When Immortal Ascension Fails Time Travel to Try Again

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (46/52🎸)

None of Dread Lotus’ guards returned by the time Whispering Brook finished their performance.

I waited for as long as I could, but Three Drops hadn’t returned. Unfortunately, similar to the title of one of Queen’s songs, ‘The Show Must Go On.’

A half dozen sect elders appeared above the crowd. One of them was, of course, Noxious Fangstrike, probably there to see his niece perform. Another was the asshole who sent those damn lizards after me, White Scale. I didn’t recognize the others.

With a grim face, I stepped onto the stage with Dread Lotus, Gold String, and Azure behind me.

The can lights I’d made left beams of light as they shined through the mist. While that light show distracted everyone, we took out our instruments.

Pearlescent Rose stepped into the spotlight. “Now, introducing Thunder and Lotus!”

The audience either booed or cheered. It felt like we were in a war between my friend’s fans and that rat girl’s cult. I was surprised they didn’t try to fight each other in their seats.

The disciple controlling the spotlight moved it to shine on me.

I grinned. “This goes out to all the tired and exhausted disciples dragged down by the usual cultivation grind. It’s a little song called ‘Everything is Going to Be All Right.’”

We needed to win as quickly as possible. The best way to outshine everyone else was to prove without a shadow of a doubt that we were the strongest musicians by summoning a music tribulation. And our best bet at that was this song.

Also, every single disciple here would be fighting for our lives in a war with the demonic sect after this concert. We needed the energy boost from this song to help us survive. Not that anyone would realize what a thoughtful, amazing, and truly magnanimous person I was.

Well, ironically, Noxious might. That was probably why he dragged the sect elders along... or he just really wanted to show off his niece.

To time things perfectly, I located Shadow Panther who hid on top of a nearby building with the projector equipment. I held my hand up and counted down from 5 to 1 before I began to rock out on my guitar.

I sang and played, focusing on portraying the message of the song. The healing energy built. The crowd cheered. My band members focused intensely but cheerfully. Everything was beautiful.

It was perfection.

But the heavens hated anything perfect that wasn’t themselves.

Far above me, a tribulation cloud billowed out. It loomed over us, building up its energy to rain down its anger. Because we’d had more practice playing this one and had perfected it even more, the cloud expanded out ten times larger than last time. That was not in my calculations.

Fuck. Why was it so big this time?

I could practically feel my band members’ shock and worry from the tightness of their playing.

Fuck. We couldn’t afford to mess up and fail to summon this thing, regardless of how big and menacing it looked. I had to find a way to loosen them up before they made a mistake and ruined our plans.

I split my mind in two. One part focused on music while the other sent a calming, soothing message to them in time to the beat, like a mantra. ::Everyone relax and play. No worries. Sense it through your bones that everything is fine. Everything will be alright.::

The tribulation cloud grew darker. Small blasts of lightning threaded through the cloud as it gathered its energy.

::Send that feeling to our seniors and juniors. Let them experience the joy of freedom. Like jumping up and down during your happiest moments. Being able to just be yourself.::

Once I stopped sending my telepathic message, I could tell that they’d loosened up. They started to focus inward, ignoring everyone else and the tribulation. They began to have fun.

Their efforts were reflected in our audience. Those in their seats couldn’t help but bob their heads. The ones in the mosh pit jumped excitedly.

This was how things were supposed to be. Joy. Letting shit go. Lifting a big middle finger to huge problems hanging over our heads and saying you’re not gonna kill us today, fucker.

And that was when a mass of purple energy formed above us. It was going to strike.

Noxious had his cauldron out. He probably wanted to protect Dread Lotus like he had last time. Just before he could throw it out, that fucker, White Scale, used a Nascent Soul level talisman shield to stop the giant furnace a dozen yards away.

Their realms were too different so White Scale wouldn’t be able to stop Noxious for long, but it was long enough that I’d have to take care of this strike myself.

To keep the lightning away from my band members, I jumped high into the air and created a brief cushion of divine sense to hold myself there. A few in the crowd gasped. They probably realized that this was something only a Golden Core powerhouse could do... or a really talented disciple at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

I grinned and caught the defensive talisman Dread Lotus flung at me. I lifted it above my head as the purple lightning struck and used my spiritual energy to keep playing my guitar.

A blue illusory shield formed above me, stopping the tribulation energy. But it lasted longer than we thought it would and was so powerful it broke through the shield we’d prepared just for this.

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That was when the beautiful hairpin Little Spring gave me formed a shield made of flames. It stopped the lightning inches above me until it vanished.

The dark cloud began to clear.

Fuck yeah! We’d done it!

Just in time for my cushion of divine sense to fail.

In a final badass move, I used my downward momentum to drop to my knees and slide to the front of the stage. I played the last chord and lifted my hand into the air.

The audience cheered.

I wanted to let them keep going, but I had to time this perfectly and match the recording.

