The Undying Immortal System

With his victory secured, Su JinHai walked back to his place beneath the Third Prince’s viewing stand where his fellow competitors were waiting for him. Upon arriving he gave a deep bow to the Su Clan’s Grandmaster Alchemist, Rudy.

As he accepted the bow, Rudy looked rather self-satisfied. After signaling for Su JinHai to rise, Rudy turned and gave me a smug smile, and I nodded my congratulations to him.

When Hong returned to our side of the arena, he lowered his head toward Mo.

“I’m sorry. I failed.”

Mo just laughed at this. “Don’t worry so much. You proved yourself a far better alchemist than that idiot over there. That was worth throwing away one round of this competition.”

To my side, I could feel that TaiZu and YuanFei strongly disagreed with this sentiment, but they kept their silence.

With both competitors back in their designated locations YuanKong retook center stage.

“Let us welcome the Master Alchemists on stage for the second round of the competition.”

Like before, the Su Clan’s competitor quickly jumped up and walked to his workstation.

“Do your best.”

Chang nodded and turned toward the stage. Before he could leave, I spoke up to stop him.

“Listen to the rules of the competition carefully. If there is anything you are unsure about, ask for clarification before the match begins.”

Chang bowed his head to me. “Yes, Patriarch.”

With that, he walked on stage and took up his position at his workbench.

Then, the competitor from the Su Clan introduced himself.

“I am Su WuLong, a 49-year-old Master Alchemist, a personal disciple of Grandmaster Alchemist Su RuDi, and a nominal disciple of Pill Lord Fu HaiBo of the Rising Sun Empire.”

Chang let out a small snort at this and turned to WuJing.

“I’m Chang.”

There was a slight pause as everyone expected him to say more, but nothing else was forthcoming.

After blinking in surprise, YuanKong retook the floor.

“Where Disciple Alchemists must focus on concocting as many pills as possible, Master Alchemists begin working to make their pills as powerful as possible. For this portion of the competition, you will each concoct a Rank 2 Meridian Builder Pill. The winner will be the one whose pill has the highest efficacy.”

YuanKong clapped his hands, and a group of Disciples carried over five tables. Five herbs were needed to concoct the Meridian Builder Pill, and each table held more than a dozen copies of one of these five herbs.

“This is not just a competition of your ability to concoct pills. At the start of the match, you must both come forward and select which herbs you wish to use. This will test your eyesight and your ability to determine good herbs from bad.”

I flipped on my energy vision and scanned the herbs on the tables. The merest glance was enough to expose the Su Clan’s plot.

On each table, one herb contained far more energy than any of the others. As long as the Su Clan’s competitor knew which ones to choose, he could run forward, grab them, and be nearly guaranteed to make a pill that was far superior to anything the others were capable of producing.

The Su Clan’s plot was mildly clever, but they had made a mistake when they chose WuJing to be the judge. Allowing such a farce to take place under his watch would sully the name of the Blue Wind Pavilion, and if for no other reason than to safeguard his own future, he couldn’t allow that to happen.

However, before taking action, he looked in my direction. Once again, I subtly shook my head.

Seeing this, WuJing frowned, but he relaxed back in his chair to watch and see what unfolded.

This time, the more keen-eyed members of the Su Clan had noticed this strange interaction. This wasn’t because they had grown any more insightful, though. It was because they were carefully studying WuJing’s reaction to see if he would say anything about what they had done.

When WuJing looked at me, they had become nervous, but upon seeing my reaction, they just seemed confused.

YuanKong didn’t let that stop him. Since no one raised an immediate protest, he raised his hand and slashed it down.

“Begin!”

Su WuLong rushed forward and quickly snatched the five herbs containing the overly potent medicinal energy.

For his part, Chang didn’t seem to care. He walked forward and leisurely sifted through the herbs on offer as if he were at a vegetable market.

The reason I hadn’t raised any objections to the Su Clan’s cheating was that it had simply been too inept. The ‘special herbs’ contained abundant energy, yes, but it wasn’t balanced. There was too much variance in the power of the five herbs, so the efficacy of the final pill would be limited. Also, while the other herbs on offer were weaker, there was a combination that, if used properly, would produce a decent result.

Chang was in no hurry to pick out his ingredients. He carefully sorted through every herb on each table and compared them to each other.

