The Undying Immortal System

Sensation crashed into me.

This time, however, I was prepared. I did not scream out. I did not fall over. I did not move.

Having died three times now, my mind was… blank.

I was uncomfortable in the kneeling posture, but I could hold it. Starting in the correct position makes it much easier to stay in the correct position.

"Rise!" The middle-aged man barked in words that I could finally understand.

I, along with everyone else, stood up. This time, I was able to blend into the crowd much more easily.

"Follow!"

We again began to walk the same path back to our houses. Now that I could understand everyone, I was hoping to listen in on the conversations around me to get a better feel for what was going on, but to my chagrin, no one was talking. I hadn't noticed this the last two times. Luckily, the walk wasn't too long, and we quickly came to the residential area where Ol' Shouty gave his little speech and explained things for me.

"Your qi has awakened, and you have all received your blessings from the Heavenly Dao. Find a house and meditate on the nature of your blessing. In two hours, we will begin taking you to be tested. Do not cause any trouble during this time."

That last sentence seemed to be directed at a small group of young men. Standing in the center of that group was the red-robed youth who had recently killed me.

Ignoring that psychopath, I went inside my little house and sat down to think.

I had two hours. In two hours, someone would take me out to be 'tested.' I wasn't sure what that involved, but I could guess they would probably like to know about this System I had been given access to. Oh, and the fact that every time I died, I would be sent straight back to the start of all this.

I didn't know all of the dangers that this place held, but the fact that I had died two times in quick succession told me it wasn't safe. I needed to keep my cards close to my chest for the time being. No reason to tell people things they didn't need to know.

Moving on to other topics, the words Shouty had said played through my mind.

'Blessing' was the same word the voice in the void had used. So, my blessing had to be the System and the ability to reincarnate. I would not be sharing that information, so I needed to have another answer ready to go.

I didn't know what a normal blessing would be or how to fake one. Fortunately, I had an easy way to solve this dilemma.

"System, I want to know about blessings from the Heavenly Dao."

Information about the Heavenly Dao and its blessings. Cost is not possible to calculate at this time.

Alright, so that's not happening. How about…

"System, I want to know common knowledge and beliefs about blessings from the Heavenly Dao. Things everyone knows or thinks they know about the topic."

Information on common beliefs regarding blessings from the Heavenly Dao. Cost 5 credits.

That suggested that there was hidden information that was extremely important. Something to keep in mind, but not something I could act on at the moment.

"Purchase!"

Purchase confirmed. 12 credits remaining.

It is commonly believed that a blessing of the Heavenly Dao can be nearly anything. Blessings enhance the blessed in some fashion. A weak blessing may allow the blessed to know how much to water a plant. A strong social blessing may allow the blessed to charm everyone they meet.

The most prized blessings typically enhance a person's martial prowess. An example would be gaining the ability to create a tiger out of fire that will fight alongside the blessed. However, such blessings are rare and are only obtained by the truly virtuous.

Credits expended. Transaction complete.

I had 12 credits. It wasn't enough to buy any heaven-defying blessing. I might be able to buy something simple and try to pawn it off as my blessing, but then I would definitely be seen as worthless.

I decided it was better to play up the mysterious angle. 'My blessing could be anything. It's probably something really cool, just wait and find out!'

I would tell them I didn't know yet. I would either be seen as incompetent or mysterious. Both were better than worthless.

That settled, I did have some credits burning a hole in my pocket. If I wasn't going to spend them on a 'blessing,' what did I need?

Knowledge, knowledge about this godsforsaken place where I can be killed on a whim. Why was I being killed so nonchalantly?

"System, I want to know about this body. Who am I, where did I come from? Just give me the basic information."

Information regarding the identity and history of the host's body. Cost 1 credit.

At least it was cheap. "Purchase."

Purchase confirmed. 11 credits remaining.

The former occupant of the body was named Su Fang. He was born into the Su Clan of the Western Wastes on the Nine Rivers Continent. The Su Clan is the sole ruler of the entirety of the Western Wastes, and they are currently unchallenged in their dominion.

