Chapter 42: The Successor of the Clan Head

  "Little brother-in-law, you're really amazing. You're the super master in Ying'er's heart!? Little Ying left her father's arms and ran quickly to welcome Lin Hou with her little legs."

  Lin stretched out his arms and scooped her up like a little bird, giving her a big kiss on the cheek. "Now that I've become a warrior, I'll be able to go hunting in the mountains and buy you lots and lots of chicken legs to eat, making you into Little Fatty Sister!"

  "Xiao Shu is the best to Ying'er, but in addition to chicken legs, I also want fragrant roasted sweet potatoes." Ying'er was not afraid of "Little Fatty's" threat at all. She rolled her big eyes and thought of the sweet potatoes that Lin Hang had roasted half a month ago. She couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva and coquettishly said.

  "Lin Hong, congratulations on finally breaking through yourself and entering the ranks of martial artists." Zhou Ze gave him a punch in the chest, delightedly.

  Lin Heng lowered his head, and his gaze shifted to the excited mother. He walked slowly towards her. Since then, he had almost forgotten his identity in his previous life, and he wholeheartedly felt the maternal love of this woman in front of him.

  "Mother, I've succeeded! My son hasn't let me down and has finally become a warrior!"

  She lovingly gazed at Lin Huan's slightly thinner face, stretched out her trembling hands to gently stroke his hair, choked back tears for a moment, before saying: "From today on, Huan'er, you can officially take on the family's responsibilities. Your father has worked hard to support the family for most of his life, and he's been waiting for this day. Now that you're grown up, you must share his heavy burdens properly."

  "Hmm." Lin Hong gave a slight hug to his mother, who was two heads shorter than him but was the greatest person in his life.

  In a moment, he came before his father who had been keeping a tight rein on himself and pretending to be calm, knelt down respectfully and knocked his head three times.

  "Dad, I've grown up now. From now on, the heavy responsibilities of our family will be handed over to me. You've worked hard for half your life, it's time to rest and enjoy your later years."

  Lin Yao finally couldn't hold back his emotions, and two lines of turbid tears rolled down, nor did he help him up.

  After he finished knocking his head seriously, he said: "From now on, the Lin family will rely on you. Remember, no matter where or when, keeping your life is the first priority. Second, no matter what, we can't lose face for the Lin family! From today on, you represent not just one person, but the entire Lin family."

  He is already over fifty, after decades of struggling and floating, he is indeed exhausted. If Lin Huan hadn't been unable to support the family business, he wouldn't have had to hold on until now. Now that Lin Huan has become a warrior, it's time to put down the burden and hand over the responsibility of the Lin family to Lin Huan.

  "Haha. Lin Yao, congratulations. The Lin family having a genius like Lin Heng is really enviable to others." The clan leader of Qili Gou, Huo Tianzhao, walked over from not far away. He smiled and said: "However, I don't like hearing you say that. Lin Heng doesn't just represent himself or the Lin family. His first responsibility is to represent us, the people of Qili Gou!"

  "Clan leader." Lin Heng's family members greeted the clan leader as he approached.

  They didn't see Lin Huan's performance in "Proof Space", and for a moment they didn't quite understand what Huo Tianzhao meant.

  "You have a son like Lin Huan who is so talented, I am proud of you. In the past, our village did not understand Lin well and had many wrong ideas about him. On their behalf, I apologize to you and Lin Huan himself." After finishing speaking, Huo Tian made a sincere bow to Lin Yao.

  Lin Heng's father was startled and quickly stepped forward to support him, saying: "Head of the clan, let's talk this over. You hold an important position, don't be too hard on Lin Yao."

  "For nearly a thousand years, our ancestors have been drinking from the same well in Seven Li Gou, and we are connected by blood. In ordinary times, it's normal for people to collide with each other, but when faced with major benefits for the village, everyone can work together for the greater good. In the past, everyone had a natural attitude towards Lin Heng that was not right, you should also be more open-minded and not hold grudges. With a genius like Lin Heng, Seven Li Gou is in need of talent, so we must make great use of him, your selfishness is not appropriate."

  He spoke more and more fluently, but not only the others, even Lin Huan was more and more bewildered.

  Tribe leader, what does this mean? Is it reverse ridicule? Reasonably speaking, Lin's proof of success is not bad, but it can't be said to be a genius at all! A test-taker who barely succeeded in the last moment of the sixth time is absolutely not a gifted person.

  "Alas, you've all seen it. This year's Dragon Festival has brought out talents from other villages, while our Qi Li Gou village is lacking in talent and has nothing to show for itself. If Lin Heng hadn't appeared at the last minute and given those old ghosts a good slap on the face, our Qi Li Gou village would have lost all face! A rare talent like Lin Heng is someone that Qi Li Gou will spare no expense to cultivate. And as for Lin Heng, you must also be prepared to sacrifice your personal interests for the sake of the village at any time. I'm giving you advance notice: after discussing it with several elder clan members, we've made a decision - Lin Heng will become the next leader of Qi Li Gou village, and my successor!"

  "The successor of the clan head!" Lin Yao and his family were suddenly shocked, and Lin Heng was also the same.

