Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (4 ?)

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (4 ?)

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and raised my chin at the adorable brat.

“I lived over 1000 years in my past life, and in all that time I didn’t have a special space like this. I can survive without it. And, considering how long it took to upgrade, I think that relying on it too much will get us in trouble.”

He swallowed. “Whether you need it or not, it’s still useful! Not using a tool just because you might rely on it too much is a terrible excuse.”

He had a point there, but I still wasn’t convinced that bringing him just to have access to his space was a good idea. Frankly, I didn’t think he could say anything to convince me to take him.

He tugged at my sleeve and looked at me with those adorable eyes. Ha! Did he think this cuteness attack would help his cause?

“Sister Lin, you’re doing alchemy on this mission. You’ll definitely need my help.”

Wait a second.

He pointed his thumb at his chest and smiled proudly. “You trained me to assist you. If you run into an issue and need to concoct a more advanced pill, then I’ll have to be there so I can help. Wouldn’t it be a bad idea to go on this mission without me?”

This fucking kid!

“It’s not like you can rely on anyone else to help you out, either. They don’t know your methods like I do.”

Why did I feel like I’d just been stabbed in the back by my past self?

And where did he learn to argue so well?

If he stayed here, then he’d be relatively safe. But he wanted to go so badly that he found the one reason I would accept. This little brat!

“Fine. I’ll take you with me!”

His eyes shimmered with excitement. “Thank you!”

Then he swiftly hugged me and ran off to start preparing.

The tiny spectral dragon held up a claw and wrote in midair with a golden shimmering spiritual energy:

“Little Spring, 1

Fairy Lin, 0”

Oh. Between me and this dragon, it was on!

Treat this floating noodle like a respected old spirit? Ha! From now on, it would have to earn that respect.

***

Little Spring and I convinced Unyielding to escort us to Majestic Sword Peak’s teleport platform area.

Because teleportation was so expensive and posed an enormous security risk, it was in a highly restricted section of the peak, protected by an extensive barrier that could double as a slaughter formation in the right circumstances. For example, if an enemy used a platform to bring in a small team of Nascent Soul cultivators. The barrier would keep them trapped inside... then one of the several guards could activate the slaughter formation, making Nascent Soul Soup... which sounded like the worst tasting soup ever.

Basically, they took the security seriously around here. Even though we arrived with the Sect Leader’s inheriting disciple, we still had to go through multiple quick checks to prove that we were expected at the teleportation platforms.

The only consolation was that, unlike the TSA from my past-past life, these guards worked very swiftly since they just had to scan each person with divine sense after checking that they had a reason to be there.

At the very least, I didn’t even have to take off my cute little slippers.

When we reached the teleportation platform, a small crowd of sword cultivators who sent out a loud chorus of, “Great Martial Aunt! Great Martial Uncle!”

Little Spring’s eyes went wide.

Well, we had mostly been cooped up in our courtyard training for the past few months, so the kid wouldn’t have been exposed to this kind of proper greeting.

Now that I counted just the people who were here, there were a lot of cultivators leaving on this mission. Well, they would be split between five cities, so it wasn’t as much as it looked.

Salamander grabbed someone who was practically hiding behind the twenty-year-old Drunken Edge and pulled him over to greet me.

Holy shit! It was Young Master Zhang from the sect trials! And he’d received a Daoist name that was a fucking mouthful to say.

“This one greets Senior Lin!” With bright red cheeks, the young master clasped his hands and bowed.

Well, he wasn’t a young master from the Zhang clan any more.

“It’s good to see you again, Daoist Spear That Weaves Through Lightning.”

He cleared his throat. “Please, just address me as Spear That Weaves.”

This kid was going to be alright.

Now that I thought about it, I was glad that I forced the issue and had him go through the sect trials back then.

I suspected that in my past life, demonic cultivators infiltrated the sect and released an Immortal Bone Creation level soul during the kid’s personalized trial. The Demonic Elder would have killed him and everyone in the area before the Sect Leader had time to get there and eradicate the evil son of a bitch.

And, even if that didn’t happen, and he made it through — he probably would have worshiped some master loyal to the Zhang Clan instead of the Spear Master who actually fit him.

Going in through the back door wasn’t always a good thing.

“We’re just waiting for the other Alchemists to arrive, then we can activate the teleportation platform to Heaven’s Wall Empire.”

I nodded. Hopefully, they would get here soon.

After waiting there for a while, Little Spring curiously walked up to a sword cultivator with triangle shaped eyes and asked, “Fellow Daoist Drunken Sword? How did you get your name? Do you practice a martial art that requires you to drink?”

He looked a little sheepish and laughed. “Ah, Great Martial Uncle Little Spring... You see, my master describes my sword techniques as looking so pathetic and moving so awkwardly that it’s no different from me being completely inebriated.”

Everyone in the group grew silent.

Salamander cleared his throat and said kindly, “Your sword work is unique and very effective for tricking your opponents.”

“Sword Master!” Drunken Edge looked like he was about to cry.

Salamander must have decided to give poor Drunken Edge a break because he addressed the group. “If you’ve been with me on missions before, you know that I like to keep everybody on their toes. It’s dangerous outside the sect and your first priority is to watch your surroundings to keep yourself and your teammates safe. To do that, I’m implementing a game I call, ‘Avoid the Assassin.’”

Oh shit! I remembered this game. I found it to be very effective training in teaching the younger generations how to pay attention to their environment.

“I will send a harmless slash of sword Qi to you at random times throughout our journey. If you block it, you win one contribution point, but if you don’t block it, you have to pay the sect one contribution point.”

Some of the newer sword cultivators looked horrified. Even Young Master Zhang, er, Spear That Weaves had a tense look on his face.

“I do this because once contribution points are on the line, you all take this game seriously. That might save your life.”

“Yes, Sword Master!”

Little Spring’s eyes gleamed. “Will you include the alchemists in this exercise?”

Oh, Little Spring. You don’t know what you’re asking for.

Okay, I wasn’t going to stop him because this would be beneficial training for him, and a good show for me.

“Only if asked, and only when they’re not working.”

“Then can you put both myself and my sister through it?”

I coughed.

Did this brat just sign me up for training?!