Dragon of Rochester
patreon
Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 51/52 đž)
🕑 Added 2024-12-22 19:13:09 +0000 UTCAuthorâs Note:
Thank you for being the best readers on Patreon! Here is the link to the Google Docs for those who prefer it.
Part 51
Now that we didnât have any enemies around us, I relaxed my muscles. That was a mistake.
Pain shot through my limbs. My head started to ache. There was also this rhythmic ringing in my ears that I really wished I could have sampled for a songâ
Shit! Focus!
Little Spring ran over to me and shoved a Linâs Healing Dan into my mouth.
As the pill began working, my mind cleared some. Unfortunately, there were major consequences for using the full force of my divine sense in a body too weak to handle it.
What was the most problematic, though, was my invisible injuries. My inner Qi pathways would have to go through months, possibly years, of rehabilitation before I was well enough to take on my Golden Core tribulation.
Which was fucked because I needed to transcend my tribulation to decrease my soul/body dichotomy within the next five years!
Mother fucker!
::Are you okay, Sister Lin?::
The kid crouched down next to me. His eyes were wide with worry.
And his clothes had dirt and blood on them. They looked awful.
Mine were worse.
Ah, now that I noticed it, my skin started to tingle like a thousand bugs crawled all over me.
I immediately used my cleaning technique on the both of us.
Little Springâs white, husky ears flattened against his head and he winced.
Ah, right. He was sensitive now.
Why was focusing so hard?
Everyone else had already taken their Qi Replenishing pills and began resting. Thankfully, most of us were relatively unharmed.
Since I didnât have the strength to move, I sat on the dirty ground in the lotus position and circulated the healing energy of the pill. It cleared my mind, reduced my headache, and repaired my fingers.
Unfortunately, it didnât do shit for my Qi pathways, but I recovered enough to stand. Which was just in time to see Gold String Delicate Touch reach down toward the body of the demonic cultivator. Specifically, toward the bag his ancestor was in.
âStop!â
He froze. I jogged over to him, wincing with every step thanks to my headache. âListen up! Everyone here should know that you never touch a demonic cultivatorâs dead body without proper preparation. Theyâre always trapped in some way. Considering that this guy is the leader of the army attacking the sect, we can assume that his body is extremely trapped. Iâll take care of it.â
With a wave of my hand, I swiftly sent the body into the time-stopped area of Little Springâs space. Once it was there, I pulled out the storage bag.
Shit. I didnât have enough energy for this.
Good thing we had spiritual spring water and Qi replenishing pills.
Everyone awkwardly watched me as I began to quickly replenish my inner Qi. Which also hurt like a bitch due to my injuries. Frankly, it was like having a thousand hidden cuts on my hands and cutting into a lemon caked in coarse salt.
But it was better to be in pain than to get caught weak.
The kid winced. ::Sister Lin. The freezer doesnât have unlimited space. Between his body, my ingredients, and the barrels of demonic vines, itâs getting crowded.::
::I know. Weâll have to do something about it soon. Our best option is to clear out those vines. Weâll have to find a strange flame strong enough to burn them first. But we can handle that later.::
Using a good portion of my replenished energy, I did something I hadnât done in years. I drew an enchantment on the bag that would prevent the typical high-end traps demonic cultivators of this era left on their bags from going off. It wouldnât remove them entirely, but as a master spiritual tool smith, I could take care of that later. The important part was taking out the necklace.
I pulled it out by the chain. It glittered under the moonlight.
Now that I was seeing it up close, it looked nothing like Ghostyâs, aside from the fact that it had a soul gem.
I gently handed the necklace to Gold String. He looked down at the soul gem. He covered his mouth with a shaking hand, and his eyes became watery.
âAncestor Dreaming Winds?â He paused, waiting for a response. Suddenly, he paled. He jerked his gaze toward me. âThereâs something wrong!â
Fuck. If it wasnât one thing, it was another.
Basically, Dreaming Winds had some kind of control bond on him. I had assumed that with the bondâs master killed, the ancestor would be freed... or dead. I grabbed the soul gem and used my divine sense to peer inside.
I sensed a type of soul binding that demonic cultivators used back in... this time period. Fortunately, I was familiar with how to unravel it.
The problem came from the fact that I didnât have access to soul-based abilities. Ones I would have had if Iâd been in Nascent Soul.
Which meant I needed a healthy Nascent Soul to undo this shit.
