The Undying Immortal System-Chapter 335: Life 77, Age 74, Martial Sovereign 1

The Sovereigns had been dealt with, but that didn't mean we were safe. We had less than a week before the Central Continent’s tribute came due. If we messed this up, then everything that we had gone through—the decades that my clan had invested into this timeline, Liang’s sacrifice—would lose all meaning.

I needed to ensure that didn't happen.

We had three sets of tribute to prepare–one for each of the Sovereign clans with a presence on the Central Continent. According to what Ning ZeKun had told me, the Jiu Clan’s tribute came from the Nine Rivers Sect, the Li Clan’s came from the Blue Wind Pavilion, and the Zhuge Clan’s came from their Imperial Alliance.

While I, personally, didn’t have any real understanding of what this Imperial Alliance did or what kind of tribute it would normally provide, this was the easiest of the three to deal with. After serving as a high-ranking member of the Zhuge Clan for decades, Yan had detailed information on exactly what items would be expected and how they should be prepared.

The Li Clan’s tribute was a little more troublesome. Over the course of both the coup and the assault on the Summit, all of the Li Clan’s Emperors had been slain. This left both the clan and the Pavilion without a strong leader to guide them. Fortunately, before the assault began, the Emperors who had sided with us had given Yan a list of what items the tribute was supposed to contain, so all we needed to do was force the Pavilion to provide them.

To do this, the council selected a Martial King from among people originally sent to us by Emperor Li. She was still a little weak, but with a sufficient amount of help from our Su Clan, she was able to assert her authority over both the Li Clan and the Pavilion. Some of the Pavilion’s senior managers didn’t entirely approve of this, but we only gave them three options: accept it or resign. The third option was the bloody one, and, surprisingly, not a single person opted to take it.

This left us with only needing to deal with the Jiu Clan’s tribute, but this was the trickiest one by far.

We knew that the tribute was supposed to come from the Nine Rivers Sect, but we didn’t know what it was supposed to contain, and we didn’t have the requisite authority to demand it from the sect’s various peaks. We could have tried to use force to, essentially, steal the tribute, but that would have taken more time than we had. So, Yan decided to take a more diplomatic approach.

That was when a new problem cropped up: Who was he supposed to negotiate with?

The Sect Master was the long-dead Sovereign of the Jiu Clan, so he was no longer able to assist us. There were the various peak masters, but their authority didn’t extend past their home peaks, and even there, their power was limited.

The people we really needed to meet with were the sect’s elusive elders. They were the people who kept things running behind the scenes, so they were the ones who would normally be responsible for gathering and preparing the Jiu Clan’s tribute. However, they rarely showed themselves, and we didn’t have any way to contact them directly. While the various formations in the temple likely contained the means to summon them, until we had a better understanding of how those formations worked, we didn’t want to play around with them.

Thankfully, Emperor Jin was still the Master of the Metal Peak, and with her help, Yan was able to arrange a successive series of meetings with ever more important groups of elders.

Finally, only a few days before the tribute came due, Yan called me to a meeting with the Grand Elders from all of the various peaks. They were ready to make a deal.

The meeting was held in the Hall of Elders, a hidden pagoda near the Summit of Dragon Peak, on the side of the mountain opposite Heaven City.

When Yan and I arrived, instead of entering the main hall, we were brought around back and guided up several flights of stairs, all the way to the top of the pagoda. There, we found a familiar-looking conference room that was protected by a familiar anti-portal formation.

Upon entering, we found 10 elders lining one side of the room’s long table. The other side was lined with nothing but empty chairs.

Yan guided me to the chair at the center of the table, then sat down in the chair to my left.

He gestured between me and the middle-aged man sitting opposite me, who was wearing a bright orange robe. “Sovereign Su Fang, please allow me to present Grand Elder Zheng BoQin, the Grand Elder of Dragon Peak.”

He turned to the elder. “Elder Zheng, it is my honor to present Sovereign Su Fang–Sovereign of the Su Clan, Unchallenged Ruler of the Western Wastes, and Leader of the Golden Lily Alliance.”

The Grand Elder’s lip curled in amusement at this grandiose title, and even I had to raise an eyebrow at this ‘Golden Lily Alliance’ that I was apparently now in charge of, but neither of us was uncouth enough to openly question the appellation that Yan had provided.

Instead, the Grand Elder just gave me a simple martial salute. “Greetings, Sovereign Su.”

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In response, I gave him a fractional nod of my head.

The Grand Elder glanced at Yan before focusing back on me. “Sovereign Su, after verifying the account of your envoy, Zhuge Yan, with regards to recent events, we, the Grand Elders of the Nine Rivers Sect, had a lengthy discussion on how best to proceed. After a heated debate, we were able to reach a unanimous decision.”

The elder cleared his throat and repositioned himself into a more upright posture. “Su Fang, in accordance with the wishes of the Zhuge, Li, and Ning Clans, we, the Grand Elders of the Nine Rivers Sect, have chosen to accept your claim to the title of Provisional Emissary of the Nine Rivers Saint, and we are willing to provide you with all of the support that this position demands.”

My brow furrowed, and I turned sharply to look at Yan, but he just shook his head, as confused as I was.

