The Undying Immortal System

Chapter 461 – Life 119, Age 26, Martial Master Peak

YuLong’s group returned only a few days after Kan’s. Both groups had spent the last four years in a grinding war against the Li Clan, but it was hard to tell just by looking at them. Dressed in the refined, formation-enhanced robes of JiuLi’s crafters, they were even more polished and composed than when they had left.

Once everyone was back, we shared a brief meal to mark the reunion. Then, all thirty of us headed to Whistling Arrow City to register for the upcoming Heavenly Ascension Tournament.

With so many sects off fighting in the war, the Bureau was noticeably less crowded than usual. The clerks, however, were as busy as ever, drafting missions and adjusting prices to ensure a constant flow of supplies to the front lines.

Upon entering, Kan led our group to the desk for Eight-Star Sects and stepped forward to address the clerk.

“Greetings,” he said, inclining his head. “We, the Amorphous Blade Sect, are here to register for the Heavenly Ascension Tournament. We seek to earn our promotion to a Seven-Star Sect.”

The clerk looked us over, face expressionless, and let out a resigned sigh. “Very well, sir.”

Then, he rummaged through his drawers, pulled out a small stack of paperwork, placed a truth stone at the front of his desk, and gestured to Kan. “Procedures for promotions have been altered during wartime. We must start by checking your eligibility. Name?”

Kan smiled and nodded. “Suliang Kan, Sect Master of the Amorphous Blade Sect.”

“Since your advancement to an Eight-Star Sect, has any member of your sect received the assistance of anyone with a cultivation base of Martial Grandmaster or above?”

Kan paused, then nodded. “Yes.”

The clerk closed his eyes for a moment, then reached down and pulled out a new stack of papers. “Very well. Describe the encounter.”

“The first,” said Kan, with a slight grimace, “was near Iron Lotus City.”

Kan proceeded to list a total of twenty-one encounters that his group had while fighting off the invasion. The clerk dutifully wrote down each one, then asked a series of follow-up questions to ensure that everything fell within the Bureau’s regulations.

Once Kan was done, the clerk gestured to YuLong, who provided an equally exhaustive list of encounters.

Thankfully, JiuLi, Meng LuYao, and I had remained in the sect, so our interactions with Grandmasters were limited. However, every member of both Kan’s and YuLong’s group had to repeat what their leaders had already said, making the interrogation session stretch on for hours.

When it was finally done, the clerk stamped several pages with his jade seal, gathered them up, then guided us to a waiting room on the third floor. “An elder will be with you shortly.”

Before we could ask a single question, the clerk fed our paperwork through a slot in a nearby door, then fled down the stairs, glad to be rid of us.

Half an hour later, the door opened, and a familiar figure appeared—the elder who had guided us to the portal for the Shattered Blades Realm. “Sect leaders only.”

We crossed the threshold into a neat, orderly office where everything had its place. The desk was spotless, and the shelves precisely aligned. The tea set that rested on a low table looked like it had never even been touched.

The elder took his place behind his desk and regarded us over steepled fingers. “You may register for the Heavenly Ascension Tournament if you wish. However, due to the ongoing invasion from the Nine Rivers Domain, the rewards for this year’s tournament are limited to basic cultivation resources. Victory will not earn your sect a promotion.”

The elder lowered his right hand, letting his fingertips tap lightly on the stack of our paperwork. “To advance to a Seven-Star Sect, you must support the war effort by completing a mission of sufficient importance and difficulty. Do you wish to undertake such a mission?”

Kan didn’t even look at us for advice. He just grinned and nodded. “Yes, elder.”

“Excellent.” The elder reached down and pulled out another sheet of paper. “While the invaders from the Nine Rivers have proved more troublesome than we had hoped, the sects that have chosen to collaborate with them are a far greater threat. As the Amorphous Blade Sect has a history with one of these collaborators, you are being given the opportunity to eliminate them. Your target is Blackblade Hall.”

I immediately tensed up. Blackblade Hall was a massive Seven-Star Sect that contained several Peak Grandmasters. I was confident in our ability to defeat them, but doing so as Martial Masters would mean revealing our true capabilities.

“If you accept this mission,” the elder continued, voice calm, “you will immediately be elevated to a Seven-Star Sect, with all attendant rights and privileges. Your people will be allowed to advance to Martial Grandmaster, and you will be permitted to recruit up to 125 new Premier Disciples. However, if you fail to complete your mission by the end of next year—15 months from today—you will be relegated to Second-Class status.”

JiuLi laid a hand on Kan’s wrist, stopping him before he could speak, then looked at the elder. “What, precisely, does this mission entail? Will we be expected to eradicate the entirety of Blackblade Hall—root and branch? If a few of their cultivators escape, would that constitute a failure?”

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The elder shook his head. “The mission will be considered a success as long as you take control of the sect’s primary stronghold on Pale Mist Mountain. However, the reward you receive will be based on the number of confirmed kills. Also, should you bring back any credible information on the reason for the Hall’s betrayal, you will be eligible for a bonus.”

Glancing over at my sectmates, I decided to share what I had learned from an aborted timeline.

“Elder,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I have reason to believe that Blackblade Hall is affiliated with the Devil Saint. They almost certainly betrayed our domain on orders from the true master.”

