Immortal Paladin

Yu Han and Li He looked at each other before turning back to me almost simultaneously.

"A job?" Yu Han asked.

Li He blinked curiously. "What kind of job, Your Holy Majesty?"

I rested my elbows on the stone table, smiling as an idea I had been mulling over for days finally found the right candidates.

"I want the two of you to accompany one of my people to the lower floors."

The pair exchanged another glance.

"Accompany...?" Yu Han repeated.

I nodded.

"You'll assist them with their work. Act as local guides whenever necessary, help them negotiate with the natives, protect them from unnecessary trouble, and ensure the project proceeds smoothly. In return..."

I spread my hands.

"Name your price."

Both of them stared at me, eyes wide. It wasn’t greed etched across their faces. Instead, it was pure disbelief.

Li He recovered first. “What… exactly is the task?” she asked carefully.

“A construction project,” I replied, taking a slow sip of tea before continuing. “I want to establish a proper Adventurer’s Guild on every floor of the Tower. Not some loose gathering of climbers or a temporary camp where people trade rumors before moving on. I mean a real, functioning organization.”

I began counting the features on my fingers. “A permanent guild hall. A quest board. Places to buy supplies and sell monster materials. A hub to hire escorts or request assistance. And most importantly, a center to exchange intelligence on monsters, dungeons, hidden paths, and dangerous regions.”

I shook my head. “The Tower has existed for who knows what purpose, we know nothing about it, and people are dying over it. Every new generation would repeat the same deadly mistakes because hard-won knowledge dies with the people who discovered it. It’s incredibly inefficient.”

Yu Han nodded slowly. "You’re right.”

“If every floor had a proper Adventurer’s Guild,” I continued, “new climbers would have a reliable place to gather information before risking their lives. Veterans could earn a steady living through commissions. Merchants would naturally flock to the area, and settlements would grow more prosperous. Over time, these guilds would become the backbone connecting every floor of the Tower.”

I smiled. “The best part is that no one needs to know I founded them.”

Both Li He and Yu Han looked at me with identical expressions of confusion.

“I have no interest in attaching my name to the guilds,” I explained. “If people knew the Holy Emperor was behind every building, it would only draw unwanted attention. Some would refuse to enter out of fear, while others would treat the guilds like temples instead of practical businesses.” I waved the idea aside. “I’d rather let them grow naturally. The guilds won’t belong to me. They’ll belong to the climbers.”

Yu Han frowned thoughtfully. “Then… why establish them at all?”

“Because someone has to,” I answered, the words coming almost instinctively. I gazed across the lake, where the afternoon breeze rippled the water into gentle waves. “I’ve been to enough worlds to know that civilizations don’t become strong because of a handful of heroes. They become strong because ordinary people have systems they can rely on.”

I turned back to them. “The greatest legacy a ruler can leave isn’t a mountain of corpses or an empire forged through conquest. It’s infrastructure. And I happen to know how to build one.”

A thoughtful silence settled over the pavilion. Neither of them interrupted; they simply listened.

“I already have people capable of constructing the guild halls,” I continued. “What I need now are trustworthy adventurers who truly understand the Tower who can interact naturally with local climbers and know what an adventurer actually needs. That’s why I thought of the two of you.”

Yu Han scratched the back of his head, looking awkward. “You really think we’re suitable?”

“I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”

Li He lowered her gaze to the untouched pastry in front of her. After a moment, she asked quietly, “If we accept… would we still be allowed to climb the Tower?”

I chuckled. “Of course. This isn’t a lifelong contract. Help establish the guilds on the lower floors, earn whatever payment you think is fair, and then continue your own journey. In fact, by the time you’re done, you’ll probably know the lower floors better than anyone else in the Tower.”

Yu Han’s face slowly broke into a smile. “That doesn’t sound like a bad deal.”

We sealed the agreement with a firm handshake.

Afterward, I beckoned toward one of the men waiting quietly outside the pavilion. He looked to be in his forties, with weathered features, a neatly trimmed beard, and the composed bearing of an experienced adventurer. Beneath that convincing disguise, however, was one of my Holy Spirits.

"My lord."

I smiled.

"I'll leave the rest to you."

The middle-aged man bowed respectfully.

"I shall do my best."

Honestly, an Ezekiel hardly needed bodyguards. They possessed enough combat ability to survive on the lower floors.

