The Undying Immortal System
Chapter 334: Life 77, Age 74, Martial Sovereign 1

Li NeiTang was dead, but this didn’t mean that we were safe. We were still deep in the Jiu Clan’s territory, and we couldn’t relax until we figured out where their Kings and Emperors had disappeared to.

So, once Liang's condition was stable, I sent both him and ShouLi back into my inner world. Then, I pulled out Shen, my Revered Elders, and a group of NiangBa’s fighters. “We need to figure out what happened here and do what we need to do to neutralize any further threats.”

I looked at RuLan. “See what you can do for Ning ZeKun. He went crazy on us, so don’t try to heal him just yet, but keep him stable until we figure out what’s wrong with him.”

I looked at Mei. “Li NeiTang somehow used the flower beds in this room to unleash a nasty cloud of poison, even though the entire place was locked down with a suppression formation. See if you can figure out how he did it, but more importantly, see if you can make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

I looked at Shen and Mo. “That golden throne seems to be able to control the room’s formations. See what you can figure out without activating them.”

I looked at NiangBa’s fighters. “If any threats pop up, neutralize them as quickly as possible. Attack first, ask questions later.”

Then, I pulled out a large, padded armchair and collapsed into it. I barely even had the wherewithal to pull out a second chair for NiangBa. While I hadn’t personally taken part in much of the fighting, constantly maintaining three shells of spatial fire at a high enough intensity to repel the suppression formation had been more mentally draining than any alchemy or combat session that I had ever engaged in. So, before I would be able to focus enough to help with the cleanup effort, I first needed to get a bit of rest.

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Thankfully, the experts that I had assembled knew their jobs well, and they were good at them. They took care of all the tasks that I had originally mentioned, and when those were done, they moved on to everything else that needed doing.

As for me, once I recovered enough to think clearly again, I joined Mo and Shen in trying to uncover the secrets of the temple’s formations. As many of the inscriptions were at least Rank 7, deciphering exactly what everything did would have to wait until we had more time. At the moment, our most important task was simply to figure out how to turn everything off and on. Even if the majority of inscriptions were Rank 7 or beyond, this was a job well within the capabilities of three talented Formation Emperors such as ourselves.

Three days later, I called a meeting.

All my Revered Elders and the entirety of my clan’s leadership team poured into the conference room at the top of Chang’an’s tallest skyscraper. No one was willing to be absent, so the seats filled up quickly. However, even after everyone had arrived, one chair was still vacant–the chair directly to the right of ShouLi, Liang’s chair.

Liang had survived. He was recovering, but he was drained. All of his body’s energy was being channeled into rebuilding his lost limbs, so he was barely able to remain conscious for more than an hour a day. When he found out that he would never be able to cultivate again…

Liang was healing. But for the moment, his chair remained empty.

I tore my focus away from the empty seat and looked around the room. “Alright, what can you tell me? What happened? How can we make sure that it never happens again?”

Instantly, everyone's eyes turned to Mei, who let out a nervous cough.

“Well… let’s… start from the beginning.” She took a moment to adjust her posture and reorient herself. “Li NeiTang was a Gu Sovereign–that’s clear enough. When Ning ZeKun arrived at the Summit, Li NeiTang somehow infected him and all of his companions with a gu. If Sovereign ZeKun is able to wake up, he will hopefully be able to share the exact details of what transpired, but for now, all I can say is that, based on everything I’ve learned, Li NeiTang infected him with a variant of the Rank 7 Puppet Gu.”

NiangBa’s brow furrowed. “Puppet Gu? Not Soul Gu?”

Mei shook her head. “No, Puppet Gu. A Soul Gu is… little more than a crude torture device. Once implanted into a person’s soul, it continuously causes immense pain until the host willingly follows the commands of the gu’s controller. Over time, this results in a form of slavery, but the process is far from instantaneous. Breaking down a person’s will takes time. Breaking someone like Ning ZeKun, a battle-tested warrior who has climbed to the rank of Sovereign? It would take months.

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“Puppet Gu are different. They infiltrate people’s bodies and take over control of their nervous systems. This allows the gu–and, by extension, the gu’s controller–to manipulate the host’s body like a puppet. While this doesn’t affect the host’s mind–Sovereign Ning would have been fully aware of what he was doing–Puppet Gu take complete control over their host’s body, and the hosts are powerless to stop them.”

ShouLi’s face twitched with a hint of anger. Having sat by Liang’s side for the past several days, she was completely out of the loop on everything that we had learned, a position that she wasn’t used to being in. “Why haven’t we heard of this ‘Puppet Gu’ before? If they’re so powerful, why doesn’t anyone use them? Why isn’t the Nine Rivers Sect crawling with gu puppets?”

