Little Spring excitedly recounted what we’d been up to so far to Ghosty. He went over our spy mission’s goal — the Scroll of 10,000 Evil Souls — how we used our badass disguises to infiltrate the sect, and how he’d started learning music and creating instruments.

The Nascent Soul calmly listened to everything he said and nodded here and there. At least until he mentioned how he and Xiao Bai went through with the contract bath.

He quickly glanced at me and asked with his eyes if I actually let him go through with something so dumb. I crossed my arms and shook my head. As if I’d ever approve of that.

Of course, the kid explained how the mistake with the bath happened and how it made him stronger. Then he switched to how awesome and badass I was to come up with a song solely to wake him up. Which was 100 percent accurate.

The Nascent Soul listened patiently to the kid until he finished.

“You both have been through a lot. I wish I could have been here to see it.”

“Yeah, we wanted you here, too.”

He cleared his throat. “It sounds like there isn’t much time left for you to finish this mission of yours.”

I grimaced. “The closer we get to the festival, the faster things are coming to a conclusion, one way or another.”

Everyone turned to me. Even Xiao Bai, who was pretending to be a lapdog, looked up at me with an adorably tilted head.

“While I was there, the Junior Sect Leader, Irrepressible Wild Hoof, spoke with Noxious Fangstrike. From what I overheard, something big is about to happen.”

“When did you hear this?” Little Spring asked.

I shrugged. “Not that long ago. Just before I returned to finish Dragons Never Die.”

“That was a while ago. You didn’t say anything.”

“Well, it’s not like I could have done something right away, and I wanted to wake Ghosty up as quickly as possible.”

The Nascent Soul looked impatient. “I appreciate that, Senior, but don’t leave us in suspense! What did you overhear?”

Seriously?! Did the guy who took forever to tell me about those damn pink convention worms talk about suspense? He dares!

Fuck. Whatever. I’d let this slide because I was glad to have him awake and healing.

“Basically, Noxious Fangstrike knows about the scroll and has no plans to hand it over.”

“That’s good.”

“But it sounded like the Junior Sect Leader was planning to go against him secretly and give it up in exchange for a cure.”

“But you’re already working on one!”

“I know! And I’m getting close. Unfortunately, he is desperate to heal someone, and it can’t wait the year or two it will take me to develop a comprehensive and tested treatment plan.”

There was silence where not even the wind blew past us.

“Sister Lin, when is this exchange going to happen?”

“I don’t know, but the easiest time would be during the most chaotic event when everyone is distracted. Whenever that is. But we can’t know that for sure since it could also happen before then.”

Ghosty sat in the lotus position in midair and stroked his short beard. “It will have to take place during the festival just to give you and Fellow Daoist Noxious Fangstrike a chance to figure out a cure before doing the irrevocable.”

“That leaves us with a little over a week. I may be the most brilliant alchemist in the world, but even my genius self can’t develop a cure for this bath by then. Plus, any treatment method I create will take weeks to go through because we’ll have to detox the poison, then fix the long-term damage and finally produce a pill or bath that adds the effects of the fixed bath.”

The kid looked at me in awe. “That’s a lot.”

I nodded. “In the meantime, people affected will still be harmed by the bath’s side effects. There is nothing I can do about that.” I crossed my arms. “I can’t save everyone all the time and I won’t try to. That would actually drive me crazy.”

I could have sworn I heard the brat mutter, ‘more crazy.’ But that was highly unlikely because the brat I knew didn’t want to get his ass handed to him because I increased his training difficulty to ultra-hardcore super hell-mode.

His eyes darted away from mine and he shoved his hands into his sleeves.

Ghosty frowned in thought. “I think you should set something up. Make it so that whatever it is will be the perfect occasion for the exchange to take place.”

“Oh!” Little Spring slapped the table. It cracked a little, causing him to wince. The little gold dragon flew around us, irritated.

I patted his shoulder. “Looks like you need to practice your kicks and punches more.”

He nodded. “I’ll do that. But what I was going to say was that you should hold a concert!”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I frowned. “Why a concert? Setting one up would be time-consuming.”

“Maybe, but it’s perfect. It’s loud, and if it’s your band playing, then you’ll be sure to draw in everybody in and outside the sect who is curious about your Dao of Rock.”

“Huh.” It would also be the best way to spread rock farther. Possibly even inspiring those outside the sect to play it! “Alright! Let’s do it.”

“Really?!”

I nodded, then grimaced. “There is just one problem.”

“What?”

“If I have to perform during the exchange, how are we going to stop it? I won’t let you steal it by yourself.”

“Well, you made a recording tool as amazing as the one I placed on the second floor of the treasure pavilion. Isn’t there a way for you to create something that takes that recording and shows it to everyone?”

What? Like those holograms of dead musicians or that Gorillaz animated band from my past-past life? That... could be possible! If I used the same process, I could even do it without an illusion formation.

But, hold on. I’d need to actually set up a concert at the festival first, and get my band to agree to play in it.

“If you can make something like that, then I’ll find the person with the box, follow him, then tell you when they’re about to trade. You can use the space to teleport to me!”

Ghosty frowned. “Wouldn’t it be better to steal it before the swap even happens?”

I shook my head. “Not if he’s too strong for us. In that case, the best moment to grab it would be during the handoff.” That way neither side would know who betrayed who, and they’d likely fight each other, allowing us to leave before getting caught.

