The Patriarch Is Incompetent!
As a sect patriarch, one should be majestic and renowned throughout the world. However, Li Yuan, the Grand Elder of Tianqi Sect, was known across the land for his incompetence.
In the Qi Refining realm, he was almost pierced through the throat by a mortal martial arts swordsman.
In the late Qi Refining stage, he was defeated in three moves by a junior disciple ten years his junior, making him a laughingstock.
He barely managed to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but was severely injured by a junior Qi Refining cultivator wielding a true treasure, who then escaped unharmed.
In the Golden Core realm, when the sect was in peril and besieged by a hostile great sect at its mountain gate, Li Yuan was once again directly suppressed by a newly advanced True Person in front of tens of thousands of cultivators.
...
Until a thousand years later, when the sect faced the danger of annihilation, the 'incompetent patriarch' who had been enshrined on a spirit tablet suddenly came back to life. With a flick of his hand and a laugh, he unleashed an countless army of puppets, utterly defeating tens of thousands of cultivators.
From then on, 'the patriarch is incompetent' became 'the patriarch is omnipotent'!