The Undying Immortal System

As we walked, the young woman began asking me questions as she wrote things down in a notebook.

"So, what do you know about cultivation techniques?"

"Not much, I guess. I've never actually seen one. I've only just heard about a couple."

"Oh? Which ones have you heard about?"

I stumbled briefly as I tried to decide what I should say. "I heard of the Earth Heart Mantra once. You know, for earth qi."

"Yeah! That one is excellent! It's a best seller. Whenever a new family comes into a bit of money, the Earth Heart Mantra is one of their first purchases."

"What? Really? Doesn't it, like, make people crazy?"

"Crazy? No, definitely not! It's a great technique. Grade-A."

"It doesn't… affect people's minds and make them believe they can do anything?"

"Eh, not anything. They just think that they're invincible warriors. Doesn't make 'em crazy. It's more… it gives them boundless confidence. 'I don't care who you are, I can step on you!' That type of thing."

"Why would someone want that? It's suicidal."

"Yep, that's why it's so great. They don't buy it for themselves, of course. It's a technique passed to guards and the like. If some high-level thug tries to attack you, you need guards that will fight back even when they're completely outmatched. The Earth Heart Mantra cultivates that kind of mindset."

"Still…"

"What other techniques have you heard of?"

"The, uh, Guided Flame Mantra?"

"Ouch, now that is a nasty one. Slave mantra. We're willing to sell it, but we have to be careful who has access to it."

We kept walking through the cramped basement corridors for several more minutes before finally reaching a set of stairs.

"Let's go."

As she waved me up the stairs, the strange girl placed her notebook down on a small table. Then, after taking me up two floors, she led me out onto a balcony that overlooked the grand emporium that was the pagoda's main floor.

"Don't worry, they can't see us up here. A formation blocks their view of the balcony. This place just looks like decorative wall panels from down there." She waved at me as she began walking away. "Come on, let me show you around."

She took me on a tour around the balcony, pointed out the various counters, and told me about what items were for sale. The tour lasted at least another half hour. When it was finally complete, she brought me to a decoratively carved wooden double door.

"Here we are! The boss's office. Let's go in."

Without knocking, she pushed open the door and pulled me inside.

"Hey boss man, got a kid here. He wants to make a deal with ya!"

A man who looked to be in his late twenties stood up from behind a desk and ambled over to us. As he walked in front of me, he held out one hand. Without waiting more than a beat, he reached down and grabbed my hand, which was still down at my side. He then proceeded to give me a firm, somewhat awkward handshake.

After releasing my hand, he gave a hearty laugh. "Welcome! My name is Chen WuJing. I'm the floor manager of this branch of the Blue Wind Pavilion. Call me WuJing. What's your name?"

"Um, Su Fang?"

"Su Fang, great name. Mind if I call you Fang?"

"No… not at all."

"Excellent, Fang. Come on in. Take a seat." He didn't take me to the desk but to a few armchairs set off to the side in a small sitting area.

"Fang, you said you want to make a deal. From what Mei told me, you're looking for a cultivation technique. Is that right?"

"Mei?"

"Oh, that's me!" The young woman blushed and gave me a small bow. "Pei LiMei, call me Mei."

"Yes, um, hi, yes, I do want a cultivation technique."

WuJing clapped his hands together. "Great! I look forward to working with you."

This wasn't right. None of this was. Ever since I entered the building things had been so… off. There was no way Mei should have talked to me like she did, and there was definitely no chance a manager at this kind of store would be so deferential to a guy who had spent last night sleeping on the streets of the slums. This was not how things should be going at all. Something was wrong.

"Ah, there it is, I see that look in your eye." WuJing grinned at me. "Not everyone gets it, but, of course, in your situation, things are quite obvious, no? Before we talk about our deal, let me level with you, okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright, so, let me tell you about us. The Blue Wind Pavilion is one of the largest organizations on the continent. We have branches in every major city and most minor ones. Many powerful cultivators work for us, and our leader is a Martial Sovereign."

He reached to the side table and poured tea into two small cups. He took one for himself and passed the other to me.

"This part of the world is, quite frankly, poor. Our main pavilion earns as much wealth in a second as this place earns in years. There's no profit to be made here. However, there are still a few reasons we have a branch here. For you, the most important one is that we value talent. Our most important mission is to dig out any valuable talents we find lying about."

He swirled the liquid in his cup a little before continuing.

"Look at Mei here. She is entirely bereft of any affinity. She is completely unable to cultivate and was kicked out of her clan because of it. But do you know what? She is my most valued worker by far. She is priceless."

I knew he wanted me to ask a question and let him elaborate, so I obliged him. "Why?"

"Blessings are interesting things. We say 'blessings can be anything,' but people rarely think deeply about the implications of that. Some blessings are fascinating."

WuJing held up the small notebook Mei had been writing in earlier.

"Mei here has a very interesting blessing. When she meets someone, she gains unnatural insight into how to best interact with and respond to them. When she talks to them, she knows exactly how to behave to achieve the best result possible. She may not even know what result she is working towards, just that it is the 'best possible.'"

He gave a derisive laugh and shook his head. "In truth, I don't think she's even touched the surface of what that blessing is capable of, but it makes her an excellent saleswoman. Don't trust her for a second though. That girl is a wolf. You sold some things to her before, right? Bet you didn't even haggle. You probably could have gotten at least 10% more out of anyone else."

