The Undying Immortal System

The cultivation technique that YuanKong had given me was, as he had said, Mid-Profound. However, when compared to even just the other Mid-Profound techniques in my mental library, it seemed rather lackluster.

It was a basic technique for cultivating metal qi that was supposed to increase the ‘sharpness’ of one’s energy. This might be a decent choice for a soldier since it would improve the lethality of their techniques, and Metal Peak Trial in the Nine Rivers Sect did involve a lot of cutting, but even then, I would much rather just use a technique that improved my qi’s overall power.

After flipping through the technique a few times, I set it aside.

The only reason to use it would be to demonstrate my obedience, but I doubted that anyone would even notice such a display. How many people in the Su Clan would know how this cultivation technique was supposed to affect a person’s qi flows? How many would be capable of even detecting such things?

So, instead of worrying about using my cultivation base as a demonstration for people who wouldn’t be able to appreciate it, I turned my attention to my mental library and looked for a technique that was actually worth a damn.

What did I need in this life? An essence cultivation technique might be nice, but if my dreams of empire worked out, we would likely end up being attacked by countless forces from across the continent.

I needed strength.

The triple element technique I had tried had been nice. Not only did they give me access to more elements, but I was also able to combine these elements to increase my overall power. This gave me certain advantages that I didn’t want to abandon, but I also wanted to try something different.

The essence techniques were Earth-Rank because they allowed a person to cultivate essence. The three-element techniques were Earth-Rank because they involved three elements. These were simple enough concepts to grasp. However, I had to believe that to whatever ‘Dao’ was in charge of grading techniques, all Peak Earth-Rank techniques were roughly equal. Some might be ‘more powerful’ than others, but whatever they lacked in raw power had to be made up for in other areas.

As I came to this decision, I wondered if cultivating a pure metal technique might even give me additional insights into what ‘metal’ was. From early on, it was clear to me that ideas like ‘metal,’ ‘wood,’ ‘water,’ and ‘earth’ were more complex than what basic chemistry might suggest, but even after a millennium on this world, certain things about the elemental system it contained still didn’t make sense.

In the past, I hadn’t cared too much about diving into the specifics of exactly what elements were or why certain things were classified as they were, but now, things had changed. By better understanding these distinctions, I could better understand how to grow and improve my inner world.

Making my decision, I refocused on my library and sorted through the various techniques available to me.

For the next few days, I didn’t worry about cultivating. At the end of the month, the clan’s ‘elites’ would only be Martial Disciple 2, so if I rushed my cultivation too early, I would stand out more than I wanted to.

Instead, I began carefully leafing through each of the single-element metal qi techniques in my library, even the Low-Yellow ones. I wanted to understand as much about ‘metal’ as possible.

Not long into this process, I stopped focusing on metal and started pulling out earth and fire cultivation techniques as well. What were the differences between them and the metal techniques? Besides just the filters, what sets the techniques for different elements apart?

After reviewing dozens of Low-, Mid-, High-, and even Peak-Yellow techniques, the answer I came up with was simple. Nothing. There were no substantial differences between the Yellow-Ranked techniques of the different elements.

However, when I started looking into the Low-Profound techniques, things changed. I started seeing effects like increased ‘sharpness’ of qi in metal techniques and increased ‘temperature’ of qi in fire techniques. With Low-Profound techniques, the difference was subtle, but it clearly existed.

My study of Yellow and Low-Profound techniques lasted an entire week, but at that point, I ended my seclusion and dressed in the fancy clothing of a young master that one of the maids had left out for me.

There was something I needed to take care of.

With my newfound status as the grandson of the Su Clan’s Patriarch, none of the guards tried to stop me as I departed YuanKong’s courtyard and made my way to the residential area of the normal disciples.

When I entered, I saw that everyone had already gathered around the training field, and the instructor was giving them his initial lecture.

As I walked over, the bastard gave me a menacing glare, but he didn’t stop his speech.

Soon enough, it was time for everyone’s first lesson. The instructor pointed to a scrawny young man, and when the boy didn’t step forward fast enough, the instructor used his qi to force the boy into the middle of the field.

As usual, this ended with the young man lying broken on the ground.

At this point, I stepped forward.

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The instructor growled at me. “What do you think you’re doing?”

I smiled at him. “This young man showed a bit of promise. I’m taking him to be my servant. That isn’t a problem… is it?”

I laced these last two words with menace, but as I was only a mundane mortal, they lacked any force behind them.

The instructor’s face contorted in rage, but he gave me a false smile and bowed his head. “Of course not, young master.”

As I started walking forward, I realized I had made one slight miscalculation. Without a cultivation base, and with the weakened body I had at the start of each life, how was I going to lift the boy?

Halfway there, I reached into my storage space and pulled out both a Nutrition Pill and a Rank 1 Strengthening Pill. To hide this from the instructor, I made both pills appear directly in my mouth.

When I did this, the energies that poured into my body made me want to scream in agony, but I had experienced enough pain in my lives that I was able to maintain a stone-faced expression.

Upon reaching the boy, I had yet to fully absorb the medicinal effects of the pills, but I had absorbed enough.

I reached down, grabbed his robe, and hoisted him over my shoulder.

However, I didn’t leave immediately. Instead, I placed the boy to the side of the training field, popped a weakened Healing Pill into his mouth so he wouldn’t die immediately, and leaned against one of the houses as I watched the training session.

