I slowly tossed out a spiritual palm, aiming it at Little Spring’s shoulder. With unfocused eyes, he slashed forward. A small blade of Sword Qi flew towards the ethereal hand and... completely missed.

It then hit the poor tree near the wall creating a small mark on its thick bark.

This kid.

I stopped my attack inches from his green robes and crossed my arms. “You’re not concentrating.”

He winced. "I... should spend more time cultivating.”

This diligent brat probably thought he was cultivating too slowly recently. The kid reached the 8th layer so quickly that he was spoiled. Probably thought that if he couldn’t increase his cultivation every few weeks then he'd failed.

I walked up to him while passing the beautiful flowers and bushes that some poor outer sect disciple had to take care of once or twice a month.

“Listen. You can’t just build up your Qi! While you’re young, you need to train both body and mind so you can use your Qi effectively. Especially during a fight.” I sighed. This was something I had already had to repeat after witnessing him miss for the third time today.

He had been having a hard time focusing. Considering that, the Junior Sect Leader's team escorted us to the Indomitable Will Sect, stuck us in an honored visitor’s courtyard, then left us here like goddamn prisoners, he might have become frustrated.

I couldn’t blame him since it had been two fucking weeks.

Okay. The higher-ups did have more important things to deal with than two lowly Qi Condensation cultivators like us. Things like healing the Sect Leader. And figuring out what happened in Three Kings Forest. And punishing that asshole, Glittering Iron Omniscience (the Sect Leader’s nephew).

At least Unyielding Firestorm (the Junior Sect Leader) visited us a while back and told us the Sect leader had recovered completely just like he had in my past life.

Little Spring scowled up at me. “I have been training my mind.”

I gently pushed on his glabella. “Learning new things and doing your homework will help but that's not what I mean.”

He scowled, “Then what?”

Before I could start a lecture on how it could eventually lead to splitting one’s focus into parts to help with things like making multiple Qi arrows or reading several jade slips at once, the Junior Sect Leader sent a secret sound transmission. “Little Fairy Lin! Sect Leader Peerless Resolve would like to see you both...”

Fucking finally!

“Make sure to clean up your yard too as you won’t be coming back here.”

***

It took us about ten minutes to clean everything up… which was mostly us running around everywhere and throwing all of the things we’d left out into our storage bags and my spatial ring. Unfortunately, Little Spring’s space still wasn’t available to us since it needed time to upgrade.

But eventually, I threw open the yard’s main doors with Little Spring sweating nervously beside me.

Unyielding Firestorm smiled at us. With his sharp jawline he was looking a lot like a superhero… only in classic cloud patterned robes.

Objectively, with a guy like this around to turn the jade beauties’ heads, it was no wonder the author killed him off before the original story even started.

Since in this timeline I hadn’t officially joined the sect yet or taken a master — and since we were out in public — we bowed formally. Both Little Spring and I chorused, “This junior greets Senior Unyielding Firestorm.”

He smiled at me like I was actually the adorable almost ten-year-old that I looked like. “Good. Little Fairy Lin and fellow Daoist Little Spring. You’ve been requested at Indomitable Peak.”

Shit. I hated Indomitable Peak.

It was where the Sect Leaders always lived… And where all of the paperwork and meetings occurred that kept this continent’s number one sect working smoothly. I had many terrifying experiences there... The worst ones were being glared at by the Sect Leader back before we became friends… while I helped him with a mountain of paperwork… yeah.

I didn’t become a cultivator because I wanted to spend my days pushing paperwork, doing math, and arguing with people. Especially not when the paperwork was in Ancient Chinese with all the goddamn weird-ass phrasing, spelling, and grammar. Just thinking about it, and the arguments about standardization I had with everyone gave me a headache. If I had to hear, ‘but we’ve always done it this way,’ one more goddamn time I would strangle someone… again.

“We’re ready,” I said.

Unyielding handed us each a jade pendant to indicate that we were guests and allowed to be there. He pulled out a tiny leaf-shaped immortal boat and expanded it just large enough that we three could stand comfortably on top of it. And we were on our way.

As we climbed up Little Spring clutched my sleeve.

“Relax. I’m here. What could possibly go wrong?”

His brow crease deepened.

Hey. I… may not have the best track record but I was still once at the top of the world. I knew how these assholes thought. It would be fine.

Whatever. I decided to think of something else aside from this upcoming meeting. My mind couldn’t help but wander over something that had been on my mind recently… my upcoming tribulation.

Considering how It called to me with the power of a Golden Core tribulation, I’d be in trouble if I didn’t start preparing something big.

Because of course, of fucking course, this dumb harem Xianxia I’d transmigrated into had tribulations at every large step. And they were all fucking hard to transcend.

Bloodsword’s fifth wife even died during her tribulation when she was attempting to reach the Immortal Bone Creation realm… Well, the dick nugget managed to bring her back from the dead. I’m sure the readers would have been pissed and dropped it entirely if he had killed her off considering…

Nope. Wasn’t going there. That was information I had long since purposefully threw to the back of my mind and promised to never think about again.

Wasn’t my problem.

Fortunately, the chances I’d meet that poisonous bitch in the future were slim.

What was important was that these tribulations were so dangerous that not even the minor plot armor the protagonist’s wives received worked against it 100 percent of the time…

Because of my Immortal Ascension Stage soul, I’d need to go against a version that was way overpowered.

This meant that I’d be spending more time at the peak of Qi Condensation than I had originally anticipated. Frustrating, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t used to being patient when it came to cultivation.

