Chapter 1: The 60th Birthday Celebration is Coming

Great Desolate Empire.

Eastern Province, Cloudmist City.

The Lin family mansion, one of the five great families of Cloudmist City, was filled with guests today. Colorful lanterns hung high, and the atmosphere was one of joy and celebration.

"The Li family wishes the Lin Family Head blessings as vast as the Eastern Sea and a lifespan as long as the Southern Mountains!"

"The Qin family wishes the Lin Family Head a great surge in cultivation and strength!"

"Yang’er wishes Third Uncle an early breakthrough into the Three-Pass Divine Realm!"

"Ao’er wishes Third Granduncle that every year may be like this one, and every day like today!"

The stream of people was endless, and the well-wishes came one after another.

Today was the sixtieth birthday of Lin Xuan, the head of the Lin family.

Amidst the laughter and congratulations of the crowd, Lin Xuan, seated in the seat of honor, was all smiles and glowing with health.

However, hidden beneath that smiling face was a sense of desolation that was hard to conceal.

After today, Lin Xuan would be sixty. For a cultivator, the ages of twelve to twenty-two are the golden years.

Twenty-three to forty is also a period of rapid cultivation growth.

But after forty, a cultivator’s vitality, bones, and sinews gradually weaken, especially for a cultivator like Lin Xuan who has not yet entered the Three-Pass Divine Realm.

Lin Xuan had been stagnant at the mid-stage of the Great Origin Core Realm for ten whole years. To ascend to the next level was as difficult as reaching the heavens, and to break through the Origin Core to enter the Three-Pass Realm was even more of a pipe dream.

The Origin Core stage is still within the realm of ordinary people, with a lifespan of no more than one hundred and twenty years. Having suffered severe hidden injuries in his youth, Lin Xuan feared his remaining lifespan was likely thirty or fifty years shorter than that.

Lin Xuan was truly afraid that once he passed, there would be no one in the Lin family capable of holding up the banner!

What would become of his son, born in his twilight years, and the younger generation of the Lin family?

As a transmigrator, when he first arrived, Lin Xuan had possessed great ambition, fantasizing that he was a legendary peerless genius destined to hold the power of the Great Desolate!

Because Lin Xuan had transmigrated with his soul, he could speak at six months, walk at nine months, recognize a thousand characters by age three, recite poetry by age six, and at age nine, he was scouted by an old immortal traveling the world, who brought him to the holy land of cultivation in the Great Desolate—the Jixia Academy.

That was the highest institution in the Great Desolate, a place where countless people flocked.

It was a place that even the great families of the provincial capital held in awe, and one that even the Great Desolate Imperial Family treated with courtesy.

For Lin Xuan to enter such a place was to ascend to the heavens in a single step!

Lin Xuan had expected to show his prowess, but unfortunately, reality gave him a resounding slap in the face!

Lin Xuan learned a truth

—A transmigrator without a cheat is no different from a background character.

Aside from having the mental strength of someone who had lived two lives, Lin Xuan was truly trash in every other regard.

At Jixia Academy, Lin Xuan saw the gap between true geniuses and the mediocre.

It was like comparing a firefly to the bright moon!

Some geniuses truly seemed to have cheats enabled when they cultivated!

A true genius could open their Origin at eleven, enter the Origin Core realm at fourteen, comprehend martial intent at fifteen, enter the Three-Pass Divine Realm at seventeen, and comprehend dual intents at eighteen!

Even lesser geniuses could basically enter the Three-Pass Divine Realm by their thirties!

But Lin Xuan, at thirty-eight, was only at the early stage of the Great Origin Core, and that was only because he had "sucked up" to his master and junior sister for resources.

Otherwise, Lin Xuan doubted he could have even reached the Great Origin Core!

How could he compare to that!?

Forget about reciting poetry at six; that was completely useless.

At thirty-eight, a disheartened Lin Xuan finally left the highest institution of the Great Desolate.

He left Jixia Academy quietly, hiding it from his fellow disciples and junior sister, with only his master watching him go.

After leaving Jixia Academy, Lin Xuan did not return to his hometown until he was forty. Relying on his Great Origin Core strength, he brought the weak Lin family into the ranks of the five great families of Cloudmist City.

However, although Lin Xuan was at the mid-stage of the Great Origin Core, his eldest and second brothers were nearly seventy before Lin Xuan managed to get them to the mid and early stages of the Small Origin Core.

As for his two younger brothers, one was crippled and the other was dead.

As for the second generation, the best among them was only at the Origin Opening stage...

This meant that if Lin Xuan were to die, the Lin family would basically be finished.

Among the other four great families, the weakest, the Jia family, had at least six or seven at the Small Origin Core realm.

