Chương 259: Story 11 - How to Save a Sect in Six Simple Steps (Part 35)

Noxious Fangstrike's POV Ha! That Alchemist Iron Fang had always been a hypocritical asshole, but even I never suspected he was actually a member of the demonic sect! Every time I saw him, it was always just as he started spreading a terrible rumor about my unorthodox faction. Unfortunately, we always met at places where killing was forbidden. But I couldn't just let him go so easily after hearing those insults.

Since the sect's mission always took priority, I practiced self-control and limited myself to messing with him mercilessly. Torturing him with my snake musk became one of my favorite pastimes when we met. Thinking back, I should have taken him out sooner. Now we had a massive mess to take care of... one I wasn't sure we could sort out. Fortunately, my sect's elders and master cleared out of this nightmare situation.

Iron Fang, a good portion of the orthodox leadership, and his new Immortal Bone Creation slave had gathered together under a shield. They sent probing attacks toward Peerless Cacophony while the rest of the orthodox leadership retaliated. The Harmonious Sound Sect Leader pulled out a powerful spiritual zither, swung it around, and struck Icy Lotus Flower as she flew forward while making another attempt. The girl was flung back ten dozen feet, where she coughed up seven mouthfuls of blood.

From there, the sect leader brought her instrument back around and deflected the barrage of attacks that were focused solely on her. I sidestepped a few spiritual weapon strikes that flew our way as if taunting us. At that point, we could have easily joined the fight by massacring the demonically controlled elders. But it would have been too easy. Frankly, this whole situation felt like a trap of some kind. The demonic cult might be evil and insane, but they weren't stupid.

Maybe they had assumed the upper hand would belong to them once they had both sect leaders under their control? Until I had a better idea of what was going on, I would not act. Not as long as Fairy Peerless Cacophony could keep fighting back as well as she was. I exchanged a meaningful glance with Resentful Shadow Snake, then created a massive illusory cauldron shield in front of us. We stepped into the sky, distancing ourselves from the main fight.

Together, we stopped high above the arena and observed the situation. He nodded toward the arena.

"We shouldn't get involved in this."

"Says the man who gave Fairy Peerless Cacophony a warning earlier." It had prevented her from getting enslaved. He raised both eyebrows.

"I can't believe you noticed."

"You were subtle about it, but I have good eyes." He shrugged.

"It was just a little self-preservation." He gestured at how the Harmonious Sound Sect Leader sent arrows formed out of laws of music at Dominant Restraint Master.

"Now we don't have to do anything. She'll take care of it for us."

"I doubt that it'll be that simple." Master Lin's voice entered my mind.:: How is your fight going against that demon sage clone?::"What clone?":: Did I not tell you yet?::"Obviously.":: Iron Fang privately admitted to me that he's the clone of the demon sage! Be wary of him. He's more dangerous than you think.::"Yes, Master Lin." She sent a mental sigh.:: If only I had considered that he had a clone, I could have made several contingencies.::"Don't blame yourself.

Cloning techniques are practically nonexistent on this continent. Especially one so advanced.":: You're right.:: Her laughter filled my head. It started as a quiet chuckle, then turned maniacal before cutting off abruptly.:: No one expects the clone inquisition!:: Was this the sign that her brain had finally broken?

"..." I formed a hand seal and sent my cauldron shield out to bash an oncoming barrage of attacks from some of the Nascent Soul Elders. They were seriously trying my patience.:: And of course you don't comprehend my incredible reference.::"Master Lin, please just get on with the topic you wanted to discuss. We are still in the middle of a fight here.":: How would you like to save the day?:: I scowled and struck down an attack that was aimed at the back of Peerless Cacophony's head.

"What makes you think I'm even able to? It's a damn mess out here!":: Well, I won't lie and say it'll be easy, but I will tell you that you're the only one who can do it!::"Explain it to me first before I decide.":: All you have to do is subdue Dominant Restraint Master. I know you can't do it by yourself, so convince Sect Leader Peerless Cacophony and Resentful Shadow Snake to help. Once you have him where you want, just remove his enslavement bond, and you'll have both sects owe you!::"..."

