The sword cultivator narrowed his eyes and turned to look at the kid.

The little main character let go of my robes, straightened his back, and stared up at the muscular man with clear and steady eyes. He stood tall for a child and showed no fear. But, maybe a little anger.

I resisted the urge to pat his head and tell him, ‘good job.’

The man sheathed his sword and let out a single short sigh. Then he turned and walked to an elaborate tent.

I guessed this guy was the silent type.

“We have visitors,” he succinctly called.

Some shuffling noises came from inside and the Junior Sect Leader exited. He frowned when he saw us.

I smiled so large that I was pretty sure my eyes turned into little crescents. “I told you that I had my ways. Even if you run a thousand li, I’ll find you.”

Okay, taken out of context, I sounded like a crazy ex-girlfriend... Whatever.

He sighed deeply and rubbed his temples. Poor guy looked exhausted.

“Fine. Since you’re here already, we’ll make sure you stay protected.” He then peered over my head and narrowed his eyes. I guessed that he noticed the isolation barrier I’d wrecked.

“Can you fix that and then set up your own tents? Or do you want to bed with the girls and have Little Spring stay with me?”

I frowned. Was there really a point in separating little eight and nine-year-olds by gender? That seemed a bit overprotective. But, it wasn’t like I was a good caretaker for children, so what would I know? Most of the time it was Little Spring helping me out since living like a mortal again had been far too strange.

I glanced down at my junior brother but he grabbed my sleeve. “I’m staying with my martial sister.”

I looked helplessly at Unyielding Firestorm and said, “We’ll set up our tent and fix the array.” I bowed. “Thank you for letting us stay and help. You won’t regret it.”

He frowned, looked like he was about to say something, but sighed instead while waving us off. Looking done, he went back into his tent.

Little Spring took out our pre-set-up tent from his storage bag and began affixing it to the ground, while I moved several of the flags to a better location and then reactivated the formation.

With an array as bad as Third Peach Sapling put up, it was no wonder she died so easily.

With my improvements, we wouldn’t have to worry about some irritating spiritual beast finding our campsite and murdering us in our sleep... As long as it didn't get very lucky or have an obscenely high realm.

***

While the stars still glittered in the early morning sky a loud voice echoed, startling me awake. With a brief glance, I realized that Little Spring wasn’t in his spot. He must have woken up already and gone out... or he was in his space since I’d set up the obfuscation formation around us before we went to bed.

Bleary-eyed and wobbling, I wrapped a robe around my shoulders, stepped into my shoes, and shuffled my way outside. I may have tripped a bit as I walked to where the noise originated.

Fairy Blissful Jujube’s voice blasted out from the Junior Sect Leader’s tent. “You know what. It’s late. I’m done arguing with you about this!”

I wasn’t the only one who showed up. The nephew — also bleary-eyed — and the sword cultivator both walked over, obviously about to complain.

“We’re not done discussing this!” The Junior Sect Leader’s voice called.

Jujube stormed out, her long sleeves floating behind her, Unyielding hot on her heels. When they saw the crowd gathered in front of the tent, the two froze.

They shared an awkward look as they likely sent secret sound transmissions to each other.

There was no doubt how bad this looked. Like Jujube had really snuck in for a late-night rendezvous of the intimate kind, that ended with an argument instead.

But I doubted that was the case. She would have been quieter if she’d been planning that. There was also Unyeilding’s desire for upholding some semblance of propriety.

No, this had to do with something else. Something I was missing.

But this did seem to tell me that their relationship wasn’t as good as I’d thought.

Strong sword Qi suddenly emanated from the direction of the Junior Sect Leader’s tent. Then the structure loudly collapsed into a pile of wood, silk, and bedding.

I jumped aside, expecting more attacks. Was this someone trying to kill the Junior sect leader?

I rushed to the back to find Little Spring, holding a sword, his face pale.

“What happened?” Did a monster actually pass through my formation? One that this kid fended off with such strength that he accidentally hit the tent?

Then Little Spring’s cheeks turned bright red. “I was practicing and made a mistake.”

I opened my mouth several times.

Wait, don't tell me. I turned to find that everyone had followed. And they were staring right at us...