Mei harrumphed and stomped a foot. "Boss! Stop it! I'll have you know that I gave him an excellent deal. Far more than you would have, that's for sure."

"Sure, sure." He waved her concerns away. Then, opened her notebook and handed it to me. "Take a look at this."

As I read it, I kept glancing at Mei.

Careful with this one, personality is very unique

Be completely open and honest, lies will be self-defeating

Don't ask about his background, won't tell the truth

Give direct pricing, won't haggle

Use given names with speaking

Always act like everyone is equal

Behavior should be close to a commoner in a restaurant

The writing continued, but I stopped reading.

"These are the instructions Mei gave me for dealing with you, what do you think?"

"Why are you telling me this? This feels like something you wouldn't say to just anyone."

"Ah." He tapped the book with two fingers. "Nearly the first thing she said. Completely open and honest. I trust Mei, so I do my best to follow her instructions. I'm not even concerned with how you'll react to my behavior. Mei told me to act like this, so I am."

He smiled at her and then turned back to me.

"Now, let me tell you about my blessing. It's nowhere as crystal clear as Mei's. I only get vague impressions. To put it simply, I get a vague sense of how important people are. Maybe it's better to say… I get an impression of how much benefit I can get from someone. Mei's and my blessings complement each other excellently."

He raised both hands and clasped them together meaningfully.

"Mei brought you up here because she believed you had a powerful alchemy blessing. This could, of course, be very valuable to us. When I met you though, my word… Where my blessing shows most people as a candle, you are a raging bonfire! Working with you would be extremely profitable."

A sly grin crossed his face, and I saw a bit of a greedy glint in his eye.

"So, let's make a deal. I know nothing about you. Not a clue what your actual goal is. And no, I won't ask. She told me not to." He gestured at Mei. "She seemed to think you would just tell me some lies if I did ask, so there's no point. If you want, you can give me some details, and we can work something out, but anticipating your needs, I prepared a few options for you to choose from."

He took me over to a side table where there were three scrolls and a normal-looking piece of paper.

He pointed to the first scroll. "This is the Flickering Flame Mantra. It's the weakest Rank 1 fire qi cultivation technique I have ever seen. No warrior would even consider using it. However, it can be great for alchemists. The low power output will make controlling your energy a bit easier. We usually sell it for 50 gold, but you are going to need to pay for it with a loan, so let's call it 100 gold. Just concoct pills for us until that debt is repaid. This is a simple transaction with no additional benefits to either side."

The mention of debt sent a twinge through me that made me instantly want to reject the offer. I took a deep breath to calm myself and simply nodded.

WuJing continued to the second scroll. "This is the Bright Candle Mantra. It's a bit better, a Mid-Yellow Rank 1 technique. The normal cost is 100 gold, and I will sell it to you at that price with the same repayment scheme as the last scroll. The difference is that you will become a guest alchemist of our Pavilion. You will prioritize us above any other organization, and we'll have the right of first refusal for purchasing any of your pills. We can talk through the exact details if you wish, such as minor benefits when buying and selling."

Repay… I waited anxiously for him to move on to the next scroll. He placed his hand on it carefully.

"This is the real beauty of the lot. It's a Low-Profound technique. This technique is not for sale, and even if it were, I don't think you would be able to cover the cost any time soon. I'm willing to give you this scroll for free, no debt needed. However, you must then become a full member of the Blue Wind Pavilion. We can talk about what that means later if you wish."

He pursed his lips as he looked at me. "Right now, you don't qualify for this technique. To do so, you would need to tell me exactly what your blessing is and how it helps you with alchemy. We will test it, of course, and if the higher-ups deem it valuable enough, you get the scroll. We can even see about finding you a master to study under. This would be a great option, but I don't know if you want to tell us what we need to know."

No debt was good. Could I tell them about my blessing though? I would have to lie. I wasn't going to tell the truth to complete strangers no matter how nice they acted. If I did, I doubted I could pass whatever test they would give me.

Having explained all of the technique scrolls, WuJing tapped on the lone sheet of paper that remained.

"Finally, we have this option. I don't want to offer it because I can guess what will happen. This is not a technique. It's a recruitment notice. The Twin Mountains Sect is located not too far from here. In two months, they will be having their annual recruitment. We will sell you a room, food, and transport to the sect. During this time, you can buy ingredients and concoct pills for us while you wait. We will buy them all at the same prices Mei quoted earlier."

He handed me the notice to let me review it. "Normally, joining a sect would require a decent cultivation level, and you would almost certainly have to give them the same information that you would us. The Twin Mountains Sect, however, has a unique recruitment system for new alchemists. The only requirement is the ability to concoct pills, which you have already proven you can do."

WuJing had me pegged as someone with a powerful alchemy blessing. I did not have that, and I couldn't tell anyone about my true blessing, so option three was out.

One and two were possible. I could take the scroll, cultivate it, and just live my life. The thing was, I didn't really know much about alchemy. Getting any better on my own would be nearly impossible. I needed techniques, recipes, and ideally a decent teacher. With options one and two, I would be on my own trying to find these things.

I also didn't want to be in debt again.

Was everything on the up and up with these deals? Maybe, maybe not, but following WuJing's advice would be the best way to see if I could trust him more in future lives.

I looked him in the eye.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I gotta go with joining the sect."