Unfortunately, their creator had the constitution of a grape and they inherited like three-fourths of that from me.

Every Ezekiel carried a fragment of my existence. If one was destroyed, I didn't merely lose a summon. I lost a piece of myself. I'd already learned that lesson the hard way after a handful of Ezekiels had been blindsided and eliminated before I could react. I wasn't about to repeat that mistake.

Besides, assigning Yu Han and Li He to accompany my Holy Spirit wasn't solely for its protection.

I wanted the two of them to live comfortably.

Traveling throughout the lower floors while helping establish the guilds would expose them to countless opportunities, resources, and battles where they wouldn't end up dead. They would naturally become stronger, wealthier, and far more influential than ordinary climbers without ever realizing I had planned it that way.

Not long afterward, I found Meng Po near the palace courtyard.

"I have one more favor to ask."

She folded her sleeves together.

"Let's hear it."

"I'd like Woodland Fortress to sponsor and advertise the Adventurer's Guilds."

Meng Po considered it for only a moment before nodding.

"I'll do what I can. I'll also provide Yu Han and Li He with whatever supplies they require to begin the project."

"...Really?"

"You should focus on your own journey."

She spoke so matter-of-factly that it almost sounded obvious.

"I'll handle their payment as well."

I laughed helplessly.

"That's awfully generous of you."

Meng Po snorted.

"I simply want you out of my face as soon as possible."

"...Sure."

I couldn't help smiling.

"I'll repay the two of you someday."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Watching the preparations unfold proved strangely entertaining. Yu Han and Li He hurried toward the armory alongside several attendants, only to begin arguing almost immediately.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"We don't need another spear."

"What if it breaks?"

"We already have three swords!"

"You can never have enough swords!"

"Who packs six bedrolls?"

"They're comfortable!"

"...We're climbing the Tower, not moving into it!"

I quietly slipped away while Yu Han and Li He continued debating the merits of carrying enough equipment to invade a small nation. My destination was the training grounds overlooking Woodland Fortress.

Footsteps trailed behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

“You have more to tell me?” I asked.

Meng Po clasped her hands behind her back and caught up with me at a leisurely pace. “On second thought…” She smiled. “I might actually miss you sooner than I realized.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re just making sure I don’t cause an incident before leaving.”

“I won’t deny that.”

By my latest count, I now had eight hundred and twenty-seven active Holy Spirits scattered throughout the Tower, including the Ezekiel accompanying Yu Han and Li He. The number would only keep growing. Every monster they defeated, every quest they completed, and every floor they explored strengthened both them and me.

Standing atop the broad terrace overlooking Woodland Fortress, I let the First Mystery spread through my body. My dark hair changed into a browner shade, my facial features subtly rearranged, and my aura dulled until I could blend into any crowd.

I would rather travel openly, but with the Tower still placing an absurd bounty on my head, discretion was necessary. Especially now that I was about to leave the protection of Woodland Fortress.

Meng Po observed the countless presences linked to my soul and shook her head in quiet amazement. “It’s still strange. The last time I saw you, creating even a single existence placed an enormous burden on you.”

By single existence, I have no idea what she was talking about.

Her gaze swept across the invisible connections stretching out from me in every direction. “Now you’ve manifested hundreds of independent existences.” She paused. “Even a Supreme Being shouldn’t be capable of something like this.”

A thoughtful silence followed.

“…This is the privilege of a Shen,” she said at last, meeting my eyes. “To create existence itself.”

I glanced inward through the countless spiritual links connecting me to every Ezekiel. So the Weight of Existence really was a far higher-order concept than I had originally believed.

Each Holy Spirit had fully immersed themselves in the identities I had crafted using the First Mystery. Some appeared as young men carrying enormous greatswords on their backs. Others took the form of scholarly women in flowing robes, wielding elegant staves. Several posed as elderly wanderers whose wrinkled faces hid frightening combat experience. There were cheerful merchants, gruff mercenaries, quiet hunters, traveling monks, blacksmiths, priests, assassins, knights, and even a drunken bard who somehow attracted free drinks wherever he went.

Every identity possessed its own memories, habits, speech patterns, and personality so convincing that even I occasionally forgot they all originated from the same source. Their classes reflected that individuality: Guardians, Rangers, Spellblades, Priests, Mages, Alchemists, Berserkers, Scouts, Paladins, and Artisans.