“Wait.” Ghosty narrowed his eyes at us. “You two aren’t going to give it to this Lord Bountiful Tenacity, are you?”

“Of course not!” We both said at the same time.

I grimaced. “He’s suspicious. I think we should keep it and find a way to purify the evil souls inside it before destroying the thing. No one should have a weapon that horrific.”

“Good.”

I sighed. “Actually, this plan seems like a longshot — which I don’t like — but let’s move forward with it for now while preparing for the worst.”

“The worst?”

“A war with the demonic cult.” I paused. “In fact, even if those evil cultivators got their hands on the scroll, I doubt they’d leave the Irrepressible Beast Blood sect alone.”

Everyone became silent as the ramifications of what I’d said hit them.

***

If anyone knew how I could put on a concert during the sect’s festival, Pearlescent Rose would. It took a while, but I managed to find her lecturing to a crowd of musicians for a sizable fee. Of course, I waited outside the concert hall until she finished since I couldn’t afford the contribution points if I wanted to buy raw materials.

The crowd of musicians left the area as soon as she finished, which included Azure Melodic River and Dread Lotus, who had apparently both attended. They waved to me as they passed, but continued to animatedly discuss what they learned.

Those two were really becoming fast friends.

Rose stepped out once the crowd had thinned.

“Senior Pearlescent Rose!” I said.

She blinked and turned to me. “Oh! Little Linlin! I haven’t seen you in forever.” There were a few disciples who were also calling out to her, so she hopped onto her flying fan and used her spiritual energy to pull me up. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”

It didn’t take long for her to bring me to a beautiful courtyard that was definitely reserved for a sect elder. I guessed a peak Golden Core like her was powerful enough to be one in this backwater continent.

“Finally, some quiet!” She dropped down.

A maid brought out a steaming tea set and prepared some spiritual tea before she bowed and left.

[Image Liimage [https://i.imgur.com/wYt5Ehe.jpeg]nk]

Pearlescent Rose elegantly took a sip and set her cup down.. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for saving my disciple.”

“It was no trouble.”

She grinned. “I guess I had the good fortune to meet the right person at the right time.”

I straightened my back. “Obviously!”

She looked a bit startled for some reason, then nodded with a smile. “I am very grateful. You went above and beyond what I hoped. Just Let me know if there is anything I can do to repay you.”

Perfect timing!

“Actually, there is.”

“Oh?”

I scanned the tea with my divine sense. Once I confirmed it didn’t have any poison in it, I took a sip. It wasn’t as good as Little Spring’s, but it tasted pleasant, had a light jasmine flavor, and was filled with spiritual energy.

“I’m going to hold an outdoor concert during the Founding Day festival to introduce the healing power of rock to everyone.”

Her expression went from happy and expectant, to frowning sadly. “Oh, no. That sounds like such a good idea! One I want to see!”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“I don’t think I could get the elders planning the festival onboard with a concert for just your band. It would take up too much space for something that would only last a few incense sticks worth of time.”

“Even if one of the players is Dread Lotus?”

She nodded, then winced. “While I’m grateful to you, many of the elders heard how you berated Little Teasing Mouse. They are not happy, but I have done my best to keep them away from you.”

Ah... shit. That also explained why no one had been messing with me over how I scolded that black hole aura. Who could have guessed this would come back to bite me in the ass?

Wait. It didn’t have to be just us. I could do what the entertainment news stations did in my past-past life and use people’s anger to control them. They were already eager to believe that I was the big bad bitch who yelled at their precious mouse child. Then what if…

I grinned. “Then how about we hold a battle of the bands to see who can defeat me to avenge Little Teasing Mouse?”

She looked confused. “What’s a battle of the bands?”

“Imagine a stage surrounded by row upon row of benches filled with adoring audience members. Each band gets up and performs a set of the best soul-healing music they can. Then a team of judges gives each one a score from one to ten. The highest overall wins a grand prize.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“Of course, the others won’t have a chance against my band. We’re too good.”

“Oh! That sounds incredibly fun! It could be the highlight of the festival! Everyone in the sect, even the Nascent Soul seniors, will want to see that. Especially since it’s for Little Teasing Mouse.”

Everyone? Fuck. Just how popular was that rat girl?

Whatever. If they all showed up, it would be perfect!

“I’ll contact the elders and convince them to set this up. Once it’s settled, I’ll give you the details... but I think they’ll have a Qi Condensation battle earlier in the day, then a Foundation Establishment one closer to the end. Will your students be up for being the band to beat as well?”

“Of course!” And if not, I’d get Three Drops and Shadow Panther into shape so they would be ready for it. It had been a while since I visited, so it would be good to see just how far they’d developed without me hovering over their shoulders.

She smiled. “Perfect. I look forward to hearing your rock music again. Especially after I heard your band called down a heavenly tribulation, not once, but twice.”

I grinned. “Well, I can’t promise to shock the audience with tribulation lightning, but we’ll still be the best band out there!”

She chuckled. “I wish you well. But I think you’ll have some steep competition.”

“Oh?”

She nodded. “We have many talented musicians who have come close to calling down a music tribulation before.”

I looked at her skeptically.

“Really! One of them is even the lead in an ensemble called Whispering Brook. And another is a cultivator named Irrepressible Roaring Thunder, who just created his own group.”

Two bands who were close to our level? “Perfect! A battle of the bands without real competition isn’t as fun.”