The elder raised an eyebrow, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Yes, they are. Which is why we are concerned. Blackblade Hall has been lying low for centuries. What did the Nine Rivers offer them? What is Blackblade Hall—and the Devil Saint—after? We have heard rumors, and we have our suspicions, but your task is to learn the truth of the matter.”

As I lowered my head in thought, the elder leaned back in his chair.

“Since the members of Blackblade Hall are collaborators, you will be permitted to follow the rules of the invasion when fighting them. Combatants are allowed to engage enemies one Rank below their own. Grandmasters can attack Masters, and Masters can attack Disciples. However, if you follow the rules of the domain, with no one attacking anyone of a lower Rank, you will earn a special reward.”

The elder’s faint smile disappeared. “You’ve heard the terms. Do you accept?”

Kan glanced around at us, checking our reactions, but there was only ever one answer. “Yes.”

We walked out of the Bureau wearing the bright orange sashes, unmistakable proof that we were now a First-Class, Seven-Star Sect. This promotion came with plenty of advantages, but it also made us a target. Now, anyone up to Peak Grandmaster could target us. Therefore, the moment we exited the Bureau, we hurried back to our stronghold before the news could reach the wrong ears.

Once there, I pulled YuHua and the elders into our cabin on the Plane of Woody Earth to discuss how we should proceed.

Blackblade Hall had two advantages that we needed to overcome: their size and their use of poison qi. Even ignoring the rule about not attacking anyone of a lower cultivation base, taking out nearly two thousand Masters and Disciples was going to be tricky. Doing so while under the effects of poison qi would be nearly impossible.

Luckily, this first problem was easy enough to solve. We just needed to open up recruitment.

Aside from gaining 125 more slots for Premier Disciples, becoming a Seven-Star Sect allowed us to start recruiting nominal disciples who already knew how to cultivate. While we couldn’t recruit anyone who had been taught Rank 2 skills or techniques, there were plenty of youths in both the Su and Shi Clans that we could draw upon.

That said, recruiting nominal disciples from Chang’an came with one major drawback: if any of these disciples advanced to Grandmaster, they would be forced to leave our sect and join another.

We could send a few people back to Chang’an, but the nominal disciple system existed to funnel talented cultivators to the domain’s more established sects. If our disciples just kept disappearing, the Bureau would eventually get suspicious. The only way around this was to keep advancing our sect, which would allow us to retain more powerful nominal disciples.

While potentially problematic, this was a concern for the future. For now, we needed to grab a hundred or so Disciples from Chang’an and elevate a few of them to Martial Master. Once that was done, taking care of the Hall’s weaker cultivators would be simple.

Dealing with the poison qi, however, was going to be more difficult. We discussed a few possible ways to counter it, but since none of us had ever cultivated poison qi, we couldn’t be sure if any of our ideas would work.

As our meeting drew to a close, I handed YuLong, YuHua, and Meng LuYao one of their memory orbs. After a decade of soul cultivation, I was confident that these memories wouldn’t change who anyone had become. They would simply provide additional knowledge and experience to help us face the challenges ahead.

Once this was done, I brought everyone back outside, and we gathered the sect to make a few important announcements.

Kan stood in front of our sect, his posture straight, his expression calm.

“We will assault Blackblade Hall in 13 months.”

This news didn’t provoke any overt responses, but the mood in the courtyard shifted. A few of our crafters looked concerned, their eyes flicking toward their workshops. Those who had gone up north to fight in the war, however, were smiling, eager for a new challenge.

“Blackblade Hall is both large and powerful. We do not yet know their full numbers, but counting their vassals and affiliated halls, we are likely to be up against dozens of Grandmasters, hundreds of Masters, and more than a thousand Disciples.” Kan paused, letting the scale settle. “Right now, there are only thirty of us. For us to succeed, every day of the next 13 months has to count.”

His gaze swept the crowd, landing on faces one by one. “Elder YuLong will lead the elders in containing and eliminating the Hall’s Grandmasters, while I will lead you against their Masters. Taking out that many Masters will be difficult. Some of them will be veterans, and some of them will have poison techniques. However, with your training and expertise, I have no doubt that we will succeed.”

Kan’s voice hardened. “Taking on the Hall’s Disciples will be more problematic, though. We are going to need to recruit heavily over the next few months, and everyone we recruit is going to need to be trained to fight as a member of our sect. I expect each of you to assist in this effort.”

He turned slightly, gesturing toward YuHua. “Disciple YuHua will be responsible for leading these new recruits into battle. Work with her. Make sure your training aligns with how she intends to deploy these recruits.”

A ripple of confusion moved through the crowd. YuHua had only recently joined the sect, and many of our members weren’t familiar with her. Most of those who had been up north the past few years had never even seen her before.

As uncertainty over YuHua’s appointment grew, a figure stepped forward to capitalize on it.

Suba HaoRong flashed Kan a wolfish grin. “With all due regard to Junior Sister YuHua, I have been fighting on the front lines for the past five years. I volunteer to disperse my cultivation base and lead these new recruits personally.”

Before anyone could respond, Suba KangRong stepped up next to him. “Sect Master Kan, I volunteer to support Brother HaoRong. With the two of us working together, our victory is assured.”

Kan glanced at YuLong, then me, then YuHua. When none of us showed any inclination to reject this offer, Kan gave a single nod. “Then the position is yours, Master HaoRong. However, Disciple YuHua will be your second-in-command. Coordinate with her on recruitment and training. I will look forward to your success.”