Starting with a Family System to Become an Immortal Official Chapter 73

The special night Li Qingmu spent with the mother and child of Chen family changed a lot.

Well... only on Fragrant Flower Peak.

After the fantastic night Chen Yuxuan and her daughter spent with Li Qingmu, she felt so happy that she called for a peak announcement the very next day.

Madam Chen had stood upon the central dais.

She was still trying to forget the memory of Li Qingmu’s manly body covered in sweat.

『I would love to be thrown around by him again...』

She hid her smile under her delicate fingers.

"AHEM!"

She faced the massive crowd of peak disciples.

"From this day forth, Fragrant Flower Peak will no longer bear the title of ’Man-Subduing Peak’ and anyone caught uttering those words will face three months of wall-facing punishment. We are cultivators of the Dao. We do not define ourselves by what we reject."

The place went so silent that one could hear petals detaching from peach blossoms.

Then the explosion came.

Screams. Shouts. Swords half-drawn.

A dozen of angry peak sisters rushed forward.

"This is madness!"

"How can Peak Master overturn an entire generation of teachings in one night!?"

Several of the more feminine peak brothers quickly crowded behind their senior sisters.

"Right! Right!"

"We must uphold the honor of the peak!"

But they secretly loved this new declaration.

One could tell from their secret grins and giggles.

At the eye of the storm stood Chen Jingshu.

She stepped onto the dais stairs as her finger stabbed toward her mother.

"Is this some kind of joke, Mother!?"

Her voice cracked painfully.

"You spent YEARS hammering into us that men are poison, that their presence is trouble, that we must remain pure and untouchable—and now you want us to smile and welcome them with open arms?!"

Gao Yue stood a half-step behind Madam Chen.

She made frantic little calming motions with both hands.

"Jingshu... lower your voice. Listen first—"

"I WILL NOT!"

Chen Jingshu roared.

"If Peak Master refuses to give us a reason for this betrayal then we leave. Right now. All of us!"

A thunderous chorus answered her.

"Yes!"

"We leave!"

"Peak Master can keep her dirty new philosophy!"

Chen Jingshu’s gaze swept the crowd like a hawk searching for prey.

Then it landed.

"Yuling."

Chen Yuling flinched so violently her robes fluttered.

A tiny, panicked "hm!?" slipped past her lips before she could catch it.

She’d spent the entire announcement praying no one would see or even think of her.

But it seems she didn’t pray hard enough.

Every eye in the plaza turned toward her.

Chen Jingshu marched forward.

"Little sister. Tell them. Tell our mother that this nonsense cannot stand. You of all people should understand just how useless and shameless men are! You swore you’d rather die than let a man touch you. Speak!"

Chen Yuling laughed.

It came out high, awkward, and slightly hysterical.

"Ehehe... ehe..."

She scratched her cheek with an index finger.

"Why does anyone do anything these days, hah...?"

The entire plaza went ???

"Huh?"

"What kind of answer is that?"

Several senior sisters closed in to form a loose but insistent circle around her.

"Yuling, come on. Back us up."

"You hate men more than any of us!"

"If you didn’t despise them so much you wouldn’t have chosen Yi Ming in the first place!"

The mention of Yi Ming was the final straw.

Chen Yuling’s pale face flushed scarlet.

She stomped one small foot.

"I’M NOT DATING YI MING!"

The shout echoed off jade walls and startled several sparrows into flight.

The silence was loud again.

A petite outer disciple blinked rapidly.

"...What?"

"Did... did she just yell?"

That’s when a bold disciple spoke up.

"Did she do something?"

More curious voices joined.

"The white swan is single again...?"

Many of them were gladdened by this.

Chen Yuling took a deep breath.

When she spoke again, her voice was softer.

"I’m not... into women. Not really."

She lifted her chin.

Her fingers twisted nervously in her sleeves.

"I was scared of men. But men aren’t all... monsters. I know that now. One man’s cruelty doesn’t define them all. And we shouldn’t hate an entire half of the world just because someone powerful once said we should."

She gave her mother a small frown.

Chen Yuxuan stood very still.

Her arms were folded tightly across her chest.

She looked away as her pretty cheeks bloomed with color that refused to fade.

A low murmur moved through the crowd.

"Is Peak Master... blushing?"

"A cold immortal like her... blushing?"

"I must be seeing things!"

Madam Chen forced her rosy lips to move.

"It’s not as though I told you all to hate men... you little ones just assumed I did. And I... was too embarrassed to correct you. A woman of my standing can’t go around telling everyone that I’m scared of talking to men. I thought it better to let the misunderstanding stand."

