“The sect’s disciple recruitment ceremony has ended. Those who failed to enter the mountain gate must leave immediately!”
At the Qingyuan Sect’s outer sect square, a middle-aged man in flowing blue-green robes spoke with an expression of cold indifference.
Before him, several hundred young men and women stood with bitter, sullen expressions. They gazed with deep reluctance at the dozen or so peers standing proudly behind the man, heads held high.
From this day forward, a vast, insurmountable chasm would separate the two groups. One would ascend to the heavens, while the other fell back into the dusty, mortal world.
Several Qingyuan Sect disciples stepped forward, systematically ushering the rejected crowd out of the mountain gate.
Despondent and heavy-hearted, the crowd walked away in sorrow.
They knew all too well that without the backing of an immortal sect, even if they possessed spiritual roots, their lives would likely be no different from those of ordinary mortals.
Among the crowd, however, was a youth who, despite his slightly pale complexion, did not lose his composure.
He appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in simple, plain robes. Yet, his eyes were exceptionally clear and bright. He silently walked out of the mountain gate, never once looking back.
His name was Zhou Luo.
Like most of those present, he was a fortunate soul born with a spiritual root.
But unlike them, he was a transmigrator.
Just a few days ago, he had inexplicably arrived in this cultivation world, and in a daze, he had been swept up and selected to participate in the sect’s recruitment ceremony.
Unfortunately, he did not shine brilliantly like the protagonists in the web novels of his previous life.
Instead, because his spiritual root was of the lowest “ninth-grade,” he was promptly weeded out.
Before he knew it, Zhou Luo had reached the foot of the mountain.
To his surprise, the rejected youths who had left before him had not scattered. Instead, they had gathered in a bustling crowd around a specific area.
A large banner with the words “Generous Rewards for Talent” fluttered in the wind, attracting a massive crowd of the recently discarded applicants.
If one could not join an immortal sect, finding a decent cultivation power to align with was the next best thing.
Cultivation, after all, required wealth, companions, methods, and land. If an established force could provide these four essentials, who would willingly choose the bitter, drifting life of a rogue cultivator?
Curious, Zhou Luo walked over.
As he neared the crowd, he heard a middle-aged man who looked like a manager calling out loudly to the gathering.
“Everyone, do not hesitate! Join my Lin Family, and you will have access to spiritual vein blessed lands, not to mention cultivation techniques and secret manuals!”
The Lin Family.
They were a powerful Longevity Family subordinate to the Qingyuan Sect, governing the sprawling Maple Leaf City.
Backed by a major sect and ruling over an entire city, the Lin Family’s power and influence were beyond question.
Lured by the manager’s grand promises, many of the rejected youths felt their hearts stir. Without further hesitation, they stepped forward to write their names on the registration ledger.
However, one detail puzzled Zhou Luo…
They were only recruiting young men!
Even so, Zhou Luo stepped up and signed his name.
When given even a slim chance at cultivation and longevity, who would willingly cast it aside?
Soon, the registration concluded, and just over forty young men had chosen to sign up.
Seeing this, the manager smiled warmly. He reached into his robes, pulled out a palm-sized miniature boat, and tossed it onto the ground.
With a sudden burst of spiritual light, the tiny boat rapidly expanded, growing into a massive vessel.
An collective gasp of awe rippled through the crowd.
A Flying Boat!
This was a priceless flying treasure. No one expected the Lin Family to display such casual extravagance.
As expected of a Longevity Family.
Seeing such a display of sincerity and wealth, those who had harbored lingering doubts immediately cast them aside.
The group eagerly climbed aboard the Flying Boat. Under the manager’s expert control, the vessel rose into the sky, charting a direct course for the Lin Family estate.
The Lin Family estate was located at the very heart of Maple Leaf City.
Peering down from above, Zhou Luo saw countless ancient, majestic structures connected in an endless expanse, shimmering with faint specks of spiritual light like brilliant stars scattered across the night sky. It was a breathtaking sight.
When the Flying Boat landed, the young men were led into a spacious, grand courtyard.
A group of people had already been waiting there for some time.
At the front stood a woman in an emerald-green long dress. She lightly chuckled as she swept her gaze over the newcomers, her beautiful eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “This batch of matrilocal husbands seems to be of decent quality.”
Her casual remark fell upon the young men’s ears like a sudden clap of thunder, instantly sparking a commotion.
“Matrilocal husbands? What does that mean?”
“Aren’t we here to cultivate as disciples of the Lin Family?”
…
Within the crowd, Zhou Luo’s expression stiffened.