Enraged by my behavior, halfway through the lesson, the instructor made his move on another one of the Disciples.

When the young girl was lying broken on the ground, before he could finish her off, I stepped forward.

“I could also use a new maid.”

The instructor’s nostrils flared, but he held his tongue.

When the lesson was finally over, I grabbed my two new charges and returned to YuanKong’s courtyard.

As soon as I arrived, I gave them both full-powered Healing Pills and sent them into my inner world. While I was willing to save their lives, I had little interest in spending the time needed to teach them personally.

Another week quickly passed, and I was slightly surprised that no one had commented on the two missing Disciples. The elders had to know that I had taken two people away, and they had to know that they were no longer in this house. So… what were they thinking? In any case, I wasn’t too concerned. I would do what I needed to do, and as long as the elders left me alone, I wouldn’t cause them any trouble–not immediately, at least.

By the end of this second week, I had only been able to complete my study of techniques up to the level of Mid-Profound, but I decided to go ahead and begin cultivating since if I didn’t, the Su Clan’s elders might start wondering if I lacked the talent to do so.

The technique I chose was called the Writ of Honed Metal. As I hadn’t yet reached the point of studying Peak-Earth techniques, this choice was somewhat random. I just picked one that sounded good with the plan of swapping it out for a different technique later.

As I began cultivating it, though, I noticed something interesting. The previous Peak-Earth techniques I had practiced used a total of 361 acupoints. This one only used 243. Why?

I made a note of this discrepancy in my journal for when I continued my study of more advanced techniques.

After quickly breaking through, I went and found YuanKong’s butler.

As I approached, he cupped his hands to me in a martial salute and bowed his head. “Master Fang, how may I assist you today?”

“I have advanced to Martial Disciple 2. Please inform my father that I am ready to begin my martial training.”

The next day, I was taken to a training field where YuanKong was already supervising the training of another young man.

A quick check showed that the boy was a Martial Disciple 2 with a rather ragged cultivation base. He was standing in front of a wooden post and repeatedly striking it with his fists.

YuanKong was smiling and nodded. “Good. But you need to concentrate your qi more. Do not worry about your speed or defense right now. Power. Focus your mind on making each punch as powerful as possible.”

I watched as the boy tried to follow YuanKong’s instructions, but the results were… disappointing. Given enough time, he might be able to achieve some level of proficiency, but bulling ahead like this would take forever.

While the Su Clan didn’t have jade slips to teach people like I did, they could at least mimic the Yellow Orchid Academy. There, it wasn’t power that people focused on first, it was defense. After taking an endless series of pummelings, cultivators would begin instinctively channeling their qi to protect themselves. Once this was accomplished, figuring out how to use it for speed and power would come naturally.

After about 15 minutes of this exercise, the boy stepped away from the wooden post. He was sweating heavily, and his breathing was labored, but when he saw me, he still had enough energy to give me a fierce glare.

“Master, since your other disciple has finally arrived, after weeks of hiding away, is it not time for us to begin sparring?”

YuanKong pursed his lips and turned to look at me.

He was supposed to be my ‘father,’ so he should have been enraged that anyone would dare to disrespect me like this, but looking at him, I could see that he had yet to fully commit to this idea.

YuanKong nodded.

“Yes, that might be for the best.” He looked at me. “Fang, before we begin, you need to understand the rules of sparring matches. While you are my dearest son, I must not give special treatment. As your elder, when the two of you fight, I must not interfere. Once you feel that you cannot go any further, announce your defeat, and that will end the match.”

I cupped my fists to the man. “Of course, father.”

The boy and I moved to a dirt fighting pit where I saluted and bowed to him. He just snorted at me and charged forward.

One step away from me, he pulled back his fist and swung it at me with all the force he could muster.

Without even trying, I slapped aside his punch. Then, I kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground. After being enhanced by a Rank 1 Strengthening Pill, a Disciple who couldn’t even control his qi was no threat at all.

The boy gritted his teeth and glared at me. Then, he looked at YuanKong.

“Master, my blessing is focused on swordsmanship. I request permission to use my sword.”

YuanKong narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Very well. A wooden one. Fang, you may choose a weapon as well.”

Smiling, I headed over to the rack where 18 different wooden weapons were waiting for us. Before I could arrive, the boy snatched the only sword and gave me a contemptuous smirk.

In return, I picked up the crescent moon spade.

YuanKong cleared his throat. “Fang, that isn’t a proper weapon. Choose another one.”

I bowed my head to him. “Father, my blessing for governance… Governing as a city lord involves fighting, so my blessing includes such information. However, the only weapon it has taught me to use is the crescent moon spade.”

Without waiting for a reply, I returned to the training field.

This time, my opponent charged at me instantly. As he approached, the blade of his wooden sword was covered in a soft blue glow.

I didn’t know what this glow might portend, but I knew I needed to avoid it.

As the boy swung at me, I did a quick side-step and slapped the back of his hand with the shovel end of my staff. Then, I raised the crescent moon and pressed it against his neck.

I smiled at him. “Thank you for letting me win.”

YuanKong cleared his throat and gave the boy the most pompous glare I had ever seen. “JieRong, you must learn to be more respectful. Fang is both my son and the grandson of the Patriarch. He is not someone you can challenge so easily.”

Then, he looked at me with a saccharine-sweet smile. “Young Fang, I am overjoyed to see how well you are developing.”