7 7-12

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (7?)

When I told the Sect Leader that I needed to see this prescription work in person, I hadn't been lying. Violet Pill Fairy was a genius at creating new recipes, but she wasn't a scientist obsessed with perfection. This was also one of her early works. Like fuck would I take the recipe I'd memorized at face value.

Of course. The first thing I needed to do was test it to confirm that it worked.

Now that I had set up the formations for our safety, I returned to my courtyard to see a beautiful sight.

Little Spring had prepared a stand with an earthen flame and my golden cauldron on top. He had already started ‌warming it to my normal specifications.

Beside the pillar, he'd arranged a wooden prep table. Various jade boxes cluttered the surface. Three ingredients had been prepped and were waiting in organized piles while the kid sliced off the unnecessary parts of the fourth plant just the way I had explained earlier.

Even though we had access to the space and his spring water, I'd specifically mentioned to him to not soak the herbs. What we wanted was to create something others could reproduce. Something replicable even without specialized ingredient enhancers.

The kid blinked up at me.

I smiled and patted his head. "Good job."

He grinned.

"Thank you!" he said, and pulled a stem off a red berry. ::While it's nice out here, the alchemy room in our space is better. So why work here?::

::It's true that we can enter your space anytime we wish. However, imagine you're a normal alchemist. You see two children bring batch after batch of pills out of a courtyard, but there is no evidence that they ever worked there? No evidence that they created the medicines themselves.::

His eyes narrowed and grew dark.

::Exactly. They'd either suspect we'd already concocted the pills and were holding out on everyone, or they'd realize that we had a space. Never underestimate the intelligence of any cultivator.::

::Yes, Sister Lin!::

***

On the way to the city, I went over the prescription in my head and devised the best approach to concocting it. Now I just needed to go through the motions.

There were three main ingredients to this recipe: Majestic Plant Killer Walnut, Violet Puffing Fern Leaf, and Viridian Poison Pine Needles. Fifteen more plants were included to either enhance or hinder the effects of the others, creating a balance that was fairly elegant for Violet's early work.

Two of these herbs, the Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs and the Three Stars Waving Crimson Carrot, were even there to slow down and prolong the effects of the key ingredients. I didn't know exactly why, but until I saw otherwise I'd assume it was because killing off the vine plague too quickly could harm a mortal body. I'd have to see the effects myself to be sure, though.

With Little Spring helping, we spent a good half hour prepping while I visualized the concoction in my mind again.

Once I'd cut the head off the last red carrot, I was ready.

Now it was time to steal Violet's work. Muahahaha!

I took control of the earthen flame with a simple hand seal. The fire shot up the sides of the dragon and phoenix cauldron.

Using my spiritual energy, I grabbed the first key ingredient, the Majestic Plant Killer Walnut.

This little golden walnut would have the effect that would do the most damage to the demonic vines growing within people. I dropped it right into the bowl of the cauldron, where it hissed. The lid slammed down on top of it and I started counting breaths.

Just before it had fully melted, after I had covered it for a minute, it was time to add the next one. With a flick of my fingers, the lid lifted high into the air. I grabbed three other ingredients that would enhance the walnut's plant killer effect and tossed them into the cauldron ten counts apart. Each went in with a small splash and a sizzle.

The next scheduled to go in was the four of the Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs. Each of these leaves looked like long green drills.

Using it here would make the vine-killing effect take longer. Kind of like a time-release pill from my last life in plant form. Of course, taking longer should allow the pill to utilize its full effect while lessening the impact on the body.

The next main ingredient was Viridian Poison Pine Needles. Beautiful long needles with touches of purple where they originally connected to the tree.

This was a tricky bastard of an herb because it was poisonous, but it could also be used to kill off certain unmentionable infections. The kind of infection authors and readers pretended didn't exist in romantic fiction.

I only uncovered it because of my extensive studies, so its inclusion made me wonder how Violet even thought to use it in this recipe.

I mean, she was the wife of a harem protagonist, so she had a 99% chance of being a virgin.

Well, at least until she married Bloodsword... or had an encounter with him and a rogue aphrodisiac.

As I counted breaths, I simultaneously made a mental note to pick up supplies to make antidotes for the various aphrodisiacs. Ones that I'd obsessively developed in my past life.

In every single one of these Xianxia that I read, aphrodisiacs could only be endured but not cured. In my opinion, the people living in those worlds didn't try hard enough or want it bad enough. Then again, I couldn't blame them for the author demanding their world be a specific way. But I could shake a mental fist and silently curse at those writers.

The original author making me do all that fucking work by myself. And I never even got to use them.

Still, it was better to have it than not.

It wouldn't hurt to pick up supplies for some poisons and trick pills while I was at it.

While I'd never been big on utilizing those since they were consumable items, having some extra protection might help.

Actually, a smokescreen pill to help us vanish into the updated space might become useful one day.

When I finally reached the number I'd been looking for, I grabbed four of the sticky pine needles with my spiritual energy and sliced them in two with a jade knife. Then I lifted the lid with a gesture and threw them in.

The golden cauldron rumbled while I counted breaths and focused on the right timing.

Just as I felt Little Spring take out a protection talisman and placed it on my back, I grabbed the herbs that paired with the pine needles and the Three Stars Waving Crimson Carrot. Quickly, almost one after the other, I threw them into the mix. The glow from the liquid turned angry and red. The bubbles started to rage within the bowl.

Muahahahaha! Did this concoction think it could fail with me here?

Never!

I waited until it looked particularly dangerous. This was it. I opened the lid and threw in the Violet Puffing Fern Leaf.

This ingredient had a cool Yin nature and immediately calmed the raging boil I'd worked up in my cauldron.

After waiting for some time for it to melt, I then slowly tossed in the last ingredients that would increase the healing effect of the Fern Leaf.

Three. Two. One!

I twisted my hands to form a seal. Inside the cauldron, the liquid curled into perfectly round pills and hardened. With a quick flick of my fingers, the lid raised up, and the pills flew out. Little Spring pulled out a white jade pill bottle and caught all 16 of them.

Beaming, he handed it to me. "You did it!"

"Of course I did! Who am I?"

"Sister Lin!"

Since it was just the two of us, I held out my hand for a fist bump.

He left me hanging.

I wiggled my fist at him and he reluctantly gave me one.

Soon he would adore them.

"What's next?"

"Well, it's about time to test it."

***

I had Sword Master Salamander and Clear Eyes Mad Tongue, grab Hu Xiaofan (The same maid that brought us to our courtyards). Once they returned with her, she showed us the way to the clinic where the infected volunteers rested, and informed the head physician that we were there.

When I stepped into the clinic, the first thing I noticed was that it had recently been cleaned.

But it wasn't as clean as it could have been.

The mortal physicians who were looking after the patients didn't wear cloth masks. At least their sleeves were short.

Ah, this was no good.

I felt that creeping sensation from the area not being as sanitized as it should be, only it was doubled due to there being a goddamn plague. Almost unconsciously, I used the cleaning technique on the entire room. Every single person jumped in surprise and turned to stare at us.

Salamander and Mad Tongue glanced at me with wide eyes.

Of course, the teenager couldn't resist. "Senior Lin, was that really necessary? And couldn't you have said something before you scraped a layer of dirt off everything?"

I put my hands behind my back like the little master I was and cleared my throat. "That takes too much time. Besides, are you really going to complain about a simple cleaning technique during the middle of a plague?"

"I mean—"

"Sister Lin," Little Spring interrupted. "Let's ask our questions."

A doctor who had walked up to us bowed. "Head Physician Xiang You greets the Immortals from the Indomitable Will Sect. Welcome to the City Lord's small clinic. "

I stepped forward. "You may address me as Alchemist Lin. I'm the one developing a cure."

His tired eyes looked skeptical.

I ignored that look and continued. "But first, let's talk about proper hygiene. I need all of your physicians to wear masks and gloves. Basically, they should be covered from head to toe until we know how this plague spreads."

It took him a second... he was probably processing the fact that a short ten-year-old was telling him what to do. Honestly, I was half expecting him to yell at me for speaking to my elders impolitely. But, to his credit, he turned to address the physicians behind him.

"You heard the little Immortal! Get it done!"

A couple of people dashed out through the back door.

"Does your clinic have any Pill Testing Beasts?"

