Sect Leader Peerless Resolve, my martial brother and I flew over the sect on a leaf shaped immortal boat.

I normally didn’t feel jittery; however, the closer we came to my goal, the more excited I became.

And that was when my old friend had to ruin my mood by reminding me of a few important things.

“I just heard from the Seven Shadows Pavilion. That’s the information collecting arm of the sect.” He explained while glancing at a confused-looking Little Spring. “We found all the demonic sect spies directly responsible for interfering in the trials.”

“They admitted to everything?”

“Not exactly. These were cultivators that have been turned into slaves. The ones that didn’t kill themselves when we discovered them weren’t able to tell us much.”

No shit? “Well, they must have answered some questions, right?”

“According to the talkative ones, they were ordered to murder you both, even if it broke their cover.”

“So, they messed with the birds, the arrows and sent that girl to break out one of their elders?”

“Yes,” he spat out. “They even gave little Zhao XiuYing a powerful talisman they’d stolen from the War Time Treasury. That’s one less weapon we’ll have when we need it!”

“It sounds like their influence goes worryingly deep.”

He nodded grimly. “If they hadn’t targeted you so intensely, I might not have realized it as soon. Now I’ll have to find the infection and rip it out of the sect before it festers.”

“What about the knife Liu ChuHua stabbed me with?” The kid grabbed his sleeves.

“That too was part of their plan, though one that they hadn’t expected to work.”

Frankly, I didn’t know how deep it went either. I knew there had been some people who’d betrayed the sect during the war, but I’d been too busy not dying to pay attention to that.

Plus, it hadn’t affected where they’d stationed me. “Were you able to get any clues on who ordered it?”

“Not yet, but we’ll keep looking. In the meantime…” he paused for a second as if he wanted to add ‘if you survive’ to the end of his sentence, but was too tactful to do so. “I think you both shouldn’t go anywhere alone, even in the sect.”

“Yes, Sect Leader!”

“We’ll be sure to ask Senior Unyielding and Senior Jujube for help,” the kid said.

I grinned evilly. “Little Spring, if we become Immortal Zhenren’s disciples, then we should address those two as our juniors.”

The Sect Leader coughed slightly.

What? I wasn’t the one who thought that determining who was junior and senior should be based on who a cultivator’s master was.

Deciding it on a person’s actual realm made more sense — but I wasn’t there when they created this sect. They couldn’t blame me for taking advantage of the hierarchy.

***

One of the sixteen mountains called Elder’s Peak came into view. Its whole purpose was to house the Immortal Ascension stage monsters who were either in emergency closed door cultivation or who wanted to live around similarly powerful individuals. There were also a couple of retired Peak Masters here.

Considering the situation with my soul, even getting near this place was fucking dangerous for me. But this was where they kept the statues made of both those who tried ascending to immortality and those who succeeded.

Each statue held a piece of the cultivator’s will. It was the sect’s only way to speak to those in the other realms… except the process to communicate with them had long been lost… and those immortals had larger things to worry about than some sect in the mortal realm.

Well, for the most part.

The reason why I was able to get away with my lies so far was because there had been instances of immortals passing their knowledge onto others through their dreams. A certain grandmaster alchemist in a famous Xianxia came to mind as one example.

The Sect Leader landed the immortal boat in front of the Cave of Ascended.

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

Of course, it looked like a blank wall until he casually waved at it. Then it transformed into a beautiful cavern opening.

After we walked in, I couldn’t help but glance at where I had left my own statue in my past life. It was something every Immortal Ascension stage master did before they faced their tribulation.

The empty area was a bleak reminder that I was no longer that powerful person anymore.

As we moved forward, I noticed that there were several more statues here than I remembered. Also, several missing ones.

But other than that, this place remained mostly unchanged for a thousand years.

The Sect Leader guided us through various advanced traps and formations. Eventually we reached a beautiful stone statue of the man I’d always considered my teacher — Immortal Zhenren Sword Within the Light of Virtue.

The cultivator I wanted to take as my master instead of Verdant Bamboo.

