The Undying Immortal System

After reaching a deal with the Su Clan’s Grandmasters, they got down to the business of deciding who would be this year’s elites. Even though I had told them I wasn’t interested in poaching any of their ‘top talents,’ they still glanced at me frequently during this process to see if anyone caught my eye.

While listening to their discussions, I was less interested in the Disciples themselves and more interested in their process of choosing who would be an ‘elite.’ As I had seen before, this was partly based on the level of a person’s affinities, but it was more based on how the Grandmasters expected them to use their blessings in the future.

Half of the slots for elites were directly given to those with martial or physical blessings. These Disciples were destined to either become future warriors for the clan or be shipped off to the Rising Sun Empire.

The other half were for people with blessings that made them suitable for a position within the clan’s bureaucracy. Anyone with a blessing that would be uniquely helpful to the clan in some way, such as ShouLi’s beauty blessing, was also considered for these slots. Any leftover slots would then be given to others with combat-related blessings.

One of this year's ‘disappointments’ was Su NiangBa. He was a descendant of the Seventh Elder and had a mid seven-star earth affinity. This should have been enough to be considered an extremely valuable member of the clan, but his blessing was an ability to change the colors of fabrics and textiles. With a blessing like this, he was destined to be nothing more than a simple mortal weaver, so the Grandmasters abandoned him.

This decision made almost no sense to me. Even ignoring everything else, from the way his blessing was described, he could have made an excellent scout or spy. The ability to change the colors and patterns of his clothing at will would allow him to seamlessly blend into nearly any environment. With a solid earth affinity added into the mix, he could easily become a powerful member of an elite strike force.

However, the Su Clan’s Grandmasters saw his blessing as nothing more than a ‘fabric blessing.’ This made him a weaver, and allowing a future weaver to become an elite would have been seen as disgraceful. Also, as this was a mere mortal profession, Su NiangBa wasn’t even qualified for the specialized crafter training.

While I could somewhat understand how they reached this conclusion, allowing themselves to see their new Disciples as little more than their blessings was so… shortsighted.

The Grandmasters would rather give an elite slot to someone with a low affinity and a weak blessing that made them slightly better at using a spear than give it to a talented individual with high affinities and a blessing for hardening leather. The situation was laughable, and it convinced me that I should never allow myself to define people based on my perception of what their blessing would allow them to become.