Chapter 1 – The End of a Dream, The Start of a Life
Ten years.
That's how long I've been wearing these gray robes of an outer disciple. Ten years of scrubbing courtyards, hauling water jars, running errands for seniors who don't even remember my name.
Sometimes I laugh at myself.
I transmigrated into this world five years ago, full of dreams, full of ambition. I thought, "Ah, I know how stories go. I'll rise, I'll dominate, I'll make sects kneel before me!"
But reality was cruel.
My spiritual roots were trash. No matter how hard I cultivated, the Qi slipped through me like water through broken bamboo. Other transmigrators get systems, cheats, golden fingers. Me? Nothing. Just a weak body, a hungry belly, and chores from sunrise to midnight.
I'm eighteen now. At my age, the talented ones are already inner disciples, even Core Disciples. Some are being groomed as future Elders. And me? Still running around with buckets.
…No. Enough.
Today, I decided. I'm done with this farce.
If fate won't let me cultivate, then I'll choose another path. I'll live like a man, not like a servant. I'll go to the countryside, find a woman, and build a family. At least then, my hands will be rough from plowing soil, not from polishing some Elder's boots.
And so I left. No one stopped me, no one even noticed. For them, I was nothing more than dust swept out of the sect gates.
---
Her name was Lianhua.
A village girl with eyes like spring water and a smile that made my chest feel light. She wasn't a fairy from heaven, not a jade beauty sculpted by Qi, but to me… she was more radiant than all the arrogant sect disciples who ever sneered at me.
I wooed her with little tricks from my old world. I cooked dishes her village had never tasted, cured her father's illness with modern knowledge, made her laugh with stories of "strange lands" I pretended to have traveled.
Bit by bit, her guard melted. Bit by bit, she looked at me not as an outsider, but as a man.
And then—she became my wife.
The first time I held her hand under the moonlight, I thought, Even if I never become a cultivator, this is enough.
---
But fate wasn't done with me.
One month after our marriage, Lianhua came running into my arms, cheeks flushed, voice trembling.
"Beloved… I… I think I'm pregnant."
My heart stopped.
A child. My child.
And in that instant—
A chime rang in my mind.
> [Ding!]
"Fertility Saint System has been awakened."
Condition: First pregnancy detected.
New Quest: Impregnate 10 women to reach Core Formation Realm.
…What?
My vision swam, my body burned. Qi—real Qi—surged into my meridians, stronger and purer than anything I had ever felt. The cultivation I had chased for ten years with bloody hands and sleepless nights… was now flooding me like a gift from heaven.
And all of it came from her. From the life growing inside her belly.
At that moment, I laughed and cried like a madman.
The sect abandoned me. Heaven mocked me. But now?
Now, the heavens had finally given me my golden finger.
I looked at Lianhua, holding her tightly, whispering against her ear:
"Wife… you don't even know… but you've just made me the luckiest man alive."
That night, after Lianhua told me she was pregnant, I couldn't sleep. My heart pounded, not from fear, but from the power surging through me.
For ten years, I had been nothing. Tonight, I was something more.
A voice echoed in my mind again.
> [Fertility Saint System Online]
Host: Kael
Cultivation: Qi Refining – 1st Layer
Wives/Partners: 1
Pregnancies: 1
Current Quest: Impregnate 10 women to reach Core Formation Realm.
Reward: Golden Core Advancement, Increased Lifespan, Dao Foundation Strengthened.
I read those words over and over, my hands trembling. A system. My system.
I clenched my fists, feeling Qi swirl faintly within me. It was real, not an illusion. The weak body that once failed me now felt alive—every breath drew in a trace of spiritual energy.
---
"Kael?"
I looked up. Lianhua stood by the door, hair falling over her shoulders, eyes full of worry.
"You've been staring into nothing for hours. Are you… sick?"
I smiled and shook my head. "No. Not sick. Just… blessed."
She frowned. "You're scaring me, speaking so strangely."
I reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. "Listen, Lianhua. You've given me more than I ever hoped for. You've given me a family. And… because of that, I've finally found my path."
She tilted her head. "Path?"
I laughed softly. How could I explain? That her pregnancy had awakened a divine system that fed me power? That every heartbeat of our child was filling me with Qi? She would think I'd gone mad.
Instead, I said, "A man needs purpose. Mine is to protect you, our child, and the life we're building. For that… I'll grow stronger."
Her eyes softened. She squeezed my hand back. "I don't need a strong man, Kael. I only need you."
Her words struck me harder than any blade. I wanted to believe that—but deep down, I knew the truth. If I stayed weak, the world would tear this happiness from me. Cultivators, bandits, beasts—anyone could destroy us.
No. I wouldn't let that happen. Not anymore.
---
I sat cross-legged after she fell asleep, closing my eyes.
The Qi Refining stage… I finally understood it. My meridians, once like dry rivers, now flowed. Energy circulated, warm and steady. I had climbed the first step after ten years of being mocked as trash.
And all it took was… her.
I opened my eyes, gazing at her sleeping form, her hand resting over her stomach. A faint smile curved my lips.
"Wife… our child is my first step to power. From here… I'll climb higher than anyone ever imagined."
Above me, the stars glittered. For the first time since transmigrating, I didn't feel abandoned by heaven.
I felt chosen.