Chapter One: Transmigration with the Sect Leader System

Mount Hua was the collective name for a range of endlessly stretching peaks beyond Qingyang Town. The mountain range spread across a hundred miles, with craggy summits of varying heights, covering an immense area dozens of miles wide from east to west. All these peaks together were known as Mount Hua.

On the edge of a cliff atop the main peak of Mount Hua, a youth clad in blue sat with his legs dangling over the abyss, idly swinging them back and forth. This youth was Jiang Yan, the head disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. However, he was no longer the Jiang Yan he once was. Now, inhabiting his body was the soul of a university student from the twenty-first century, a gaming enthusiast who had, in a twist of fate, transmigrated into this world while playing a game, taking over the life of this namesake disciple under Master Ding Yuan, the sect leader of Mount Hua—a minor sect subordinate to the third-grade sect, Golden Flame Sect.

The Mount Hua Sect was a small and struggling school. Including the sect leader Ding Yuan, there were only six disciples across two generations, and with two elderly servants, it was barely a collection of "three or four cats," as the saying goes.

“Senior brother, senior brother!” came the call of a porcelain-doll-like young girl, stumbling hurriedly from afar. Spotting Jiang Yan perched on the cliff edge, she didn’t dare approach, but called out to him from a distance.

This little girl was Yun Ying, Jiang Yan’s fifth junior sister. She had rushed over because disciples of the parent sect, Golden Flame Sect, had arrived at the foot of the mountain. The other senior brothers and sisters had gone down to meet them, and her senior sister had told her to fetch Jiang Yan. That was why she’d come scampering over.

Jiang Yan stood up from the cliff edge, smiling as he asked Yun Ying why she was in such a panic. Upon hearing that disciples from Golden Flame Sect had arrived below, Jiang Yan felt a jolt of unease in his heart.

Mount Hua was a subordinate sect of Golden Flame Sect, the third-grade sect in Linqing Prefecture. Half a month ago, Master Ding Yuan had gone to the main sect to attend the triennial Demon Hunt. By now, he should have returned. Yet the ones who had come were not Ding Yuan himself, but outer sect disciples from Golden Flame Sect. An ill premonition began to rise in Jiang Yan’s mind.

He reached into his treasure pouch at his waist and pulled out a palm-sized wooden crane, which he carefully placed on the ground. Yun Ying’s eyes shone with irrepressible excitement as she saw the wooden crane, her face alight with anticipation as she watched her senior brother.

Jiang Yan stepped back until he was about two meters from the crane, then stopped. With his left hand he pulled out a spirit stone, and with his right hand formed a sword-finger, pointing lightly at the distant wooden crane. “Expand.”

Before their eyes, the wooden crane began to grow, swelling in size with visible speed. As it grew, Jiang Yan’s handsome face flushed red, the color deepening as he strained, his finger trembling slightly. After about ten seconds, the wooden crane had grown from palm-sized to nearly two meters square and stopped expanding.

“This crane consumes far too much spiritual power to enlarge,” Jiang Yan muttered, trying to excuse his earlier embarrassment. But Yun Ying’s attention was wholly fixed on the crane, oblivious to her senior brother’s self-explanation.

The crane was pitch-black, resembling a large black red-crowned crane standing tall and proud at the cliff’s edge.

With a swift motion, Jiang Yan leapt onto the crane’s broad back, placing the spirit stone into a socket in the crane’s left eye. Instantly, a point of light flared, spreading rapidly across the crane’s surface, sheathing it in a gleaming, glossy black radiance.

By now, Yun Ying was standing beside the crane, her little face tilted up as she called sweetly, “Senior brother!”

Jiang Yan bent down and lifted the expectant Yun Ying onto the crane, seating her on his lap. Once more he formed a sword-finger with his left hand, pointed at the crane’s head, and intoned, “Rise.”

The crane slowly lifted off, guided by Jiang Yan’s will, gliding out over the cliff.

A faint creaking of wood sounded from the crane’s joints as it left the ground. Jiang Yan’s brow furrowed in pain; judging by the noise, the crane would likely be ruined after this flight.

This wooden crane was a low-grade tier-one flying artifact, which typically fit in a pouch at palm size. To use it, one had to infuse it with spiritual power, causing it to grow. Jiang Yan, merely at the first layer of Qi Condensation, barely had enough spiritual energy to activate the crane, hence his pained expression just now.

As a low-grade tier-one artifact, the crane could fly only up to thirty meters high. Any higher, and the artifact would burn through spirit stones at a prodigious rate, its frame would warp, and its lifespan would sharply decrease. This flight might well be its last.

“Senior brother, look! It’s senior sister and the others!” Yun Ying, nestled in Jiang Yan’s arms, peered about and pointed with her soft, chubby hand at three figures standing at the foot of Mount Hua.

At the foot of the distant mountain, Tang Wan, Mu Yun, and Nanmen Luo stood respectfully before a young man in red atop a giant gray wild goose.

The youth in red was Bai Lun, an outer sect disciple of Golden Flame Sect at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation. He had been sent to announce the death of Mount Hua’s leader, Ding Yuan—a mission he resented, but could not refuse.