I turned back to the elder. “Provisional Emissary. Please, explain.”

“Su Fang, your envoy has requested that we support your claim of conquest to both this sect and this continent. This is not a request that the Grand Elders can accommodate. We have sworn Oaths to support both the Nine Rivers Saint and the Nine Rivers Sect to the best of our abilities, in that order. If your desire is to rebel against the Nine Rivers Saint, then we are duty-bound to oppose you, even if that leads to our inevitable death.”

I nodded, knowing that arguing against such an Oath was futile. I could potentially get around it by pulling these people into my inner world, but such an action would be meaningless. I needed their support here, in the outside world.

Seeing my acceptance, the elder continued. “However, as you have the full support of the remaining Sovereign Clans, we are prepared to acknowledge you as the Nine Rivers Saint’s Provisional Emissary. As long as you are willing to fulfill the duties of the Emissary, you will have our full support.”

“And what… duties are you referring to?”

The elder held up a finger. “One, you must continue the practice of sending both tribute and skilled cultivators to the clans on the Central Continent.”

He held up a second finger. “Two, you must assist with the rebuilding of the Sovereign Clans, and you must either help a new Sovereign ascend to take charge of each one, including the Jiu Clan, or you must contact the Central Continent and request a replacement.”

This was already going to be a problem, but the elder wasn’t done. He held up a third finger. “Finally, you must do your best to aid in improving the growth and prosperity of the Nine Rivers Continent.”

I steepled my hands and looked across the table at the Grand Elder. I didn’t want to fight these people–I needed their support. However, their demands were… inconvenient. frёeωebɳovel.com

“I have no problem with your final demand. That was my intention even before you requested it of me.”

The elder gave a light smile and nodded his head.

“As for your first demand, you already know that I am here for your assistance with the tribute, so that is also a non-issue. Sending people to the Central Continent, however…” I tapped my fingertips together a few times. “If the sect’s elders take care of selecting candidates, and if those candidates are willing to go to the Central Continent, then I am willing to accommodate them. However, they must not be informed of the… changes that have taken place.”

The elder gave another nod of agreement.

The ease with which he accepted this provision worried me. He had sworn an Oath to support the Saint to the best of his ability, yet he was, effectively, helping me hide information from the man. There was, potentially, a trap in this, but I would just have to let Yan figure it out and deal with it.

“As for the second demand…” I closed my eyes in thought. “I am willing to assist someone from both the Zhuge and Li Clans ascend to Sovereign—as long as they are willing to do so. I am not willing to request any ‘replacements,’ though, so the Jiu Clan–”

The elder raised a hand to interrupt me. “The Jiu Clan is indeed destroyed, but the Summit possesses a stockpile of Jiu Clan blood essence. It is possible to rebuild the clan’s presence on this continent without any outside assistance. If you choose to go this route, then I would request that the head of this new Jiu Clan also becomes the new Sect Master of the Nine Rivers Sect.”

Unsure of what complications all of this might involve, I looked at Yan. He just nodded silently.

“Very well, I accept your proposal. Assist us with providing the Jiu Clan’s regular tribute, and I will work to fulfill your requests.”

After a few words of parting, I stood to leave, but before I could, the Grand Elder stopped me.

“Emissary Su, please allow me to provide you with a word of caution. If you wish to retain your position, then you must not neglect the Imperial Alliance’s responsibilities. Failure to faithfully execute them will result in the complete destruction of your entire clan.”

I cupped my fists in a salute. “Thank you, elder.”

I wasn’t sure what the ‘responsibilities of the Imperial Alliance’ were, but the Alliance belonged to the Zhuge Clan, so I was confident that Yan would know what needed to be ‘executed.’

The Jiu Clan’s tribute must have already been prepared because, with the help of the Grand Elders, it arrived at the Summit within only a few hours.

Following Grand Elder Zheng BoQin’s advice, we removed the horseshoe table from the temple’s main hall and replaced it with the dozens of crates that contained the tribute due to each of the three clans. For the Jiu Clan, this was mainly a collection of processed items, such as pills and refined weaponry. The crates for the Zhuge Clan contained an unusually large number of beast carcasses, and those headed to the Li Clan mostly contained an abundance of raw materials.

One item that stuck out to me was the large quantity of flerovium that was being shipped to the Li Clan. In the past, I had wondered why the Blue Wind Pavilion was purchasing so much of the metal from the Su Clan. Now, I had my answer–it was being sent to the Central Continent.

Because of everything that had happened, we only had a few days to collect everything and get it all sorted out, but with the help of the sect’s elders, we were able to get it done.

On the day the tribute was due, I pulled out one of the formation plates I had gotten from the Emissary’s storage bag and tapped on it. The arch in the temple’s main hall sprang to life, and a portal of inky darkness spread out to cover its opening.

I nodded to NiangBa and the others who had joined me, and we started shoving crates through the portal one after the other. Once the final crate was through, I paused for a moment. Then, I touched the Emissary’s formation plate once more, and the portal to the Central Continent snapped shut.

The tribute was delivered. All we could do now was wait to see if our preparations had been sufficient.