Li Fang Ren's eyes fluttered open slowly, confusion washing over him in waves. His small hands trembled as he tried to make sense of the blinding light surrounding him.
Everything felt strange and unfamiliar, like he'd just woken up from a dream he couldn't quite remember.
What is this? Where am I?
The world was warm and soft, completely foreign. Voices echoed around him—anxious, excited, urgent.
He had no idea what was happening, but his body felt too small and weak to move properly.
On the roof of the grand Li family manor, an old man with a long silver beard suddenly jumped to his feet. Li Juntian, the head of the Li family, threw his arms wide open toward the sky.
He looked like he'd been waiting for this moment his entire life.
"Heaven bless my Li family! Please, give us a qilin or a dragon! Grant us something special!"
His voice boomed across the whole compound. Ten years. It had been a full decade since his son married, and because of their family's strange birth ritual, today was finally the day. A servant came running toward him, breathing hard.
"Elder! The madam gave birth! It's a boy!"
Li Juntian didn't even wait to hear more. He rushed toward the birthing chamber immediately, moving faster than someone his age probably should. When he got there, he carefully took the newborn into his arms, and the moment he did, his entire face softened.
The stern, powerful patriarch looked at his new grandson with pure, unfiltered love. His eyes held nothing but joy and hope.
What is happening? Did I somehow get reincarnated into another world?
Li Fang Ren could feel the weight of the old man's emotions, sense the enormous expectations pressing down on him from all sides.
None of this made sense. His memories felt broken, like pieces of glass he couldn't fit together.
Two figures entered the room—Li Juntian's personal guards. They moved with the kind of grace and power that came from decades of training. Both of them bowed slightly to the patriarch.
"Has the young master been born, lord?" the first guard asked respectfully.
"We've been waiting for this birth for quite some time now," the second one added.
Li Juntian nodded, still looking at his grandson with wonder. "Yes. The ten-year birth ritual. Only happens once in a few generations for our family. Finally, it's here."
Ten years? Are these people actually serious? I literally just got born!
The sky suddenly rumbled with a deep, resonating sound. It wasn't regular thunder—it was something that vibrated through Li Fang Ren's entire being.
A glowing screen appeared before his eyes, with characters written in a language he somehow understood completely.
Am I getting a system?
The screen displayed:
[LAZY CULTIVATION SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
The more lazy you are, the better you cultivate. Random sign-in rewards available.
This might be the strangest system I've ever heard of, Li Fang Ren thought, his mind spinning. Random sign-ins? I've read about daily ones, location-based ones, but this? This came out of nowhere.
The system's voice echoed in his mind.
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIGN IN?]
Well, what else am I supposed to do? I literally just got born. Might as well try it.
[SIGN IN SUCCESSFUL]
[REWARD: ANCIENT SACRED BODY]
The guards gasped. Their faces went completely pale as they felt something shift in the baby's body—something fundamental changing at a deep level.
"Oh my god!" Li Juntian's voice shook with emotion. "The heavens have blessed us! A child with an ancient sacred body!"
The first guard stepped forward, his voice filled with awe. "This is incredible! Combined with everything else, there's only one answer—this child is meant for great things!"
The second guard nodded quickly. "Yes, lord! The signs are all there!"
Li Juntian looked like he might cry from happiness. His family had been losing power for years, slowly becoming less important in the realm.
But a child like this, blessed with an ancient body, could change everything. The Li family could rise again. They could be great again.
Then something went wrong.
The heavenly light that came down on the baby shifted color. Instead of pure white like it was supposed to be, it turned golden. The entire energy surrounding the child was golden, not white.
Everyone in the room felt the shift. The mood changed instantly.
An elderly cultivator stepped forward and placed a hand on Li Juntian's shoulder. He looked sympathetic, but also serious.
"Juntian, my friend, the child does have an ancient body, but the golden variant has its own complications.
It will slow down his cultivation speed. Most people with this type of physique never go beyond the Martial Emperor realm in their whole lives. In the upper realms, that's not considered very strong."
Li Fang Ren felt his stomach drop.
What? A trash physique? On my first day?
"The good news is, with the Li family's resources, he can still live very well," the elder continued. "He'll definitely reach the Martial Emperor level, which is more than enough to inherit the family."
Li Juntian's happy expression faltered. The disappointment was clear on his face.
A system message appeared in Li Fang Ren's vision:
[THE ORIGINAL HOST DIED IN THE WOMB DURING CHILDBIRTH. THE POWER WAS TOO MUCH FOR THEM TO HANDLE. THIS SYSTEM WAS TRANSFERRED TO YOU.]