Ghosty was still recovering, so he was out of the question. The only other I knew of was that fucker, Noxious Fangstrike.
I may not like the asshole, but considering everything weâd been through, I felt we could trust him with this. If he was alive. No. That fucker had to be alright. There was only one thing to consider...
âI think Senior Noxious Fangstrike can help unravel your ancestorâs forced bond thatâs keeping him in this comatose state. The issue is that I doubt heâll do it for free.â
âIâll do whatever I can as long as Ancestor Dreaming Winds can get better.â
I nodded and turned to Dread Lotus. âCan youââ
She bit her lip. âUncle is in the middle of a war. The demonic sect is attacking the festival. Actually, we shouldââ
âAbsolutely not. We all need to recover. Even if we go, weâre a group of five Foundation Establishment cultivators. Our immediate presence there isnât going to make or break an entire war.â Iâd become disillusioned with my contribution to battles at the Foundation Establishment level after realizing that a single cultivator two realms higher than me could wipe out an entire small sect.
âNo. I have a better idea of how to help the sect that will be more effective than pointlessly rushing there. Besides, we also have something very important to do.â
âWhat?â
I clasped my hands behind my back like the little master I was and tilted my chin up. âListen! We risked our lives and overcame impossible odds. We took care of the enemy general, which will help end the war faster than us participating in a large-scale battle. If anything, we deserve to be rewarded for our major contribution.â
They all nodded.
I grinned. âAnd the best way to make sure we get our well-deserved reward is to loot the fuck out of this place.â
Everyone froze for a moment. They looked at each other, and nodded, then they all began running toward the various buildings in the mansion complex.
âGood idea, sister Linlin!â Gold String called as he pulled up roof tiles on his way.
âI knew I chose the bestest, smartest friend!â Dread Lotus whooped and ran towards a structure in the back that used to hold a bunch of beasts. ::By the way, my uncle just won his fight. Heâs on his way to defend the sect from the demonic cultâs army. He told us to stay where we are.::
Of course he would. He adored his niece and wanted her to be safe.
Little Spring must have been inspired by Gold String because he ran to a small nearby building. With a wave of his hand and a ton of spiritual energy, he broke it down and sent it in pieces into his space.
Well, I guessed having more buildings in there wasnât a bad thing. Especially since the city lord didnât cheap out on his buildingâs construction. Everything was made from the highest quality ingredients he could afford.
Meanwhile, I started running to where I remembered the alchemistâs guild communication wall was.
As I passed Little Spring, he finished with the first building. He must have decided that one was enough since he waved, then ran and jumped into the small crater with the dead eagle. The bird vanished suddenly.
Oh... Well, he was an immortal chef, and these beasts would make good practice for him. Not letting a beastâs death go to waste was the very least a cultivator could do.
I glanced behind me at the dozens of soulless beast bodies.
Yep, heâd get to practice a lot.
***
I frowned at the Alchemistsâ Guildâs communication wall.
âYouâre sending people to fight the demonic sect, right?â
âOf course! It is the responsibility of every orthodox organization to fight the demonic sect when it attacks. It will just take time.â
Basically, they were telling me that they were going to drag their feet and let the unorthodox sect do most of the work before swooping in and taking most of the credit.
âThen what about City Lord Bountiful Tenacity?â
âWeâll be on the lookout for him. If we see him in any city our organization is in, weâll send someone out to capture him.â
âYou should just kill him on sight. He traded a weapon of mass destruction to the demonic cult. Heâs an enemy to every orthodox organization.â
âWe will take that into consideration.â
These mother fuckers!
It was too frustrating talking to the Alchemistsâ Guildâs communications department. It was like trying to get my cable canceled in my past-past life.
I rested my hand against the cool stone again.
âI handled a big issue for you all. I uncovered a corrupt Alchemistsâ Guild owner and city lord. As a Grandmaster Alchemist, I expect my due compensation.â
âOf course! Weâll do whatever we can that is within our means.â
âI want to be teleported back to the city nearest to the Indomitable Will sect within the next two years.â
â...â
âYouâll do it, right?â As much as I enjoyed my time here. I wanted to go home.
There was a long pause. Whoever was on the line was likely communicating with someone higher up and checking account balances.
âThis is Grandmaster Black Cauldron.â
Hadnât there been a movie in my past-past life named something similar? Whatever. I hoped this guy wouldnât be an asshole.