I formed a small cauldron out of poisonous fire, earthly law just in time to block Iron Fang's black spear that Peerless Cacophony accidentally deflected our way.

"You're insane, Master Lin.":: I'm not crazy, damnit!:: She should listen to her laughter first, then say that again.:: You can do this! But you have to put aside your differences and work together.::"I don't know how to do it.":: Come on. You were about to sign a treaty with her! And you were getting along fine earlier with—::"No, I mean, you taught me how to remove that type of curse from a Nascent Soul, but this one is very different and on an actual body part!

I'm not sure it's even close to the previous curse's style, not to mention it felt far more powerful when it activated.":: That's why I'm sending you this!:: She dropped a bunch of damn information into my head like it was easy. I froze for a few seconds just to process the complexity of everything. How did she do that every time? As if she'd mapped out how a person's thoughts worked and copied the information from her own soul onto mine — like a reverse soul-search, but using a simple telepathic technique.

The worst part was that I couldn't admit how impressive I found it because then she'd just get even more full of herself. That wasn't good for someone at Foundation Establishment. Though she certainly deserved to be arrogant.:: Did you understand it?::"Yes." That wasn't the issue. The fact was, this technique used concepts I wasn't sure would work with my law. It was like she expected me to change my opinion of poison to change its reality! Ridiculous!

And aside from all that, I had another issue with this nonsense.:: Look, Master Lin, as soon as Resentful Shadow Snake and I commit to joining in, the demonic cultivators will pile on our sect. Right now, they're only ignoring us because they have closer opponents to take out." I didn't even have to mention how their minions would start massacring our younger generations. Master Lin would have realized that already.:: Don't worry. I'm sending backup. I'm also getting the band back together.

As long as you do your part, we can save your sect!:: The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I grimaced as Dominant Restraint Master sent a barrage of simple earthly law attacks toward his elders. Peerless Cacophony blocked them, but the elders still coughed up three mouthfuls of blood. They shoved healing pills into their mouths, backed farther away from the demonic clone and his minions, before running toward their armies. Screams rang out from the battlefield.

Demonic cult spies exposed themselves as they suddenly stabbed their colleagues while their backs were turned. Ironically, the plan to kidnap the elders' loved ones may have saved their lives.

"Master Lin. You realize you're forcing an impossible task on me, right?":: I have faith in my in-name disciple.::"...":: Besides, if they're going to kill everyone, we may as well join forces with the Harmonious Sound and Leashed Claws sects to save as many as possible. Knowing the demonic cult, they'll have life and soul gathering arrays set up under the field.:: A chill ran down my spine. That was why they were taunting me!

If we started slaughtering their bound servants, it would only make the real demonic cultivators stronger! It would be the same if we'd gone through with the war instead of attempting to negotiate for a treaty! Master Lin was too brilliant. Her, what she called 'karma farming,' was becoming increasingly impressive. At least there was one thing she wasn't great at... Then again, I wasn't much better.

"How do you expect me to convince them?! They're all arrogant assholes who rarely listen to reason!":: I know! You're one of them.::"...":: I'm joking! You're mostly better than them. Anyway, didn't I already do most of the heavy lifting during the meeting? You still have that bottle I gave you, right?:: Damn it!

"Fine! I'll figure it out! Just keep my little niece safe.":: I'll do everything I possibly can! But nothing is certain in war. Even I might not survive here.:: I scowled.

"Keep yourself safe, too. I have a lot to learn from you." When I turned to Resentful Shadow Snake, I caught him questioning me with a raised eyebrow. He likely noticed that I had been conversing with someone beyond frustrating and too often right.

