The Undying Immortal System

The discussion amongst those in the pavilion made me question Bao’s interpretation of events. I needed to withhold judgment until I had more information, but before anything else, I needed to find SuYin and ensure her safety.

So, ignoring Young Master Wang and his lackeys for the moment, I walked forward and descended into the abyss.

In front of the pavilion was a path that led downward into the hole. This provided an easy, gentle way forward for anyone looking to brave the depths of the earth. However, since I was in a rush, I opted to take a faster route. Instead of following this path as it gently wrapped its way around the entire circumference of the hole, I leaped from ledges to outcroppings and swiftly descended.

From what Young Master Wang and the others had said, it sounded like this hole was dangerous in some way, and it didn’t take me longer to figure out what that danger was. As I dove deeper beneath the earth, the air and ground around me grew noticeably hotter. If this change in temperature had been caused by excessive fire qi, I could have used my affinities to block it, but instead, it was caused by natural heat, greatly limiting how much my affinity alone could accomplish.

After descending 50 meters, I began noticing veins of metal snaking their way through the walls of this hole. This silvery-colored metal could have been anything from iron to platinum, and all I was able to gather from a quick check was that it was a relatively malleable material. I wasn’t as familiar with metals as I was with stones, so all I could conclude was that it was a generic silvery-white metal. Unfortunately, that didn’t tell me much.

Upon probing the surrounding earth a bit, I found that countless small flecks of this metal were present in the surrounding soil. This was likely part of the reason why the land in the nearby area was so barren. The excessive heat had killed off most plants, and the heavy metals had taken care of the rest.

While this was interesting, it wasn’t my concern at the moment, so after making a mental note about it, I continued deeper into the hole.

Starting at a depth of 100 meters, small alcoves began appearing along the path as it winded its way down the hole. At first, I was a little confused as to their purpose, but not too long after first seeing them, the amount of wood essence in the environment began to reach noticeable levels. This suggested that these alcoves were places to rest while absorbing essence from the environment.

As I went deeper, both the temperature and the amount of wood essence surrounding me continued to increase. However, while this amount of essence was significantly higher than what was present in the outside world, it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the amount one would need for a four- or five-star affinity. Still, for anyone who didn’t know about the Nine Rivers Sect, this place might seem like a holy land.

The deeper I went, the more prevalent the silvery metal became. By the 200-meter mark, the walls were more metal than stone. At the same time, the heat of the tunnel had become so intense that it was nearly unbearable. To counteract this, I tried to use my wood qi to form a barrier around me, but the abundance of heat and metal in the surrounding environment made this extremely difficult.

Luckily, I didn’t have to go much further. Before even reaching the 250-meter mark, I found SuYin tucked away in a small alcove made almost entirely of metal.

When I saw her, I couldn’t help but let out a slight curse. While I was struggling with all my might to form a shield of wood qi to protect me from the heat, she was wearing a silver bracelet inscribed with a formation that was generating a barrier of water qi.

Having knowledge of what one would face down here in advance had made things far too easy for the girl.

Still, looking at her, I could see that she was barely holding on. The prolonged time she had spent in this torturous environment had worn away at her mind, and she was on the verge of collapse. When that happened, her bracelet would send out a pulse of energy to alert those waiting above.

If that happened, I was somewhat confident that Young Master Wang would act to protect her, but I wasn’t ready for that just yet.

After quickly surveying the situation, I pulled a tendril of spirit fire from the seed of the Cold Mountain Fire and infused it into my body. Then, I used this flame to inscribe a rudimentary Rank 3 defensive formation into the floor of SuYin’s alcove. Like her bracelet, this formation used water qi. While water qi was somewhat scant in this environment, it was still the best option given the circumstances.

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With this barrier in place, the strain on SuYin’s psyche gradually relaxed.

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Once she was able to gather her wits, she blinked, looked around, and then stared up at me.

“M… Master?”

I waved at her. “Hey.”

She leapt to her feet and gave me a big hug.

“Master, you’re finally back!”

After calming her down, I took out a couple of comfortable chairs and sat down across from her. Then, I told her about how I had come here, and she explained things from her perspective.

“Yeah… two guards came and took me away, just like you said. At the time, I was afraid because I didn’t know what they wanted from me. From the way they acted, it looked like they expected Young Master Wang to… well…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. When we arrived, he apologized for their behavior and promised me that he would make it up to me.”