When I put my own statue in here, I’d secretly visited this one. Frankly, I’d been looking forward to finally meeting him face to face.

Part of why I was so angry with Bloodsword for getting me killed and for that tear in time and space for sending me back here was because they’d taken that possibility from me.

Also, because that main character was an idiotic fart of a person who needed to die.

But none of that mattered now. Because I was about to contact Immortal Zhenren and make him become my master… then convince him to take Little Spring too.

Ever since I had this idea, I’d been mentally preparing for it. And if I failed, he could easily kill me outright if just contacting him didn’t.

“This is the statue of my Martial Uncle,” the Sect Leader said. He looked at us and even though he was trying to hide his emotions, I could sense a bit of sorrow in his eyes. “You understand that, for hundreds of years, no one has been able to survive communicating with an immortal.”

“I know.”

“I recommend that you don’t try. The chances that it will work is infinitely close to zero. Even without taking him as your master, you’ll be able to contribute to the sect and earn a place here.”

I grinned at my old friend. “How about, if I survive, you double the reward we talked about earlier?”

“If you actually succeed, I’ll quadruple it.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” I turned to Little Spring. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it. But, stand back. You won’t be able to handle this.”

He pursed his lips and stood stiffly, as if he wasn’t going anywhere. When I glared, he took a few big steps away from me and pouted.

I brought out the stone necklace I received from Fairy Verdant Bamboo and sat down in the lotus position.

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

Very slowly, I set up a few mental defenses. Okay, they might be pointless when compared to the power of a goddamn immortal, but like fuck would I let that stop me from protecting myself.

I glared at the statue and the familiar face.

There was no reason to put this shit off.

With a clack, I pressed the small stone circle to the statue’s shoulder. And I waited.

And waited.

A few coughs came from behind me.

Okay, so this was getting a bit awkward. But I wasn’t going to let the absence of communication just yet serve as a justification for decreasing my mental walls!

Sweat beaded on my forehead. My hand on the stone shook. This was the first time I’d been this nervous in… it seemed like ages.

A half an hour passed.

Maybe it wasn’t the communication part that was dangerous but the waiting that could kill a person...

That was when the weak sigh filled my head so heavily that my nose started to bleed. I coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

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Fuck. My consciousness blurred.

And darkened at the edges.

Had I almost blacked out from a goddamn sigh?

My Immortal Ascension stage soul shuddered as I felt a will focus entirely on me, like the concept of sharpness itself was mere millimeters away from slitting my ethereal body into pieces.

A chillingly lovely voice seething with anger echoed through my mind. If I hadn’t had my mental defenses up (and had a soul as strong as mine) I would have passed out from the first syllable. ::You have ten breaths to tell me why I shouldn’t kill you for taking this child over!::

::This Junior greets Immortal Zhenren! I am Fairy Lin, a disciple of the Indomitable Will sect.::

::Answer my question!::

Fuck, give me a second. I was getting there. Weren’t immortals supposed to be patient?

::I didn’t take over anything! I accidentally traveled back a thousand years and landed in my 9-year-old body!::

I could feel the presence pause. Likely, time travel was rare even in the immortal realm.

::That sounds like nonsense.::

::How else could I know how to contact you without dying outright?::

That seemed to strike a chord with him because he said, ::Very well, Little Lin. I’ll listen to what you have to say. This better be worth my attention.::

Thank fuck. He was letting me explain.

While I didn’t tell him about my transmigration, I told him about how I spent a millennium in this world before my death. How I was about to escape the tribulation to go find one of my secret replacement bodies, when a weird tear in time and space appeared right where I was moving.

::And after that, I found myself back before I’d ever joined the sect.::

Of course, my knowledge of a possible future was useless to the Immortal, but if it stopped him from killing me outright, I’d come clean with even my most embarrassing moments… And now that I thought about it, those happened more often than I would have liked… Whatever.