It took him more than 15 minutes to finally make up his mind, but once he did, he quickly got to work.

Two hours later, the young men placed their pills on their jade plates and presented them to WuJing.

WuJing first lifted Su WuLong’s pill and studied it carefully. Then, he studied Chang’s.

He was extremely meticulous in his analysis. He wasn’t willing to make a single mistake.

Finally, he placed both pills back down on the table in front of him and addressed the crowd.

“Master Alchemist Su WuLong has crafted a High-Purity Rank 2 Meridian Builder Pill with 114% efficacy.” The crowd began to mutter in surprise at this, but WuJing continued. “Master Alchemist Chang has crafted a Perfect Rank 2 Meridian Builder Pill with 116% efficacy. The winner is Master Chang.”

On the opposite side of the arena, I saw Rudy lurch as if he wanted to shout out in protest. Having seen WuJing glance toward me previously, he no doubt wanted to accuse the man of some kind of conspiracy. However, before Rudy could open his mouth, a powerful wave of qi emanated from the Third Prince and froze him in place.

Gritting his teeth in anger Rudy pushed back his shoulders and shifted to a stiffly upright posture. Then, he glared at me. That glare carried a hint of menace that was underlain with a supreme confidence in his ability to win the final competition.

When Su WuLong returned to his side of the arena and tried to offer an apology, Rudy didn’t even look at him.

As for Chang, he walked back to our side of the arena with a casual gait. He looked as if he felt that nothing that had happened was of any significance.

After sending a group of Disciples to return the workstations to a pristine condition, YuanKong walked back to the center of the stage and bowed to the Third Prince. Then, he turned to address the audience.

“With each side having won one of the previous matches, the competition comes down to the battle between Grandmasters. Where the Disciples have shown the efficiency of their pill making, and where the Masters have proven the quality of their creations, the competition between Grandmasters will be on what many would consider the most important aspect of a pill, its value.”

YuanKong gestured to either side of the stage.

“For this final round, let us welcome those who are at the pinnacle of alchemy to the stage. The Grandmaster Alchemists!”

RuLan and Rudy both calmly walked to their workbenches.

Once there, Rudy was the first to step forward, and an unmistakable hint of anger tinged his voice as he addressed WuJing. “I am Su RuDi, a 65-year-old Grandmaster Alchemist, and the personal disciple of Pill Lord Hu LuKui of the Flowing Mountain Sect.”

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RuLan cupped her fists to WuJing and bowed. “I am RuLan, a 35-year-old Grandmaster Alchemist.”

RuLan’s age, youthful appearance, and claim of being a Grandmaster Alchemist made most of the spectators look at her with a hint of suspicion. Not WuJing, however. He only looked excited at seeing a young Grandmaster Alchemist with no stated affiliation.

Introductions complete, YuanKong took control once more.

“As you are both Grandmasters, it would be unfair of us to limit what options are available to you. As such, you may use any herbs you possess to concoct any pill you wish. Once your pills are complete, Manager Chen will be responsible for determining whose pill is more valuable.” He opened his arms in a wide, welcoming gesture. “Please, select your ingredients.”

RuLan looked around confused, unsure of exactly what to do, but Rudy didn’t hesitate. He walked to the side of the arena, and a young man handed him a large jade box.

Upon returning to his workstation, Rudy opened the box and displayed its contents.

Most of the herbs inside were rather mundane and held little value, but sitting atop them was a large, reddish-brown fruit that looked somewhat like an oversized potato. It was an Earth Dragon’s Tongue Fruit.

I could only shake my head. The Su Clan was really pulling out all the stops to try and defeat me.

When RuLan saw this fruit, her response wasn’t nearly so sanguine. Her eyes widened in fright, and her breathing sped up.

She turned to look at Mo.

Mo gave her a slight smile, closed his eyes, and nodded. Then, he reached to his side and retrieved several items from the spatial bag I had given him for storing crafting supplies.

Almost no one in the stadium recognized any of the items he pulled out.

One was a yellowed tree branch, one was the broad leaf of some type of fern, and the last was a large bottle containing a greenish-yellow liquid.

When I recognized what that bottle contained, my heart rate skyrocketed. Did Mo know what he was doing? Was he aware of what this would mean?

