The rain was cold against Rylan's face. It washed away the blood, but not the burning shame. He lay in the filthy alley behind what used was his family's mansion, his life ebbing away with every pulse. A jagged shard of a shattered cultivation crystal had been twisted deep in his gut, a crude and brutal weapon used with practiced cruelty.
It wasn't an enemy who did this. It was her.
Seraphina.
Her face, once a vision of beauty, was etched in his final moments as a mask of cold contempt. "You were always so weak, Rylan," she had said, her voice like silk over a blade. "A trash heir to a ruined clan. Your virgin blood wouldn't be enough to power even a simple cultivation art. The Jade Clan will never accept you, not even as a servant."
She had promised him love. She had promised to stand by him, the last heir of the once-mighty Sterling Clan. All lies. She had simply been a tool of her own clan, sent to lure him in, to exploit his desperation, to steal the last remnants of his family's artifacts. And she had succeeded.
The memories of a life of mockery flashed through his mind. The sneers from other cultivators. The whispers behind his back. "Rylan the Virgin," they'd call him, a pathetic, impotent joke who couldn't even manage to step into the first realm of cultivation. He died as he lived—betrayed, weak, and utterly alone.
This is it, he thought, his vision blurring. This is how I end. A nobody. A failure. A virgin.
He choked on a final, rattling breath, and darkness consumed him.
For a moment, there was nothing. No pain, no sound, just a profound, empty void. He felt his consciousness drift, a ghost severed from its vessel, floating aimlessly in the silent abyss.
Then, a sound.
A sharp, metallic chime echoed in the void, a note of impossible clarity.
[Ding!]
He felt his consciousness snap back, not into a body, but into a strange, luminous space. Before him, a transparent blue screen, flickering with strange symbols and words, hung in the air.
[Welcome, Host. Soul signature confirmed. The Harem System has been successfully bound.]
A voice, cold and sterile, resonated directly in his mind. It held no emotion, yet it was the most compelling thing he had ever heard.
[Primary Objective: Ascend to Godhood.][Method: Dual Cultivation.][System Rule #1: Every woman you conquer and bring into your Harem fuels your ascent.][System Rule #2: Each act of passion with a Harem member provides a boost to your cultivation base and grants a reward.][System Rule #3: The greater the challenge of the conquest, the greater the reward. From trembling maidens to untouchable noblewomen, saintesses, queens, and even goddesses—each provides a unique path to power.]
Rylan's mind reeled. A system? What is this?
He tried to scream, but no sound came. He tried to move, but he was incorporeal. All he had was his consciousness, now faced with an incredible, unbelievable truth.
He was being given a second chance. And the path to power was one he had been mocked for his entire life.
A new screen appeared, displaying his status:
[Name: Rylan Sterling][Cultivation Level: Mortal][Harem: 0/1][Power Level: Pathetic]
The word "Pathetic" was a knife to his soul. It was a mirror reflecting his entire failed life. But for the first time, he didn't feel despair. He felt an incandescent, white-hot rage.
Seraphina… you thought I was a joke. You thought my life was worthless.
He would show them all. The Jade Clan. The other cultivators. The whole world. They had looked down on his weakness, on his virgin status. Now, that very weakness would be the foundation of his rise. Desire would be his tool, and conquest his only path.
He didn't just want power; he wanted to stand at the very top, to have all those who had scorned him kneeling at his feet. And he knew exactly where to start.
His consciousness began to fade back into a familiar, physical realm, but this time, he felt something new. A nascent power, a warmth, a surge of life.
Virgin no more.
He heard the words echo in his mind as a burning vow. The man who died a failure was gone. In his place, an Emperor was awakening.
End of chapter 1