📖 Chapter 1: Rebirth, a Golden Crib, and a Flawed Virtuous System
The scent of burning Nine-Leaf Heavenly Lotus incense was the first thing that reached Lu Chen’s senses. It was rich, sweet, and suffocatingly thick, carrying an ethereal warmth that seeped directly into his marrow.
Then came the voices.
"Look at his eyes, my lord! He isn't crying! Not a single tear! Truly, our Lu Clan’s luck has reached the heavens—he is born with the temperament of an ancient emperor!"
"Nonsense! He isn't crying because he knows he is my son! Look at those eyes! Pure, clear, and brimming with latent supreme bone talent! Ha! Hahaha! Pass down my order! The Lu Imperial Merchant Guild shall declare a three-month tax exemption across all twelve provinces! Today, my son, Lu Chen, enters the world!"
Lu Chen wanted to tell the booming voice to shut his mouth. He wanted to rub his throbbing temples and complain about the noise.
Instead, all that came out of his mouth was a pathetic, gurgling squeak: "Goo... gaa..."
Wait.
Lu Chen froze. He tried to raise his hand to touch his forehead, but what rose into his sight line was not his familiar, calloused hand from his previous life in his mid-twenties. It was a tiny, chubby, fair-skinned infant fist wrapped in silk soft enough to cost a small fortune.
He blinked once. Twice.
Above him was a grand, soaring ceiling built entirely from rare Spatial Spirit Wood and polished obsidian. Sitting beside his bed were dozens of servants dressed in silk, kneeling on floors inlaid with jade and gold. Holding his tiny body was an astonishingly beautiful woman in imperial crimson robes, weeping tears of pure joy, while a giant of a man with broad shoulders and a aura strong enough to shake the room stood over him with a booming laugh.
I... I got reincarnated? Lu Chen thought, his adult mind racing beneath his infant skull. I died staring at a screen after three days of cramming for my engineering degree, and now I’m a baby in some ancient fantasy clan?
Before he could process the sheer absurdity of his situation, a sharp, ringing sound reverberated inside his mind, echoing with a pristine, mechanical chime.
[Ding!]
[The Righteous Savior System has successfully bound to Host: Lu Chen!]
[Checking Host's soul alignment...]
[Host’s background detected: Youngest Son of the Lu Imperial Clan—the wealthiest, most ruthless, and tyrannical merchant-cultivator power in the Southern Continent.]
[System Objective: This world is full of corruption, greed, and ruthless arrogance. The Lu Clan is destined to be slaughtered by the true Heroes of Fate in eighteen years due to their wickedness. As the Host, you must reform your evil family, show absolute selflessness, act with pure virtue, and become a benevolent Saint to alter your doomed fate!]
Lu Chen’s mind went blank.
Reform my evil family? Act with pure virtue? Become a Saint?
Are you insane?! Lu Chen shouted internally at the glowing interface inside his head. This is a cultivation world! A world where strength is respected and the weak are eaten alive! If I go around acting like a saintly pushover, some random 'Fate Hero' with a ring grandpa is going to chop off my head to prove his Martial Dao!
[Ding! System Core Rule 1: Host will receive System Points and Divine Rewards exclusively by completing 'Righteous Actions' that promote peace, harmony, and non-violence.]
[Ding! System Core Rule 2: Host must never commit outright murder or unlawful slaughter, or the System will inflict Heavenly Lightning Punishment.]
Lu Chen squinted at the floating text. His sharp, adult intellect was already dissecting every single word of the interface.
Wait... Rule 2 says no outright murder or unlawful slaughter. It doesn't say I can't rob my enemies blind. It doesn't say I can't use trickery. It doesn't say I can't incapacitate them...
A dark, mischievous smirk formed on the infant's tiny lips.
If this System wants me to complete 'righteous acts' to get rewards, I'll give it righteous acts. But I'm doing it my way.
Eighteen Years Later.
The Southern Province, Lu Clan Main Estate.
Eighteen years had passed, and the helpless baby in the golden crib had grown into a youth whose appearance was so breathtaking it bordered on the illegal.
At eighteen years old, Lu Chen stood tall and slender, draped in silk robes of pristine white and deep royal purple. His skin was smooth and fair like alabaster, contrasted sharply by a cascade of vibrant, silky crimson-red hair tied loosely behind his head with a purple silk ribbon. But it was his eyes that caught everyone off guard—striking, glowing purple eyes that looked deceptively soft and gentle, yet held a subtle, dangerous gleam of endless cunning.
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He was currently sitting in a private pavilion overlooking a crystal lake, lazily swinging his legs while holding a silver cup of tea.
Standing right behind him in the shadows was a girl who looked roughly twenty. She possessed hair as silver as moonlight that cascaded down her back like a frozen waterfall, and eyes like polished blue ice. Her figure was slim, lithe, and wrapped in form-fitting dark blue combat silk. She carried a thin icy sword at her waist and maintained an expression so cold it could freeze boiling water.
Her name was Ye Qingxian—the top young genius of the shadow guards assigned to protect the young master.
"Young Master," Ye Qingxian’s cool, crisp voice echoed from behind him. "The three elders from the iron-blood Black Dragon Sect have arrived at the outer estate. They claim our Lu Clan's caravans stole their spiritual herb shipment, and they are demanding five hundred thousand spirit stones... or they will flatten the outer town."
Lu Chen took a sip of his tea, a faint, amused smile playing on his lips. "Five hundred thousand? That's quite a bold extortion attempt from three old men."