The Junior Sect Leader looked like he was about to fall asleep where he stood and had no time for this. Fairy Jujube bit her lip as if she wanted to laugh. The sword cultivator had the normal expressionless look on his face. And Glittering Iron Omniscience curled his upper lip like a judgmental neighbor about to yell at some kids for being too loud.

I closed my eyes and ran a hand down my face. It was too fucking early for this shit.

Little Spring bowed at a ninety-degree angle. “I apologize to the Junior Sect Leader!”

Fuck. The protagonist's poorly timed destruction trait had reared up again.

I bowed to Unyielding and echoed the apology while also adding, “We’ll make you a new tent in the future. But in the meantime, I can try to fix this one.”

He waved his hand. “It’s fine. I have a spare. Let’s all go back to sleep for a couple of hours and we’ll talk more when we wake.” He turned to the sword cultivator. “I’ll squeeze in with you in the meantime.”

The quiet man nodded and they quickly set about collecting his things.

Since I wouldn't lecture Little Spring in front of others if I could help it, I waited for them to leave. And this was a good opportunity, I watched them.

This also served a second purpose, which was to make the kid squirm while he nervously anticipated whatever punishment I’d give.

I noticed Glittering Iron pulling Fairy Jujube aside. He no longer had that arrogant look on his face but seemed genuinely concerned. “Are you alright?” He asked using a soft voice.

She briefly smiled at him. “We just had a tiny little argument. Nothing to worry everyone over.”

He nodded. “If you ever need anything—”

“I know. Thank you, Senior Brother!”

Jujube yawned her way back to the tent she shared with Fairy Third (who apparently slept like the dead), and Glittering Iron made his way back to his own.

Unyielding Firestorm and the sword cultivator disappeared into a blue tent.

Satisfied that everyone was gone I crossed my arms and raised a brow at my junior brother.

He had the most adorably uncomfortable and chastised expression on his face. I was not going to let that stop me from doling out a lecture.

After crossing my arms to appear stern, I said, “What were you doing out here?”

“Practicing?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to get stronger.”

“And what did I tell you about that?”

“That it takes time and effort and can’t be done overnight.”

At least, it shouldn’t be done overnight. I’d witnessed Bloodsword do shit like that plenty of times, but it wasn’t healthy. And it didn’t lead to a stable base. That instability had him constantly running around on adventures just to find treasures to fix it.

I nodded. "Rest is also an important part of getting stronger. Don’t look down on it!” This was by far the most helpful, yet least heeded, advice.

“Yes, Fairy Lin!”

***

When we officially woke up in the morning, they hadn’t left without us. Which was nice, because it would have been irritating to chase after them again.

Instead, they patiently waited for us to put our things away. Which, frankly, was just me waving my hand over the tent to throw everything into my ring.

Still, they watched us as if we were suspicious people, which was kinda fair considering what happened a few hours ago. And also, because the cultivation world was filled with sick individuals. One couldn’t even be unwary of children as there were child-looking cultivators that could crush a bitch... And even some demonic cultivators who could do depraved things to someone against their will.

Seriously, fuck the original author.

I sighed then remembered where I was. Right. Since I still hadn’t officially taken Immortal Zhenren as my master I had to act as a junior to these kids. Ugh.

I bowed and Little Spring did the same, then surprisingly the little guy stepped in front of me. “Greetings seniors! I’m Little Spring, and this is my Older Sister, Fairy Lin. We’re here to help in whatever way we can. Though we might not be able to help much.”

I blinked. Was this kid still trying to hide how awesome I was? I mean, it was an impossible task because my amazingness exuded from every pore of my body, but I’d let him try it if he wanted to.

“Both of you already know that I’m Unyielding Firestorm,” the Junior Sect Leader said then gestured to the sword cultivator. “You already met, Sword Disciple, Justice Reaching Divine Blade.”

Oh! That was his name.

Justice stiffly nodded to us.

Then the nephew stepped close, using his adult height to loom above us. His dark green eyes focused on Little Spring then turned to me. The bird on his shoulder bobbed its head as if it wanted to peck my eyes out. But that could just be my bias. At this point, I was used to spirit beasts hating me. Fortunately, the fowl creature was tamed enough to not randomly attack people.

This nephew eyed us both as if we were ants. Or incompetent.

