C1 The Old Ancestor Came out of Seclusion!

In the depths of the Mistmantle Mountain Range within the Jia Lun Empire, a secret chamber housed a member of the Skyhaven Clan.

A lightning bolt tore through the dark sky, seemingly splitting it in two. As the light receded, Qin Mu stirred, his fingers twitching before his eyes slowly opened.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully activating the system!"

"System, how much time has passed since I began my seclusion?" Qin Mu inquired languidly.

"Ding! To answer the host, it has been twenty thousand years since you commenced your seclusion."

The system's chime resonated in Qin Mu's mind, leaving him awestruck. Indeed, he had spent twenty thousand years in meditation within this very chamber.

Time had whisked away as if it were only yesterday that he had first joined the clan.

Truth be told, Qin Mu was not originally from this world. In fact, the Qin Mu of this world had perished. Back in Huaxia, he had been driving when a speeding truck approached, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself transported to this new realm.

Upon arriving in this world where cultivation was possible, Qin Mu's only desire was to practice earnestly. He had no aspirations for dominion—merely to outlive an average man by a few years.

Selling all his earthly possessions, Qin Mu managed to bribe a minor steward of the Skyhaven Clan's outer sect. His efforts earned him entry into the clan as a factotum—a role that entailed managing the menial tasks for outer sect disciples, an exchange for his entire fortune.

The role of a factotum, while primarily serving the outer sect disciples, also afforded time for personal cultivation, a significant perk of the position.

As Qin Mu embarked on his cultivation journey, a mechanical hum began to emanate from the recesses of his mind—it was the system. Qin Mu, too, was a cultivator with a system!

A cultivator with a system stood apart from ordinary cultivators in that they could complete system tasks to earn substantial rewards. Moreover, during seclusion, they would receive daily rewards.

The catch, however, was that one must first advance their cultivation to the fifth level of Blessing.

But fate often defies expectation. Lacking innate talent for cultivation, Qin Mu found himself still striving to reach the fifth level of Blessing after twenty thousand years of dedicated practice.

While Qin Mu was in seclusion, his bodily functions remained unchanged, safeguarded by the system. Despite the passage of 20,000 years, he appeared no different than when he first began his retreat.

Throughout his seclusion, Qin Mu received daily rewards from the system. His continuous cultivation over two decades earned him a variety of powerful skills, each with a limited number of uses.

Eventually, due to the length of his cultivation, the system granted him an Immortal Breaking Pill, capable of propelling him into the Immortal Realm.

"Damn it... This ridiculous system. I'm only at the fifth level of Blessing. Using the Immortal Breaking Pill would probably make me explode and die!"

Cultivation levels in this world were categorized as Blessing, Foundation Building, Abstinence, Heart Movement, Nascent Infant, Void of Serenity, Quietus, and Deification. Each level was further divided into nine sub-levels, with the disparity between each becoming increasingly pronounced.

Cultivation talent was classified as advanced, intermediate, or low level, with each category subdivided into three tiers: A, B, and C. The higher one's cultivation talent, the quicker their progress.

"Enough of this. It's time to see how the sect has fared after all these years."

Qin Mu rose to his feet, dusted himself off, and pushed open the long-sealed door of the secret chamber.

A beam of light fell upon him, revealing a sight he hadn't expected: not a thriving sect, but ruins and rubble.

"Where's the Spiritual Weapon Room? The Pill Hall? The Law Enforcement Hall? What... What has happened here?"

Confusion filled Qin Mu's heart. After 20,000 years of seclusion, the world outside had transformed beyond recognition, and the once prosperous sect had vanished.

Ling Siying and Ling Sixiao knelt before a grave, the last descendants of the Skyhaven Clan. In that moment, they were bidding farewell to their teacher, the former sect master of the Skyhaven Clan, on his final journey.

"Master, it was our lack of ability—my sister's and mine—that couldn't save you. Why would you entrust the leadership of the sect to me? With you at the helm, the Skyhaven Clan stood as a formidable sect. But now that you've departed, what are my sister and I to do? How can I possibly uphold the legacy of the Skyhaven Clan?"