Chapter One: The Unfilial Daughter

“My younger brother intends to marry the Sacred Maiden of the Xianjian Sect. Prepare 880,000 high-grade spirit stones, three ninth-grade spirit artifacts, an exquisite cave dwelling, and a Golden Core mount for me.”
“If you can’t provide these, I will renounce the sect.”
“You wouldn’t want to be left without anyone to care for you in your old age, would you?”

In the grand hall of the Xuandan Sect, a young girl raised her pale, graceful neck and threatened the middle-aged man seated at the head of the hall.

“What?! 880,000 high-grade spirit stones? That amount could establish a first-class sect!”
“Ninth-grade spirit artifacts? Even the sacred grounds possess only a few.”
“An exquisite cave dwelling is one thing, but a Golden Core mount too? I’m only at the Golden Core stage myself; I might as well be the mount!”

Her words caused an uproar within the hall. Everyone gritted their teeth in anger, but knowing her relationship with the middle-aged man, they could only mutter complaints in hushed tones.

“Is this some sort of transmigration?”

Chen Xuan looked on with surprise. He was just an ordinary middle-aged man who, due to overwork while trying to earn money, had developed stomach cancer. Unexpectedly, his children fought over his property in the hospital instead of caring for him, causing him to die of frustration and anger.

To his astonishment, he had transmigrated.

Chen Xuan smiled bitterly. He had raised two unfilial children; his life had truly been a failure.

Yet, fate had given him another chance at life.

He pondered his current situation carefully.

But soon, his brow furrowed deeply, and his face darkened.

He was the Sect Master of the Xuandan Sect, known among many as the Nascent Soul Patriarch, a man of great virtue and renown.

However, the Xuandan Sect now bore a disgraceful reputation, with countless enemies. Even the sect’s own servants were kicked around mercilessly.

The sect was on the brink of destruction.

And all of this was because of the girl who threatened him in the hall—Ye Xueyan.

Ye Xueyan had been sold to human traffickers by her parents when she was a child. Chen Xuan, feeling pity, had bought her back and raised her as his own daughter, imparting all his lifelong secret techniques to her without reservation.

Yet, secretly, Ye Xueyan had been searching for her birth parents, believing that her impoverished family had sold her to save her from starvation. She thought Chen Xuan had merely bought her by chance.

Three years ago, she finally reunited with her birth parents. Riding on her identity as Chen Xuan’s adopted daughter, she brought her unskilled birth family into the Xuandan Sect, even arranging for their mutts to become the sect’s sacred beasts.

Upon learning of her identity, the Ye family rampaged within the sect. They committed acts of violence under the Xuandan banner, bullying men and women, forcibly claiming resources from other sects, and even coercing female disciples from rival sects into concubinage.

Any sects that dared resist were suppressed by Ye Xueyan herself, making the Xuandan Sect the common enemy of the cultivation world, always at risk of being besieged.

Whenever Chen Xuan tried to intervene, Ye Xueyan threatened to renounce the sect.

With no other children of his own, and having invested his life’s work into Ye Xueyan, Chen Xuan could not bear to lose everything if she left.

The deeper he got, the harder it became to pull away.

Now, Ye Xueyan’s brother had set his sights on the Sacred Maiden of the Xianjian Sect, and once again she used renouncement as a threat to force Chen Xuan to provide the betrothal gifts.

The anger was too much for Chen Xuan; he died once more.

Clenching his fists, Chen Xuan reflected bitterly on his past life: he had worked tirelessly to earn money, only to have his unfilial children disregard his life and fight over his inheritance in the hospital, killing him with anger.

In this life, he swore he would never repeat the same mistakes.

Renounce the sect? How could the grand Nascent Soul Patriarch simply hand over his hard-earned treasures to these ingrates?

This time, he would live only for himself.

“Are you going to provide it or not? It’s just 880,000 high-grade spirit stones, three ninth-grade spirit artifacts, a cave dwelling, and a Golden Core mount. Do you really want me to renounce the sect?”

Seeing Chen Xuan remain silent, Ye Xueyan resorted to her usual tactic and turned to leave.

“In that case, I will renounce the sect!”

A smile curled at the corner of her lips as she glanced back.

Having been raised by Chen Xuan for twenty years, she knew his personality well.

He highly valued inheritance; before passing it to her, she had to show utmost respect, fearing abandonment.

Now that he had entrusted his life’s work to her, there was no way he would allow his legacy to be severed.

No matter how excessive her demands, Chen Xuan would surely provide within three days at most.

“Wait!”

Just as she took two steps, Chen Xuan’s voice rang out.

Ye Xueyan’s smile of triumph appeared even sooner than expected—less than a minute. Perhaps next time she could push even harder.

The disciples and elders standing nearby looked utterly frustrated and helpless; those 880,000 spirit stones would have to be deducted from their resources.

“Have you reconsidered?”

Ye Xueyan lifted her chin arrogantly. “Then prepare it quickly. You have only three days.”

Chen Xuan’s face turned cold as he prepared to speak, when suddenly a voice echoed in his mind.

[Beep! System bound!]
[Please select a system type from the following options:]
[1. Agree to Ye Xueyan’s demands and become a devoted father. Henceforth, you cannot refuse any of her requests. Reward: Devoted Father System.
Devoted Father System: Gifts given to Ye Xueyan have a chance of critical return.]
[2. Reject Ye Xueyan’s demands and expel her from the sect. Reward: Filial Piety System. Additional option: Cause the Ye family to destroy itself for a mysterious reward.
Filial Piety System: Gain special rewards when others show filial respect to you.]

A system!

Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow.

Not only had he become a Nascent Soul Patriarch, but now he had a system to aid him—flying up would be inevitable.

He studied the two options.

Devoted Father System? Agreeing to all of Ye Xueyan’s demands? How was that any different from a sycophant system?

He was a grand Nascent Soul Patriarch, not a toady. Absolutely impossible.

The second option was to have others show him filial piety—that was having them be sycophants instead.

Moreover, causing the Ye family to destroy itself came with a mysterious reward.

Interesting.

If Ye Xueyan were to perish at the hands of her beloved birth parents, perhaps she would be very grateful to him.

“Three days?”

Chen Xuan sneered and stood, looking down at Ye Xueyan. “Not even three days—today.”

“Today?”

Ye Xueyan was momentarily stunned. She hadn’t expected Chen Xuan to be so decisive. As far as she knew, the Xuandan Sect could not so easily muster such resources.

It seemed he had a hidden ace.

Though he claimed to have passed the sect onto her, he had secretly hoarded countless treasures.

Indeed, those not born of blood never truly cared for her.

Thankfully, she had found her real family.

Ye Xueyan felt justified in her decision to seek out her birth parents.

“Then hurry up and bring them out.” She reached out her hand.

“Hmph.”

Seeing her presumptuous attitude, Chen Xuan snorted coldly and declared to everyone in the hall: “As of today, Ye Xueyan is expelled from the Xuandan Sect.”

…