Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (20🎸)
By the ti I finished talking to Winter Fox, Little Spring had been pulled into a poison concocting competition. Classic Xianxia. A main character couldnt go five chapters without getting into sothing.
A borrowed cauldron stead in front of him as he mixed various ingredients. He kept glancing at Water Viper and the girl from earlier, as if he was trying to figure out what order to put each toxic herb in.
Wait, was he copying these alchemists because Id told him to keep a low profile? Very good!
Off to the side, Little Teasing Mouse quietly cheered them on while jumping up and down on the balls of her brocade slippers.
It didnt take too much longer before large billows of purple vapor wafted from each cauldron. With a hand seal, the two regular disciples sent the misty poison to collect into a pill in the air.
Now that was an unusual pill-forming thod!
Little Spring had been using the hand seals I first taught him while hiding it behind the old ones. Once he reached this point, he created a seal on the cauldron with his spiritual energy and then twisted his fingers into our pill forming seal. Beads of sweat covered his forehead.
Once they finished, Water Viper collected his pill into a jade bowl and brought it to a disciple who must have been nominated as the judge.
The judge rolled the pill around the bowl while he used a technique on his eyes Id never seen before. Oh, my! Look at the color and clarity! This is a high-quality Three Lines Decapitation Toxin. Its poison efficacy is 76%! Absolutely deadly.
Now that was an interesting technique! It was hard to get exact numbers in this ti period, so sothing used to examine a pill accurately was valuable. Id have to learn it while I was here.
The girl sniffed disdainfully. The last ti I concocted this recipe, I had an efficacy of 80%.
Water Viper snorted. Dont lie. That one was only at 70% at most.
She handed her bowl to the judge.
His eyes glowed as he looked down at her submission, then shook his head. Your pill has an efficacy of 72%.
Water Viper sneered. See, I told you Id be the better poison arts teacher for Little Teasing Mouse.
Little Spring gave the judge his own blow. Im undeserving of being Little Teasing Mouses poison arts teacher. But I will take the contribution points you promised , seniors.
The two looked at him like they couldnt believe he thought he had a chance.
But I dont think Ill be too much better than you, since this is my first ti concocting this pill.
The judge narrowed his eyes on the purple pill. Wait. That cant be right. It looked glossier and clearer than the other two. Hold on.
Oh, no. Did this brat forget to keep a low profile after all?
::You didnt create a pinnacle pill right?::
::Of course not! Even you have trouble creating one your first ti.::
Sure, but logic didnt always work when it ca to this kids protagonist halo.
This pill has 81% efficacy!
Everyone in the room stared at Little Spring with wide eyes.
Whoa!
Impossible!
::That low? You must have worked hard.::
::Thank you, Sister Lin! I tried my best to add a few minor imperfections that match the ones my fellow disciples were adding. Sadly, our superior hand seals increased the quality too much.::
They did that. ::Regardless, I think you did an excellent job of keeping a low profile while not looking weak.::
::Thank you, Sister Lin!;;
::Return to your space once youre done here. Im going to teach you to craft a new instrunt!::
::A new one?::
::youll like it. Its called aMajestic Kick-Ass Aluminum Keyboard of Many Sounds - Lesser Version.::
He paused for a second. ::Thats an interesting na.::
::As you can see, Im very good at naming things.::
::...:: He sent a brief disbelieving glance. From that, I was sure it ant he couldnt believe how aweso my naming style was.
Little Teasing Mouse ran over and hopped excitedly. I told you that hes a genius!
This has to be so kind of mistake! Both Water Viper and the girl said in unison.
The judge huffed and crossed his arms. If you dont trust , then dont ask to judge.
Little Spring held up both hands. Please dont complain. Its obvious that I was just lucky. Its Senior Water Viper who deserves to be Little Teasing Mouses poison teacher.
Water Viper crossed his arms. Well, youre right about that.
The brat held his palm out. While I cant teach her, I will take those contribution points, seniors.
Little Teasing Mouse grabbed Little Springs sleeve. I knew you could do it! Then she turned to her friends while wearing an adorable smile. See! I said he was a genius! Now I get to be taught by a genius! This is so lucky!
The kids eyes widened and briefly darted to in panic.