  Although they rarely intervene in village management, they also know that the chief is a matter of great importance. To know that taking on the role of chief means leading the village and other villages, as well as some external forces, to contend with each other, from the rise and fall of the entire village to the warmth and hunger of every villager. Therefore, the selection of the chief's successor is always cautious and severe, after layers of screening. And those who can be confirmed are all incredibly capable, the elite among the elite.

  Suddenly, Hao Tianzhao said that the Qili Gou decided to choose Lin Heng as the successor of the tribe! The first thought was that the other party was joking, and the second was that the other party had misspoken.

  They widened their eyes and saw that the other side was neither joking nor speaking incorrectly. "Boom", in an instant, their minds went blank.

  The position of the clan head is high and powerful, controlling all the financial resources of the village and holding the power of life and death over the villagers. His authority is not to be trifled with. Usually when villagers see him, they are very respectful and courteous, bowing their heads in greeting. His status is revered. —— Lin Yaoyong would never dare to think about it even if he had a bigger temper.

  "Should a village cultivate successors for its clan leaders?" Lin Yao was shocked and his first instinct was that there must be underlying problems.

  Lin Hengyi was confirmed, and the clan leader said that he would cultivate Lin Heng into "the next clan leader". What happened? At this moment, he subconsciously speculated about Huo Tianzhao's motives with conspiracy theories. Zhou Ze also felt that something was strange, so he didn't guess and asked directly: "Clan leader, Lin Heng failed five times before confirming successfully, what kind of innate talent is that? Is it a bit childish for the village to make him the next clan leader?"

  Huo Tian's gaze was sharp, and he saw through their thoughts. He smiled and said: "You can rest assured, this time the 'Wu Zhe Yin Zheng' has been a great success for Lin Heng, and it has brought back a lot of face for Qi Li Gou. Didn't you see that the other clan leaders were all gloomy-faced, as if someone owed them money? They were watching from the observation room, witnessing Lin Heng's stunning performance with their own eyes. Seeing our Qi Li Gou produce a once-in-a-century genius like Lin Heng, they felt suffocated. Haha...

  He thought of several other brilliant expressions that he had admired extremely at the time but later became disappointed, and couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

  "Lin Hang, you go talk to your parents first. Then hurry up and report for the collective bath. You can't be late, now that you're the treasure of Qili Gou, the most important one, can't afford to lose."

  Watching Huo Tian Zhaoyi leave with a smile, Lin Huan and his family seemed to be living in a dream-like state.

  Even Lin Heng was the same, after confirming his success, Huo Tianzhao congratulated him in the first place, but didn't say a few words, so he didn't know the details. Now hearing that the village has decided to become the successor of the tribe's leader, this treatment is vastly different from the previous one where everyone didn't bother with the "super waste".

  He soon figured out the reason for the sudden change in attitude of the villagers: it must be that he had exposed his true strength when he merged those two lightning bolts. Given his current cultivation level, it was not unexpected that these clan elders would take a liking to him. Without mentioning other benefits, just being able to obtain large amounts of resources to cultivate with would definitely help him reach the second rank sooner.

  As soon as he thought of this, his heart naturally felt relieved. Since that day when he punched Wenwen and sent her flying back, he had grown fond of this strong and overbearing feeling, choosing to take the path of martial arts. The position of clan leader held immense power, controlling various interests, with a large batch of rare medicinal pellets as assistance, and top-grade martial skills; just thinking about these things made his blood rush to his head. All other benefits were nothing but floating clouds to him, only this one thing weighed on his mind.

  He had long set a clear goal for his future: to constantly grow stronger on the path of martial arts, to continuously strive forward, and to pursue transcendence in the way of martial arts.

  "Little brother, you're going to be the successor of the clan leader, you're going to be the next clan leader!" Lin Qingrong was the first to jump up in surprise and excitement: "I said my little brother is a genius, not someone ordinary. It turns out I knew it before it happened, little brother, you're really too amazing, from now on sister can finally brag to others, I have a little brother who's going to be the clan leader!"

  Xiao Ying was naive and ignorant, but the prestige of being a clan leader had rubbed off on her. She understood that Lin Hong wanted to be an official, so she also clapped her hands in excitement: "Oh, Uncle Xiao is going to be the clan leader! I'll get to eat big chicken legs from now on!"

  The evening sun was shining brightly, and Lin Yao's eyes were filled with a mix of emotions as he looked at his son.

  "Our Lin family has finally produced a talented successor. The heir to the Seven Mile Gully tribe, how many people have dreamed of this! This is enough to make our ancestors proud." He thought about his own mediocre life, and in the end, he was just a humble hunter, while his son quickly surpassed him. This kind of pride that comes from seeing one's child excel, added to the deep sense of pride in his heart.

  "From now on, one thing is finally proven: My Lin family has never been useless!"

  Lin Heng's performance this time has not only thoroughly eliminated the title of "super waste" for several years, but also demonstrated his strength, held his head high and earned noble respect.

  "Qing Xiang, stop jumping around. The family head just said something, and it's not settled yet. If you shout like this, others will think that the Lin family is arrogant and frivolous!" He was excited in his heart, but he scolded his daughter aloud.