::I don’t understand why you’re contacting me. I have nothing to do with the mortal realm anymore.::

::Immortal Zhenren, I have been learning from your notes since I was young. Everything you left behind that wasn’t locked inside your mountain has been scoured by me. You have influenced my life and my Dao, as a teacher. When I would speak with the Sect Leader about your accomplishments, I regretted my inability to make you my master. But that was my past.::

I took in a deep breath and clenched my hands into fists. It was funny how I could go through a thousand years of hardship and here I was, nervous when facing someone who could crush me with a thought or a thoughtless word. But, at this point, the worst that could happen was failure. As someone constantly in second place, I was used to that.

::In this life I have yet to worship a master. I request you take me as your disciple! Or at least allow me to use your name for protection.::

::I have never considered accepting in a disciple.::

It wasn’t over yet! ::I understand that your reason against it has always been because you wanted to focus on your cultivation.::

::That is still the case.::

I mentally leaned in. ::Ah, but with me being in a whole other realm, you can just ignore me.::

::That’s ridiculous. What master would ignore their own disciple?::

My previous one? ::Then you’d have the most self sufficient disciple in history. One who’d already made it to Immortal Ascension before. And I’ll do it again but faster. You’ll be able to brag to all your friends!::

::Little Lin, do I seem like the kind of Immortal who would go around bragging?::

He had a point. From all accounts, Sword Within the Light of Virtue was the type of person who would let his actions speak for him.

There had to be something I could say to grab his attention. I mean, I was obviously amazing, but I had to convince someone who actually made it to immortality of that. Perhaps I could start with the thing that started it all?

::Would you like to hear how I’ve progressed your logical alchemy methods?::

::My theory that everything happens for a reason and can be deduced through trial and error?::

Finally!

::Not only did I make progress, I’ve used it to complete pills at the highest rank a cultivator in the mortal realm can.::

::What did you do?::

I started explaining my history with alchemy. How I’d had trouble with it at first until I found his notes. I briefly went over each thing I learned over the years. The new hand seals, the organized and detailed note keeping. Then I hinted at the methods I improved on, but I didn’t give him a full explanation.

By the time I finished answering his questions, I had barely touched on the points I had discovered. And by then, several hours had passed.

::As much as I would like to continue this conversation, there are concerns up here I must take care of.::

Oh, I was not going to let him get away. Just before I opened my mental mouth to hook him back in he continued, ::So… you’d like me to accept you as a nominal master?::

This... was too easy? Wait. I needed to respond. ::Yes! Oh… and my junior martial brother’s as well.::

I could feel his massive presence sweep over the cave as it took in the Sect Leader and Little Spring.

::Strange. I feel no fate with you or your martial brother. Perhaps this has something to do with your time displacement. Someone who has expanded on my teachings as much as you cannot be unconnected with me.::

That was probably because I was a transmigrator, but whatever.

::It is only right that we defy the heavens to make our own fate.:: Muahahaha!

::Nicely said. Very well, I’ll allow you both to worship me as your master…::

Finally! I did it! I’d turned my lies into truth!

::However, this means that you’ll also become members of Indomitable Will’s sister sect in the immortal realm. It’s called the Immortal Will Sect.::

There’s a related sect over there? And what’s with that awful naming sense? ::If it’s a sect Immortal Zhenren has approved of, then, of course, I’ll join!::

Of course, it was only after I agreed that I realized that he’d sounded like someone who’d eaten something terrible and was excited to get other people to taste it.

Whatever. I’d worry about it in a few hundred years, after I’ve ascended. Besides, I was probably overthinking. Immortal Zhenren wasn’t the kind of person who liked to share misery.

::After my ascension, when we greet each other, I will give you a proper meeting gift.::

::Little Lin, your improvements to my Dao of Alchemy is the best meeting gift you could have possibly given me. Since I’m not there, I suppose I can leave you with everything from Righteous Defense Peak that the sect hasn’t taken away from it.::

Taken away? ::Master, In all the years I lived in my past life, we never opened your peak.::

::What?::

::Didn’t you have a very good reason for closing it off to everyone?::

::Oh! No! I must have left the security measures on when I ascended.::

My eyebrow twitched.

God damn it, Sect Leader Peerless Resolve! You kept telling me that there was a reason he closed up that mountain when the truth was that no one wanted to spend the time and effort to get past Immortal Zhenren’s Xianxia style security system!