‘Oh, no… We’ve been tricked!’
“Silence!”
At that moment, the once-amiable manager’s expression turned utterly cold, his voice booming like thunder as he silenced the crowd.
The woman in the emerald dress stepped forward gracefully. “From this day forth, you are all live-in, matrilocal husbands of our Lin Family.”
At those words, utter bewilderment and shock washed over the young men. They stared at one another, their faces turning completely pale.
None of them had expected this.
They had believed they were joining the Lin Family to cultivate and eventually become respected outer-lineage members.
The difference between the two was night and day.
To put it politely, they were matrilocal husbands. To put it bluntly, they were being brought in as breeding stock.
In the cultivation world, there was an open, unwritten rule.
To preserve their lineages and ensure a steady stream of descendants, some Longevity Families would recruit individuals with spiritual roots specifically to sire offspring.
Since those who possessed spiritual roots themselves were far more likely to produce children with spiritual roots, they were highly sought after.
If it were merely a standard marriage, it might still be acceptable…
But everyone knew the grim reality.
To maximize the chances of producing high-quality heirs, these families would force their live-in husbands to perform marital duties day and night, sometimes even assigning multiple women to a single man.
Such a lifestyle would inevitably drain a cultivator’s vital essence, utterly ruining their potential and permanently destroying any hope of reaching immortality.
For this reason, no self-respecting cultivator would ever willingly agree to become a matrilocal husband.
Anger flared, and one youth, his face flushed red with outrage, yelled, “You lied to us!”
Faced with the accusation, the woman merely smiled. “Lied to you? Did you not sign the registry and agree of your own free will to join our Lin Family?”
The young men were left utterly speechless.
Technically, she was right. But if they had known they were being signed up as matrilocal husbands, not a single one of them would have written their names down.
Still furious, another youth spat, “I didn’t expect a grand family like the Lin Family to be so despicable! I’m leaving!”
With that, he spun around, marching toward the courtyard gates.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, a streak of blinding light flashed through the air.
Before the youth could even take a few steps, the strike hit him squarely, sending him crashing to the ground in a pool of blood.
The manager slowly lowered his hand, his eyes scanning the trembling crowd with icy indifference. “Those who dare defame the Lin Family shall die!”
Terror gripped the courtyard.
“Do not worry,” the woman said, casually inspecting the terrified youths. “As long as you can father forty children with spiritual roots within ten years, you are free to leave.”
Hiss-
Forty children in ten years, and they all had to possess spiritual roots!
With those demands, they weren’t being treated as human beings at all!
For a moment, everyone felt as though they had been cast into an icy abyss.
In the middle of the crowd, Zhou Luo’s expression was grim.
He had never imagined that he, a proud transmigrator, would end up in such a bizarre and humiliating predicament.
If this kept up, he might literally die of physical exhaustion.
But right now, he was merely meat on a chopping block, a lamb led to the slaughter with absolutely no power to resist.
Zhou Luo sighed inwardly, filled with a deep sense of helplessness.
Was he truly destined to become the first transmigrator in history to die from excessive breeding?
Following a series of meticulous and rigorous examinations…
Thanks to his remarkably handsome features and a few other physical advantages, Zhou Luo was selected to be part of the “premium quality” tier.
Only eight of the forty-plus young men made this cut.
That evening…
After being bathed and dressed in fine, new robes, Zhou Luo was escorted by two silent maids to a quiet room.
It was clearly a woman’s private boudoir, the air filled with a delicate, intoxicating fragrance.
With a highly conflicted expression, Zhou Luo sat down on a polished wooden chair, sighing in defeat.
Things had gone too far; escape was out of the question. He consoled himself with the thought that once the candles were snuffed out, it would all be the same anyway.
At this point, his only hope was that his assigned partner didn’t have any bizarre or cruel habits.
As his mind raced in turmoil, hushed voices suddenly drifted in from outside the door.
“Qinghan, for the grand future of our family, this is your duty…”
Creak-
Before he could catch the rest of the conversation, the door was pushed open, and a graceful figure stepped into the room.
Zhou Luo instinctively raised his head to look.
An exquisitely beautiful, flawless face came into view.
She wore a pristine white dress that accentuated her tall, elegant frame, and her skin was as fair as mutton-fat jade.
Upon her refined face, a pair of cold, clear eyes met Zhou Luo’s gaze.
Zhou Luo’s eyes lit up instantly. She was a peerless, breathtaking beauty!
In an instant, the lingering dread of feeling like a slaughtered lamb completely vanished from his heart.