Su Fang was an orphan born into a remote branch family of the clan. He was barely considered a member of the clan, and his identity as a member provided no benefits. If he were to become powerful, or even have the possibility of a bright future ahead of him, that would all change. The clan always welcomes someone of their blood who has potential, no matter how distantly related they are.

The second problem for Su Fang was that his body was in terrible condition. His genetics did him no favors, giving him a naturally small and frail body, but that was compounded by malnutrition and illness. No one had any hopes for his future.

When he turned 16, he was brought to the Su Clan training compound along with every other child of the clan his age. This is where the Su Clan awakens their children's qi and teaches them how to use it. This training allows a select few to gain great power and become the future pillars of the clan. Every clan member, no matter how distantly related, is required to attend. The clan does not want to miss out on any future prodigies.

During the Awakening Ceremony, clan elder Su YuanFei sent sparks of qi into the bodies of all the participants to try to assist in empowering their blessings. Su Fang's body, being frail and ill, could not handle this process and collapsed. At the moment of his death, he was blessed. His final wish was 'to die so that another may live.'

Credits expended. Transaction complete.

And that was that. That was how I ended up in his place. Depressing story, and I had to figure out how to pick up the pieces of Su Fang's broken life.

I wanted to laugh. I had been dying from a single punch from those pricks. I knew that couldn't be normal. What I just learned about this being a rather frail and disease-prone body was likely the cause.

From the information I had received, I felt that the clearest path forward was to make the Su Clan value me. They were the unquestioned rulers of this entire area, and it sounded like they could raise their children to be prominent members of society. However, the Su Clan would only value me if I seemed like a prodigy in their eyes. With this body, that was never going to happen.

"System, I want something that will heal my body so that I am at least average among my peers."

Rank 1 Healing Pill. Cost 10 credits.

It looked like I would only be able to buy one item. A minor healing pill. Was that what I needed? I asked for something to heal my body, but was that good enough? Could I make it stronger?

"System, I would like to buy something that can both heal my body and make it stronger, giving me strength equal to or greater than others my own age."

Rank 1 Strengthening Pill. Cost 25 credits.

That was a bust. To get one strengthening pill I would need to die three times. It would have to be something for the future.

"Buy the Rank 1 Healing Pill."

Purchase confirmed. 1 credit remaining.

I sat there, but no pill appeared.

"Where's my pill?"

No response.

"System, give me my damn pill!"

No response.

"System, how much for information about the location of my pill."

Basic information about the System storage space. Cost 1 credit.

"No, I'm not purchasing that."

I could figure this out on my own.

A storage space. A place that stores items purchased from the system. It wouldn't be a physical location. That didn't make any sense. So, it had to be something like an inventory in a video game. So, how was I supposed to open it and how could I take things out?

"Inventory."

Nothing happened.

"System Inventory."

Nothing.

"System Storage."

No.

Maybe it's not done through voice commands. Maybe I can just 'will' it to happen.

I focused my mind on wanting to take a pill out of storage. I tried to visualize a pill moving from 'somewhere' and appearing in my hand.

A small round pill appeared in my hand.

I was pleasantly surprised when it worked. Instead of immediately swallowing the thing, I tried to put the pill back into storage, but nothing I did had any effect, so the storage probably only worked in one direction.

"Here's to you, Su Fang." I tossed the pill into my mouth.

Energy surged through my body. Bones that were slightly out of place were moved back into alignment. Microcracks in them that I would have never noticed disappeared in an instant.

I felt like I had been reborn… again. The constant low-level pain I had barely noticed had vanished. I might still die to a single punch, I had no idea, but I felt like I had more of a future now.

As I waited in my small house, I began doing a few basic exercises. There was barely any room to move, but I still wanted to get adapted to my new body as best as I could. Basic sit-ups and push-ups gave me a sense of my current strength. It wasn't high, but I was able to complete a dozen push-ups before my arms gave out on me. After that, I performed a little shadowboxing to help with my muscle coordination.

We had been told someone would come to take us for 'testing' after two hours. The testing may have started then, but I was clearly not high on their priority list. It took nearly four hours for someone to finally come and open my door.

It was a middle-aged servant whose face was a mask of neutrality.

"Follow me."

I exited my room. Time to see what future I had on this Nine Rivers Continent.