Bai Lun glanced disdainfully at the three Mount Hua disciples before him, all of whom were only at the first layer of Qi Condensation. According to sect intelligence, Mount Hua had five disciples, three of whom were at this meager level. What a feeble sect! Bai Lun’s anger at being dispatched here could only be vented upon these weaklings.

Behind him, Bai Lun carried a longsword, held a box in his hand, and stood upon the standard sect-issue spirit beast, a white-headed goose. He gazed coldly at Tang Wan and the others, waiting for Jiang Yan’s arrival.

“Senior brother is here!” the plump Mu Yun exclaimed happily, spotting the swaying wooden crane in the sky. He disliked the aloof Bai Lun, but was deeply unsettled by the latter’s powerful aura. Now that senior brother was here, it felt as if their pillar had arrived.

Tang Wan and Nanmen Luo looked up at the black crane floating in the air, relief and joy brightening their faces. With senior brother here, they would no longer have to face the indifferent outer sect disciple alone.

Bai Lun’s gaze swept over the black wooden crane beneath Jiang Yan, a sneer curling his lips. “Country bumpkins. A low-grade tier-one flying artifact.” Such artifacts were slow and low-flying, used mainly for freight. Only the poorest sects would use one as a mount.

The wooden crane descended. Jiang Yan put it away, noticing with a pang the new hairline cracks along its back—repairing it would cost another fortune in spirit stones.

Facing Bai Lun in the air atop his wild goose, Jiang Yan bowed respectfully. “Jiang Yan, chief disciple of Mount Hua, greets the envoy. Please, let us speak inside the sect.”

“No need,” Bai Lun cut him off coldly, his disdain for Mount Hua plain. That the chief disciple of a sect should ride such a shoddy artifact—unable to afford a proper spirit beast or even a decent flying tool—was laughable. Why the main sect bothered to keep such a pauper branch as a subordinate was beyond him. Then he remembered a request from the steward of the Tianshan Sect, and thought perhaps he should help them by getting this feeble sect delisted from Golden Flame’s subordinate roster.

With a thud, Bai Lun tossed the box he held at Jiang Yan’s feet. “This is Ding Yuan’s ashes. He died in the demon hunt. The sect decrees that you assume leadership of Mount Hua and prepare to participate in the demon hunt three years hence.”

A chill ran through Jiang Yan. His fears had come true. The towering tree that had shielded him since arriving in this world had fallen. Fighting back grief, Jiang Yan forced his voice to remain calm. “May I ask, Envoy, did my master die at the hands of demons?”

Bai Lun’s expression grew even more contemptuous, his tone openly scornful. “What, Jiang Yan, do you dream of avenging your master? Don’t be ridiculous. He was killed by the leader of Tianshan Sect, a second-grade sect. You, a nobody from an inferior vassal sect, dare to provoke a second-grade power? You overestimate yourself.”

Jiang Yan’s face paled. The Golden Flame disciple had not hesitated to hurl insults at him. If he let anger show, he would only invite greater humiliation. He raised a hand to restrain his agitated junior brothers and sisters, and bowed to Bai Lun. “Your lesson is duly remembered.”

Bai Lun’s face darkened. That this weakling could endure such abuse annoyed him; his grievances remained unsatisfied. Urging his white-headed goose aloft, he said coldly, “Don’t forget the demon hunt in three years.”

The white-headed goose soared to a hundred meters. Bai Lun halted, took out a memory jade slip, and recorded Mount Hua’s location.

Stowing the jade slip, Bai Lun felt a surge of satisfaction. The Tianshan Sect had gifted him a set of high-grade artifacts in exchange for information about Mount Hua, but he could not simply reveal their sect’s name. However, providing a jade slip with a map was not against the rules.

...

Jiang Yan placed Ding Yuan’s ashes in the main hall of the sect’s only large building. With his four junior brothers and sisters, he lit three sticks of incense before Ding Yuan’s spirit tablet.

Kneeling before the altar, Jiang Yan prayed silently, “Master, though I came here from another world and was not your true disciple, since I have inherited Mount Hua, I will do my utmost to preserve your legacy and not let your life’s work perish in my hands.”

His prayers finished, Jiang Yan turned to speak to his grieving juniors. But before he could, a strange sound suddenly echoed in his ear.

“Ding! Player has assumed leadership of Mount Hua and is now eligible to access the Sect Leader System. Complete the sect creation mission to receive a novice gift pack. Would you like to found the sect now?”

Immediately, a transparent information screen appeared before Jiang Yan, displaying his details:

Name: Jiang Yan
Sect: — Pending Creation
Position: Sect Leader
Cultivation: Qi Condensation, First Layer
Weapon: None

Below, there was a separate section for the sect, listing all its attributes. But as the sect had yet to be created, every entry was blank.

Sect Name: Pending Creation
Sect Location: —
Sect Buildings: —
Sect Spirit Beast: —
...

Jiang Yan’s gaze shifted to his junior sister Tang Wan, and the information panel instantly changed.

Name: Tang Wan
Sect: — Pending Creation
Position: —
Cultivation: Qi Condensation, First Layer
Weapon: Lingering Sword, Basic Mortal Weapon