get paid a good amount!

But since this guy decided to be an idiot...

With frustration, I stretched out my divine sense and cataloged the minor changes in his body. Through this, I was able to list out how the concoction affected him so I could extrapolate how it would affect a disciple in a lower realm.

There also didn't seem to be any pain.

"How is it compared to what you experienced in the past?"

"It actually feels cleaner. Instead of ghost pepper soup, it's more like mint tea."

I nodded. We went over a few more questions while I poked and prodded him like the test subject he was, attempting to figure out if his skin weakened due to the bath at all.

Of course, this earned me a hiss from Inky.

"Quiet you. This is necessary."

The snake just glared with eyes that matched its owner. Whatever.

"Has the bath affected your vision or energy?"

"No."

"And do you have any strange snake-like urges?"

That invasive question earned me a piercing glare.

What? I only asked because it was necessary. If scientists were worried about making people uncomfortable with their research, they couldn't do a thorough job, thus ensuring that a certain drug didn't have unintended side effects just because the topic was embarrassing.

That said, he never did answer that last question. And I respected him enough to let it go.

By the time I finished all my tests, he was not happy. But the dumbass had volunteered for this. Muahahaha!

Revenge was a dish best served with a side of science!

For some reason, I felt like I could finally forgive him for that cauldron stunt from a few days ago.

This test had given me a whole new perspective on the concoction. I saw not only how things were supposed to fit together but how the two flowers instead of one left the recipe feeling uneven, though it seemed cleaner than before.

Since we couldn't grow healthy chrysanthemums just yet — and since using the spiritual spring water to purify them wasn't a viable option if I didn't want to get kidnapped and shaken down for all of Little Spring's treasures — I had to think of a way to purify the impurities in the flower without the cheat I would normally use.

Easy, right? Hah!