The Undying Immortal System

Even though the knowledge from the System helped, I still had a long way to go before I would be able to use my spirit fire seed properly.

Knowing that I needed to gain mastery over it as quickly as possible, I secluded myself in my musty cave and did nothing other than practice different ways of expelling and controlling the spirit fire. I didn't make or sell any pills, but no one came to hassle me about contribution points. Whenever I had questions about what to do to improve, I just needed to search out one of the deacons and they would give me whatever advice they could.

This was far different from the treatment I had received elsewhere in the sect. While it was possible that Elder Mu's enclave just functioned differently, I didn't believe it. In my mind, the only possible explanation for these differences was that the elder must have made it clear that I was to be allowed to focus on my task.

When I asked the deacons about how normal cultivators absorbed and used spirit fires, the answer I got was something I didn't expect. During the normal process of absorbing a spirit fire, a cultivator's body is flooded with low-level energy. When I first opened my soul to use the seed, a large amount of spirit fire energy was expelled directly into my chest. For a normal cultivator, that same amount of energy would be spread out through every part of their body.

As for controlling a spirit fire, the deacons said that they never try to do so directly since it would be impossible without the proper affinities. Instead, their control comes through feeding the spirit fire qi.

Fire produces earth. When fire qi is applied to the earth energy of Cold Mountain Fire, flames of earth energy burst forth. To create a spirit fire flame in one's palm, a normal alchemist would direct their fire qi to the spirit fire energy at that location. They are not controlling the spirit fire itself. They were only manipulating where an external flame would appear by controlling their qi.

What I did, expelling the energy of a spirit fire from my body and letting it dissipate, might work too, but it would be incredibly wasteful. For someone without a seed, any energy used in this manner would be permanently lost. Repeatedly accessing a spirit fire by expelling it from one's body would only lead to the complete loss of the spirit fire.

Learning the way normal cultivators used spirit fires was helpful, but I wasn't entirely sure how to apply it to my situation. While I could direct my qi to my fist, it wouldn't do anything. The fire seed was in my soul, and when I opened my soul the spirit fire's energy entered my chest. There wasn't even a trace of it in my hand for me to manipulate.

From the deacons' information, it was clear that before anything else, I needed to figure out how to produce a spirit fire in my hands. If I wanted to perform alchemy, that was where it was going to need to be.

The System had given me the most basic of basics for opening my soul to extract energy. Using this knowledge, I was able to extract a thread of spirit fire into my chest. I could look at ways to slowly transfer that energy from my chest to my hands, but that felt like a suboptimal strategy.

Another option was to flood my body with a low level of spirit fire energy like normal cultivators did. Then, I would be able to control it like a normal alchemist using the same well-known and easily understood methods that the sect taught everyone else. However, this would be throwing away any advantages having a seed might provide me. It would turn the fire seed from a blessing into a curse.

I needed a better way. I wanted to be able to open my soul in my hand, not in my chest. Then, I could extract a flame directly into my palm without needing to worry about moving it or manipulating it with qi. The knowledge of how to do this wasn't included in the limited information I had purchased from the System, but that just meant I needed to figure it out for myself.

With this conviction, I focused my efforts and began spending all my energy on searching for a way to control where I opened my soul. Such determined focus was physically and mentally exhausting, so when I needed a break from working with the fire seed, I cultivated. I didn't rush my cultivation, but while I was focused on learning to control the seed, I was able to break through two stages, reaching Martial Master 3.

After five years of diligent work, I finally succeeded. I figured out what I was missing. I not only learned to create flames of the Cold Mountain Fire anywhere in my body, but I also gained a decent amount of control over the intensity of the flames produced. It wasn't yet perfect, but when combined with my earth affinity, I thought my control over my fire seed might be a match for anyone at my level.

After learning to control the fire seed and ending my seclusion, the first place I visited was the elder's pill hall. When I walked in, I saw the deacon tending the shop and smiled at him.

"Hello, Deacon Liu."

Deacon Liu, the manager of the elder's pill hall, had been extremely helpful to me when I was trying to learn how to control the fire seed. Knowing my situation, he did everything he could to help me learn a way to control the seed. While this hadn't helped me directly since it mainly just involved telling me about how regular disciples controlled their spirit fires, I was still grateful.

"Little Fang, how are you doing today?"

"Very good, deacon. I finished my training and now have my seed under control. I'm ready to begin working on pills."

The deacon laughed at my eagerness. "Not so fast, boy. Don't worry about jumping into alchemy right away. Let me show you something first."

The deacon led me outside and into a different cave. This one was much more spacious than the pill hall, but the walls were only roughhewn stone. An assortment of random objects was placed around the room, including a large tree trunk, a block of dirt, and coils of ropes.

"Elder Mu doesn't have many disciples, so this place isn't used much. That means there isn't a deacon permanently stationed here, so if you want to use the place you should just grab anyone free."

"Okay… What is this place?"

Deacon Liu beamed a smile at me. "This is where we can assess your abilities with your spirit fire. This can be considered your first competition against your fellow disciples. The more promise you show here, the more resources you will get, and everything you do here will only be known by us, so you can openly display your abilities without worry."

"Do I still need to keep my abilities secret? Is that still a problem? I thought everything was settled after I officially joined the elder."

"Normally you'd be right, but we can't let anyone know about your fire seed. That would cause problems when people began asking questions about where it came from. The Twin Mountains Sect has the only recorded seed of the Cold Mountain Fire, and people would be extremely interested to learn how you, a Martial Master, both found and bonded a second one."

