The Undying Immortal System

Chapter 471 – Life 120, Age 29, Martial Grandmaster Peak

In the lead-up to our assault on the Howling Gorge Realm, everyone had pushed their cultivation levels to the limit and advanced as quickly as they could. Now that it was over, the cost of this recklessness needed to be paid.

Our sect’s leadership had all advanced from Peak Master to Peak Grandmaster in less than two years. For me, this wasn’t a big deal. I had built a solid foundation in the Disciple and Master realms, so the instability caused by my rapid ascent through the Grandmaster realm was easy enough to suppress. The others weren’t so lucky.

Over the past decade, Kan and JiuLi had been able to repair most of the damage caused by their reincarnation, giving them souls that were powerful enough to rival a Martial Emperor. However, since I hadn’t yet restored their memories of their previous lives, their understanding of Rank 3 cultivation techniques was rather limited. In their rush to advance to Peak Grandmaster, they both made several mistakes, leaving their dantians riddled with rough, improvised patches.

YuLong and Meng LuYao, in contrast, had a solid grasp of their cultivation techniques, but their underdeveloped souls held them back. To keep their mental impulses in check, they had no choice but to keep their acupoints firmly sealed.

Therefore, with no more crises demanding our attention, everyone’s top priority was to take a Cicada Pill to reset their cultivation bases and strengthen their weapons.

Since YuLong and Meng LuYao were having the most difficulty controlling their emotions, they went first, leaving Kan and JiuLi to manage the sect. I, meanwhile, entered seclusion to research body cultivation.

Each of the body cultivation techniques I had developed was tailored to a single element. However, since they didn’t rely on qi filters, a person in a metal-rich environment could cultivate metal wu using a wood-based technique. This would cause severe discomfort, which would increase with each advancement, but it could be done.

Ideally, though, one would use a cultivation technique that matched the element they wanted to cultivate.

As a loyal member of the Heroes Domain—and as someone who had just gone to the trouble of acquiring a guandao-based fire seed—I wanted our sect to cultivate guandao wu. In the past, we had only focused on cultivating the nine elements, though, so to do this, I first needed to develop a new technique.

Back on the Nine Rivers Continent, I spent centuries developing specialized cultivation techniques for each of the nine elements, so creating low-level techniques for guandao wu wasn’t overly difficult. The problem was developing these techniques in a way that would withstand the Bureau’s scrutiny. With anything else, this might not have been necessary, but given how much this world valued body cultivation, I doubted anyone would be satisfied with “My blessing helped me do it.”

The first two steps of my plan were already complete. I had the bodies of Blackblade Hall’s experiments stored within my inner world, and I could legitimately claim that I studied them for inspiration. I also had the seed of the Sky Cleaving Fire, so I could create the perfect environment for cultivating guandao wu.

The next step was to find a scapegoat.

Upon turning 16, Shi YuHua, YuLong’s sister, received a blessing that greatly enhanced her innate talent with the guandao. This kind of blessing was common in our sect, but unlike everyone else, YuHua was a permanent member of my time loop. If anyone else were to die, they would be dead. If YuHua were to die, I would just need to go back to the start of the loop and pick her up again.

I certainly didn’t want YuHua to die, but for those who had been born in my inner world, death was permanent. For her, it was little more than an inconvenience.

So, before starting my research, I pulled YuHua into the Plane of Woody Earth for a long vacation. I occasionally pulled her over to the cabin to ask some basic questions about guandao qi, and I set up a formation where she could practice manipulating guandao wu. However, for the most part, she simply relaxed while I did the hard work of developing a usable technique.

Creating a body cultivation technique for weapon wu turned out to be far more difficult than creating a technique for elemental wu. In a way, it was like the body wanted to absorb elemental wu, as though it were reclaiming something it had lacked since birth. Weapon wu, in contrast, was like an unwanted stepchild. My body could absorb it, but doing so would require a significant amount of force and would cause a great deal of pain.

After several months of effort, I produced a legitimate Low-Yellow technique. However, this technique had numerous flaws, and it wasn’t something I would allow the members of my sect to cultivate.

Given enough time, I might have been able to improve this technique, but that would have taken decades, and we still needed to deal with the Li Clan’s invasion. So, I could only turn to the System.

Taken from NovelBin, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“System, using what I designed as a template, give me a new technique that fixes the problems of the original. It doesn’t need to have wu filters, but if possible, it shouldn’t cause any pain.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 1,000 credits.

I was only purchasing a simple, Rank 1 technique, so this price was rather exorbitant. However, after studying the scroll that appeared in my mental library, I understood why it was so costly.

Drill of the Flowing Blade, Peak-Profound Rank 1 Body Cultivation Technique (Broken), Guandao Wu, Effects: Increases one’s bravery. Makes one more obsessed with growing stronger.

