Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 1 🎸)

-330 Years ago in Fairy Lin’s past-

I stood in midair above the sect and glared at the Four Arts Peak Master Clean Brushstroke. The urge to kill her and her peak elders practically overwhelmed me, but my willpower was greater. Besides, nothing good would come from their deaths. It wouldn’t stop my anger or bring the long-dead back.

She concealed her rage with her fan, but her eyes told me that if I hadn’t been a realm above her, she would have ripped my face off.

“It’s your fault my Four Arts Peak is in decline!”

I scoffed. “My fault? Because I showed your peak’s disciples how to enjoy themselves while walking along their own path?”

“A lot of good that did them! None of them made it past Golden Core! Now all of those geniuses are dead or too old to keep cultivating.”

“Did you even give them a chance?! I was only gone fifty years and from what I heard, you forced everyone to play the music you wanted, throwing anyone who practiced the Dao of Rock in the Five Senses Deprivation Caves for a decade. Do you think that helped them with their cultivation?”

If I’d known about it, I would have stopped them. But I hadn’t suspected that they would try this bullshit the second I went into seclusion. I had put a stop to them using those caves for punishment before. I thought I’d taken care of it, but it looked like I’d have to cut them out of the mountain myself to prevent their use again.

Her sharp gaze could have cut an immortal tool. “Your so-called music is beyond primitive and has no place in our sect! It is filled with seduction, rage, and temptation. Its insidiousness coerced our disciples down a dark path that was a step away from the demonic.”

I sighed. It seemed like even in this universe, rock couldn’t escape being used to incite a moral panic. “Ridiculous!” I turned to leave, flicking my sleeve. “You do what you want. I’ll teach new disciples about rock.”

“You can’t!”

I looked back with a grin. “You can’t stop me!” Muahaha! “And when they discover the unique properties of the Dao of Rock, they will enjoy walking down that path.”

She glared. “That music can melt your listener’s face off! It’s evil!”

I winced, remembering how Peak Master Clean Brushstroke’s face had temporarily melted off while listening to a song heavily inspired by the fastest DragonForce song I’d taught. But I fixed it!

“That was one time, and Fairy Winter Medley was very apologetic.”

She crossed her arms and smiled with vehemence. “Anyway. I can’t stop you, but the new Sect Leader can. You’re banned from playing rock music in the sect. And you’re never allowed to set foot on Four Arts Peak again!”

These sneaky motherfuckers had prepared all of this while I was gone!

But I was their elder and basically a sect ancestor at the Immortal Ascension stage. I would have a word with our new sect leader.

“Also, Senior Blissful Jujube, and Senior Bloodsword agreed with this,” she taunted.

I once again resisted the urge to slap her down.

There was no way I would take her word for it. I sent the idiotic shit donkey a secret sound transmission asking him about it.

“Oh.” He casually sent back, like I’d distracted him from something important. “I didn’t realize that was your pet project.”

Ugh. I loathed this guy.

“Little Jujube was upset that this was causing a rift in the four arts disciples, so I backed up her decision.” That damned chuuni continued rambling on. I didn’t care. Even this much contact was more than I wanted.

For the first time in centuries, I felt a wave of pure mental exhaustion. It was so tiring living in this fucked up world and now I couldn’t enjoy my favorite genre because of all these ignorant shitheads with sticks up their asses.

Frankly, they didn’t deserve the honor of listening to rock. And all the students who did had either died or were too traumatized.

I think it was time I focused on ascending. The immortal realm had to be better. At the very least, I could finally get away from that wife-collecting asshole and his harem of dumbasses.

***

-Fairy Lin’s Present-

A light breeze blew past me, bringing over the medicinal scent from my spiritual herb garden. The spirit of the space flew around my head in his gold dragon form.

“Just wait until you see my master’s disguise! It’s so impressive you’ll be speechless.”

“He sure is taking his time, though.” I crossed my arms and glared at the small palace by Fairy Lake.

“That—that’s only because he wanted to double-check everything.”

Well, I had requested that he create a face he could remember and keep using. This was much harder than picking random features and a test of how well he had mastered the technique.

He transformed into his human form and sat on the roof of the space’s gazebo. “That disguise technique is very advanced.”

