The Undying Immortal System Chapter 263: Life 74, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

When I awoke in my tiny house, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. The pain of burning alive had vanished. In a couple of hours, once the mories of my past life faded into the background, the agony I had experienced would be nothing more than a distant dream.

To speed this process up, I focused on my newly acquired fire seed.

Hot Springs Fire, Yellow-Rank, Elents: Water/Fire, Consus: Energy, Produces: Water/Heat

Seeing that the fire was only Yellow-Rank, I almost wanted to laugh. Supercharged by an abundance of tal essence, this fire had seed closer to Earth-Rank. Still, I wouldn’t complain. Yellow-Rank was fine. I just needed it to be able to supply my storage space with an endless stream of water.

Speaking of my storage space, since I had a mont of downti, I decided to check how things were going in there.

ShouLi stood on a small rock outcropping, surrounded by the other mbers of the leadership council. The elder who had replaced GuiMing had not been allowed to join us, so GuiMing had resud his original position until a replacent could be appointed.

While everyone appeared somber, Liang showed signs of irritation.

“When is the Ancestor going to contact us? I am extrely grateful to him for saving my father, but he didn’t give us a chance to tell him about the problems with this place. If things don’t change soon, people are going to start rioting.”

ShouLi dropped her head. “I’m sure he has his reasons. We just have to endure. We have enough food for a few more days, and we can survive without housing. Just… Do your best. I’m sure he will contact us when he has ti.”

Suddenly, ShouLi vanished, and everyone was left looking around in confusion.

I stood up and moved to the corner of my tiny house. This place was barely large enough for one person, so bringing a second one in would be a bit of a squeeze, but we could manage.

With an effort of will, I pulled ShouLi out of my storage space.

When she first appeared, her eyes widened in shock, but only an instant later, she sat down and began cultivating as fast as she could.

It wasn’t until nearly half an hour later that she finally opened her eyes and looked at .

“Ancestor!?”

ShouLi’s face was a mask of horror and confusion. My cultivation base having disappeared was one thing, she had a fra of reference to understand that. However, the fact that I had sohow beco decades younger, and the fact I now looked like nothing more than a malnourished street urchin, likely didn’t comport with her understanding of reality.

I just smiled wryly at her. “Yes, it’s . Don’t worry about my current appearance. Things are a bit more complicated than I let on earlier, and I would prefer keeping a few things hidden for the mont.”

ShouLi bit her lower lip and nodded at .

“I heard a bit of what the council was talking about. What’s the problem with the… world orb?”

This question brought her back to reality, and she focused on with a serious expression.

“Aside from the place just feeling… wrong… The biggest problem is that we can’t use our qi in there.”

I nodded. “I know. I’m working on it. Once I regain a bit of power, I can look at setting up small areas of enhanced qi where people can cultivate.”

It would cost a few spirit stones, but I could construct sothing like a Qi Gathering Formation that was fueled by spirit stones instead of ambient energy. I had done sothing similar in the past with the Rank 3 Cultivation Hall on Mount Jiang. It was expensive, but it would let solve the imdiate problem until I could implent a longer-term solution.

ShouLi shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. It’s not just a lack of qi. It’s that our qi, even the qi that’s inside our bodies, it doesn’t… it doesn't work right. It doesn’t do what we want it to do. It acts erratically. Mo tried using his qi to build a stone house and it just… didn’t work. After placing a few blocks, he lost control of his energy, and everything… exploded.”

My forehead creased when I heard this. All my formations had always worked properly, so I didn’t know what the issue would be. I couldn’t exactly go in and check it out myself, after all.

“I’ll look into it. For now, what do you need to make the place more habitable?”

ShouLi dropped her head. “If you can just supply us with a few crates of fresh food, that would go a long way to showing everyone that you haven’t forgotten about us. Other than that, if we can’t use our qi… then we need tools. We will need to build and farm like mortals. So people might not be happy, but a few of the outsiders we brought with us know what to do. They just need the tools to do it.”

I nodded. “Anything else?”

She closed her eyes. “Do we have to keep living in there?”

“If possible. If it’s possible, then yes. In a few days, a month at most, I will start letting people out, but, if possible, I want a large group to stay in there and work on making it a decent place to live. I can’t explain everything yet, but just know, that world… It’s the clan’s future.”

ShouLi nodded. “I understand. I’ll do my best.”

With a wave of my hand, ShouLi disappeared.

I had done my best to ensure the loyalty of the people I had brought with , and recent events should have been enough to convince them of the need to keep the clan’s secrets, but loyalties fail and mories fade. Besides, even if everyone remained stalwart, there were still ways of extracting information from people without their consent, such as slave techniques and soul gu.

I needed a final line of protection.

“System, how much would it cost to purchase an oath stone and formation capable of allowing the mbers of my clan to swear Oaths to the Heavenly Dao? I would want it so that a person had so kind of warning if they were in danger of breaking their Oath, and if they did so, I want them to be struck by lightning and killed, no matter where on this continent the infraction occurs.”

