The Direct Line Is the Direct Line; Collateral Branches Should Not Harbor Delusions

Yao Xuan and the other raised their heads at the sound, only to see that the newcomer was none other than—

The foremost member of the younger generation of the Yao Clan's direct line, Yao Tian!

Yao Tian was also Yao Ling's older brother. The enormous Battle Qi wings spread behind him made it clear that he had already become a genuine Dou Wang powerhouse!

Yao Tian's cold gaze swept over Yao Xuan before he spoke again in a deep voice.

"Yao Ling, at this hour, you should be cultivating in the training room!"

"You slipped out without permission. Do you know what you did wrong?"

As soon as Yao Tian finished speaking, he lightly raised a hand. A gentle current of Battle Qi flowed from his palm, directly lifting Yao Ling from Yao Xuan's side and carrying her to him.

Yao Tian slowly turned his head toward Yao Ling and said in a low voice, "Yao Ling, remember your identity!"

"The annual Medicine Assembly is just around the corner. If you still refuse to focus on it and disgrace the direct line, the clan will not let you off lightly!"

Upon hearing this, Yao Ling first lowered her head to glance at Yao Xuan, then nodded gently.

Yao Tian slowly turned around, preparing to take Yao Ling away. Yet in the end, he looked back, his icy gaze settling on Yao Xuan.

"Yao Xuan, know your place. Do not hope for what is impossible! Your duty is simply to be a guard!"

Yao Ling hurriedly spoke up after hearing that.

"Brother, Brother Yao Xuan simply has not received the clan's preferential resources. Otherwise, with his talent, he might not be inferior to you!"

But Yao Tian merely snorted and laughed. "Talent? Born into a collateral branch, his path in life was already decided!"

"We of the direct line are the direct line. We are absolutely not people whom collateral branches can compare themselves to!"

Yao Ling still wanted to refute him, but before she could say anything, Yao Tian forcibly took her away.

Leaving Yao Xuan alone behind...

Watching the two depart, Yao Xuan let out a helpless sigh.

It had to be said that among the seven remaining ancient clans of the Battle Qi Continent, the Yao Clan was undoubtedly the one that distinguished most sharply between the direct and collateral lines.

In the eyes of the Yao Clan's direct line, just as Yao Tian had said, the direct line was the direct line—something collateral branches could never presume to rival.

Logically speaking, in an Emperor Clan such as the Yao Clan, which had inherited the art of alchemy, the Yao Clan's Dou Emperor Bloodline was already showing signs of depletion. They should have placed even greater importance on discovering the alchemical talent of the clan's younger members!

Yet the Yao Clan did not see things that way. No matter how astonishing your talent for alchemy was, as long as you were not born into the direct line but rather a collateral branch, the clan would not spend the slightest effort nurturing you. Instead, it would suppress you at every turn!

Yao Chen from several decades ago was the finest example. Though he had been born into a collateral branch, his talent for alchemy far surpassed that of his peers in the clan.

He had once held the greatest chance of winning the Medicine Assembly, but that also threatened the interests of Yao Wangu's main branch!

To ensure that his own younger brother won the Medicine Assembly, Yao Wangu chose to swap out a key ingredient Yao Chen needed to refine his pill during the finals. This caused Yao Chen's alchemy attempt to fail, costing him the championship.

At the same time, wary of the alchemical talent Yao Chen had displayed, Yao Wangu framed him with baseless charges after the competition and threw him into the clan dungeon!

In the end, he even stripped Yao Chen of his clan status on the grounds that his bloodline was impure and that he had disgraced the clan, banishing him from the Yao Clan forever!

Yet Yao Xuan knew perfectly well that after Yao Chen had been expelled from the Yao Clan, he relied on his talent and fought his way up step by step, eventually becoming the publicly recognized number one alchemist of the Central Plains. He had even reached the level of a Peak Eighth-Grade Alchemist!

This showed just how terrifying Yao Chen's alchemical talent had been. If the Yao Clan had valued such talent and invested its resources into nurturing him—

The Yao Clan would surely have gained another Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill Grandmaster!

One had to know that even within the Yao Clan, Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill Grandmasters were exceedingly rare!

Yet because of Yao Wangu's suppression, the Yao Clan had lost such a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill Grandmaster.

That was the Yao Clan of today. To outsiders, it might appear incomparably glorious, but in truth, its hierarchy was strict, and it had long since become corrupt and rigid from within!

It could not tolerate collateral-branch geniuses threatening the direct line's monopoly over the clan's resources!

No wonder the Yao Clan would meet with annihilation in the future.

Thinking of this, Yao Xuan sighed helplessly.

"Ah..."

"This transmigration would have been better off never happening..."

In his previous life, Yao Xuan had read countless transmigration novels. Other transmigrators always came with cheats and golden fingers, born into prestigious backgrounds.

Either they became the young clan chief of the Spirit Clan, or the young clan chief of the Thunder Clan. Even the worst-case scenario was being born into the Xiao Household, with someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Xiao Xuan inside their storage ring as the strongest cheat of all!

Even worse off, they could still cling to Xiao Yan's thigh!

But looking at himself, not only did he have no cheat or golden finger, he had also been born into a collateral branch of the Yao Clan!

With no preferential resources whatsoever, even if he possessed talent in alchemy, there was nowhere for him to put it to use...

"System bro? System bro, are you there?"

Yao Xuan still refused to give up and called out several times, but he received no response.

Clearly, Yao Xuan had poor luck. He had no cheat...

Yao Xuan calculated the days. If things continued like this and he kept cultivating in the Yao Clan as a member of a collateral branch, then in less than thirty years, the day the Yao Clan was annihilated would also be the day he died...

Yao Xuan calmed himself and thought it over. The Yao Clan's annual Medicine Assembly was about to begin.

According to what Yao Xuan knew, the Medicine Assembly was an alchemy competition specially held by the Yao Clan for its younger generation!

Both direct-line and collateral-branch members could participate!

Most importantly, if a collateral-branch disciple could win the Medicine Assembly, they would obtain the same resources as a direct-line disciple!

This seemed very fair, giving every collateral-branch clansman a sliver of hope!

Yet ever since the Medicine Assembly had been established, every annual champion had been monopolized by the direct line. The only collateral-branch member who had a chance to break that record, Yao Chen, had been framed and expelled from the Yao Clan!

Yao Xuan remembered that the champion of the previous Medicine Assembly had been Yao Ling's brother, Yao Tian!

When Yao Tian won the championship last year, he had only been at the Dou Spirit realm. Yet now, with the clan's preferential allocation of resources, he had successfully advanced to the Dou Wang level!

Furthermore, Yao Xuan could sense that Yao Tian was not merely a Dou Wang. His soul power seemed to have reached Mortal Realm Grand Perfection as well, only a single step away from the Spirit Realm.

Although he understood that his chances of winning the Medicine Assembly were slim to none—perhaps even nonexistent—

Yao Xuan had no other option at the moment. After all, the resources he could obtain now were simply too limited...

He had to win the Medicine Assembly in order to receive the Yao Clan's resources and grow stronger. Only then could he seek a sliver of survival when the Yao Clan was annihilated in the future.

Otherwise, only death awaited Yao Xuan!

After pondering for a while, Yao Xuan had already made up his mind. His task from this point on was to go all out and make thorough preparations for the Medicine Assembly!

He had already transmigrated, after all. He could not possibly just wait here in the Medicine Realm to die...