Tianxuan Continent, Southern Domain, East Mountain Islands.
The sea breeze carried its distinctive salty dampness, tirelessly beating against the black reefs along the coastline.
It kicked up heaps of snow-white spray.
Zhang Chen stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of a cliff on the family's Back Mountain, gazing out over the boundless blue sea.
Where sea met sky, several enormous Sea Beasts could faintly be seen leaping from the water and crashing back down. Even from far away, the columns of water they sent flying were clear to see.
This was the area behind the Zhang Family Courtyard, a spot with an excellent location.
As a Transmigrator, Zhang Chen had been in this world for a full eighteen years.
The land beneath his feet belonged to the famed East Mountain Islands of the Cultivation World.
And the Zhang Family he belonged to...
Was one of the seven great cultivation families that held sway over these islands.
The Zhang Family was no cold-blooded household full of deceit and scheming.
On the contrary, it was an exceptionally rare place, one filled with warmth and unity.
The family controlled three Second-Rank Spirit Veins and had more than a dozen Foundation Establishment families sworn to its service.
It even had a genuine Nascent Soul Realm Old Ancestor keeping watch over it.
By rights, having been born into a family so wealthy it was like a golden spoon in his mouth, Zhang Chen should have been able to coast through life as long as he didn't bring disaster upon himself. Even as a good-for-nothing young master who did nothing but eat and wait to die, he could have enjoyed a life of luxury.
But right now, this young master of the Zhang Family's main branch had his brows knitted tightly together.
His eyes were full of worry.
"Eighteen years..."
Zhang Chen let out a long sigh and unconsciously touched the Storage Bag at his waist.
The family seemed to be thriving beyond measure...
But in truth, it was already standing on the edge of a cliff.
Outsiders only knew that the Zhang Family's Nascent Soul Old Ancestor awed the Western Regions. They didn't know that his lifespan was nearly at an end.
A few days ago, Zhang Chen had happened to overhear his father and several uncles speaking in secret. Their voices were so heavy, it was as if the sky itself were about to collapse.
Although Zhang Family Old Ancestor Zhang Tianzheng had profound cultivation, he had suffered hidden injuries in a battle in his early years.
Now, he had fewer than ten years left to live.
Ten years might seem like a long time to Mortals, but to cultivators—especially to a vast cultivation family—it was no more than the blink of an eye.
Once the Old Ancestor passed away, the Zhang Family's enormous ship would instantly lose the Stabilizing Needle at its helm.
Worse still, misfortunes never came singly.
In recent years, the Demonic Path Forces on the mainland had risen from the ashes, not only cutting off several of the Zhang Family's key trade routes.
They had also been harassing the family's Outer Sea holdings with increasing frequency.
The Zhang Family's Spirit Stone Mine and Spirit Medicine Garden had both suffered one attack after another, taking heavy losses.
If it were only external pressure, that might have been bearable.
The gap in the family's ranks was what truly drove them to despair.
Zhang Chen's father, Zhang Yunshan, the current Family Head of the Zhang Family, had been stuck at Mid Golden Core for more than a century.
A hundred years without making the slightest progress meant he had no hope of reaching Nascent Soul in this lifetime.
The other uncles were Golden Core cultivators as well, but even the strongest among them had only reached Peak Early Golden Core. The path to Nascent Soul was still far beyond their reach.
The old giving way to the young.
That was the most accurate picture of the Zhang Family's current state.
The older generation was about to wither away, the generation in the middle couldn't shoulder the banner, and the younger generation...
Zhang Chen looked down at his hands with a bitter smile.
His hands were fair and slender; he would have made a fine pianist or painter.
But in this world of cultivation, where strength reigned supreme...
Those hands of his couldn't even hold a decent Flying Sword.
A Mid Yellow Grade Spiritual Root.
That was the extent of his talent.
In this world, Spiritual Roots were divided into four grades—Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow—and each grade had three ranks: high, mid, and low.
To put it bluntly, a Mid Yellow Grade was...
Only a little better than the Spiritual Roots of Mortals who couldn't cultivate at all.
Eighteen years old, Third Layer of Qi Refining.
That was the report card Zhang Chen had to show for himself.
Even though the family had never skimped on resources for him and he'd swallowed pills like candy, even the best help couldn't make mud hold up a wall.
Among his peers in the family, his cultivation was already at the very bottom.
Some of the more capable members of the collateral branches...
Had already reached the Seventh or Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.
"If the Old Ancestor dies, I'm finished too."
Zhang Chen knew all too well that when the nest was overturned, no egg remained intact.
Once the Zhang Family fell from power, its old enemies—those it had once suppressed—would swoop in like sharks smelling blood and tear the family to pieces.
When that happened, he, a main-branch young master with no real strength, would probably be the one to die most miserably.
Just as Zhang Chen was in a foul mood and preparing to turn back to his room to keep wrestling with that dull Evergreen Technique...
A crisp voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Beep! The host has turned eighteen and cares deeply about the survival of his family. The Strongest Family System: Blessings of Many Children has awakened!]
Zhang Chen stopped dead, his pupils contracting slightly.
A system?
As a Transmigrator, he naturally knew what that was.
It was the legendary cheat that defied fate—letting its owner punch an Immortal Emperor and kick a Demon Lord!
He had waited eighteen years without a peep and had assumed there was no hope in this lifetime. He hadn't expected it to arrive at such a critical moment!
Zhang Chen forcibly held back his excitement and silently thought, "System, explain your functions."
Before you continue