From the golden color and nutty medicinal scent, I already knew that my pills would work, but it didn't hurt to test it out.

He shook his head. "No, the plague killed them too fast. But all the patients here have volunteered."

"When you say they've volunteered..."

"Their families brought them to us."

I looked around at all the people. Some of them were writhing and moaning in pain, but most were completely still. They'd probably passed out. "Are any in a condition to speak?"

He looked grim. "No."

I preferred to get the personal approval from patients but, when the person couldn't argue for themselves, the permission of the family was also fine. It wasn't like I was a mad alchemist or something… Well, not entirely.

Physician Xiang You gestured to the first patient. A man in his thirties lay asleep on a cot. Purple veins crawled across his skin. A thin, glowing pinkish vine poked out and curled around his wrist.

I could imagine the pain was enough to make this mortal stay passed out.

"These patients are not going to die. Now tell me about each of their recent medical histories."

As the doctor went over what prescriptions each of them had been given, I stretched out my divine sense towards them.

Things were not looking good for these people. Having not tested them before, I wasn't sure if these pills would work on mortals that were this consumed by vines.

The creepy tendrils ran throughout each of their bodies.

From what I could tell, they sucked up the life energy of the patients and used that to grow. The odd thing was that the vines were connected to the heart where they stored that energy. This both helped keep the patient alive longer so it could extract more vitality, and could be used later once the person died to keep the vines alive.

Honestly speaking, this was a horrifying disease. It seemed more like a parasite than an actual infection. Actually, if I saw this back in my past-past life, I would have already called it a parasite. Unfortunately, with spiritual energy involved, I couldn't be certain exactly what it was without knowing how it spread.

Shit got weird in Xianxia.

And sometimes that weird turned into dark fucked up plagues like this.

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (8?)

I took out one of the little golden pills and held it up with spiritual energy so everyone could see.

All eyes in the clinic stared at it. Some of those looked like they were waiting for me to fail. I even heard a physician lean over and whisper to a patient, "I don't think that even an immortal could cure this plague so fast, let alone that little girl. Just watch, it won't work."

Since I was the first person to create it in this life, then I needed to give it a name.

Something with meaning.

I was half tempted to call it one of these three: Violet Pill Fairy Can Suck It Dan, Violet Pill Fairy Disrespects Your Mom And You Should Kill Her Dan, or Violet Pill Fairy is a Shitwaffle Dan.

But I didn't want to jump down that rabbit hole. I mean, first I'd name a pill as an insult to her. Then the next pill she invented would be one that insulted me. It would never end.

At least, not until I killed her.

"This pill is called the Violet Plague-Destroying Prototype Pill."

Named after Violet, because she was the original creator of it. And forever labeled as a mere prototype. Because that was all her early work deserved.

Muahahaha!

"Senior Lin," Clear Eyes Mad Tongue said, "That pill is obviously gold, not purple. Are you sure you made it correctly?" Then he quietly gasped as if he had a realization. Then he looked at me with pity. "Senior, are‌ you color blind?"

I sent the kid a glare.

Okay, I was now 1000% positive that this teen's mad tongue got him into trouble with some powerful, arrogant cultivator who didn't give a fuck about angering our sect.

It was a good thing he became a sword cultivator because he would have died immediately if he went down the path of a four arts cultivator.

Just imagining him writing poems that were too clever, then getting his ass beat, made me chuckle internally.

"I'm not color blind. I named it that for personal reasons. The final recipe will have a different name."

"What if that is the final pill?"

Internally, I rolled my eyes. "Then I'll rename it!" I turned to Head Physician Xiang You and tossed him the jade bottle. "Try this one on the patient who is the worst off and has had the least amount of medical testing so far."

He brought us to an older man who had the thickest vines I'd seen yet. His face was pale and almost waxy, as if he were on the verge of death. The pink vines curled around his neck, his wrists and the crown of his head.

I scanned the patient with my divine sense as the doctor poured out a single pill into a dish, opened the man's mouth and fed it to him.

It melted before it even reached the mortal's tongue. I began counting as the energy traveled down his throat to his stomach. It slowly spread throughout his body. Frankly, the healing was going at a snail's pace.

By the time the energy had finished expanding, the tips of the vines had shriveled up a little and fell off. They even released some of the stored vitality inside the man's heart back into him. His skin visibly turned pinker.

I mentally took note of the measurements.

After doing some quick calculations, it would take two fucking months for this person to fully heal.

Two. Fucking. Months.

That was a major problem.

From what I could tell, the prescription specifically called for four Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs. This was two to three too many of them.

I mean, it was fine that the recipe had some of them. Without them, all of that energy would remove a significant portion of the vines all at once. This would shock the patient's weakened body and kill them faster. But four Leafs was definitely way too many.

That was when I realized what was going on here.

Violet Pill Fairy! That donkey-punching, mother-cursing, poisonous bitch had actually done it.

She added more Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs than necessary in order to slow the effect way down.

I wouldn't have been the only one to see this either. But the other alchemists either kept their mouths shut back then or assumed the fairy was merely being on the safe side, since these would be pills that many mortals would consume. And it wouldn't hurt them if they earned more spirit stones for braving a plague.

Of course, lengthening the ‌time to heal also meant that her patients would be in horrifying amounts of pain for those two months. It was akin to torture in the form of a motherfucking scam.

Granted, it was a scam that actually accomplished what it said, but weren't those the ones that worked best?

That incomprehensibly reprehensible money-obsessed shit! That ignoble spirit-stone fucker!

Ooo, I really wanted to end her. Oh, she'd been on my Fairy Lin's People to Kill (When You Can) list before, but now she was on there twice.

While I'd been fuming, the physicians celebrated.

Salamander and Clear Eyes Mad Tongue stared at me — the older with slightly widened eyes and the teen with his mouth open in disbelief.

Little Spring, on the other hand, was already pulling at my sleeve.

"Sister Lin, what's wrong?"

I held out the bottle. "Head Physician Xiang You. Give these pills only to those close to death. One pill a day."

"O-only to those about to die? But shouldn't we start producing more of these and get them to everybody?"

I sighed. "They're too weak as they are. Give me four or five more hours and I should have a few more prototypes to work with."

"B-but these work!"

"Yes, they do. But they can only consume one pill a day or the efficacy will quickly go down. This means that it will take too long to fully cure a patient."

I let that sink into everyone's heads. A few of the physicians looked skeptical.

"Okay, imagine I'm irresponsible and tell everyone this recipe without fixing this problem? Not only will we have a massive supply issue in the long term, but those people who could get cured faster will end up being in horrible pain for at least two months. Do you really want us to waste resources on a partially failed product?"

"N-no, Immortal," All the physicians shared a look, having come down from their joy at finding a cure.

"Then give me a few hours."

Clear Eyes Mad Tongue held out his hand like he wanted to stop me. There was a gleam in his eyes like he was about to say something that could get him killed again. "Excuse me, senior, I'm gonna interrupt you here because the last time I heard that someone was going to take a few hours to adjust a recipe, they took a whole month."

Little Spring adorably glared up at the juvenile. "If my sister says that she can do it, then she can!"

"If she can, then I'll call her the 'Best Alchemist Under the Heavens Lin' for the rest of my life."

My mind was already on possible improvements, so I didn't have the head space to care about the two kids and their nonsense. "Sword Master Salamander!"

"Yes, Senior Lin?"

"Don't let anyone interrupt me!" I turned on my small heel and stormed right the fuck out of that clinic.

***

"What can I do to help?" Little Spring asked as soon as we reached our courtyard.

I sighed and patted his head. "Be you."

He bit his lip and nodded. Having been around me so much, he must have realized what I meant and immediately started on prepping another batch of ingredients.

Good kid.

I used the cleaning technique on a stone bench and sat in the lotus position.

Once I split my mind, I meditated on the probable combinations I'd come up with on the way over.

Was it possible to have a better effect if Day Lion Fruit was added? Yes, but it would be too expensive to produce in mass in this era.

Could adding Coddling Fire Seeds and Pear-Shaped Orange Leafs fix this issue? No. Close, but no. They would interact poorly with the Walnut. From my experience, this would have the horrifying side-effect of giving the patient the shits. Or more accurately, highly explosive diarrhea.

