"The Shen family isn't a hidden dragon or crouching tiger. Ages ago, it is said that a man from the upper realm descended to this plane, he is the founding ancestor of the Shen family. The Shen Family is believed to possess a pure Phoenix bloodline that can resurrect from ashes. From long, long, long ago the Shen family has always cultivated the empresses..."

Madam Lian's voice dropped to a soft whisper, as if the very walls of the hall were listening. She leaned forward, her emerald silk robes rustling like dry leaves in a storm, while also highlighting the softness and firmness of her cleavage, the fabric straining against the curve of her breasts.

"The Shen Family possesses powerful techniques and cultivation arts. Till date, two people from the Shen family have ascended to the upper world."

Ooh! That's interesting. The Shen family, with their Phoenix bloodline, is a force to be reckoned with. But, Young Master wonders if they are truly as powerful as she claims. After all, the world is vast, and there are always those who hide in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Nevertheless, the ancestor from the upper world? The pure Phoenix bloodline is interesting knowledge.

"However getting in touch with them is extremely hard unless, you ask the Elder Gu..." She added, her voice trailing off as she watched Tianmo's expression remain as still as a frozen lake.

Elder Gu? 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What's with Elder Gu?" He couldn't help but ask.

"You may not know, but Elder Gu has captured a heaven-blessed man and is using him as a breeding pig to give birth to offspring with powerful innate talent. He possesses multiple Supreme Dao bones, bloodlines, body physiques, and cultivation bodies... One of the bloodlines is the Royal Phoenix bloodline," she said but her eyes narrowed slightly, perhaps a little conflicted but she overcame it easily.

"Son, he was offering supreme Dao bones before as a token of goodwill but your father rejected it saying, it was a demonic and unorthodox method and heaven would punish it, however, this humble woman would feel blessed to possess one or two supreme Dao bones, even if it means a little sin."

Madam Lian's voice was a low hum, like a plucked zither string, vibrating with a mix of greed and fear. Her eyes, usually sharp, now held a glimmer of desperation.

"..."

Great minds think alike. While, Tianmo had thought of taking the system to himself, and breeding women for the sake of innate treasures, Elder Gu was doing the same but the protagonist was used as a breeding machine.

However, this has both advantages and disadvantages, the chosen son may not last long before his foundation gets ruined and the system is lost.

"Greed is the root of all suffering, yet it is also the root of all progress. Forgive me for my bluntness but the information you provided isn't worth such a fortune..."

Her lips turned into a seductive smile from a composed sophisticated woman, "I knew, it would reach this point, but, didn't you reward Aunt Biyue and Madam Zhu? Well, I do understand, you shared a moment of passion with them so, your heart is more inclined towards them compared to someone as distant as me. However, if there are rewards consider me a possible option as well. I would surely give you a better time than them."

Tianmo looked at her, his eyes dark and unreadable, like a deep well where the water never froze, she looked seductive, sly, and confident though he wasn't in the mood for any bed-shaking activity at the moment.

"I will think about it..."

"Please do so, aside from the wife of your father, I am a woman as well. For now, I shall take my leave... If you want to discuss the way of life and mundane matters, you are free to visit my chambers anytime."

After she left, the silence in the hall was not empty; it was chilling while Tianmo thought about the matters for a brief time.

"System... Tell me exactly how much time has passed. Exact."

[Ding!]

[8 months, 12 days, seven hours, twenty minutes, and 23 seconds ]

[... 24 seconds ]

[... 25 seconds ]

8 months? Ah... Now it clicked perfectly, Elder Gu must have used the private world to speed up time, and had already amassed hundreds of innate talents.

The way Madam Zhu looked, it seemed she too wished to get her hands on supreme Dao bones. Tsk, all women are greedy and think for themselves.

***

The Winds flutter like Autumn leaves, yet the heart remains a stone. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but the path of the Dao is paved with the bones of the foolish.

Little Servant Zhang, flying within his sword, arrived at the borders of the "Chad Sect." The name itself was a vulgar insult to the Dao, lacking the elegance and poetry befitting the eastern domains.

"This sect is just so so," he muttered, voice full of diabolical intent.

The Chad Sect was a small, ragged assembly of six disciples, huddled in a dilapidated temple that had seen better centuries without the grand vast territory. It couldn't even be said a Sect but a gathering of stray cats and dogs, all seeking a master, a home, a purpose.

"You there... Who are you?" A powerful voice boomed, shaking the dust from the cracked eaves of the dilapidated temple.

The speaker was a man with somewhat of a little feminine build, with a curvaceous body, yet he had the Hitler-style mustache, showing he wasn't lacking in Yang Energy.

He was the guard, currently at the Nascent Soul realm, his aura profound and foundation strong. He looked at the servant Zhang with a mix of curiosity and disdain.