::But I already said I couldnt do it. Why is she ignoring ?::
::Uh. I cant deal with her.:: She was too disgustingly cute. If I went over there, I might say sothing logical and aggressive that would make the enemy of everyone in the room. Just like what always happened in my past life with Bloodswords wives. It was not sothing we needed while we were undercover. ::Youre going to have to get out of this on your own. Were here to spy on this sect. If you spend all your ti teaching that idiot how to concoct pills, you wont be able to contribute to getting our asses ho.::
His jaw tightened. ::Ill take care of it.::
Bloodswords fucking braindead wives were the worst.
My large crucible with an exact mixture of spiritual tals flew into the furnace to lt. That was the signal. Little Spring automatically took over control of the flas. Next, I brought over the two special molds I had spent an hour preparing while I waited for the brat to enter his space.
Frankly, he should have returned sooner, but apparently, it was difficult to get away from his new friends. They had kept him way too long when I had a lesson planned.
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I was not fucking happy. But, as his teacher and older martial sister, I wasnt sure what to do about it.
Once the tal finished lting, I used a technique to lift the crucible and shake it.
Rember, the tal for this instrunt should be shaken, not stirred.
Why is that?
So that the tal becos softer and more malleable on the inside, and harder on the outside.
Before its perfect consistency was ruined, I poured it into each fra box. While I counted down until the boxes had cooled, Little Spring took care of the crucible.
Quick, bring the hamrs over. Its about ti you practice that new technique.
Yes, Sister Lin!
The big and little hamrs flew into the furnace.
I broke the seals on each box, exposing the steaming silvery tal to the air. With a flick of my wrist, I sent both sides of the keyboard into the forge.
I grabbed a handful of gold powder and threw it inside while controlling it with my spiritual energy. It ford the base for several enchantnts and drew perfect lines between where each key would go and the slots for the recording crystals.
Hit each line with the little hamrs Long Dragon Tapping thod.
The kid closed his eyes and his hands moved. I could see the hint of an illusory dragon behind him before the hamr struck each line in quick succession.
God damn protagonists. When did he reach this level of forging? Didnt I just fucking teach him this technique not too long ago?
I grabbed a handful of the local spiritual chro powder and casually threw it into the furnace, so it covered the exterior of each side.
Now, take the big hamr and use Hard Strike to harden it until it has a mirror finish.
His brow furrowed as he concentrated. Then the big hamr crashed into the keyboard, causing it to bend.
The kid froze for a second and glanced over at with wide eyes, checking my reaction.
Fuck. I didnt let any shock show on my face. Usually, he did everything near perfect the first go around. Maybe his new friends were distracting him? Very calmly, I said, Finish it perfectly. Because I didnt want to spend more money and ti on this project.
Right away!
He used the big hamr to bend it back, then carefully hamred each side while looking very stiff. But he managed to finish it.
I pulled the two sides out and set them on a stone table to cool. Fortunately, I could tell by how each side settled onto the table that the bend had been fixed. Still, I needed to find out where his head was at.
Sothing you feel like telling ?
The thing is... to get out of teaching alchemy to Little Teasing Mouse, I had to... promise to play together tomorrow.
... A vein bulged in my forehead.
I could tell from the heat wafting off the two sides of the Keyboards aluminum fra that theyd cooled to the point I had to work on them again. I pulled out the bag of recording crystals and began slotting them into the round sockets made just for them. The kid grabbed a handful and helped from the other side.
I know you warned ...
So you do rember!
He winced, but continued to place the crystals inside the slots. Sister Lin...
Whatever. With a clack, I set the last crystal inside the slot.. Just limit your ti with her and dont forget what I told you.
Dont be mad. I couldnt teach her alchemy, so I had to make up for it sohow.
This fucker. If my physique wasnt improved with body cultivation, Id have a headache. You did not need to make up for it. It sounds like you fell victim to so manipulative tactic.
He winced. Thats You didnt see the way those seniors glared. If I hadnt made that promise, it would have started a fight. And beating up so many people stronger than wouldnt be low key at all.
With the bottom of the base completed, I pulled over the bin of keys wed created and began painting their top with a glossy spiritual paint Id concocted using several of the ingredients I had ordered earlier.
Plus, I think going around the sect with Little Teasing Mouse will be a good excuse to search for more clues about the scroll.
Only if you can figure out a way to get an invitation to the second level of the treasure pavilion.
Ill do that! I promise.
When I finished painting the last key, I set my brush down and crossed my arms.
I did not like this. But the kid hadnt done anything stupid in a while... aside from almost fucking up my instrunt. Not that Id ever admit it to him, but in so ways hed been more responsible than . Especially while my brain hadnt been quite right back when I first ti traveled. Of course, thanks to my cultivation, I was now perfectly sane. Muahahaha!
