Chapter 193: Bow down, for that is all you amount to.

Chapter 193: 193: Bow down, for that is all you amount to.

One by one, the elders slowly raised their hands.

Some did so reluctantly.

Others lowered their gazes, unable to meet Lin Xuan’s eyes.

Even those who supported the decision could not completely hide the shame on their faces.

However, the hands continued to rise.

One.

Then another.

Then several more.

As the number increased, Lin Qiaoren’s smile grew wider.

Wei Rong’s expression also became increasingly pleased.

But compared to the royal elder, Lin Qiaoren was far more excited.

A week ago, Elder Qian and Elder Wei had approached him privately.

At the time, Lin Qiaoren had been surprised that two elders from the royal family would personally seek him out.

He was only a Second Elder of the Lin Family, a relatively small family compared to the royal family.

Yet they had offered him something he could hardly refuse.

*The royal family wishes to support the Lin Family.*

*But for that to happen, the current Patriarch, Lin Xuan, must step down.*

That had been the condition Elder Qian had given him.

At first, Lin Qiaoren had been somewhat hesitant.

But the more he thought about it, the more attractive the offer became.

With the royal family supporting the Lin Family, the position of Second Elder would naturally become far more important.

And today, that condition was finally being fulfilled.

All he needed was for Lin Xuan to step down quietly.

Of course, Lin Qiaoren had also prepared for the possibility that the Patriarch would refuse.

Wei Rong was here for precisely that reason.

After all, had the royal envoy not defeated Lin Xuan in a fair one-on-one duel in front of the Blue Whale People?

If Lin Xuan chose to resist, Wei Rong would deal with him personally.

And if the Patriarch decided to fight desperately for his position, Lin Qiaoren had nothing to fear.

He would simply stand behind Wei Rong and watch.

It was not his life that would be at risk.

Lin Xuan’s gaze slowly swept across the hall.

More than half of the elders had already raised their hands.

He remained silent for several breaths before letting out a low sigh.

"Do I need to start replacing the Elder positions with mortals as well?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the hall exploded.

The elders who had remained silent moments earlier immediately began shouting.

Some slammed their hands against the tables while others angrily pointed toward Lin Xuan.

"How dare you!"

"Patriarch, watch your words!"

"Are you insulting all of us?"

"You really think mortals are capable of replacing us?"

"After everything we have done for this family, is this how you treat us?"

Lin Xuan looked at the furious elders without showing the slightest change in expression.

"Do I think that?"

He paused briefly.

"Yes. And I do believe mortals are capable of making proper judgments."

The hall fell slightly quieter.

Lin Xuan’s gaze moved from one elder to another, deliberately meeting the eyes of everyone who had raised their hands.

"You came before me and complained that I favored outsiders."

His voice remained calm.

"But Elder Su Qinglan was someone bound to my mother. Over the years, she became my aunt. Does a different surname suddenly make her any less of a member of this family?"

Several elders lowered their gazes.

Lin Xuan continued walking slowly through the crowd.

"She spent forty years looking after the Lin Family treasury."

His footsteps echoed through the hall.

"For forty years, she made sure that the members of this family had enough resources to cultivate and enough food to survive."

He stopped for a moment.

"Have you forgotten the famine that once struck Azure Willow City?"

The elders remained silent.

"How many members of our Lin Family died during that famine?"

Lin Xuan’s gaze hardened.

"None."

The single word reverberated through the hall.

"She had the foresight to prepare for a disaster that none of you had even considered. Because of her preparations, not a single member of our family starved to death."

He slowly turned toward the elders who had raised their hands.

"And yet, after everything she has done, you still look at her as though she were an outsider."

Lin Xuan’s expression gradually became colder.

"Meanwhile, the person standing here representing the royal family..."

His gaze shifted toward Wei Rong.

Lin Xuan held his eyes for several breaths before asking,"What has he ever done for the Lin Family?"

Lin Qiaoren’s expression remained calm despite Lin Xuan’s words.

He had expected the Patriarch to resist.

What he had not expected was for Lin Xuan to turn the discussion toward the contributions of the elders themselves.

Still, Lin Qiaoren quickly regained his composure.

"Patriarch, you have made several good points."

He stepped forward from among the elders.

"But I believe you are deliberately avoiding the real issue."

Lin Xuan looked at him.

Qiaoren clasped his hands behind his back and swept his gaze across the surrounding elders.