Mei sighed. “Aside from any ethical concerns or fears of repression, the fact is, Puppet Gu are generally considered worthless. They can control a person’s body but not a person’s qi. What's the point of taking control of a group of Emperors if you can only control their bodies? They’ll barely be stronger than a group of mortals, and if they somehow break free from your control, you’ll be in serious danger when they decide to retaliate. Better to just kill them. Such gu are usually only used on beasts, and even then, the methods employed by beast tamers are far superior to Puppet Gu.”

My face took on a grim cast. “That may have been true before, but with body cultivation in play, things will change. If I had to guess, I’d say that the Earthly Dao has already started toying with the idea of using blessings to spread knowledge of body cultivation and beast alchemy. Once gu keepers learn of this, the use of Puppet Gu will become more common. We need to be prepared.” I let out a puff of air. “What about Ning ZeKun? Can you get the gu out of him? Will he be able to recover?”

“The gu is already dead. The mother gu was attached to Li NeiTang. When he died, it died. And when the mother gu died, the child gu that was inside Sovereign ZeKun also died.” Mei winced slightly. “However, when the child gu died, it dissolved in a toxic sludge. I’ve been working with Murong NaYun to cleanse and purify these toxins, but… The child gu was Rank 7. We’re only Peak Kings. We may not be successful.”

Ning ZeKun’s assistance would be invaluable in our bid to take over the continent. His death would be a huge loss. This wasn’t something that could be forced, though. “I understand. Just… do your best.”

ShouLi tapped the table in agitation. “What about the flower beds? Where did that poison come from?”

Mei looked nervously at NiangBa and his lieutenants.

NiangBa let out a wry chuckle. “You know how we were searching for the members of the Jiu Clan? Well, we found them. They, along with all of Li NeiTang’s followers, were buried in those flower beds.”

Mei took out a glass cylinder that contained an ugly yellow-green beetle. “This is a Corpse Gu. Li NeiTang killed everyone on the Summit, infected them with Corpse Gu, and buried their bodies in those flower beds. When the time was right, he sent a signal to the mother gu inside his body. Then, the mother gu sent a signal to all of the Corpse Gu, causing them to explode. Copious amounts of qi would have been needed to infect those corpses and produce all of that poison, but sending these signals is more of a… biological process, so it’s something that can be done even under the effects of a suppression field.”

ShouLi nodded, accepting this answer. “What about Li NeiTang’s fire seed?”

I exerted a bit of will, and two jade boxes appeared. “I’ve taken both NeiTang’s seed and the Bloodfire into custody. I can’t analyze them, so I’m not sure exactly what they do. Until I know, I’ll be keeping them safely locked away.”

After this, the group began discussing details for how they wanted to move forward and take control of both the sect and the continent, but I let most of this pass by without comment. I had raised this group to manage such things for me, and I was more than happy to sit back and let them do their jobs.

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When the meeting concluded, ShouLi asked me for a word in private, so I portaled back to my sitting room in the Hall of Ancestral Worship. Once there, I pulled her out of my inner world, and she gave me a short bow.

“Ancestor… we…”

I motioned for her to take a seat. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” ShouLi bit her lip. “We… All of us… We’ve been talking. We’re… We’ve decided not to ascend to Sovereign. Without Liang… It doesn’t feel right. We’ll… remain Emperors. When our time comes… it comes.”

I nodded in solemn acceptance. “I understand. Who is… we?”

“All of us…” ShouLi closed her eyes. “NiangBa, Mo, GuiMing, GuiAi, RuLan, TongBin… even Chang… Everyone from the first generation who has ascended to Emperor. As you said, ascending to Sovereign comes with certain limitations. We’ll set the precedent for the clan. Until those limitations can be resolved, no one will ascend past Emperor.”

“I… see.”

“Also…” ShouLi paused to take a deep breath. “Over the next few years, we’ll all be stepping down from our positions in the clan. Back on Mount Jiang, we talked about creating a path for others to rise up to positions of leadership. It’s time for us to honor that promise. It’s time… It’s time for the next generation to step up and take ownership of things.”

My vision became a bit cloudy. This was the end of an era. ShouLi and the others had been there to support me for over 300 years. Now… I knew it would happen someday–I had always known–but I hadn’t expected to become so attached.

“I understand. Thank you.”

ShouLi kneaded her hands nervously. “After we step down, we’ll transition positions as elders. We’ll be there to support the new leaders if they need it, but… they need to learn to stand on their own, just like we did.”

I reached out and clasped her hand. For the first time, I began to truly feel my age. I was an old man sitting next to the bedside of a grandchild with a terminal illness. ShouLi still had centuries left to live, but how long was a century? Practically no time at all.

“Let… Let me know if you need anything. I’m always here to help.”

ShouLi dropped her head and stared at the floor. “Thank you, Ancestor.”