The Undying Immortal System

After Teacher left, I did not see him again for a long time.

It took me nearly three years to concoct my first successful pill. The day after it was deposited, I checked the ledger to find that I had submitted a trash pill with no value. I had to do better. I didn't deposit another pill until a full year later.

Not long after I turned 21, I advanced to Martial Disciple 7, but at this point, my cultivation ground to a nearly complete halt, and it became incredibly difficult to advance any further. The qi in my body seemed to actively repel any energy I tried to pull into my remaining uncultivated limbs.

Years continue to flow by in a steady stream, and while my cultivation level was stagnant, my alchemy skills were slowly improving. I reached the point where I could always successfully concoct a pill, but when I submitted them, they were evaluated as trash. Unfortunately, I had not learned a method to evaluate pills from Teacher. If I had, I would not have bothered submitting so many failures.

Over time, I learned to feel and understand the process of concocting pills at a deeper level, and I began to sense the energy that existed within peonies. They felt like strings of chaos wrapped around a thick green strand of power. When I heated a flower up, the strings of chaos burned away, but if I heated it too far, the green medicinal power also evaporated.

One big stumbling block was keeping my power correctly distributed. If too much was concentrated in one spot, it would quickly burn through the strands of chaos and eat away at the medicinal energy. To combat this, I had to quickly move all energy away from this area, which usually had the knock-on effect of creating several new hotspots.

Once this process of overheating started, it was nearly impossible to stop. That was why Teacher highlighted the importance of Qi Gathering Powder. When the concoction process began to spiral out of control, I needed to quickly turn up the heat and begin burning everything away so that I would be left with the weak but usable powder.

I persisted in my pursuit of perfection for decades, and my output of trash pills dropped to zero. I wasn't willing to bring shame to Teacher by submitting them. I always did my best to concoct a proper pill, but near the end of the process, I would always turn up the heat high enough to transform the energy into Qi Gathering Powder. It was regrettable that I had to hand in something so worthless, but it was better than trash.

When I was over 50 years old, I finally had a breakthrough in both my cultivation and my understanding of alchemy. I was able to finally wrestle enough qi into my left hand and broke through to Martial Disciple 8. With qi freely available in both hands, I figured out a method of using it to control the flames in the furnace more smoothly. This allowed me to heat the flowers more evenly. This still wasn't perfect since the chaotic strings weren't evenly distributed, but I was getting close.

That year, I finally submitted my first successful Low-Purity Basic Qi Gathering Pill.

The problem was, I could feel myself struggling each time I made a pill. If I had a higher cultivation level, I was sure that it would be beneficial when I was concocting pills. The only reason I had been able to make that first successful pill was because of the extra power and control I had gained after advancing to Martial Disciple 8. To progress in alchemy, I needed to progress in cultivation.

I made a choice. It felt like a betrayal of the trust that Teacher had placed in me, but I knew this was the only way I would ever be able to repay him. The next time I created a pill I thought was successful, I did not deposit it, I chose to consume it.

Qi rushed into me at speeds I hadn't felt in decades.

Teacher had said that these Basic pills were only suitable for Martial Disciples 1 to 3, but this proved that I had been unworthy of hearing the whole truth at that time. Even at Disciple 8, there was still a strong effect. However, I quickly noticed a potential problem. If this pill had such an effect on me, the rate that low-level cultivators gathered qi would be exponentially greater. Gathering qi for a breakthrough would be easy, but attempting to purify it would be significantly more difficult.

Of course, as an alchemist, purity wasn't a concern at all for me. As Teacher said, dealing with problems of low purity was simple for an alchemist. Others, however, would not be so fortunate.

For the next year, I worked even harder. Whenever I felt that a pill might not meet Teacher's strict quality standards and would just be destroyed, I consumed it instead of depositing it. My cultivation quickly rose to Disciple 9.

At this point, concocting pills became smoother and easier. I could both control and sense qi far better than ever before.

Decades passed, and I was nearing the end of my life.

I was over 90 years old, and I had finally reached Martial Disciple Peak. Sadly, I was a terrible alchemist. I had never been able to create anything better than a Low-Purity pill.

In all the time I stayed in this house and practiced my alchemy, I never saw Teacher again. I was worthless. I had failed him. I did not have the face to see him.

Through the years, others came and went from the small building. Several people had lived on the second floor for short periods, but I was always diligent about leaving the room when I heard them coming. I was not to bother Teacher's guests.