I didn't want to live in a world where people had to shit out the plague.

It would be worse than giving every infected a Five Stages Bowel Clearing Dan.

Wait! There! Two possibilities.

The first was too simple. Merely lowering the amount of Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs by two. This should decrease the time it took to heal the patient to around a month. Not much, but every little bit helped.

The other lowered the Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs down to one, however, it required another spiritual plant that would increase the healing properties of Violet Puffing Fern Leaf. One that was just as inexpensive as the other herbs used to create this recipe.

And it was a plant regularly found in this empire, so it would be widely available.

It also didn't have any explosively shitty side effects.

I contacted Salamander. ::Talk to the alchemists currently outside the palace. Have them collect Golden Goat Tailed Wheat.::

::Yes, Senior Lin.:: Ah, was it just me or did I sense a lot more respect coming from my old friend than I had before?

Well, it was about time he saw for himself how impressive I was. I'd have to give him some pointers once this plague was taken care of.

Since I had already used a fair amount of energy from making only one of those batches, I took out a spirit stone and absorbed half of it while cultivating.

Then I stood up and stretched.

"I wasn't able to make a meal yet, but you'll need energy." Little Spring handed me a glass of spiritual spring water and one of my special Grain Liberation Dan.

I downed both the pill and the water. It had been far too long since I tasted this. Far more sweet and delicious than I remembered.

Within a short period of time, every single inch of me felt full and energized.

I grinned. "Okay, we're going to make two batches of pills almost back to back. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Sister Lin!"

"Good! Now, let's get to work."

***

The next batch I made was the one with fewer Rapscallion Oscillating Leaves.

Since the process was the same as the first — with some minor adjustments here and there — it only took thirty minutes from start to finish. There also weren't any problems, like the cauldron nearly boiling over.

The new prototype pill also came out golden, but this one gleamed a bit more.

Frankly, I wasn't satisfied. This was too little of an improvement. However, it would be a reasonably priced variation of the cure that could help the weakest of mortals.

If this next one worked, while it shouldn't cost that much more, it would still be slightly more expensive per pill to make because of the additional herb. But it would actually be less costly in the long run because the patient would only need to take it a fraction of the time.

With perfect timing, Salamander returned carrying a jade box.

"Senior Lin!" Mad Tongue said while walking into the courtyard behind the sword master. "One of our alchemists who'd been in the Guild received your message and rushed the order."

"How is it going so far, Senior Lin?" Salamander asked while he handed me the box.

To double check its contents, I opened it up. Several heads of the Golden Goat Tailed Wheat rested inside. They shimmered with energy. Perfect.

"I finished the first experimental pill, so you're just in time."

Mad Tongue eyed the bottle in Little Spring's hands and scowled. "Hey. I know you said you could change the recipe, but are you really that confident?"

I flicked my fingers and sent a blast of air at the teen's glabella.

"Hey!" He rubbed his forehead and looked like he was about to say something stupid again.

Salamander wrapped his arm around Mad Tongue's head and covered his mouth with a large palm. "Don't mess with an alchemist when they're about to concoct a life-saving pill."

The teen struggled, but it was useless against Salamander's strength.

Apparently, this was a regular thing because he started dragging the teen back through the doors of the courtyard like it was no big deal. Clear Eyes stopped struggling and just fumed.

"Don't worry, Little Senior Lin. We'll make sure you aren't interrupted."

Ah, it was so nice working with competent people again. Even if they had strong personalities and came with juniors who had no filter.

And now that I had my Wheat, it was time to attempt a new recipe — one that had never existed, even in my past life.

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (9?)

Little Spring had finished cleaning the table and had already set up another batch of herbs.

I pulled out a stalk of Golden Goat Tailed Wheat from the box and examined it with my divine sense. This glittering yellow spiritual plant was as thick and short as its namesake. It looked slightly thicker and hairier than the ones I was used to, but from my scan of it, it was definitely the herb I was looking for.

I could only attribute its difference to the slow evolution of plants‌ over centuries. While this rarely happened to spiritual plants, it did happen. And there were ways to grow them that could make a plant take on characteristics of its ancestors.

I set the stalk down in its proper order and turned to Little Spring.

"Are you ready to watch me concoct something that has never existed?"

His eyes glittered. "Yes, sister Lin!"

I grinned. "Listen up, adding the wheat to the previous recipe isn't just a matter of throwing it in last-minute. That's how you fail."

He nodded.

"To make this work, I'll have to time the ingredients so that their energies don't clash with each other now that there is a new spiritual plant."

Frankly, I wasn't absolutely positive this would turn into a pill. Only 95-99%.

Even if I knew what I was doing, complete failures could still happen. And if I didn't take the time to research the reason, I would never understand why. The only way to know for sure was to test my hypothesis out.

"How can you tell you're doing it correctly?"

"The thing is... even I don't."

His eyes grew wide.

"Not completely, anyway. I've spent centuries studying how different plants react to each other. I'm still discovering new reactions. Sometimes even explosive ones." This was a world where a prescription could need the alchemist to pick a plant on a certain day or it wouldn't create the right pill.

"Explosive?" He pulled out a few protective talismans.

"Only if you don't handle them right." Or if I have a shitty cauldron that can't take a little explosion or two.

Fortunately, mine — that I won from underneath Violet's nose — was an excellent one for my current cultivation.

I gestured to each of the different plants and used my spiritual energy to move them around in the new order I'd hypothesized. I switched the Majestic Plant Killer Walnut and the Viridian Poison Pine Needles. Then I set down the Wheat after the Violet Puffing Fern Leaf.

"Don't worry, this recipe can work."

"I know you'll be successful!"

Awww. This kid.

"Are you ready to see history take place?"

He nodded enthusiastically. Wait, this was the perfect time!

I held out my hand for a fist bump.

And his enthusiasm died. Little Spring rolled his eyes and barely tapped one knuckle to mine.

I bent down a little to look him in the eye and very seriously said, "If this recipe fails, it's because you didn't give me a proper fist bump."

That expression on his face of his reminded me of a certain shocked rodent.

Messing with this kid was fun. I should do it more often.

Then again, it might come back to bite me in the ass. I gently flicked his glabella. "Use your brain."

He scowled up at me.

This was a moment that needed to be shared.

"Hold on. I have to do something important in the space."

"Wait? Right now?" He pointed to the fire he was controlling that was keeping my cauldron at the perfect warm temperature.

"It will take one second."

I stepped into the space right in front of the tiny gold dragon and wrote in mid air with spiritual energy:

Little Spring: 1

Fairy Lin: 1

The anti-gravity noodle twisted in frustration, then yelled. "If I didn't see it, it doesn't count."

What is this, the Xianxia version of 'pics or it didn't happen?'

"So you want me to record every one of his losses so I can use it to blackmail him when he's a hormonal teenager?"

The dragon stilled for a moment, then twisted around. "Fine. I'll take your word for it."

Grinning, I stepped out of the space.

Little Spring nodded sagely. "Even immortals need to answer the call of nature sometimes."

I coughed. Only if they haven't gone through grain liberation...

Wait a second.

Let's see. I left in a hurry for seemingly no reason, right before I started a concoction that would take me at least a half hour... And I quickly returned looking refreshed.

Yep. He definitely assumed that I'd used the restroom.

Whatever. I had history to make.

Flicking my sleeve, I turned and gestured to increase the fire so it licked up the golden sides of my cauldron.

I threw in the first herb and started counting.

***

After making it two-thirds of the way through the concoction, it was time to throw in the wheat.

I lowered the flames and waited for the liquid to stop boiling.

Now!

The golden stalk splashed into the mixture.

Then I counted until the wheat was almost entirely melted before throwing in a grass spiritual plant that worked well with it.

By the time I added the next one and increased the heat, I realized that something was wrong. There was too much energy.

With a twist of my fingers, I lowered the flames so they no longer touched the metal.

The energies kept building. Then they turned chaotic.

Shit.

Using one of my advanced hand seals, I cut the energies into several parts and removed some of them. When they reached the air outside, they dissipated.

This was a technique to avoid an explosion. It still ruined the batch of pills.

What had fucking gone wrong?

I turned to see Little Spring's wide eyes.

"You actually failed?!"

I grinned. "When coming up with new recipes, even masters like me can fail. And not only once or twice."

