Chương 265: Story 11 - How to Save a Sect in Six Simple Steps (Part 39/41)

Fairy Lin POV Before I could begin to meditate and further comprehend my epiphany, the pressure from a powerful bloodlust reached me. I jerked my gaze upward. Iron Fang pointed in my direction. For a moment, our eyes met as he smiled arrogantly. One of his gray, scraggly-looking wolves rushed toward me. Mother fucker! Noxious Fangstrike intercepted it and blew it away with an impressive backhand.

Before I could even feel relieved, a black spear made from the evil clone's last energy shot toward the kid and me so fast that I could only perceive it through my divine sense. I tried dodging, but couldn't move like I could have if I were just two realms stronger. Frankly, it felt like I was stuck in molasses while a heat-seeking missile targeted me. Was this really it? We'd basically won, only for us to get killed at the last millisecond? I had no spiritual tool that could protect me from something like this.

And even if I did, I didn't have the time to take it out. The evil spear almost reached my head. Little Spring and I vanished into the space. When we reappeared, the spear struck the ground with a loud blast. Dirt and detritus flew toward us. At least fifty disciples had either died or been buried under the twenty-foot deep crater that it left.

"..." We turned to each other.:: Hey, when did your space finish upgrading?:::: A couple of minutes ago.:::: Good... very good.:: Why the hell didn't he tell me? Before we could say anything else, the wolf beast returned, this time in human form. Blood dripped from its mouth and eyes. It was poisoned and wouldn't survive much longer. But it had enough energy to get past Noxious Fangstrike. Vengeful Siren noticed what was happening.

Both he and MiaMia stopped what they were doing and formed a series of hand seals together. An illusory wave formed in front of them and shot toward the wolf. But from the vectors of everything, I could tell that their attack would miss him. Damn it. I was going to have to forgo my rare epiphany and retreat into the space until they took care of this fucker. However long that would be. Xiao Bai wiggled behind my back and poked his head up through my robe's collar.

"BORK!" The beast in human form froze for a second in just the right spot. The tsunami hit him, sending him far across the field of battle and smashing him into the sect's new cliff face, where he died. Little Spring pulled the not-puppy from my back and hugged him.

"Xiao Bai! You're awake." He licked the kid's face while wagging his fluffy tail. Noxious Fangstrike took a step and appeared next to me while pouring an entire bottle of spirit replenishing pills into his mouth.

"Master Lin, please focus on absorbing your epiphany energy. I'll protect you. You're too weak.":: You can count on us, Sister Lin!:: Fucking brats. I scowled, but began to circulate the energy through my body, bringing it into my dantian as I contemplated.

Usually, cultivators used their epiphany energy to increase their realm, but I was at the peak of Foundation Establishment. I couldn't increase my internal energy. The only way I could get stronger was by deepening my understanding of the lower-stage techniques for the disciplines I already knew. At least, that was what I'd assumed. By layering enchantments, formations, puppeteering, and the Dao of Rock, I had created something greater than the sum of its parts.

Something so incredible that it allowed me to use a fraction of my soul's energy. My success showed how I had missed an important way I could further my comprehension. But now that I'd realized it, I could extrapolate and form conclusions. Even better, I could do research on discipline-layering, hopefully discovering rules that will help me teach it to others! Within my dantian, my carefully created pillars greedily absorbed the energy. They became worryingly bloated. That wasn't supposed to happen. Ever.

But it was! That meant they were in a state of change. As I thought through my realization, they began to condense back down. I used this opportunity to solidify and adjust them. Each sword pillar became sharper. The few guitar pillars I added later to represent my Dao of Rock glimmered. Their strings vibrated with impossible music. All of my flag pillars melted down and turned into formation nodes. A few of my cauldron pillars began to bubble with a poisonous concoction.

Even my forges increased in detail and strength, as if they were ready to craft a powerful spiritual tool. Holy shit! I did it! I'd improved my foundation at the peak! That wasn't supposed to be possible. Verdant Bamboo and every manual I'd ever read mentioned that they couldn't be changed after solidification! How many more things like this would I discover as I continued down this second journey towards immortality? There must be different paths I'd never considered learning and ways to combine everything.