Cost 2 quadrillion credits.

I nodded grimly. “How much for just the oath stone?”

Cost 500 billion credits.

While I could buy the stone, it would burn through all my credits, and I wouldn’t have much to show for it.

In the Eight Flower Kingdom, everyone was forced to swear an Oath upon becoming a Lord, but one would only be punished for breaking that Oath if they were within range of the kingdom’s Bagua Formation. I might be able to buy sothing like that, or even just steal Eight Flower’s, but it wouldn’t help much. If soone ran away and started spreading news of our clan, any Oath they swore wouldn’t have much of an effect.

I needed a way to administer Oaths like the one Zhuge Yan had sworn, one that would be effective anywhere.

If purchasing such a formation from the System wasn’t possible, I only had one idea of who I could turn to for help. It was dangerous, but at this point, everything was dangerous.

“System, send to a secluded spot near the Pavilion in Blue Wind City.”

Purchase Confird. Cost 10,098 credits. 539,755,430,799 credits remaining.

I appeared in an alleyway surrounded by two towering skyscrapers. Stepping out onto the street, I was greeted by the sight of a massive, 80-story tall pagoda that sat upon an impressive 30-ter-thick foundation of pure ziethanite.

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Without pausing to take in the sights around , I walked confidently up to the base of the pagoda and began climbing the stairs.

Halfway up, my lungs started burning from the exertion. I hadn’t taken a Nutrition Pill in this life, so I was still suffering from malnutrition, and my body was little more than skin and bones. Seeing this, the nurous patrons entering and exiting the Pavilion gave strange looks, but no one spoke up to cause a scene. Even the most arrogant young master would hesitate before speaking out of turn at the headquarters of the Blue Wind Pavilion.

Ignoring my surroundings, I pushed on, and after a herculean effort, I made it to the top of the stairs.

The two n standing guard there narrowed their eyes at , but they did nothing to stop from passing through the large, open double doors and entering the Pavilion.

Like every other Pavilion I had visited, the first floor of the Blue Wind Pavilion’s headquarters was a giant, open atrium with dozens of counters that sold everything a person might need. The only thing that set the headquarters apart was the sheer size of the place. It was several tis larger than normal, and the ceiling was at least five full floors up, giving the place a cavernous feel to it.

Because of the sheer number of shoppers, instead of having attendants approach everyone as they entered, a desk had been set up near the entrance where one could go to request assistance.

As I approached, the young woman behind this counter gave a cold, imperious look. With her stiff, upright posture and a slight sneer on her lips, she made the Pavilion’s blue and silver qipao look like the robes of a monarch. Her golden hair ornants seed almost to be a crown.

When I stood before her, she didn’t ask if I needed help, she simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

I gave her a soft smile. “Hello, I need to speak with Li GuiYang.”

I reached out and placed a small coin on the counter between us.

The mont this coin touched the counter, a bright purple light burst forth from the image of a plum blossom that had been engraved into it.

Seeing this, the attendant’s eyes widened in horror, and she bowed deeply. “Of course, emissary, at once.”

She turned to leave, but before she could take even a single step, a black portal appeared, and an elderly man in a dark blue robe stepped out of it.

Emperor Li gave a considering look and then motioned toward the portal.

I gave him a slight bow of my head and stepped through. Coming here had already put in his clutches. Walking into an unknown portal wouldn’t make things any more dangerous than they already were.

On the other side, I stepped out into a tidy, spartan office. Emperor Li took his seat behind the desk and gestured for to sit across from him.

Once seated, he gave a stony look. “There are only a few possible ways that you could possibly possess my token, and I am not exactly thrilled with any of them. Explain.”

Wordlessly, I pulled out his mory orb, placed it on the desk, and rolled it over to him.

Emperor Li narrowed his eyes this, and a faint snarl crossed his lips, but he held himself in check.

After staring at the orb for several seconds, he picked it up and absorbed the mories.

When the transfer was complete, a flash of emotion overtook him, but he quickly composed himself and looked at with his regular, granite expression.

“Alright, why have you co here? I assu you want sothing from .”

I nodded. “I need a way to apply Oaths. I know that Zhuge Yan has sworn an Oath to keep certain information private. When he broke that Oath, he was imdiately struck down by lightning. I need a way to make that happen. I need to be able to make people swear Oaths of secrecy so that they cannot reveal certain information even if they are forced to do so.”

Emperor Li looked at silently for nearly an entire minute before speaking.

“Each of the Sovereign clans has a formation that can do what you want. They were made by a Formation Spirit on the Central Continent hundreds of years ago. They are irreplaceable, and while they are only effective on this continent, they are vital for our operations here.”

I smirked faintly. “So, your Li clan has one. Do you care that it cannot be replaced?”

