Chapter 97 – Yan Yunyu's Predicament

Clearly, Mu Lin had no intention of bringing Yan Yunyu to the top.

He was no living saint—even under ordinary circumstances, he wouldn’t hand his own glory to someone else.

Not to mention that Yan Yunyu had grievances with him. He hadn’t forgotten that Chu Lingluo’s mother had arrived at the scene so quickly, all thanks to Yan Yunyu’s instigation.

Yan Yunyu was well aware of this, and she felt she could offer some explanation.

‘Even without me, Chu Lingluo’s mother would have discovered this matter, and it wouldn’t have taken much longer. After all, her mother pays close attention to her.’

Mu Lin acknowledged Yan Yunyu’s transmitted words, but he thought: ‘You’re right, but under such circumstances, you still reported me… Did it really bother you so much to see me with Chu Lingluo that you couldn’t stand it for even a moment?’

This left Yan Yunyu silent. She knew the rift between her and Mu Lin had grown deep, far beyond what a few words could mend.

Now, in front of Chu Lingluo, the two of them acted intimately, and when she and Chu Lingluo clashed, Mu Lin favored her—all for the sake of completing the task. Once the task was over, they would go their separate ways.

To be honest, Yan Yunyu didn’t care about this.

She didn’t like Mu Lin and had never entertained the idea of being with him.

The first time she was forced by Chu Lingluo’s mother to go on a date with Mu Lin (during the “catching them in the act” incident), she genuinely believed it was a humiliation, a form of retaliation from Chu Lingluo’s mother.

And in truth… that was exactly what it was.

Clearly, Chu Lingluo’s mother shared Yan Yunyu’s view. In her eyes, getting involved with Mu Lin was a stain on the reputation of a noble family’s legitimate daughter.

If she could have separated from Mu Lin before, Yan Yunyu would have laughed with joy.

But now, things were different.

After being threatened by Chu Lingluo’s mother, the subordinates she had gathered had all fled. Moreover, limited by her own talent, she had no chance of securing first place on her own.

This meant that if she wanted to claim the top spot, she had to rely on Mu Lin.

While Yan Yunyu was pondering how to ease the tension between her and Mu Lin, Mu Lin voiced the question on his mind.

“Speaking of which, Yun Yu, you seem quite fixated on being first. Can you tell me why?”

Mu Lin didn’t transmit this message privately. What he wanted wasn’t Yan Yunyu’s evasive words.

And as he expected, as soon as he asked, someone provided an answer.

Naturally, it was Chu Lingluo who replied. She had sensed the two of them secretly transmitting messages earlier.

Their private communication in front of her felt like a violation, which made Chu Lingluo look at Mu Lin with even more grievance and resentment.

Now, when Mu Lin voiced his question, she instinctively answered.

“Of course, it’s because of the cultivation method. For the Yan Family, wealth and fortune are inseparable. To master their family’s cultivation method, wealth alone isn’t enough—they also need fortune.”

“Becoming Dao Palace First is a way to gather fortune.”

Hearing this, Mu Lin nodded as if it were exactly what he had expected.

“Just as I thought.”

In truth, Mu Lin had already anticipated this.

He also possessed a Heavenly Grade cultivation method.

After the Vow-Power Heart Lamp transformed, its sky-high proficiency had taught him one thing: the power of a cultivation method is directly proportional to how difficult it is to learn.

The stronger the method, the harder it is to master.

Heavenly Grade techniques are virtually impossible to master except for true Prodigies.

Of course, a few days ago, Chu Lingluo’s mother had explained to Mu Lin some of the deep-seated foundations of the Aristocratic Families.

From her words, Mu Lin learned that many Aristocratic Families were called such because they possessed shortcuts.

Those major families could rely on their accumulated foundations to forcibly enable their direct descendants to master Heaven-Rank Techniques, guaranteeing at least the attainment of Adept status.

This was also the reason why Aristocratic Families could endure for millennia without decline.

However, even without Chu Lingluo’s mother pointing it out, Mu Lin had already noticed a problem.

The resource requirements for these shortcuts were absurdly high.

