The Undying Immortal System

Chapter 473 – Life 120, Age 40, Martial Grandmaster Peak

When looking at a map, the journey from Pale Mist Mountain to Black Eagle City seemed almost trivial. In reality, it was a grueling trek through rugged wilderness and territories infested with demon beasts.

For our Grandmasters, this wasn’t a big deal. None of them had enhanced their muscles yet, but they had all undergone enough body cultivation to make the trip bearable.

For our Masters and Disciples, however, such a journey was far less manageable. Crossing several empires on foot would have taken years. Traveling in carriages pulled by high-level beasts could have shortened this time, but arriving in the Nine Rivers Domain with dozens of wagons would have made it impossible to approach Black Eagle City without being noticed.

After discussing this situation with Kan and YuLong, we settled on a simple solution.

Our Masters and Disciples would be of little use against Rank 3 and 4 beasts, and a small team of Grandmasters would draw far less attention than a column of a hundred armed warriors. So, rather than dragging our weaker members halfway across the continent, I sent them to my inner world’s elemental planes. There, they could temper themselves in battle amid burning forests and blasted hellscapes, while we Grandmasters carved a bloody path through the wilderness of the Nine Rivers Domain.

When we informed our Disciples of this decision, we framed it as yet another of the Bureau’s trials. After all, none of them understood the true scope of my inner world, and trying to explain it would have only created problems.

Once everyone was bundled away and the last of our preparations were complete, Kan, YuLong, and I set out, each of us splitting off to make our own way west, toward Black Eagle City.

After dividing our forces into three separate teams, I still had forty Grandmasters under my command, enough to make the Lord of every city we passed uneasy. Therefore, in order to draw as little attention as possible, I further split my people into eight groups of five.

Most of the time, we acted as independent groups, each of us traveling alone and hunting whatever we found along the way. However, we stayed close enough that, if a threat appeared, we could activate our communication formations, regroup, and face it together.

Shortly after we crossed the border of the Nine Rivers Domain, this arrangement was put to the test for the first time.

One of our groups entered a valley inhabited by silverfang wolves. Since this area had been flagged as dangerous on our maps, my people did their best to advance cautiously, but they underestimated the skill of their prey. Shortly after they entered the valley, more than a dozen wolves emerged from the shadows, boxing them in and forcing them to call for help.

I arrived to find the five-man group surrounded by nearly a hundred Rank 3 wolves. None of my people had been injured, but they also hadn’t been able to do much damage. Only two wolves lay dead on the valley floor. Even so, the deaths of these two wolves had driven the rest of the pack into what looked like a murderous frenzy.

However, as I examined the situation more closely, I realized the wolves weren’t nearly as mad as they appeared.

My people had only managed to slay two wolves because the pack was fighting with rigid discipline. They darted in, struck like lightning, and vanished before a counterattack could be launched. The moment one of my people tried to respond, another wolf would tear at their flank, forcing them off balance. At first glance, the battle seemed to be in a loose stalemate, but my people were being lured farther into the valley with every passing moment.

As soon as I understood what was happening, I motioned for my group to charge in and provide support. These four cultivators wouldn’t be able to do much to shift the balance, but they would be enough to slow things down.

I, meanwhile, took a Shadowed Soul Pill, slipped into the undergrowth, and went to search for those who were orchestrating this battle.

My search didn’t last long. Soon after reaching the far side of the valley, I spotted five Rank 4 wolves standing atop an outcropping, howling orders to their army below.

Upon seeing them, I couldn’t help but wince. The pack leader was a Peak Rank 4 silverfang wolf, but it had advanced through karmic energy, making it unsuitable for use in an Ascension Pill. Thankfully, there were still three more Peak Rank 4 wolves in the group, each one representing a potential Martial King.

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That said, directly confronting five Rank 4 demon wolves would have been difficult, and the Rank 3 Shadowed Soul Pill I had used wasn’t enough to hide me from their noses.