I looked at RuLan. When she saw what Mo had prepared for her, a tear welled up in her eye, and she smiled at him with loving affection. Seeing this, I decided to let things play out. This would upend my timeline, but that might be for the best.

Instead of grabbing the items immediately, RuLan walked over and hugged Mo while he whispered something into her ear. Then, she picked up her ingredients and returned to her workbench.

Before YuanKong could start the competition, WuJing raised a hand to stop him.

He looked at RuLan and pointed at the bottle of disgusting liquid she had placed on her workbench.

“What is that?”

RuLan gave him a short bow. “The bile of a Rank 2 flame bear.”

WuJing’s breath caught as he stared at her. After a moment, his hand started twitching.

“You intend to use this to make an alchemical pill?”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

RuLan nodded. “Yes, Manager Chen.”

This seemed to trouble WuJing, but to the side, Rudy couldn’t help but scoff.

“Rank 2? Are you concocting a Rank 2 pill? This is supposed to be a competition before Grandmasters, not mere Masters. Are you trying to insult me?”

RuLan smiled and bowed her head. “As I understood the instructions, I am supposed to concoct the most valuable pill possible. There was no mention of any requirement that this had to be a Rank 3 pill.”

Rudy just sneered and shook his head.

WuJing, though, looked concerned. “Are you sure?”

RuLan nodded. “Yes, Manager Chen.”

WuJing took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before releasing it. “Very well.”

With WuJing’s permission to proceed, YuanKong took over once more.

“Grandmasters, please begin.”

Off to the side, Rudy began breaking down his ingredients, but my focus remained locked on RuLan.

She first took the yellowed tree branch and stripped it of its bark. Then, she placed the bark in the bottle of bile, allowing the liquid to soak into the wood.

Next, she took out a mortar and pestle and ground the fern leaf into a fine paste. Once the leaf was fully broken down, she added this paste to the bottle of bile.

This started some form of strange chemical reaction, causing crystals to float to the surface of the bile.

Finally, she used her qi to gather these crystals and combined them with the wood of the tree branch in what I would consider the ‘normal’ alchemical process.

I had absolutely no idea what RuLan was doing, but as she worked, I couldn’t help but notice that her deft movements showed an incredibly deep understanding of not just her ingredients but also of the processes needed to best utilize them. Somehow, her knowledge of beast alchemy had leapfrogged mine by several orders of magnitude.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but curse and begin muttering to myself.

“She got the damn enlightenment…”

I had thought that submitting novel recipes to the Dao was a unique benefit of my System, but RuLan was clear evidence that this was absolutely not the case. By holding off on submitting knowledge of beast alchemy, I had allowed this little girl to snipe me…

I was a bit envious, but I wasn’t upset. Having a skilled alchemist push beyond the bounds of what was contained in the memory orbs was exactly the result I had wanted when I set everything up. I just had to hope that I would be able to create different Rank 1 and 2 recipes to get my own enlightenment.

Also, I needed to find time to work on mastering Rank 3 beast alchemy before anyone got there ahead of me.

While Rudy had been able to finish his pill in less than an hour, RuLan spent nearly three. When she was finally done, she placed the completed pill onto her jade plate and took a step back.

YuanKong, who seemed to have become bored from the long wait, cleared his throat. “Competitors, please introduce your pills to us.”

Rudy gave a brilliant smile and bowed toward the Third Prince. “My Prince, this is a Rank 3 Earth Affinity Pill. It is capable of greatly boosting a person’s earth affinity for several hours, granting them a substantial increase in power and making it easier for them to complete breakthroughs in their cultivation.”

The crowd buzzed at this, and hardly anyone was willing to pull their eyes away from Rudy’s pill to see what RuLan had made.

RuLan didn’t care. She just smiled at WuJing.

“This is a Rank 2 Body Tempering Pill. It will permanently enhance the physical strength of anyone who consumes it.”

Rudy and RuLan lifted their jade plates, walked over to WuJing, and placed them on the table in front of him.

YuanKong gestured toward the pills while looking around at the audience.

“We will now ask Manager Chen to carefully evaluate both pills to give us his expert opinion on which one is more valuable. While it is common knowledge that Rank 3 pills are far more valuable than Rank 2 pills, it is possible that little RuLan will surprise us.”

