The Undying Immortal System-Chapter 442 – Life 116, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak

The Undying Immortal System-Chapter 442 – Life 116, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak

The day after our successful Heavenly Ascension, my sectmates and I visited the Bureau to receive our rewards. There was no ceremony nor any other form of fanfare—just an old man leafing through a pile of paperwork that was strewn across a lacquered desk.
As had become the norm, Kan stepped forward to handle things. “Hello, sir. We’re here to complete the procedures for upgrading our sect.”
The old man only gave Kan the briefest of glances before pulling out a truth stone and placing it on his desk with practiced efficiency. “Name?”
“Suliang Kan.”
The man began to reach toward the scattered stacks of papers, but halfway there, he froze and let out an irritated grunt. “
Sect
name.”
“The Amorphous Blade Sect,” said Kan, the corner of his mouth twitching.
With a slash of his hand, the old man snatched a sheet of paper, then quietly reviewed it.
“Are you the Sect Master of the Amorphous Blade Sect?” he finally asked.
“Yes.”
The old man’s eyes flicked to the truth stone to verify Kan’s words before he continued. “Your sect has been scheduled for a promotion to First-Class, Eight-Star status. Before granting you this promotion, however, I must verify that you are eligible to receive it.”
Reaching to the side of his desk, the old man retrieved a brush and dipped it in a jar of ink. “To the best of your knowledge, has any member of your sect received any form of assistance from anyone with a cultivation base above Martial Master?”
That was a complicated question to answer, but thanks to a little bit of coaching, Kan was able to respond with both confidence and honesty. “Since entering the Heroes Domain, no one in the Amorphous Blade Sect has received any such assistance—except where explicitly permitted by the Sect Affairs Bureau, such as the protections on our inn.”
This left open the possibility of assistance
before
we entered the domain, but since that had been covered during our registration as a Nine-Star Sect, it wasn’t at issue here.
“Has anyone in your sect stolen, discovered, or acquired resources with a total value of over 10 gold without ing them to the Bureau?”
“Not since entering the Heroes Domain, no.”
After asking Kan a few more questions to verify that we were following all the rules of a First-Class Sect, the old man looked over at the rest of us. “Shi JiuLi, step forward.”
He then proceeded to ask her the exact same question. Then, he interrogated YuLong. Then, Meng LuYao. And finally, me. Each of us repeated Kan’s answers verbatim, confirming that we were in compliance with the Bureau’s rules.
After recording everyone’s answers, the old man took a jade seal and stamped his form with red wax. Then, he retrieved a new form and turned back to Kan.
“Congratulations on your promotion to a First-Class, Eight-Star Sect,” he said, his voice emotionless. “As an Eight-Star Sect, you are allowed to recruit up to 25 Premier Disciples. After registering with the Bureau, these Disciples will receive the same benefits and protections as all other members of your sect, with no cultivator at Grandmaster or above allowed to attack them. Note that, if any of these Disciples abuse this protection, your sect could face punishments—up to and including the removal of your First-Class status.”
“What do you mean by
Premier
?” asked Kan. “Can we recruit other, regular Disciples?”
The old man gave a single, sharp nod. “You may recruit as many Disciples as you wish. However, only the 25 Premier Disciples will be under our protection. They will also be the only ones allowed to take on missions or purchase items from the Bureau with contribution points. Be warned, though, that the actions of any additional Disciples you accept can still lead to the revocation of your First-Class status. If just one of them accepts a gift from a Martial Grandmaster, your entire sect will bear the consequences.”
This limitation would slow our growth, but only on the surface. The Su and Shi Clan youths would still undergo training in Chang’an. Most of them wouldn’t be able to come out and join us until we advanced further, but they were a hidden strength that we could call upon when needed.
After going over a few more basic regulations, the old man took out a jade disc and handed it to Kan. “As a new First-Class, Eight-Star Sect, you are granted three months of free access to one of the Bureau’s villas. During this time, no one is allowed to attack you. However, this protection only extends to the outpost’s walls. If you go outside, you may be targeted by anyone up to Peak Master.”
“And after three months?” asked Kan.
“You may use contribution points to extend your stay by nine more months. After that, you must seek out other accommodations—either by purchasing them or capturing them. Please note, though, that if you wish to conquer territory, you must submit a formal challenge to the Bureau beforehand. Failure to do so may result in the loss of protection from the conquered party’s backers.”
This made me smile. The original description I had read about the Heroes Domain had made it sound like a place of complete chaos, with the various sects constantly at each other’s throats. This depiction wasn’t wholly inaccurate, but it only really applied to the Second- and Third-Class Sects. The amount of bureaucracy surrounding the First-Class Sects made everything significantly more complicated.
These complications might have been annoying sometimes, but they
did
come with certain benefits.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The old man took out five gray stone tokens and placed them in front of us. “For emerging victorious in the final match of your Heavenly Ascension, the Amorphous Blade Sect is granted entry into the Shattered Blades Realm.”
Not waiting for any further explanation, Kan reached out and grabbed one of the tokens to examine it more closely.
“Each token will grant access to one Martial Master and up to five Martial Disciples,” continued the old man. “When you wish to enter, bring one of these tokens to the Bureau and announce your intentions. The Shattered Blades Realm will be opened six months after that date, with additional tokens sent to various forces in the region at the Bureau’s discretion.”
He looked at each of us with a calm, detached expression. “The Shattered Blades Realm possesses opportunities that can help your sect grow to new heights, but these opportunities are not free. You must prove yourself worthy of them.”