He looked worried. "Will it take a whole month to come up with a new pill like Clear Eyes Mad Tongue said?"

"Of course not. Who am I?"

"Sister Lin!"

"That's right!" I smoothed his hair back. "Now, let me show you what to do with a ruined pot."

He nodded seriously.

With a gesture, I lifted the lid to expose the darkened mess of pre-pill liquid.

The kid grimaced.

"Most cultivators just throw the ruined concoction into a spare spatial bag for later disposal. Then they'll clean any residue with the cleaning technique. But we have something better."

I sent the liquid into a tub in the space's Alchemy room that was there just for these instances. The space itself would absorb the excess energy and purify the liquid. Next, I filled the cauldron with spiritual spring water, then moved it to where I left the failed concoction.

"Easy, right?"

Little Spring nodded.

After a once over with the cleaning technique, my furnace was ready for another round.

But I wasn't.

I quickly went over the recipe in my mind. Why had it almost exploded?

There had been more energy in it than I had estimated.

It wouldn't be something as simple as one or two ingredients clashing. I was too thorough to miss that.

Did I miss a problem with the plants I was using?

I had gone over each with my divine sense before starting. I even checked the Wheat.

Wait. There had been something different about it.

It was fine. However, now that I thought about it, this wheat was likely more powerful during this time period. A few hundred years could seriously change the structure of a plant. Sometimes for the worse.

So if I was dealing with a stronger variation of the wheat I was used to, then my cauldron almost exploding made sense.

Ah! In that case, I needed to put it first in order to purify some of that energy longer and then pair it up with the Violet Puffing Fern Leaf to really intensify the prescription's restorative properties.

If I did this, then I would have to change the order all over again. It could also increase the vine-killing properties of this pill while intensifying the healing process.

I could even decrease the amount of Rapscallion Oscillating Leafs to half of one leaf!

That would lower the amount of time it took to recover significantly while not causing the body to go into shock.

If this worked, then it would overshadow Violet's original pill so much that no one will even think about the stupid prototype. Muahahaha!

"Psst, Senior Ghosty, she's acting crazy again."

Hey, I heard that. I'd comment but I'd already taken too long getting started.

While grinning, I warmed my cauldron and threw in the Wheat.

A thousand breaths later, the stalk was so purified that it was almost goo.

Then I tossed in a spiritual berry that would help increase the healing power of the next herb, Violet Puffing Fern Leaf.

Once the plant melted and boiled brilliantly at about the count of 1000, I added in the main disease destroying ingredient — Majestic Plant Killer Walnut.

It melted, turning the whole puddle a gleaming gold. Rays of light burst out of the cauldron every time I lifted the lid.

I added the next few ingredients that would increase the vine-killing effect.

This time, as I counted the final few breaths that would lead to the end of the pill, there was no near explosion. In fact, it was practically peaceful.

With a flick of my fingers, I formed the round pills. Then I used the hand seal to lift the lid and toss them out of the cauldron.

Little Spring once again caught the shimmering gold pills in a prepared jade bottle. These looked even clearer and shinier. I'd say that their quality was around the lower end of High. It was still Earth rank.

The kid shook the bottle. "Do you think these will work?"

"We can't know until we test them!" I pointed. "To the clinic!"

***

This wasn't an era where an evil entrepreneur needed the approval of a shady government organization to conduct even shadier human trials.

Instead, we had much more morally questionable ways to test new recipes.

There was the obvious answer, using a pill-beast.

Of course, that didn't work if the medicine was made for a plague that those creatures quickly died from.

So that left, the go-to for all alchemists — trying it out on actual humans.

Because of how powerful my backing was, if I decided to grab some random infected person from off the street and force them to try my cure, literally no one would say shit about it. No one.

But I didn't work like that.

At the very least, I wanted to have volunteers. If they ended up dying, I could set their family up for life... As long as they weren't cultivators.

That said, I only tested cures I was 80% certain of, like this one.

We returned to the clinic with Salamander and Clear Eyes, Head Physician Xiang You stood in the middle of the room while three affluent-looking mortals yelled at the poor doctor.

"My house has given the city lord enough Spiritual Steel to arm thousands of soldiers! The least you can do is provide us with those pills!" The older one with the silver threading on this outer robe said.

"Master Yan, I was ordered to only give these pills to those who are dying. As far as I'm aware, your son isn't even infected."

"But he might become infected."

A younger lord with pink robes practically threw Master Yan to the side. "Then what about my son? He was just complaining of stomach pains! That is the first sign that someone has the plague. He definitely needs the miracle pill!"

"Master Jiang," the physician said in a deadpan voice, "I hear from a reliable source that your son was out last night at a certain house. Perhaps he merely has a stomachache due to eating something unpleasant there. You understand what I'm saying."

Oh damn! While I wasn't sure what he was talking about, I could guess it was some place embarrassing. Head Physician Xiang You had some fuckin' balls for pointing it out.

Master Jiang looked like his face was going to turn into a tomato from sheer anger. At least until the next guy stepped in front of him and loomed over the Head Physician. "Then what about my son, who is in so much pain that he's writhing on the ground screaming?"

"Master Xu, I was told to only give this pill to those who are dying. Your son isn't at that stage yet."

With the way their expressions changed, it seemed like things might get physical.

I walked deeper into the clinic and cleared my throat.

The rich men and the Head Physician glanced our way.

All three knelt when they saw us and yelled, "Immortals! Please save my son."

I wasn't fond of kneeling — even if I wasn't the one doing it.

Eh, why did this feel so familiar?

Maybe I'd seen Bloodsword in a similar situation?

"Master Alchemist Lin! You're back!"

I didn't reply myself since I didn't want these three troublemakers to approach me. Instead, I sent a telepathic message to Little Spring.

::Go hand the Head Physician the two new bottles. Instruct him to give each type of pill to people who are in a bad condition.::

The kid took out the bottles and handed them to Xiang You.

"Senior Lin wants you to test these two new pills on those who are the worst off."

The physician clasped his hands and bowed.

"Wait, Master Alchemist Lin! What about healing my son?" Xu said, looking at Salamander.

Was this impatient fucker for real?

I understood that his son was in pain, and that was terrible, but I had no obligation to do anything about it. Not when I was in the middle of testing a pill that could cure the goddamn plague.

Salamander raised an eyebrow.

Alright, I couldn't let these fuckers target my old friend. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at the man.

"If your son is infected, then as long as he isn't on his deathbed, he can wait for the tested cure along with everyone else." In fact, these entitled assholes' obsession with the prototype was delaying the actual cure.

"I can pay!"

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (Part 10

"I have a whole mine filled with precious gems!"

Master Yan added, "I have rare herbs that can help cultivators in your realm!"

Okay, that was doubtful.

What I needed were those kiwis and the other ingredients for body cultivation. Which I would get from curing the plague.

Master Jiang glared at the other two. "I have a jade bracelet that an immortal gave my family." He brought it out from his sleeve. It was a normal piece of jewelry. Expensive for a mortal, but not useful for a cultivator.

Nothing they offered was anything I needed. Even if they did have something helpful, I wasn't the protagonist of this dumb Xianxia universe. I wasn't someone who would con them out of their family treasures because I could.

"Listen up! Taking medicine they don't need can hurt your sons."

That shut them up.

"Wait for the symptoms of the plague to show up. If you don't confirm their diagnosis before giving them a pill, it will harm their body. Do you want that?"

Master Xu tightened his jaw. "Excuse me little Fairy, but we're talking to Master Alchemist Lin."

I nearly coughed up blood.

This! This was why I hated hiding my identity. And I would reveal it, except I didn't want these dumb fuckers to know who I was.

I walked up to the kneeling men, wrapped my spiritual energy around them, and threw them out of the clinic's front doors.

I stood in the doorway, arms cross and glared at all three of them. "Only come back if your sons show signs of having the plague and are willing to become test subjects where they'll put their lives on the line."

Their faces paled.

Good, they finally got it into their thick skulls. I used my spiritual energy to slam the door shut.

"Master Alchemist Lin! We're ready to try your pill," the Head Physician was a goddamn professional, even if his clinic wasn't as clean as I preferred.

I walked over to the patient. She was a young woman who did not look like she had a lot of time left.

"Okay, administer the prescription."