In the world of cultivation, it's better to bully the weak and fear the strong. However, despite being a major realm below, Zhang was confident in winning the fight with his peerless talents, thus, the bully here was him. If so, what gives this feminine man the courage to stand in front of him? Did he eat tiger's testicles or lion's heart?

"Three breaths! I give you three breaths, kneel down and kowtow 10 times, only then, I shall spare your corpse."

Hearing the taunt, the guard was instantly enraged, his aura flaring like a burst of crimson fire. Any further talking was meaningless.

His left hand began to glow with crimson flames as he swung his fist at Zhang's head, the air around him warping with the heat of a thousand suns.

But the flame never reached its target.

Zhang did not move his feet, nor did he raise a hand. He simply exhaled, a breath so cold it seemed to freeze the very air in the temple.

Snap.

The guard's fist, mid-strike, shattered. Not from impact, but from the sudden, absolute cessation of Qi flow within his meridians. The crimson fire in his palm turned to gray ash, then to dust, scattering on the wind.

Zhang's eyes, once human, now held the depth of a void, two black holes swallowing the light. The phantom of a powerful demonic ashura materialized behind him, its fingers twitching powerful and mysterious runes, dazzling with violet and purple colors.

"I expected more from a Nascent Soul... Tsk, Tsk, Tsk." Zhang shook his head in a slow, rhythmic motion, utterly disappointed seeing how a Nacsent Soul couldn't even keep up a fight.

The guard, now a broken husk, fell to his knees, his face pale as a sheet of paper, his eyes wide with a terror that transcended the physical.

How could this be? This makes no sense...

How could he be defeated, just by the manifestation of a physique? The guard's mind shattered like a porcelain doll dropped from a great height.

Zhang didn't wish to prolong the meaningless scene, thus, he instantly annihilated the soul of the guard, his hand moving like a shadow in the night. The guard's body crumbled into dust, his soul screaming silently before being crushed. But whether he is truly dead or not is unknown.

That is still the divine soul. If the divine soul was within the soul space then it's the end for him, however, if his divine soul (Tao-Yi) is outside then, he is still alive.

Nevertheless,

The commotion wasn't earth-shaking or atmosphere-shattering, but it did alert the members within the sect. But, instead of fleeing, they gathered before the sect, anger and disdain visible on their face.

The man at the very front was clad in a dusty mundane robe, his face a mask of righteous indignation. One doesn't need to guess his name—born within a noble family that was exterminated leaving him as the sole survivor, who seeks vengeance, taking heaven as the judge for his vow. Meridians shattered yet, by the grace of heaven, found an Ancient Supreme Heaven-defying cultivation manual that only works on broken meridians on a seemingly mundane street shop—the classic Xiao Fan template, named Li Fan.

Li Fan clenched his fist, two drops of blood dripping from his eyes. Who was this guard? This guard was like a family to him, a father-figure, a brother-figure, a mentor-figure. He was a close family member and now his breath is completely gone?

Outrageous!!!!

Thump! Thump!

His heart began to beat faster and faster, like an ancient dragon awaiting to be freed from the cage, it was a world-ending dragon physique, his body covered in a dark sinister aura.

Woosh!

A dark mist coiled around Li Fan's body, not the chaotic fog of a demon, but the structured, suffocating weight of a thousand years of grief. His eyes, once bright were now hollow pits of void, reflecting the cold indifference of a world that had taken everything.

"Hahahahaha!" He laughed menacingly, the sound tearing through the silence like a jagged blade, the dao foundation within him began to vibrate, making his cultivation breakthrough while at the price of his "raw" talent.

"Senior brother Li Fan has entered the berserk state!"

A female disciple with the brightly glittering silver hair, said with a hint of worry.

Meanwhile, Zhang was amused. According to Elder Gu, these people are the Chosen One by heaven, the ones who are destined to shine above them all. What a joke, they are nothing but ants in the grand scheme of things. Why would heaven choose someone as stupid as them when there are a lot of better people!? Alas, who could fathom how Heavenly Dao thinks?

However, he thought for a moment was against the idea of killing them for now. These people have powerful talents, that should be absorbed first and only then, can they be killed. Otherwise, it would only be a waste of resources.

He activated his spirit eye.

Li Fan practiced a heaven-defying manual that works without the need of meridians and possesses a world-ending dragon physique. It is even powerful compared to Chaos body physique.

The girl with glittering silver hair possessed a spirit root of mixed-grade, a total waste in the eyes of others yet, she possessed an Ice Palace body physique and a Supreme Ice vein within her body.

His gaze then shifted towards four more—three males and one female.

The first man with a bald head clad in orange Buddhist robes possessed eyes of Runes, a rare eye highly effective in making runes, with a Dharma Body physique.

The second man looked extra short in terms of height, merely standing at 5'6", yet his aura was dense, clad in a mysterious robe engraved with runes written in blood. He possessed, well, he possessed nothing special rather than Sword Spirit Roots. Perhaps there is more to this guy than that meets the eye.

