Story 6 - Slapping Faces and Entering Sects (15)
After Far Reaching Feather said a few more words congratulating those who won, we were all teleported away.
This new area was a massive open outdoor space surrounded by fog where all the remaining disciples from each of the various tests gathered. This included those who had fallen off the rope bridge.
Even that one guy who took an arrow to his knee and was nursing his wound made it here. I nodded to him.
Maybe it was my imagination but his face looked even paler now that he was looking toward .
Poor kid. I’d need to rember to hand him dicine later.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have ti to talk... not with my robes as tattered and stained as they were. I hurriedly brought out my tent and changed inside while Little Spring guarded outside.
As soon as I stepped out the kid bit his lip. “Fairy Lin, let’s go back inside.”
As soon as we went back inside, he activated the various privacy formations I had set up earlier.
“Let fix your hair,” he said. Then he took out a comb and undid my bun. As he brushed through the strands he pulled out a few small pieces of debris.
I must have missed those. Whatever.
“Fairy Lin... I don’t like this sect trial. It’s too dangerous. And I don’t feel that they’re treating you fairly.”
“They’re not.”
“I know you’ve explained this before but why can’t we go live by ourselves? Or find a sect that will treat us better? We don’t need this sect if they’re going to treat you like this.”
I sighed. How to explain to a kid about the trials and tribulations of adults in this dumb ass harem Xianxia universe?
“Listen up. Every cultivator is out for themselves. They fight each other for precious resources that will help them gain strength and reach immortality. Every single one who has ventured out in the world has killed soone or done sothing horrible to get ahead. This makes trusting people outside difficult. Frankly, we’ve been lucky so far. We’ve t a lot of very kind people, but that doesn’t an that we’ll keep eting cultivators like that.
“If we remained by ourselves, we’d face far more danger than you’ve seen from these sect trials. Even what you experienced on our way over here would pale in comparison to the dangers and evils that are out there for a cultivator with no backing.” Basically, this had been easy mode.
He sighed. “You’ve told that before.”
Well, adults like to repeat shit. Maybe I should phrase it another way?
“There are also a lot of petty and stupid people out there who have more strength than they deserve... As weak as we—”
“—You’ve told that before too. I want to know the reason why it absolutely has to be this sect.”
Well, he was a kid but that didn’t an he was stupid.
But I still wasn’t ready to explain about my past life. Besides, being reborn was one thing, ti travel was sothing else altogether. And, my knowledge of the future might not even help. So I decided to explain it in a different way.
“It’s true that there are a lot of other sects out there we could go to, but they all have negatives about them that I don’t approve of.” Hell so of the righteous sects weren’t much better than those demonic sects that built hoards of cultivation furnaces.
Like fuck would I risk bringing this kid anywhere near a sect like that. “The Indomitable Will Sect has the best resources for every possible occupation. It has training thods that even I could use and learn from.
“But, beyond that. And despite what you’ve seen so far, it also has so decent people.
“This sect will be our ho from now on. There will be friends and teachers here who can have our backs. Ones who can treat us with so much kindness that we’ll co to see each other as family.”
People who I had the chance to see again, and treat better this ti around. Like Sword Saint Salamander who always had ti to teach the sword while Fairy Bamboo was busy with Bloodsword. Or Senior Little Berry who was kind enough to befriend and help break out of my awkward transmigrated shell when I just entered the sect. And those were just two examples. This sect had many people like that. People who were probably never ntioned in the original novel, but who made the sect a decent place to cultivate in relative safety.
“The friends we make here will show us that — even as we pass through it on our way to the immortal realm — this world is worth spending ti in. We just haven’t t many of those wonderful friends yet.”
Since he was still behind I couldn’t gauge his reaction, so I decided to add, “Also, and importantly, the disciples of this sect have each other’s backs when out on sect missions.” Aside from mortal enemies, and jealous cannon fodder.
“How can you be so sure of all that?”
I grinned. Because it happened in my past life.
While my friends did change, or pass away, that didn’t an that the ti I spent with them was worthless.
“Just who do you think I am?”
From his silence, I could practically feel him rolling his eyes behind .
“I know what I’m doing here. This sect isn’t perfect, but that’s because it’s inhabited by people. People who are inherently flawed. But that’s okay. You can’t expect people to be perfect. I an perfection is arbitrary anyway. It’s one thing to want a perfect cultivation technique, but wanting a person to be perfect is just insane.”
The comb paused.
“Okay. But what if terrible things keep happening to us? What if sothing happens?”
I didn’t realize that he was so troubled about this, but I should have expected it. He was such a cute little kid, worried about things like danger when he should be learning and playing. And generally growing up to be a healthy individual.
“I don’t plan on letting off those who keep ssing with us. It just might take ti to expose them and make it so they can never harm us ever again.”
He continued to run the comb through my hair.
“Anyway, shouldn’t you be asking sothing more fun? Like how I was able to defeat all those arrows like the amazing person I am?”
“I was more worried that you’d get hurt. That made it hard to focus on how amazing you were.”
