1: Opening

Eastern Region

In front of a dilapidated Daoist temple.

A tall, handsome man stood here with a young girl wearing a yellow Ruqun.

“Revered Master, aren't we going to the Sect? Why are we coming to this broken Daoist temple?”

The exquisite, picturesque Lingxi girl, who had a sesame-sized tear mole beneath her left eye, looked at the dilapidated Daoist temple before her, a subtle bad premonition rising in her heart.

Chen Xuan coughed twice and said without batting an eye, “This is our Dao Seeking Sect. Alright, Wanqing, you may perform the apprenticeship ceremony now.”

After Chen Xuan finished speaking, he pushed open the half-remaining wooden door, stepped over the threshold, and entered.

“Huh?”

Mu Wanqing widened her clear, apricot-shaped eyes and glanced again at the dilapidated Daoist temple, half of whose wooden door had collapsed.

“Revered Master, you... this...” She hesitated for a long time, then suddenly said, “Revered Master, surely this isn't some Immortal Illusion Technique, is it?”

“Is there actually a hidden paradise inside?”

Chen Xuan turned around to look at the Eldest Disciple he had just tricked.

With apricot eyes and rosy lips, she was sweet and well-behaved. Her glossy black hair was styled into an exquisite 'Fallen Horse' bun, adorned with a Pearl Hairpin. Her clear apricot eyes held a hint of naivety, making her look exactly like a university student who had just graduated and entered society.

As expected of the Legitimate Daughter of a Minister, her scholarly temperament as a young lady from a noble family was evident.

“There's no Illusion Technique. Accept reality! Cultivating Immortality is about absorbing the morning mist and drinking the dew, not eating the five grains of the Mortal world.”

Mu Wanqing continued unwillingly, “But the cultivators affiliated with the Imperial Court live in magnificent towers and enjoy delicacies from the mountains and seas.”

She was originally the Legitimate Daughter of a Minister in the Great Yan Dynasty, and her father held an official rank of Third Grade.

Half a month ago, she was taken notice of by an Outer Sect Elder of the Yin Yang Sect, who intended to take her as a Disciple and teach her everything.

However, that Outer Sect Elder was nearly two hundred years old and still possessed a lecherous heart.

It was rumored that girls taken as his Disciples usually faced near-certain death. The only one who survived was the Prime Minister's Second Daughter, who was redeemed three days after becoming his Disciple.

The Great Yan Dynasty was dependent on Immortal forces. Even though her father was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue with a Third Grade rank, he could only resign himself to fate when facing Immortals from the Yin Yang Sect.

Fortunately, she met Chen Xuan later.

Although she hadn't clarified his background or Sect, he was so handsome that Mu Wanqing felt that even if he wanted to Dual Cultivate with her, it would still be better than becoming a Disciple of that Yin Yang Sect Outer Sect Elder.

Chen Xuan reached out and patted the girl's shoulder, patiently coaxing her: “My Dao Seeking Sect has only just been established and is still in the initial phase. If you join my Sect now, you will become the first person beneath your Revered Master. When my Dao Seeking Sect becomes famous in the future, you will be the Dao Seeking Sect's Eldest Senior Sister that echoes throughout the Eastern Region!”

“At that time, let alone your father, even that Old Emperor will have to respectfully salute you and won't dare to breathe too loudly.”

Mu Wanqing blinked her eyes, pursed her lips, and timidly said, “Revered Master, what you're saying sounds exactly like what my father says when recruiting protégés.”

“My father also said, 'First trick them in, and as for future matters, we'll deal with them after we've used them up.'”

Chen Xuan froze for a moment and withdrew the hand that was patting her shoulder.

He thought to himself that none of those high officials were easy to deal with; drawing up grand promises was second nature to them.

“Stop the nonsense. Just tell me if you're taking me as your Revered Master or not.”

“If you don't, plenty of others will!”

“...I accept!” Mu Wanqing seriously doubted the last sentence, but she had no retreat left now.

Hardening her resolve, she decided to treat it as having boarded a pirate ship.

