Chapter 1: Forced to Marry an Ugly Woman? Let Me Activate the System First.

Bang!

The door of the woodshed was kicked open in an instant.

"Stop playing dead, trash. The Patriarch wants you in the Ancestral Hall."

Lu Xuan opened his eyes. He tried to roll over and sit up, but the moment he put pressure on his ribs, pain shot through him because of the beating his body had taken.

His vision went black in an instant. Cold sweat began to soak through his back.

But despite the pain, he gritted his teeth as he slowly braced himself against the ground and sat up.

---

The Ancestral Hall.

When Lu Xuan walked in, the pain in his body was almost unbearable, but he didn't break down.

The moment he entered the hall, almost every gaze in the room fell upon him.

They looked at him as if they were looking at a dog, waiting to be discarded at any moment.

Someone in the back even wrinkled their nose, as if they had caught the scent of something foul.

Ten years ago, there had still been pity in those gazes.

Back when his father, the former Patriarch, had just died, a few of them had at least pretended to care back then.

Now... even the pity was gone... leaving only scorn.

Sitting at the center of the hall was his second uncle, Lu Tianhe... the current Patriarch.

He was around his early forties, with a gentle face and a faint, kind smile always resting at the corners of his mouth, like a kind and caring elder.

Standing to his left was his son, Lu Hao.

Dressed in fine silk robes and a jade belt, his chin tilted slightly upward, his eyes unable to hide the arrogance and mockery flowing behind them.

Lu Xuan looked at him, and his chest began to ache faintly.

It all started because of this very person. His second uncle had extracted Lu Xuan's heart vein... to nourish this pampered waste's martial foundation.

To the sides of the hall sat several clan elders, seeing all this without batting an eye.

Some rested with their eyes closed. Others stared down into their teacups, pretending he wasn't there.

"Xuan'er is here."

Lu Tianhe spoke with a warm smile.

Lu Xuan had seen that smile too many times to know the facade behind it. Every time his uncle smiled like that, nothing good ever followed.

"I heard you and Hao'er had a little friction yesterday. Don't worry... I've already punished him for it. I made him skip dinner last night."

Skip dinner?

Lu Xuan had been beaten until his entire body was soaked in blood and bruises. He still had several broken ribs grinding against his insides right now.

And the punishment for that much pain... was Lu Hao skipping a single meal?

And as far as Lu Xuan knew, Lu Hao had eaten a full feast at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion last night.

They even tried to tell such a clumsy lie. So, this was his so-called second uncle.

Pathetic.

Lu Xuan didn't speak. He didn't dare to show even a trace of dissatisfaction, as he knew it would only give them the pleasure of seeing him getting tormented.

Lu Tianhe didn't seem to care whether he was angry or not. He continued as casually as ever, "I called you here today for the matter of your marriage."

Marriage?

Lu Xuan's brows tightened. "What marriage?"

"You've turned eighteen this year, so it's time to start a family and build your own path from now on."

Lu Tianhe stroked his beard. "Don't worry. Your second uncle has gone through the great trouble of finding a good match for you. Consider it as a way to bring comfort to your parents' spirits in the heavens."

An elder beside him nodded approvingly.

"Your parents passed away early, leaving you alone. The Patriarch arranging this marriage for you... it shows how much he cares about you."

Another elder stroked his beard in agreement.

"With Tianhe as our Patriarch, it is truly the fortune of our Lu Family!"

Lu Hao stood off to the side, a wicked grin plastered all across his face.

Lu Xuan looked at these people, and doubt churned in his gut. Since when had the smiling tiger, Lu Tianhe, ever been kind to him without a reason? There must be something fishy about this.

"Second Uncle... do I have the honour of knowing which girl you are referring to?"

Lu Tianhe set down his teacup and said in an unhurried tone, "The eldest daughter of the Shen Family in the south of the city. What was her name again?... Oh yes... Shen Yuyan."

"Pfft!"

Lu Hao couldn't hold back his laughter any longer, which he had been holding back for a long while now.

Lu Xuan's brows furrowed as he searched his mind for the name.

Shen Yuyan... the concubine-born daughter of the Shen Family in the south side of the city.

People say she is an ugly woman covered in red spots, the laughingstock of the entire city.

