The Undying Immortal System

Early the next morning, I went to the Su Clan’s palace complex to meet up with TaiZu. When I arrived, the sun had yet to rise, but several well-dressed youths and palace officials were already lined up in front of the gates, waiting for them to open.

Seeing this, I had the urge to force my way inside as I had done previously, but before I could act on this impulse a middle-aged servant in dark brown robes ran up to me and bowed.

“Disciple Fang, the Grand Elder believed that you might not be aware of the proper protocols for entering the City, so he sent me to serve as your guide.”

I looked the man up and down. He was a mortal with no cultivation base, but he had been given a few pieces of inscribed jewelry. His granite bracelet held a simplistic Rank 1 alarm formation that he could use to detect if there was anyone nearby, and his necklace contained a Rank 1 muffling formation that would prevent his movements from making any noise.

I had never noticed inscribed jewelry on the servants in the training compound, but seeing it here wasn’t much of a shock. Most people in the Su Clan were earth cultivators, so the clan should have its fair share of formation specialists. The only confusing bit was that I had never seen any of the clan’s cultivators wearing such jewelry. Was there a deeper reason behind this, or was it just that no one in the clan could make any inscribed items that a cultivator would want to use?

Uncomfortable under my gaze, the servant cleared his throat.

“Disciple Fang, please follow me. We must line up in front of the left gate.”

The line on the left was nearly twice as long as the one on the right, making it the suboptimal choice, but I didn’t protest. I just followed my guide and did as I was told.

An hour later, we were still waiting for the gates to open, and my patience was at its end.

So, tired of playing by the rules, I slumped my shoulders, moved off to the side, and leaned against the complex’s outer wall. As I did this, the people around me gave me a look of pity and then quickly averted their gazes.

Wide-eyed, my guide stared at me. “Disciple Fang, you must not be disrespectful. Stand up before anyone notices.”

My original idea had been to fade from people’s view by being unobtrusive, but being ignored because I was a pariah was just as good. With only my guide looking at me, I popped a Shadowed Soul Pill into my mouth and disappeared.

The servant went slack-jawed and looked around in fright, but he didn’t shout out. He was too afraid to cause any more of a commotion.

---------------------------------------------------

After taking my leave, I ignored the gates and used a movement technique to scale a nearby wall. As a Martial Disciple without access to earth qi, this was a bit more difficult than it should have been, and I might have left a few marks behind on the stones as I passed, but no one was paying enough attention to notice.

Once atop the wall, I took out the map that ShouLi had given me and surveyed the place to try and figure out where I might find Elder TaiZu. Unfortunately, this map was somewhat incomplete.

It had an extremely detailed drawing of the western side of the complex since that was where the members of the main branch lived and several people in my clan had spent a good deal of time there. At the back of the compound, in the far northwest, there were private courtyards where the families of the Patriarch and elders resided. At first glance, I thought that this might be where I needed to go, but the map made it clear that these residences were only for their families, not for the elders themselves.

In the center of the complex were various palaces and halls, including the meeting hall, the dining hall, and the disciplinary hall.

This left the eastern side of the complex, the area reserved for the clan’s Grandmasters. This section of the map was rather bare. It only indicated that the training areas were in the south, residential areas were in the middle, and the elders’ residences were in the rear. These vague directions weren’t great, but they at least narrowed the area of my search.

So, following the tops of the walls, I headed deep into the complex. The main gate was in the middle of the southern wall, so I just needed to head to the other end while veering to my right.

The Grandmasters’ training areas were easy enough to identify since they were large open spaces where people could practice a variety of qi techniques. There were a few large buildings against the far eastern wall, and I found a group of basic residences wedged between them and the central courtyards containing the palaces.

Stealthily moving through this area was a bit of a problem. The Su Clan didn’t have a large defensive formation like most of the sects that I had visited. Instead, they relied on a series of alarm formations that had been scattered about the complex in a seemingly random pattern. If someone without the proper token entered the range of one of these formations, it would activate a series of defensive formations that would trap the intruder in place.

None of these alarm formations were anything impressive, and with energy vision, avoiding them was a simple task. However, what they lacked in quality they made up for in quantity. In several places, it was difficult to bypass one formation without triggering its neighbor.

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So, as I made my way through this array of alarm formations, I was constantly running my energy vision at full power.

When I had first entered the Su Clan’s complex, my only goal had been to locate the Grand Elder and begin my coup. However, as I moved across the tops of the walls of the Grandmasters’ enclave, something caught my eye. In the far northeast corner of the complex, there was a large courtyard that contained a wide, squat building. Most of the other buildings in the Su Clan were made from wood, but this one was made from old, weathered stone. However, what really set it apart were the dozens of complex formations that had been inscribed into its walls.

Speeding up, I raced over there to take a closer look.

When I arrived, I looked around the courtyard with interest. It had an overgrown garden, a fishpond, and a dirt fighting pit. It also contained an overabundance of large metal braziers. This courtyard was an ideal training space for anyone who cultivated any of the five basic elements.

My focus, though, was on the squat stone structure at its center.

I ran my hand along the walls of this building and closely examined the formations inscribed into it. While the building was made of simple marble, a Rank 3 material, whoever had crafted these formations had lined them with dust from something a bit more powerful. This had allowed them to inscribe the marble with Rank 4 formations. They were on the low end of Rank 4, but still, for someone from the Wastes, someone who was only a Grandmaster, carving any Rank 4 formation was impressive.

