2: Chapter 2 The Corporate Slave System, Sixty Years Late

In the deathly silence of the darkness, that lazy voice was exceptionally abrupt, and the crackling electrical static felt as if it were directly scraping against his consciousness.

That voice was like a hand, gripping Gu Yan's consciousness, which was about to drift away, and yanking it downwards violently.

"What is that?"

A hallucination? A ghost? Or a fantasy before death?

He had lived for sixty years, plus the twenty-plus years before his Transmigration, and had never heard such an absurd tone.

"Hello, Host. Don't be nervous, let me introduce myself. My full name is 'Heavens Bloodline Continuation and Resistance Plan Execution Terminal'. You can call me the 'Family Expansion System', or just System. Our KPI is to help potential stocks like you rise from desperate situations, by constantly reproducing descendants, strengthening the Family, and eventually becoming strong enough to resist... Ahem, in short, strong enough to have no friends."

The System's voice remained that of a listless corporate slave, as if the signal could cut out at any moment.

"Save me..."

Gu Yan used all his will to condense those two words in his mind.

Regardless of whether the other party was a god or a demon, this was the only straw he could grasp before sinking into the abyss.

"Save you? Of course, that's basic business. Otherwise, wouldn't the roaming fees for my sixty-year long-distance signal have been wasted?" the System retorted.

"But don't rush to ask questions yet. According to procedure, I have to read the manual to you first, otherwise if you give me a bad review later, my year-end bonus will go down the drain."

Gu Yan's urgency felt as if it had hit a ball of cotton.

"Listen well, the core functions of this System are simple and crude, just two points."

"First: Take Concubines to Extend Lifespan."

"For every concubine taken, this System will reward the Host with one to ten years of Lifespan based on comprehensive factors such as her Aptitude, status, and Luck. In other words, as long as you keep taking wives, theoretically, you can live forever."

These words were like detonating a seed beneath ten thousand years of permafrost.

Live on?

As long as he took wives, he could live on?

Sixty years of stifling, three years of waiting for death, all the despair—at this moment, a crack was pried open, and a ray of frenzied light shone through.

"Second: Childbirth Lottery." The System's tone changed abruptly. The listlessness vanished, replaced by a nearly fanatical incitement, like a peddler on the street corner selling miraculous medicine.

"Taking concubines is just to keep you alive; having children is the core of our enterprise! Every time a descendant is born, the System will immediately reward the Host with a large amount of Lifespan and conduct a 'Bloodline Lottery'!"

"The higher the grade of the descendant's Spiritual Root, the more generous the lottery rewards! Prizes include, but are not limited to!"

"One: Improve the Host's constitution! Aren't you a Useless Spirit Root? It doesn't matter! As long as your son is capable enough to be born with a Yellow-Grade or Profound-Grade, the power fed back to you can pile your Useless Spirit Root into a Treasure Root! Turning you from an eighty-year-old man back into a twenty-year-old youth is a piece of cake!"

"Two: Cultivation Infusion! Still struggling at the First Level of Qi Refining? Have a good son, and the System will directly infuse pure cultivation base into your body, letting you level up on the spot! You can even achieve a Breakthrough while sleeping!"

"Three: Divine Techniques and Magic Treasures! Ancient Cultivation Techniques, Heaven-defying Spirit Treasures, top-grade Medicinal Pills—as long as you dare to give birth, the System dares to gift them! While others toil to hunt for treasures and explore, you only need to work hard at home!"

"Four: Family Buildings! Spirit Fields, Pill Rooms, Scripture Pavilion, Mountain Protection Arrays... As your Family scale expands, you will unlock various functional buildings, turning your home into a Holy Land for cultivation!"

Gu Yan's consciousness ground to a complete halt.

He was like a drowning man whose last breath in his lungs had been exhausted, yet in the moment of sinking into the abyss, he was violently grabbed by the hair and pulled out of the water by a hand.

Rejuvenation...

Reversing his constitution...

Cultivation infusion...

In these sixty years, he hadn't even dared to dream of something so outrageous!

"How about it? Tempted, right?" There was a hint of smugness in the System's voice, and the crackling sound even became a bit more cheerful.

"Don't think this is all; this is just standard procedure!"

"Think about it, as long as you work hard enough, with concubines in groups, descendants filling the hall, and your incense spreading across the entire continent! Your son is a saint of a Sect, your granddaughter is an Empress of a Dynasty, and your great-grandson controls an ancient Secret Realm! By then, you will be the Old Ancestor of the first immortal cultivation Family of all time!"

"Think even bolder, what if... I mean what if, you give birth to a descendant with a one-in-a-million Earth-Grade or Heaven-Grade Spiritual Root?"

"At that time, the System rewards will be maxed out, helping you shatter the Void Realm, taking your three thousand beauties, taking your thousands upon thousands of descendants, packing up the whole Family, and Ascending together! Going to a more Advanced Immortal Realm, and continuing our great cause of Family expansion!"

"This is the ultimate goal of our 'Family Continuation and Ascension System'!"

Boom!

Ascending as a Family!

These four words completely ignited all the desires deep within Gu Yan's Soul.

He thought of his adopted son who had been beaten to death, thought of his helpless daughter-in-law and granddaughter, and thought of the precarious fate of this Family.

If... if all this could be realized...

The Gu Family would no longer be ants to be slaughtered at will!

He, Gu Yan, would also no longer be that piece of trash who could only kneel on the ground and watch his loved ones die miserably!

"I'll do it!"

"I'm willing!"

Gu Yan roared in his heart, using his last bit of strength.

This intense desire to survive was like a shot of adrenaline, allowing his nearly dissipating consciousness to reconverge, and even his withered body began to tremble.

"Very good, the Host has great ambition, I am very gratified." The System lazily yawned.

"Since you have agreed, then, the Novice Mission is officially released."

Gu Yan was completely focused; he was ready to face any challenge. Climbing mountains of blades or descending into seas of fire—as long as he could live, as long as he could make the Gu Family rise, he was willing to do anything!

"Novice Mission: The First Step to Continuing the Incense."

"Mission Content: Within twelve shichen, take a concubine and consummate the marriage."

"Mission Success: Reward of ten years of Lifespan, and a Novice Gift Pack."

"Mission Failure: The Host's consciousness will completely dissipate, and this System will automatically unbind and go find the next fated person."

"Mission countdown begins."

As soon as the words fell, an illusory blood-red number "Twelve" appeared abruptly in Gu Yan's mind, then slowly ticked down to "Eleven".

The immense passion that had just ignited in Gu Yan was instantly doused from head to toe by a basin of cold water mixed with ice shards.

Twelve shichen... take a concubine... consummate the marriage?

He struggled to "examine" his current situation.

An eighty-year-old, bedridden, dying man who couldn't even move a finger.

Forget twelve shichen, he probably couldn't even last the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

In this situation, where could he find a woman willing to marry an old man like him who already had half his body in the grave, and consummate the marriage?

Damn it, this isn't a challenge.

This is a certain-death situation!