Therefore, I circled wide around the outcropping, tossing out formation plates while keeping my distance from the pack leaders. When all twelve plates of my grand formation were in place, I sent a signal to my teammates, ordering them to go all out.

A moment later, the entire valley was illuminated by several concentrated beams of guandao qi being fired simultaneously. Before the pack could react, dozens of wolves were cut down where they stood.

Three of the pack leaders leapt forward to stop the carnage, while the other two shrank back in fright. Whether they advanced or retreated, it made no difference. Before the first beam of guandao qi even appeared, I had already activated my formation, locking the wolves in place and ensuring that none of them could escape.

After cleaning up the wolves on the valley floor, my sect mates joined me next to the formation, and working together, we took down the five pack leaders.

Overall, the operation was a massive success. We had enough Peak Rank 3 carcasses to create half a dozen Peak Lords. And with the assistance of the three Peak Rank 4 carcasses, we would be able to turn three of those Lords into Kings.

The only issue was that the battle had been loud. Dozens of beams of guandao qi had carved deep furrows into the valley, setting off roaring landslides and creating a light show that would have been visible across the entire countryside.

Ideally, such a display of power would be enough to keep people away. However, there were always those arrogant enough to mistake death traps for opportunities.

After leaving the valley, our groups separated and continued westward.

Anticipating that our actions would draw unwanted attention, I activated the soul technique that I had learned during our campaign against Blackblade Hall and searched the surroundings for any unwanted company. This technique couldn’t discern the level of a person’s cultivation, but it had a wide range and could tell me how many people we were dealing with.

As expected, I soon discovered hundreds of cultivators moving through the forest, fanning out over a wide area as they searched for anyone fleeing the wolves’ valley. It wouldn’t be long before they encountered my team’s various groups, so I picked up our pace and urged those who were following me to rush ahead so that we could draw the enemy’s attention.

We were spotted almost immediately, and warning calls echoed through the forest, announcing our presence to the bandits.

As the scattered cultivators began to converge, a lone Grandmaster wearing ragged, patchwork robes stepped out in front of us, blocking our path forward. When I approached, he greeted me with a wicked smile.

“I opened this mountain, built this road, and planted these trees,” he said, striking the ground with the haft of his spear. “If you want to pass, you’ll have to pay the toll.”

I cupped my fists to the man and gave a slight bow. “And what toll would that be?”

He licked his lips and clicked his tongue against his teeth. “That all depends on how much cargo you’ve got with you. Just hand over your storage bags, and I’ll let you know what you owe. Of course, if you took anything from my valley, then there might be a few extra fees.”

By the time the man finished speaking, I could already feel the presence of countless cultivators surrounding us in every direction. From the glimpses I caught of them moving through the forest, it was clear that most were low-level Masters, and none appeared to have a strong foundation. Even with just the five of us, dealing with so many weaklings would not have been difficult.

However, attacking them directly would have wasted a precious opportunity.

I smiled at the man in front of me. “I see, Brother. I did not realize these mountains fell under your authority. In that case, please allow me to offer you a gift.”

Concentrating on my inner world, I quickly created several avatars and sent out a flurry of instructions. Then, I reached inside and pulled out all of the Masters and Disciples who had spent the last month fighting for their lives on my elemental planes.

Not giving the bandits any time to react, I waved my hand. “Attack!”

These were the first bandits we encountered on our journey, but they were not the last. Each time we wiped out a pack of demon beasts, someone inevitably stepped out to try to rob us, no doubt believing the fighting had left us weakened.

Irritating as this was, it made it easier for us to integrate into the Nine Rivers Domain. People were naturally suspicious of a band of Grandmasters moving through their territory, but once they heard that we had dealt with their local bandit problems, we were given a warm welcome.

Ideally, we would have made it all the way to Black Eagle City unnoticed. That was no longer possible, but this at least gave us a legitimate identity. Once we adjusted our attack methods to rely solely on elemental qi, we no longer looked like invaders from the Heroes Domain. We looked like warriors of the Nine Rivers Domain who were doing a few good deeds.