It didn’t take long before I was thrown out of the cauldron and onto my feet. I directly brought out my guitar and sent out a sword Qi slash as soon as I saw the humanoid figure who I assumed was the dumbass who captured me. Wait… motherfucking Noxious Fangstrike?

He used a single finger to block my attack. Then he had the audacity to chuckle.

My Qi hadn’t even tickled him.

Fuck. At my realm, I couldn’t go up against him. While Foundation Establishment cultivators were a long stroll away from Golden Core, the difference between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul was like comparing the heavens and the earth. Cliche as that saying was, it fit this situation perfectly.

Which meant that if he wanted me dead, I was fucked.

But he hadn’t tried to hurt me yet. As long as this fucker could be civil, I could avoid using the space and possibly outing myself as a spy. Unless he already knew — fuck, was that why he was here?

He cleared his throat. “Junior… Linlin?”

“Yes… Senior?”

“There is no need to look at me with so much hostility. I only brought you here so we could have a private conversation.”

Was this guy for real, or just giving me enough rope to hang myself? “If you wanted to talk, you didn’t have to kidnap me.” I clutched the neck of my guitar tighter.

His face turned bright red. “I heard from little Dread Lotus that you cured her.”

So he was just going to ignore what he did? That was how he wanted to handle things? Did this fucker even know what shame was? Not to mention he brought his niece into this. While I’d only known her for a day, I could tell that she wasn’t the type of person who would betray her benefactor.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I doubt that she said anything about me.”

“You’re right. She just mentioned that she’d been cured and refused to say who did it. She can be so silly sometimes. I mean, you were the only one who was there and working to heal her… it’s not hard for me to put two and two together.”

That was right! This fucker had seen me.

But then why did he capture me like that? Was it possible that he was just awkward as fuck, and too used to being near the top of the sect hierarchy, so he went about this the wrong way? That was… actually something I could sympathize with.

Being towards the top was so hard sometimes. It was just too easy to grab someone from the younger generation and expect them to obey me or become my student. Like I did with the brat.

I just didn’t think it would happen to me. Karma really was a force of nature in this world.

Just because I could sympathize with him, did not mean I wouldn’t give him a hard time. He deserved it after what he put me through.

I couldn’t do much to this asshole, and he really didn’t seem like he was about to kill me, so I threw my guitar back into my ring. I studied the alchemy room he brought me to. There were hundreds of jade boxes stored on shelves, probably filled with the best ingredients. There were three pedestals in each corner where strange flames danced while waiting to be used. Three of them!

Apparently, Noxious was one lucky bastard.

I crossed my arms. “This isn’t a nice way to treat your niece’s friend and benefactor. If you hurt me, she’ll never speak to you again.”

His brow furrowed in frustration. “I’m not going to harm you! How could I dare?”

I gestured to the massive cauldron that loomed beside us like the elephant in the room.

image [https://i.imgur.com/fJbV1Wo.jpeg]

[Image Link]

Just to fuck with him, I rubbed the back of my neck. “I think I feel a bit of whiplash from that ride you forced me on.”

He blanched, then composed himself before he huffed indignantly. “Not a red hair on your head was damaged when I brought you to my alchemy room. I had Little Cauldron make sure of that.”

I must have glared at him for too long because he continued. “The thing is... I saw you help little Winter Wolf. You want to cure the Blood Contract Bath and fix the side effects to help that new disciple, Verdant Spring.”

Shit. He had done research on me. If he’d gone back far enough, he could have realized that I’d been in contact with the city lord. From there, he might suspect that I was a spy.

I clasped my hands behind my back and glared like the master I was. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’ve already researched that topic for decades, but I have not yet found a cure.”

Oh. That was what he wanted to say.

“Just because you haven’t solved it, doesn’t mean I won’t!”

“And that’s why I want us to work together.”

“What?” Did I mishear that?

He stared at me very seriously. “This sect is slowly dying.”

No shit. I knew this place was doomed weeks ago.

“You’re not surprised.” He sighed. “When I first joined the sect, it was still thriving. We had three times the disciples we have now. We didn’t have to rely on adding rogue cultivators like yourself to increase our upper ranks.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ah, that explained some things. I had noticed how there were more immortal caves in the inner sect than disciples, but I’d thought they were out on missions.

“How did the decline happen?”

“There have always been side effects to the contract bath, but they weren’t nearly as damaging as they are now. No one knows why they’ve worsened, but if we don’t find a way to fix the baths and cure those who already have negative side effects, I don’t see us lasting more than another two hundred years.”

“Are they that bad?”

“The physical side effects aren’t terrible and can sometimes even enhance the body and fighting ability. But there are internal sequelae. They cause cultivation to slow, except in a few lucky individuals like myself.”

I knew there was more to it than just cute animal ears, and a change in hair color and energy. This was bad news for Little Spring. He’d need to get this fixed before increasing his realm to Golden Core.

“Junior Linlin, I brought you here to ask if you’re willing to work with me on finding a cure.”

Damn. Working with this asshole wasn’t ideal. He could discover that I was a spy and kill me before I could even have the chance to escape to Little Spring’s space. But this could also be the chance I needed to get a head start on my research. As long as I could keep my identity hidden.