Even though I was constantly wasting Teacher's precious herbs, the chest of blue peonies was always refilled in a timely manner. No one ever came to question me about why they had been destroyed. They were simply restocked.

This was a final blessing from Teacher. Even though I had failed, he still believed that one day I would succeed.

For eight decades, nothing had changed. I had never left Teacher's home. I had remained committed to my duties.

I was walking from the pill room, through the main hall, and back to my room one day when I heard several people approaching.

I turned around and headed back to the pill room so as to not bother Teacher's guests, but my body was starting to fail me. I was not able to move fast enough to leave before they entered.

A calm voice sounded behind me. "Stop. Turn around. Who are you? What are you doing here?"

I turned around and looked at the three men who had entered. One was an aging man whose hair had begun to gray. One was a youth that looked no older than twenty. The man in front… it was Teacher! He looked nearly unchanged since I had last seen him.

"Teacher!" I bowed deeply as my eyes began to fill with tears. "Disciple has failed you. I should have left before you entered."

It was a long moment before he responded.

"You were to call me Teacher Su."

Tears dropped from my eyes. Decades had passed, and I had already failed twice in quick succession.

The aging man looked me up and down. "Is he the one that has been making our pills?"

"Indeed." Teacher appraised me carefully. "Go to your room. Return here in one hour."

I gave another deep bow before exiting. The wait in my quarters was excruciating. I had not been this excited in years. Finally, Teacher had returned.

Exactly one hour after my dismissal, I promptly returned to the main hall.

The three men sat at a table, facing me. I felt as if I were on trial by all three, but Teacher was the only one to speak.

"I have reviewed the ledgers. The expenses you have incurred are, quite frankly, staggering. You have never been able to create anything better than a Low-Purity Pill, something that is still worth less than the materials that go into it."

I bowed in shame. I was a failure.

"I have not bothered to make a detailed calculation of the debt you have incurred under me, but I estimate that it is well over a hundred thousand gold. Do you agree with the assessment?"

"Yes, Teacher Su."

"Very good. You are honest. What is your plan to repay this debt?"

"I do not have one, Teacher Su. My only hope was to one day be capable of concocting High-Purity pills, but disciple has failed you."

"You are not my disciple." He waved a hand lightly in dismissal. "You admit to your debt and the need to repay it, correct?"

"Yes, Teacher."

"Good, then we have a way for you to do so. You can make a significant contribution to the clan. One that is worth far more than the debt you currently owe. Are you willing to do so?"

"Yes, Teacher!" I bowed excitedly. I could finally give back to someone who had done so much for me.

"Good. This is Su YuanFei." Teacher gestured to the aging man. "He is the Second Elder of the Su Clan and brother to the current patriarch."

I bowed to Elder Su.

"You are likely not familiar with the current state of the Su Clan. It is failing. Ever since the current patriarch wrested control from his father, the Su Clan has been beset by one problem after another. If this continues, the clan will soon collapse. Our goal is to save it. You will help us do that."

I smiled inwardly. I would give my all to help Teacher!

Elder Su threw me to the floor in the middle of a massive, open hall. A large, U-shaped table wrapped around me. Behind it were seated over a dozen elderly men.

Elder Su walked in front of me and bowed to the man at the center of the table.

"Patriarch, we have found the traitor! This is the clan alchemist who had been poisoning our disciples. He hid himself inside the abandoned alchemy workshop and slowly siphoned away resources from the clan. For the past several years, he has been adding poisoned pills to our supplies. He had been doing this while hidden deep within the clan. That is why our past inspections failed to find the source."

Every eye in the room glared at me.

I shouted at all until I collapsed. "You are all bastards! The Su Clan is finished! Just wait for your destruction!"

I began to laugh maniacally.

The patriarch looked at me in disgust. "Take him away!"

I was taken to a dungeon. The guards were not kind. Over the course of weeks, I was methodically tortured. I was old and frail, but they were careful to never do so much damage that I could die. When I became too weak, I was given a healing pill.

This lasted for nearly two months before I finally broke.

I confessed. I told them how the Grand Elder and Fourth Elder had worked together to engineer the downfall of the Su Clan.

After that, I was taken outside. In front of all the disciples and elders of the Su Clan, I was executed.

Before they killed me, I gave them my final words. "The Su Clan is finished!"

I smiled a bloody smile.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Disciple Peak – 100 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 100