New ideas could be explored and expanded upon. There were so many experiments waiting for me! This was incredible. Beautiful! Enlightening! Everything I'd discovered today needed to be shared! While barely aware, I took control of my flying sword and flew over to the sect's recently gained cliff wall. The same one that demonic wolf hit. The pale spiritual granite, its impact exposed, would work well for the image in my mind.

While I normally carved beautiful reliefs on small tools, this wouldn't be my first large sculpture. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! I played a song on my guitar similar to The XX - Intro as I sent thin blades of sword Qi toward the wall, disguised as sound Qi. Each slash cut into the stone to the exact depth I wanted it.

"Why is she moving around so much? Shouldn't she be sitting still and meditating?" I frowned at the annoying voice.

"Hush. Don't break her concentration." As I carved into the stone, a powerful scene took form. At first, it was rough, showing a mass of figures flying above a battlefield where 888 flags were placed. Then I chiseled out the cloudy sky, leaving small rectangles for the sheep and Nascent Soul masters. I dug out the symbol for the curse-breaking enchantment on the sheep's hindquarters. As I put more details into the marching band, the faces of every musician who flew with me began to take form.

Even my puppets appeared among my musicians with strings attached to the tops of their heads. After I brought out a large pile of very fine sand from Fairy Lake, I formed several hand seals. The wet dust lifted up and spread over the cliff face like a very dense sandstorm. It sanded down the carving, cutting off the unwanted sharp edges, while leaving the ones I needed. Every musician in my band, aside from me, was up there, grouped by the song they played when we did the overlapping melody technique.

Those students of mine who died or were too injured to continue were up front. A place where no one would forget them and their contributions. On their flying swords, I hid the words, "Never forget that their sacrifice and bravery allowed us to grow stronger." Because I fucking wouldn't. This sculpture would become a memorial to them, and a proof of my Dao on multiple levels. On the surface, it depicted a moment in time where my flying band combined disciplines to create something more, saving many.

But I wasn't going to stop there. Underneath, I needed it to be an example for my new path layering discipline. I brought out some of my leftover supplies from fixing the sect's shield formation node. While I didn't have the right strange flame to melt them down, that wouldn't matter here. I combined them in the right ratio and flew them into the cracks I'd added that formed two formations. One was a spiritual energy gathering array.

The other was a special formation that increased comprehension for those under Golden Core. It was basically a shitty epiphany machine that only worked for low-stage cultivators. Someone handed me a few spirit stones that I must have demanded. With a simple forging technique, they turned into fine powder.

"Elder Linlin, did you have to do that?"

"Shush!" With a flick of my fingers, the dust flew toward the carving. It landed inside the cracks, jumpstarting both arrays. The rest of it entered a crafting formation I'd secretly added to the clouds. It would take some of the extra spiritual energy in the area and slowly strengthen the stone. It also attached the spiritual materials to the granite, so I didn't have to melt them down. After a few decades, the sculpture would be impossible to break for anyone below Immortal Bone Creation.

Finally, I used the special technique of those Immortal Ascension builders who created inheritance spaces. I brought out a strand of my will. Unlike the simple one I'd left in a stone with my body's biological parents, this held a copy of the impressive things I contemplated during this epiphany that I wanted to share with those who deserved it. I separated it into two dozen parts. Using the remaining epiphany energy as a catalyst, I embedded them into the granite.

Each strand went to a part of the mural that represented the knowledge they held. Those who comprehended enough of what this sculpture had to say about the Dao of Rock would receive information about overlapping melodies. Formation masters who discovered the intricacies in the formations I added here could gain insight into layering formation arrays. Puppeteers who used bipedal types could discover how to form proper joints and spiritual strings by examining the mural.

Once they were proficient enough, they'd learn how to best perform with a puppet rock band. As unlikely as it was to happen, I still prepared a prize for the brilliant bastard who fully comprehended the whole thing. They would gain my understanding of combining all these disciplines to create something more than the sum of its parts. They would also be trusted with the secret of how epiphany energy could change their foundation.