Aside from the upgrade to Peak-Profound, this all looked pretty normal. The key to the System’s pricing was in how the technique actually functioned. It didn’t just shove wu into a person’s skin. Instead, it suffused the skin with guandao qi, which acted like a binding agent, allowing wu to permeate a person’s body with little to no force.

This specific technique was only Rank 1, but knowledge of how to bind wu with qi applied to all levels of body cultivation. To make it work, though, I needed to design a new formation, one that would create distinct pockets of qi and wu.

After another month of work, I pulled YuHua out of my inner world, activated the formation, and helped her become our sect’s first body cultivator.

Over the next 10 years, our sect’s only goal was to grow stronger. All of our existing members pushed their cultivation bases to Martial Grandmaster, and those who reached the Peak of the Grandmaster realm were taught body cultivation. This, combined with YuLong’s training and JiuLi’s equipment, gave us a combat force that was capable of taking down the leaders of any of the domain’s Seven-Star Sects and most of its Six-Star Sects.

Unfortunately, the domain’s rules forbade Grandmasters from attacking Masters and Disciples. We had to continuously recruit new Disciples every year just to ensure our lower ranks remained competitive. Most of these recruits received blessings to strengthen their guandao affinities, but enough didn’t that the essence I had stolen from the Shattered Blade Realm was quickly exhausted.

Essence gathering formations didn’t seem to do anything on the Central Continent, and I had no desire to go around killing people to harvest their affinities. Therefore, I could only turn to the System.

“System, fill the guandao essence formation with as much energy as it can hold. Don’t overstress it, though. Keep it to a level where none of the essence will end up leaking out.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 7 credits. 43,446 credits remaining.

At the center of the Plane of Light, the swirling cloud of energy that floated above the guandao formation burst alight and transformed into a silvery star.

Looking at this scene, I couldn’t help but smile. With seven credits’ worth of essence, we wouldn’t have to worry about running out again for decades, possibly centuries.

This was enough to make us the most powerful Seven-Star Sect in the Heroes Domain, but up north, Emperor Li’s disciple wasn’t slacking off either.

Four years after we captured Pale Mist Mountain, Li’s disciple led their forces to conquer Emerald Saber City, a bustling commercial hub on the route connecting the Nine Rivers and Heroes Domains. In the span of a few short months, they amassed enough karmic energy to ascend to Martial Lord. Then, they began launching assaults on other nearby cities, clearly intent on piecing together a small kingdom.

We had fallen behind, and with each passing year, the gap only widened.

I wasn’t worried, though.

We might not have reached the same realms as the invaders yet, but that didn’t mean we had been wasting our time. Each of our disciples stood on a foundation that was sturdy enough to shatter those who had advanced recklessly. We might be behind for now, but once we stepped into the Martial Lord realm, the quality of our training would speak for itself.

More importantly, I had hundreds of Ascension Pills stored in my inner world, just waiting to be used. Taking them out would mean giving up our status as a First-Class Sect, so we couldn’t use them unless absolutely necessary. But if this sacrifice was the price of Jon’s defeat, I was prepared to pay it.

By the end of our ten years of secluded training, the Li Clan’s invasion had taken control of six cities. The Bureau had responded by deploying a team of Martial Kings, but these powerful experts were only able to slow the invaders, not stop them.

According to the rumors, these Kings were running into the same problems YuLong and Kan had faced. Any time they assembled to crush the Li Clan with a single devastating strike, the enemy slipped into the surrounding terrain and disappeared. Then, before the Kings had any time to respond, the invaders were busy tearing into a weak target hundreds of kilometers away.

This made the domain’s vaunted warriors look foolish, but even more demoralizing was the way the Li Clan dealt with its so-called “Heroes.”

Every year, some lowly mortal in one of the refugee camps would stumble upon the legacy of a long-dead powerhouse. Armed with this legacy and the resources it provided, they would quickly assemble a team of trusted subordinates, all of whom were dedicated to purging the invaders and saving the domain.

For eight consecutive years, the script didn’t change. Shortly after emerging, the Hero would crush a small unit from the Li Clan, free a city block, or annihilate a forward camp. Rumormongers would immediately crown them the domain’s new hope.

Then, the Hero would push too far, find themselves surrounded, and die.

By the time the ninth Hero arose, the Bureau had clearly had enough. Immediately after his first victory, a “mysterious senior” appeared and whisked him away for further training. Stories soon spread about what would happen upon the Hero’s return, but I wasn’t holding out much hope. If anyone were going to take down the Li Clan, it would be the Amorphous Blade Sect.

Therefore, after pushing everyone to the very limits of a Seven-Star Sect, I called for a full meeting of our sect’s elders. It was time for us to advance.