The Undying Immortal System

Chapter 252: Life 73, Age 48, Martial Grandmaster Peak

Not long after the conclusion of the tournament for Arena Master, the start of the new year came and passed, and it was soon time for me to return to the Su Clan to pick up my next batch of Disciples.

As this was the first training session after I had poached the clan’s Grand Elder, I expected to face some form of retaliation. Even if TaiZu and the Patriarch weren’t on the best of terms, as the leader of the Su Clan, the Patriarch couldn’t be happy about me stealing away five of his Grandmasters.

So, I wasn’t at all surprised when I detected a contingent of several dozen Martial Masters hiding out in the forests surrounding the Su Clan’s training compound. The idea that anyone would send Masters into a wooded area to ambush a Grandmaster wood cultivator was a bit baffling, but I had never given anyone in the Su Clan much credit for their strategic foresight.

However, to my surprise, I was able to enter the training compound without any of these Masters moving to stop me or running off to inform their superiors of my arrival.

With Heng now living on Mount Jiang, no one from the Su Clan was present to greet me, but my normal guest house had already been prepared as normal, and it was waiting for me empty and in good order. No one had even attempted to so much as plant an eavesdropping formation inside.

Frankly, I was becoming somewhat disappointed in the Su Clan’s lacking thirst for revenge. It almost felt like no one even knew their Grand Elder had gone missing.

Aside from the absence of Heng, there was little difference between this year’s training session and what I had become accustomed to. There was a slight uptick in the number of Disciples this year, with over 100 children present during the blessing ceremony, but that was easily explained.

This was the sixteenth year since I had recruited my first batch of Disciples, and the Su Clan’s plan to encourage increased birth rates was beginning to materialize. This place would no doubt be packed with Disciples in a few years as this policy came into full effect.

Of course, that was assuming that the clan’s training regime continued as normal. At this point, it was hard to predict what might unfold over the next few years.

During the three-month training camp, YuanFei had seemed on edge the entire time, but he never spoke to me about what was bothering him, so I did my best to ignore it.

Finally, on the last day, just as I was preparing to head to the final competition between the elite and normal Disciples, YuanFei came to visit me. After giving a martial salute and a slight bow of his head, he got to business.

“Prince Fang, my father, the Patriarch, has requested your presence at a banquet. It is to be held tonight at the pavilion on Swan Goose Lake.”

I smiled faintly and nodded in acknowledgment. “I see. Did he explain the purpose of this banquet?”

YuanFei’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly. “He wishes it to be a secret, but I have learned that it is to welcome a delegation from the Red Sun Kingdom.”

I nodded in thought. Were they planning to lay a trap for me? Had those Martial Masters been waiting in the forest all this time just to make sure I didn’t disappear before this feast?

If so, then the Patriarch’s plan had been a complete failure.

I had barely spent any time in the training compound this year. After making my presence known, I had discreetly returned to Mount Jiang to keep an eye on Elder TaiZu to make sure that he didn’t find some way to take advantage of my absence.

Deciding on a course of action, I smiled at YuanFei. “Tell your father that I’ll be there.”

Later that day, after packing 76 new Disciples away in my storage space, I made my way to Swan Goose Lake. I did not, however, approach the lake too closely. There were too many unknowns in this situation for my liking.

This wasn’t because I was afraid of losing my life.

Even if the Patriarch had the assistance of a Sovereign-level clan, it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to threaten my life as long as I remained within the Wastes. I had enough tricks from my time in the Nine Rivers Sect that if someone attacked me, even if I couldn’t win, I wouldn’t have much of a problem escaping.

Instead, I refrained from entering this obvious trap because I saw little value in doing so and because escaping from it might have required me to show more of my trump cards than I was comfortable with.

Also, by not attending the banquet, I displayed a lack of courage. While I had done my best to not show any weaknesses in front of the Su Clan in the past, appearing weak now would lead to the exact results I was hoping for. After all, if I appeared unbeatable, how would I ever be able to convince anyone to send an attack against Mount Jiang, and if they didn’t attack, how were our traitors supposed to come to their aid?

At any rate, while I had no intention of joining in the night’s feast, I did want to watch and see what happened.

I doubted that the entire banquet had been prepared only for my benefit. As dense as he was sometimes, the Su Clan’s Patriarch had to know that it was unlikely I would participate.

Before he could even register what had happened, Su TaiZong was engulfed in flames.

Only a moment later, he was dead.

Su TaiZong, Patriarch of the Su Clan had been murdered in plain view of all the gathered nobles.

As soon as his body turned to ash, Su YuanFeng stood up, walked around the table, swept the ash from the south-facing chair, and sat down. Then, he continued talking to his two guests as if nothing had happened.

Having sensed the trap, YuanFei had chosen not to attend the banquet. Instead, he had used his time to rally his supporters from within the Su Clan.

However, it didn’t take long before word spread that the unknown man who had accompanied YuanFeng to the Swan Goose Lake Banquet had been the Third Prince of the Rising Sun Empire. Once YuanFei’s allies learned of this, they began discreetly slipping away one after another. Everyone knew that YuanFei and anyone who supported him would have targets on their backs.

Ultimately, YuanFei could not stand against the might of the Rising Sun Empire. His only choices were to capitulate and swear allegiance to YuanFeng, leave the Wastes entirely, or find a strong backer who could protect him.

So, less than a week after the Swan Goose Lake Banquet, a group of a dozen Grandmasters, two dozen Masters, and nearly a hundred Disciples arrived in front of my Rosehill compound. As I had been keeping a close watch on everything happening around the Wastes during this time, I was there to step out and greet this group the moment it arrived.

Upon seeing me, YuanFei and two of his companions walked forward and gave me a deep bow.

“Prince Fang, I request asylum within your ranks. Please, help me protect those who have been loyal to me. In return, we shall serve you faithfully.”

I looked at him with an impassive expression and then studied the people he had brought with him. I waved to the two people by his side.

“Who are they?”

A smile crept onto YuanFei’s face as he pointed to the man on his left. “This is Su JianPei. He is one of the best warriors in the Su Clan.”

I wanted to laugh. The Su Clan had sent all their best warriors to the Rising Sun Empire. If JianPei remained in the Su Clan, it meant that he wasn’t skilled enough to join the empire.

Holding back my laughter, I turned to the man on YuanFei’s right. Something about him seemed oddly familiar.

YuanFei’s smile widened. “This is the most talented alchemy prodigy the Su Clan has produced in decades. He has spent years training under a Grandmaster Alchemist from the Twin Mountains Sect, and I am confident that he will be of great service to you.”

The man stepped forward and bowed deeply. “Greetings, Prince Fang. My name is Su RuDi.”

I nodded and smiled in satisfaction.

“Su YuanFei, if you pledge your loyalty to me, I can protect you. I can even give you a chance to become more powerful.”

A sense of relief began to well up within the man, but it quickly turned into apprehension with my next sentence.

“There is only one thing you need to do for me first.”

YuanFei bowed his head. “What do you need of me, Prince Fang?”

I pointed at Rudy.

“Send him away, and make sure YuanFeng knows of his plan to defect.”