The Immortal

At the village's outskirts, the children raced.

The children carried themselves, laughing as they returned to the village. The atmosphere was serene, and smiles adorned their faces. How could they not be cheerful, with their bellies full to the point of bloating? This wasn't something that happened all the time.

The Flawed Heart Village, located on the borders of the Lunar Sword Sect, wasn't merely at the edge of its territory but also under its authority. It wasn't alone; there were hundreds of such village. The Lunar Sword Sect protected these villages from demons and monsters, with one simple condition: these villages had to provide them with 100 children every 100 years.

Unfortunately for them, this was the awaited year.

The children entered the village, and it was already sunset. Yang noticed an odd behavior—the village was eerily quiet, the shops were empty. Before he could grasp what was happening, their father approached Yang and Noah, glanced at the children, and urged them to go to their families.

He examined his three sons before wiping away the few bloodstains on their faces that water couldn't remove.

The father, with a hint of irritation, replied as he held onto his sons, "They are with the Immortals."

"Immortals?" Noah and Yang said simultaneously, shock overtaking their faces.

Yang, who was already 19 years old and had a slightly more stable mind than Noah, spoke up.

"What do you mean by the Immortals?"

"The farmers from the sect," the father said to Noah as he urged his sons to move forward.

"The people we're going to meet are higher-ranking than us, just like the city's mayor. You can't joke around with them. I mean you, Noah," the father nodded slightly, and Noah approached the village center, taking his father's words seriously.

As they arrived, the elder who had spoken with Noah earlier that day approached. His usual expressions were different this time. They were intense and gloomy, and if you looked closely, you could see large beads of sweat on this old man's forehead.

"You're late! Do you know how long we've been waiting for this farmer? Hurry up... hurry up!" The elder urged them to move quickly past two young people, a boy and a girl, who stood in front of the platform, one step above the audience. You could see an aura of majesty surrounding them, especially the girl, who seemed detached from this world.

As the elder approached with Noah and the other children, Noah's father stepped back and returned to the crowd.

The girl remained silent, giving them an appraising look. It was only the young man by her side who spoke.

"Where were these children?" The young man asked.

The elder bowed and said, "My brother, these are the village children. They were outside playing."

He didn't speak again but nodded slightly to the elder.

The elder urged Noah to step forward, but Noah still hadn't fully grasped what was happening; he was simply doing as he was told.

As he advanced, the young man reached out and gently grasped Noah's wrist. Noah felt the cold hand, which gave him an uncomfortable sensation. It pressed slightly on his wrist, making him feel dizzy. If this continued, Noah thought he might vomit.

The man sighed softly and said something to the woman beside him.

"Sheikh Ming, this boy barely meets the criteria. His height lines are less than 10."

After hearing the man's words and a moment of consideration, the woman sighed and said, "Let him pass to the sect. We need the labor force, and don't forget, we can benefit from everything, including the ranks of the Empire."

"We also need fodder," she added.

Sheikh Ming said in a sweet and melodious voice

The man nodded slightly and said to the elder in front of him, "Accepted."

A hint of happiness appeared on the elder's face, but on the other side, when Noah's mother saw her son walking away and standing behind the Immortals, her expression changed to sadness. Tears slowly welled up in her eyes. She knew what this meant. For a while, she had heard the village elders talk about how, once the children were taken, they never returned to the village. She watched her son move away, and even Noah's father bowed his head slightly in sorrow.

When Noah saw his mother crying, he instinctively wanted to go to her, but the young man stopped him. He gave Noah an angry glare and demanded that he leave.

"Let me go. I want to be with my mother," Noah pleaded.

The young man tried to restrain him, but Noah didn't comply. He seemed unfazed, as if he were used to this. Before Noah could react further, the young man grabbed him by the neck. When Noah felt the cold hand on his neck, it gave him an eerie sensation. The young man applied a bit of force, causing Noah's air supply to stop for a moment.

When Noah's mother saw this, her expression changed from sadness to pain, and she couldn't hold back her scream. Yang, upon witnessing this, rushed to his brother, attempting to save him. However, the elder quickly intervened and said,

"Do you want to kill yourself?"

Before giving a glance to Yang, the elder quickly approached the young boy and said, "Little brother, you might kill him. You'll waste your precious journey, and I don't want the little brother to waste his valuable time in vain."

Noah's stomach was pressed together, struggling for a breath, but the cold hand felt like a mountain blocking his way.

When the boy realized that Noah would soon become a lifeless body, he released his grip, tossing Noah behind him. He nodded to the elder, signaling for the rest of the children to come over. After checking all the children, none of them were sent to Noah. After regaining his strength, Noah regained his vitality.

Even Noah's mother distanced herself; she didn't want to witness such a scene again. Yang stood afar, looking at Noah, feeling a sense of emptiness in his heart. He felt weak, unable to do anything. The elder had told him that these people were incredibly powerful, even stronger than Uncle Chao. That's why he shouldn't take any risks.

"Yang, your brother has a chance to become immortal. Perhaps this is the best thing that could happen to him," the elder said in response to Yang's lifeless expressions. Yang didn't react; he didn't say a word.

Finally, after testing all the children in the clan, Noah was the only one taken. The woman suddenly stepped forward from the small ring on her finger, leaving all the village residents astonished, except for the elder, whose gaze remained lukewarm.

From the ring, the woman summoned a massive horse-drawn carriage, as there were no horses around. The young Noah was picked up by the collar of his ragged shirt and thrown inside the carriage. He too stepped in with the woman, and the carriage disappeared into the sky. The tense atmosphere lingered in the village after their departure. This was the price of weakness, something Noah would come to understand well in the days ahead.