Cultivation Family Simulator

3014.

The First Cultivator Academy of California, Huaxia.

On the way home from school, unlike the students in the sky stepping on flying swords, Li Xiang flicked his storage ring, and a sports car appeared on the main road.

"Heh, being able to speed before I'm even an adult—no need to worry about traffic jams after school."

He then pressed his token against the steering wheel to start the car and head home. "What a magical world."

Even after transmigrating here three years ago, Li Xiang still found himself marveling at the wonders of this world from time to time.

In truth, a thousand years ago, this world was much like the Blue Star he once lived on.

However, after the spiritual energy recovery, the world transformed into a fusion of technology and cultivation. Huaxia, with its long-standing civilization, naturally became the only nation in the world, ushering in a new era.

Everyone practiced cultivation in pursuit of immortality, and in a short span of time, Huaxia even launched interstellar voyages.

"Look, isn't that the young master of the Li Family?"

"He's out in his magical artifact again. I heard it cost a fortune in spirit stones to build; it burns at least three low-grade spirit stones just for a round trip to school. It must be nice to be rich."

"Tch, what's there to be so smug about? Isn't he just a common mixed spiritual root like the rest of us? I heard he was kicked out of the Li Family, and the other young masters call him the shame of the Li Family!"

"..."

There were many students on the roadside who couldn't afford to fly on swords and had no money to buy magical artifacts.

Li Xiang, who drove a gas-guzzling sports car every day to show off, naturally became the center of attention.

Listening to the passersby, Li Xiang didn't feel a hint of anger.

He put on his sunglasses, glanced at the students in the rearview mirror who were still whispering jealously, kept one hand on the steering wheel, and stuck his middle finger out the window before speeding away.

He'd rather go home and play video games than waste his breath on these people.

Li Xiang soon finished his grocery shopping and drove back to Jixian Manor. Uncle Chen, who guarded the formation for the high-end cave dwelling district, was busy eating a bowl of mixed grains and gnawing on a chicken leg. As soon as he heard the roar of the engine, he set down his bowl and kindly opened the formation for Li Xiang.

"Young Master Li, off to buy groceries from so far away again? Are the high-grade hunger-suppression pills not to your liking?"

"Uncle Chen."

Li Xiang replied with a smile, "No matter how high-grade those hunger-suppression pills are, they taste like wax. No matter how much we cultivate, we shouldn't torture our taste buds, right? Otherwise, what's the point of cultivation?"

Hearing this, Uncle Chen's eyes lit up. He gave a thumbs-up in total agreement, "That's well said. People these days eating hunger-suppression pills just to keep their bodies 'pure' are all brain-dead. If your state of mind isn't open-minded, then to hell with cultivating."

"Well, Uncle Chen, I'm heading back to cook."

Li Xiang drove toward the villa area. As he passed by, he greeted the uncles, aunties, and elders—who knows how old they were—with a smile.

The cultivators in Jixian Manor were different from those students.

The long passage of time had made them more worldly-wise. They didn't look down on Li Xiang for being young or for his rumored mixed spiritual root aptitude, and they all responded with warmth and friendliness. After all, everyone knew that anyone who could live here was no simple character.

The cave dwellings in the villa area were no different from ordinary villas, but most of them contained hidden wonders.

His own dwelling—Jixian Manor No. 1—was located at the very end of the manor.

As soon as Li Xiang drove back, a girl as beautiful as a celestial maiden came into view. She was dressed in a white maid outfit, and the sight of her slender legs in white silk stockings beneath her apron was impossible to look away from. Her face, framed by long sideburns beneath straight bangs, was incredibly enchanting.

Even after living with this puppet for three years, Li Xiang still found himself momentarily dazed by her eyes, which seemed to smile whenever she looked down at him.

"Welcome home, Master." The puppet's voice was like a clear spring, instantly melting away the irritation he felt from his day at school.

"Yuexian, take the car back to the garage."

Li Xiang tossed a set of keys to the puppet. "The groceries are in the front trunk space. There's quite a lot. You handle the cooking today and just bring it to my room. I plan to spend the next two days of the holiday playing games."

"As you wish, Master."

Yuexian nodded gently. Just as Li Xiang stepped toward the villa entrance, she added, "By the way, Master, the spirit stone stipend from your family for this month hasn't arrived yet. We don't have many spirit stones left in our account. Would you like me to contact them?"

Even Li Xiang didn't know what level this puppet was. In his memories, she had been taking care of his daily life since he was born, far more advanced than any high-end artificial intelligence he knew of in his previous life.

"It hasn't arrived yet?"

Li Xiang frowned. "Give them a call and urge them. Actually, call Old Ghost first. He's one of our own; let's see what's going on."

"Yes, Master."

Hearing Yuexian's response, Li Xiang didn't dwell on it and returned to his room.

There were many cultivation families in California, and the Li Family was definitely among the top tier. However, Li Xiang didn't actually know much about the Li Family. Ever since he was born—whether it was because of his poor aptitude or the fact that his missing parents had a bad relationship with the family—he had lived in Jixian Manor, raised by Yuexian.