Emperor Li narrowed his eyes. “Not entirely. As you already know, I only have 20 years left before I wither away to dust, and I don’t mind punishing the Li Clan a bit before I leave. However, how many resources have I provided you? How many of them have you repaid? Ultimately, yes, I hope that you will assist in ascending to immortality, and that would be a gift far beyond anything I could ever give you, but I have my pride. I do not enjoy being treated as a money jar. How many lives have you lived since I gave you that orb? How many tis have you allowed to regain my mories?”

I ducked my head apologetically. “Three or four lives, and this is the first ti you have reabsorbed them. I had assud that if you wanted the mories, then you would co and get them. That’s what your blessing is for, is it not? I did not seek you out, no, but you did not seek out either. As for repaynt, let's put this issue to the side. I consider the help that you have given to be beyond asure. Once I am capable of helping you ascend, I am sure that you will feel the sa way. Instead, let us talk about how we will work together.”

The ntion of his blessing caused a spike of rage to well up in Emperor Li, but he cald himself and nodded.

“I need the Oath formation. I hope you can get that for . Also… I wonder if you know where I might find a technique for cultivating wind, dark, or light essence. In return, I will give you the notes of a Master Alchemist.”

When I took a small book containing RuLan’s notes on beast alchemy out of my storage space, Emperor Li stared at it, and his brow furrowed in confusion.

“That... What... Ye…” He bit his tongue to keep from saying more. Then he looked at with sharp eyes. “What is that? Why is it so valuable?”

I smiled as I thought of sothing. “Also, you might be aware that I have not been a particularly good disciple to you over the years. I was wondering if you would be interested in taking a true disciple?”

Inside my storage space, one mont, RuLan was having a private conversation with Mo. The next, she was gone.

RuLan suddenly appeared in Emperor Li’s office and looked around in panic.

When she spotted , her eyes widened in horror at the state of my body. “Patri… An… Ancestor?”

I waved her to silence. “RuLan, would you be interested in taking a Martial Sovereign as your master?”

She turned and stared wide-eyed at Emperor Li.

In the end, I left the Pavilion with an oath stone and a formation plate. While this formation had unexpected limitations, it would still let accomplish my goals.

RuLan left the Pavilion with an agreent to et her new master in the next loop and a mory orb for Emperor Li that contained the details of this agreent.

The only sha was that I no longer had Emperor Li’s token, it had been handed over to RuLan.

As for the wind essence cultivation technique, that was a secret of the Li Clan. It was locked away in the Li Clan’s vaults and only blood mbers of the clan were allowed to access it. Emperor Li was unable to give it to . Likewise, the light and dark techniques were secrets of the Zhuge Clan.

Zhuge YeDu had tried to entrap and enslave when I went to the Nine River’s Summit. Zhuge HanYu had just led an army to eradicate my clan. While both of these gestures had ultimately been futile, they had built up a debt that needed to be repaid, and handing over these techniques would be a good way for them to do that.

However, this was sothing for the future. Neither I nor my clan was ready for that yet. For the mont, we needed to focus on growing stronger.

With that in mind, I took a few hours to wander around Blue Wind City and purchase a variety of mundane supplies for the people living in my storage space, including hamrs, hoes, and watering cans.

Then, I found a secluded spot in one of the city’s gardens and sat down in the shade of a tall cypress tree.

My status as Emperor Li’s disciple would quickly be known by the various powers of this world, and that would cause nothing but trouble. So, before I could move forward, I needed to return to the beginning.

I pulled out a poison pill and swallowed it.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Disciple 1 – 10 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 539,755,430,809

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Affinities

Peak Four-Star – Earth, tal, Lightning

Peak Five-Star – Wood, Fire, Water, Wind, Light, Dark

Peak Seven-Star – Karmic Energy

Low Six-Star – Space

Resistances

ntal Effects (Cultivation Techniques) – 25,000,000 credits

ntal Library

Capacity – Rank 6

Journal (with ntal Input) – Rank 6

Perfect Transcription – Rank 6

Touch Reading – Rank 6

Scribe – Rank 3

Comprehension Boosts

Cultivation:

Cultivation Techniques – 100 billion credits

Soul Techniques – 100 billion credits

Qi Control – 100 million credits

Teaching – 100 million credits

Professions:

Alchemy – 1 billion credits

Formations – 100 billion credits

Herbalism – 10 billion credits

Refining – 10 billion credits

Martial – 1 billion credits

Social:

Reading Emotions (True) – 25,000,000 credits

Skills

Mastery of Cold Mountain Fire, Expanding Realms Fire

Talisman Artistry – Rank 4 (Continent-Wide Expert)

Soul Formation Concealnt – Rank 6

Enhanced Soul Growth – 20,000 credits

Pill, Formation, Herb, Talisman, Demon Beast, Refined Item, Illusion, and Gu Appraisal – Rank 3 (Comprehensive, Detailed)

Technique Appraisal – Rank 3 (Earth)

Fire Seed Appraisal – Profound

Language (Western Han)

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End of Volu 1.