Since I'd used a strand of my will to hold the knowledge, I could update it after I'd run experiments and furthered my conclusions. The sculpture glowed with power as I completed it. The air began to fill with dense spiritual energy. Creating something like this at my stage would normally be impossible. Including each simple technique in a harmonious way and allowing the final form of this mural to take decades to fully harden made it possible.

This also proved to me that I didn't have to simultaneously layer disciplines as long as everything worked in harmony when finished.

The energy above me stopped. My body felt amazing, but also disgusting. I had a thin layer of impurities covering my skin. There was also a thick layer of granite dust and fine sand. But at the same time, I noticed the dichotomy between my soul and body had decreased! As long as I went through my tribulation sometime in the next 7 years, I'd be fine! My skin started to feel itchy. Eww! I immediately used my cleaning technique to scour my body, robes, and armor until I felt cleansed.

"Elder Linlin," Elder Vengeful Siren said. I quickly turned toward him. He looked a bit irritated. Ah, shit. Was he the one who donated those spirit stones? I really hadn't been paying attention. From the sour look on his face, I could tell that he was going to ask me to pay him back. But I didn't have enough to cover what he'd handed me. I cleared my throat and clasped my hands behind my back like the master I was.

"What?"

"Why... did you add me but not yourself?" Huh?

"Master, he's asking why you're not in the mural."

"Oh!" After looking over what I created, I gestured toward where I'd carved out my band.

"Why would I be in there when I'm leading everyone from right here?" I used both hands to point at my face. Their confused expressions were priceless. Muahahaha!

"Look! If a disciple wants to comprehend the secrets I've hidden here, they first need to learn a fraction of what I have, then step into my shoes. If I'm in the mural, then how can they do that?" I grinned. Noxious looked away. Little Spring scowled like he questioned my existence. Vengeful Siren frowned. What? No one there was satisfied with my super cool and mystical answer explaining the best location to stand while studying the sculpture? Hah. I knew they wouldn't let that bullshit pass.

The fact was, I shouldn't be included. I wasn't a real member of this sect. Hell, I came here as a spy looking to take it down! Even if I had made my best friends here and taken in an in-name disciple, it felt wrong and narcissistic to include my image. Especially since I was still in disguise.

"This sculpture is how I'm giving back to the sect." If I hadn't come here, I would never have grown as much as I did. I improved my poison making, my Dao of Rock, and discovered a new path forward that embodied my Unlimited Dao.

"You don't owe this sect anything," Noxious Fangstrike said.

"In fact, we owe you." I smiled.

"Then just consider this as a senior helping future generations. This place will be very useful for all the new members you'll have to recruit." Noxious Fangstrike grimaced. He obviously didn't want to even think about the many rounds of sect trials they'd need to do after this to get their numbers back up. I casually gestured to the spot next to me.

"If you feel like it, just ask a dread painter or two to make a statue of me later. But I don't recommend it. I'm way too badass, so any statue of me would definitely distract from my mural." Little Spring nodded, as if what I'd said made perfect sense. That was when I noticed the battlefield behind everyone. The war against the demonic cultivators had ended several hours ago. The bodies had been cleared. All three sects had returned to their ships or the three peaks.

The empty field had turned black from all the blood mixing with the mud and grass. Too many people had died, but at least their deaths meant something in this last fight. Those who left us had fought bravely against the demonic sect. They saved future lives and avenged past grievances. A handful of elders from the orthodox sects exited their ships and flew toward the now damaged arena. Noxious frowned at them. I could have sworn he called them all impatient bastards under his breath.

"We had better go. It's time to formalize this treaty." We all headed back to the negotiation table, but on the way, I couldn't help but turn to Vengeful Siren.

"Did you collect your 888 flags?" He grimaced.

"No. Your big move caused them to explode."

"Oh…" Was I going to have to repay this guy? Not only had I taken his spirit stones, but I also ruined a very expensive formation. Usually, it was the main character who destroyed shit.

"Don't worry about it. Don't worry about anything, Elder Linlin. I comprehended what I was missing by watching you place them. I also learned something when you created that mural. I can continue down my path for formation mastery thanks to you." The slight smile on his face made him look like a satisfied cat.

"Good. Then, I'll consider those spirit stones and flags as your tuition."