“I’m the sect leader’s nephew, Diviner Glimmering Iron Omniscience. You two better not get in our way. If you do, you’ll regret it.”

Damn, Sect Leader, you never told me your relative was such an asshole.

The shithead then took out a large turtle shell, flicked his sleeve, and stormed off, I assumed, to do some divination or whatever.

Maybe he was just super stressed over his uncle’s condition but not a total prick? Considering how kind he was to Jujube last night, and how much the Sect Leader had loved his nephew, I’d give him a shot.

“Ignore him!” Fairy Blissful Jujube flitted over to us. “You two are so adorable! Are you actual siblings or do you just share the same master?”

I mean, did we fucking look related?

“We share the same master, but she’s my only family,” Little Spring said while looking both very proud and a little sad.

Aww. He was too cute. And the more I hung out with this kid the more it baffled me. Seriously, how the fuck did this cutie become that sociopathic dumbass?! Maybe, if I retraced some of his past life’s steps I’d figure it out.

“You’re so handsome. When you grow up, I’m sure all the girls in the sect will adore you.”

He glared at her with skepticism. She tittered, covering her mouth. She must have been only 17 or 18 during this time period. “Anyway, I’m Blissful Jujube, a Four Arts Cultivator. But you can call me, ’older sister’ if you like.”

Holy shit. Who the fuck knew that Blissful Jujube was such a fucking bubbly person in her teens. No one fucking said anything. Wait. They may have mentioned that she used to be a happy person before, but wasn’t this a little too happy?

Little Spring did not look impressed. Still, he said as if having his teeth pulled, “Older Sister Blissful Jujube.”

She nodded happily. Thank fuck she was giving all her attention to the kid because I might throw up if I had to call her that. It was bad enough that I had to call her sister-in-law in my last life.

“Oh! Right. This is my friend. Fairy Third Peach Sapling. She’s a very talented formation array apprentice.” She waved Fairy Third over.

The girl cautiously came closer, like a deer crossing a meadow. Her eyes glittered when they landed on JuJube, then she blushed and nervously bit her lip. She then unenthusiastically focused on us.

This was the girl who was unhealthily obsessed with Blissful? I didn't see it. At most, she seemed to have a little crush. But I wasn't always a good judge of these things. I might also be missing something.

Little Spring and I both bowed again and he still took the initiative, “Greetings Fairy Third Peach Sapling.”

“Greetings fellow Daoists,” she replied softly. “If you excuse me, I need to take down my array.” She then stealthily tugged at Jujube’s sleeve before leaving.

::Fairy Lin,:: Little Spring sent me a telepathic message. ::I don’t like most of these people. Let’s hide your abilities for now.::

Yeah, I’d already figured out that we were doing that, but since he was asking, I’d play along. ::Sure. Though it may be a little late for my formation skills.::

::It’s fine. I’ve covered for you!::

I wasn’t sure how a kid could cover for me, but he was a main character so, maybe he had something in mind.

“Alright, everyone! Glittering Iron has divined the location of the spiritual plant. He said that will be the best one for us to pick up first, so we’re going to head there now. Since we now have two children with us who need defending, we’re going to switch up our formation. These two will be in the center between Jujube and Fairy Third Peach Sapling. Any questions?”

I could take care of myself but, since we decided to not bring attention to myself, I did not comment. Neither did anyone else.

“From this point onward, there is a natural flying ban in the forest so we’ll have to go on foot. Let’s run, but make sure no one is left behind.”

I’d been training our bodies daily, and slowly activating both of our special constitutions. I didn’t fear that we wouldn’t be able to keep up despite being a realm under these guys.

Soon we all ran like the wind through the vast forest. We passed by beautiful tree-covered hills and little valleys filled with spiritual bamboo. As we neared them, several small beasts bolted into the dense underbrush.

A few spiritual birds flew through the air, unhampered by the ban, due to the natural nature of their flight. I just hoped they wouldn't shit on my new robes. That... happened to me more than I would willingly admit.

While running Little Spring and I moved in perfect sync. The others tended to always be either a little ahead or a little behind. I figured that it was because we both used the same special movement technique, so... Wait a second.

After thinking about it, wasn’t running in sync like this a little weird even if we had the same technique? I mean, we weren’t in a marching band or something. Well, if it helped us stick together, then whatever.