A jagged pain cleaved through Lu Chenyuan's skull, as if his very soul had been torn apart and stitched back together with trembling hands. He gasped—a raw, desperate breath that tasted of dust, rot... and something faintly, unsettlingly green. The scent of damp wood and fragile new leaves filled his nostrils—so out of place, so unlike the sterile air of his apartment in Shanghai.
His eyelids—heavy as if weighed by stone—fluttered open.
No familiar ceiling. No soft glow of his bedside lamp. Instead, a rotting, grey-tiled roof loomed above, cobwebs dangling from the corners like forgotten shrouds. A thin shaft of sunlight pierced a hole overhead, illuminating lazy dust motes drifting through the stillness. The air was damp and cold, clinging to his skin like wet cloth.
Panic bloomed—sharp, immediate.Where the hell was he?
The room was spartan. A wooden table slumped in one corner. A single stool. A narrow, uneven plank bed beneath him. The walls—hardened earth stained by moisture and age—offered no clues.
He tried to sit up, but weakness dragged him down. His limbs were slow to respond. His head spun. And then—like a sudden breach in a dam—memories that weren't his came crashing in.
Lu Chenyuan.Patriarch of the Azurewood Lin Clan.Twenty-two years old.Qi Refinement – Third Layer.
The name. The title. The pitiful cultivation realm. They didn't feel foreign. They fit, as though etched into his bones. And yet, he also remembered being a 28-year-old software engineer in Shanghai, hunched over code at 2 a.m. trying to meet a product deadline. One moment, it was keystrokes and caffeine—the next, this.
Transmigration.
The word surfaced like a reflex. He'd read it hundreds of times in xianxia novels, never expecting to live it.
The original Lu Chenyuan… was dead. Not from battle or poison. A minor training injury left untreated, a crushing burden of responsibility, and the final blow—blighted seed grain. He'd given up. His last breath was a bitter whisper:
"Ancestors… I've failed you."
Now Lu Chenyuan—the new Lu Chenyuan—inhabited a ruined shell of a young man, and the weight of his sorrow clung like fog. It was a heaviness you didn't just brush off. You either learned to carry it… or it buried you.
He pushed himself upright, muscles trembling. This body was undernourished—skin stretched over sharp cheekbones, wrists like twigs. Scholar's fingers, not a warrior's.
Qi Refinement, Third Layer.Laughable in a world where power was survival.
He glanced at the window. The torn paper covering gave way to a tiny courtyard. A few withered herb stalks clung to life in a patch of cracked dirt—the clan's so-called spirit field. Grade One, Lower Tier… and barely that. The spiritual Qi here was diluted, the air thin like watered wine.
The Serpent's Coil Hills.A backwater within a forgotten corner of Green River Prefecture. A place even weeds seemed reluctant to grow.
And this was his territory.
The clan's assets? He did a grim mental tally. One collapsing house. Twenty-seven low-grade spirit stones, hidden under a floorboard. A few rusted farm tools. And their core cultivation manual: the "Azurewood Art"—incomplete, barely functional past the Sixth Layer, and notoriously inefficient.
Members? Two.
Himself, and Liu Zhong—Uncle Liu. An aging servant who had once served his grandfather. Loyal, yes, but frail. Qi Refinement Second Layer and already in decline. There was rumor of a distant cousin, Lin Xiaowei, living in a remote village. A child. No cultivation. Likely poor aptitude.
And the enemies?
The Stone Tiger Li Clan.Their eastern neighbors. Led by a patriarch in the Fifth Layer of Qi Refinement and several capable fighters. They'd been eyeing this land for years, and the Lin Clan's courtyard was the last piece they needed. The Li Clan didn't hide its intentions—they broadcast them with swaggering threats and bruising visits. Then there were the rogue cultivators: parasites demanding "protection" fees the Lin Clan couldn't afford.
It was a noose tightening from all sides.
A bitter laugh rose in his throat. This wasn't the beginning of an epic. It was the prologue to an obituary.
And yet…
He clenched his fists, nails biting into his palms.
He hadn't clawed his way through corporate death pits, sleepless deadlines, and brutal competition in the tech world just to curl up and die in a mud hut.
No.He wasn't going down without a fight.
And then—something shifted.
Like a drop of spring water in the back of his mind, cool and pure. A faint chime echoed in his consciousness, mechanical yet strangely elegant.
[Progenitor's Legacy System detected compatible host soul.][Binding in progress... 10%... 70%... 100%.][Binding complete. Welcome, Patriarch Lu Chenyuan, to the Progenitor's Legacy System.][May your lineage flourish, and your branches reach the heavens.]
He froze.
A system?
Hope—sharp and blinding—punched through the gloom. The lifeline. The cheat. The golden finger.
A translucent screen flickered into existence before his mind's eye.
[Progenitor's Legacy System]
Host: Lu ChenyuanAge: 22Lifespan: 68 years (modified by cultivation, health, and system rewards)Cultivation: Qi Refinement – Third Layer (Azurewood Art – Fragmented)Clan: Azurewood Lin Clan (Grade 0 – Dying)Clan Members: 2 (Self, Liu Zhong)Clan Territory:– Serpent's Coil Hills– Courtyard (0.5 mu – dilapidated)– Spirit Field (0.1 mu – barren, Grade 1 Lower Tier)
Clan Resources:– 27 Low-Grade Spirit Stones– Rusted Tools– Azurewood Art (Incomplete)
Clan Prosperity: 3 / 100 (Next Tier: 100)
[Core System Functions]
Lineage Mandate:As Patriarch, your duty is to restore the bloodline's strength and prosperity.
Marriage Rewards:– First Marriage (Virtuous Woman, Age <30, Positive Affinity): Unlocks 'New Beginnings' Package– Spiritual Root Quality: Higher quality yields better rewards (items, cultivation boosts, techniques, lifespan)– Consummation: Small Qi or Soul bonus– Offspring: Birth of descendants triggers rewards based on aptitude– Special Physiques/Bloodlines in children: Unlock rare bonus effects
Nurturing Descendants:Cultivation breakthroughs and personal growth of family members can trigger additional benefits.
Clan Management (Partial Access):– Assessment (limited): View spiritual root grade, age, and basic compatibility of potential wives/descendants– Clan Ledger: Track resources, upgrades, prosperity– System Shop: Locked– Ancestral Blessings: Locked
[Current Mission: A Spark of Hope]
Objective: Marry your first wifeConditions: Unmarried, Age <30, Virtuous, Possesses at least Inferior Grade Spiritual RootReward:– Lifespan +5 Years– Minor Qi Infusion– Azurewood Art – Supplement Part 1– 50 Low-Grade Spirit Stones– Pill Formula: Qi-Nourishing PillTime Limit: 1 YearFailure Penalty: -10 Clan Prosperity, Severe Vitality Drain
Lu Chenyuan stared at the screen, heart thundering.
Marriage. Children. Clan. Legacy.
This wasn't just about power. This was about building something from ashes. About rising—not as a lone hero—but as a patriarch whose strength would be measured in generations.
He exhaled slowly, the weight of despair lifting—just slightly.There was a path. There was hope.And that spark… was enough to ignite a flame.