Chen Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He was truly afraid the girl would turn and leave. This was a Cultivation Seed he had spent two and a half years tricking into joining!

The two entered the Daoist temple. Chen Xuan picked up some straw from the ground, wiped the wooden stool beside him, and then sat upright facing the girl.

Mu Wanqing scanned the surrounding environment, a complex mix of emotions in her heart. The only comfort was that her Revered Master's appearance could put a Banished Immortal to shame.

She took a deep breath, knelt before Chen Xuan, and kowtowed loudly, saying, “Revered Master, please accept this bow from your Disciple, Mu Wanqing.”

Ding~

Following Mu Wanqing's apprenticeship ceremony, a crisp notification sound rang out in Chen Xuan's mind.

[Congratulations Host for successfully accepting an Immortal Dao Seed. The Strongest Sect System has been activated.]

[Reward: One Novice Gift Pack.]

[Reward: One sect construction card.]

[System Store function has been unlocked.]

[Detecting Disciple Mu Wanqing's Aptitude: Supreme Yin Spiritual Body, Top-Grade Water Spiritual Root.]

[Issuing god-rank Cultivation Textbook]

[Supreme Yin Water Heart Art]

Chen Xuan was ecstatic, feeling as if his life had reached its climax.

Two and a half years! Do you know how I spent these two and a half years?

Good news: I Transmigrated to a Cultivation World, and I have a System.

Bad news: The System requires taking one Disciple to activate.

Isn't this making things difficult for me, Pang Hu? Giving me nothing and asking me, a Mortal who can barely lift a chicken, to take a Disciple?

Furthermore, ordinary people don't count; the Disciple must be a Heaven-Defying Genius with the Aptitude for Immortal Ascension.

Setting aside whether such a one-in-ten-thousand person even exists, even if they do, is that something a Mortal like me can hope for? If I went to acknowledge them as my Revered Master, they might not even look favorably upon me.

For a full two and a half years, Chen Xuan had almost traveled across the entire Great Yan Dynasty, to the point where he couldn't even afford to stay in inns, before finally finding this dilapidated Daoist temple to settle down in.

Fortunately, persistence pays off. He finally tricked... found this Disciple with an Immortal Destiny.

He finally managed to activate this damn System, and now he could start his cheat-mode life.

“Revered Master, why are you smiling?”

Mu Wanqing looked at the slight upturn of her Revered Master's lips and felt certain she had boarded a pirate ship.

“Nothing, your Revered Master just remembered something happy!”

Chen Xuan composed himself and checked the rewards issued by the System.

[Opening Novice Gift Pack]

[Congratulations Host on obtaining: One Golden Core First Level Cultivation, block card * 5, Spirit Transformation Experience Card * 1, instant kill card * 1]

[block card: Can block one fatal attack for the Host. (Passive Skill)]

[Spirit Transformation Experience Card: Grants Peak Deity Transformation Realm cultivation (Duration: half an hour)]

[instant kill card: Can instantly kill any person, regardless of their Realm.]

As the words in his mind faded, Chen Xuan felt as if an invisible giant hammer had chiseled open the top of his skull, and a golden torrent, condensed almost to liquid form, violently poured into his body.

A scorching warm current suddenly surged in his Dantian. This warm current spun faster and faster, gradually forming a brilliant golden vortex.

The Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth around him seemed to be guided by an invisible force, transforming into billions of light threads barely visible to the naked eye, converging into his body from all directions, constantly being swallowed and compressed by the vortex.

In less than half an incense stick's time, a Golden Core the size of a pigeon egg condensed in the center of the vortex.

“This Daoist Lord succeeded!”

Feeling the massive spiritual power within his body, Chen Xuan rejoiced for a moment, then immediately suppressed his emotions.

Although Golden Core counts as a regional Powerhouse, it is ultimately too weak. He looked at the Spirit Transformation Experience Card and instant kill card beside him. I must continue taking Disciples to become stronger.

I need to save these two trump cards carefully.

Chen Xuan adjusted his sitting posture, habitually crossed his legs, and then looked at the sect construction card beside him.