My System Devours Immortals

The Elder's Mark

Zhao Lei returned from his mission at noon.

He found his brother in the infirmary. Zhao Kun lay on a cot, eyes open, staring at nothing. His meridians were ash. His cultivation was gone. He would never cultivate again.

Zhao Lei stood over him for a long time. He didn't speak. He didn't weep. He simply turned and walked out.

He found Cris in the outer sect training yard.

"Your name," Zhao Lei said.

Cris stopped. The training yard went silent. Disciples scattered. Zhao Lei was Foundation Establishment. Seventh Layer. His presence pressed down on the air like a physical weight.

"Cris."

"You broke my brother."

"He broke me first."

Zhao Lei nodded slowly. "I don't care."

He drew his sword. A silver blade, spirit-forged. Qi coiled around it like smoke.

"Kneel," he said. "I'll make it quick."

Cris didn't kneel. He looked at the sword, then at Zhao Lei's face. The man was calm. Not angry. That was worse. Angry men made mistakes. Calm men didn't.

"You cannot win," the system said. "Run."

Cris ran.

Not away. Toward the Beast Pit.

Zhao Lei followed. His sword cut the air behind Cris, splitting stone where he'd stood. Cris dove behind a training post. The post exploded. Splinters tore his cheek.

He reached the pit's edge and jumped.

Falling again. The walls blurred past. He hit the bottom hard, rolled, and came up running. Zhao Lei landed behind him, silent as a shadow.

"You think the pit will save you?" Zhao Lei asked. "I'll bury you here."

Cris grabbed a bone from the ground. A rib, long and sharp. He turned to face the Foundation Establishment cultivator with a bone in his hand.

Zhao Lei almost smiled. "Pathetic."

He lunged.

Cris threw the bone. Not at Zhao Lei—at the wall behind him. The bone struck a rotting support beam. The beam cracked. Above them, a shelf of loose rock shifted.

Zhao Lei looked up.

The rocks fell.

He dodged most of them. One caught his shoulder and drove him to his knees. Cris was already moving. He slammed his palm against Zhao Lei's back.

"Devour."

The ring flared. Zhao Lei's qi surged into Cris—vast, deep, overwhelming. Cris's meridians screamed. His body couldn't hold it.

"Too much. Abort."

Cris released. He stumbled back, coughing blood. His arm was on fire. His cultivation jumped, but his body was tearing apart.

Zhao Lei rose. Wounded, but standing. His eyes were no longer calm. Now they burned.

"You," he said. "What are you?"

Cris spat blood. "Hungry."

Zhao Lei raised his sword for the killing blow.

A hand caught his wrist.

Elder Shen stepped out of the shadows. Tall. Robed in black. His face was kind, and his eyes were not.

"Enough," he said.

Zhao Lei froze. "Elder Shen. This cripple—"

"I know what he is." Elder Shen looked at Cris. His gaze settled on the ring. "Leave us."

"But my brother—"

"Your brother was weak. This one is not. Go."

Zhao Lei's jaw tightened. He sheathed his sword and climbed out of the pit. He didn't look back.

Elder Shen and Cris were alone.

The old man studied him for a long moment. Then he smiled.

"I've waited forty years for this," he said. "The Devourer. I thought it was a legend."

Cris's blood ran cold. "You know what this is."

"I know everything. I know the Devourer was sealed ten thousand years ago. I know the Nine Heavens Immortal Court killed everyone who remembered it." He stepped closer. "And I know that whoever controls the Devourer controls the world."

"I'm not controlled."

"Not yet." Elder Shen's smile widened. "But you're weak. Foundation Establishment nearly killed you. You need protection. Training. Resources."

"And you want what?"

"Everything. Eventually." The elder turned to leave. "For now—your loyalty. Join my faction. I'll shield you from the sect. From the Court. From everyone who wants you dead."

Cris said nothing.

Elder Shen paused at the pit's edge. "Or refuse. And I'll tell the Court where you are. They'll come. You'll die. The ring will be sealed again. And I'll find another host in a hundred years."

He climbed out.

Cris stood alone in the dark. His arm throbbed. His meridians flickered. The system was silent.

"System," he whispered. "What do I do?"

"He is strong. Stronger than you. But he is greedy. Greedy men make mistakes."

"So I accept?"

"Accept. Grow. Then devour him."

Cris climbed out of the pit. Blood dripped from his mouth. His body was broken in a dozen places.

But he was alive.

Elder Shen waited at the top. He held out a small jade token.

"Wear this. It marks you as my disciple. No one in the outer sect will touch you."

Cris took the token. It was cold.

"What do you want first?" Cris asked.

"The secret realm opens in three days. The Ten Thousand Beast Forest." Elder Shen smiled. "Go in. Devour everything you can. Come out stronger."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then Zhao Lei finishes what he started." The elder walked away. "Choose wisely."

Cris stood in the training yard, holding the token. Disciples watched from a distance. None approached.

He looked at the ring.

"Three days," he said.

"Three days," the system echoed. "Enough to grow. Enough to plan."

Cris closed his fist around the token.

"Then let's plan."

---

Elder Shen returned to his quarters.

Inside, a figure waited in the dark. Red eyes. A smile like a knife.

"You found him," the figure said.

"I found him."

"Does he suspect?"

"No. He's hungry. Hungry men are blind."

The figure laughed. Low. Wrong. "Good. Let him grow. Let him devour. The stronger he becomes, the more the Devourer wakes."

Elder Shen nodded. "And when it wakes fully?"

"Then we don't need the boy anymore." The red eyes glowed brighter. "We take the ring. And we devour the heavens."