Chapter 172 - 21: The Truth

Chapter 172: Chapter 21: The Truth

Hearing Brother Hai’s explanation and looking at the ancestral hall before him, the image of Madam Lin surfaced in Lin Yan’s mind.

’Madam Lin often spoke of paying respects to the Lin Family ancestors.’

Clearly, he had now truly caught the attention of the Third Branch’s main family, and the very first thing Brother Hai did was bring him to pay respects to the ancestors.

’It seems this is the culture of the entire Lin Family, or on a larger scale, of all of Shandong Dao.’

Ancestor worship was paramount; it was the highest priority.

Lin Yan could understand, however. Worshipping ancestors in the solemnity of the ancestral hall fostered a sense of belonging among the clan members. At the same time, listening to the elders recount the glorious deeds of their forebears could inspire a sense of family honor.

For a great family, ancestor worship was an indispensable ritual.

"Before we go in, I need to ask you something, and you must answer truthfully."

Seeing Brother Hai’s grave expression, Lin Yan grew serious as well. ’Surely he doesn’t doubt my identity, does he?’

’I am indeed from the same clan as Madam Lin’s husband. Our lineage can be traced back to a common ancestor, and we share the same roots as the Qing State Lin Family.’

"Ever since you arrived at the Lin Mansion, why have you been hiding your strength?"

Lin Minghai’s gaze was sharp as he stared at Lin Yan. "Logically, clansmen like you from the branch families should display your strength and talent as much as possible. That’s the only way to be valued by the main family of a branch and be nurtured with more Martial Arts Resources."

Faced with Brother Hai’s question, Lin Yan gave a wry smile. "Brother Hai, to be honest, before I came, I discussed something with my master at the Martial Arts Hall: why would the main family summon us branch clansmen at a time like this?"

"You hid your strength just because of that?"

Lin Minghai hadn’t expected such an answer, but he quickly put the pieces together.

"Were you worried that the main family was summoning you because they were short on manpower for their struggles with the other three great families of Qing State Prefecture? That they were recruiting you just to be cannon fodder?"

"I wouldn’t go that far."

Lin Yan shook his head. "It was mainly that I felt uneasy before I understood the full picture. Plus, after I arrived at the mansion, I learned about the bad blood with the Fourth Branch and didn’t want to stand out too much."

"You’re a cautious one, kid."

Now that he understood why Lin Yan had been hiding his strength, the last trace of suspicion Lin Minghai held toward him vanished.

"Summoning branch clansmen like you is a long-standing tradition in our Lin Family. Do you have any idea how long our Qing State Lin Family has been around?"

"A thousand years?"

"As of today, two thousand four hundred and sixty years. In all of Qing State Prefecture, no family can compare to our Lin Family when it comes to the length of our heritage. Even the Profound Celestial Sect, the overlord of your Deng State Prefecture, has only been around for a little over a thousand years."

A look of pride filled Lin Minghai’s face, and Lin Yan could understand. A family that could endure for over two thousand years certainly had something to be proud of.

"Do you know how our Lin Family has managed to endure for more than two thousand years without falling?"

"I don’t know."

Lin Yan shook his head, though he had a guess. ’Brother Hai wouldn’t bring this up for no reason,’ he thought. ’But there’s no need to appear overly clever. I should let him enjoy his moment of being the wise teacher.’

"It’s because of two rules established by our Lin Family’s ancestors. The first is the division into five branches. With this division... there’s internal competition within the clan. The younger generation, whether for their own sake or to uphold the honor of their branch, must strive hard in their Cultivation."

Lin Yan nodded in understanding, waiting for Brother Hai to continue.

"Second: every hundred years, a group of clansmen is sent out to establish new lines. And every two to three hundred years, we summon the branch clansmen back."

Lin Minghai was quite pleased with Lin Yan’s look of earnest curiosity. It stroked his ego and his love for teaching. He went on, "Generally speaking, a family’s golden age is shorter than a Sect’s. That’s because a Sect can constantly recruit talented geniuses from all over, while a family can only nurture its own kin. Our ancestors saw this clearly, which is why they established such a rule. By sending clansmen out to form branches and then, after a long time, summoning them back, the process is effectively the same as a Sect recruiting disciples."

"Our ancestors were truly farsighted."

Hearing this explanation, it all clicked for Lin Yan.

’The Lin Family’s ancestors really did have incredible foresight. The inherent limitation of a family is that its new blood can only come from within. That could never compete with a Sect recruiting talented disciples from an entire region.’

’However, this strategy of creating branches neatly solved that problem.’

"It’s not even that simple." Seeing Lin Yan’s shocked expression, Lin Minghai chuckled. "The number of geniuses that can emerge from a single region, or even a single family, is limited. Often, the birth of one great talent will absorb all the fortune of that place—or that family—for a hundred years. By scattering you all across the land, that problem is avoided. Of course, this concept of ’fortune’ is all a bit abstract and has never been proven."

"But at the very least, thanks to these two clan rules our ancestors established, our Lin Family has stood strong in Qing State for over two thousand years. The other three families, who claim to be our equals? Not one of them is more than five hundred years old. In another century or two, when they suffer a decline between generations, they’ll just be replaced by some new family."

"Our ancestors were brilliant."

Lin Yan offered another piece of flattery.

"In any case, don’t overthink it. If you remain with the main family, your children will be named according to the clan’s generational conventions, and you’ll be considered part of the Third Branch’s core line. I’ll tell you something else, too. Every time the clan summons the branches, the members who get to stay aren’t necessarily the strongest. But among their descendants, there are always a few who rise to prominence."

This time, however, Lin Yan fell silent. Listening to Brother Hai’s words, he couldn’t help but feel that the Lin Family’s ancestor wasn’t a master of Martial Arts, but something more like a Demon Cultivator.