When Immortal Ascension Fails Time Travel to Try Again-Story 11 - How to Save a Sect in Six Simple Steps (14)

I used my spiritual energy to change the power output of the carving tool so it produced a very small and thin blade. Then I carefully made tiny slices, essentially grinding the rough edges of the node’s broken-off section to make it easier to line things up. I saved the dust and shards of each stone type in separate jade bowls.

Next, I switched to the interior crack.

The damn carving tool couldn’t be used remotely, so I had to kneel over the crack while I made careful cuts. My spiritual energy held the bowl just underneath each slice so no dust could escape. As I neared the lower layers, I ended up looking like a damn ostrich with my ass in the air and my head in the ground. But what was dignity to surviving? Could you eat it?

Being up close like this allowed me to make a detailed mental picture of how the pieces would fit. This was important because these materials expanded at higher temperatures. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Now, if I had the time, access to a spiritual stone grinder, and Little Spring’s lake water, I might have been able to create a paste of each stone type and put it together that way. Within days, it would be dry enough to work. But we fucking didn’t have the time. We were already being invaded by saboteurs before the main force even arrived.

Elder Vengeful Siren let out a relieved breath when I finished my final grinding on the interior of the crack.

I held out my hand. “Give me the Deep-State Deepslate.”

He handed me the bag of stones like he was my nurse, and this crack was our urgent patient who just arrived in the operating room. After weighing the stones I’d need to perfectly fill in the area, I slowly set the rocks at the bottom along with the powder and a hint of a kind of special dust that worked like flux for spiritual stone.

”Elder Golden Pride.”

She stepped forward and flicked her strange flame into the hole. I used my divine sense to sense how close the stone was to melting. I made a gesture for her to increase the heat as I brought the broken section toward the flame so its bottom would also become hot and malleable. If I left it at the normal temperature, it would shatter when I attempted to combine the two.

The gravel we added at the bottom turned lava red and melted into what was there first.

”Pull!”

She brought the beautiful, strange flame out, and I shoved the chunk of node back into place, filling a good portion of the crack.

Using normal heat on these materials would just cause them to melt and lose their spiritual properties. The reason the strange flame was important was because it would allow the stones to melt and become malleable without destroying their important properties. In fact, a strange flame, used properly, could enhance the materials, which was my goal here.

The materials quickly cooled, and I used my spiritual energy to keep the broken-off section in the perfect spot as the heat slowly dissipated.

If we let it cool completely before working on the next part, then the stone would shrink too much. It might also crack more. We had to complete everything fast to prevent it from ruining the more delicate materials. The last thing I wanted was for this shit to shatter like a hot glass pipe dropping into ice water.

After careful calculation, I used my spiritual energy to place the red stone in a careful pattern on top of the nearly molten spiritual rock. Because this was a part of a symbol, it wasn’t as simple as dumping a whole layer of stone and blasting it with heat. I had to carefully match up the red parts on one side with the red on the other, then fill the rest with the Golden Defensive Steel Powder and Everlasting Obsidian. Because I didn’t have my normal tools, I had to line everything up perfectly while being aware of how they would melt. If we melted this properly, it would naturally create the proper node symbol.

The whole process reminded me a little of creating a billet of Damascus steel, just without all the hammering. While I could compensate for the natural expansion and retraction of the material as it was repetitively heated and cooled, it was still a difficult way to do things when needing it to create an exact pattern. Frankly, only a genius like me, who was also accomplished at formations and spiritual tool smithing, could do something like this. Compared to the inheritance spaces I’d created before I decided to ascend and the well-defended caches of treasures I created in my paranoia, this was simple. Though it certainly wasn’t easy.

When I was finished setting up this layer, which appeared higher than what it should be to the untrained mind, I backed up. “Alright, Elder, flame on! Medium heat.” ℝＡΝǒ𐌱ËＳ

With a hand gesture, the strange flame entered the crack and began turning the new materials bright red. I had her keep the fire on them until they turned yellow and had bound together.

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I checked it with my divine sense and gestured for her to pull her flames up.

Elder Vengeful Siren swallowed as he looked at the fragment of the node that was definitely not level with the rest of the ground. “It’s off!”

I frowned. “Good. It’s supposed to look like that. Once everything is cooled, it will shrink and become flat.”

”Are you sure?”