No two groups felt exactly alike, and their levels varied according to their experiences. Some lingered in the twenties after focusing on trade, while others had reached the fifties by relentlessly clearing dangerous regions. The strongest among them were already approaching my own level.

Their system interfaces functioned perfectly.

Mine… not so much.

I summoned it with a thought.

...

Level: 72

Name: Da Wei

Race: Divine Shit

Class: Sexy Boner

HP: 1/1

Strength: Human

Dexterity: Sloth

Constitution: Grape

Charisma: Middle Finger

Intelligence: Blue

Wisdom: Leeroy Jenkins

...

The level had increased, but everything else remained just as ridiculous as before. There was definitely something wrong with this damn system.

I closed the window with a sigh and looked toward the dozens of disguised Holy Spirits waiting throughout the training grounds. Many stood in silence, others adjusted their equipment, and several chatted like ordinary adventurers preparing for an expedition. Only I knew they all shared the same soul.

I smiled. “It is time.”

Every disguised Ezekiel immediately straightened.

“Move.”

There was no need for dramatic speeches. Every Holy Spirit was spiritually connected to me, so they had already understood my intentions long before the words left my mouth. Those words weren’t truly for them.

They were for the countless hidden observers watching from the shadows. For the bounty hunters eager to claim my head. For the spies serving the other Floor Masters. For every curious pair of eyes trying to unravel the mystery behind the Holy Emperor.

If they wanted to watch, then I would give them a performance worth remembering.

I had no desire to skulk around the Tower like some spooked rat.

The disguises were merely a formality at this point. Anyone powerful enough would eventually realize who I was, but that didn't mean I intended to make their lives easy. I had the constitution of a goddamn grape. Carelessness was how people like me ended up becoming fertilizer.

This body might have been considered "perishable" by the Tower's standards, but I still preferred keeping it intact.

With a single thought, I invoked the First Mystery, Who.

The disguise wrapped itself around reality like an invisible veil. It wasn’t limited to just me or the eight hundred and twenty-seven Holy Spirits.

It affected everyone.

Every soldier standing guard. Every servant hurrying through the halls. Every attendant, cook, craftsman, and child running through the streets of Woodland Fortress. In an instant, every single resident of the fortress suddenly wore the exact same appearance I had adopted, with black hair, ordinary features, and an unremarkable aura that allowed them to disappear into a crowd.

The transformation spread through an enormous formation hidden beneath the city, its countless runes illuminating one after another until the entire fortress shimmered beneath a curtain of divine authority.

For one glorious moment, Woodland Fortress contained thousands of identical versions of me. I slowly raised both hands, and then flipped the middle fingers toward the heavens.

"To everyone watching, go fuck yourselves."

Somewhere beyond my sight, I could almost feel several spies questioning their career choices.

Satisfied, I turned toward Meng Po.

"I'm going to miss you. Oh, and enjoy having a dick for the next twenty-four hours. Might as well test-drive it or something."

The smile on her face was stiff, and she was clearly fuming.

"DA WEI!"

The familiar ladle descended with terrifying speed.

I stepped sideways with Divine Step.

WHOOSH!

The strike carved a deep trench into the stone where I had been standing.

I reappeared several meters away, laughing.

"You missed."

"You shameless brat!"

"You really missed."

"I'll beat you to death!"

She chased after me for another few swings before finally giving up, muttering every insult she could think of beneath her breath while I continued grinning like the menace I apparently was.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I blended into the stream of disguised Ezekiels already pouring out of Woodland Fortress.

They scattered in four separate directions exactly as planned.

Anyone attempting to track me would first have to determine which one of several thousand identical Da Weis was genuine.

Good luck.

Near the fortress gate, Cheng Bao stood with folded arms, personally preventing outsiders from entering while the confusion unfolded around him. His expression already screamed that he had a headache.

Using Qi Speech, I quietly directed my voice toward him alone.

"I really wanted to have a proper conversation with you before leaving. I know you've been avoiding me on purpose, so I suppose this is the only way I can tell you what I wanted to say."

His brows knitted together in confusion. Rather than continue speaking, I flicked my wrist. A rolled scroll shot through the air. War Smite accelerated it until it screamed like an arrow.