He poured a golden pill into a small porcelain bowl. This was the adjusted prototype I created first.

The Head Physician opened the woman's mouth and placed the medicine inside.

I extended my divine sense to watch her. The energy spread through her body. Pink curling vines that stuck out of her pasty skin shriveled up and visibly retracted.

According to my calculations, this was around twice as fast as the previous prescription.

And there didn't appear to be any undue stress on her body.

I tightened my jaw and decided that I wouldn't go find Violet right then and there just to go kick her ass.

Two fewer leaves were used, and the time was halved without any complications. And yet, that bitch forced these patients to go through all that pain and bullshit for an extra month!

"Have someone continue to observe. She should be given the same pill every day at the same time."

"Yes, Master Alchemist Lin!"

They set up the next patient. This was a man with a ‌nasty looking pink vine crawling out of his neck and wrapping around his chin. Fortunately, they'd kept him asleep or he might go crazy with pain.

The Head Physician poured out a pill from the other bottle and fed it to the poor guy.

I began counting as I observed with my divine sense. Though, with how quickly the vines shriveled, even the mortals could see how fast it cured the plague.

One of the physicians released a shocked gasp. Then he looked sheepish when everyone stared at him.

I turned back to the patient.

There were still vines inside him, but at the rate they were dying, I estimated that it would take only two weeks to fully recover.

The Head Physician looked at me with glittering eyes. "M-master Alchemist Lin! This!"

Clear Eye Mad Tongue grabbed my shoulder and shook it. "You realize that you improved a pill in a few hours, right?"

No shit.

"Clear Eyes Mad Tongue!" Salamander warned.

Little Spring removed his hand from my shoulder and said, "Of course my sister did! She's amazing. And didn't you agree how you would address her from now on?"

The teen held up both hands and looked sheepish. Then he rubbed his nose. The tips of his ears turned pink.

"Best-Alchemist-Under-the-Heavens Lin."

If he actually ended up calling me that for the rest of his life, I might kick him. It's too long.

Salamander smiled down at me. "You did well, Little Senior Lin."

It was funny how everyone around me praising me didn't even phase me, but one meager sentence from my past-life's mentor caused my old monster heart to squeeze with a little happiness.

"Thank you, Sword Master Salamander."

"Have you thought of a better name than Violet Plague—whatever?" Clear Eyes asked.

"I told you that the other pill was only a prototype."

"Then can I recommend that ‌you name this one something easy to remember?"

I clasped my hands behind my back. "I'll call it Fairy Lin's Demonic Vine Killer Dan!"

Head Physician Xiang You excitedly stood up from where he was checking on the patient. "Master Alchemist Lin, I believe this cure calls for a celebration!"

"We have too much work for that!"

Thinking about it made me want to rub my temples in annoyance.

"Also, it technically hasn't cured anyone, only lessened their symptoms. But I'm positive that it will eventually cure the plague." The worse version worked in my past life, so it only made sense that this one would as well.

If I didn't already have that reassurance — and if people weren't dying left and right — I'd want to ensure my prescription worked completely before handing it out. But we didn't have time for that.

Everyone except Little Spring looked confused and worried.

"We'll have to continue testing. But first, I'll need to patent it at the Guild so we can spread the formula to other alchemists."

A little kid that had been hovering at the edge of the room ran over to me, then stopped five feet away as if troubled that he was doing something wrong. Then he bowed then said, "Hu Huan greets the immortals!"

That maid's son?

"Little Fairy, did you really create a cure?"

I grinned. "Of course I did."

His eyes grew wide. "That's amazing." He whispered. Then he looked like he realized he was bothering us and ran off.

I glanced at the Head Physician. "What's an uninfected kid doing in this clinic?"

"That's my fault. I've had him get check-ups here to make sure his condition doesn't relapse. It was... very bad before." He leaned in and whispered. "We all thought he was going to die, but he made it through."

"It's good that he survived."

I clasped my hands behind my back and turned to my fellow sect members. "Inform the guild that we'll need all the Golden Goat Tailed Wheat they have, and tell all our alchemists to wrap their investigations up. It's time to start concocting pills!"

***

Since I wanted to ensure Violet earned nothing from this plague, I rushed to the guild. Very quickly, I patented all three of the formulas. I also included step-by-step directions so other alchemists didn't pointlessly waste our limited ingredients.

Although I patented the prototypes, I did not want to see them in circulation.

Like fuck would I let Violet's stupidly slow healing pills gain any traction.

To that end, I made it so that no one could earn a lot of money off the prototype versions. 80% of all their profits would go to me.

The clerk even commented that I could only ask for this because the guild loved alchemists who provided step-by-step instructions.

For my Fairy Lin's Demonic Vine Killer Dan, I did things a little differently.

Basically, I'd let the alchemists increase the price of the pills by 10% past the cost of ingredients before they needed to pay me anything.

Which meant they could stiff me if they were willing to sell their pills for cheap... Which was what I wanted.

If they made a profit after that, I would take 50% of it.

Well, I'd have to see if this was effective. I was a genius, but that didn't mean I was good at finances. I was an alchemist, not an economist.

***

Once I returned to the clinic, I checked up on the patients. Everything appeared to be going as I predicted.

And that was when Master Xu came in with his son.

The young man moaned while his father signed him up for the trial right away.

Since this was the first patient I'd seen who had just contracted the Demonic Vine Plague, I scanned him with my divine sense.

This early-stage was fairly interesting. The vines didn't seem to start at a single point. Instead, microscopic vines had spread throughout the bloodstream and made their way to the heart first. That was where they began to gather.

While I was observing the Young Master Xu, my teams of Alchemists started reporting in.

Incapacitating Wind who had visited the graveyard, sent a telepathic transmission, ::Senior Lin, the infected bodies refused to burn, so they've all been buried.:: She paused. ::They didn't have enough hands so they were digging shallow graves. I've since instructed them to request help and dig to the correct depth.::

::Good work. What about the groundwater?::

::There was some near the cemetery, but it was deep enough to not become contaminated.::

::Okay. Return and start concocting the cure.::

::Sword Master Salamander informed us. We're on our way.::

Fairy Elegant Sky Tamer sent a secret sound transmission. "Senior Lin! We've searched the entire city and spoken to as many people as we could. There isn't anything suspicious going on. At least nothing that wasn't strange mortals being strange."

"You did what you could in the time you were given. Return. We're going to start concocting the cure."

"We're already setting up our cauldrons! We'll be ready to start soon."

Then Alchemist Burning Hands cautiously reported in, "Um, Senior Lin... we couldn't figure out how the plague was spread. There's just too much traffic moving through this city."

"I understand. But you had to have discovered something, right?"

He did investigate for several hours.

"Well... The first cases all had one thing in common. They all stopped at a specific inn right inside of the city. Each of them had something to eat there at the same time."

"You're suspecting that a merchant brought it in?"

If that was the case, then they must have spread it to the other people eating with them.

That meant that there was a possibility of those who were infected but showed no signs of it.

"That's our only guess. But it still doesn't explain how it spreads."

"Inform the City Lord that he should limit all traffic. If possible, keep everyone in the city for at least two weeks while we deal with the plague."

"Yes, Senior!"

Since I'd already patented the pills, I gave out the instructions to my fellow Sect Alchemists.

It was about time to get down to the business of mass production.

I sent a telepathic message to every member of the team. ::Now that a cure has been developed. It's time to start producing this medicine quickly. Get doses into the hands of those who need it.::

::Yes, Senior Lin!::

"Yes, Senior!"

Clear Eyes Mad Tongue stroked his chin beside me as if he had a beard. "Best-Alchemist-Under-the-Heavens Lin!"

Yep, I was going to have to kick this guy the next time he called me that.

"I know that the cure is working, but what if something goes wrong? What happens if it suddenly starts backfiring?"

I lifted my chin up and said, "That won't happen."

***

For three days, we concocted pills. Now and then, I would take a break to go check on the patients. But everything was going well. There hadn't even been a death in two days.

Which was why this was so upsetting.

I stared at Master Xu's son who had been doing well just three hours ago. Only a few hours!

Now he was back to writhing in pain.

I quickly scanned the first man I healed with Violet's pill. Even more pink vines than before stuck out of him.

