Story 8 - Tribulation Trepidations (18/24 ?)

Story 8 - Tribulation Trepidations (18/24 ?)

The merchant’s figure trembled.

It would be a shame to just kill her off. She was an incredible Black Market Dealer with fantastic connections.

Should I try to use the classic trope of turning an enemy into a subordinate? It was usually done by the main character, but maybe it would work out. It wouldn’t be too late to kill her if she betrayed me later. Of course, I would have to get some assurance first.

“If the Demonic sects sent those assassins after me, then you have ties to them. How can any righteous cultivator let you off easily after knowing that?”

“Hey! If they were, then I didn’t know. I wouldn’t help evil cultivators on purpose!”

I hated those last two words. It was what fake white lotus types always spouted in those translated web novels from my past-past life. I almost killed her just to save myself a massive amount of trouble. But I had to think about this logically. She may have betrayed me, but she hadn’t been trying to kill me herself. While she was an unscrupulous, greedy bitch, she wasn’t beyond redemption at this point. And I was absolutely not being blinded by the amount of spirit stones I could collect from her if I was patient.

“Then tell me, if I allow you to live, what will you do for me to make up for your betrayal?”

“If those cultivators who bought your location return, I can set them up for you.”

“That’s a start.”

“I... I can sell you everything at cost?”

Was she kidding me? I guessed a merchant would always be a merchant. “Still not enough to make up for almost getting your Great Martial Aunt and Uncle killed.”

Her voice seemed like it was going to crack as she said, “Dear customer, y-you won’t make me give you the spirit stones I received from them, will you? Because I’ve already spent it all!”

I held in the urge to kick her. “You expect me to believe that?”

She winced. “The easiest way to increase your income is to let your money do the work. I’ve already tied everything up in investments.”

That made sense. But I doubted she’d spent everything already. “Give me what you have left as your first installment of reparations.”

Slowly, as if it physically killed her, she took out a storage bag. Then she handed it to me with both hands. Her hood was bent low, and I could practically hear sniffing noises coming from it. If I weren’t so pissed at her for selling me out, I might have felt like a bully.

I scanned it with divine sense first to make sure there wasn’t some kind of trap, then took it.

“Dear customer, would you mind telling me how many more installments there need to be for you to allow this poor merchant to live freely?”

“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here. You’re working for me like a loyal dog or you’ll get handed to the Sect Leader. Those are your only options.”

“B-but, my spirit stones!”

She really was a business woman. “Are they more important than your life?”

The girl spent way longer than I thought she would on the question. “No, but it’s still as important as breathing.”

I sighed. “I’m not going to prevent you from earning an income. In fact, I’ll encourage it. Because I’ll be taking 80% of your profit from now on.”

She choked.

I grinned.



Yes. Taking the spirit stones from a money-obsessed bitch was definitely better revenge than killing them off right away. Muahahaha!

“Whatever your original identity was, from now on, you’ll go by Little Black. Recognize this as your new name to accept this deal.”

“You can’t be serious! That’s a stupid name for a human!”

“It’s between this or getting thrown to my nephew. With his speed, it would take him a half second to arrive here.”

“Are you really willing to get in trouble with the Sect Leader? Once he finds out about you visiting black market dealers...”

I held myself back from kicking her. Was she seriously trying to threaten me? “You think he’ll scold his Martial Aunt?”

She paused as if she actually considered going up against an Immortal Bone Creation expert. “Fine. I... accept.”

The hidden enchantment that I had attached to that name started to come into effect. It was the same one I’d used on Ghosty back when I first met him. If the affected person betrayed me this enchantment would destroy their soul.

At first, there was a large amount of resistance, but then I felt it take and settle. She must have a sturdy soul for her realm. Or Ghosty was just very weak back then.

“Alright, Little Black. You’ll work for me from now on. This is the chance of a lifetime.”

The hood bobbed quickly in agreement.

I narrowed my eyes at her. This bitch was absolutely going to try something that would get her killed if I didn’t give her a warning.

“Remember, this is your only chance. If you value your life, don’t even think of going against me.”

***

After Little Black and I discussed the details of her new reality, which included sending me her detailed ledgers and ways to contact me, it was time to finish my preparations.

I stopped by the Treasure Pavilion to sell the Golden Walnut sticks I’d made. The contribution points from that went toward buying the silk and paint I’d need to complete my defensive formations.

Unfortunately, the previous silks I had collected were used up when I slaughtered those assassins.

While I was there, I grabbed the last few ingredients I’d need to take my armor from separate pieces into a whole set.

Once I returned to our courtyard and entered the space, Little Spring joined me in the forge room.

“Are you ready to help me finish the armor?”

He nodded and then eyed the items I laid out.

“Usually, you’d want to complete everything all at once. But we didn’t have enough energy for that. We’ll have to use a special method for combining them so that the pieces form a set.”

The kid ran his hand over the cloth we made together. It was still in one bolt of fabric, since I couldn’t cut it up without the forge. It was created to survive hits by a Golden Core level tribulation. Several small levels higher than where I suspected my tribulation would be at. It wasn’t something I could casually damage, even though I’d been the one to make it.

“Remember to double check each item before forging.”

“Just like alchemy and cooking.”

He looked over each item and I double checked them as well.

His eyes looked determined. “Someday, let’s create something that is actually Unparalleled Perfection.”

