Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (30????)

Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (30????)

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It was finally time to get the band together! Muahahaha!

I stood in the middle of the sound-proofed outdoor practice area Dread Lotus had rented for us. The location had a stone floor, several environmental controlling formations to help with acoustics, and a noise-concealing formation for privacy. However, what made it special, and probably cost my new friend a shit load of contribution points, was the view between the trees and the ocean. From this high up, I could even make out the extra shallow curve of the massive planet we were on.

But this view, while nice, wasn’t that important. My bandmates were about to meet for the first time. Unfortunately, the last band I helped get together it didn’t go well. At least, not at first. There was something about the personality of four arts cultivators that often made them arrogant as fuck. This lead to some of them having massive fights over artistic differences.

These weren’t small arguments either.

Rappers from my past-past life thought they had hardcore beefs, but they had nothing on these musical cultivators who literally killed with their songs.

One of my students who swore his way was better wrote a rock song that dissed his enemy. It caused her to go deaf for several hours. Well, technically, if I hadn’t put up a shield in time, she would have bled from all seven orifices.

But they were still mostly good kids.

Now I had to consider if Dread Lotus, Gold String Delicate Touch and Azure Melodic River’s would immediately butt heads.

With my luck? Yeah, they probably would.

Bringing these three together without too much drama would be difficult, especially for me. However, it was doable. And, thankfully, musicians didn’t have to like each other on a personal level to produce good music. Though it helped.

While I had the hardest time getting Gold String to join, I doubted that he’d be hard to work with. I just had to keep in mind that he strived to become stronger at all costs — even becoming a disciple in an unorthodox sect instead of a righteous one because they had more powerful techniques. The only reason he joined me was because I showed him how kick-ass I could make him through the power of rock.

I was most worried about Azure Melodic River. She was laid back. Possibly too laid back. That would get on Dread Lotus’s nerves since she’s now healthy and seems ready to get shit started. And if I considered River’s communication style, that was a little too suggestive... I’d need to keep my eye on her to make sure she respected Dread Lotus at all times.

What a fuckin hassle. But it would be worth it as long as we cure Ghosty and spread the Dao of Rock.

Azure Melodic River flew over on her upside-down keyboard. I hadn’t designed it to be used like that but, whatever worked was fine.

She touched down and — using a kick that reminded me of a skateboarder from my past-past life — flipped her instrument over. “Junior Linlin! I’m surprised you didn’t gather us sooner.”

“Forging instruments takes time.”

“You forge instruments?”

Right, I hadn’t exactly told her that I’d created her keyboard. I’d just mentioned that I’d put something together. “Well, I am this continent’s greatest spiritual tool smith.”

The look of doubt she sent me was priceless. I almost wanted to see what her expression would be if she ever realized I wasn’t lying and only needed to be Immortal Ascension stage to prove it.

Before she could say something more, Gold String Delicate Touch joined us. He greeted me and bowed to Melodic River. “Senior.”

She looked frustrated but nodded to her junior.

Before she could call me out, I pulled out the shiny new drum set just as Dread Lotus arrived on an adorable lotus-shaped fan. As she dropped from the flying tool, her high-quality red and gold robes fluttered around her.

Dread Lotus grinned. She was definitely enjoying having a healthy body. “Greetings, juniors!”

“Senior Dread Lotus,” we said.

“That is enough formality.... Ooo, what’s this?” She glided over to the drum set and began studying it.

Azure Melodic River grabbed my sleeve tightly and in a high-pitched voice whispered. “That’s Dread Lotus. The Dread Lotus!”

Oh shit. Was she about to start some drama? “She’s joined our band. Do you have a problem with her?”

Her eyes grew wide. “I’m going to get to practice with her?!”

Wait. She wasn’t being her normal cool-ass self. Was she... fangirling? Really?!

“What? Is she famous?”

“Is Dread Lotus famous?” She scoffed. “She’s only the best Foundation Establishment demonic musician in the whole world. I have seen her twice. Every time she’s played... has been a delight, both spiritually and physically. She is the dream and goal of all musical cultivators in our realm.”

Azure Melodic River was way too excited. This could easily lead to problems.

She grabbed my sleeve tighter. “Her health isn’t very good, though. Is she going to be okay?”

“Relax. She’s the healthiest girl in the sect.”

She raised a skeptical brow. “Don’t joke with me right now. I’m very worried about her condition.”

“Trust me.” I pulled her hand off my sleeve and stepped over to Dread Lotus, who had picked up a drumstick and was tapping the leather tops to test them out.

“These drums are so unique. Where did you get them?”

“Actually, I forged these with you in mind. But if you want to try the guitar instead—”

“You made this?!”