  The Yu Family nurtured Divine Positions, while the Ge Family had War Masters. As long as one occupied a Divine Position or became a War Master, they could become an Adept among Qi Refiners. Such things seemed wonderful, but there was a fatal flaw.

How many Divine Positions did the Yu Family nurture, and how many weapons did the Ge Family ritually refine?

Could the so-called Yu Family and Ge Family produce even one position per year—no, per century?

The foundations of Aristocratic Families were like limited slots: once someone occupied one, others could only wait. This was their greatest issue.

Since the Yu and Ge Families were like this, Mu Lin believed that Yan Yunyu’s Yan Family would be no exception.

“Although the Yan Family’s shortcut doesn’t require specific items—just enough wealth to ‘buy’ an Adept status—”

“Even without thinking too hard, it’s clear that the required wealth must be staggeringly high.”

“Like the Yu and Ge Families, the Yan Family likely could only ‘buy’ one Adept position every few decades or even a century. In such a scenario, who would this Adept position be given to?”

Forget about distributing resources to ‘buy’ positions for all the direct descendants in the family. Any family that tried this had vanished—just look at the Enfeoffment Decree issued by Emperor Wu of Han!

…

Connecting the information he had learned, Mu Lin smiled at Yan Yunyu.

“You want me to help you win first place to gather fortune for your cultivation?”

“Yes.”

“Is that all?”

“Only…”

Halfway through her sentence, seeing the coldness in Mu Lin’s eyes, Yan Yunyu stopped speaking.

She knew that although Mu Lin came from a humble background, he was no fool. By saying this, he must have learned something.

Confirming this, Yan Yunyu didn’t hide anything and spoke frankly: “Not just that. Winning first place won’t only help me gather the fortune of the class and the Dao Palace but also allow me to pass the first round of my family’s trial!”

Hearing this, Mu Lin said, “Just as I thought.”

…

Adept positions were exceedingly scarce, and everyone in the Aristocratic Families wanted one. In such a situation, if Mu Lin were to allocate them, he would give them to the most outstanding descendants of the family. After all, giving one to a mediocre person would make Adept their lifelong limit.

But giving one to a Prodigy would only be their starting point.

Mu Lin thought this way, and the Yan Family… thought the same.

From Yan Yunyu’s words, Mu Lin realized that Aristocratic Families had no choice but to do this.

Yan Yunyu: “The Adept realm may seem unattainable to you wandering cultivators, but for Aristocratic Families, it’s nothing remarkable.”

“If the strongest member of a family is only an Adept, they’re courting death.”

“So, this position will only be given to the one with the greatest potential in the clan.”

“A person’s potential is not limited to their Spirit Root alone; it also includes temperament, comprehension, perseverance, and even a bit of luck… Therefore, the Yan Family does not compete based on Spirit Root but rather through social simulation.”

“Only those who excel and perform outstandingly in real-life situations will have the position of the direct descendant confirmed by the family.”

“Of course, not everyone in the Yan Family is eligible to participate. Beyond potential, the family Elders have also restricted candidates to direct descendants within the family, ensuring the position of Clan Head remains within their own lineage.”

Although the Yan Family has limited the number of participants to a specific range, Mu Lin did not believe their competition would be any less intense.

After all, as a prominent family, they have vast wealth and influence, and the number of direct descendants alone is certainly in the dozens. Including those from previous generations, the number reaches hundreds or even thousands.

With so many people competing for a single position, the rivalry within the Yan Family is bound to be extremely fierce.

Once Yan Yunyu confirmed that Mu Lin could deduce most of the situation, she directly revealed that she was competing for the position of the current direct descendant—achieving first place in the Dao Palace was the first test the Yan Family had given her.

“If I pass, I will have the opportunity to proceed to the next round of assessments. If I fail, I will be directly abandoned by the family.”

At this point, Yan Yunyu’s gaze turned fierce.

“I must pass. Even if I cannot become the current direct descendant of the Yan Family, I must advance through as many stages as possible! If I am eliminated now, I will be seen as incompetent. The family’s resources allocated to me will gradually diminish, and I will be treated as a tool for marriage alliances, married off to others, or even become a concubine to an old man.”

(End of Chapter)