I scowled. “I am the most knowledgeable spiritual tool smith on this continent. Count on me to know how these materials react to the heat and pressure of a strange flame.” Frankly, no one could do this if it were with mundane stone and fire.

He looked at me skeptically and pointed to the top of the broken-off section that appeared warped and cracked now. ”Then what about this line here?”

”That’s supposed to be like that. Look! We shouldn’t argue when, right at this moment, there could be more enemies infiltrating the sect.”

Vengeful Siren scowled. ”If this formation doesn’t work after this, I’ll kill you for lying to me.”

”If this doesn’t work, you won’t have to. We’ll all have a time limit because the sect will have no defenses when those orthodox sects overrun us. Now focus. I need the Diamond Granate next.”

He handed it to me.

With two controlled flicks, I placed the next layer on top of the last one. This one was the hardest and would protect the more malleable red stone that held the most important part of the node.

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I took a few steps back. “Fire in the hole! Hot as it can go!”

Elder Golden Pride nodded, and her strange flame that I was seriously coveting rushed into the crack and burned so hot I could feel it boil off all the moisture from my face. I had to quickly use a heat shielding technique to prevent it from scorching my damn eyebrows off.

Hah. I should have moved farther away. That little fire of hers had more kick than I realized.

I focused my divine sense on the stone. When I sensed that it had melted perfectly, I yelled. “Stop!”

When the flame jumped back into her hands, the crack glowed yellow.

”Good work. We’re on the last layer.”

I noticed a large blast of gold from the corner of my eye that distracted me. Little Spring had used his Golden Tempest. He would only use that in an emergency.

I expanded my divine sense. A Golden Core cultivator wearing the sect’s uniform had stormed up here. He was trying to reach us, but Little Spring stepped in front of him, obviously bluffing that he’d use a second special attack. The older man used his cultivation base to pressure the kid. I could feel it even from out here. The small protagonist refused to let him pass and locked his knees.

Shit. Was this another saboteur from the Leashed Claws Sect? What the hell was going on?

Fuck. I didn’t have time for this. “Elder Vengeful Siren, your part here is done. Please take care of whatever is happening over there. We can’t have any interruptions for the next few minutes.

He nodded and vanished from his spot. Since I trusted him to take care of someone so far below him, I clasped my hands behind my back and looked at Elder Golden Pride. “For this material, you need to slowly ramp up the heat until you see it turn bright yellow.”

With a flick of my wrist, I sent the gravel to settle on top of the glowing crack. Before this, the area had appeared almost level, but with this new stone added, the crack would bulge out even farther than the fragment, making it look like a tripping hazard.

I included more of the special flux to help the melting and recombining process, then turned to Golden Pride. “It’s time.”

She nodded and had her strange flame flow on top of the last material as if it were liquid instead of fire.

If it were less hot, I was sure sweat would drip from my forehead instead of getting burned off. I focused all my attention on getting the timing just right. ”Stop!”

She pulled her flame back to reveal the glowing surface.

I sighed. As I predicted. For now. When dealing with natural materials, there was always a chance things wouldn’t work out, and we’d have to fix them some other way.

Golden Pride frowned down at the area. ”Now what?”

”We wait for it to cool slowly.”

”That’s it?”

I nodded.

“Then will it still bulge out like that? This really doesn’t look good. Also, what about those?”

She pointed to the various cracks along the node caused by the expansion of the heated area we were working on. The elder bit her lip nervously.

“It should be fine… as long as nothing comes along to—”

The cultivator Little Spring had blocked and ran into the area, flicking his sleeve behind him. He was tall, wore high-quality robes, and had reptile pupils. There were also familiar white scales around his eyes.

I pulled out several puppets and activated my new armor. To protect the node, I Impossible Leaped myself between this lizard guy and the repair job. No one was allowed to fuck up my work without hurting first.

Elder Golden Pride stepped between me and him. Since she was a Nascent Soul, she had the upper hand.

The man leaned to the left to lock eyes with me. Then he pointed at my nose. “This bitch does not belong on this peak! I want her off it right now.”

Wait a minute. I recognized that son-doting bastard. That was the guy who sent lizard beasts after me for revenge! What was his name again? Fake Dragon’s White Pee? No. That wasn’t it.

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I split my mind in two and crossed my arms. One part focused on the changes to the cooling, bulging fix, while the other concentrated on this conversation. ”Right now, I’m a temporary elder. I can go where I want. Especially when I am in the middle of saving this sect… again.”

