Good-for-Nothing Awakens: From Castoff to Mastermind

Xuanhuan, Building a Faction, No System, No Doormat Protagonist, Ruthless and Decisive, Not Childish

I want stories where the protagonist builds a faction and grows alongside it. The faction should be useful to the protagonist, not just something he has to support all the time. Nothing childish, and no protagonist who seems to attract trouble everywhere: even staying at an inn or buying something turns into a fight to the death. No System, either; they always feel so arbitrary. Something like The Nine Domains: The Mortal Immortal.