I started the next song while I slowly stood back up.

My voice carried across the practice area to nearly every cultivator in the sect. “Do we even need to keep playing after that?”

The crowd yelled their agreement.

“What? We do? Yell if you want to hear more!”

And they did. Even the rat cult. Muahahaha!

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If only I could see the sour look on that girl’s face.

I grinned and began singing Spirit in Repair.

Just as we finished our third song, Little Spring sent a telepathic transmission. ::Sister Lin! It’s happening. Get over here!::

Well, damn.

I began the song’s intro. Too bad I couldn’t finish it myself.

“How would you like to see some magic?” That was the signal.

The audience yelled at me to show them.

Awww. This sect was kind of cute now that they weren’t being so hostile.

I threw a smokescreen trick pill to the ground. A billowing white fog covered me. The recording of my part was turned up to maximum volume. I’d timed it perfectly!

Shadow Panther turned the projection onto its lowest setting and directed it toward the smoke.

I pulled out the glass sculpture from my ring and aligned it with the animated image of myself to create a hologram. To add to the effect, I moved one of the mist-producing stones beside it.

Now that I saw it in action, the hologram was really fucking cool. And I wasn’t just saying that because it made me look badass.

Well, I'd done everything I could. The rest was up to my band and Shadow Panther.

It was time to finally do what I came here to do, steal that damn scroll.

I used another trick pill to cover myself as I entered the space.

Fuck, I hoped things went smoothly. Technical difficulties were always a problem during concerts. But I trusted my band members’ intelligence to figure things out.

Using my disguise technique, I lowered my presence to zero and put on a mask before exiting right in front of Little Spring.

He was in a forested area and had his back against a boulder. I could vaguely hear the concert in the distance, so we were somewhere just outside the sect.

::Sister Linlin. They’re right there.:: He pointed to a massive oak tree where two people cautiously approached each other. ::They’re both at the peak of Golden Core. What do we do?::

I grimaced. This might get dangerous. While I had the earrings Noxious Fangstrike gave to me and my hairpin, the kid didn’t have anything that could prevent an attack at their level from hitting him.

I pulled the defensive tool out of my bun and put it in his hair. ::Don’t worry. I got this.:: Even if he had more energy than me, I was the one with the experience and the plan.

Little Spring scowled and grabbed the hairpin. He tried to hand it back. ::But this was supposed to keep you safe...::

::And it already has! Now it’s your turn to use it.::

::But, Sister Lin!::

::Shut up and let me think.::

He did not look happy, but he stayed quiet.

The two cultivators eyed each other up.

The demonic guy looked like a sickly and weak clerk with dark pink hair. He wore a black and red uniform that might be mistaken for the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect’s from a distance.

Box Guy, on the other hand, had definitely used a poison pill to disguise his hair color, face, and body shape. His current appearance reminded me of a bulky, blue-haired thug. The toxin would have affected his stride as well. This meant our memorization of his walking pattern was fucking pointless. It was no wonder we couldn’t find this fucker.

::How did you figure out this thug was the one we were looking for?::

::Well, he tripped in front of me and the box slipped out of his robes just enough for me to see.::

“...” Goddamn this child’s protagonist luck.

::I think he tripped because he wasn’t used to the way his disguise transformed his body. It was silly of him to make himself so much larger.::

Sure, we could say it was that and not this kid’s stupidly good fortune.

The demonic cultivator looked around nervously. “Hurry up. I don’t want to get caught by your sect.”

“It’s fine. Everyone is busy watching the concert. It should be going for another two incense sticks worth of time.”

Well, that would have been true, except that one of the bands tried to bribe the judges through their name and got kicked out.

“Where is the scroll?”

Box Guy narrowed his squinty eyes at the evil cultivator. “Where is my sect’s cure?”

They both paused.

The thug lowered himself into a fighting stance. I’d seen all the poison body cultivators of this sect use. He unraveled the sash defensive tool that he’d been using as a second belt. “Your demonic cult doesn’t have it. This was a trap, wasn’t it?”

“Hold on! It’s right here.” Pink Hair brought out a rolled manual that looked old and beaten up, along with a jade box. “A manuscript that details the cure, and a box containing the special ingredient that will fix anyone who eats. As promised to your junior sect leader. Now hurry and give me the scroll.”

Box Guy pulled it out.

Pink Hair paled, and then his face turned red with fury. “This wasn’t what we agreed to. Open the box!”

He scowled. “I can’t. But trust me, the evil thing is in here.”

The demonic cultivator jerked the cure and jade box back. “I was told that I have to see the scroll for myself or no deal.”

“You’ve got to be—”

“But,” Pink Hair cut him off, “Maybe I’ll be willing to make an exception if you give me your defensive tool. I need it to survive when my superiors see that I haven’t followed their orders to the letter.”

Box Guy appeared to be seriously contemplating it, but the veins on his neck bulged.

