Gongyi Zhuoyue wasn’t a short-sighted individual. The reason why he didn’t think of many things was only because the area he resided in was too narrow and confined, and because the amount of information was too lacking. Now that he heard what Gongyi Tianheng said, he naturally understood everything. He was also able to make out the deeper meanings within.
Shortly thereafter, he couldn’t help pacing back and forth several times inside the chamber. His footsteps were somewhat disorderly, and one could tell that his state of mind was relatively complicated.
But soon, Gongyi Zhuoyue slapped his desk: “This is a huge opportunity for my Gongyi Clan! We certainly can’t miss it!”
Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “This grandson thinks so, too. If a person who practices martial arts achieves something, it will depend on how much they strive for it. The Cangyun Empire is too small. All of the Peripheral Continents are too small. The future of the Gongyi Clan cannot be limited by this narrow stretch of land.”
Gongyi Zhuoyue took several deep breaths, and sat down facing Tianheng: “If it’s like this, there are many things that need to be taken care of.” He looked firmly at his family’s heroic and flourishing grandson, and said, “Tianheng, if you have any suggestions, you can just say them directly.”
Having heard what was said, Tianheng paused: “Grandfather, shouldn’t we also find father to discuss things together?”
Gongyi Zhuoyue waved a hand: “There’s no need. You and I can talk about the rules first. As for the details, it won’t be too late for this old man to find your father. Now that it’s deep into the night, your father has already fallen asleep long ago. If I summon him, it will inevitably disturb your mother and alarm the others. The more people there are, the more mouths that talk. Before the results are out, it would be for the best that we keep it a secret as much as possible.”
It went without saying that Tianheng also considered things this way, which was why he first explained his own situation to his grandfather who was the most farsighted in the entire clan.
At this time, he pondered slightly, and said: “Grandfather already knows that this grandson wants to take away his close relatives in advance to avoid being threatened by others in the future. Among these relatives, it’ll naturally include grandfather, my parents and siblings, and those who share an extremely close blood relation to me. In addition, for the Gongyi Clan to take root on the Central Continent, I need to bring along many of the Gongyi Clan’s outstanding younger generations.
“Among the descendants, those who are over thirty years old aren’t needed — Although this grandson can bring over all the clan members, if their aptitudes aren’t good enough, it will only scatter and divert resources. On the contrary, we won’t be able to nurture true powerhouses of the Gongyi Clan.”
Gongyi Zhuoyue nodded: “What Tianheng says is reasonable.”
Moreover, the important point was that he knew that his family’s grandson had raised many adherents. The strength of those people far surpassed that of his Gongyi Clan’s children. If the Gongyi Clan’s children couldn’t make enough contributions, but received the same or even more resources, it probably wouldn’t be justifiable to the other adherents. It also wouldn’t be easy to handle the interpersonal relationships.
Of course, if his grandson’s forces were already extremely large, there was nothing wrong with nurturing his own clan members. Funneling some resources wouldn’t negatively affect the situation at large, and outsiders wouldn’t raise any objections. However, Tianheng’s current forces were at the initial stages of development, and resources weren’t abundant enough to squander extravagantly. One had to prioritize the nurturing of those with large contributions. Otherwise, it would leave the other adherents with cold and disillusioned hearts.
What’s more, there was another reason — Their Gongyi Clan had produced such an outstanding younger generation like his grandson with great difficulty. Clan members like them absolutely couldn’t be allowed to drag him down and obstruct his grandson’s meteoric rise!
Besides, clan members were dragged down by having families to feed. Young people might want to improve themselves and make their way in the world, but there were also the old, weak, sick, and disabled. After being brought to the Central Continent, life wasn’t necessarily going to be as smooth and unhindered as it was on the Peripheral Continents. Their branch was of the direct line of descent, and they were always in charge of the Gongyi Clan. However, this didn’t mean that the cadet branches could obtain the favor of the main branches for free without any contributions.
Even if it were the main branches, it was impossible to bring everyone over. Likewise, only the outstanding children would be selected.
Tianheng was the young master of an aristocratic family. Since childhood, the nurturing he received was different from that of ordinary people. It was only natural that he kept the clan in mind, but apart from his close relatives, what he focused on wasn’t the meticulous care of every clan member and the prevention of any loss. On the contrary, it was to the overall interests of the clan &#k2014; Just like that time when he was incapable of practicing martial arts, he had to rely on other methods to seek benefits for the clan in order to maintain his own status.
As a result, after pondering for a while, he continued: “According to this grandson, after a discussion with grandfather and father, we should first carry out an ancestral order. We’ll summon all members of the main branches and cadet branches, and call for each group to bring any children under the age of thirty to the imperial capital. Then, this grandson will test their innate talents, select those who can be nurtured among them, and bring them away…
“Due to the limitations of this grandson’s spirit weapon, the chosen younger generations can’t exceed three hundred people. However, within the scope of available choices, it’s best to have at least one or two children from each branch.”
Tianheng came from the lineage of the clan head, and wielded the ancestral order. And the lineage of the clan head was also the first branch of the direct line of descent — Nowadays, there weren’t many people remaining in this branch. There were only seven people: Gongyi Zhuoyue, Gongyi Yan and his wife, as well as Tianheng and his three siblings, Tianyang, Mingxia, and Tianteng. It could be said that the leaves of this small family had withered. But now that Tianheng had appeared, one man was able to surpass tens of thousands of people.
Of course, if the clan wanted to grow and develop, each branch needed to be treated equally. For matters such as these, worries of unequal distribution only occurred during scarcity. The cadet branches numbered fifty-two, and the direct line of descent contained twelve branches. Thus, there was a total of sixty-four branches. Except for the first branch, the other sixty-three branches had to pass tests to determine their quotas. In other words, to keep the direct line’s position stable, each branch of the direct line would be allocated only a few more places at most.
