I grimly jumped in front of Little Spring, held my sword defensively in one hand while I used the other to pull several talismans from my ring.

Not wasting any time, I forcefully activated them all at once.

The wind blades stopped in front of me. All of my talismans decayed into dust. I barely had time to shove the kid a hair’s width out of the way before an actual wing bypassed my defensive stance entirely and rammed into my stomach at full force.

I couldn’t breathe.

Thorns pierced my skin. My mind turned white from the shock and pain. I flew backward.

Fuck.

It interrupted my split-mind technique. Fortunately, I had just confirmed that the other team killed their demonic vine duck.

My vision darkened at the edges as my back slammed into a plastered wall ten yards from where I started. The stones cradled my figure. Debris from the plaster pelted my skin and covered my clothes in dust. Several rocks popped out of place.

One hit me on the head as if calling me an idiot for not preparing the protective talisman Fairy Verdant Bamboo had reluctantly given me as backup protection.

Well, fuck you too, wall.

A sourness spread within my chest, and I uncontrollably coughed up three mouthfuls of blood. It left a red stain on my white robes.

My stance had been perfect!

I had used defensive tools.

I’d even relied on my body cultivation to withstand the attack!

Unfortunately, the wing had hit me with too much force. I also hadn’t wanted to use the space because I didn’t want to risk exposure. The last thing we needed was for some random demonic cultivator to sense my sudden disappearance and start to ask questions.

“Sister Lin!” Little Spring jogged backwards to reach me. To protect both of us, he sent several slashes at the attacking pink vines and tossed out way more trick pills than necessary. The cloud of gold dust created an impassable barrier for the evil plant.

Poor kid was worried, and it was causing him to be wasteful. I’d have to teach him how to be calm in these types of situations later. Hopefully, before I reached Foundation Establishment.

Shit. If that wyvern’s attack could injure me this badly, I was going to need better body cultivation to get through my tribulation. Also, armor. Maybe a whole new outfit and style. I missed pants.

But that would be for later

We needed to finish this and collect our supplies from the sect!

Since I needed a second longer to recover, I sent Swift Dove a message.

::Good work killing the vine entity on your end!::

::Senior Lin?!::

::Find the flag but don’t pull it yet. It should be at the base of the root system. You may need to dig it out.::

::Yes!::

I took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off my face. It was a test of will to force myself to not waste internal Qi on sanitization.

Little Spring shoved several spirit stones into my hand.

Smart kid. He knew exactly what I needed. I cycled my cultivation, quickly replenishing my spiritual energy by using the stones.

It was time to end this thing.

To do that, I’d need to cast the Three Fires Phoenix Energy technique.

I mentally prepared myself to be out for several days, and went over the medicines I’d have to prepare to fully recover from a massive backlash.

There weren’t any other options. We only had four minutes left and Clear Eyes still hadn’t killed the demonic wyvern.

If I didn’t know what the backlash would do to my body, I’d be a little excited to use a Foundation Establishment level spell again.

I jumped out of the wall and used my movement technique to get closer to its weak point. Fortunately, Mad Tongue had stealthily sliced a path to it, making it easier on me.

Actually, it kind of looked like he was about to —

The teen darted up to the area I was heading and stabbed into the ground before I could get there.

A burst of light shot out from his sword and burrowed into the base of the wyvern’s root system. Not only did it carve a small ditch into the very fucked up road, but it also sliced the vine entity in two.

The whole thing split in half, almost like an old cartoon. Then it collapsed into several massive piles of kindling.

D-did this guy just kill it off without me?!

Clear Eyes Mad Tongue looked back at us with a huge smile.

“I did it!”

Well, whatever.

Casting a Foundation Establishment level Technique in Qi Condensation was a recipe for an injured meridian system in old age.

And at this point, we only had a minute left. Shiiiiit!

::Did you find it?:: I asked Swift Dove.

::We found it exactly where you said it was!::

I jumped to where the wyvern collapsed and used two Thousand Cuts to make a hole down into its base. There! Right in the center was the flag for a demonic formation.

Its stick was made from Purple Yin Wood. A leather-like cloth — the origins best not thought about — replaced the normal silk. And, of course, the paint used to mark demonic symbols had been created with the poisoned blood of a hundred people.

Exactly the type of disgusting flag I expected to see.

::Now!::

I kicked it with spiritual energy. It flew up and landed on top of a nearby broken cabbage cart.