I used that moment, when their emotions were heightened to Impossible Leap over to the box, grab it and run the fuck away.

“Stop!”

“I’m going to murder you!”

The first thing I did was attempt to bypass the box’s enchantments by moving it inside the space. Nothing happened. Fuck. I’d been counting on being able to escape into there with the scroll. Just how powerful were the enchantments on this fucking thing?!

I guess I had to get serious if I wanted to survive. My backup plan was to be like the quick mosquito that even an overpowered bald hero had trouble catching.

After stuffing the box into my robes, I pulled out my guitar and played a discordant tune while secretly sending out a Thousand Cuts.

They both dodged my sword Qi, but blood dripped from their ears. This slowed them down as well and was why people shouldn’t underestimate music cultivators. Muahahaha!

I continued to use Continuous Step to flee from them. When I briefly looked back, I saw the demonic clerk touch the blood trailing down his jaw. He tasted, then smiled viciously.

Aw, shit. I didn’t like that look. Evil cultivators were always so fucking creepy when they stopped pretending to be normal.

Crimson energy dripped from his hands and formed a whip. He flung it toward me.

I used Impossible Leap to dodge to the right a dozen feet before it struck.

The Box Guy jumped over to me with purple veins bulging in his fist. A mist of poison suddenly surrounded him and me just before I leaped again to avoid the attack.

Fuck!

I threw myself behind some trees for cover as a crack of a whip echoed through the forest.

The poison was acting fast. While I’d managed to hold my breath, my eyes and skin had been hit. If I didn’t know any better, I would believe a million fleas were crawling all over me. It made it difficult to think — the thing I was fucking good at.

The worst part was the urge to use my cleaning technique. It was already too late for that.

“Give it back, you thief!” Box Guy yelled.

Yeah. At my current realm, I would not be able to win against while fighting both of these fuckers. But I wasn’t giving the demonic sect this tool of mass destruction, either. And I doubted this poison-body-thug would listen to what I had to say long enough to hear my explanation, anyway.

Since I couldn’t use my eyes, I had to rely on my divine sense, which picked up another strike coming from my right. I created a Starfield Shield. It immediately shattered under the snap of the corrosive red whip.

Although the attack didn’t hit me, energy at the peak of Golden Core slammed into my body. I coughed up three mouthfuls of blood as I staggered back.

I sent out a Thousand Cuts along with a short tune that would disrupt these fuckers’ sense of balance. It worked, but not before the Box Guy threw a killing punch toward my face. If it had connected, my brain would have become a splatter pattern on the floor. Fortunately, my earring’s defense activated. A protective ball surrounded me.

Box Guy’s fist bounced off it. Thanks to physics, which still existed in this universe, if barely, both of us flew away from each other.

My body grew heavy as the poison worked its way into my bloodstream. When I landed, my knees hit the ground... Well, technically, my knees slammed into the surface of the shield surrounding me.

Before they caught up, I only had enough time to recognize the toxin the poison body cultivator had given me. It was a contact poison called Crawling Needles. One of the ones I had a cure for thanks to my work with Noxious.

I casually threw its antidote into my mouth. The itching immediately stopped. The lethargy would take longer.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t been blown far enough to give myself time to think of a better way to deal with these fuckers.

The two looked at each other as if silently agreeing to work together to get me out of this shield. I hoped this bubble defense could take their hits, but I prepared to throw out everything I possibly could to defend myself if I had to.

Hell, I was even tempted to call for Noxious Fangstrike! He at least had a reason to keep me alive long enough to hear my excuse.

Little Spring Impossible Leaped right behind the two.

Oh no! The kid should have stayed out of this. If I couldn’t handle these two, he definitely couldn’t. He was just lucky that they were focused on me and didn’t notice his arrival.

Faster than I’d ever seen him, he performed a series of sword moves — the ones I’d taught him only a couple of weeks ago. A storm of golden Sword Qi petals flew towards us. It surrounded the two in a massive explosion.

Unfortunately, the blast also caught my defensive ball, sending me up an incline and flying high into the air. When I reached my peak height, I used my divine sense to create a pillow of energy and held myself there for a moment.

At least the brat’s attack had finally given me the opportunity I needed to think. But I still had to get down there before the two Golden Core assholes murdered him.

A familiar Eagle Spiritual Beast screamed just before it grabbed my protective ball with me inside it. Its talons squeezed the barrier so hard it caused it to bubble out like a stress ball made of spiritual energy.

At least it fucking held instead of popping.

I had a pretty good idea where this bird was taking me, which didn’t give me much time.

Sure, I could protect myself by hiding in the space, but that would let the assholes win. I couldn’t let that happen.

After taking out the box, I calmly sat in my protective ball and studied its enchantments. If anyone could isolate and remove the one that prevented me from putting it in the space, it would be me — the greatest toolsmith on this backwater continent!

I just hoped I could do it fast enough.