Set a Small Goal First: Become the Wang Family Patriarch

Wang Chen pondered what exactly had caused the Black Book to recover somewhat.

The only major event yesterday had been his taking first place in the Family Competition, greatly raising his standing within the family.

Other than that, nothing else had happened.

Wang Chen rubbed his chin. Could it be that my increased status has accelerated the Black Book's recovery?

No, it should not be that simple. His elevated status must have affected something deeper, which was what had accelerated the Black Book's recovery.

What was that deeper thing? Faith? Influence over the world? Or perhaps fate?

For a time, Wang Chen could not determine what it was exactly.

However, the equation that increased status could speed up the Black Book's recovery was most likely valid.

Then, if he wanted the Black Book to recover completely faster, he needed to continuously raise his own status.

Within the Marquis Ying Residence Wang Family, the person of highest standing was Patriarch Wang Yan. Within the Sun and Moon Empire, it was the emperor.

So how could he quickly raise his status?

At that thought, Wang Chen's dark eyes grew profound.

If he wished to climb to the pinnacle of this world and become a god at rank one hundred, the Black Book's assistance was indispensable.

Therefore, he would give his all to any method capable of rapidly restoring the Black Book.

Whether it meant seizing Wang Yan's position as patriarch in the future or taking the Old Xu Family's imperial throne, he would do it.

Did he reject the idea?

Wang Chen asked himself, and he believed he did not.

Wang Chen lay back on his bed, calmly gazing at the view beyond the window beneath the morning sunlight.

For a time, Wang Chen thought of many things.

He thought of how Wang Yan's involvement in the struggle for the throne had forced him into the dangerous whirlpool of royal conflict, no matter how unwilling he had been.

He thought of Meng Hongchen, whom he could not meet because of so many concerns.

He thought of a life where he could not do as he pleased or live freely, always fearing this and worrying about that.

Looking through the window at the brilliant golden sunrise, Wang Chen slowly raised a hand and grasped at the sky. It was as though he meant to seize the sun of destiny in his palm and take control of his own life.

On this ordinary morning, Wang Chen transformed.

He wanted to grow stronger. He wanted to ascend step by step toward the supreme peak, restore the Black Book completely, and from then on control his own destiny.

He wanted freedom—the freedom to do whatever he wished, with no one able to stop him or force him to do anything he did not want to do.

Along the way, he would not mind sweeping aside anyone who tried to obstruct or influence him.

If someone blessed with the Black Book did not strive to climb to the peak, would that not be wasting such a tremendous opportunity?

Flames seemed to blaze in Wang Chen's eyes. Though still small, they already possessed the potential to set the plains ablaze.

If the Wang Chen of the past had not possessed a clear and definite goal, then at this moment, he had found one.

Wang Chen sprang up from the bed, his eyes bright and shining.

Wang Chen clenched his fists, his eyes full of fighting spirit.

Becoming emperor was too distant a goal. He would set a smaller goal first: become the Wang Family patriarch!

Wang Chen already had a preliminary plan for becoming the Wang Family patriarch.

However, it required a period of waiting and accumulation.

He needed to wait for Wang Yan to make a mistake and accumulate his own strength.

First, Wang Yan's prestige within the Wang Family was extremely high. He had served as patriarch for decades, and while his reputation might not have been at its peak, it was still difficult to shake.

Therefore, if Wang Chen wanted to pull Wang Yan down from his position as Wang Family patriarch, he needed to wait until Wang Yan made a colossal mistake that left every member of the Wang Family disappointed and enraged...

Only then could Wang Yan be dragged down from his position as patriarch.

And had Wang Yan made a mistake? Clearly, he already had. It simply had not yet come to light.

Once the Second Prince failed in his bid for the Crown Prince Position a few years from now, the entire Wang Family would inevitably suffer Xu Tianran's retaliation and reckoning.

The Wang Family members implicated by it would surely grow resentful toward Wang Yan, the chief culprit who had involved himself in the princes' struggle for his own selfish interests.

At that time, as long as Wang Chen was strong enough and resolved the Wang Family's crisis, he could pull Wang Yan down from the patriarch's position and take it for himself.

After becoming the Wang Family patriarch, Wang Chen's status would rise dramatically. Perhaps the Black Book would recover further then and unlock a new function.

Whenever Wang Chen thought of the Black Book's third function, he could not help but look forward to it.

The Black Book's first function, recording, and its second function, deduction and completion, were already incredibly heaven-defying. It was truly difficult to imagine what terrifying effect its third function would possess.