I couldn’t help but feel somewhat underwhelmed. Sure, that Secret Realm
might
be filled with any number of precious treasures, but in the end, it was just another test. The only real prize we had gotten was a three-month stay in one of the Bureau’s villas.
I had been hoping we would receive high-quality Rank 2 guandaos, or Earth-Rank cultivation techniques, or perhaps even a spirit fire—
something
to help us cultivate. While such items were now available to us, they weren’t free. They needed to be purchased with contribution points.
Still, after seeing our new villa, most of my irritation faded away.
Our villa was located in the southern section of the Broken Spear Outpost, nestled between a busy market street and a small stream. It was a three-story structure of pale brick and dark timber, surrounding a square inner courtyard that was large enough to hold full-scale sparring matches between Martial Disciples. The courtyard’s flagstones were engraved with a faint formation that, while faded from years of use, was still capable of absorbing strikes from both Masters and Disciples alike.
Encircling the villa was a high perimeter wall that provided both privacy and protection to the villa’s outer courtyard. When the gates were shut, even Grandmasters would struggle to pierce the wall’s defensive formation and peer inside. Though narrow, this outer courtyard gave us a place to practice both herbalism and long-range attack techniques in relative privacy.
The villa itself was meticulously organized. The third floor held expansive suites that were reserved for our five core members. The second floor contained twenty-five smaller apartments for our new Disciples. And, the ground floor was given over to communal spaces: a kitchen, a dining hall, a meeting room, a couple of workshops, and a modest library filled with empty shelves.
The true heart of this villa, however, was its basement.
Walking down the steps beneath the library brought me into a broad chamber that stretched the full length and breadth of the training yard above. The space was almost entirely empty, save for the two ancient guandaos that flanked its entrance and the spirit fire that floated lazily at its center. A simple Rank 1 Qi Gathering Formation had been carved into the floor, sustaining this flame and trapping all of the pure guandao qi that it produced.
The Bureau might not have granted us a spirit fire outright, but this chamber gave us the means to cultivate a team of Disciples without needing to rely so heavily on purchased talents. With their help, we could then earn the points needed to buy one in short order.
After completing an initial tour of the villa, I called everyone together and led them to the meeting room on the ground floor.
“We will need to recruit a fresh crop of Disciples, but there’s no need to rush. While we might be able to find a few mortals worth recruiting right away, they’ll still be there in a few months. We just need to be ready to open recruitment by the time the blessing ceremonies roll around.”
For most sects, this meant a delay of three to four weeks. However, because of the severe offset in Chang’an’s calendar,
we
wouldn’t be able to recruit newly awakened Disciples for another seven to eight months. As we were only allowed to live in this villa for a single year, this delay was clearly unacceptable, but I didn’t want to do anything to shorten it until we were fully prepared.
Looking from JiuLi to Kan, I took out two blank books, then filled them with techniques that I copied from my mental library. “The two of you have already entered the initial stages of stagnation. This isn’t much of a problem, but you need to advance to Martial Master before it gets any worse. These are Low-Profound Rank 2 cultivation techniques that should work well with your current foundations.”
After a few short words of advice, the two youths accepted their techniques, then retreated to their rooms on the third floor to study them.
Next, I handed YuLong a single-element guandao technique. Then, I
tried
to give Meng LuYao a dual-element guandao-wood technique, but she shook her head.
“This isn’t working for me, Fang. I wanted to use wood to help out JiuLi, but it’s just holding me back. I want to reset my cultivation base and switch to a guandao-light technique.”
Nodding, I took out two new books and inscribed them with the techniques she requested.
“Alright,” I said, handing them to her, “but it might be a couple of days before I can get the herbs to make you an Energy Expulsion Pill. Just hold tight until then.”
Meng LuYao gave me a small smile and nodded before heading upstairs.
After withdrawing to my new room, I redirected my attention inward, opening my mental library and studying the technique I had selected for myself: the Peak-Profound Flowing Forge Mantra—a dual-element guandao-metal technique that came with the mental effect of encouraging the user to build things.
Like Meng LuYao, I would eventually need to reset my cultivation base to bring my Rank 1 technique into alignment with this new one. Since both techniques used the same elements, though, there wasn’t much of a reason to rush this. As long as I kept my acupoints sealed, everything would be fine. Of course, if I didn’t, I might end up wasting all my time angrily constructing death traps, so it was probably best to get that done sooner rather than later.
After reviewing this technique one last time, I allowed my thoughts to drift toward my goals for this life.
Thanks to our promotion to an Eight-Star Sect, we were now permitted to hire Bureau-approved trainers for a single profession. Once that profession was chosen, we couldn’t change it, and we wouldn’t be allowed to select a second profession until our next advancement.
Since I already had a solid grasp on Central Continent alchemy and herbalism, hiring trainers for these professions would be a complete waste of time. Similarly, while I wasn’t an expert in Central Continent refining, I at least knew the basics of what set it apart from what I had learned on the Nine Rivers Continent. There was almost certainly more to discover, but that could wait.
No, what I
really
wanted to learn more about was Central Continent formations.
What formations could I inscribe onto our guandaos to make them more effective? What could we use to make cultivation easier and more efficient? And, most importantly, how could I enhance the formation in my soul so that my inner world would grow larger and faster than ever before?
Getting an answer to this last question would take time, but if I didn’t start moving forward, I would only fall behind.

Chapter 442 – Life 116, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak