The Undying Immortal System

Without pills, I wasn’t sure how fast I could cultivate, but with my grasp of cultivation techniques, I was sure I could do it far faster than would be normal for someone in my position. I just needed to decide what speed to display for the palace observers who were no doubt watching us. Being either too fast or too slow could prove fatal.

This was difficult because I didn’t know what kind of speed was considered normal here. I also didn’t know what level they thought my affinity was at. How high of an affinity would the System have shown them? For all I knew, they could think I had a one-star affinity for some strange reason. I could purchase that information, but I decided to just let it be. It wasn’t worth the credits. Whatever would happen would happen.

The information I did have was that the boss had wanted us to advance to Martial Disciple 4 by the end of the year and there was a guy in the past that had set his goal as reaching Martial Disciple 3. Another thing to consider was that if I wanted to advance to Martial Master before my cultivation calcified, I needed to reach Peak Disciple by the age of 28 or 29. If I did that, they should give me a Rank 2 technique to continue cultivating.

I decided that I would plan on rising two stages in the first year, but I would slow down my progression at a steady rate so that I ended up as a Peak Disciple when I turned 28. I could adjust my plans to compensate if I heard any additional information about what cultivation speed was expected. If they were looking for a servant that had reached Peak Disciple by age 25 or so, I could cultivate faster to accomplish that.

With this plan in place, I began cultivating at a steady, relaxed pace. During the day, I would do chores around the palace, washing everything from dishes to buildings. In the evenings, I would do my best to fit in with the other boys, but once the lights were out, I cultivated.

This routine lasted for nine months. That was when I hit Martial Disciple 3 slightly ahead of schedule.

The day after I hit Disciple 3, the boss caught me on my way out of the dormitory.

“Come with me,” he growled.

I looked at the man as he started walking away. His tone and demeanor showed anger. He looked like he was furious with me. However, I got a faint sense that this was completely wrong. It was more like he was annoyed, but not exactly at me. What I sensed of his feelings toward me seemed to be simple disinterest.