“I don’t think Pill Saint Five Leaves Medicine will appreciate his long sought-after solution not getting a lecture in the main hall as it deserves. So, I’ll keep my original time slot.”

Ah, Violet pulled out her own Pill Saint. It was super effective. Lina froze for a whole second as if downloading information to her brain. “You mean the times you were supposed to get and not the mistake?”

Violet nodded.

Lina blinked. “As long as Pill Saint Five Leaves Medicine agrees to take responsibility for the Azure Pill Saint’s anger…”

“Do you think that Five Leaves Medicine is worse than the Azure Pill Saint?” Violet crossed her arms.

Lina showed her professional smile. “The Association has the highest respect for those masters who have reached the level of a Pill Saint. But since we’re allowing Alchemist Violet Pill to accept her original time slot, the Association will extend the same offer to Alchemist Lin.” Lina then turned to me. “Will you take the compensation or keep your original time slot?”

Well, my backing wasn’t weak either. It was only right for them to offer the same deal to me if they didn’t want to piss off the Indomitable Will sect. Actually, if I considered this situation diplomatically, I could tell that the Association was trying to not upset anyone too much. They were likely after an ending that all parties could agree on, even if neither party was particularly happy. Which showed that I shouldn’t have trusted them to not have their own agenda. Fuck.

As I considered my options, my eyes wandered over to Little Spring. Hadn’t he found something weird before all this shit went down? Actually, where was my cute junior, Enduring Flame, and his new Pill Saint friend?

It had been at least an hour since they left. They should have returned by now. Whatever. It wasn’t like they couldn’t have decided to go exchange notes or do some other thing. But their obvious absence reminded me of those Xianxia where the main character’s minor actions caused a major catastrophe.

Fuck. There was only one option. But first, there was something I had to do.

I clasped my hands behind my back and acted like the immortal master I was. “Before I answer you, I need to address Blazing Lion and Noxious Fangstrike.”

Those two looked at me so fucking smugly.

“Your logic is flawed and overly biased. Anyone who agrees with you should have their heads checked.”

They glared at me, along with one or two others. But a lot of the crowd appeared to agree with me.

I didn’t stop. “The insults you spoke toward my master have not gone unnoticed. You should not assume that the Indomitable Will sect is amused.” It was downright stupid to insult an Immortal like that even if they were subtle about it. Especially one from my sect. Frankly, after what they said, if our sects ended up meeting during an inter-sect tournament, mine would do its utmost to obliterate theirs. “Overall, I rate your judging abilities as one out of ten.”

Considering their furious faces, it was safe to say I had new mortal enemies. And I regretted nothing. Muahahaha!

Next, I turned to Lina. “I understand the position the Association is in. It must have been a difficult decision for them to make since — obviously — my lecture would not be inferior to the Azure Pill Saint’s.”

A few people in the crowd chuckled. I didn’t know what they thought was funny. I was definitely the superior lecturer here.

“That said, as someone so young, I will have many chances to speak on the Dao of Alchemy at future conventions. It’s only right that I allow such an old Pill Saint to use my time slot. I will accept the Association’s compensation.“

Lina’s professional smile became more real as if she looked at me like I was her favorite person. "Then—”

“Since,” Little Spring cut her off while glancing at her in apology, “Alchemist Violet Pill refused, shouldn’t all 200 high-tier stones go to my sister?”

A vein bulged on Violet’s forehead as she smiled condescendingly at the brat. “Impossible! Those were going to be split between us.”

Lina shook her head. “No, they were part of the compensation. You wanted to deny the Azure Pill Saint’s request, so the Association will not give you those stones… However, since Alchemist Lin has been so gracious, it should be feasible to increase her reward to include Violet Pill’s spirit stone allotment.”

Violet looked like she’d eaten something sour. Muahahaha! Priceless.

“I request all of this be written out officially, and a copy given to me as soon as possible.” Because there was no telling what those two Immortal Bone Creation Experts were getting up to. Possibly even fucking around and finding out.

Lina bowed. “The Alchemist Association will not forget.” Then she vanished.

Violet walked over to me and crossed her arms. “You’re a fool. Even if you have four lectures in the main hall, they will just stick them at the end of the day, making this gesture pointless.”

I smirked. “By the next convention, I’ll be so famous in the world of alchemy they’ll regret only giving me four time slots. And if they move locations to someplace with more seats, that will more than double the number of spirit stones I could have won here. I’m considering this as a long-term investment.”

Violet snorted. “You want to bet that you’ll regret taking this compensation?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“I’d rather bet that you’ll regret not taking it.”

She smirked. “After our little lecture battle, you can rest assured that everyone on Alchemy Island knows I have Five Leaves Medicine on my side and that Bright Flame and I solved a problem even a Pill Saint had trouble with. A crowd will flock to see my lecture. You could almost say that this little fight of ours was the perfect advertisement.” She hid her amused expression behind a fan.

I chuckled and crossed my arms arrogantly. “That depends on whether you can continue to convince everyone that you’re the one who came up with the solution when we both know that it was Bright Flame’s work.”

Her face practically turned red. “I contributed my share to the solution.”

“Was it enough to be meaningful?”

She crossed her arms and looked down her nose at me. “As a genius, I can recognize something good when I see it. I did the most important thing... I gave Little Bright Flame the funds and resources he needed to find the solution. As well as other things. That makes it partially mine.”

“Investors don’t have the right to take credit for the creation they invest in.”

She just smirked at me, as if asking me what I was going to do about it. “If I pay for it, then I own it. And if I own it, I can do what I want with it. Including keeping it a secret from everyone if I choose to.”

