The golden letters in my vision pulsed like fire branded onto my soul.
---
> Supreme Harem System Activated!
Host detected: Maximum humiliation value.
Initial Mission: Conquer your ex-bride Su Xian, or claim a new goddess within 7 days.
Reward: Foundation Establishment + Divine Sword.
Failure: Eternal humiliation event triggered.
---
My chest rose and fell as I stared. The words did not fade. They hovered before me as though etched into the very air, mocking yet promising, unreal yet undeniable.
A system. A chance. A miracle.
For three years, I had been called cripple, trash, failure. And now, in the very moment I hit rock bottom, something beyond comprehension had appeared before me.
My fists unclenched slightly. Blood still dripped from the half-moons carved into my palms, but I no longer felt the sting.
Instead, I felt fire.
"Still standing, Lin Feng?"
The voice was smooth, smug, and dripping with contempt.
Li Tianhao.
The sect's golden genius. Tall, broad-shouldered, his ceremonial robes stitched with threads of gold qi that shimmered faintly in the lamplight. His every step pressed against the stage like a hammer striking an anvil. His aura—thick, oppressive, burning—rolled across the courtyard like a tide.
Gasps echoed from the disciples just being near him.
"It's Young Master Li!"
"He's even stronger than last year!"
"Just his aura makes me want to kneel…"
He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could smell the faint metallic tang of qi radiating from his body. His smirk widened.
"You heard her," Li Tianhao said, tilting his chin toward Su Xian. She did not look away, did not deny it.
She watched with cold satisfaction. "She doesn't want you. No woman wants you. You should be grateful she chose to humiliate you here, in front of everyone. If this were the dueling platform, you'd already be dead."
The disciples roared with laughter.
"Lin Feng should kneel now and thank Young Master Li for sparing him!"
"Trash like him should crawl on his belly if he wants to keep living!"
"Hurry up, cripple, bow before your betters!"
Their voices layered over each other until it was a wall of sound, suffocating and merciless.
My throat tightened. My breath caught. My legs trembled—not from fear, but from the weight of it all pressing down.
And then, another flicker of light appeared in my vision.
---
> Side Mission Generated!
Task: Endure public humiliation without kneeling.
Reward: +100 Charm Points.
Failure: -1 realm, further public disgrace.
---
Charm points? Realm penalty? My pulse quickened. This wasn't just a miracle—it had rules. Tests. Rewards.
The choice was simple: kneel and lose, or endure and gain.
Li Tianhao stepped closer, his aura pressing like a mountain onto my shoulders. My knees buckled slightly. His grin sharpened.
"Kneel, Lin Feng. Bow before me in front of the sect, and maybe I'll let you keep your pitiful life. Otherwise, I'll show you what happens when trash refuses to know its place."
The courtyard exploded in cheers.
"Yes! Make him kneel!"
"Let him lick the stage clean!"
"Hahaha! If he grovels now, maybe he can be Young Master Li's servant!"
"Better yet, his dog!"
I stared down at the stone beneath my feet. My vision blurred at the edges. My body trembled under the weight of Li Tianhao's qi. My heart screamed at me to drop, to end the pressure, to crawl.
But the golden letters in my vision flared again.
---
> Reminder: Mission active. Endure humiliation without kneeling.
---
Su Xian's eyes cut into me like icy knives. Cold. Merciless. Certain of my collapse.
"You don't deserve me. You don't deserve any woman."
Her words echoed in my skull.
For three years, I had carried them silently—the whispers, the pity, the disdain. For three years, I had swallowed humiliation, thinking marriage to her would save me. That her hand would erase the laughter.
But now…
Now I saw clearly.
The world would never give me mercy. It would only give me chains. Unless—
Unless I broke them myself.
My fingernails carved deeper into my palms. Blood dripped onto the stone, staining the stage. My spine straightened. My chest lifted.
I raised my head.
"No."
The word was quiet, but it cut through the courtyard like thunder.
Gasps rippled through the disciples. A thousand eyes widened. Even the elders leaned forward in their seats.
Li Tianhao froze. His grin twitched, then curdled. "What did you say?"
I met his gaze. For the first time, my voice did not shake. "I said no. I won't kneel. Not to you. Not to anyone."
---
Ding!
> Mission Complete.
Reward: +100 Charm Points.
Passive Effect Unlocked: Aura of Confidence. Women will sense faint attraction toward host.
---
Warmth spread through me, subtle but undeniable. My back straightened further. My chest filled with air that no longer tasted like ashes. The mountain pressing down on me seemed to lift, if only slightly.
The disciples erupted again, but this time there was disbelief mingled with the laughter.
"He actually defied Young Master Li!"
"Trash dares to stand?!"
"Has he gone mad?"
Li Tianhao's face twisted into a snarl. His qi flared hotter, golden sparks crackling in the air. The banners snapped in the gust of his aura, lanterns rattled against their poles.
"Very well," he growled, his hand curling around the hilt of his sword. "If you won't kneel, then I'll break you until you do."
The elder presiding over the ceremony frowned but did not speak. This was the sect's way. The strong decided the weak's fate.
My heart pounded. My system flared again.
---
> Main Mission Reminder: Conquer Su Xian or claim a new goddess within 7 days.
Countdown: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.
---
The numbers ticked down in the corner of my vision.
I looked past Li Tianhao to Su Xian. Her expression did not soften. She expected me to collapse. To kneel. To be crushed. To vanish.
But I no longer felt like the cripple she had thrown away.
I felt fire in my veins. A fire that told me this was only the beginning.
I drew a long breath, squared my shoulders, and smiled faintly.
"Try."
The courtyard erupted. Gasps, cheers, disbelief, outrage—all crashing into one another.
Li Tianhao's blade sang as he drew it, golden light spilling across the stage. His killing intent burned hot enough that even seasoned disciples staggered back.
And me?
I stood tall, for the first time in my life.
---