âI looked over our funds. We are currently incapable of sending you back to the Indomitable Will Sect. Even if you give us two years. I deeply apologize on behalf of the Alchemistsâ Guild. After some calculations, we discovered that it would take us 20 years to save up for that trip due to the increased costs of teleportation over long distances.â
Well, I knew about formations and teleportation costs, so⊠Iâd give them that. Damn it.
How the fuck was I going to get home then? Would I really have to abandon this sect soon and go join another in the righteous faction under a different identity just to compete in the inter-sect tournament against my own sect?!
Or I could wait ten years for the next Alchemy Convention... If they still put it on after that last fiasco... goddamn it.
Iâd just have to figure all this out later.
Fine. If they couldnât send me home, then...
âIf you canât do that, then I want to use this wall for free, any time I want until I go back home.â
âOh... well. Weâd love to do that. Weâd even be willing to foot the energy costs on our side. Itâs just that, unfortunately, your end will still need spirit stones to operate. These walls expend a significant amount of energy.â
âThen, as compensation for needing to use my own stones to pay for it, my band and I will take whatever we can in the city lordâs mansion.â Not that we werenât already looting the fucking place.
Later, I would just use my spiritual energy to power it. It would work as long as I set it up properly and added a few things here and there using the technology from the tablet I designed with Senior Black Jade.
Of course, their side would still be footing the massive amount of energy it took on their end to send my communication to my sect. Muahahaha.
Iâd make sure these fuckers would financially regret not sending me when they had the chance.
âThat is acceptable. You took care of the City Lord who had been in league with the demonic sect, after all.â
âAnd you guys will have to use your own energy to connect me to my sect whenever I want.â
I had to wait for a while before words appeared on the wall again. âSo as to not put a strain on your finances, how about we limit your communication to once a month for 8 hours?â
Was he fucking kidding me? âOnce a day for four. Iâm not as poor as you think I am. Also, your guild might be on a smaller continent, but it isnât broke.â
There was a long pause where I could practically feel him choking at my audacity. âFellow Grandmaster, we are a much more limited operation compared to the main branches. Please understand.â
They were just trying to get out of fully paying me for my contribution. I wouldnât let them.
That said, I also had to accept that they were financially weak. Grimacing, I added. âThen once a week for 16 hours.â
âI know youâre frustrated, but the most we can do is once a week for six.â
âAre you lying to me?â
âNever. I wouldnât dare.â
Well, fuck it.
âFine. But Iâm taking this wall. Itâs mine now.â
âWait... What do you mean, take the wall? Thatâs the wall for the cityâs Alchemistsâ Guild. You canât just take it.â
âSure I can. Itâs in the city lordâs mansion and you already said that I was free to loot everything I could from here.â
âGrandmaster... Please leave that with the city. These communication walls are expensive.â
âMine.â
With a wave of my arm, I placed the wall in my ring.
Muahahaha!
If I couldnât go home, Iâd just have to take everything I could. Even the damn floor tiles.
These guys would learn not to mess with a grandmaster with a grudge.
***
When I exited, I saw that my band had continued to loot while Little Spring carefully chose the beasts he wanted to prep for eating.
It mostly seemed like the boar, bird, and oxen beasts were taken while the wolves and tigers were left for everyone else to sell as they pleased.
Considering the size of the beasts, their meat would last us years... and completely fill up the rest of the time-frozen storage. No wonder the brat complained to me earlier. He wanted space for cooking ingredients.
There were also another two buildings completely missing. Either the kid had gone back and forth or the others decided that taking whole structures was a good idea.
I called over Three Drops. âTake me to the spiritual tool.â
He nodded, and we started running through long and confusing hallways. It was no wonder it took so long for him to find it. It was deep inside the main mansion, placed in a hidden room.
Frankly, I was shocked this guy found his way there. Though, when I saw the bodies of some of the servants, I realized that he must have interrogated some of them. Judging from my studentâs bruised face, he hadnât had an easy time.
The spatial lock device rested on a pedestal. It was white, egg-shaped, and about the length of my arm. A large crack cut through it, starting from the weak point Iâd told Three Drops about. A small amount of smoke seeped from the hole.
The body cultivator awkwardly scratched his head. âI think I broke it.â
I nodded. âYou did. Good job!â
I wrapped my spiritual energy around it and brought it inside the space. âIf anyone asks, thatâs exactly what happened, and I just took the remains to melt down and sell for scrap.â
âIt sounds like youâre going to do more than that.â
I grinned. âHow could I possibly? Iâm just a weak and arrogant Foundation Establishment cultivator. Not a real expert toolsmith at all.â
He looked confused for a second, then his eyes widened in realization. âYes, teacher. Iâll be sure to tell them exactly that.â
I grinned and patted his shoulder. Only I could choose such a good student.