That poor woman I treated with the second prototype also had vines growing out of her! Last time I checked, her skin looked healthy. Now it was gray.

Mother fucker!

Where was that goddamn crow's mouth, Clear Eyes Mad Tongue, so I could beat his ass?

No, focus.

Violet's medicine clearly worked in my past-life. So, if it wasn't the pills, then it had to be the work of whatever or whoever was controlling the Demonic Vine plague.

I mean, I'd had my suspicions about this disease being designed by someone from the moment I heard about it. Unfortunately, I'd been so focused on combating it that I didn't consider that they had a way to control it like this.

Besides, the treatment worked in my past-life. I had no reason to think it wouldn't work in this one.

This fact made the situation even more suspicious.

It also made me suspect something about Violet. But I could deal with those suspicions later.

I had bigger things to take care of.

Master Xu stomped up to Salamander and practically screamed in his face. "Look, not only is your cure not working, my son is even worse off! I demand compensation!"

Yeah, I knew that guy was upset and all, but trying to pick a fight with the best Sword Master in his generation was not a smart thing to do.

My old mentor looked like he was about to throw this mortal out of the clinic. Gently, of course.

And if he didn't, I certainly would. But I wouldn't be gentle about it.

The guy had been coming and going from here for three days and still hadn't picked up on the fact that I was Master Alchemist Lin. Fuckin' idiot.

Little Spring walked up to him. "Master Xu. Calm down. Master Alchemist Lin's prescription works fine."

Everyone looked at him with skepticism. Even me.

I mean, I knew why it wasn't working, but no one else seemed to realize it. So how did this brat figure it out?

"Then how do you explain this?!" He gestured to every patient in the clinic. Not one of them didn't have a relapse.

I used my divine sense to add pressure to him so he'd calm the fuck down and listen properly. "I'll explain it! However, I need to find evidence first."

Master Xu glowered at me. Which was fine. I really didn't care about this asshole's opinion.

"And where, and how, is a little kid like you going to find evidence?"

I smirked and pressured him even more. He paled.

"Excuse me, but do I answer to you?"

He swallowed.

"We're leaving!"

"But what about the patients?" The Head Physician asked.

"If what I suspect is true, then we're going to have more urgent problems to take care of."

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (11?)

As I left the clinic, I sent a telepathic message to all the sect cultivators within the city. ::There is an issue with the plague. Finish your batch of pills, then stop. Everyone should be prepared to either ‌fight or escape.::

::Senior Lin! What's going on?:: Incapacitating Wind asked.

::The prescription I created all stopped working as well as it originally had.::

::You did take only a few hours to create the new recipe. Couldn't it be that your pills just weren't that good?:: Clear Eyes Mad Tongue said.

I glared. Okay, that's it! As soon as I reached Foundation Establishment, the first thing I'd do was kick this guy's ass!

::Calm down, Senior Lin,:: Salamander soothed. ::I'll kick his ass when this mission is over so you don't have to.::

Ah, my mentor always could read my mind.

::Sword Master! Why?::

::If you knew that what you said was wrong then I wouldn't have to.::

Alchemist Incapacitating Wind piped in, ::Then, are we informing Peak Elder Grass Sprout?::

I awkwardly cleared my throat. Spending so much time as an Immortal Ascension stage practitioner, it was a habit of mine to do what I wanted. Oftentimes, the little sect disciples under me had to play catch up as I left them all in the dust.

It was hard to break a habit formed over hundreds of years.

But I couldn't do that anymore.

After rubbing my nose, I replied, ::Of course!::

I took out the mirror the sect allowed us to borrow. This was an expensive spiritual tool that only worked with its twin.

I activated it by sending in a strand of Qi.

The glass surface rippled and the slightly annoyed face of a beautiful woman appeared.

"Peak Elder, we have an issue."

"Great Martial Aunt, what happened?" The voice coming from the mirror sounded tinny.

"A demonic cultivator is involved with the plague. They're somehow controlling it."

"Do you have evidence?"

Sword Master Salamander piped up, "We haven't found any."

Peak Elder Grass Sprout looked skeptical.

"Not Yet, anyway. But the pills I made suddenly aren't as effective anymore—"

"—Senior, you might be a genius, but you're still too young. It's natural for pills to decrease in effectiveness."

Excuse me. Did she just interrupt me?

I wasn't a kid! Sure, I looked like one, but I was her goddamn Great Martial Aunt.

I let out a breath and calmly said, "Peak Elder, I know what that looks like. This, however, is an extreme increase in vine activity within the body. The only way that would be possible is if a demonic cultivator controlling the plague wills it."

"That's ridiculous. Why would they come out of hiding just for a little more energy?"

"If they're at a critical point in their cultivation and need the energy…"

Her face turned grim. "Then it would be worth the risk to gain that energy all at once."

"Peak Elder, I don't know if the demonic cultivator is in this area or in another city, but I have a plan to search for them here. In the meantime, please make your way over to this country. We might need your help sometime in the next few hours."

"Yes, Great Martial Aunt."

I shoved the mirror back into its bag and threw it into my ring.

"Senior Lin," Salamander said, "where are we going to search? We've already looked everywhere."

"We're going to check the one place we haven't."

"And that is?"

"The bodies that have been buried for a few days."

There was a long horrified pause as everyone stared at me like I'd suggested something so terrible that they couldn't believe it came from my mouth.

"What?" Oh right.

I smirked. "Do you think I'll ask them to exhume the body? I may be a Qi Condensation Practitioner, but I've already trained my divine sense."

"That is very impressive, Senior Lin."

***

Not wasting any more time, we used flying swords to reach the cemetery in minutes. Then we rushed to the guy in charge. One of his workers brought us to a week-old grave.

"And you're sure this person died from the plague?" I asked the gravedigger.

He nodded. "He was a homeless wanderer who'd been staying in our city for the past couple of months. I'd seen him around and talked to him once. He didn't have any family left, but I knew him, so I helped out as much as I could."

I used my divine sense at Golden Core, the maximum I could without breaking the seal on my soul, and pierced the earth. Then I examined the body.

There was significant decomposition. Far more than I would expect.

There were obvious signs that the plague had once infected the body.

However, what I found the most disturbing was the fact that those glowing pink vines that I knew so well, were completely gone.

There weren't even dried up pieces hidden in the dirt somewhere.

Wait! They had to have left some traces from where they were taken. Where the fuck were they?!

Then I sensed it. A disturbance in the ground. As if something small and thin had crawled through it, leaving that area loose.

"Sword Master Salamander! Do you see this?"

He nodded.

I turned to the gravedigger. "Is there another grave nearby?"

"Yes, immortal!" He brought us to another grave a few places down.

"This one has only been here a few days."

When I sent my divine sense in to examine the body, I noticed the exact same thing. This one had also been disturbed.

"Sword Master Salamander, could you follow the trail from that body while I'll follow this one?"

"Only if you don't go too far."

Little Spring tugged on my sleeve. "What's going on?"

I patted his head. "There is evidence that the grave was tampered with... from underground."

Everyone aside from Salamander appeared disgusted and slightly horrified.

Frankly, because of how many Demonic cultivators he'd had to kill, the Sword Master was probably numb to this level of fucked up.

Clear Eyes Mad Tongue stared at the ground. Sweat beaded on his brow. Then he eyed me. "'Best-Alchemist-Under-the-Heavens Lin."

Was he being serious right now, at this point in time?

"I'm not seeing anything to indicate that someone messed with this grave, and I have a higher cultivation than you."

I rolled my eyes. "You realize that there is a reason you call me 'Senior,' right? It's not just for show."

"I've never seen a Qi Condensation Cultivator who had a divine sense as strong as you."

The teen really had clear eyes, huh? I couldn't let him continue down this path or the observant fucker might actually figure it out. "Well, you've never met a cultivator who spoke with an immortal, either, have you?"

His mouth opened like he was going to say something, then he just shut it.

He could be taught!

Or maybe this was closer to me shocking him into silence? Either way, I'd remember it for next time.

***

I followed the winding underground trail on my end while Salamander observed his.

Mine converged with several other trails.

While I didn't follow those to their origin, it was pretty easy to figure out where they originally came from.

Then, right after we hit the tree line of a nearby wooded area, our two paths met up.

This was about a mile long stretch of trees that separated the cemetery and the city walls.