"So, I need to make sure that what I display lines up with what someone possessing a common spirit fire could be capable of?"

"Exactly, and that is why we are here. We need to know what you are capable of. Where do you need to hold back, how much you need to hold back, and where your current skills still lag behind those of other disciples."

"Sounds good. How do we start?"

The deacon pointed at a massive log of wood. It was a meter round and over three meters long. From my position, I could see several deep holes drilled into its end.

"We'll start with something you should excel in. Power. Every disciple of the elder uses the Cold Mountain Fire. Wood depletes earth, and the Cold Mountain Fire is mainly an earth-attributed spirit fire, so wood is a good material to test its power. All you have to do is drill a small hole through the log. The further it penetrates, the better. For now, just do the best you can."

I nodded, approached the log, and touched it with the tip of my index finger. I opened my soul in that spot and allowed flames to gush out freely. The energy for the flames was provided by the spirit seed, but I used a thin tendril of qi along with my affinities to try and guide it forward in a straight line. I didn't have any problem cutting through the log, but after the flames got too far from my body, I was no longer able to control them, so the total depth I could drill was limited.

When I finally cut off my flames, I backed away and allowed the deacon to approach. He took out a rod and measured my work.

He laughed happily. "A good bit over two meters deep. A normal disciple has difficulty reaching forty or fifty centimeters. Also, from the looks of it, control was your problem, not total power. This is certainly an area where you will have to limit yourself. The fire seed can provide you much more power than someone with your cultivation base should have."

He gave the log one last look and then turned to a brick of dirt.

"Let's get to the second test. I expect you'll find it much more challenging."

I looked at the brick but wasn't sure what to expect.

"This is a test of your isolation ability. This is a one-kilogram block of ice that's been covered in a thin layer of earth. With a bit of effort, your fire will be able to burn away this shell of earth, but your goal is to do so without melting the block of ice hidden within. Earth obstructs water. If your flames touch the ice, it will quickly destroy it. Your result will be based on how much the block weighs after you have removed all the dirt."

While I had more practice with qi isolation than anyone in the sect, isolating the spirit fire's energy was a different beast entirely. It didn't behave the same way qi did, it was wilder. Where qi went where I told it and stayed there, the spirit fire would go where I wanted it to and then wander around unless I maintained focus on it at all times.

Covering an entire block with flames and burning away the earth wasn't difficult, but controlling the fire while I did so and not letting it touch the ice felt nearly impossible. Whenever I increased my energy output enough to make the dirt disappear, the flames quickly ate into the ice. I would have to spend time to figure out the trick to this. My earth affinity simply wasn't high enough to control the spirit fire properly.

"Zero kilograms remaining. It's not surprising. Most disciples feel this is the hardest of the tests. Let's move on."

Saying this, the deacon moved to a rope and shaped it into a coil on the ground.

"For the test of speed, you need to use your fire to burn this rope. It's somewhat wood-aligned, so it won't be the easiest thing to burn, but it doesn't take too much effort. Start at the outside end. You must burn it by following the path of the rope, like a candle wick. If you lose control and burn part of the coil before you reach it by following the path of the rope, this test will be considered a failure."

I thought about how to approach the task, but I went with my first idea. I put my index finger above the rope and released a small amount of fire. I then just used my hand to trace the coil. Once I locked in the right amount of energy to use, the test wasn't too difficult. I singed the inner coil a couple of times, but I never destroyed it.

Deacon Liu nodded. "Twenty-three seconds. Not bad. That's in line with where most disciples are, but you were a little sloppy. You should work on that. Let's get to the final test, accuracy."

He took me to a small desk upon which sat a few sheets of paper. The paper was stamped with a red wax seal, and the grooves in the wax were inlaid with small shards of wood.

"The red wax is infused with cinnabar, a fire-attributed material. The goal is to destroy the seal without damaging the wooden inlay or the paper beneath. The wax will not be difficult to destroy, and the wood of the inlay and paper will resist being burned by your fire. However, fire produces earth, so the cinnabar in the wax will naturally increase the intensity of your spirit fire."

Even with my lacking earth affinity, the last test wasn't too difficult. Since I was able to use the flame at low intensity, it was well within my control. The only hard part was the wax trapped between the inlay and the paper. I destroyed a few shards of the inlay before I got the fire under control, but near the end, I didn't have any problems.

"Thirty percent damage. It isn't bad for your first attempt, and from the swift progress you made during this attempt, I'm sure you'll do better next time."

"What's next?"

"Now we talk. Except for your power, everything else was somewhat mediocre. It was in line with the other disciples, and you showed potential to quickly improve in some areas, but before you can compete openly, you need to understand your strength and the strength of a regular disciple better."

He tapped his chin in thought. "Go and practice each of these skills, but remember what you were able to accomplish today. After you practice, come back and use the testing log a few times. You need to give off a natural look of struggling to reach past forty centimeters."

"What about the other tests?"

"Your fire seed doesn't seem to be helping you out with anything other than raw power. In fact, it seems to be actively hurting you in some areas. So, you don't need to worry about learning to hide anything other than your power. Your isolation is a problem though. Most disciples have problems with it, but the fire seed seems to be making things even worse than normal. You'll need to find a way around that."

"So, I just need to go practice my fire skills more now?"

"No. You need to practice your skills, but they are still sufficient for you to move on to other tasks. Don't compete with any other disciples until you've improved, of course, but we can get you started on advancing your alchemy. Come back to the pill hall with me and I'll teach you about Rank 2 pills."