I nodded at her story, but it was difficult to tell what had actually happened. Was it simply a misunderstanding on the part of the guards? Had they mistakenly expected Young Master Wang to act like a ‘young master?’ Or was Young Master Wang playing a bit of a trick on SuYin? He could be using this ‘misunderstanding’ to make her trust him more.

It was hard to say, but it didn’t matter too much. As long as we were more powerful than him, any plots he had were bound to fail, and if he was capable of appreciating the power we possessed, he would act to befriend us regardless of his previous motives.

“Is that why you’re down here? Is this part of him making up for his past mistake?”

She shook her head slightly. “No… He… He wants me to join the Verdant Forests Sect, and anyone they recruit is given the chance to come down here. I… I don’t know if I want to join them, but I didn’t think he would take ‘no’ for an answer.”

My expression hardened slightly. “Don’t worry. With me here, if you don’t want to join them, they can’t force you. The decision is entirely up to you.”

SuYin looked at me pensively. “It’s not that I don’t want to join them… Really, I was more just worried about you not being able to find us if we left. There’s just… There’s not much more for us to learn here. The amount of information this sect has is limited. I can’t say I’ve mastered it all quite yet, but thanks to my blessing, I do have it all stored away.”

I tapped my fingers on my chair's armrest in thought.

“There’s something else you need to consider. From what I overheard, this Young Master Wang intends to help you ascend to Martial Lord. If that happens, you’ll no longer be able to enter the Wastes. You’ll never be able to return to your hometown again, and you’ll never be able to visit any friends or family you leave behind.”

The shock that appeared on her face told me that she either hadn’t known about this or simply hadn’t thought about it.

“I’ll… never be able to see my family again?” Tears began to well up in her eyes. “No… Master, please help me. I can’t… I can’t let that happen.”

I looked at her and thought about how much I should say. There were dangers in her knowing too much too soon, but I would need to tell her everything eventually, and it would probably be better to do it now so that she could make an informed decision.

I placed a hand on SuYin’s shoulder to calm her down.

“Don’t worry. Like I said, if you want, I can take you out of here. No young master will be able to stop us. They won’t even know we’re gone. Instead, you just need to think about what you want for yourself and what you want to achieve.”

She nodded and steadied herself.

“First, consider what Young Master Wang has to offer. If you join the Verdant Forests Sect and he helps you become a Lord, you will likely gain a good measure of power and authority. While you won’t be able to return to the Wastes, you will be able to create a new home for your family in the sect. Not only will the conditions there be much better than where they’re living now, but you will also have the means to improve their lives far more than what’s possible if they remain here.”

This thought brought renewed life to her eyes, but unfortunately, I had to snuff it out.

“You shouldn’t rely too much on him, though. He might simply want to recruit you to earn merit from his sect, but he might also have ulterior motives. Until you know him better, don’t take anything he tells you at face value. While he might help you ascend to Martial Lord, he will almost certainly have his own reasons for doing so. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is something you have to be cautious of.”

A worried expression returned to SuYin’s face, but it wasn’t the near despair from earlier.

Knowing that I needed to explain things to her in full, I reached into my storage space, pulled out a memory orb, and showed it to her.

“Dealing with Young Master Wang will be dangerous. Neither of us knows his true motivations, but for every problem, there is a solution.” I hesitated slightly before continuing. “This might be difficult for you to accept, but please, hear me out.”

I then proceeded to explain to her the details of my resets and time loops. While Young Master Wang might have some tricky plan that would hurt SuYin in some way, she didn’t need to worry about it too much. She could try following him, and if it didn’t work, she would know to avoid him in the future.

Additionally, while ascending to Lord would prevent her from being able to return to the Wastes, after a reset, she would no longer be a Lord, so this restriction would no longer apply. If she wanted to, she could leave her family here where Rulers couldn’t get to them while she traveled outside and then return to them in her next life.

Of course, the existence of time loops didn’t solve everything. She still wouldn’t want her family threatened or murdered because of her actions, and playing around with young masters was a dangerous game.

While SuYin thought about her decision, I took out a large stone and inscribed a quick Rank 3 Wood Essence Gathering Formation into it. Then, I placed it under her chair and activated it.

The essence in the surrounding environment would have been enough to raise SuYin’s wood affinity to low six-star after only a few more hours, but if she was going to go to the Verdant Forests Sect, it would be best if she was as powerful as possible beforehand. So, why settle for a low six-star affinity when an extra day down here would be enough to raise it significantly further?