Stolen story; please report.

As expected, after learning about his future supposed bride, there wasn't much anger in his mind... after all, he was not much better than her.

She was a tragic person in her own way... unfavored by the Shen Family, she scraped by selling embroidery on the streets.

Continuously being detested and mocked wherever she went, all because of her ugly appearance.

Lu Xuan even pitied her. She shared a fate just as miserable as his own.

But pity didn't mean he was willing to be used as a pawn by his supposed family.

He looked up at Lu Tianhe, with the intent of not backing down without an answer. "Why her?"

But before Lu Tianhe could respond, Lu Hao stepped forward.

"You, a piece of trash, and you're still being picky about choosing a wife?!"

Lu Tianhe coughed twice. "Hao'er, how can you speak to your older cousin like that?"

"Father, he's being too ungrateful!"

As if on cue, at that moment, an elder sitting off to the side turned towards Lu Xuan and spoke.

"Xuan'er, you should understand your own situation right now. Although that woman is ugly, she is at least hardworking and kind, and she even comes from a proper family.

Furthermore... she doesn't require a betrothal gift, and you can marry her immediately. So don't be an ungrateful person. You must not let down the Patriarch's painstaking efforts."

"Painstaking efforts." Lu Xuan said through gritted teeth.

"No matter how nicely you put it... it's just because there's no betrothal gift. Right?"

The words weren't loud. But the Ancestral Hall was quiet, and everyone heard them clearly.

"Presumptuous!"

Lu Hao jabbed a finger at him. "Go find a mirror and look at your own pathetic face! You still think you can stay in the Lu Family and freeload off us? Get married and move out. Get out of the Lu Family!"

Lu Xuan was stunned for a moment.

Then he understood.

It was never the marriage. This marriage was nothing but a sham.

Kicking him out of the Lu Family... that was the real purpose of all of them. They found him to be a burden... So they decided to get rid of him.

And Lu Tianhe wouldn't even say the word "leave" himself.

He let the elders do the reasoning, let Lu Hao do the shouting, and used the marriage as a clean, convenient excuse.

Truly despicable.

Lu Xuan lifted his gaze to his second uncle, who sat there calmly sipping his tea.

"If I am to leave... what about the family assets left behind by my parents?"

Lu Tianhe held his cup and blew gently across the surface, his expression one of pure confusion.

"Assets? What assets?"

An elder spoke up immediately, his voice sharp with false indignation.

"Xuan'er, you are out of line for saying that. The little bit your parents left behind... over these years, you've eaten the Lu Family's food, slept under the Lu Family's roof.

When you were five years old and critically ill, how many rare herbs did we use to save your life? If we actually tallied it up, the Lu Family has subsidized you quite a bit. And you still have the gall to mention assets?"

Lu Xuan listened without speaking.

His father, the former Patriarch, had died in battle fighting for this family. The vast fortune he left behind had been swallowed whole by these people without a trace.

And his "critical illness" at age five? That was the day they had forcibly extracted his heart vein to strengthen Lu Hao's martial foundation... the very same day when old Lu Xuan died and a new soul took over his body...

At that time, they used cheap medicinal herbs to keep Lu Xuan alive just so no one would ask questions.

It was utterly cruel.

Lu Xuan had been filled with resentment since then, but he didn't let a single word of it slip past his lips.

Over the past decade, he had long since learned the art of endurance. Because he knew one truth better than anyone: anger without the strength to back it up would only bring about his own destruction.

In this hall alone, the number of people who could kill him with a wave of their hand was beyond counting. Even the servants could crush him.

He lowered his head.

"Understood."

Lu Xuan turned around and walked out of the Ancestral Hall.

Behind him, Lu Hao's laughter followed like a shadow.

And then... just as his foot crossed the threshold...

[Ding!]

[Lazy Cultivation System activated.]

[Host: Lu Xuan.]

[Core Mechanism: Cultivation Techniques are mastered instantly upon reading. Automatic cultivation occurs during sleep.]

[Efficiency: Sleeping for 4 hours ≈ 1 year of hard cultivation for a mortal.]

[Current Status: No Cultivation Technique × No Sleep = Cannot cultivate.]

[Suggestion: Obtain a Cultivation Technique first. Then sleep immediately.]