He had seen the Li Family members fewer times in this life than he had spent time with the uncles and aunties of Jixian Manor.

As a direct descendant of the family, even though he didn't grow up in the main household, he received a generous amount of pocket money every month for his daily expenses.

He had heard from the elders of the family that it was because his parents had made great contributions to the Li Family.

As long as the Li Family did not fall, his lineage would be provided for by the family for eternity.

Therefore, Li Xiang had no worries about his livelihood.

Back in his room, Li Xiang sat down in front of his computer, lost in thought for a long time.

"Looks like in this life, I'm destined to just rot away."

As he spoke, Li Xiang smiled and turned on his computer.

This kind of life could be called the life he had dreamed of; the title of a "wealthy Nth generation" meant he never had to worry about food or clothing. He was satisfied with the status quo; as long as he didn't court death, his life was already enviable enough.

Li Xiang had even planned out a mundane and carefree future.

"Although..."

Li Xiang paused for a moment. He thought of the magnificent lives led by the experts of this world, who could see a broader universe among the stars, while he was destined to spend his whole life in Jixian Manor.

"I really am greedy."

Li Xiang mocked himself. By now, the computer had booted up. Although this world practiced cultivation, games still existed as a way for idlers like him to pass the time.

However, most were VR games, which also served to train a cultivator's reaction speed and the like; they were considered a form of alternative education.

But Li Xiang preferred playing traditional games from his previous life, just like the antique he was using now that still required a mouse. After all, modern VR games were mostly about fighting and killing, and he grew tired of them after playing too much.

He opened the vintage games that Yuexian had gone to great lengths to find. These games had been copied from computers from a thousand years ago that Yuexian had bought at antique markets; they were as much of an antique as his own computer.

Looking left and right, Li Xiang didn't click on any games for a while, as he had mostly grown tired of these as well.

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiang opened a folder to see if there was anything new forgotten in the files.

Just as Li Xiang was searching, a game file caught his eye!

"Cultivation Family Simulator? Is it a management game?"

With the mindset of trying something new, Li Xiang opened the game.

In an instant, the screen finished loading.

An archaic art style greeted his eyes; even in the era of Li Xiang's previous life, this game would have appeared very retro.

On a landscape painting, a small wooden hut gradually appeared.

A young man was setting up a spirit tablet and burning incense in front of a bronze censer.

[On this day, your only descendant living in exile is paying respects to you. As a slave, he doesn't even have a surname; he only heard from others that kneeling to one's ancestors would bring their blessing.]

[Please establish a surname for this family that is about to rise, or vanish into obscurity.]

[___ Family]

"Pfft."

Li Xiang, who was drinking a beverage, almost spat it out. Is the start really this miserable? The entire family registry has only one person???

However, Li Xiang followed the game interface and entered [Li Family].

After entering the surname, the game interface began to change, though it remained as simple as ever.

Li Xiang took a quick look.

On the left, there was a [Time Rate] slider, set to 1 hour/year—real-time.

"No pause option?"

Li Xiang checked; it seemed that only during ancestor worship or when encountering special events would the game pause, and the ancestor worship activity would automatically cancel after 5 minutes.

And right now, at the start, it was the first ancestor worship.

However, it seemed to be a tutorial, as a large "Li" character appeared out of thin air on the Li Family spirit tablet on the screen.

The Li Family's only descendant saw the change in the tablet, and a line of large text appeared above his head.

"The ancestor has manifested! My surname is Li, I finally have a surname, hahaha!"

Watching the Li descendant's ecstatic appearance, Li Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or be moved; after all, he couldn't empathize with a game NPC.

At the same time, a line of text appeared on a large black interface on the right side of the game screen.

[Your descendant has felt your presence and is ecstatic. He has named himself Li Dalong.]

[Incense +1]

And on the member list, Li Xiang was surprised to see a genealogy...

[First Generation Member: Li Dalong]

He could even view Li Dalong's personal information; hmm, a completely ordinary person.

"Cultivation Family Simulator, does that mean I can only watch the family grow?"

Li Xiang still didn't quite understand this game.

[Your descendant is performing ancestor worship, a grand ceremony held once every ten years.]

[Offering: A pile of ash from burnt yellow paper]

[Do you wish to retrieve it?]

"What would I need this for?"

Although he didn't see an equipment slot, Li Xiang still clicked 'No'.

[You have cancelled the offering.]

A gust of wind blew across the screen, and the ashes from the burned yellow paper scattered into the air.

But the Li Family's only descendant was panicking.

"Ancestor, please calm your anger! This unfilial descendant is too useless; I failed to provide an offering that would bring you joy!"

[For this ancestral worship, do you intend to bestow a blessing upon your descendant?]

Staring at the screen, Li Xiang froze. His hand holding his drink paused in mid-air, even trembling slightly, while his eyes grew wider and his mouth hung open.

It wasn't because of the game screen, but rather...

An incense burner that shouldn't have existed had appeared on the cluttered desk right next to his computer.

Li Xiang could even smell the smoky scent of the recently burned yellow paper coming from the incense burner!

This incense burner was exactly the same as the one Li Xiang had just seen on the altar in the game.

"What the... hell???"