Frankly, this direction made me consider that the Demonic cultivator could be walking the streets somewhere. However, I'd need more proof. From here, he could have gone anywhere.

Making assumptions at this point could get people killed.

We reached a small hole in the ground that looked like a rabbit had dug it.

"This is where it ends."

I didn't have to focus my senses through solid earth, so I spread out my divine sense, searching for any other clue that a demonic cultivator had used this hole to get to the bodies.

Considering the size of the trail and this channel, it was possible that we were dealing with a snake-type spiritual beast. One that was either a contracted pet or the spiritual beast themselves.

It was rare for one to use demonic cultivation, but it wasn't entirely unheard of.

And if we were dealing with a snake, then that could also explain how they could hide their traces from so many people.

A snake could shrink down and use its spiritual energy to dig through the ground. Then they could throw the vines into a spatial bag.

Once they reached the ‌correct amount of life essence to break through, they could find someplace secluded and no one would be the wiser... if they hadn't sped up the disease.

Honestly, if they hadn't given up the game, I would have been impressed at how they set this whole situation up.

They had left so few traces after digging through the ground that it almost seemed like the vines got up and walked away all by themselves.

Of course, for something like that to happen, it would consume their stored life energy. Frankly, that would be a waste. Any sensible demonic cultivator wouldn't do that.

Unless they could gather a bunch together and use the power of one of them to—

A glowing pink blur rose from the topsoil near the hole and darted into the forest.

Motherfucker!

Two more flashes of pink rolled past trees and darted toward us. My cultivation was just barely good enough to make out their spherical, tumbleweed-looking asses.

Frankly, this weird situation was like getting thrown back in time to the Black Plague, only to find out that the whole horrible epidemic was secretly a zombie apocalypse scenario.

One where the fungus that caused the zombies could detach from the body and start killing people on its own.

Or maybe it was closer to an alien. Whatever.

This entire situation was surreal as fuck.

One of the pink tumbleweeds rushed toward Little Spring.

I immediately pulled out my sword, grabbed the kid by his arm, and used my movement technique to get us nearer to Salamander.

The Sword Master brought out his silvery blade and sent a few slashes toward the charging plants.

Little Spring blinked like he wasn't sure what happened.

I didn't blame him. If I hadn't passed through Golden Core in my past-life, I would have only seen him take out his blade, right before the weeds burst into a thousand pieces.

Clear Eyes Mad Tongue grimaced with frustration. "Sword Master Salamander. You were too fast. I didn't even get a chance to attack it!"

He smiled good-naturedly. "Then I'll let you take the next one."

Clear Eyes opened his mouth, then closed it because another ball of vine-yhatred rolled into the clearing and shot toward Little Spring.

The preparatory training Salamander had given us must have worked, because the kid pulled out his sword and caught the attack. The tumbleweed dragged him backward. His feet carved a path through the leaves and dirt. When he finally stopped, the kid pushed back with so much force that the vine flew back several yards.

"Hey, this one is mine!" Clear Eyes called as he took out his blade and threw a slash of sword Qi at it.

The ball scrunched up and dodged.

The fire-haired teen smirked and sent out another few slashes.

This demonic plant was trickier than the others. It managed to just slip between the curved blades of Qi. The last one only took off a few thorns.

Mad Tongue then lifted his weapon up and brought it down in a single thick slash targeted at the enemy. A bright pillar of sword Qi enveloped the ball. When it disappeared, the pink weed looked flattened and torn to pieces.

This was a very advanced technique called Sword Crushes the Heavy Boulder.

Because of how wasteful it was energy-wise, it wasn't the ideal solution here. But what else could you expect from a hot-headed teenager like Clear Eyes Mad Tongue?

He'd learn eventually. Learn or die.

"Is that all?" Clear Eyes said, "Because if that's all then this—"

Suddenly, dirt shot upward as a massive, glowing pink jumble of vines pulled itself up from the ground around us.

"These plants have been forcing us to stay here so they could trap us!" Clear Eyes Mad Tongue tightened his grip till his knuckles turned white.

Little Spring and I used our movement technique, Consistent Step, Impossible Leap, to move out of the way. However, Clear Eyes and Salamander were right in the middle of where the vines started to form a giant cage around the two.

Salamander, with a grim face, sent out a slash of sword Qi, tearing apart a portion of the thorny wall. Before the hole could close back up, he grabbed the teenager's arm and used his movement technique to bring him over to us.

The teen looked like he was about to yell at getting his ass saved, so I stepped on his foot.

He winced and stared at me in shock."What?"

"Fight first, complain later."

He grimaced sheepishly. "Yes, Senior!"

However, now that the cultivators were no longer inside of it, the viney trap grew in size. The vines twisted together to form a torso then further into wings and a mask-like head. It flapped, sending a burst of air at us while looking like a glowing pink vine wyvern.

The thing looked creepy as fuck. It needed to die!

Story 7 - To Kill Demonic Vines (12?)

I started with the most powerful move I could currently use. "Thousand Cuts!"

A thousand thin blades of Qi struck the vine demon and tore up part of its wing and skeleton-like body. Pink debris sprayed the forest behind the demonic construct.

Unfortunately, my attack could only do so much. I was still merely at the peak of Qi Condensation while the plant wyvern was created by a cultivator of unknown strength.

I'd barely taken out a third of the thing.

Mad Tongue's slightly wide eyes darted to me. Shocked? He hadn't seen anything yet.

Of course, at that point, the fucking demonic construct regrew the vines it had lost. It was as if my attack hadn't hurt it at all.

Sword Master Salamander, who had been protecting us the whole time, called back, "Junior Clear Eyes Mad Tongue. Do you feel like taking this one on too?"

The teen grinned. "You keep it distracted, Sword Master, so I can find its weak points. If we encounter more of these, I don't want to have to brute force them into dying every time."

"Fine, fine. I'll distract it and make sure the little seniors are protected."

Little Spring pulled on my sleeve. "Are we really going to encounter more of these?"

We jumped back to avoid its wing attack.

"It depends on how strong of an opponent we're up against. If it's only one of these things, then we can probably take care of that demonic cultivator all by ourselves."

"And if there's more?"

"If there are a few more..." I did some estimations. "We could be up against a Golden Core equivalent demonic cultivator."

Clear Eyes drew its focus by attacking it first on its wings, then on its mask. He ran around the monster, sending sharp pokes of sword Qi at it.

Once it started to attack the teen in earnest, Salamander sent several slashes at it to keep it contained and distracted. This allowed the teen a chance to study it.

"And if there's a large amount of them?" Little Spring's gaze traveled to the base of the construct where the vines' roots were buried. His eyes narrowed.

Good. The kid noticed.

I showed him a grim expression. "Do you mean a few hundred of these things?"

He nodded.

"Then we'll be facing someone at the Nascent Soul level. If that's the case, then we'd need to rely on Elder Grass Sprout."

"Who is on her way."

"But there's no telling how long it will take her to get here. It could be in a few hours or half a day."

"Sword Master Salamander can't take care of a Nascent Soul Cultivator?"

"See how he's easily protecting us while allowing Clear Eyes to make move after move on this guy?"

Just then, a root exploded from the ground in front of us. Salamander cut it off immediately. He sent another blade of sword Qi down into the dirt.

Little Spring jumped back, then cleared his throat. "Yes."

"That's because he is very strong for his realm. So strong that he could probably take on a Nascent Soul practitioner for several moves, and possibly kill them if he's fast enough and his opponent is a new Nascent soul. But in the end, even he wouldn't be able to last for a prolonged battle. The disparity between Nascent Soul and Golden Core is like the difference between the heavens and the earth."

The kid thought hard about that, so I paid extra careful attention to our surroundings. Then he lifted his head. "You're calm."

::Well, we ‌have an escape route if things go bad, don't we?::

::Of course!::

::Never forget about your space. It could save your life, especially now that it has a new function. That said, you won't be faster than a Nascent Soul practitioner. The best way to escape them would be to get them talking. Then vanish during their monologue while they think you're trapped.::

Little Spring's eyes glittered. ::I'll remember your advice, Sister Lin::

"Have you figured it out yet?" I called to Mad Tongue.

He dodged a swipe from the wyvern's wing. "Almost!" he yelled.