I clasped my hands behind my back. “Of course!”

“I knew you were a genius but this...” She looked at the set with greed in her eyes. “Well, I should at least try them, shouldn’t I?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Azure Melodic River took a step forward, hesitated, and then said, “But you pride yourself on your zither performances!”

“I will play them so well it will cause problems for the sect!”

How could playing to drums too well cause any problems for the sect? Whatever. As long as Ghosty healed up in the end.

***

After I taught Dread Lotus how to perform her parts, I brought us together. They nervously fiddled with their instruments.

I grinned at the three of them. “The first song we’ll play will be an easy one. Spirit In Repair.” This was a song inspired by John Mayer’s In Repair and was originally written by Irrepressible Soft Twitter.

Of course, since this was our first time playing, we didn’t sound impressive. We didn’t even sound good.

Dread Lotus pouted. “We’re all experts, so I thought we’d play better.”

I scoffed. “You learned a brand new instrument a couple of hours ago. How can you expect to be perfect at it?”

“But I am.”

That... was actually true. Dread Lotus now had a Superior Sounds Body special constitution which allowed her to easily pick up previously unknown instruments and songs. She was faster at learning music than Little Spring, that monster of a protagonist.

“But we’re not perfect together, and that is our biggest issue. We each need to play together with no errors, and with the right amount of soul to heal a Nascent Soul’s injuries.”

There had to be a way to fix this.

It likely came down to our comprehension being too different. This would cause the emotions we brought to our parts to not match. “Alright, we’ll each discuss our understanding of the song and its separate sections. We need to have the same knowledge of each part and how they come together to enhance the meaning. I’ll go first.”

Just after I finished explaining my understanding of the guitar and lyric portions, that asshole Noxious Fangstrike moseyed on over like he was in the neighborhood and wanted to say hello. Frankly, his showing up now was suspicious as fuck.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Greetings, Senior.” He nodded to me. “It’s almost like you knew that this was the perfect time to interrupt us.”

He clasped his hands behind his back and didn’t respond to my subtle accusation that he’d been spying. While I had used the soundproofing formation, it wasn’t good enough to prevent an eavesdropping Nascent Soul like him.

Dread Lotus set her stick down with a clack and ran over to him. “Uncle! What are you doing here?”

“I’m picking up my new research assistant.”

She frowned. “Who is that?”

He gestured to me and I scowled. ::Am I your research assistant, Senior, or are you mine?::

::I’m an elder. Allow me to keep my image up in front of my niece.::

::Fine, but you’ll owe me.::

“Oh! That’s great news. Linlin is my best friend. So make sure to treat her well. I’ll be upset if she comes crying to me, saying that you’ve bullied her.”

“I think she’s more likely to bully me,” he muttered softly.

Hah! Said the guy who captured me in his goddamn cauldron. “Alright, you three, you know enough and can figure this out together. I expect your coordination to be improved by the time I get back.”

“Yes, Band Leader Linlin!”

“Dread Lotus, you’re in charge until I return.”

She grinned. “I’ll be sure we sound fifty percent better, at least.”

Noxious Fangstrike hesitated. “Well, my research isn’t urgent. Maybe I could stay here and watch—”

“No! Uncle, please go. You’ll make us too nervous.”

He frowned. “Fine! I can see I’m not wanted... but I would have liked to see my beloved niece more, now that she’s feeling better.”

::You’re not going to guilt them into asking you to stay.::

::Why are you and Dread Lotus the only ones not nervous and respectful around me?::

::I’m perfectly respectable toward you, Senior-who-couldn’t-cure-his-own-niece.::

::Don’t test me.::

::What? You want to harm your niece’s best friend? Should I tell her that? She might never speak to you again.::

::...::

“Let’s go.” He turned around, flicking his sleeve in irritation.

***

Noxious showed me to a desk in his alchemy room, where he set down several small piles of jade slips.

He pointed to each stack going from right to left. ”These are all the references I found mentioning what the bath was like back when the sect first started. This is a list of all the ingredients we currently use. These are the various prescriptions for each poison that uses one or more of the same herbs. These are the failed tests I remembered my seniors telling me they’d conducted. And these are all my experiments.” He clasped his hands behind his back and appeared way too proud of himself.

“I’m impressed. You went above and beyond what I asked you to compile.”

“I only collected what I thought you’d need. We have to resolve the bath’s side effects as soon as possible.”

I grinned. “If your bath can be fixed, I’ll fix it.” Of course, the first step was to go over all this information. It was a good thing I was the creator of the Dao of Paperwork or I might be troubled by all the material he’d provided.