::Here, I’ll tell you how to enter the mountain. When you’re strong enough, you can take over as Peak Master.::

He then went on to explain… for a goddamn hour… how to undo every little trap and formation he’d installed.

By the end of it, I felt like I had lost my soul. But I remembered everything. Like fuck would I allow my one chance to obtain my dream home get away from me simply because I couldn’t memorize a few hundred... thousand mechanisms.

***

After we said our goodbyes, I used the cleaning technique to rid my robes of blood stains. Since it was there, I also cleaned Immortal Zhenren’s statue.

Satisfied, I walked Little Spring through the acceptance ceremony. Both of us bowed three times to our new master’s image and the strand of will he’d left behind.

Finally, I had a master I could be proud of!

Someday, after I ascended, I’d offer him tea.

Once we completed that, the Sect Leader brought us back to the immortal boat.

“So, are you taking us to Righteous Defense Peak?”

“Very humorous, Little Lin.” My old friend turned the boat and headed in the exact opposite direction of my mountain. “Immortal Zhenren already had a conversation with me about this. You may know how to enter, but you’re not allowed to take up residence until I decide you’re strong enough.”

What? Master why?!

“I mean, just imagine if you, a little Qi Condensation practitioner, became a Peak Master? You’d be dead by the end of the day.”

That... was exactly what would happen.

I mentally grasped at the mental image of my home that seemed to fly away the further we went from it.

My precious peak! Wait for me a little longer.

I already waited a millennium. What were a few more years… or decades?

If I weren’t such a badass, I might cry.

“It’s okay, Sister Lin. I also spoke with Master. He’s someone to look up to, isn’t he?”

He communicated with the kid? “Immortal Zhenren is absolutely impressive! Do you think I’d lead you down the wrong path?”

He paused for a second longer than necessary before saying, “Of course not!”

Brat. Did he assume I wouldn’t notice? Was he still doubting me after all this time? “I would never choose a bad person to be our master.” Not after what I experienced before.

He briefly hugged me. “Thank you for getting us into a sect where we can worship such a good master.”

Another hug? And he actually appreciated the fact that I got us into the sect, for once? That must have been one hell of a conversation!

I patted his head. “What did you discuss, anyway?”

“Nothing much...” That was a fucking lie if I ever saw one, but whatever. He could keep his little secrets. Then the kid smiled like he wanted to scold somebody. “However, he did let me know how contacting him put you in extreme danger.”

I mean, I did say that communicating with him would be life threatening. Did he think I’d undersold the risk to our lives?

Now that I thought about it, maybe I could have elaborated more…

“In the future, I’ll try to make sure you’re more aware of the risks.”

He scowled. “I’d like it better if we don’t put ourselves in that much danger in the first place.”

Kid... as the main character of this universe, you won’t have a choice.

Enough of those dark thoughts, I had a prize to collect!

I turned to my old friend and grinned. “Martial Nephew, I believe you owe me a small fortune of spirit stones, several boxes of herbs and a few dozen ingots of the various metals we discussed.”

Little Spring was missing a sword, and I needed to make it.

“Actually, I owe you four times that amount. I’ll make sure you receive it within the day.”

I nodded.

We came to a stop at a small home halfway up Indomitable Peak. It couldn’t compare to the luxurious one we’d stayed in before the trials, but it wasn’t bad. Of course, it wasn’t as nice as an actual immortal’s cave, but it would do.

“Since I’m taking care of you, I’ll provide proper accommodations. Of course, staying in a courtyard like this is very costly. To pay for it, I’ll have you help me out with a few insignificant tasks to earn some spirit stones.”

A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered him saying a similar phrase about trivial tasks in my past life.

I had to stop that torture from repeating itself! This time, I would not spend a decade drowning in goddamn paperwork!

“Martial Nephew, have you ever heard of a ‘template?’”

He shook his head.

“No?” I smiled with teeth. “Then, I think this would be a good time to discuss this advancement in something I like to call the Dao of Paperwork...”