I smirked. “Impossible. Remember, perfection can only exist in a vacuum. You’ll become insane if you attempt it.”

He gave me a look that asked if that was what happened to me.

This brat! He was lucky I was in the middle of forging.

It was time to put the robe patterns together. Instead of sewing everything, I simply folded the seams and spiritually melded them. For the few areas that were prone to tearing a part, I reinforced them by stitching them with thread.

Little Spring stared into the furnace with wide eyes. “So fast,” he murmured.

I threw in the metal armor I’d created over a week ago. This included the pauldron, arm guards, and buckles. It took some time, but I connected everything and used the leather straps to hold things in place.

At this point, all the pieces were basically finished. There were just a few more steps left.

With a circling gesture, I directed Little Spring to use his spiritual energy to lift the outfits and turn them. Once he did, I tossed in the Shrinking Vermillion Powder along with four mid tier spirit stones. With a special hand seal that took a majority of my energy, I activated the powder, causing it to meld into the armor, transferring its size changing properties.

The light burst out of the forge, practically blinding us.

“Are they done?” Little Spring asked.

“One last thing.” I poured in two dyes and directed them to specific areas. For the kid’s, I colored his robes the blue he’d requested. We could add a pattern later if he wanted one.

For mine, I left it mostly white and dyed the rest an auspicious red. I’d need all the luck and good omens I could get. In this universe, they actually made a difference.

At this point, I was practically drained of energy. Little Spring wasn’t much better. His arms shook as he held the clothes up with his remaining energy.

I used the last bit of mine to pull both finished sets from the forge and quench them together in a barrel full of spiritual spring water. Steam rose as the water flash boiled. Once again, a vague, illusory yin-yang symbol appeared over the two sets of armor.

Although exciting, both of us were too drained to be happy. We downed several bottles of spring water and used some of the spirit stones I collected from the black market dealer to recover. By the time we finished our break, the barrel water had calmed down. We leaned over to see that the red and blue dyes had mixed.

“Sister Lin, did we just turn our clothing purple?”

“They’re not clothes. They’re sets of powerful sky rank armor.”

He rolled his eyes, then furrowed his brow at the colorful water.

Those pigments were very pure. Even with the properties of spiritual water, it would take a while to clear.

I glanced at the kid. “Even if it’s violet, you’re still going to use it, right?”

“Of course! Wearing matching armor sets with my martial sister would be fun.”

This kid wasn’t reacting to my teasing. I pulled out his set and used the cleaning technique to get it dry. When I’d finished, it looked perfectly blue. Something I knew would happen or I wouldn’t have tossed everything into a single bucket.

I thought he would be relieved, but he just received his armor with a smile, while somehow managing to appear a little regretful.

Did he want to wear matching armor sets? This adorable kid. He should have told me sooner.

He smiled. “This is the first set of armor we worked on together. I’ll treasure it!”

“I’d rather you use it to protect yourself.”

“Of course!”

I pulled my red and white set out of the water and quickly cleaned it off. The white cloth shimmered with energy and the reddish gold steel gleamed in the forge room’s light. I wouldn’t have been able to create something at this quality by myself at my current realm. Working with the kid had been a good idea.

Frankly, if the other smiths saw my Qi Condensation ass create this armor, they’d soul search me for my techniques. Of course, it wouldn’t work due to my massive soul, but I didn’t have time to deal with complications like that.

I grinned at my beautiful armor, the first set I had created in this life.

“You know what we have to do now, right?”

He looked up. “What?”

“Try them on!”

***

After we changed, we met by Fairy Lake.

Little Spring stood in his new light armor. It wouldn’t look any different from the blue hanfu he usually wore as long as a master smith didn’t examine its threads. Still, the kid was adorable. This casual looking armor might just save his life someday.



“How is it? Does it fit well?”

“It’s good. I was a little worried since it was very large when I first put it on but once I shrunk it down, it fit perfectly!”

I nodded. Of course it did.

“Why was it so big, anyway?”

“Because you’ll grow very tall in the next ten years.” I wouldn’t spend this much time and effort on armor that would have to be replaced in a few months when Shrinking Vermillion Powder could solve that issue.

I turned around. “So, do I look like the fierce warrior I am?”



He nodded. He may have spent too much time in the forge because his face looked a little red.

I crossed my arms. “Let me tell you. There are few things more satisfying than wearing the best set of spiritual armor you can craft. We did good work. This is a time to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments. Just remember, after you’re done praising yourself, consider the fact that it’s better that your armor becomes scrap metal if it means saving your own life.”

Before he could reply, the white puppy and the little golden dragon ran and flew up to us.

Before I’d allowed Xiao Bai in the space, I’d asked Senior Auspicious Paifang confirm the creature was a puppy and contained no ill will towards our sect. He had. Of course, I was still wary of it simply because I knew the tropes of the genre. Also, because it came from a suspicious egg. But if my Senior said it didn’t have bad intentions, then I could trust it.

It helped that the little fluff ball was heart meltingly adorable.

Little Spring picked it up and gave it a big hug. Then he looked at me. “Do you need help with your formation flags? That’s the last thing on your list before your tribulation, right?”

It had been such a good day. I’d started my revenge against Little Black, finally finished my armor, and saw a cute puppy. Why did he have to bring that up and ruin it?

“I can make those myself. We should head to your tutoring session with Chef Garlic.”