After pondering for a moment, Wang Chen calmed his thoughts. He had a goal now, and his plan had already been laid out.

All he needed to do now was rapidly accumulate strength.

His new Meridian Opening Skill cultivated extremely quickly, with twice the efficiency of his old cultivation method. If he could obtain some heavenly treasures, his cultivation speed could become even faster.

Speaking of heavenly treasures, Wang Chen could not help thinking of the auction that would be held a week from now at the Sun and Moon Auction House, the largest auction house in the Sun and Moon Empire.

At that auction, the Soul Devouring Carving Knife, crafted from Life Gold, would be put up for sale.

Wang Chen was determined to obtain the Gold of Life.

Wang Chen thought to himself, Over these next seven days, I need to prepare as many Gold Soul Coins as possible. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens and I don't have enough Gold Soul Coins, it will be difficult to buy the Gold of Life.

Just as countless thoughts raced through Wang Chen's mind, a rumbling sound echoed through the bedroom.

Wang Chen rubbed his stomach. After a night's consumption, his internal temple was empty once more. He immediately got up and left the bedroom, ready to enjoy a nutritious breakfast.

A short while later, in the dining room.

The moment Wang Chen entered the dining room, he smelled waves of tempting fragrance. It was even richer and more alluring than the delicacies he had eaten before.

Just as Wang Chen was about to say something, he suddenly noticed that Elder Wang Yuan was actually at his home.

Wang Chen immediately clasped his hands in greeting. "Good morning, Elder Wang Yuan!"

When Wang Yuan saw Wang Chen come down from the second floor, he smiled and said, "Chen'er, you must be hungry. Eat first. It is not anything urgent, so I will speak with you after you finish."

With that, Wang Yuan handed Wang Chen a Soul Tool lunch box. "Chen'er, hurry and eat. Everything inside was carefully prepared by the family.

"It will greatly benefit your cultivation and physique, and it is quite valuable. From now on, all three of your daily meals will be provided at the highest standard.

"Of course, these are prepared only for you. Your parents will not receive this treatment."

Upon hearing Elder Wang Yuan's words, Wang's Father and Wang's Mother, seated nearby, could not help smiling. Then they said, "Elder Wang Yuan, there was no need to add that last part. It is not as if we do not understand."

Wang Chen immediately understood that this was one of the benefits brought about by winning the Family Competition and becoming the strongest genius among the Wang Family's younger generation.

The family had begun allocating more resources to him and giving him better cultivation.

Wang Chen accepted the Soul Tool lunch box from Wang Yuan. When he opened it and saw the delicacies within, he could not help feeling surprised.

There were two dishes and a soup in the lunch box. Though the portions were not large, every ingredient used was of exceptional quality and expensive.

The soup was brewed with Centennial Purple Ganoderma and Heavenly Spirit Grass. The cost of just one bowl of soup was at least one hundred Gold Soul Coins. (The cost is based on the original work.)

There was also Braised Centennial Tiger Soul Beast Tendon. Tiger-type Soul Beasts possessed remarkable combat strength, combining power and speed.

A hundred-year-old tiger-type Soul Beast could even rival an ordinary three-hundred-year-old Soul Beast in combat. As for powerful tiger-type Soul Beasts, they were even more formidable—some could contend with thousand-year Soul Beasts despite being only a hundred years old.

As a result, their tendons were exceptionally effective at nourishing human muscles and bones. They were especially beneficial to minors.

The final dish was Centennial Earth Dragon Marrow. Earth dragon-type Soul Beasts possessed a trace of dragon bloodline, and consuming them was greatly beneficial to the meridians and internal organs.

The two dishes and one soup were worth nearly 500 Gold Soul Coins combined. Three meals a day meant 1,500 Gold Soul Coins. Calculated that way, it would cost 45,000 Gold Soul Coins each month.

The nutritional meals the Wang Family had prepared for Wang Chen surpassed even Shrek Academy's cultivation of its outer academy core disciples in value. It could be said that they were truly sparing no effort.

Of course, the Wang Family had not stopped nurturing its other descendants. It was simply that their treatment and resource allocation could not compare to Wang Chen's.

Perhaps Wang Chen ate nutritional meals made from hundred-year Soul Beasts and hundred-year medicinal herbs, while other gifted family descendants ate meals made from Soul Beasts and medicinal herbs with ten years of cultivation. Some family descendants with ordinary talent could not even eat those with ten years of cultivation.