"The problem is that you have begun placing your personal trust above the established structure of the Lin Family."

Several elders nodded.

Qiaoren continued.

"You appointed Elder Qinglan’s chosen mortal to oversee the treasury while she entered seclusion."

His eyes settled on Lin Xuan.

"A mortal."

His tone remained measured, but his words carried weight.

"You may believe that ability is more important than cultivation, Patriarch. Perhaps you are even correct in certain circumstances. But this is a cultivation family."

He pointed toward the elders.

"These people have spent decades cultivating and protecting the Lin Family. They have fought enemies, guarded our territory, and risked their lives for this clan."

His voice grew firmer.

"And yet, when they questioned a decision that directly affected the family’s internal structure, your daughter used her Golden Core cultivation to suppress them."

Qiaoren paused.

"You did not correct her."

Instead, you crippled every one of them.

The words were left unsaid, but the meaning was obvious.

"You claim that the crime of disobedience is death, yet you also claim that you value the loyalty these people have shown over the decades."

Qiaoren shook his head.

"Then why is disagreement with you suddenly considered disobedience?"

The surrounding elders became quiet.

Qiaoren had deliberately chosen his words carefully.

He was not attacking Lin Xuan’s strength, he was attacking his authority. His ability to command.

"You ask what Elder Wei has done for the Lin Family."

Qiaoren glanced toward Wei Rong.

"Perhaps Elder Wei has not personally contributed anything to our treasury. Perhaps he has never defended our city. But that is not the responsibility of a royal envoy."

He turned back toward Lin Xuan.

"The royal family represents something far greater than one individual. The royal family represents protection, resources, connections, and stability."

His expression became solemn.

"Our family has only recently risen to Rank Eight. Do you truly believe we can afford to turn our backs on the royal family simply because you dislike the manner in which Elder Wei has conducted himself?"

A few elders nodded in agreement.

Qiaoren took another step forward.

"You have repeatedly spoken of building the Lin Family into something greater. Then you should understand better than anyone that a Patriarch cannot govern according to personal feelings alone."

He gestured toward the hall.

"A clan is not one person. It is every elder, every cultivator, every mortal, and every family member beneath this roof."

His gaze hardened.

"And when more than half of the Elder Council has declared that they have lost confidence in your leadership, perhaps the problem is no longer with the council."

The hall became completely silent.

Qiaoren looked directly into Lin Xuan’s eyes.

"Perhaps the problem is with the Patriarch himself."

Wei Rong’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Qiaoren had successfully returned the burden of the argument to Lin Xuan.

Now all that remained was to see how the Patriarch would answer.

Lin Xuan remained silent for several moments staring across the hall at the elders who had raised their hands.

Half of the council had already sided against him.

But he was already under the impression these elders were fools, or someone had given them a reason to make such a decision.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Xuan would not have been so quick to reach that conclusion.

He was not a god, he was human, and humans made mistakes. That was why the elders were there, to point out his mistakes.

But the situation before him was simply too obvious.

In the entire history of the Lin Family, there had never been a Patriarch who was not a member of the Lin Family itself.

Yet these elders had somehow decided that a royal outsider should replace their own Patriarch.

Still, regardless of what they believed, there was one thing Lin Xuan understood clearly.

At the end of the day, cultivators worshipped two things above all else.

Strength and wealth.

Wealth could mean different things to different people.

For some, it was spirit stones.

For others, it was territory, resources, treasures, influence, or even the people they had gathered around themselves.

But wealth was ultimately meaningless without the strength to protect it.

Lin Xuan slowly raised his head and stared ahead, then his Nascent Soul aura erupted.

BOOM!

An overwhelming pressure descended upon the entire meeting hall.

The expressions of everyone present changed drastically.

Wei Rong’s pupils contracted.

Lin Qiaoren’s face instantly turned pale.

The elders who had been standing confidently moments ago were suddenly forced to suppress the trembling in their bodies.

Lin Xuan did not even look at Wei Rong.

His gaze remained fixed upon the Elder Council.

Then, in a calm voice, he began reciting one of the oldest rules of the Lin Family.

"Colluding with outsiders under the name of the family for personal gain results in immediate execution."

His voice echoed throughout the silent hall.

Lin Xuan’s eyes gradually became cold.

"Now I’ll begin using soul search, refusal will result in death."