The third one was a giant muscular man, his muscles bulging beneath a torn tunic, his skin the color of iron, he was a trash possessing a Stone Body physique. It was useless, so, Zhang didn't even bother thinking much, he merely pointed his finger at the Muscular guy, and the phantom Ashura behind him, shot a magical beam of light from its eyes, engraved by profound runes, instantly piercing the man's chest, shattering his heart and soul in a single instant.

The fourth one was a woman, but she was even more mysterious because his spirit eye couldn't see through her, she was like a void.

"Interesting..." he smirked sinisterly, completely ignoring Li Fan, who was still recalling the old memories, the feelings, the bond, his happy time, powering up his cultivation. Now, with Big Guy killed before his very eyes, his aura flared even more, his eyes turning red with blood.

Rookie mistake.

Cough! Cough!

Li Fan coughed up his blood essence from the depths of his heart, having his Dao Heart greatly shaken. He clenched his fist. "30 years in east, 30 years in west, didn't push a man to absolute lest, he retaliates with nothing to lose."

He rushed like a mad bull, his body radiating a chaotic, blood-red aura that smelled of rust. The air around him warped, the very light bending as if the universe itself recoiled from his grief.

"Die, you demon!" Li Fan roared, his voice cracking the stone floor beneath his feet. He did not use a sword; he used his fists, wrapped in the dark mist. Right now, he was a vessel of pure, unadulterated rage, a storm of vengeance that sought to tear the world apart.

Zhang stood motionless, with a calm body language with a smile tugging on his lips, like a cat watching a mouse struggle in a trap.

He waved his hand and the aura of the supreme swept past, instantly suppressing Li Fan. Li Fan fell to the ground, eating dirt, while Zhang placed his left foot above his head, asserting dominance.

"Nothing to lose? A bum like you doesn't deserve to speak such profound words, know your worth."

Zhang's voice was not loud, yet it carried the weight of a collapsing mountain, pressing down on Li Fan's soul.

The man, who had just moments ago been a storm of righteous fury, now lay prostrate, his face pressed against the cold, cracked stone of the Chad Sect's courtyard, anger and unwillingness still burning in his eyes.

"My family they was killed... My brothers were killed..

Why!? Why? Why is heaven so unfair, how is—"

Before he could speak any further, servant Zhang slammed his foot on his head, "Silence! I don't wanna hear your blabbering, meh, meh, meh, heaven is unfair... Tell me, is the moon unfair because it doesn't shine on the blind? Is the sun unfair because it doesn't warm the dead? Heaven isn't unfair, it's simple you are simply weak, don't blame someone else for your incompetence... Welcome to the real world," he said, his voice dripping with the venom of a thousand years of disdain.

Heaven is unfair? Look at him... He possessed a body that could shatter mountains, a physique that defied the laws of flesh, yet he lay in the dust, his spirit crushed by a single foot, he was given something that trillions of other cultivators dream of, yet he was still crying like a child.

Zhang still couldn't fathom why, heaven chooses such crybabies. Zhang himself had his family exterminated by some drunk cultivator, his brother killed, his sister sold to a random brothel, yet till now, has he ever ranted about it? Did he ever complain about heaven being unfair, life being unfair!?

Just a year ago, he was still mortal without a hint of cultivation, between Li Fan and himself, if someone had it unfair then it's definitely servant Zhang. He started with nothing, yet he rose to where he is not once blaming others.

"You claimed your family was exterminated, your brothers killed so, what? You aren't the only one who suffered. The world is a slaughterhouse, and you are merely a fly caught in the web. But you, you are a fly with a sword."

Zhang's voice was devoid of pity, a cold river flowing over a bed of bones. He did not raise his foot; he simply pressed down, and the pressure of a soul wandering realm amplified with the aura of supreme.

"Have you ever thought of how many others have met the same fate!? Each day someone is getting killed, each week someone's family is exterminated, each month someone's bloodline is eliminated. But you, you are the only one who dares to cry to heaven. You are the only one who dares to blame the heavens for your own mediocrity. Look at me, I started with nothing, I had no spirit root, no innate talent, in my life, I made one right choice and my entire life changed..."

"I too had my family killed, my brothers... they were begging but they were slaughtered mercilessly. My sister, she was sold to a brothel, her innocence torn apart by the hands of the strong, and later she chose to end her suffering with her own hands. I, alone was there living for my family... Let's say, we both started our journey as the same way."

"But, you had doors and windows opened to you, while I had only a wall of thorns, you had countless opportunities yet I had one, yet, I still outshined you. The difference between you and me is clear, you blame others for your mediocrity, while I blame no one."

"You have eyes but can't see the vastness of Mount Tai."

The remaining four watching the scene were petrified, unable to speak, their souls trembling like leaves in a gale. The silence was heavy, a physical weight pressing down on their chests, suffocating the very air they breathed.

Zhang, however, did not look at them, his focus was only on Li Fan, given that, they shared some similarities.