“I know. I made it look easy. But trust , it wasn’t.” Though it was a little fun during so parts. “For sothing like this, you have to sense where each of the arrows will land and at what ti. Then it’s just a simple matter of calculating the best path forward.”
“....”
“Don’t worry. You still have a lot more to learn before you’re ready to challenge 888 arrows.”
He may have had sothing in his throat because he coughed a little. “You’re going to teach to do that?”
“Not right away. But, you can start by trying to look ahead at what attacks your opponents will do... for at least a hundred moves.”
“A hundred?!”
I laughed. “Start slow, one step at a ti. No one is expecting you to see a hundred moves ahead right away.”
He pulled part of my hair into a simple bun and put a few pins through it, then wiggled my sword hairpin into place.
I stood up and grinned at him. “Good work.”
He nodded.
“And don’t worry. I’ll make sure we get through this trial alive.”
***
Finally looking like the beautiful immortal child I was, I stepped out of the tent. Just after I collected it back into my spatial ring I noticed that quite a few kids were surrounding us. So looked excited, as if they wanted to talk to while others peered at warily.
Shockingly, McTraitorFace, er Liu ChuHua was also looking at with glittering eyes... Okay, this situation was too weird so I decided to ignore her.
Most of these other kids, as long as they survived this harsh Xianxia world, would beco the future backbone of the sect. And they probably all wanted the answer to how I made it past all those arrows.
I raised my chin and grinned. “I can tell you all have questions. Technically, I don’t need to answer any of them. However, if I make it into the inner sect I’ll hold a lecture several days later on how to detect projectiles and judge where they’ll land. After that lecture, I will answer so of your questions.”
That managed to clear away most of them. Only Liu ChuHua was left along with Young Master Zhang. He stared at like he was both fascinated and upset with .
I smirked at him, which must have set him off because he crossed his arms and stated, “You cheated!”
Little Spring ran up to him, face red. “You dare insult my sister?! After what she accomplished?!”
“I don’t believe soone at the second layer of Qi Condensation can do what she did! She must have sohow raised her cultivation or used so kind of tool.”
“She has a sect token keeping her at the second layer, just like you have one keeping you at the fourth layer. How could she possibly cheat?”
The young master crossed his arms over his chest and glared at . “I don’t know, but I’m sure the sect elders will discover her secrets and expose them.”
“Ah,” I cut in. “The thing is, Young Master Zhang, you have to have evidence to accuse soone of sothing like that. I don’t suppose you have evidence?”
His face turned red.
“Then, how about you compensate for your accusation?”
Just as he was about to open his mouth we all heard a voice talking near our ears.
“Congratulations! You passed your previous challenge. It was a very difficult test for so. Easier for others. Those who proved themselves were rewarded. And those who failed to prove themselves will be lucky to reach the outer sect.”
I turned to see a gentle looking senior brother dressed in the sect’s uniform. His long straight black hair was half tied up in a bun. The air about him reminded of a kind and helpful senior brother.
If I rembered correctly, this older disciple from the inner sect hosted this trial in my last life as well.
“You may all call Senior Brother Soft Storm. For this next trial we’ll test your ntal strength.”
Considering this guy’s na, he was likely one of the disciples they conned into handling so of the fog effects for the trials.
He waved his arm and the mist that surrounded the resting area cleared to reveal an expanse where many giant stone head statues stood. Each one was different, but they all had one thing in common. They produced an evil aura that a normal cultivator would find hard to approach.
Frankly, in this situation a mundane non-cultivator would actually have an easier ti passing… because they would either be able to stand it or pass out directly.
“Each of these statues imprisons the soul of a demonic cultivator. In life, because of their heinous deeds, they were considered such evil monsters that — when they were brought in for a reward — the elders decided that death was too good of a punishnt. Instead, they were sentenced to hundreds or thousands of years of being trapped inside these stone statues. Their nas lost to history but their evil deeds immortalized in stone to forever be unforgiven.
“As a righteous sect, we are often sent on missions to kill or bring in demonic cultivators like these. Our sect requires that each and every one of our disciples braves the evil aura of at least one of these dead souls… and smacks the statue in the face.”
There was a long silence.
I had to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t giggle my ass off. Because this! This was the trial that made realize I was in a fucking book.
Back when I was in my past-past life, I traversed various social dia sites searching for recomndations for good translated Xianxia and Wuxia stories to read during my off hours. The sites, being the way they were, would often show funny panels from manhua.
Sotis manhua panels would turn into s that were privately shared within the group. Every ti that happened the comnters would always yell for the sauce.
One day soone posted a picture of a head statue using a spectral arm to slap the shit out of a cultivator. And it included a classic ...
Also, please don't slap anyone in the face with glitter. Instead go to their clothing drawer and sprinkle it there. It will be more long lasting. But do try to use biodegradable glitter.... I an *cough chough* we should all try to be kind to each other. I in no way support slapping faces or secretly infecting clothes with glitter.
Here's another one....
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