"My plan is to make these orthodox sect leaders owe us so much that every generation of their sect will suffer if they turn their backs on us." He stroked his chin thoughtfully, the way he used to before his beard burned off. A charismatic grin spread across his face.

"You know. I was planning on waiting until they were all weakened, then taking them all out, but that sounds more fun." His idea would have ruined my master's treaty. He gestured to the battlefield.

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Distract Iron Fang and that Icy Lotus Flower." He narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

"Both?" Then he smiled brightly as if he realized something.

"Good luck with those two sect leaders. I'll be sure to give you a grand funeral if you don't make it." Asshole. He waved his hand. A beautiful woman wearing black robes covered in a scale-like pattern appeared in front of him. She draped herself around him like the floating snake she was. The two suddenly separated. She went after Icy Lotus Flower while he made hand seals to form a secret attack at Iron Fang.

I pulled out the poison pills I'd created that could affect an Immortal Bone Creation expert and hid them up my sleeve. There were only three since the ingredients were hard to find, but they were recipes I'd created through hard work, thanks to the epiphanies I had while working with Master Lin. But my most important weapon was my earthly law. Poisonous Fire didn't seem that impressive compared to the laws of sound and reverberation that Fairy Peerless Cacophony was using.

As her fight brought her high into the air, her laws had moved beyond arrows. They formed illusory images of musical landscapes and drums that sounded like heavenly thunder. It also wasn't as violent as Dominant Restraint Master's laws that created illusions of leashed tiger gods and hooded crimson birds working together to attack. If he were in his right mind, he would have brought out his beasts to help him. We were lucky.

Either Iron Fang didn't let him take them out for fear they'd attack him, or he'd forgotten. Whatever the reason, it would be his downfall. After their latest laws struck, both experts flew back several dozen yards and coughed up four mouthfuls of blood. Dominant Restraint Master recovered faster. I took a step and used my privilege as an Immortal Bone Creation expert to arrive right next to Fairy Peerless Cacophony.

I put my hand on her back, formed a hand seal, and slowly stopped her flight before she rammed into a building. Her bloodstained robes whipped in the wind. She frowned in confusion.

"Poison Sage Noxious Fangstrike?"

"We may not have signed a treaty yet, but we still have a responsibility to fight the demonic sect. Work with me to save your friend." She grunted and threw a healing pill into her mouth.

"I'm afraid he's a lost cause. Noone can remove a curse like that. At this point, death is the only way." She touched the side of her head where Icy Lotus Flower almost got her. Her hand shook imperceptibly.

"Correction. Noone could until now." She glanced at me sharply.

"I acquired some excellent instructions from a brilliant, righteous cultivator."

"Ha! If someone had something like that, they would have already spread it!"

"Not if they thought it might make the demonic cult come up with a new curse — one that's harder to break." That was the main reason I hadn't spread it myself. Her head turned sharply toward me.

"Who is this person?"

"An eccentric master, willing to help my unorthodox sect if it means defeating the demonic cult." She snorted and turned back to her fight.

"I don't believe you." I scowled. Of course, that didn't work! The cursed sect leader stopped his backward momentum. He wiped his bloodstained lips. With a gesture, he sent out an illusory dragon that wore a strange harness. Peerless Cacophony grimaced, created several hand seals before plucking several chords. A forest landscape of beautiful illusions and melodies formed in front of us. The dragon flew through the notes, splitting them up. Then it traveled into the forest.

It took several long moments to travel the depth of the illusion before breaking through it. [Image Link] Just before it struck us, she plucked a string on her zither that rang through the air and pierced the dragon's ears, causing it to writhe and twist. It formed a tight little bow, then vanished. She coughed up another two mouthfuls of blood. Powerful! Damn it. They were both going to use up all their energy on each other if I didn't do something first!

"Fine. If I have to prove that I can remove the curse, then I might as well eliminate the inactive one on you!"

