Yes.
The First Seat of the Thunder Sect, the Child-Bearing Model!
This title has a long story behind it.
Ji Yan's rise predated that of Luo Binglan, Jiang Yourong, and even the current Sect Leader of the Sanqing Immortal Sect, Zhuo Canglang. A thousand years ago, he was already the renowned eldest martial brother of the Thunder Sect, ranking firmly in the top twenty among the 360 prodigies of the Sanqing Immortal Sect.
To rank in the top ten, however, was a bit of a stretch. After all, the Sanqing Immortal Sect of that era was a convergence of peerless geniuses. Even the chief disciple of the weakest branch could dominate an ordinary immortal sect.
Having grown up in such an environment, Ji Yan never possessed an air of invincibility. After all, there were quite a few True Disciples more outstanding than him, some of whom could even thrash him in a fight.
Later, when the seals of the Demon Realm were destroyed, 100,000 demons launched a sneak attack on the Sanqing Immortal Sect. Ji Yan could only watch helplessly as countless main peaks collapsed and numerous mighty seniors, whom he could only look up to, perished in battle.
And those so-called "peerless geniuses"? In the face of demons that outnumbered them by dozens, or even hundreds, they seemed so frail.
You're invincible among your peers? So what? We'll have a dozen demons of your rank swarm you. If a dozen isn't enough, we'll send dozens more. If that's not enough, we'll send hundreds!
At the time, countless prodigies from the 360 branches fought until they collapsed from exhaustion, dying right before Ji Yan's eyes. Many of them had possessed greater talent than him. This dealt a severe blow to the Thunder Sect prodigy's Dao Heart, nearly leaving him unable to recover.
In the aftermath, 324 main peaks lay crumbled under the Demon Race's onslaught, and the remaining 36 branches were left in ruins. As the Thunder Sect was a thorn in the side of the Demon Race, it was naturally a primary target. Its gates were half-demolished by bombardments, and its disciples were almost completely massacred, leaving only a dozen or so survivors.
Ji Yan was the most talented and promising among this small group of survivors, and all their hopes were pinned on him.
Everyone thought Ji Yan would dedicate himself to rebuilding and cultivation. They believed he would do everything possible to break through to the Emergence Stage, or even Saint Manifestation, as quickly as possible to restore the honor of the Thunder Sect.
But Ji Yan didn't think so. He believed that no matter how strong one person was, they couldn't support the entire Thunder Sect alone.
In Ji Yan's opinion, a single chopstick is easily broken, but a bundle is strong. If the Thunder Sect is to rise again, we can't rely on individual heroism. There is strength in numbers!
How could they increase their numbers? He devised a simple, three-pronged plan.
First, he would ask the Sect Leader for funds to recruit disciples aggressively. He would improve the benefits for Thunder Sect disciples to attract more high-quality talent, even if it meant waiving tuition and offering scholarships to poach people.
Second, he would submit the Thunder Sect's legacy techniques to the Scripture Pavilion. However, the Thunder Sect would keep fifty percent of the lending fees, and the submitted versions would be the unannotated copies.
What a joke! The Thunder Technique is profound and immeasurably powerful. Who wouldn't be tempted by an unannotated manual? And once tempted, who wouldn't want to learn the annotated version? Who wouldn't want guidance from the Thunder Sect's masters? Who wouldn't want to join the Thunder Sect and use its sacred grounds to cultivate the Thunder Technique with twice the results for half the effort?
Third, he would sire them himself! As the saying goes: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the son of a rat knows how to dig holes. The essence of cultivation is the elevation of one's life form, so the higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the higher the probability of producing a genius. As the foremost True Disciple of the Thunder Sect, Ji Yan's talent and cultivation level were outstanding among his peers. Barring any accidents, any child he sired was bound to be talented, most likely a prodigy.
However, unlike the dual cultivation of the Harmony Sect, cultivators who wished to procreate needed to expend their own source energy. After each birth, they required a long period of recovery, which could even affect their own cultivation. This was a limitation imposed by the Heavenly Dao to maintain balance; otherwise, powerful races could just reproduce endlessly, leaving no room for others to survive.