This could increase the clan’s cohesiveness, and wouldn’t cause the younger generations to be at odds with the clan itself.
Gongyi Zhuoyue nodded his head: “Tianheng, if you have any other ideas, just say it.”
Tianheng plainly said: “Once everyone is present, we need to properly arrange the remaining clan members after the selection. Since this grandson is going to pick up Tianyang and the others, I can also negotiate some deals with Qingyun Sect and give back some benefits.”
Speaking of which, Tianheng naturally owed his upbringing to the Gongyi Clan, but when he was in Qingyun Sect, the sect didn’t especially treat him preferentially. Most of the benefits Tianheng obtained in Qingyun Sect were acquired through the exchange of his own contributions. It was only natural that there wasn’t any sense of belonging to Qingyun Sect — The sect he first developed a sense of belonging to was the present Ten Ultimates Sect.
However, it also couldn’t be said that Tianheng completely lacked any affection for Qingyun Sect. After all, there were many opportunities that were only opened to him once he came to Qingyun Sect. Otherwise, it would’ve been hard to come into contact with them. Naturally, he wouldn’t have been able to obtain them… This kind of favor couldn’t be left unpaid.
Gongyi Zhuoyue paused. His face suddenly revealed a smiling expression: “What Tianheng means is to ask Qingyun Sect to take care of the other clan members?”
Tianheng nodded: “Grandfather, it will always be better to make arrangements for the clan so that they will be willing. This grandson has prepared many types of places for them to choose from.”
Soon after, Tianheng spoke a few more words. Upon hearing this, Gongyi Zhuoyue nodded repeatedly.
Finally, he gave a forthright smile: “Tianheng’s ideas are very much in line with this old man’s intentions.”
The grandfather and grandson discussed in this way the entire night. On the side, Gu Zuo kept listening. He was no longer as confused or bewildered as he was in the beginning. The longer he spent with Tianheng, the more he understood Tianheng’s way of thinking. Up until now, there had been many times when he didn’t specially need an explanation. He was able to keep up just by listening. It was just that, once in a while, there were some excessively-deep conspiracies and machinations that didn’t pique his interests.
Once Gu Zuo finished listening, he definitely understood everything clearly. He wouldn’t hold back his family’s big brother, nor would he dwell on the matter.
Unwittingly, it was already the early morning hours.
Gu Zuo’s psychic power had been enveloping the hidden chamber all the while. At this time, it was only natural that he sensed that the majority of the Gongyi Clan’s people had already woken up from their slumber. There were also some martial artists training through the night who finished their work to rest. They intended to eat, and replenish the energy they used up after such long hours.
Seeing that the two were still in the middle of discussing things, Gu Zuo called for their attention: “Big brother, venerable clan head. Someone is coming.”
Even if Gongyi Zhuoyue’s true qi was vigorous and exuberant, he still had to eat large quantities of wild beast meat essence every now and again. Otherwise, his constitution wouldn’t be able to keep up. And today, this was the time when someone delivered his food. As for that delivery person, they weren’t far from this place.
Gongyi Zhuoyue and Tianheng closed their mouths.
Tianheng perceived something: “It appears that there’s someone else?”
Gu Zuo nodded his head: “The madam of the clan head is also coming.”
Tianheng couldn’t help but startle.
Wasn’t the madam of the current clan head his own mother?
Only, why did his mother suddenly come here?
Gu Zuo carefully “looked over”, and replied: “The madam is accompanying the food-delivery person. It seems she personally prepared the food…”
Tianheng was silent.
This was even stranger.
Gongyi Zhuoyue was also somewhat surprised: “Although my daughter-in-law has done this in the past, she usually comes with Yan’er. Coming here by herself like this hasn’t happened before.”
Immediately following this, he twirled his mustache, and smiled: “But since my daughter-in-law is here, that son of mine will certainly arrive soon. They’re just in time to meet my grandson.”
Gu Zuo was a little surprised, but he felt nervous even more.
Previously, he didn’t think about it when he met the old clan head, but now… Big brother’s parents were his own adoptive father and mother in name. Originally, they had nothing to do with him, but he had “abducted” their son. T-this made him feel like he didn’t have the face to meet them.
Although it was said that in the world of martial artists, the higher one’s strength, the less constrained they would be, and that no one could force them to “carry on one’s ancestral line”, the general point of view was that cut-sleeves were still an alternative lifestyle. It was reasoned that powerful martial artists were more likely to sire offspring with excellent aptitudes.
Big brother’s constitution was so special. In the future, he was certainly going to be incomparably powerful. But with Gu Zuo around, there were no other possibilities of having children.
At this moment, Gu Zuo suddenly thought of the stone ovum in the Divine Medicine Palace Hall.
Whenever a period of time passed, he and big brother had to water it with their blood. And what came from the stone ovum were feelings of closeness with the two of them — If the child of him and big brother could be conceived from that stone ovum, how great would that be?
But after giving it a second thought, Gu Zuo felt somewhat bitter again.
How could such a thing happen?
He and big brother were bound to leave those close relatives aggrieved and broken-hearted.
Just when Gu Zuo was sinking into this kind of mood, the people were getting closer and closer. The voice of a sweet-tempered and gentle woman echoed from outside: “Father, Suyan is here to deliver your food.”
Gongyi Zhuoyue patted Tianheng’s shoulder. After that, he spoke out loud: “Suyan, put the things in the courtyard. Then, have everyone else leave!”
Sure enough, once the beautiful woman outside took care of everything, she dismissed any bystanders. And when she turned around, she was stunned.
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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