Using a new ploy, the demonic vine monster sent several vines whipping toward us.

Salamander used his incredible control over his sword Qi to cut off any tendril that neared us.

Ah, it was so good to work with competent people again.

Honestly, I wanted to give the teen a hint about the monster's weak point, but he looked so excited to figure it out on his own that I just had to let him do it.

"There!" Clear Eyes Mad Tongue crazily swung his sword towards the ground and sent a blast of sword Qi into it and over to the root system of the vine wyvern.

The demonic vines writhed.

Then, with a loud crash, they collapsed in a heap. It lost its pink glow, shriveled a bit, and turned brown.

Now that the thing was dead. It looked a lot like a fire hazard.

"Congratulations on finding the weak point!"

I probably sounded ‌condescending because he replied, "As if you would have figured it out any sooner."

My lips twitched. "Actually, I found it soon after my initial attack failed, but I thought you wanted to practice, so I didn't tell you."

Little Spring nodded. "I also saw it shortly after my sister's first attack."

Looking as if he'd been betrayed, Clear Eyes Mad Tongue looked to Salamander.

The Sword Master shrugged, "You mentioned on the flight over here that you hoped we could get into a good fight. Wasn't this what you wanted?"

"You mean I was the last one to figure it out?!"

I cleared my throat. "The thing is," I said, "while we were all distracted by this, the demonic cultivator was likely nearby collecting his vines. We probably lost him."

That startled everyone, even Salamander.

"What makes you say that, little Senior Lin?"

"I didn't realize this myself until it was already too late." I pointed to the mass of dead vines in front of us. "But if they're wasting this much energy activating a trap that even I would be able to kill off given enough time, then they were probably nearby and used this to distract us."

Everyone looked grim.

"Don't beat yourself up over this. We're dealing with an extremely intelligent demonic cultivator. One who is able to use tactics successfully and divert their enemies."

One who, during my last life, collected a shit ton of energy from this damn plague with no one noticing. Then they managed to hide.

In all likelihood, they were probably one of the stronger demonic cultivators who took part in the wars.

Of course, now we'd discovered their existence. Unfortunately, we also did not know where they were. And they would likely use that against us.

"So, what do we do next?"

Everyone looked at me.

I grimaced. "I have some suspicions about what we should do. But first, Clear Eyes Mad Tongue, I want you to take Little Spring and go back to our residence as soon as possible."

"No!" Little Spring said. "I'll stay with you."

I smiled and smoothed his hair back. "Relax. I'm not doing anything dangerous. I just need to meet with the physicians in the clinic to confirm something. Besides, Sword Master Salamander will be there to protect me."

The brat looked even more worried. What? Was he thinking too much again? Whatever. There was no time to talk things out. Not when the plague might turn into a bunch of vine monsters at any moment.

Frankly, I hoped I was wrong about the guess I had. "I'll need you and the other alchemists to create a few trick pills that might work against the Demonic Vines, just to be on the safe side."

"Trick pills?"

"I'll send everyone the recipes for it on the way. We'll turn the cure for the plague into a weapon against it!" Muahahahaha!

***

Because we weren't far from the city, it didn't take Salamander and I long to reach the clinic. We found Xiang You, sitting in his personal office at a writing table.

"Head Physician, we need to talk."

He stood up and bowed. "Yes, Alchemist Lin?"

"If the patients' vines start wiggling, I want you to give them a Fairy Lin's Demonic Vine Killer Dan."

His eyes widened in alarm. "Wiggling?"

"There is a slight chance that the vines will try to break out of the bodies of the infected, completely killing them."

His mouth dropped in horror.

"Of course, this is only a guess of what might happen. We'll have to see for ourselves if it actually does."

He nodded. "Are you positive that they can have more than one a day?"

I grimaced. "Normally I'd say no since it will only decrease the effectiveness of the pill faster, but this is a different matter. We're trying to save lives here. However, make a note that if they survive, then they'll need to take it for at least four more days. More if necessary."

"Of course!" His black eyes softened. "Alchemist Lin is kind."

Hah! Kind? "Not at all." I just wasn't a complete asshole.

"Is that everything?" His hands shook, and his gaze darted to the door behind me. It made him look like he wanted to run out and prepare for the worst.

I didn't blame him.

Unfortunately for him, it was time to discuss my main reason for visiting here.

Of course, I could always be wrong about this. But I doubted it.

Out of everything I'd encountered so far, this was the one thing that didn't make sense.

"No. I have a few questions about a patient of yours."

He looked confused and shook his head. "I prefer to keep my patient's information private."

"This is absolutely necessary."

His jaw firmed. I'd avoided using my divine sense to coerce him because I respected his professionalism so far, but I was seriously considering it at this point.

"Head Physician," Salamander spoke up. "If Senior Lin says that, this information is critical. Then it must be important."

He still appeared hesitant.

"Do you want to put the entire city, and the whole empire, in danger just to preserve someone's secret?"

"First, tell me who the patient is."

***

After I received my answer from Head Physician Xiang You, I stormed out of the clinic.

Then, because I wanted all the backup I could get, I had us stop by our courtyard to grab Clear Eyes Mad Tongue and Little Spring. The kid had already created one batch of the trick pills all on his own!

I knew he could do it.

He looked up at me with bright eyes as he handed me the bottle.

If we were alone, I would have had him give me a fist bump. Since we were in a hurry, I could only smile at him and tell him, "Good work. Now, let's go! The more time we waste, the greater the possibility that the demonic cultivator will get away from us. That practitioner is slippery, so this might be our only chance to stop him."

Of course, even if we did kill him, it wouldn't magically end the plague. It would just prevent it from getting worse.

After a brief pulse of divine sense, I found the maid, Hu Xiaofan, who escorted us to our temporary residences.

She folded laundry outside next to a few other maids who were helping her. The younger maid said something. It must have been a juicy piece of gossip, because they laughed.

Then one of them saw us striding toward them and sobered up.

"Immortals!" She set down the tunic she was folding and bowed deeply. "How can this servant help you?"

I chuckled grimly and waved to the other maids to leave.

As soon as the two removed themselves from eavesdropping distance, I said, "Maid Xiaofan, I know you're responsible for spreading the demonic vine plague in this city."

Her expression didn't change but her hands shook. "Excuse me, Little Fairy, but how could a humble maid like me be responsible for spreading something as large as the plague? As far as I've heard, we're all unaware of how it's spread from person to person."

"I don't have to know how it's spread to know you're responsible for it."

She gave me a skeptical look. The woman was cool as a goddamn cucumber. But she clasped her hands tightly together.

"I've already figured out that this plague isn't a plague at all. It's a created demonic parasite."

"Immortal, I'm still unsure what this has to do with this humble maid."

"The reason it confused me was because it also has some elements of a disease as well. But that's not what's important here..."

"You're scaring me. I don't want to be falsely accused of something I didn't do."

"Your son came by the clinic a few days ago. He gets checkups regularly. Considering his condition, that makes sense."

Her lips twitched. "I'm not sure I understand. He's been cured and only goes there for a checkup to make sure he doesn't have a relapse."

"The thing is, Maid Xiaofan, demonic cultivators always have a good reason to start down their crooked path."

Her eyes darted to where her fellow maids exited.

"And sometimes those reasons are very-very good. Very understandable."

Then she turned to Salamander behind me and looked pleading and a bit exasperated, as if she were dealing with someone not right in the head. What, did she think she'd find any help there?

"For example," I continued, "some demonic cultivators start down their path to get revenge. For others, their goal starts off being very noble. They want to protect themselves and their family from someone trying to harm them. Then there are the ones who want to gain an impossible cure for an impossible disease. All so a beloved child can live a little longer."

She laughed. It didn't reach her eyes.

"Immortal, I'm not a demonic cultivator."

"Not yet, but aren't you already helping one?"

Her gaze hardened. "I don't know what you're talking about. And I have work that I need to do."

"All in exchange for a cure for your son's illness. Something so rare that there is no medicine for it."

"My son is perfectly fine now."

I chuckled darkly.

"He's healthy and he's going to grow up to become an official!"

"Once that demonic cultivator stops spending energy to keep your child alive, he'll die before he even has the chance to do anything."

Her jaw tightened.

"However, if you help us locate them, I will cure him."