The Undying Immortal System

With TaiZu’s departure, I was left alone in the arena’s courtyard, so I entered a state of meditation and began flipping through a few cultivation techniques to pass the time.

After what seemed like only moments, I heard the sound of footsteps in the distance, so I returned my mind to the outside world.

To my left, a young man was led into the courtyard. When he saw me sitting alone on the platform, he froze, and a bit of anger crept onto his face. Was this just his normal reaction to seeing another one of the elites, or did he recognize me?

In the few brief moments that he stood there and stared at me, I took the opportunity to appraise his cultivation base. He was a Martial Disciple 2, and his qi purity was decent. The permanent filter that had been locked into the open acupoint on his upper right arm was well-made, so most of his impurities should have come from when he was first learning to cultivate. If he continued on like this, he wouldn’t have any trouble advancing to Martial Master in the future.

After appraising his cultivation technique, I took a moment to consider his appearance. He was wearing a bright blue robe with white embroidery. It was nice, but it was far from luxurious. It was barely comparable to the robes that I had been provided with when I was first acknowledged as YuanKong’s son, and it was a far cry from the ostentatious red and gold garments that I had been given after showing off my martial prowess. They were the robes of an elite, but they were not the robes of a noble.

As I was considering this, the young man walked onto the platform and sat down in the seat farthest to my left, the position of the tenth-ranked elite.

I nodded to him and then returned to looking straight ahead. He was an earth cultivator and earth qi was swirling around him. So, even without looking at him, it was easy for me to track his movements.

After fighting an internal battle, the young man turned to me, gave me a slight bow of his head to break the silence between us.

“Greetings. I am Su Bo.”

“I am Su Fang.”

Then, I returned to facing straight ahead.

My dismissive attitude caused a range of emotions in the young man. He wanted to be mad at me for treating him so dismissively, but he was also afraid and nervous. Whether these latter emotions came from me being seated in the position of the second-ranked elite disciple or from my position as the patriarch's grandson, I couldn’t tell.

However, the conflict within the boy lasted only a moment.

He clenched his fists and looked at me with a polite smile. A glint of icy resolve was hidden deep within his eyes.

“Su Fang… Young Master Fang, it is… nice to meet you.” He glanced around the courtyard. “You should know that Young Master ShouDu is planning to target you. You are the only Disciple who hasn’t attended one of his training sessions, so he wants to use this competition as an excuse to put you in your place.”

I turned and nodded at the boy. “Thank you. I appreciate you telling me.”

Then, I turned away and allowed Su Bo to fade from my focus. I didn’t believe that he had told me this information out of kindness. He likely hadn’t had any success in cozying up to ShouDu, so he was now trying to hug my leg instead. I wasn’t enamored by the situation, but he seemed like a decent enough young man. Maybe he could be taught.

The statement about ShouDu’s training sessions was interesting. I had only been given martial arts training from YuanKong, and the only other person present during them had been YuanKong’s disciple. Why hadn’t I been told about ShouDu’s training? Were the elders hiding it from me to keep me isolated? Maybe, but that didn’t seem entirely correct.

If ShouDu had organized the training himself, the elders shouldn’t have been involved. It was likely YuanKong’s disciple who had been responsible to tell me about it, and I could just imagine him ‘forgetting’ to inform me and then going back to ShouDu and talking about how much I had insulted him. Of course, another possibility was that this was all arranged by ShouDu in the first place and that he was trying to use me as a stepping stone.

Either way, the situation was a bit interesting, but it wasn’t important. I didn’t need to play these kids' games.

My thoughts were once again interrupted by a pair of footsteps as a servant guided another young man into the arena. This time, it was a familiar face, YuanKong’s disciple. The evil snarl he gave me as he walked to his seat suggested that my idea of him attempting to sabotage my position in the clan might not be too far-fetched.

Once he was seated in the position of the ninth-ranked disciple, others began to slowly trickle in, and the seats from eight to three quickly filled. Each new person gave me looks ranging from interest to disdain, but none of them spoke to me, and I didn’t speak to any of them.

When Su ShouDu entered, he greeted each of the elites.

After greeting the third-ranked disciple with a brotherly hug, ShouDu skipped right over me and took his seat with a devilish grin on his face. I wanted to laugh at his antics, but this wasn’t the place.

The elites who knew each other chatted a bit, but as soon as the elders arrived, they closed their mouths and did their best to act like proper young men and women.

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The clan’s Eighth Elder took his place on the arena’s stage, and the other five Grandmasters took up positions on the balcony. I noticed each of them glance at me, but I was too far away to hear their muttered conversations, and all I could sense of their emotions from this distance was a slightly elevated level of anticipation.

Only a few minutes after everyone was in place, the normal Disciples arrived.

The Eighth Elder gave his customary speech and asked if anyone wanted to issue a challenge. When no one did, he turned to their combat instructor who nominated someone directly.

“Su An. Step forward.”

As a skinny, short young woman with dirty hair and ragged clothing walked onto the stage, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her.

The elder looked down at her and spoke with gravity. “Who do you wish to challenge?”

The girl looked like she wanted to run, but she tentatively pointed a finger at the lowest-ranked female elite.

The female elite looked kind and unassuming, but I had seen a vicious look in her eyes when she first arrived.

She nodded politely to the elder and stepped on stage.

The fight was over faster than I had thought possible.