There was no helping it. There were too many mouths and too little food. Given the Wang Family's strength and resources, it could not support the cultivation of more people. If it tried to nurture too many, the family's own resources would become insufficient.

Money was not much of a problem. After all, selling a single high-grade Soul Tool was enough to cover Wang Chen's meals for an entire year. The main issue was that high-grade nutritional ingredients were limited. Mingdu had no shortage of Soul Engineers with substantial wealth, and everyone needed them, so supply remained tight.

It was not as though having money meant one could buy as much as one wanted. Sellers also had to consider the needs of other customers; they could not neglect everyone else for the sake of a single family.

Smelling the enticing aroma from the lunch box, Wang Chen immediately began eating heartily, his mouth slick with oil.

After he finished, waves of warmth flowed through his meridians, internal organs, and muscles and bones. Heat rose from his entire body, leaving him thoroughly comfortable.

Wang Chen could feel that if he ate this way over a long period, it would greatly benefit the improvement of his physique. In the future, he would also be able to absorb Soul Rings with higher year limits.

And absorbing higher-year Soul Rings would bring even greater improvements to his attributes and physique. It was practically a virtuous cycle.

This was why Soul Masters nurtured by great families and powerful factions could often easily defeat commoner Soul Masters of the same rank who lacked backgrounds, and even fight above their rank.

Seeing that Wang Chen had finished eating, Wang Yuan waved a hand, signaling Wang's Father and Wang's Mother to excuse themselves.

Wang's Father and Wang's Mother understood immediately. They left the house, leaving the space to Wang Yuan and Wang Chen.

Once the unrelated parties had left, Wang Yuan said kindly to Wang Chen, "Chen'er, your talent is outstanding, so the family will vigorously nurture you. We hope that you will achieve something in the future and lead the family to greater heights."

Wang Chen nodded. "Please rest assured, Family. Chen'er will certainly cultivate diligently and break through to become a Titled Douluo as soon as possible."

Wang Yuan smiled as he stroked his beard. "Good. That is ambition. A young master of the Wang Family should be like this."

Young master?

Wang Yuan handed Wang Chen a red token. "Chen'er, this is the Wang Family's Young Master Token. To a certain extent, this token represents the Marquis Ying Residence Wang Family.

"In Mingdu, any force not hostile to the Wang Family will show us some respect upon seeing this token. Forces close to us will even offer a certain degree of assistance.

"This token is both a symbol of identity and a responsibility.

"Furthermore, this Young Master Token is a rank-six triggered defensive Soul Tool.

"When you come under attack, it does not require its user to activate it. This Soul Tool will trigger passively and release a defensive barrier for ten seconds, protecting its owner's safety.

"This defensive barrier is remarkably strong. A Soul Emperor absolutely cannot break through it, and even Soul Sage-level attacks can be blocked three times.

"Furthermore, this defensive Soul Tool is chargeable. Once charged, anyone can use it.

"I have already charged this token. Chen'er, keep it close to your body."

Wang Chen extended both hands and respectfully accepted the token. The moment he touched it, it gave off waves of warmth that made him feel extremely comfortable.

Especially since this token was a rank-six defensive Soul Tool—at a critical moment, it could truly save his life.

Just as Wang Chen was about to thank the family,

Wang Yuan spoke again. "Chen'er, from now on, your monthly allowance will be raised to 100,000 Gold Soul Coins, and all your benefits will be elevated to the first rank.

"For your safety, the family has assigned you a squad of guards. Mm, that is all."

After saying that, Wang Yuan patted Wang Chen on the shoulder. "Chen'er, do not disappoint the family's expectations."

After hearing everything, Wang Chen could not help being stunned. This treatment truly exceeded his expectations. The family had genuinely invested heavily in him this time.

There was no need to mention the Young Master Token. Even without considering its additional value, a rank-six triggered, chargeable Soul Tool was already comparable in value to a rank-seven Soul Tool.

Then there were the 100,000 Gold Soul Coins each month and the guards assigned to protect him. If that was not the treatment of a rich second-generation heir, what was?

Wang Chen drew a deep breath and solemnly looked at Wang Yuan. "Wang Chen will never fail the family's expectations..."

Wang Chen thought to himself, In the future, the Sun and Moon Empire's foremost family will surely bear the surname Wang.

Wang Yuan left Wang Chen's home with a broad smile after hearing that.

Over the next seven days, Wang Chen withdrew 100,000 Gold Soul Coins from the family. Then, through a letter at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, he borrowed another sum of money from Meng Hongchen.

He cultivated while quietly waiting for the auction to arrive.