The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable, but upon hearing it, I could only smile.

While most people in the audience had their eyes fixed on Rudy’s pill, something capable of enhancing one’s affinities, something that must have seemed like a legendary item to them, WuJing’s eyes were locked on RuLan’s Body Tempering Pill, an actual legendary item. From beginning to end, his reaction had shown that he understood not just the value of RuLan’s pill but also the importance of the process she had used to concoct it.

Slowly, WuJing lifted RuLan’s pill and studied it.

From past experience, I didn’t believe that he knew much about alchemy, but as a long-time manager of the Pavilion, both his knowledge of pills and his ability to appraise them were extensive.

Minutes stretched by, and WuJing used his qi to probe RuLan’s pill in great detail. Finally, after the ten-minute mark had come and gone, YuanKong cleared his throat.

“Manager Chen, can you please give us the estimated value of these pills?”

Not allowing his eyes to leave RuLan’s pill for even a second, he waved offhandedly to Rudy’s pill.

“While this Earth Affinity Pill is only Rank 3, its inherent value to cultivators, and the rare ingredients needed to concoct it, raises its price far beyond what is normal for a Rank 3 pill. Typically, the Pavilion would sell such pills for two to three spirit stones. However, the low quality of this pill severely hurts its value. I would estimate that it is only worth five to six hundred thousand gold.”

For many in the crowd, this price was shocking. According to WuJing, a low-quality Earth Affinity Pill was worth several times what even a Perfect ordinary Rank 3 pill would be worth.

However, I could only frown in contemplation.

The true value of a pill that could temporarily raise a person’s affinity would be difficult to ascertain. The herbs needed to concoct it were extremely rare, and its ability to assist Grandmasters in their breakthroughs was undeniable. However, if priced too high, a person would just use their excessive wealth to buy access to earth essence instead, so pricing it at two or three spirit stones seemed a bit generous. After all, pretty much any Grandmaster capable of generating spirit stones wouldn’t need such a pill.

Still, I didn’t speak up to contradict him. Whether two spirit stones or twenty, from WuJing’s reaction, the winner of this competition was obvious.

WuJing held up the Body Tempering Pill for everyone to see.

“This pill… is priceless. As such, I am entirely incapable of estimating its true value.” He turned to RuLan. “I will pay you 50 spirit stones to purchase this pill. That is all my branch of the Pavilion possesses. If you require more, I will request them from the headquarters at the fastest possible speed.”

This pronouncement left the audience stunned, but RuLan understood his meaning. Instead of responding, she looked at me.

How much was that Rank 2 Body Tempering Pill worth? That was a difficult question to answer. A normal cultivator might balk at paying even 100 gold for such a thing. But to an alchemist?

WuJing’s actions showed that he knew exactly what this pill represented. The moment he left this arena, he would head directly to the Pavilion and send a message to a Pill King, a Pill Emperor, or perhaps even the current Blue Wind Sovereign.

He had witnessed a brand new form of alchemy. Having closely watched RuLan’s actions, he could write a report about everything she had done, but would a Pill Emperor believe that some random nobody in the Wastes had done something they had never even heard of before? A report was one thing, but the pill would serve as proof that his report was true.

How many buckets of spirit stones would a Pill Emperor give WuJing for this one pill? If WuJing combined his report with this pill and tried selling it at an auction between Pill Emperors, how many thousands of spirit stones would he be able to get for it?

I doubted he would do any such thing, though. If he leveraged this situation properly, this pill was his ticket out of the Wastes. 50 spirit stones might be a little cheap for such a prize, but letting him have it could be considered a partial repayment for all the help he had given me.

I nodded to RuLan, and she turned back to WuJing.

“Agreed.”

Ever so carefully, WuJing pulled a jade bottle from his storage bag and placed the pill inside it.

“I will have the spirit stones delivered to you immediately.” Then, he turned to look at the Third Prince. “The winner of this competition is Grandmaster Alchemist RuLan.”

The Third Prince didn’t look happy, and I could tell that he hadn’t understood what had happened, but he could sense the seriousness in WuJing’s demeanor. So, gritting his teeth, he waved to YuanFeng.

“Give them the fruit.”

After accepting my prize, I bowed deeply to the Third Prince. Then, I bowed to Rudy.

“Thank you for letting us win.”