The elite simply stepped forward and backhanded the girl in the sternum, breaking all her ribs and sending her to the ground in a heap.

She wasn’t dead, though.

The elite looked up at the Grandmasters on the balcony, and one of the men standing next to YuanFei nodded, signaling the girl’s death.

As the elite began walking over, the girl on the ground tried to scramble away, but with her broken bones, she could barely move.

In a panic, her eyes darted around the arena as she searched for some hope of salvation. When she saw me, her eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly.

She quickly glanced at the elite who was slowly approaching. Then, she looked back at me.

“Young… Young Master Fang.” Her lungs were filling with blood, and her voice was barely audible. “Please… save me.”

I let out a soft sigh. I had attended each of the normal Disciples’ training sessions, and I had ensured that no one died. Clearly, they had taken notice of this.

I cleared my throat loudly and looked at the ‘elite.’ “Can you please end this fight here? I would like to take this girl as my maid.”

The elite just snorted at me and continued her approach.

“Are you certain that you do not wish to give me any face? The battle between the elites comes next, and… it could get messy.”

She turned and laughed at me derisively. “What face do you have, peasant?”

I raised an eyebrow and turned toward my ‘father,’ but he didn’t react.

Finally, the elite reached her victim and slammed a foot into her chest.

As she did so, I released a strand of soul energy to protect the girl’s heart. To all outside appearances, the girl, Su An, was dead, but with my soul power in place, she would be able to survive for a few more hours.

In truth, I hadn’t wanted to do this. I had studied these soul techniques, but I had never put them into practice. I didn’t know how effective they would be, and I couldn’t help but worry about something going wrong. However, if there was any place where it would be safe to practice soul techniques, it would be here in the Wastes.

The elite turned and bowed to the elder in charge. “Apologies, I didn’t expect my opponent to pass away so suddenly. I didn’t expect her to be so weak.”

The elder smiled down at her.

“Understandable, child. The death of a trainee is unfortunate, but it happens.” He placed a hand on her shoulder to impress upon her the importance of his words. “Know this. If it had been your opponent with unstoppable strength, no one would have intervened to stop her. You would be dead, she would take your place among the elites, and none of the Grandmasters or elders here would have raised a single word of protest.”

Then, the elder turned to the platform with the other elites. “The same holds true for all of you. If anyone is defeated in this arena, no one will say a single word. Even if you die, that is your fate. Fists have no eyes.”

I smiled coldly at this little speech, knowing how little truth it held.

The elder turned back to the crowd of normal Disciples. “Does anyone else wish to challenge for a position as an elite?”

The only response he received was a group of Disciples frozen in terror.

“This is disappointing. I had hoped that we would have at least one person capable of climbing above their station this year.” He shook his head in disdain and then turned to the elites. “Does anyone wish to challenge for a higher ranking?”

Before anyone could respond, I stepped onto the stage.

The elder nodded to me. “Young Master Fang, do you wish to issue a challenge?”

I simply walked forward, hoisted the young girl’s ‘corpse’ onto my shoulder, and returned to my seat.

The elder cleared his throat. “I… see. Well then, do we—”

I climbed back onto the stage.

“I wish to issue a challenge.” I pointed to the female elite who had just fought. “I challenge her.”

The elder winced. “Young Master Fang, typically, you would only challenge those ranked above you.”

I didn’t respond. I only stared at the vicious monster that was wearing the skin of a girl.

The elder sighed. “Very well, CuiLiang, please step forward.”

The elite, CuiLiang snarled at me as she took her position.

The elder began another hypocritical speech about how fighting was dangerous, but I ignored him. I was just waiting for a single word.

“Begin!”

I rushed forward, formed my hand into a knife, covered it in metal qi, and stabbed at the girl’s chest.

My body was being bolstered by a combination of qi from my cultivation base and wu from a Strengthening Pill. The ‘elite’ didn’t even have time to react before my hand stabbed straight through her heart.

When she collapsed to the ground, dead, a thunderous shout echoed from the balcony.

“How dare you kill my disciple!?”

I turned to the Eighth Elder, cupped my fists in a martial salute, and gave a short bow.

“Apologies, elder. I did not expect my opponent to be so weak.” I let out a sigh. “Her death is unfortunate, but as you said, fists have no eyes.”

Putting on a somber expression, I returned to my seat.

Up on the balcony, YuanFei and YuanKong were struggling to restrain the girl’s former master.

As I sat down, ShouDu let out a soft chuckle. “You’ve certainly angered Grandmaster NiuLong. Was it worth it? Who was that girl? Your little peasant whore? Really, cousin, you need to have better standards. You’re supposed to be representing the main branch now.”

With one of the elites having died, the competition quickly wrapped up, and I returned to YuanKong’s house with the body of Su An in tow.

As soon as I was safely locked away in my room, I stuffed a few pills in the girl’s mouth. Once I was convinced that she was no longer at risk of dying, I retracted my soul power and sent her into my inner world.

At that exact moment, the unconscious body of a young girl appeared at the feet of ShouLi who was playing with a small demon cat.

ShouLi let out a yelp of surprise and then looked up at the sky. “Ancestor… what are you—”

A sheet of paper appeared in front of her.

Are you familiar with someone named Su ShouDu?

ShouLi stared at this name without speaking. With each moment that passed, rage built up inside her.

Finally, she spoke. Her words were quiet, but they were filled with deadly intent.

“Kill him. Kill him now.”