As for the purpose of these formations, I wasn’t entirely sure. It was some type of complex barrier. It had a physical component that would block anyone from entering or leaving, but it also had an energy component. The energy component, though, only stopped energy from leaving the barrier, not entering it. So, if one wanted to, they would easily be able to use a blast of qi to destroy both the building and the formation.

Shrugging, I made my way to the front entrance, but I found it blocked by a thick stone slab. To the right of this slab, there was a marble plate. As best as I could tell, this plate had originally been perfectly flat, but over the years, the image of a handprint had been worn into it through repeated use.

Aside from suggesting what I would need to do to enter the building, this handprint also revealed the secret of how this door functioned. In the middle of its palm, there was a thin metal needle.

I stared at this needle for several long seconds. It wasn’t poisoned. Instead, it was designed to draw blood.

Should I try it?

It wouldn’t kill me, I was confident enough about that, but I wasn’t sure what it would do. The needle would draw my blood and send it… elsewhere. What it would do then was beyond me.

More to the point, my goal had been to meet with TaiZu and start my coup. This building had been here for centuries. There was no reason to rush to explore it. Attempting to enter it now would only risk alerting the Patriarch of my activities.

Still… This was far more interesting than playing around with the Su Clan’s pathetic Grandmasters.

Without overthinking it, I placed my palm on the plate, but as I did, the needle flexed, unable to pierce my skin. While I hadn’t actively cultivated my body, and while I was far from immune to mortal blades, the Rank 1 Strengthening Pill that I had taken had been enough to ensure that such a thin needle, dulled from centuries of use, wouldn’t be able to harm me.

Focusing, I injected the needle with a thread of metal qi and placed my palm upon it once more.

This time, it sank into my skin and pulled out a drop of blood.

Tapping into my water affinity, I did my best to track the trace of wu in this blood as it passed into the building, but after only a moment, it was too far away for me to sense.

About ten minutes later, there was a faint rumble, and the stone slab moved to the side with a horrible grinding sound.

Taking this as an invitation, I stepped inside.

I entered a large, empty audience hall. There were a few doors along each of the walls, but the only thing in the hall itself was a worn-out stone throne. Sitting atop this throne was a skinny old man who looked to be nearing the end of his natural life.

Scanning him in qi vision, I found that he was a Peak Grandmaster with a cultivation base that was comparable to nearly anyone in the Nine Rivers Sect.

Seeing this, I smiled and walked forward with a casual gait.

When I was only a few steps away, I cupped my fists in a martial salute and bowed my head. “Greetings, senior.”

The old man’s expression soured at my nonchalant behavior. “I am Su HongYi, ancestor of the Su Clan.”

Su HongYi… I had never met the man before, but during my last life in the Wastes, Su HongYi’s death had been the catalyst that led to the death of the Patriarch, the ascension of YuanFeng, and the exile of YuanFei.

I had planned to use TaiZu to assist me in the initial stages of my coup, but maybe there was a better option. While I didn’t know anything about this Su HongYi, he was by far the most skilled member of the Su Clan that I had ever met.

I smiled at him. “Nice to meet you. I’m Su Fang, the other

HongYi’s sour expression turned thunderous, but before he could speak, I pulled out TaiZu’s memory orb and held it out to him.

“This might help you better understand the situation you are in.”

HongYi didn’t move, so I tossed the orb to him. When he didn’t reach out to grab it, I raised my hand and sent a wave of qi to suspend it in the air. As a mere Martial Disciple 5, I couldn’t keep that up for long, but I didn’t need to. After staring at the orb for several moments, HongYi reached out and picked it up.

Completely forgetting about his animosity from only moments early, HongYi studied the orb intently.

“The formations in this object are incredible. What do they do?”

“They interface with your mind and soul. Don’t worry, they won’t harm you, this is a simple information storage device.”

The old man spun the orb around in his hand. “Interesting. How does it work?”

“There are two indentations. Just send your qi into the larger one.”

“I see.” With one last look, he set the orb down on the armrest of his throne and then looked back to face me. “Why did you wish to depose my son?”

HongYi’s anger had abated, but his tone was still sharp.

How much should I say? There were plenty of reasons that TaiZong needed to go, but in truth, those had little to do with my reasons for wanting him gone.

Stroking my chin in thought, I looked at HongYi and nodded.

“You are a Peak Grandmaster, so I’m sure you know plenty about the Ruler Tier. What do you know about what is needed to ascend to Martial Sovereign? What do you know about the Bloodline Tier?”

A wolfish smile appeared on HongYi’s face. “Only its name. However, from your presence here, and from what I know of the Ruler Tier, I can make a few guesses. You intend to usurp my son’s position and become the new Patriarch to chase after the dream of ascension?”

I laughed and shook my head. “No…. No. I have no desire to become the new Patriarch. I know a young woman who is much more suited for such a role. No, like you, I am an ancestor, and I plan to become an Ancestor.”

I gestured to the orb that was sitting next to him. “So, what do you say? Want to join me?”

HongYi tapped his fingers in thought. After only a moment, he reached out with a strand of qi.

After absorbing all of TaiZu’s memories he nodded at me. “Yes, I think I will.”

I clapped my hands together enthusiastically. “Excellent.”

Then, I waved, and a dozen Peak Grandmasters appeared out of nowhere. “Let’s begin.”