I turned to Vengeful Siren who had just returned. ::Why did you let him through? He could have been an infiltrator with the orthodox faction.::

The fin-eared man winced. ::It’s a long story. But I owe Brother Flood Dragon’s White Scale a karmic debt for going out of his way to save my life in a secret realm when we were much younger. Besides, he swore that he wouldn’t attack anyone up here. Even if you don’t like him, he’s still a trustworthy and loyal member of this sect.::

Damn it, I thought I could count on this guy!

Whatever. Even I knew not to question someone’s karmic debt in this fucked universe.

Little Spring ran over and stood next to Golden Pride, between me and the enraged beast tamer.

Now that I was looking at the fucker up close, I noticed his resemblance to that lion guy I benevolently taught a lesson to. They had the same arrogant stare.

”Elder Flood Dragon’s White Scale, I’ll leave once Senior Vengeful Siren begins the formation. Once it starts, it won’t stop until the sect runs out of spirit stones.” I sent a message to the Nascent Soul. ::We still need to wait another two to three incense sticks' worth of time before it’s cooled off enough to work.::

::Can we cool it down faster using ice techniques?::

::Sure... if you want all our hard work to go to waste. I already calculated the perfect places for everything and compensated for the expansion and natural contraction of the heated material. Let it cool naturally or we’re fucked.::

::We’ll do that. You should just go for now. I’ll handle this fellow elder.::

I scoffed. ::You think I want to stay here the whole time? No. I have to make sure it cools perfectly as it goes. If it doesn’t, then we’ll need Elder Golden Pride to warm it up for us and I’ll have to have you use your spiritual energy to adjust the pieces. This is a delicate process. This assh—elder is putting the sect in jeopardy by pressuring the area with his cultivation base.::

Vengeful Siren’s eyes hardened. “Brother Flood Dragon’s White Scale. I know I owe you, but if you’re kicking out my helper, then I need to ask if you’ve betrayed the sect?”

He took a step back. ”What? You dare imply that I’m a spy?! Me?” He pointed at me. “If anyone is a spy here, it’s her.”

Holy shit! He was the first person besides Noxious to figure it out. “Would a spy have saved this sect, not once, but twice?”

He spluttered for a second. “How could a brat like you save our great sect?”

”Actually, more than two times if I count stopping the infiltrators from completely shattering our defensive formation’s life gate just now.”

Elder Siren gestured to me. “You remember Temporary Elder Linlin. She worked with Senior Noxious Fangstrike to create the bath that cured our Beast Blood Contract Bath’s side effects.”

White Pee... er Scale narrowed his eyes at me.

I grinned. “I also worked with Dread Lotus to get rid of the Scroll of 10,000 Evil Souls. Without us, it would have decimated the disciples who fought with the demonic sect during that sneak attack two years ago.”

He sniffed derisively. “I never heard about that.”

“I was there,” Little Spring added helpfully. “Without Thunder and Lotus’ soul-purifying ballad, ten thousand evil souls would have stormed the sect in the middle of the fight and devoured everyone. It would have been a slaughter.”

”That’s an exaggeration!” White Scale said. “The sect elders could have taken care of it easily. Especially if only a handful of Foundation Establishment realm idiots did it.”

This motherfucker! He had no idea how much effort, intelligence, and luck we had to have had in order to overcome that situation.

I quickly glanced at the cooling patch. The color had returned to normal, but cracks began to spread from the area we’d fixed as the material began to contract.

I turned back to the dumbass elder. “Hah! If you elders could have taken care of that weapon before we did, then why did the sect keep the evil thing instead of destroying it when they had the chance?”

He crossed his arms and looked down his nose at me. ”Obviously, it was so we could deploy it in a time of great need. For instance, it would be perfect for our defense in the upcoming war with those orthodox bastards. Since you and your band destroyed it, we can’t use it as a weapon against them.”

I had the urge to slice up the idiot. “If a scroll that evil were used, it would be like telling every orthodox group in the area that this sect was working with the demonic cult, even though it’s not.” That was the one thing the leadership here wanted to avoid. Unfortunately, some people were just fools, only thinking about getting stronger at all costs. Even if that meant paying for it with their humanity and reputation.

I crossed my arms to show that I was done with this conversation. “What’s the real reason you charged over here, Elder?” Because forcing me to leave in the middle of repairing a vital component of our defenses was too foolish. There had to be an explanation.