Generally speaking, the more exceptionally talented a cultivator was, the less likely they were to consider having children early and hindering their own progress. They would only consider expending their source energy to have children and enjoy the bliss of family after they felt their own potential was exhausted, their progress on the path of cultivation had stalled, and they saw their fellow Daoists surrounded by their sons and daughters.
But Ji Yan was different! He was utterly obsessed with procreation, having somehow obtained a manual called the Duzi Duofu Great Method. It claimed to "strengthen one's foundation, letting a single spear challenge a host of immortals" and "guarantee prolific and healthy births, preventing any stillborns."
For more than eight hundred years, aside from his daily cultivation and managing the Thunder Sect's affairs, Ji Yan spent almost all his free time taking concubines and having children.
Expend source energy, conceive one, recover for a few years.
Expend source energy again, conceive another, recover for a few more years.
The cycle repeated, like an endless series of nesting dolls.
Now, more than eight hundred years later, Ji Yan had taken over thirty concubines and sired more than one hundred children. He had single-handedly raised an entire clan within the Thunder Sect—a truly breathtaking feat.
What was even more inconceivable was that of these hundred-plus children, nearly all were sons. The sole exception was his ninety-ninth child, a daughter.
That would be Ji Zidian.
This gave Ji Zidian an exceptionally exalted status within the Thunder Sect. After all, putting aside her father, the First Seat of the Thunder Sect, her ninety-eight thunder-wielding, doting older brothers were enough to deter anyone from provoking her.
"Daddy," Ji Zidian said, running up to Ji Yan and tugging on his sleeve. "Why have you come?"
Humph! Ji Yan examined Ji Zidian closely. Seeing that although her aura was unsteady and she had some minor injuries, she was largely unharmed, his expression softened slightly. Then, he turned his gaze to Wang Xiu and said indifferently, "You're that Wang Xiu from the Divination Sect?"
Good grief. The pressure from this Great Ability is far stronger than Jiang Yourong's half-baked remnant soul.
Wang Xiu hurriedly bowed. "Junior Wang Xiu greets Elder Ji."
Ji Yan grunted. "For this team trial, did Xiao Jiu contact you, or did you pester her?"
As expected. From top to bottom, no one in the Thunder Sect has a kind word for the Divination Sect. But that's to be expected. The Thunder Sect was nearly wiped out eight hundred years ago; it would be abnormal if they didn't hold a grudge. The only reason they haven't marched on Spirit Turtle Peak to tear it down is out of consideration for the reputation of the righteous path.
Wang Xiu sighed. "I was the one who invited Senior Sister."
BOOM!
An immense pressure, like a tidal wave, crashed down upon him. Ji Yan's face was grim. "I recall saying that the Thunder Sect does not welcome anyone from your Divination Sect. Yet you dare to entangle yourself with my daughter? Do you truly believe that with Luo Binglan protecting you, this Seat wouldn't dare to touch you?"
At this moment, Ji Yan's expression was terrifyingly dark. When he heard his daughter was in danger, he had interrupted a procreation ritual and torn through the void to get here, already seething with the anger of being abruptly disturbed. But after seeing the way his daughter looked at this boy, the fury in his heart grew exponentially.
Those tender, loving gazes... only a ghost would believe there's nothing going on between them! Unacceptable! Even if I, Ji Yan, have to die, have to jump from Thunderclap Peak, I will never let some bastard from the Divination Sect get his hands on my prize cabbage! No, wait. It's not just the Divination Sect—no sect is allowed!
…
Just as Ji Yan, filled with rage, was about to teach this little cabbage thief a lesson, he let out a sharp cry. Ji Zidian, seeing her father using his status to bully someone, stomped her foot in frustration and pinched him hard on the waist.
"Daddy!" she protested. "How could you speak to Senior Brother Wang Xiu like that?"