Li Xuan sat on the stone steps of the Celestial Origin Supreme Sect or rather, what was left of it.
His elbows rested on his knees. His hands hung loosely between them. His eyes were empty.
In front of him stood a crooked stone gate that had clearly lost the will to remain upright. One pillar leaned at an angle that suggested it had given up arguing with gravity years ago. The wooden signboard above creaked softly in the mountain wind, its gilded characters faded and cracked.
"Celestial Origin Supreme Sect." he whispered
Silence.
A vein twitched at his temple Then Li Xuan stood up abruptly. His foot slammed into the half-rotted gate.
The wood exploded inward with a loud crack, splinters scattering across the courtyard. "Fuck you, old bastard!"
His voice echoed across the empty mountain. "You say this was a supreme sect!" he continued "A glorious inheritance! Tens of thousands of disciples! Immortals everywhere!"
"Where," he muttered, "else than me is there even a single living being in this god-forsaken, rotting place?"
He thought about that old bastard again.
The moment he transmigrated after dying from working himself to death in his previous life. the first thing he saw was an old man gripping his hand. Not gently. Not kindly. Gripping.
A chill ran through him. Had the original owner done something unsightly? Inherited debt? Sold his body? He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but the old man's strength was terrifying. It was like iron clamps locked around his wrist.
Then the memories crashed into him.
The original owner shared his name. An orphan. Survived on odd jobs. No background. No backing. At the 7th stage of Qi Refining a level so low he was barely more than an ant in this cultivation world.
That day, while on his way to work, the sky split open. The old man descended. Without explanation, he grabbed his hand.
The original owner died on the spot from shock. Just like that. A fragile heart in a fragile body. Even he, who had just taken over, felt secondhand embarrassment at how easily the man had died.
When he managed to steady himself and actually look at the old man, he almost followed the original owner into the grave.
The man's appearance was terrifying. Withered skin stretched over sharp bones, eyes sunken yet burning with an unnatural light. He looked less like a sect master and more like something crawled out of a grave.
Yet the old man spoke solemnly. He claimed he was the sect master of a supreme and glorious hidden sect. A force that once shook the heavens. He said he was dying and had searched far and wide for a successor. Fate had guided him here.
To him. He painted a magnificent picture ancient inheritance, boundless resources, loyal disciples, hidden techniques capable of defying the heavens. Power. Status. Immortality within reach.
After two lifetimes of being stepped on, how could he not believe it? He thought his protagonist aura had finally activated.
Naturally. The old man handed him a sect token and left as abruptly as he had appeared. And so he walked. For six months.
Across mountains and rivers. Through bandit territory. Nearly starved twice. Almost died three times. He endured it all, clutching that token like it was destiny itself.
Finally, he arrived. The sect mountain was indeed massive, towering into the clouds.
But it was spiritually barren. The air was thin and stale. No spiritual energy gathered here. No disciples. No buildings worthy of the word "sect." Just crumbling structures and silence.
Even dogs wouldn't choose to live here. He stood in front of the main hall if it could still be called that and stared at the crooked plaque hanging above the door.
"Celestial Origin Supreme Sect."
He kicked the door again in frustration. The rotten wood gave way instantly and the plaque fell straight onto his head.
For a long moment, he just lay there on the dusty ground, staring at the sky. Two lifetimes and still scammed.
Suddenly, a mechanical voice rang inside his head. "Host identified. Supreme Sect System activating."
A translucent panel appeared before his eyes. Loading… 1%… 17%… 43%… 78%… 99%… suddenly It froze.
Then "System failure. Host deemed unworthy."
Whatever trace of life remained on his face disappeared.
He slowly looked up at the sky, dust still clinging to his clothes from the fallen plaque. Even destiny was mocking him. First, it showed him a glorious path sect master, supreme inheritance, boundless future only to cut it off before he could take even a single step.
Just as his thoughts darkened, another voice rang in his mind. "System activating."
Something inside him snapped. "Fk you, dog system! Why the hell are you playing with me?!" he roared.
Before he could continue his rant, his mouth sealed shut as if invisible hands had clamped it closed.
A calmer refined mechanical voice spoke. "We sincerely apologize, Host. The previous system violated the fundamental guidelines of the System Administration and has been destroyed. I have now been reassigned to you."
His anger faltered. "With me, you will rise supreme in this world."
The voice continued smoothly. "As compensation for the severe mental anguish you have suffered, your sect facilities have been directly upgraded to the top-tier of the Mortal Level. A Supreme Spirit Vein has been installed beneath the sect grounds. Additionally, you are invincible within your sect territory."
His eyes widened but the voice didn't stop it continued. "Primary Mission: Within one hundred years, make your sect the greatest and most famous on the entire continent."
If failure Punishment: Annihilation
Another brief pause. "We wish you a pleasant experience, Host. Further system functions may be explored independently."
The invisible restraint on his mouth vanished for a moment, he simply stood there. Then he began to laugh.
Mad laughter echoed across the barren mountain as before his very eyes, the desolate sect transformed.
The cracked stone paths repaired themselves. Collapsed halls rose anew, magnificent and imposing. Spiritual mist gathered in thick waves as a vast, intricate formation unfolded overhead, sealing the mountain in radiant light. The previously dead air surged with dense spiritual energy.
The entire mountain pulsed with vitality a top-tier cultivation sanctuary.
When he took a single step across the boundary, an immense power flooded his body. It felt as if the very land answered to him. Within this territory, he was untouchable. Invincible.
but as he checked his cultivation it was still the 7th layer of Qi Refining. A mere ant outside these gates.
He looked at the reborn sect then at himself then back at the sect. A slow grin stretched across his face. "Fine," he muttered.
"If the world won't make me supreme… I'll build it myself."