The shack wasn't much—barely bigger than a storage closet, tucked in a forgotten corner of the outer sect. It had been his father's workshop once, back when they'd had a real home. Now it was all Lin Wei had left.
He stumbled inside, shut the door and locked it.
Then he collapsed.
His back hit the wall and he slid down to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. The borrowed robe smelled like someone else. His hands were shaking.
Four years.
Four years of failure.
Four years of trying and trying and trying, and it never got better, It only got worse.
The memory hit him without warning—sharp and vivid, like it always did when he was at his lowest.
Three years ago. The execution platform. His father kneeling, hands bound, while the Sect Master read the charges.
"Lin Hao, you stand accused of corrupting orthodox alchemy with forbidden Qi methods. You have created pills infused with lust Qi, distributed them to outer disciples, and caused 'unusual side effects' that violate the sect's moral standards."
His father's voice was calm even facing death: "I was trying to help those who couldn't cultivate normally. Lust Qi is just another path—"
"Silence! Your perversions have no place in this sect."
*The blade fell.*
*Lin Wei was fifteen and they made him watch.*
He pressed his palms against his eyes, hard enough to see spots.
His father had believed in alternative cultivation, believed that people like Lin Wei—people without talent, without perfect meridians, could still find power if they were willing to explore unconventional methods.
He'd died for that belief.
And Lin Wei couldn't even honor his memory by succeeding.
"Maybe I should just quit," he said to the empty room. His voice was down. "Go be a farmer, grow cabbages. At least plants don't judge you."
The silence didn't answer.
He sat there as the sun moved across the sky, shadows lengthened. The sounds of the sect's evening activities drifted through the thin walls—disciples training, laughing, living their normal lives.
Lin Wei just sat.
Empty.
Hollow.
Defeated.
Hours passed and then something changed.
At first, he thought it was exhaustion playing tricks on him. A glow in the corner of his vision, like heat waves on a summer day.
He blinked.
The glow solidified.
A jade slip materialized in the air in front of him—glowing soft pink, covered in script he didn't recognize. It pulsed once, twice, hovering at eye level.
Lin Wei stared.
Then words appeared in his mind, clear as someone speaking directly into his skull:
[SYSTEM ONLINE]
Lin Wei's breath slowed.
[The Forbidden Dao BETA]
"What...."
[Congratulations, Host! You have been selected for our Degenerate Cultivation Trial Program!]
He reached out slowly, hand trembling and touched the jade slip.
It was solid. Warm. Real.
[Scanning host... complete!]
[Status: Pathetic]
[Meridians: Damaged beyond normal repair]
[Cultivation talent: Trash tier]
[Prospects: Bleak]
[Perfect candidate! ♪(´▽｀)]
Lin Wei's brain struggled to process what he was seeing.
A system. A cultivation system.
Like the ones from legends—the heaven-defying opportunities that turned trash into immortals.
This was...
This couldn't be real.
[INITIALIZING BOND...]
[WARNING: This process is irreversible. Once bonded, the system cannot be removed except by death (yours or mine, and I don't plan on dying).]
[Do you accept? Y/N]
[Just kidding, you don't get a choice! ☆〜(ゝ.∂)]
"Wait, what—"
[BOND ESTABLISHED]
The jade slip dissolved into motes of light and shot directly into his forehead.
Lin Wei gasped as foreign energy flooded his consciousness. It wasn't painful, but it was intrusive—like someone rearranging furniture in his brain without asking permission.
Then it settled.
And a voice spoke in his mind. Casual. Amused. Distinctly "female", though not quite human.
[Hello, Host! I'm Lú Tǐ, your new cultivation system. We're going to have SO much fun together!]
Lin Wei pressed his hands to his temples. "This is a hallucination, I hit my head during the backlash and now I'm hallucinating."
[Nope! I'm real. Want me to prove it?]
Before he could answer, his meridians moved.
For the first time in six years, Lin Wei felt his Qi pathways respond properly. Not healed—not yet, but active. The broken channels hummed with potential, like a musical instrument that had been silent suddenly remembering how to hold a note.
"Holy shit," he breathed.
[See? Real. Now, let's talk about your future.]
[You're trash. We've established that. Your meridians are fucked, your reputation is ruined and you have approximately one month before this sect kicks you out.]
[Lucky for you, I specialize in trash-to-treasure transformations!]
"How?" Lin Wei's voice cracked. "How can you fix this?"
[Oh, I'm not fixing anything. YOU are, I'm just providing the tools.]
[Welcome To The Forbidden Dao, Host. Your new cultivation method is simple:]
[Get people to pay attention to you. The more attention, the more power. Attention becomes Lust Qi, Lust Qi becomes cultivation advancement. Easy!]
Lin Wei's mind raced. "Attention? You mean like... fame?"
[Exactly! Specifically: sexual/romantic attention works best, but we'll take what we can get at first. You're starting from zero, after all.]
"Sexual attention." Lin Wei's face heated. "You want me to—to seduce people?"
[Eventually! Right now, I just need you to exist in an interesting way. We'll build up to the seduction part.]
[First things first: MANDATORY MISSION]
A translucent screen appeared in his vision:
[MISSION: Introduction Content]
[Create content introducing yourself to potential... let's call them 'subscribers.' Must be posted publicly within 24 hours.]
[Reward: Lust Core Activation, Basic Qi Circulation Unlocked, +1 Cultivation Rank]
[Failure: Permanent Humiliation Aura (Lvl 1) - Everyone within 10 meters will instinctively mock you]
Lin Wei stared at the screen.
Then he started laughing.
It was a broken sound, half-sob but it was real.
"You're insane," he said to the voice in his head. "This whole thing is insane."
[Maybe! But you're out of options, Host. You have one month to prove yourself to the sect, and traditional cultivation clearly isn't working.]
[So: Do you want to keep failing the same way you've always failed?]
[Or do you want to try something new?]
Lin Wei looked down at his hands. Trembling. Weak.
He thought about his father's execution, the blade falling, the sect's judgment.
He thought about today's humiliation, the laughter, the mockery.
He thought about the next month. The inevitable failure, the demotion to servant class.
And he thought: Fuck it.
"Fine," Lin Wei said, his voice rough but steady. "I'll do your insane mission, but if this gets me killed—"
[Then you'll die interesting instead of boring! Progress! Now get some sleep, Host. You look like death, and we can't have that. Tomorrow, we start your viral cultivation journey! ♪(´▽｀)]
The system's presence faded slightly, giving him space.
Lin Wei sat in his shack, half naked and exhausted, with a mysterious cultivation system embedded in his soul and twenty-four hours to figure out what the hell "introduction content" meant.
He should have been terrified.
Instead, for the first time in years, he felt something that might have been hope.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's see what you've got, you insane system."
He lay down on his sleeping mat and closed his eyes.
And for the moment, he slept without nightmares.