I nodded at the understatement.

The technique we’d learned was incredible. Not only could the cultivator use it to change how they looked physically, they could also disguise their energy. So, I could, for instance, make my sword Qi feel like a sharp musical Qi attack. Something that was very important to my plans.

After cultivating with our backs together for four days, Little Spring and I reached the peak of Foundation Establishment — my limit for using a Sword Master technique called Any Object is My Sword. This was the same technique Salamander used to train us a couple of years ago.

To hide my identity on this continent, I needed a secret way to defend myself since I wasn’t confident about my four arts. I had only learned them as a fun hobby back when I was an Immortal Bone Creation expert. I had never used it in a fight.

My current self-defense plan was to cut any enemies down with sword Qi while playing a guitar spiritual tool I threw together. As the Mother of Rock in this world, I had forged so many instruments in my past life that I could create a guitar while I slept.

My new instrument was an eclectic battle guitar made from durable but light spiritual metals that I’d been collecting. I had added a series of simple enchantments to amplify the sound — so I didn’t have to use an amp — as well as create different illusion effects.

In my previous life, I was the only person who knew about the music from my past-past life. I had worked tirelessly to recreate the instruments using the spiritual materials and advanced forging processes I’d developed over centuries. Then I mass-produced them to spread the Dao of Rock to any of the adorable four arts cultivators who were interested.

Of course, how could I have possibly known that spreading my favorite music around would make the elders of the Four Arts Peak loathe me? Saying that I was corrupting their youth with my strange, unnatural songs when they could learn perfected music that had been passed down for generations.

As if teaching young cultivators how to play Black Magic Woman, and Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off, was worse than literally teaching them demonic arts.

Well, that last one was technically a pop song, but it was too fun and addictive not to create a rock cover for it.

Those kids who learned the music of my past-past life took the mundane songs I taught and made them their own. They blended the new sounds with the classic zither songs they loved and created various subgenres. One of my favorites, I named Zither Punk.

They had walked their own path, and it had been beautiful and creative.

Those old fools hadn’t understood the music and loathed it. They got together to ban it, which stifled their student’s love for music, and led to a decline in their cultivation speed. Instead of rightfully blaming themselves for harming their disciples, they blamed me for introducing the new genre of music in the first place. The stuck-up fuckers.

But that was an old tragedy. Now that I was halfway around the world and a lifetime away, I could do what I wanted with my knowledge and corrupt… teach whoever was interested.

Muahahahaha!

Well, as long as it was within the short time I’d be on this continent.

I was getting ready to leave the space but had to check Little Spring’s disguise first. Since I was still waiting for the kid, I teleported Ghosty’s soul gem necklace to me.

It would be good to see the poor guy come out of his coma today.

After trying to communicate with him for a few minutes, I accepted the fact that he would need more time. If he wasn’t talking to me in a month, I’d have to start searching this new continent for plants that could heal the soul.

Actually, I knew some excellent soul-healing music that might work better. I just hadn’t been strong enough to play those songs until I reached the peak of Foundation Establishment. But for them to be effective on someone in his realm, I needed a full band to accompany me. Which was another reason to teach the Dao of rock while I was here. The only issue would be finding talented musicians, who also had the right realm, and convincing them to join my band.

I moved his gem back to his room, where I’d set up a spirit-gathering formation to improve his recovery.

Little Spring suddenly appeared in front of me, looking exactly like he had an hour ago when he left, only he was holding Xiao Bai.

I crossed my arms and waited.

He grinned, and his appearance began to morph. He stayed the same height — something I requested from him since I didn’t want the technique to affect his natural growth. However, his features became a little more mature and sharper, as if he’d lost some baby fat. His nose changed shape, becoming straighter, his eyes tilted up at the corners and turned blue. The most noticeable change was his hair. It grew longer, wavy, and faded into a bluish-green.

But the difference was in more than in his face and hair. The internal energy I sensed from him turned sharper and wild, like a rogue cultivator’s. If I hadn’t seen it for myself, even I would have been positive that he was a 12-year-old stranger.

Then he changed back into his normal appearance before putting on his disguise again.

“Good job! The hair color is a bit unusual, but it’s fine.”

This was the power of a transcendent disguise technique.