Cheng Bao reacted instantly.

Clang!

His blade intercepted the incoming projectile with perfect precision before the scroll gently landed beside him. It wasn't a weapon. Just a letter. He picked it up slowly, staring at it for a long moment.

I offered him a half-salute, jumped over the walls, and then disappeared into the forest. Several groups attempted to intercept us before we had traveled very far. Unfortunately for them, hundreds of identical Holy Emperors suddenly turned around.

A rain of Divine Smites illuminated the forest.

Golden streaks tore through the sky while Rangers unleashed storms of arrows, Mages flooded the battlefield with spells, Berserkers charged laughing into enemy lines, and Paladins advanced beneath walls of holy light.

The combined spectacle was absurdly flashy.

More importantly, it was terrifying enough that very few people remained interested in blocking our path. Before long, Woodland Fortress had disappeared behind us. We crossed the great lake, passed the roaring waterfall, and then continued deeper into the ancient forest, leaping effortlessly from one massive branch to another as the wind rushed past our faces.

After several more kilometers, I finally slowed.

I looked around at the group accompanying me.

"We did a good job."

A small cheer immediately erupted.

"Hell yeah!"

"Nice work, Alex!"

"You too, Marcus!"

"Good one, Emily!"

"Don't forget Jason!"

"...Kevin carried us."

"I always carry."

I rubbed my forehead.

Unlike the Ezekiels operating outside the Tower, I had personally named every Holy Spirit accompanying me here: Alex, Marcus, Emily, Jason, Kevin, Charlotte, Ryan, Nathan, and Claire. At the time, I had explained that the names were merely covers, simple identities and nothing more.

Instead, the idiots had embraced them so enthusiastically that they now bragged about having “official names” whenever they communicated with their siblings outside the Tower through some evolving network. Should I be worried of a Sky Net going on? Never mind. Those poor Ezekiels outside the Tower had to earn their names through noteworthy achievements, while having one assigned directly by me had somehow become an elite status symbol.

I was beginning to suspect my Holy Spirits were turning into lazy little thugs. Fortunately, I was wrong. Or they wouldn't have done there due diligence. One of the more serious-looking Ezekiels suddenly raised his hand.

“My Lord.”

“Yes?”

“We aren’t clear yet.”

I sighed. “…Right.”

I waved my hand. “Cut away from me.”

Without the slightest hesitation, every Holy Spirit immediately scattered. One moment they surrounded me, and the next, I stood completely alone in the middle of the forest.

“…”

You guys could’ve at least pretended to hesitate.

The forest fell silent. Leaves rustled overhead, but the birds had abruptly stopped singing. I slowly turned toward a towering tree nearby. “You’re not being subtle, by the way,” I said, my gaze settling on its thick trunk. “Even my Holy Spirits managed to detect you.”

A deep voice answered from behind the tree. “Your senses are simply too impressive.” The speaker stepped into view. “The same could be said for your Holy Spirits.”

A familiar figure emerged.

Wendell.

No… not Wendell.

He was here as the Supreme Death.

The pressure rolling off his body was incomparably greater than anything he had displayed inside Woodland Fortress. Space itself seemed to groan beneath his presence, and the surrounding forest grew deathly still, as though every living creature instinctively understood that a supreme predator had arrived.

I rested my hand on my Storage Ring. “What do you want?”

His crimson eyes remained fixed on me. “We’ve never sparred before.” He took another step forward. “There may never be another opportunity. Draw your sword.”

The old boar-tusk spear was long gone. I had sold it shortly after arriving at Woodland Fortress and used the proceeds, along with a generous portion of the fortress’s treasury, to purchase equipment better suited to me. A proper longsword slid smoothly from my Storage Ring, its polished blade reflecting the filtered sunlight breaking through the canopy. The ring itself had also been a gift from Woodland Fortress. It was very convenient.

I rested the sword across one shoulder and looked at him. “I’m telling Meng Po.”

His expression didn’t change. “I’ll kill you. And every last one of your Holy Spirits. So… how about we keep this between ourselves?”

I stared at him, then glanced up toward the sky. Finally, I let out a long, suffering sigh.

“…Seriously?”

I wasn’t even looking for trouble this time.

Yet somehow, trouble had still managed to find me.

Fuuuuck…