They left the corridor together, returning toward the inner halls. The moment they stepped back into open space, the world resumed its watching.
Servants bowed too quickly. Disciples pretended to be busy while their eyes tracked every step. Even the wind felt nosier.
Lin Tian kept his face steady. Xueya kept hers colder.
They parted at the edge of the guest courtyard. Not with a dramatic farewell—too many eyes for that.
Just a brief stop.
A shared look.
And then she was behind the wooden gate again, swallowed by the walls meant to house guests and contain rumors.
Lin Tian turned away.
His stride was measured, but the muscles in his back stayed taut.
The day hadn’t truly begun.
It had started counting down.
The patriarch summoned him before noon.
Not to a crowded hall, not to another formal "discussion." Lin Zhaotian had learned quickly that endless meetings created endless mouths.
Instead, Lin Tian was brought to a smaller chamber where incense burned light and clean, and only the family sat inside.
Patriarch Lin Zhaotian stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back. Lin Haoyang sat with arms folded, expression still stubbornly proud. Elder Mei stood near the table with her medical scrolls, eyes sharp as ever.
When Lin Tian entered, the room went quiet.
Lin Zhaotian turned and regarded him for a long breath.
Then he spoke.
"You did well today."
Lin Tian bowed. "I only did what was necessary."
"That is what ’well’ means," the patriarch replied.
Lin Haoyang snorted. "Necessary? You put an Azure Snow brat on his knee. That’s not necessary. That’s satisfying."
Elder Mei didn’t smile, but the corners of her mouth softened as if she approved despite herself.
Lin Tian exhaled quietly. "Elder Shen is not satisfied."
"No," Lin Zhaotian agreed. "She never will be. But she is constrained by what she can justify."
He gestured to the table.
"Sit."
Lin Tian obeyed.
Lin Haoyang leaned forward, eyes bright. "You’re going to the sect."
Lin Tian didn’t deny it. "If I don’t, they’ll separate us."
"And if you go, they’ll still try," Haoyang said bluntly. "So you go prepared."
Lin Zhaotian opened a small lacquered box on the table.
Inside lay three things:
A simple travel token carved from black wood, bearing the Lin crest and a faint imprint of the patriarch’s aura.
A small pouch of spirit stones—low-grade, but clean, enough to support cultivation along the road.
And a sword.
Not a treasured ancestral blade. Not something flashy.
A plain steel sword with a well-balanced hilt, the kind a real cultivator used to win fights, not show status.
Lin Tian stared at it.
Lin Haoyang grinned. "Don’t look at it like it’s going to bite. It’s yours."
Lin Zhaotian’s voice remained calm. "The token will prevent minor trouble on the road. Clan checkpoints, merchants, local guards—most will recognize it. It will not stop a sect disciple who wants to make a point."
"I understand," Lin Tian said.
Elder Mei stepped forward, placing a small bottle beside the pouch.
"Meridian stabilizing pills," she said. "Not to force breakthroughs. To prevent strain. Use them if you feel your foundation tremble."
Lin Tian looked at her. "Thank you, Elder."
Elder Mei’s gaze pinned him. "Do not thank me. Use them properly."
Lin Haoyang waved a hand. "And eat. Sleep. Train. Don’t chase that ’miracle speed’ like an addict."
Lin Tian’s fingers tightened on his knee, but he nodded. "I won’t be reckless."
Lin Zhaotian watched him closely.
"Azure Snow will test you," the patriarch said. "Not just your strength. Your temperament. Your patience. They will try to provoke you into mistakes so they can call you unworthy."
Lin Tian met his uncle’s gaze. "Then I won’t give them mistakes."
"Good," Lin Zhaotian said. "Remember this: your engagement is no longer a family promise. It is now a contest. The sect will treat it like one."
Lin Haoyang leaned back, expression hardening. "And if they try to bully her—"
Lin Zhaotian cut him off with one look. "We cannot fight Azure Snow. Not directly."
Haoyang scowled. "Then what can we do?"
"We give Tian the tools to stand," the patriarch replied. "And we keep our heads low while he builds strength high."
Lin Tian’s throat tightened. It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t fiery.
It was real.
He bowed deeply.
"I will not embarrass the Lin clan," he said.
Lin Haoyang snorted again. "Embarrass? No. Embarrass them."
Elder Mei shot him a look that could peel bark from a tree.
Lin Tian rose with the items in his hands—sword, token, pouch, pills.
When he turned to leave, Lin Zhaotian’s voice stopped him.
"Tian."
Lin Tian paused.
The patriarch’s eyes were steady.
"Trust is not proven with words," he said. "It is proven when the world squeezes you and you don’t drop what you’re holding."
Lin Tian’s grip tightened unconsciously around the sword.
"I won’t drop her," he said quietly.
Then he left.
Back in his courtyard, Lin Tian closed the door and leaned against it for a breath.
The sword sat heavy in his hands.
Not because of its weight—because of what it represented.
A path. A commitment. A fight that wasn’t just fists and qi.
He set the items on the table and sat down.
For a moment, he let his eyes close.
Then he called it.
"System."
Light unfolded behind his vision, clean and familiar.
[ Harem Link Cultivation System — Active ]
[ Status ]
Host: Lin Tian
Realm: Elementary Spirit Realm — Seventh Level
Talent: High Grade
Spirit Roots: High Grade
Physique: Pending
Bloodline: Locked
Linked Partner: Bai Xueya (1)
Harem Points: 505
He focused on the words that mattered now: Physique: Pending.
The system responded with a soft pulse.
Then a new panel unfolded.
[ Mission: Provisional Candidate ]
Objective 1: Reach Elementary Spirit Realm — Ninth Level (Stabilized) before sect gates.
Objective 2: Maintain Partner Stability (Yin Balance: Stable).
Restriction: Excessive forced assimilation from Shared Reservoir will reduce "Foundation Stability" rating.
Reward: Physique Unlock (Pending) + Technique Imprint Slot (1).
Timer: 3 Days.
Lin Tian stared.
A simple mission. Clean. Webnovel straightforward.
Win conditions. Reward.
But the restriction mattered more than the reward.
The system wasn’t encouraging him to gulp down the reservoir.
It was warning him that doing so would make him look unstable—exactly what the sect wanted to claim.
Lin Tian exhaled slowly.
"Fine," he murmured. "We do it the hard way."
End of Chapter 35