I’d already used it to change my own appearance. After dealing with such disrespect at the Alchemy Convention, I was tired of being treated like a child due to my physical age. Since I was taller than some adult women, I merely made myself look around 17-18, morphed my facial features so I no longer resembled myself, and had my internal energy take on a more vague and mysterious feeling, the way rogue four arts cultivators usually felt. I had also changed my hair color to a distracting red because, often, the best way to hide was in plain sight.

“Have you decided on your backstory?”

He lifted Xiao Bai up, who let out a happy bark. “Since you’ll be a rogue four arts cultivator, I decided a rogue beast tamer suit me best.”

He then went on to describe his persona’s fake history which was filled with drama and reminded me of his past. At least it would be easy for him to remember.

“Are you going to carry Xiao Bai everywhere? Aren’t you worried he’ll get hurt? He’s just a mundane puppy.” I narrowed my eyes at the adorable white dog. “Though he is definitely not normal.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect him and if things look bad, I can send him into the space.”

I nodded. Well, maybe it would be good for the puppy to spend some time outside.

“I’ll leave first. Wait for an hour before leaving, then meet me by the Alchemists’ Guild.”

“Yes, Sister Lin!” He grabbed my sleeve. “Before you go, shouldn’t we decide on new names?”

“Excellent idea!”

His smile was so large and bright that I had the urge to block my view of his face with my palm. Apparently, this little protagonist had a goddamn adorable halo, even in disguise.

[Image Link]

“While we’re in this part of the world, you should call yourself Verdant Spring.” Named after his hair color.

He frowned. “Isn’t that a bit too much like my original name?”

“You won’t be recognized.” If Meng Hao could become Hao Meng and not get caught, this much of a change was fine. “The hard part will be coming up with a name for me.”

“How about Fairy Linlin?”

Using the Lin from ‘continuous heavy rain’ instead of the Lin from ‘woods forest’?

“Alright. I’ll go with that.”

It wasn’t like I’d have to use that pseudonym for very long.

The smile on his face grew larger. The kid looked too happy about giving me a name. Actually, he was probably just excited about going undercover while on a foreign continent. Kids loved spy nonsense.

“Stay safe. And remember to not get into any trouble while we’re separated.”

He nodded and hugged Xiao Bai closer.

I turned to the spirit of the space. “Is it clear outside?”

He tilted his head, grinned, then nodded.

“Then it’s time for me to make an entrance!”

***

The first thing I noticed when I exited the space was that I was higher than I thought I would be. From this vantage point, I had a good view of the small city we were in that seemed to be inhabited by cultivators more than mundane humans. From the salty breeze, I could tell that we were near an ocean or sea.

Actually, the ground under my feet felt a lot like a person’s steady shoulders.

“Get off me!” a woman shrieked below me.

I grimaced.

That goddamn lying dragon! He said it was clear.

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Author’s Note: Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!

The first part of story 10 is up! Thank you so much for your patience!

Editing a story I’m currently writing is always difficult for me and why I try to get the whole story finished before I start. Sadly, I just didn’t have enough time and energy thanks to the work issues that cropped up this last month. This means I’ll have to pause writing more Tanking Hits next month because I won't be able to write it while also writing Story 10 and editing a chapter each week. My brain just doesn't work well like that since it takes me too long to mentally switch projects.

Part of why I didn’t finish (aside from the work schedule issues) is because, when I was about 13k words into Story 10 I decided that I needed to add something to it that I had not planned on. But it makes so much sense that I have to add it. This required me to come up with a bunch of extra plot points that I hadn’t planned on including and slowed down the writing process.

Also the story's pacing.

I had wanted this story to be snappy like a spy movie but, I think this will be closer to a Xianxia-style sect infiltration mission, after all.

Currently, the story is at 16.5k words and I’m only about 1/3rd of the way done with my outline (which I’m still in the middle of revising). But this is what writing is like sometimes. I could have decided to keep going with the base idea as it was (it was still fun but wasn’t as fleshed out) but instead, I decided to go for something more flavorful.

I had to mention Shake It Off in this story since that was the song I had imagined Lin singing all the time back in Story 1. She had it stuck in her head for like a month.

Again, thank you for your patience! 🥰