New Rules

A month later, Lin Langtian knelt at the foot of the mountain leading to the Lin Family Courtyard, rain or shine.

Lin Langtian's perseverance left Ye Feng with nothing to criticize.

Lin Xiao, Lin Dong, Lin Qingtan, Lin Zhentian, and the others walked down the steps.

Lin Xiao looked down at Lin Langtian kneeling before him, feeling an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. The person who had crippled him during the Clan Competition had been kneeling in front of his door for a month now.

"Lin Langtian, get up," Lin Xiao said.

"You've agreed to let this place become the Lin Family's ancestral home?" Lin Langtian asked Lin Xiao, looking up at him.

"From now on, the Lin Family of Qingyang Town is the main branch of the Lin family. All other families are branches of the Lin Family."

"What do you mean by that? Does it mean... the main branch of the Lin family in the capital will become a branch family in the future?"

"Yes."

"You... you're going to break your promise?" Lin Langtian roared.

"Did I break my promise?" Lin Xiao smiled and said, "You just didn't understand what I meant. I didn't refuse to let the Lin Family of Qingyang Town return to the main family. I just changed the way I did it, turning what you looked down on as a branch family into the main family, and what you were proud of as the main family into a branch family."

"You..."

Lin Langtian wanted to retort, but he didn't know how to say it. "That won't do."

"Why not?" Lin Xiao asked.

"The capital city is the most important place in the Great Yan Dynasty. How could the main family in the capital become a branch family?" Lin Langtian couldn't accept this. What he cared about most was the main family, and what he looked down on most was the branch family. Now, his main family had become a branch family, and the branch family he looked down on most had become the main family.

This... this... this is something Lin Langtian cannot accept in his heart.

He, Lin Langtian, one day, actually became the branch family disciple he despised the most?!

Lin Xiao was very satisfied with the change in Lin Langtian's expression.

Lin Dong also noticed the change in Lin Langtian's expression. He was quite satisfied with this change. At this moment, he finally understood Lin Langtian Ye Feng's meaning. Killing someone for revenge was not the best approach. Cruelly trampling on what the other person cared about most was the best way to retaliate.

Isn't Lin Langtian proud of being a member of the same clan?

Then, their original family became a branch family.

Hasn't Lin Langtian always looked down on the children of the branch family?

Then, they turned Lin Langtian into a branch family disciple who was not worthy of being associated with the main family.

"You can refuse." Lin Xiao replied to Lin Langtian's words in a flat and indifferent tone.

Lin Langtian stared at Lin Xiao, while Lin Xiao looked down at Lin Langtian with a slight upturn of his lips.

Lin Langtian really wanted to say something to save face. He wanted to angrily confront Lin Xiao. However, after kneeling outside the Chaos God Light for a month, he discovered that his cultivation had actually broken through.

The Heaven and Earth Essence and earth surrounding the Chaos God Light was extremely dense. Cultivating here was ten times more effective than outside. Even his cheat ability—an old man named Mu Shi —claimed that he couldn't see through the Chaos God Light's true nature.

Mu Shi advised Lin Langtian that unless he didn't want to live anymore, he shouldn't target the master of the Chaos God Light.

"All right."

"First Elder."

Lin Langtian looked at an old man beside him. He was the First Elder of the Lin Clan.

"Langtian, they're right. Why can't the main family in the capital become a branch family?"

"But..." Lin Langtian still felt resistant. He still couldn't accept this reality.

"There are no 'buts'. Lin Xiao, Lin Zhentian, I agree to all your requests. From now on, the Lin Family in Qingyang Town is the main branch of the Lin Clan. As for the descendants of the branch families, you should quickly establish a rule regarding who is qualified to return to the main branch," the old man said.

"No need. I can tell you now. Any branch family member who wants to return to the main family has only two options. First, if their talent reaches a certain standard by the age of six, even if they are a branch family member, they can directly enter the main family to cultivate and receive the main family's guidance. If their cultivation level reaches the standard in the future, they can be promoted to become a disciple of the main family without having to go through the family competition."

"Secondly, even if they are disciples of the main family, if their cultivation level does not meet the standard at the age of sixteen, they will be sent to the family's businesses. Only if their performance meets the standard, or their cultivation level reaches a certain level in the future, will they be qualified to return to the main family."

Lin Xiao recounted in detail what he had heard from Ye Feng.

Ye Feng's opinions also originated from the Doupo Plane. The Xiao Family in the Doupo Plane established such rules: survival of the fittest.

"Disciples of the branch family who possess exceptional talent should indeed receive the same treatment as those of the main family." The old man glanced at Lin Dong and Lin Qingtan. Their talent surpassed even Lin Langtian's. He acknowledged that the main Lin family had previously failed in this regard; they shouldn't have been treated differently. "However, do the main family's disciples also face severe challenges? Do they risk being expelled from the main family at sixteen?"

"Of course, the disciples of the main family have resources that the branch family doesn't have. If they still can't reach the required cultivation level, then... should we keep them as parasites in the main family? Only in this way can our Lin Family possibly become the number one family in the Tianxuan Continent," Lin Xiao replied.

"The First Family?"

"Alright, First Elder. Do you see that Black Stone Tablet?" Lin Xiao pointed to a black stone tablet over thirty meters tall standing on a high platform. "That's a stone tablet for testing cultivation. In the future, if a disciple of the main family hasn't condensed a Yuan Dan within their body by the age of sixteen, then they won't need to stay in the main family any longer."

"What?! Yuan Dan Realm?" The old man exclaimed in shock, looking at Lin Langtian. "Lin Langtian started cultivating at ten, broke through the Body Tempering Ninth Stage at twelve and entered the Earth Yuan Realm, entered the Heavenly Yuan Realm at fifteen, and at twenty, his internal Yuan Qi achieved Yin-Yang harmony and successfully formed a Yuan Dan, becoming one of the few experts in the Great Yan Dynasty to form a Yuan Dan before the age of thirty. Now, the requirement is that any future disciples of the main family who haven't formed a Yuan Dan by the age of sixteen will be sent to work in the family's businesses. Isn't this... a bit too harsh?"

"First Elder, the spiritual energy here is ten times that of the outside world. If one cultivates here for sixteen years and still cannot reach the Yuan Dan Realm, it would be a disgrace to the family," Lin Xiao said.

This rule was also specified by Ye Feng.

"Alright," the First Elder replied.

Buzz

At this moment, a ripple appeared in the space around Lin Xiao. A young man with gray hair and gray eyes walked out of the void.

"Young Master Ye."

Lin Xiao bowed slightly to Ye Feng with respect.

"Young Master Ye."

Lin Zhentian bowed respectfully to Ye Feng.

"You're Young Master Ye?"

The First Elder looked Ye Feng up and down in surprise.

"Young Master Ye?"

Lin Langtian was also sizing up Ye Feng. This was the young man who had brought about earth-shattering changes to the branch family he had once looked down upon the most.

"Qingtan, Lin Dong, let's go." Ye Feng's words had barely finished when ripples spread through the space around him. He then vanished with Lin Dong and Lin Qingtan.