[The must-read fantasy novel of 2026]
Su Changqing, sect leader of Qingyun Sect, is fretting over his sect’s imminent bankruptcy when the System suddenly assigns him a task: take in a Child of Destiny as a disciple. On a whim, Su Changqing picks up a boy named Lin Fan at the foot of the mountain, carrying an “ordinary iron sword.” He plans to make him a mascot, only to discover that his disciple is a “human-shaped nuclear bomb”: he knocks a Nascent Soul opponent flying with one sword strike in the arena, dismantles an ancient formation with his bare hands during a secret-realm expedition, and breaks through to Foundation Establishment after just three days of seclusion...
As Lin Fan grows, Qingyun Sect goes from an obscure little sect to the most “cutthroat” force in the cultivation world. The Pavilion Master of Ten Thousand Swords comes to challenge them and gets struck by lightning; the Demon Cult’s headquarters asks to merge with them; even the lofty envoys from the Immortal Realm have to take their cues from Lin Fan.
As for Su Changqing, the “imposter sect leader,” he can only secretly redeem an “Acting Master” aura while watching his disciple turn the entire cultivation world upside down, silently weeping to himself: “System, are you sure this kid isn’t here to survive a tribulation?”