Then she hid her face in shame.

A peak sister suddenly drew her sword.

She leveled the blade toward the dais.

"YOU!"

Gao Yue’s hand flew to her own hilt.

But Madam Chen raised one pale palm.

"Wait."

The disciple’s voice shook with rage and pain.

"Hypocrite... all these years you let us believe you hated men as much as we did. You let us build our entire Dao around that hatred. And now we find out it was just—"

Her voice cracked.

"—just because you’re SCARED of them? Because you were too shy to admit it?"

Tears tracked down her cheeks.

"I was raped. In my village. Repeatedly. And later I discovered my own father arranged it. The home I grew up in was a lie. A trap. I came here thinking Fragrant Flower Peak was the only place I could ever feel safe."

She dropped to her knees.

"And now you’re telling me... it was all for nothing?"

The plaza went deathly quiet.

Even Gao Yue’s hand slowly fell away from her sword.

Chen Jingshu stared at her mother with frustration.

"I hope you’re proud of what you’ve done."

Madam Chen lowered her head.

She said nothing.

Her beautiful face remained expressionless.

But her fingers, hidden in her sleeves, trembled.

That was how the weeks passed.

Awkward silences and furtive glances.

Disciples packing and unpacking bags in indecision.

It was a lot.

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Li Family Palace.

Li Qingmu lounged sideways on a red chair.

A blue panel was before him.

[Congratulations, Host!]

[You’ve successfully impregnated Chen Yuling!]

[You’ve successfully impregnated Chen Yuxuan!]

Li Qingmu just smirked.

More lines scrolled.

[For impregnating Chen Yuling you have gained access to the Spiritual Farm Shop!]

‣ It’s a system market where he can spend Family Points to purchase special seeds.

Li Qingmu clicked his tongue.

"Useless. Only bookworms like Liyue and Yuling would go mad with joy over plant trash."

Swipe.

A golden notification popped up.

[Pregnancy has fully stabilized Yuxuan’s constitution so the child’s birth is projected to permanently harmonize the supreme yin root, granting the mother complete freedom from the constitution’s torment.]

Li Qingmu stroked his chin, eyes glinting.

"So that’s how it works..."

Swipe.

[Host has obtained one Nascent Soul Holy Land Token for being the father of the ultimate child!]

‣ Allows Host + two Peak Core Formation cultivators entry to a private Nascent Soul Holy Land for 90 days of cultivation that guarantees breakthrough to Nascent Soul realm.

Li Qingmu sat up straighter.

"That’s actually great!"

Then his expression soured.

He sighed bitterly.

"But... it’s only the THIRD best method."

He began counting on his fingers.

The first and worst is to swallow a Nascent Soul pill.

But the cultivator would also be capped at Nascent Soul realm for life.

Second is enter a public Holy Land and fight for scraps of energy like everyone else.

But there were sects and clans that owned private Nascent Soul Holy Lands.

Third is to cultivate a nascent soul seed.

The quality of one’s future cultivation depends on the seed’s origin. Since Li Qingmu refined half-step Grandmaster Huo Wuji into a seed for Su Liyue... he was certain her nascent soul’s potential was monstrous.

"She better thank me properly!"

He leaned back, arms folded behind his head.

He was thinking about the last and strongest method.

The legendary method.

"One must refine and fuse the soul fragments of the Four Great Heavenly Kings to achieve Heavenly Nascent Soul realm. The only path that can one day touch Middle Heaven Realm cultivation."

It was impossible in these lower continents.

He shook his head.

"The resources simply don’t exist here."

He threw his head back and groaned dramatically toward the sky.

"I’m the family head. I can’t let my wives or children surpass me. I refuse. Which means I need Heavenly Nascent Soul. But there’s zero chance the system is just going to hand me those soul fragments..."

He closed his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

Right on cue.

Two powerful figures appeared in an eye’s blink.

Two of the five Core Formation elders he got from using the Elder Recruitment Token.

"Family Head."

"Three beautiful ladies await at the main gate. They claim it’s urgent business."

Li Qingmu cracked one eye open and sighed again.

Floating up from the chair, he flashed into a streak of light and vanished across the palace grounds.

He reappeared at the towering jade gates.

"Auntie?"

He tilted his head elegantly.

Gao Yue stood in front with a complicated look.

His two Chen family wives were behind her.

Li Qingmu blinked once.

"...Huh?"

Gao Yue bowed deeply and spoke with a firm voice.

"Young Master Li."

She lifted her eyes.

"Take responsibility."