It helped that he didn’t know me personally and didn’t suspect that I was a spy.

Fuck it. I didn’t have enough time to waste on rehashing what others had already tried.

“I have three conditions.”

“Name them.”

“First. You provide the ingredients.”

“Up to a point. If you ask for anything unreasonable, I won’t provide it.”

Hah! It’s like he knew I had a grudge against him and planned to drain his resources dry.

He gestured to the jade boxes around the room. “I’ve been doing my own research. This has already drained a significant portion of my funds.”

“Fine. The next condition is that you listen to me unconditionally when it comes to our research direction.”

He scoffed. “You’re overestimating yourself.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m the genius who cured your niece when even you couldn’t.”

His face turned red.

“I’m being very reasonable here.”

He struggled for a second before saying, “Alright. I’ll listen to you unless you do something completely stupid.”

Hey! If either of us was going to do something idiotic, it would be him!

“Then what’s your third request?”

“To find a cure, I need to learn more about poisons. I want you to pay for a master to teach me.”

“That’s too bothersome.”

“It’s necessary.”

“I’ll just instruct you myself.”

“I don’t think you’d be the best teacher for me.” Because he was an absolute asshole.

“What? Would you rather have little Winter Wolf mentor you? I know ten thousand more poisons than him. My knowledge on the topic would cause him to weep with envy.”

“A teacher doesn’t have to be skilled at a subject as long as they’re able to explain something to a student.”

He scoffed. “I’m good at explaining! I’m the best at explaining!”

“Wanna bet?”

He crossed his arms. “Yes, actually. I would.”

“Then you have one hour to describe every poisonous herb used in Verdant Spring’s bath.” Since I already had all plants in this world memorized, I would know if he told me bullshit. “Then I want to learn the prescriptions and uses for five poisons they’re in.”

By studying how they reacted in other concoctions, I could better see how they could be affecting the bath. And it was a good way to steal some poison prescriptions.

“If you can’t get to each of them, or if I don’t understand them within that time, then find me a different mentor.”

I didn’t want Noxious Fangstrike to teach me, but I would let him have one chance — not that I thought he’d be able to succeed.

“You’re asking a lot for a Foundation Establishment brat.”

“One who cured your niece when you couldn’t.”

He glowered at me.

I grinned.

“When do you want this lecture?”

I wouldn’t give this fucker any time to prepare. “Now.”

The corners of his lips turned up. It was like he was laughing at me. “Then, let’s start with the bath’s ingredients...”

***

“And the last poison that the Three Fires Crimson Carrot is used in is the Hellfire Eye Itch powder. A poison known for ruining lives and obviously causing itchy eyes... Any questions?”

The arrogant expression on this guy’s face made me want to slap him. Because, goddamn it, this motherfucker was actually a good teacher! Not only was he able to get through each of the plants and the five poison prescriptions, but he also covered the non-poisonous ingredients in Little Spring’s bath. I had the full fucking recipe! This fucker had answered all of my questions before I even had them! It was like he could read minds.

Who was this asshole? I thought he was some second-rate Nascent Soul alchemist, but he turned out to actually be skilled.

He also explained something very important that, apparently, no one had mentioned yet — that there were different contract baths for each of the cultivation stages. While they all used the same ingredients as the Qi Condensation bath, more herbs were added to each increase in realm.

And the fucker told me all of them. It had only been an hour. What the hell? Did he have a way to stretch a minute into five?

Whatever.

“I admit that you’re a capable teacher. I’ll grudgingly… take lessons from you.”

“You caved easier than I thought you would.”

“Truly intelligent people are able to change their minds when presented with new facts, even if it means that reality is different from their original beliefs.”

“Why do I think you’re somehow insulting me?”

“You are my senior. How could I dare?”

He narrowed his eyes at me but said nothing. “Do you have enough information to start working on the baths with me?”

“I don’t.”

He frowned. “What more could you possibly need?”

“A written record of the attempts you’ve previously tried and how that affected the bath.”

“I haven’t recorded that information anywhere. If it reaches the wrong hands, it could ruin our sect.”

“This place is already dying.”

“And I don’t want it to die faster.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if some demonic cultivator has that knowledge now and is using it to make the baths worse.”

His lips pursed into a thin line.

Ah. He must be worried about that. Especially since he probably heard the rumors about the supposed cure.

Actually, working with him might help me find proof that the sect had ties to the demonic cult. Or, what seemed to be more likely — that they weren’t involved with them at all.

“I need you to spend the next three days recording all of that information in jade slips. After I’ve memorized it, you can destroy them.”

“It will take me only a day to compile my attempts, so let’s meet tomorrow.”

“Sorry, Senior, but I’m busy then.”

A vein bulged on his forehead. He gritted his teeth. “I’d like to work on this as soon as possible. What’s so important that you’re delaying the start of our research for three whole days?”

I grinned. “Well, I’m building a badass rock band. I have to make preparations if Dread Lotus is going to join us. She’ll be disappointed if I don’t contact her in three days like I’d promised.”

The crease on his forehead relaxed, and he waved me toward the exit. “Oh. Well, if it’s for Dread Lotus then that’s fine. Tell her to come visit me when she has time.”

Wait! That easy? Apparently, being her friend came with a lot of perks.