All around us, the vine hedges melted back into the ground. The pinkish-gray fog cleared up to show a blue sky.

I could practically hear the cheers coming from the other team. And I did hear a loud whoop from Mad Tongue.

Muahahahaha! We’d done it!

We saved everyone in the city from a massive demonic formation array!

Of course, that didn’t mean that all the vine entities that had gone on a rampage through the streets had stopped killing people.

I held out my fist and wiggled it in front of Little Spring.

He held out a pill bottle to me. “Sister Lin. Please take one!”

“One contribution point for not being aware of your surroundings.”

The kid looked helplessly exasperated. “You’re not even, Senior Salamander.”

“One point... or bump my fist.”

He started to reach out, then hesitated.

“Bump it!”

He blinked his eyes as if he couldn’t believe I was doing this, but then he gently tapped his fist against mine.

Yes!

Of course, then he shoved the pill bottle under my nose.

A familiar medicinal scent?

Was this one of my personal healing pills? I mean, I was injured, but not to the extent that I’d need one of these. Not when something lesser could take care of my wound.

I nudged the bottle away, and the kid pushed it back. Then he gave me a look that told me that he’d help me if I didn’t take it now.

Ah, fine. Whatever. I’d have to move to the next prescription in my Lin’s Kick Ass Healing Pill Series once I reached higher levels of Foundation Establishment, anyway.

When I put the medicine in my mouth, it vanished and I had to focus on cycling my internal Qi to get the healing energy to the places that needed it. Which was mostly my stomach.

The holes of the thorny vines left in my abdomen had turned my robes red.

I cast the cleaning technique on all three of us, taking care of the blood, dirt, and any possible pathogens. Unfortunately, while it removed the stain, it couldn’t mend the holes.

“Eeep!” Clear Eyes Mad Tongue glared at me like I’d slapped his ass. Which I totally didn’t understand. Being clean was soothing. Why get offended? “Best-Alchemist-Under-The-Heavens Lin! Was that really necessary?”

“Absolutely.”

Little Spring tugged at my sleeve. “Sister Lin, do you think—”

High above us, a doubled over Peak Elder Grass Sprout zipped past as if she’d just been punched in the stomach. Right before she landed on a nearby pagoda, she stopped herself in midair.

Her hair looked like it had survived a hurricane. Blood dripped down the corner of her lips and her robes had several holes torn into them. All in all, she did not look good.

Fuck. If she was this injured, how the hell was Sword Master Salamander doing?

She spat and wiped the blood off her chin, but her eyes looked incredibly focused, as if following the path of a rabbit she was hunting.

Her hands blazed through a dozen hand seals until a massive golden cauldron materialized behind her.

A bell-like noise rang through the streets as an old man in tattered robes appeared in the air. His knuckles were stuck to the surface of the cauldron, showing that he’d attempted to punch her.

He moved several yards away from her in the blink of an eye and laughed wildly. This was obviously Demon Thorny Devil Vine — the demonic cultivator who’d created the plague.

“Is that it? This... weak technique is your last defense?”

She smirked. “Didn’t it block you?”

Thorny Devil Vines’ voice echoed through the streets. “You righteous sect cultivators always think you’re right, don’t you? But you never notice the suffering people go through every day. But I see it.”

Shit! These Nascent Soul assholes were about to fight right above us. If they really got into it, forget the fucking slaughter formation killing us. Just a small technique going awry could take out half the city!

Part of me wanted to escape directly into the space for our safety, but it was too early for that.

“You care a lot about suffering for someone who’s caused so much of it!”

He laughed like she’d told a good joke. “Oh, I admit that I’m the one who spread my adorable pink babies. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care. In fact, I’m ending everyone’s suffering early.”

Wow! How thoughtful of the guy! A real Xianxia-style Doctor Kevorkian.

Elder Grass Sprout held her hand behind her back and started casting another technique in secret. She didn’t take her eyes off her enemy. “For someone who is pretending to be altruistic, you certainly are benefiting from it.”

He smirked. “Ah, but I’m not the only one. In fact. If you had any idea who’s backing my rise to greatness, you’d throw yourself at my feet and prostrate yourself.”

Well, from that sentence I could be positive of two things.

First, Thorny Devil had an influential person aiding him. They were probably from a secret demonic sect, but I couldn’t rule out a corrupt righteous cultivator either.

Second, he was about to murder everyone who heard him hint about his backers.