[Ding!]
[Emergency Quest Generated!]
[Quest: The Peacemaker's Virtue!]
[Objective: Resolve the conflict with the Black Dragon Sect elders without spilling a single drop of blood! Show them the warmth of compassion and convince them to leave in peace.]
[Reward: 5,000 System Points, 1x Primordial Pure Bone Pill.]
Lu Chen looked at the quest description and chuckled softly. Without spilling a drop of blood? Show them compassion? Easy enough.
He turned his head slightly, his purple eyes locking onto Ye Qingxian. He looked her up and down with an appreciative, playful gaze that caused the silver-haired girl’s icy expression to stiffen slightly.
"Qingxian," Lu Chen murmured smoothly, his voice deep and smooth beyond his years. "Did we finish brewing that batch of 'Nine-Heavens Absolute Slumber Powder' I experimented on yesterday?"
Ye Qingxian blinked her ice-blue eyes. "Yes, Young Master. The sleeping agent is completely colorless, odorless, and can knock out even a Foundation Establishment elder for three full days. However... you also ordered the alchemists to mix in three hundred stalks of Earth-Rumbling Laxative Root."
Lu Chen’s grin broadened into something truly villainous. "Perfect. Go spike their welcome tea."
Ye Qingxian stared at him, her lips parting slightly in sheer disbelief. "Young Master... they are aggressive elders from a martial sect. You wish to... give them stomach distress?"
Lu Chen stood up, smoothing down his white and purple robes. He stepped close to her—so close that Ye Qingxian could smell the subtle, faint scent of lotus and cedar on his clothes. He tilted his head, his purple eyes gleaming with dangerous charm as he leaned in near her delicate, pale ear.
"Miss Qingxian..." Lu Chen whispered, his warm breath brushing against her neck, making her silver hair tremble slightly. "Are you doubting my peaceful methods? Or do you want me to personally inspect your martial training later tonight in my private courtyard...?"
Ye Qingxian’s cold cheeks flushed with a faint, almost unnoticeable shade of pink. She immediately took a half-step back, bowing her head, though her heart pounded far faster than usual.
"I... I would not dare doubt the Young Master," she stammered softly, regaining her icy composure with great effort. "I shall deliver the tea at once."
"Good girl," Lu Chen chuckled, patting her shoulder before turning toward the main hall.
An hour later, inside the grand guest parlor of the Lu Estate.
Three fierce, muscular elders from the Black Dragon Sect were sitting around a carved rosewood table. Their faces were red with anger as they waited for the Lu Clan's patriarch.
"Hmph! That old dog Lu Tian boasts about his wealth, but keeps us waiting!" the lead elder barked, slamming his fist on the table. "When the young master comes out, we will show him no mercy!"
"Brother, calm down," the second elder said, picking up a steaming cup of fragrant spiritual tea left by the servants. "Drink some tea first. The Lu Clan's hospitality tea is indeed top tier."
All three elders gulped down their cups in one go.
Within three minutes, the lead elder’s face suddenly turned from red to an unnatural, deep shade of green.
"Urk..."
"Brother... my stomach..." the second elder gasped, clutching his lower abdomen as a noise resembling distant thunder rumbled inside his intestines. "It feels like... like a dragon is clawing its way out!"
"I... I need... the latrine!" the third elder squeaked, his fierce martial aura vanishing instantly as cold sweat poured down his forehead.
Before any of them could stand up, the heavy sleep toxin hit their nervous systems like a sledgehammer. Their legs turned to jelly, their eyes rolled back, and all three powerful elders collapsed onto the floor in a heap—paralyzed, sound asleep, and making embarrassing noises from their digestive tracts.
The heavy wooden doors opened smoothly.
Lu Chen walked into the room with his hands tucked casually behind his back, followed by Ye Qingxian, who held her sword tightly, her ice-blue eyes wide with absolute astonishment.
Lu Chen walked over to the three sleeping, groaning elders. He knelt down, casually reached into their robes, and pulled out their storage rings, high-grade spiritual weapons, and emergency wallets.
"Let's see... fifty thousand spirit stones, two high-tier flight swords, and a rare dragon-skin map," Lu Chen mused, slipping all the loot straight into his own pocket. "A very generous donation to the Lu Clan."
Right on cue, the mechanical chime rang inside his mind.
[Ding!]
[Quest Completed: The Peacemaker's Virtue!]
[Evaluation: Host successfully resolved a deadly conflict with the Black Dragon Sect elders without shedding a single drop of blood or taking a single life! Absolute non-violence achieved!]
[Rewards Issued: 5,000 System Points, 1x Primordial Pure Bone Pill!]
Lu Chen let out a bright, satisfied laugh, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at the floating screen.
See that, System? Lu Chen thought smugly. No blood spilled, no lives lost, and peace restored. I am truly a saint.
Behind him, Ye Qingxian stood frozen, watching her young master loot three powerful elders blind while smiling like an immortal angel. She bit her lower lip, her ice-blue eyes sparkling with a complex mixture of utter bewilderment, awe, and an undeniable, growing fascination.
Her young master was not just handsome and powerful. He was an absolute menace.
Lu Chen turned around, catching Ye Qingxian's gaze. He flashed her a slow, devastatingly handsome smirk, winking at her.
"Come along, Qingxian," Lu Chen said smoothly, tossing a stolen spirit pill up and down in his hand. "We have a long way to go, and many more 'righteous deeds' to perform."