The strongest, the Xiao family, had three at the Great Origin Core and double digits at the Small Origin Core!

How could they compare!?

Lin Xuan sighed softly.

Among the grandchildren, there was no one capable of holding up the banner, save for his second brother Lin Wu’s grandson, Lin Ao, who was barely passable.

It really was: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the son of a rat is only fit to dig holes!

Lin Xuan knew his own physical condition; perhaps living to seventy would be good fortune. If he were to pass unexpectedly, and no one in the Lin family could hold up the banner, the family would certainly be forced out of the five great families.

Thinking of this, Lin Xuan felt utterly helpless.

Once they lost their status as one of the five great families, it meant the Lin family would have to surrender many of their family assets, only to be slowly devoured bit by bit!

They might even fall to the status of a third or fourth-rate family in Cloudmist City!

One must know that "literature is for the poor, martial arts are for the rich." Without strong financial support, the Lin family would only grow weaker by the day, unless a legendary heaven-gifted genius appeared!

However, Lin Xuan looked around and sighed silently in his heart once more.

"Damn it, what happened to the golden finger promised to transmigrators!?"

"I’ve lived for sixty years already. Forget about 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't bully the young because they are poor.' I’m afraid the next thing I’ll hear is 'the dead are the greatest,' or the tears of a grave robber?"

"This is just pathetic."

Lin Xuan held his forehead and gave a bitter smile.

"Third Uncle, your niece Lin Xue’er kowtows to you."

At this moment, a young, beautiful girl came to Lin Xuan’s side and kowtowed to him.

Looking at her, Lin Xuan couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.

This girl was named Lin Xue’er, and she had been picked up by his crippled fourth brother. Because her personality was extremely likable and his fourth brother, Lin Chunfeng, had no children of his own, she had been adopted as his foster daughter.

In the entire Lin family, Lin Xuan doted on this little niece very much.

"Hehe, good, good, good. Xue’er, get up quickly, or Third Uncle will feel bad."

Lin Xuan smiled as he helped Lin Xue’er up, his face full of warmth.

The other members of the third generation of the Lin family could only watch with envy.

"By the way, where is Brother Lin Fan?"

Lin Xue’er stood up, looked around, and not seeing the figure she wanted to see, she asked.

The crowd was stunned, and Lin Xuan was too.

The person Lin Xue’er was asking about was Lin Xuan’s only son, Lin Fan.

Because Lin Xuan didn't marry until he was forty-two and had Lin Fan at forty-four, Lin Fan was not even seventeen yet. Although he was younger than many of the third generation, he, like Lin Xue, was considered part of the second generation of the Lin family.

And Lin Fan was the most controversial member of the Lin family, for no other reason than his innate talent being extremely poor—almost to the point of being called trash.

At sixteen, he hadn't even opened his Origin, and he couldn't even reach the seventh level of Qi Gathering!

Regarding this, Lin Xuan could only feel increasingly helpless.

"Uh, Third Granduncle, Uncle Lin Fan seems to have gone to prepare a gift for you," a third-generation boy said.

Lin Xuan could only nod slightly.

Lin Xuan didn't want to say anything more about his only biological son, nor did he want to demand anything of him.

Lin Xuan only hoped that his son could live a happy life; after all, Lin Fan’s mother had passed away when he was only one year old.

"Hehe, alright then, let the banquet begin!"

Lin Xuan waved his hand casually, and suddenly...

[Congratulations to the host. The Immortal Dao System has been decompressing for sixty years. Decompression successful. Binding to host Lin Xuan. This system can help the host become a super genius of the Shenxiao Continent.]

System!?

Lin Xuan was shocked and ecstatic.

Sixty years!

Do you know how I’ve spent these sixty years!?

Do you know!?

And what the hell, become a super genius of the Shenxiao Continent!?

What kind of achievement is that? Lin Xuan didn't even know what the Shenxiao Continent was.

But Lin Xuan could already call himself an old man now; what kind of "genius" would he be!

Could it be an elderly genius!?

However, even though the system was a little late, it had finally arrived, and that was a good thing after all!

"Hahaha!"

Lin Xuan’s face was glowing red, and he stood up as if experiencing a final burst of energy before death.

"Distinguished guests who have come from afar today, please eat and drink well! If the hospitality is lacking, that is the fault of my Lin family."

Lin Xuan’s actions left the guests feeling very confused.

Especially the Wu and Jia families, who held grudges against the Lin family.

Could this old man be so muddled by the fact that he doesn't have many days left that he’s lost his mind?

Lin Xuan’s smile never faded.

I’m just happy today!

(End of chapter)