The demonic cultivator threw out a crushingly powerful technique that I could feel vibrating in my bones. My vision blurred from the pressure. Since I couldn’t even look at this technique directly, I covered Little Spring’s eyes and gestured for Mad Tongue to close his.

I didn’t want these two to hurt themselves by seeing something they couldn’t comprehend at their level.

Thorny Devil’s technique crashed against the blast that Grass Sprout threw out.

The waves of energy canceled each other out, but that didn’t mean that the energies hadn’t spread out throughout the city, shaking the ground and making it difficult to stay standing.

Both the kid and the teen visibly paled.

These Nascent Soul fuckers were too strong compared to my currently weak body.

::Cycle your cultivation. It will help.::

::Should we move into my space?::

::Not yet.::

“Ah, Senior Lin!” Clear Eyes Mad Tongue’s voice cracked.

::At least if we were here, if it gets bad I can send us into your space long enough to protect us from their techniques. If we run farther back, I might miss something. Their powers are messing with my eyes.:: Fortunately, my divine sense was still working perfectly.

“Shouldn’t we be running away?”

“If you think that you can outrun a Nascent Soul technique, then...” It was no wonder this teenager died before I had the chance to meet him in my past life.

“Look, there are still enemies running around. If we end up in a fight with another wyvern while leaving and their combat goes wrong, we could end up distracted and dead. Right now, we’ve already cleared out the dangers near us and we’re at least close enough to the Peak Elder that she can protect us if things become dangerous.”

When the attacks finally dissipated, both Grass Sprout and Thorny Devil coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

Mad Tongue opened his eyes briefly and looked grim. “Do you really think she’ll be able to protect us when she can’t protect herself?”

Well, no. I was mostly preparing to use the space, but I wasn’t going to tell the observant teen that.

Our peak elder was not looking good. At least on the outside.

“Did you think I wouldn’t see that technique of yours?” Thorny Devil Vine chuckled as he wiped the red from his mouth. “Your movements were obvious to my eyes.”

“Your Demonic Transcending Foul Air spell took me by surprise. It was faster than I expected. You even started casting it moments after I prepared mine.” She popped a Qi recovery-type pill into her mouth.

“Ah, so you know of my technique.” He clasped his hands behind his back. He would have looked like a hidden master except for his scraggly clothes. “Usually it’s cast slower, but I’ve mastered it.”

Did all Nascent Soul cultivators sound this pretentious? Fuck, did I sound like that when I was their level?

“Regardless, it doesn’t matter whether you discovered my Thousand Windy Waves technique or not, the outcome will still be the same.”

He laughed. “I’m so very glad that you understand the differences in our skill.”

“No, you see, it doesn’t matter because...” She made a hand seal. “You’re already dead.” Peak Elder Grass Sprout pointed to Thorny Devil.

Green leaves popped up on his face and neck. They probably also sprouted lower, but that was blocked by his scraggly robes.

The plants wrapped around him and did things to his body that even his vines didn’t do to the living.

Holy shit! I did not want to get on Grass Sprout’s badside.

Thorny Devil’s body, or what was left of it, dropped like a sack of rice.

Peak Elder Grass Sprout Gestured to the spiritual cauldron behind her, it flew to a spot in midair. Its lid opened and slammed down as if capturing an invisible fly,

I was positive she’d just grabbed the demonic cultivator’s soul for later statue face slapping.

Damn, that fight finished faster than I thought. I didn’t even have to make a jump into the space for protection.

“I don’t feel anything. Is it over yet?” Little Spring asked.

Oh, it was over. But the aftermath wasn’t pretty... for Thorny Devil Vine.

I released Little Spring’s eyes.

Grass Sprout dropped down to us while smiling. Honestly, aside from her looking like she just got her ass kicked, she acted like she had energy to spare.

It made me wonder how much of that fight she’d controlled by just acting like she was hurt worse than she had been.

“Peak Elder greets Great Martial Aunt Lin!” Then she rubbed the top of my head affectionately.

Hey! I was the one who did that to others, not the other way around!

“This little head is so brilliant. Why don’t you come teach over at my peak?”

I smoothed my hair back. “I’ll hold a lecture for your disciples if you tell me what happened with Sword Master Salamander and Demon Thorny Devil Vine.”

“Of course! Well,” she tapped her chin, “when I reached the shack in the woods that Sword Master Salamander mentioned...”