"Hah! Do it if you can!" She turned her back to me as if I wasn't a threat at all. Or maybe she was just giving me a single chance to show that I was really an ally. I'd take it. I breathed out and allowed Peerless Cacophony to defend me as I more thoroughly contemplated Master Lin's instructions. As usual, they were odd, so it took me longer than I thought to follow them. First, I had to use my specific earthly law to remove the curse that was put there with a demonically corrupted law.

I didn't know how she figured it out, but somehow just hearing the name of the law allowed her to understand how to use it. If I hadn't had that glimpse of her beautiful and massively powerful soul two years ago, I might have thought this was nonsense. I lifted my hand and allowed a poisonous flame to form underneath my fingertips. With a thought and a flick of my wrist, I twisted it into a circle, then I brought out more details and symbols.

I had to reach for a level of control over my law that I didn't even know I was capable of. Finally, I formed the last symbol. It flashed and solidified, becoming a burning counter to the demonic curse. Any normal enchantment would have been complete at that point, but not this one. My poisonous fire was too deadly. So, despite watching two mid-realm Immortal Bone Creation experts exchange powerful attacks, I had to meditate! Meditate! Unbelievable!

This was when I wasn't even one hundred percent sure this would work! But I trusted my new in-name master. I used another portion of my laws to create a shield around me and focused internally. Master Lin asked me to contemplate certain banal facts: that medicines were poisonous, just as poisons could be medicine. Fire could burn and destroy. But after burning off the excess, the evil, and the dead, a wound could then heal just as a forest could be reborn. It was strange.

These were things I thought I had understood. Simple concepts that any cultivator had heard before. The difference was that I was no longer thinking of concepts. Here I held a law of the world made manifest at the tips of my fingers. Perhaps then, concepts applied to laws could direct how they were used?

"Medicines are poison; poisons are medicine. Fire begets destruction, and from destruction comes rebirth." The color of my poisonous flame changed to a healing green and fiery yellow. Fairy Peerless Cacophony just finished blocking two attacks. Her face had turned pale. Some of her hair had loosened. It flew with the wind. I had to hurry. She'd need all her energy to hold that bastard down. Fortunately, Dominant Restraint Master was in the middle of resting before his next attack.

Since my soon-to-be ally had already given me permission, so I pushed the enchantment past her hair and skin to fall onto her skull. My law of poisonous fire quickly melted the curse and healed the damage it had caused by existing on top of her bone for so long. I blinked. It worked?! Earthly laws really could work like this?! She gasped and turned to me in shock.

"What did you do?!"

"I removed your curse. Obviously." She gritted her teeth.

"Can you actually do the same thing for Dominant Restraint Master as well?"

"Only if you can keep him still long enough."

"Ha!" She blocked his hooded crimson bird attack with a desert vista created of melodies and pure notes. Then she grimaced.

"Even if his Daoist title has the characters for 'restrained' in it, that man is very hard to pin down."

"Then, all four of us will have to work together." I nodded toward Resentful Shadow Snake and his spiritual beast partner, who were still distracting Iron Fang and Icy Lotus Flower. She looked me up and down.

"With how little energy you two have, I question how you were even planning on fighting us." Was this really the time?

"A weaker opponent just needs the right opportunity to strike at the perfect weak point. And if no weaknesses exist, they just have to create one."

"Damn it!" She sighed painfully and gestured to the war that played out below us. The elders from both sects were still fighting each other. A couple of them had already died. Many talented disciples were bleeding out or coughing up blood.

"Will you be able to do something about their curses, too?"

"Would you rather have me capture each of them, then remove it — something that could take twenty minutes — or take care of that guy's curse while you still have the energy to capture him?" She frowned at her fellow orthodox sect leader. That was the look of someone who was really torn between two options. Which was ridiculous, since there was only one right answer here. I clasped my hands behind my back.

"That was rhetorical. The younger generations have to take care of themselves. Besides, my Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect has more disciples than just Resentful Shadow Snake and myself."