[THE RANDOM SIGN-IN REWARDS YOU RECEIVE ARE ABILITIES THAT PREVIOUS ANCIENT BODY HOLDERS COULDN'T FULLY USE. THESE ARE THINGS THEY DISCARDED OR NEVER UNLOCKED.]
So the original owner of this body died because they couldn't handle it?
The system appeared again:
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIGN IN AGAIN?]
Wait, didn't we already do this?
[THAT WAS ONLY THE NEWBIE REWARD. MORE SIGN-INS ARE AVAILABLE.]
Okay then. Let's try again.
[SIGN IN SUCCESSFUL]
[REWARD: FULLY DEVELOPED ANCIENT SACRED BODY - ALL RESTRICTIONS REMOVED]
The golden light surrounding Li Fang Ren exploded outward. It became so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes.
Clouds formed above the manor house, swirling in strange patterns. You could hear bells ringing in the distance, echoing across the whole realm.
The light slowly faded away, leaving everything feeling different somehow.
Li Juntian's jaw dropped completely. When he finally managed to speak, his voice was filled with complete awe.
"Hohoho! My grandchild, you keep amazing me! First the ancient body, and now this—the heavens themselves have blessed you! The restrictions are gone! You could become a great emperor, maybe even something higher!"
This old man is getting way too excited already. We just met.
The guards looked shocked. The first one spoke first, his voice shaking slightly.
"This will definitely surprise the Fan and Bo families. Their heirs won't compare."
"An ancient body with no restrictions!" the second guard said, almost to himself. "I've never heard of something like this before!"
Maybe I should be careful about what rewards I accept. Who knows what could happen if I keep saying yes to everything?
The door opened and a woman walked in.
This was Li Fang Ren's mother, Jiang Soso. She moved gracefully, though you could see the exhaustion on her face from giving birth. Her eyes immediately found her son in the old man's arms.
"I hope you're not spoiling him too much already," she said with a gentle but serious tone.
Li Juntian chuckled. "Hehe, it's only his first day. Just wait until he's older—then you'll see real pampering."
Jiang Soso smiled softly, never taking her eyes off her son. "I just hope that Fang Ren lives freely, without being crushed by everyone's expectations."
Li Juntian's expression changed suddenly. Pain and regret flashed across his face. He was thinking about someone else.
His son—Li Fang Ren's father, Li Renxiao—had disappeared three months ago without any explanation. No messages, no word, nothing at all.
One of the guards noticed the patriarch's sudden sadness.
"Don't worry, lord. The master will come back soon."
Li Juntian sighed heavily. "Where is that dumb kid? He should be here for his son's birth!"
So my father is missing? Great. Just what I needed.
Li Juntian suddenly straightened up, his expression becoming serious and focused. He looked at the elders, his voice dropping lower.
"We need to keep this secret. The fact that his body developed fully without any restrictions—nobody outside this room can know.
There aren't many people in the realm with fully developed bodies like this. If word gets out, he'll become a target."
The first elder nodded seriously. "You're right. The child is still an infant, completely defenseless. Powerful people would definitely try to take advantage of that."
"It would bring danger to the entire family," the second elder agreed.
Li Fang Ren felt relieved. At least these people understand that you don't just announce your power to everyone. They know it's dangerous to stand out too much.
The family began performing an ancient ritual, carefully creating formations around the baby to hide his cultivation level and mask his fully developed body.
The process took hours, with each elder adding their power to create a seal that would make Li Fang Ren appear to be just a normal child with a flawed ancient body.
But then, a loud voice broke through everything.
"What on earth are you younglins doing?!"
Everyone froze instantly.
An old man suddenly appeared in the room, like he'd simply decided to show up. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and his presence felt incredibly ancient and powerful.
This was someone who had lived for centuries.
It was the Sixteenth Generation Lord—the old patriarch from three hundred years ago who had entered seclusion long before anyone in the room had even been born.
Everyone, including Li Juntian, immediately bowed low.
"We greet the Sixteenth Ancestor!" they said together.
The ancient lord looked around the room, his gaze settling on the sealing formation around Li Fang Ren. He frowned deeply.
"When did the Li family become so scared? When did we start hiding our own children like they're something shameful? You're hiding his presence? You idiots! A talent like this should be nurtured and allowed to grow! How do you expect the family to get stronger if you're burying your greatest asset?"
This old man is definitely going to cause problems.
Li Juntian tried to explain. "Ancestor, his body is very valuable. We were just trying to protect him from people who might—"
"Protection?" the ancestor interrupted with a snort. "Protection by hiding? Let me tell you something—if anyone tries to touch my blood, I don't mind fighting them myself. The Li family stands proud!"
This is going to get complicated.