While most of the crowd had dispersed after Lina left, several of those still wandering the area glanced at Violet with distrust. Ha! I wasn’t the only one who could see this bitch for what she was.

“Do you think your Pill Saint friend won’t figure out your deceit? How do you think he’ll treat you then?”

She glared like she was about to strangle me. Bloodlust even wafted off of her, at least until a Nascent Soul level security guard stepped over, which made her cool her head. Even Violet could fear the threat of being thrown out of the Con.

“I always speak the truth,” she said. “I’m a very truthful person. But I’m also the type of woman who gets what I want.” She threw a strand of hair over her shoulder, and the pill beast scarf adjusted itself. “Anyway, I am done here. I’m going to go to my reserved seat, so I can listen to the lecture I missed. I hope everybody here can find seats and support me.”

Then she flicked her sleeves as she turned around like she didn’t want to deal with me anymore.

“I hope your lecture goes as well as you deserve,” I called after her while imagining the Azure Pill Saint telling everyone to clear the room after his lecture.

“I hope you choke on your own pills,” she retorted through secret sound transmission before storming off.

“May you live in interesting times!”

Bright Flame bowed to me. “Thank you for your instruction.” Then he ran after her.

A few moments later, Lina returned and handed me a jade slip with the agreement on it and a spatial ring with 200 high-tier spirit stones.

Several people in the crowd eyed everything. I immediately sent it into the space.

Right now, my Foundation Establishment ass looked like an easy target to some of these cultivators, and one high-tier spirit stone was enough to murder someone over in lesser sects.

But I wasn’t too worried about being a target since my backing wasn’t small. Also, Pill Otaku and White Lily were still there. They started arguing with Blazing Lion and Noxious Fangstrike.

Before I could interject, Magnificent Moon and Radiant Skies walked up to Little Spring and me excitedly. “Senior Lin! You were so cool up there!”

I straightened my spine and clasped my hands behind my back. “Of course I was! I’m your Great Martial Aunt for a reason, you know. Don’t underestimate me just because I look young.”

The two nodded solemnly. And here, I thought I’d have to do more impressive things to get these girls to take me seriously. I supposed it was one thing to hear about someone being a badass alchemist, and a whole other to see them in action.

“We’re going to go catch the Azure Pill Saint’s next lecture since we missed his first one. Would you like to join us?” Magnificent Moon asked.

Radiant Skies grinned excitedly. “I’d like to hear your thoughts on it. And maybe you could show your juniors how you removed those pills without hitting the cauldron!”

These juniors looked more adorable after they'd changed their opinion of me. “We can discuss the Dao of Alchemy later. I need to have a talk with my little martial brother. We’ll have plenty of time to go over the pill-calling hand seal in the future.”

The two appeared disappointed, but nodded and left in the direction of the main hall.

I grabbed Little Spring and pulled him off to the side.

::I need you to tell me what you found earlier.::

He looked around as if considering that there might be eavesdroppers.

I rolled my eyes. ::Out with it, already.::

::Well, I saw two people who did not look like alchemists exchange something down a dark alley.::

::There could be many reasons for that. It doesn’t mean something suspicious is going to happen.::

He nodded. ::I knew you’d have that reaction. That’s why I didn’t tell you what it was.::

I wanted to rub my temples. ::You obviously found something large enough to call on our junior.::

::I did! And Senior Ghosty agreed with me.:: He handed me his necklace with the soul gem on it. ::Actually, he should explain it.::

::Senior Lin,:: the Nascent Soul’s old voice spoke in my head. ::We found something.::

He paused. When he didn't continue and I gripped the necklace tighter and waved it back and forth. ::What?::

::Hold on, let me start at the beginning.::

Couldn’t these two just say it already? What was with dragging it out?

::Little Spring followed one of the strange cultivators, but that guy turned out to just be an herb seller. We watched him for a while, thinking that he might do something suspicious, and that’s when I spotted someone who shouldn’t be here. A demonic cultivator from my past!::

Oh shit! If they were a demonic cultivator from this old ghost’s past, they must be an ancient and evil powerhouse. Possibly even an Immortal Ascension stage cultivator.

I immediately turned on my heel and faced toward where Four Directions Eagle was making our emergency exit. Fury that they hadn’t told me something so important increased my blood pressure.

Just before I took a step, he continued, ::But I was mistaken. It was just someone who looked like him.::

This motherfucker was doing this on purpose. I lifted the necklace to eye level and glared at Ghosty through the soul gem.

::Just get to the point.:: Was this shitty ghost trying to be the first man to cultivate the Dao of Narrative Tension?

::Well, I needed to mention him because to find out if he was the evil cultivator I recognized we had to follow him.::

::Ghosty…, are you telling me that you took Little Spring, a ten-year-old, to spy on a man who may have been an Immortal Ascension stage demonic cultivator?::

He cleared his throat. ::Ah. Well. He felt like he was only in Foundation Establishment. I also needed to check if it was him or not. This led us down another alley where I was able to see his face clearly. While he did resemble that cultivator, he was not the same person. But, while we were there we smelled the stink of rotten fish.::

::So something smelled… fishy?::

::Exactly! I had to ask Little Spring to investigate why there was a place on this island that stank like that.::

::I imagine that a large amount of fish was caught for the staff to eat?::

::At the alchemy convention?::

I shrugged. ::It’s not like spiritual chefs can’t come here to cook.:: This was getting us nowhere. ::Just tell me what you found before I go check for myself.::

::Well, we discovered a pile of fish rotting on the street as if they’d been discarded there and forgotten. But when we looked inside the storehouse where they likely came from to find out why, we discovered something horrifying.::