Considering that I’d still be in my mundane seaside village right now, my progress was pretty good.

We passed through a massive cloud. As the fog cleared nearly the entire sect became visible in the daylight.

I looked down at Little Spring. His eyes grew wide with awe.

Yeah. My sect — my home — was impressive as fuck.

It was essentially a truly massive range of mountain peaks curled into the shape of a spiral. To put it in a mundane perspective, the smallest mountain was around the width of Mount Everest from my original world.

Of course, each mountain was different. Some were short and wide. Others were tall and foreboding. Some had formations set up so the eye would just slide right off them without the cultivator noticing at all. Many had lovely buildings with hip-and-gable roofs perched on the side of the mountain, visible even from this distance…

From when I had last seen it, 1000 years in the future, it looked very different. Well, at this time, the sect was about a quarter of the size it would eventually become, so that made sense.

I had a lot of very good memories of this place. Some were not so good.

Like fighting in a losing battle only to be saved by the asshole I hated.

Watching my friends die one by one.

Staying young while everyone around me aged and died.

Frankly, I hadn’t thought about them for years… And this rebirth was a chance to save them.

As long as I could get into the sect. Which, I would after this meeting!

I would fucking save the shit out of this place. Just see if I didn’t. Muahahaha!

***

We passed the first peak with its overgrown trees and crumbling buildings. From this distance, the mountain felt completely devoid of life.

As usual, my eyes lingered on it.

“You seem interested in Righteous Defense Peak,” Unyielding said.

I smirked. “Of course I am. Because it was the place where Immortal Zhenren lived before he ascended.”

With a surprised look, he nodded. “No one has been allowed to reside there since he ascended.”

That was something I was intimately familiar with… no matter how much I complained and attempted to bully the Sect Leader he never gave it to me.

“Actually, before it was Immortal Zhenren’s peak, it was a curious remnant of a time before the sect used defensive formations.”

“How so?” Little Spring asked.

“Since it’s the closest peak to the main gates, those who lived there protected the sect. They were all strong cultivators who focused on learning defensive techniques and battle formations.”

Little Spring looked up at the Junior Sect Leader with curiosity. I already knew all that but it was new information to the kid, at least.

Unyielding grinned at us, used his spiritual energy to create a shield around us, then pulled out the speed. This smug little junior sect leader must have increased his cultivation by a small realm and learned a new traveling spell for immortal boats.

The other mountain peaks flew by in a blur.

Damn it. If I were in my old realm, it would feel like a slow walking speed instead of being on a damn rocket ship.

Far too quickly, I felt a jolt as we touched down onto the beautiful paving stones of Indomitable Peak.

The Junior Sect Leader put the boat away and stormed right into the elegant lotus-themed meeting chamber, us following right behind him. He only stopped when we stood in front of a platform where a massive seat was prepared for the Sect Leader. To either side of the room stood several Sect Elders as well as three of the Peak Masters.

I immediately recognized the beautiful Fairy Verdant Bamboo, my master in my last life. She dressed in flowing robes that had hints of armor here and there. A green bamboo cane rested against her hip, looking mundane. I knew from experience that it was her spiritual weapon, the Ancient Bamboo Sword.

Then there was Three Eyes Sun Blade, the old leader of Majestic Sword Peak. He had an almost entirely grey head of hair and a long majestic beard that he stroked whenever he considered the Dao.

Finally, there was Gracious Blue Luan, Master of the Beast Tamer’s Peak. A woman who appeared middle-aged with wrinkles around her eyes and a sour expression tattooed to her face.

She took over the position after her husband and his disciples all died fighting in small conflicts against the demonic cultivators. If I remembered correctly, didn’t this insidious bitch end up betraying the sect around one or two hundred years in the future?

Fuck. Maybe?

There were too many incidents that happened to this place within a millennium for me to keep track of every little thing.

But I’d have to remember as much as I could.

Of course, who knew if things would happen the same way in the future. Even 10 years would change too many events that the course of the world could develop in an entirely different direction. Who the fuck knew if things would be the same in even as little as ten years. But that was the risk I took after traveling back to the past. Every little move I made had the chance to change the future I remembered.

Either in a positive direction or a negative one.

And there would be no way to know for sure until after it happened.

This didn’t mean that it was pointless to make the attempt! It just meant that I needed information… about everything. Well, everything that was currently happening in the world.

This timeline would never be the same. So, I’d just have to adapt.

At least I assumed it wouldn’t. There was no telling how much of the plot was predestined. Or how much karma and fate would force things back on track.

The Sect Leader entered the room, his black robes flowing behind him as he literally flew into his seat. He sat down like a boss and seemed to ignore everyone around him. Then he looked at us. For a mere second, his eyes softened when they reached Unyielding... then turned to me as if weighing my worth.

I respectfully looked up at my friend from my past life. Instead of a head full of white hair, it was now black with a hint of grey at the temples.

Instead of the small smile I was used to, he seemed to try and cultivate an expressionless mask. Frankly, he just looked like he had facial paralysis…

My friend looked so incredibly young!

“Greetings Master! I’ve brought the little cultivators who saved my life and helped to collect the spiritual plants for your antidote.”

I bowed, “This one greets Indomitable Will’s Sect Leader.”

Little Spring, a step behind me, followed my lead.

“So, you’re the unofficial disciples of my Martial Uncle?”

“That’s right.” I nodded with confidence, needing everyone to believe my lie.

“Then, why hasn’t he informed me of your existence?”

Well, shit.