The door slowly opened.
Lin Wei stepped into the room first.
Behind him came the elders of the Lin Clan.
Lin Hao looked at them quietly.
There were several elderly men and women standing together, all of them wearing expressions of respect.
The moment they entered, they bowed.
“Greetings, Ancestor.”
Lin Hao nodded.
“Sit.”
The elders immediately moved toward the chairs.
Then something unexpected happened.
One of the oldest elders slowly lowered himself onto a chair.
Halfway down, he suddenly stopped.
His face tightened.
“Ah…”
Lin Hao raised an eyebrow.
The elder remained frozen.
Another elder glanced at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“My knee.”
“What about it?”
“It has decided that sitting is no longer part of my destiny.”
Lin Hao stared at him.
The elder tried lowering himself again.
“Ah!”
He immediately grabbed the armrest.
Lin Hao’s mouth twitched.
Another elder sighed.
“Stop making noise.
You’re embarrassing the elders.”
The first elder glared at him.
“Easy for you to say.
Your knees haven’t betrayed you yet.”
The second elder snorted.
“They betrayed me three years ago.”
Lin Hao looked at them.
Then he looked at Lin Wei.
Lin Wei immediately lowered his head.
He clearly wanted no part in this conversation.
Lin Hao coughed lightly.
“Are all of you like this?”
The elders became silent.
One of them slowly answered.
“Ancestor…”
“Yes?”
“We are old.”
“I noticed.”
The room became silent again.
Lin Hao almost laughed.
These were the elders of his clan.
They were supposed to be the respected older generation.
Yet at this moment, they looked more like a group of old men and women arguing over whose knees had suffered the most.
Lin Hao finally shook his head.
“Forget it.”
The elders sat properly.
Or at least most of them did.
One was still rubbing his knee.
Lin Hao turned his attention to them.
“I called you here because there is something important I need to tell you.”
The elders immediately became serious.
They knew their Ancestor would not gather all of them without a reason.
Lin Hao glanced around the room.
The atmosphere changed.
The playful expression disappeared from his face.
“The Lin Clan is about to change.”
The elders exchanged glances.
Lin Hao continued.
“For generations, our family has lived as ordinary mortals.”
“That ends today.”
The elders stared at him.
One elder swallowed.
“Ancestor…
what do you mean?”
Lin Hao looked toward the younger generation who were still cultivating nearby.
“The younger generation has already begun cultivating.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Silence.
The elders froze.
“What?”
One of them thought he had heard incorrectly.
Lin Hao repeated himself.
“The younger generation has begun cultivating.”
The elders looked at one another.
Their expressions changed.
Some looked shocked.
Others looked confused.
One elder’s eyes widened.
“Impossible.”
Lin Hao looked at him.
“Why?”
The elder immediately realized his mistake.
He lowered his head.
“I…
I mean…”
Lin Hao waved his hand.
“I understand.”
For generations, the Lin Clan had tried.
Generation after generation.
Children had attempted to cultivate.
Adults had attempted.
Young men and women had attempted.
Yet nobody had succeeded.
Except Lin Hao himself.
And even he had only reached Level 1 of the Body Refining Realm when he was young.
The elders had long accepted that cultivation was simply not meant for the Lin Clan.
Now their Ancestor was telling them that the younger generation had already begun cultivating.
It was almost impossible to believe.
One of the elders quietly looked at Lin Wei.
Lin Wei noticed.
He immediately shook his head.
“Don’t look at me.”
The elder frowned.
“You are the family head.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Lin Wei looked helpless.
“I don’t know either.”
The elders became even more confused.
Lin Hao watched the exchange.
Then he smiled faintly.
“You don’t need to understand everything yet.”
The elders turned back toward him.
“What you need to understand is simple.”
Lin Hao’s voice became firm.
“The Lin Clan has been given an opportunity.”
“An opportunity to step onto a path that our ancestors could only dream of.”
The elders remained silent.
Then one of them cautiously asked,
“Ancestor…
is this related to the people behind you?”
Lin Hao’s gaze shifted.
Only now did the elders notice the man standing quietly behind him.
Lin Yaochen.
He had remained silent since the elders entered.
Yet the moment they looked at him, they felt something they couldn’t explain.
Pressure.
Not overwhelming pressure.
He wasn’t deliberately releasing his aura.
But even his presence alone made the elders uncomfortable.
One elder’s face became pale.
“Who…”
He stopped.
He didn’t know how to continue.
Lin Hao calmly introduced him.
“This is Lin Yaochen.”
Lin Yaochen stepped forward and bowed slightly.
“Greetings, elders.”
The elders hurriedly returned the gesture.
“Greetings.”
Then at Lin Yaochen.
Then back at Lin Hao.
His expression became increasingly confused.
“Ancestor…”
“Yes?”
“Where did you find this person?”
Lin Hao smiled.
“He will be assisting the Lin Clan.”
The elder nodded slowly.
That answer explained absolutely nothing.
But nobody dared to ask again.
Lin Hao almost smiled.
He could already imagine the questions running through their minds.
Who was Lin Yaochen?
Where had he come from?
Why was he so powerful?
And why had their Ancestor suddenly surrounded himself with extraordinary people?
They would get their answers eventually.
For now, there were more important matters.
Lin Hao looked toward Lin Ruyan.
She was sitting quietly.
Her expression was calm, but her eyes occasionally flickered with the enormous amount of alchemy knowledge she had just received.
Lin Hao looked back at the elders.
“Lin Ruyan will cultivate with Lin Yaochen from now on.”
The elders were surprised.
“Alchemy?”
One elder looked toward Lin Ruyan.
Lin Hao nodded.
“Yes.”
“She will follow the path of alchemy.”
The elders looked at the young girl again.
None of them could imagine what she would eventually become.
They certainly couldn’t imagine that she now possessed knowledge reaching the peak of Mortal World alchemy.
They didn’t know that the secrets of Ancient Pills and Pill Veins were already inside her mind.
They didn’t know that the knowledge of the Immortal World and Divine World was merely sealed, waiting for the day she reached those worlds.
All they knew was that their Ancestor had made a decision.
And they trusted him.
Lin Hao turned back toward them.
“For years, you have protected this family.”
The elders straightened.
“You have watched over the clan through difficult times.”
Lin Hao’s voice softened.
“You have done what you could with what you had.”
The elders looked at him silently.
“But from today onward…”
Lin Hao paused.
“The burden on your shoulders will become much lighter.”
The elders were confused.
Lin Hao looked toward the younger generation.
They were still cultivating.
Then he looked at Lin Yaochen.
Then Lin Ruyan.
Finally, his eyes returned to the elders.
“The Lin Clan will no longer remain an ordinary mortal family.”
Nobody spoke.
The words seemed to hang in the room.
Then Lin Hao smiled.
“The younger generation has already taken the first step.”
He looked directly at the elders.
“Now…”
He paused.
“It is your turn.”
The elders stared at him.
One elder swallowed nervously.
Another quietly rubbed his knee.
Then he whispered to the elder beside him,
“Do you think our knees can survive this?”
The elder looked at him.
“We’re finished.”
Lin Hao heard them.
His expression twitched.
For the first time, he wondered whether cultivating these elders was actually a good idea.
Then he smiled.
Perhaps…
It would be interesting.