My System Devours Immortals

Blood and Herbs

The attack came at midnight.

Cris was meditating in his dormitory when the door exploded inward. Three figures in black rushed him. No words. No warnings. Just blades.

He rolled off his cot. A sword split the wood where his head had been. He grabbed the attacker's wrist and twisted. Bone snapped. The man screamed.

"Devour."

Cris pressed his palm to the attacker's chest. Qi flooded into him—weak, but useful. Qi Gathering Third Layer. The man collapsed, lifeless.

The other two hesitated.

Cris didn't.

He grabbed a fallen sword and lunged. The second attacker blocked. The third tried to flank him. Cris spun, kicked, and drove his elbow into the third man's throat. The attacker gagged. Cris finished him with the sword.

The last one ran.

Cris let him go. He needed answers, not corpses. But the man was fast. Gone before Cris reached the door.

He stood in the ruins of his dormitory, breathing hard. Three bodies. One escaped. The ring pulsed on his finger, warm with fresh power.

"Assassins," the system said. "Sent by someone who knows what you carry."

"Elder Shen?"

"No. He wants you alive. These men wanted you dead."

Cris searched the bodies. No sect tokens. No identifying marks. But one of them carried a small pouch of herbs. Rare herbs. Expensive.

He recognized the scent. Moonleaf. Used to suppress cultivation. To weaken a target before capture.

Someone wanted him taken alive. Someone else wanted him dead.

He pocketed the herbs and left the dormitory.

---

The outer sect was quiet. Disciples slept. Elders meditated. No one had heard the attack.

Cris walked to the herb gardens. Esther worked there at night, tending rare plants under moonlight. She was the only one who didn't look at him like trash.

He found her kneeling among the moonflowers. Her hands were stained with soil. Her eyes were sharp.

"You look terrible," she said.

"Someone tried to kill me."

She stood slowly. "I know. I heard the commotion. I also know you killed two of them and let one go."

"How do you know that?"

"I have eyes everywhere." She wiped her hands on her robe. "The men who attacked you weren't from the sect. They were hired. Outside contractors."

"Who hired them?"

"That's the interesting part." She pulled a small paper from her sleeve. "I found this on one of the bodies before you got there."

Cris took the paper. It was a contract. A name was written on it.

Mo Lian.

The outer sect steward. The man who managed supplies, housing, disciple records. A nobody with a little power and a lot of greed.

"Why would Mo Lian want me dead?"

"He doesn't want you dead. He wants you captured. The contract says 'alive.' Someone else paid him. Someone who knows about your ring."

Cris's blood ran cold. "Who?"

"I don't know. But Mo Lian does." She looked at him. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

"I'm going to ask him questions."

"And then?"

Cris didn't answer.

Esther sighed. "I've been watching you since you crawled out of that pit. You're not the same cripple who went in. Something changed."

"I found a way to survive."

"You found something dangerous." She stepped closer. "I'm a merchant's daughter. I know when something is valuable. And I know when something is too dangerous to carry alone."

Cris tensed. "What do you want?"

"To help you. In exchange for protection."

"Protection from what?"

"My family's business rivals. They killed my father last year. They're coming for me next. I need someone who can fight."

Cris studied her. She was calm. Calculated. Not afraid.

"You're not scared of me?"

"I'm terrified of you." She smiled. "That's why I want you on my side."

The system whispered. "She is useful. Herbs. Information. Resources. Accept."

Cris nodded. "Fine. But if you betray me—"

"You'll devour me. I know." She handed him a small pouch. "Take these. Healing pills. You'll need them for the secret realm."

"You know about that?"

"Everyone knows. Elder Shen announced it this morning. His new disciple is entering the Ten Thousand Beast Forest." She tilted her head. "You've made powerful enemies, Cris. And powerful allies. Try not to die."

He pocketed the pills. "Where's Mo Lian?"

"His quarters. East wing. He's probably packing. He knows you survived."

Cris turned to leave. Esther called after him.

"One more thing. The man who escaped? He's not going back to Mo Lian. He's going somewhere else. Somewhere worse."

"Where?"

"I don't know. But I followed him to the edge of the sect. He met someone. Someone with red eyes."

Cris stopped.

Red eyes.

The same figure that had watched him from the shadows.

"Be careful," Esther said. "There's something in this sect that's older than the elders. Older than the sect itself. And it's watching you."

Cris didn't respond. He walked into the dark.

---

Mo Lian's quarters were empty.

The steward had fled. His belongings were gone. His records were burned. Only ash remained in the fireplace.

Cris stood in the empty room. The contract was still in his hand. The name on it. The red-eyed man.

"He knew we were coming," the system said. "Someone warned him."

"Esther?"

"No. She gained nothing from betrayal."

Cris looked at the burned records. Mo Lian had been the outer sect steward for years. He knew every disciple. Every secret. Every weakness.

And now he was gone.

But he had left something behind.

On the desk, a single piece of paper. Unburned. A message.

"The Devourer wakes. The Court knows. The hunt begins."

Cris read it three times. Then he crushed it in his fist.

"Let them come."