In the end, while I didnt trust that mouse girl, I respected Little Springs ability to make a logical choice.
Alright. Lets finish this keyboard. Tomorrow well have to record all the sounds.
You need my help for that?
No, but you should know how to forge one of these by yourself. By the ti we complete it, youll be the second smith in the universe who can create a Majestic Kick-Ass Aluminum Keyboard of Many Sounds - Lesser Version.
The kids eyes filled with determination. Ill do my best, Martial Sister Lin!
With Little Springs help, it took only half a day to get the various notes and sounds I needed. Mostly because I had him stretch out a wire so I could hit it with a hamr while recording. It made things go much faster than doing everything by myself.
He also convinced Xiao Bai to bork at different pitches for so alternative sounds. Once I played his voice back to him, he tilted his head adorably, then howled along.
We next visited my students, who had continued to learn new songs. I recorded Three Drops Silent Toxin as he demonstrated each individual drum sound and had Shadow Panther play every bass note.
The two grinned when I played back the sounds theyd help with.
Recording like this was sothing I liked to call a Sound Wave Scavenger Hunt.
It wasnt perfect, but it was fast.
Once wed finished collecting the last notes we returned to the space. I finished the final adjustnts to the instrunt causing an illusory silver dragon to appear above the keyboard before vanishing.
Finally! Wed finished. Muahahaha!
It looked so good and perford perfectly. This was going to make lodic River look so cool.
Little Spring hesitated. Sister Lin, are you sure so of those sounds were even necessary?
I paused. No. But I need this instrunt to sound more complex to snag another bandmate.
He looked exasperated, as if questioning why we had to go through all that.
It will help us heal, Ghosty. Anyway, be grateful that this is a lesser version. I spent a whole month collecting sounds for the full Immortal rank keyboard once. I stroked the smooth silvery surface of the instrunt. This one has rely reached sky rank. But its good for our current cultivation.
He seed to struggle for a bit. Spending that long gathering sounds would be very frustrating.
It wasnt terrible. I had all my Dao of Rock students help with it. Theyd kept coming up to , wanting to add more sounds to it. They were all very proud of their contribution towards it. When you work together on a project like this, its fun.
He grinned. I agree.
Now that its complete, want to hear it?
He nodded.
I grinned. Then et outside my immortal cave as soon as you can.
I exited my temporary ho to find lodic River drinking a small bowl of dical wine under a nearby tree. Her languid posture made her appear damn cool. She really would make a fantastic mber of my rock band.
There you are! She smiled. Ive been waiting for you. Did you finish what you needed to?
I pulled out the silvery keyboard and inserted my spiritual energy into it until it hovered at the perfect height for playing. Since I was a master weaponsmith, it had been simple to add a flying tool enchantnt to the instrunt. Especially since this was a tool for a Foundation Establishnt cultivator.
lodic Rivers eyes widened. You didnt ntion that it could fly!
I grinned. Thats part of the fun. If you get good enough, you can even play it while its above your head.
I think you might have been underselling it. Could you play for ?
In a mont. An Older Martial Brother of mine is coming to listen in.
Oh, she seed slightly disappointed. But then grabbed a gourd filled with wine and shook it. How about we drink until they get here?
Im underage.
Her eyebrows furrowed as a skeptical expression crossed her face.
I shrugged. Im a little younger than I look. While also being much older than I was physically. Ti travel was weird. And it made things like drinking age and when to treat myself as an adult fucking awkward.
I had been an adult in a childs body for the first 9 years of my past life. Technically, this was my second ti going through this kind of age awkwardness. Frankly, it was one of the reasons I avoided romance at the beginning of my first life here. By the ti Id beco an adult, comfortable in my own body, Id seen too much of this fucked up Xianxia world I lived in and decided to swear off romantic relationships altogether. They werent worth it. Not when soone could betray for a heavenly treasure, sell for their own benefit, or try to use as a cultivation cauldron. Fuck that shit.
She sighed. It would have been nice to know that earlier.
Well, its more good wine for you.
So it is! She grinned.
I heard Little Spring call my na. I turned to see him running over, followed by Xiao Bai and Little Teasing Mouse.
God damn it. I had to deal with her again? Ghosty better appreciate the amount of frustration I was dealing with to heal his ass.
I raised an eyebrow at the brat.
::Sorry, Sister Lin. She followed .::
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