âNow that weâre alone, are you going to tell me why the city lord called you Alchemist Lin instead of Linlin?â
âBecause Iâm Lin, Fairy Lin.â
âPlease, teacher. Iâm serious.â
âIf I tell you, Iâll have to kill you. Are you positive you want to know?â
He shook his head vigorously.
âJust donât think about it. Iâm not here to harm the sect, after all.â Not anymore, anyway. âNow, help me find the treasure storage room and anything else thatâs worth money.â
â...â
âDonât worry. I plan to share some with my band members and you. But we need to loot it before any of our seniors get here and take it for themselves.â
His eyes widened. âActually, I know exactly where it is. But there is a complex formation protecting it.â
I grinned. âNo problem. Iâm also good with formations.â
***
My band and student helped ransack the place up until the Alchemistsâ Guild guards arrived.
At that point, we took them to where the battle was still taking place. And together they and the Irrepressible Beast Blood sect brought the war to an end within minutes.
Mostly because those demonic bastards retreated and escaped.
Because the elders had been prepared for it, there were actually very few casualties. All the healing pills Iâd created went to helping those who were injured.
Black Cauldron walked up to me once everything was settled. âGrandmaster Lin.â
::Call me Linlin here. Iâm still undercover.::
âLin. Linlin.â
He was making it worse.
âPlease give the wall back.â
I crossed my arms. âNo. Itâs mine.â
âBut you wonât even be able to use it unless you set it up everywhere you go, and nobody has the time or the expertise for that.â
âI do. You can have it when you send me back to my continent.â
He looked like he was about to cry.
Good. I was pissed.
âAlright. Iâll let the headquarters know that youâre keeping the wall until you leave as an incentive to help you get back home as soon as possible.â
I nodded.
After he left, Noxious Fangstrike and Gold String walked up to me, both looking a little upset.
âJunior Linlin. How dare you tell this disciple that I can help him?!â
I crossed my arms. âBefore that, Iâm glad youâre safe, senior. I would hate to have to learn poisons from someone else.â
He snorted.
âI can teach you how to do it. I just donât have the power to do it myself.â
âHah! You expect me to believe that?â
âDread Lotus.â
He winced and scowled. âThat was about alchemy. This is about souls and removing the bonds those evil bastards leave on them...â
He continued ranting and lecturing. Basically telling me it was impossible.
I sighed. Well, it wasnât like I didnât want to spread this technique wherever I could. I would tell everyone if it wouldnât force the Demonic Sect into coming up with new shit Iâd have to create another damn countermeasure for.
I used the telepathic technique to drop the information packet into his arrogant little mind.
He sputtered to a stop and coughed.
I shrugged.
His brow furrowed. He gestured for the soul gem and the bassist handed it to him.
The poison masterâs golden eyes focused on it for a solid twenty minutes. Suddenly, his pupils shrank, and he appeared absolutely furious.
Authorâs Note:
Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!
This chapter is 1.5 chapters long. I probably could have split it up since the next chapter will also be particularly large. I decided against that.
I also decided that because, for one, Iâm taking next week off and I want you all to have a good-sized chapter to make up for it. And secondly, I might need another week after Story 10 is finished to write most of Story 11.
Iâll try to write a good portion of story 11 during my vacation but, unfortunately, I canât make any promises. My luck with my health has been poor the past two years so I donât trust that Iâll be healthy enough this next week.
But this isnât a time to be sad about my bad luck with health! Itâs a time to be happy and spend time with family and friends. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
And for those who donât celebrate, Happy Holidays!
Comments
Bable Zmith
Christmas looting is best looting! Thank you for the gift. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS!
D
Happy holidays and thanks for the chapter! :)
nugitoBambino
tftc! and happy holidays to you as well
Grappleshot
I like how they went Bond, James Bond.
Bosparan
Thanks for the kickass chapter! Also thank you for the extra-length and inspired looting ^^ Hope you get to enjoy your Christmas in Good Health and Company. Looking forward to what the next Arc is all about ... and what Noxious got angry about. Found out about Lin?
![[Image Link]](https://i.imgur.com/9b4mdGW.jpeg){kind=link}