Frenzied, Zhang Xuan turned to Luo Ruoxin amid the crowd, only to see her directing an indifferent, brilliant smile at him. It was almost as if she was saying, "This is something that you stirred up, so solve it by yourself. You reap what you sow."Zhang Xuan immediately realized that she could not be relied on to get him out of this mess, so he could only face Luo Ganzhen and the other elders alone.
"I can understand your feelings, but… I"m too used to living a carefree life. I"m afraid that I"m really not suited to being a clan head!"
"Brother Tianya, if that"s your concern, there"s really nothing to worry about. You can leave the miscellaneous matters to First Elder Luo Qingchen and me. All you have to do is help rally our Luo Clan together in times of need or during crucial moments. You can still spend the rest of your time traveling freely around the world or go into seclusion if you like!" Luo Ganzhen hurriedly said.
The rejection from the Zhang Clan had cost the Luo Clan its prestige and honor. At a time like this, they needed a strong leader to convince their followers that the Luo Clan had not fallen yet!
Given how Luo Tianya had managed to subdue even the experts from the Hundred Schools of Philosophers, if he could become the head of the Luo Clan, they would be able to rebuild the Luo Clan"s reputation and let the whole world know that they were not a force to be trifled with!
At the same time, they would also show the world that those of the Zhang Clan were fools for turning their backs on them!
"I…" Seeing that it was impossible for him to turn down this matter, Zhang Xuan could only resort to his trump card. "Even though my surname is Luo, I am only a very distant relative of the Luo Clan. My Luo Clan bloodline is so thin that it might not even be detectable at all. I fear that it might not be too appropriate for me to become the head of the Luo Clan…"
"That"s not an issue at all. First Elder, bring the Bloodline Basin over," Luo Ganzhen instructed before turning his gaze back to Zhang Xuan. "Brother Tianya, if it isn"t too much trouble for you, please allow us to check your bloodline!"
"Check my bloodline?" Zhang Xuan nodded slowly. "If the purity of my bloodline is too low, I"d ask you not to ask me to become the head of the Luo Clan anymore!"
Given that he had nothing to do with the Luo Clan at all, it was a given that the check would end with a negative result. With that, he would have a good reason to turn down Luo Ganzhen"s request.
Luo Ganzhen hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Very well!"
If the middle-aged man"s bloodline was truly too thin, he would just have to marry his daughter to the other party to bind him to their Luo Clan.
In other words, no matter what happened, the person who had comprehended the Spatial Quintessence of Sealing would have to become the head of their Luo Clan. Otherwise, just the very existence of a man who had unlocked the secrets of the Luo Clan"s heritage was enough to bring about the Luo Clan"s gradual fall from grace.
Upon hearing Luo Ganzhen"s orders, First Elder Luo Qingchen quickly rushed away. He returned not too long later, and with a flick of his wrist, a compa.s.s-like object materialized right in front of him.
It floated quietly in the midst of the elevated platform.
"This is the Bloodline Basin. It"s used to gauge the level of purity of the Luo Clan bloodline within a cultivator. All in all, there are ten levels, and each level denotes a tenth of the founder"s bloodline. In other words, "1" means that the cultivator possesses a tenth of the founder"s bloodline, and "10" means that the cultivator"s bloodline is on par with the founder"s! One has to have a purity level of at least "3" to qualify as an inner member and "1" to qualify as an ordinary member… Anything beneath that will result in the individual being banished to the side family!" Luo Qingchen explained.
He raised his head to look at Zhang Xuan expectantly. "Brother Tianya, even though you are from the side family, the fact that you have managed to comprehend the Spatial Quintessence of Sealing shows that the talent you wield is unparalleled! As long as your bloodline surpa.s.ses "1", you will already be eligible to become our clan head. No one in the Luo Clan would dare to voice their objection to the matter!"
"Surpa.s.ses "1"?" Zhang Xuan did not think that there would be such a cla.s.sification for bloodlines within Sage Clans. It was likely that it was through an artifact similar to the Bloodline Basin that he had been deemed to be an unparalleled prodigy of the Zhang Clan before he was even born.
Thinking about it now, he had probably been an "8", "9", or perhaps very close to a "10" in terms of Zhang Clan bloodline back then!
"That"s right! Brother Tianya, you just have to place a droplet of blood on the Bloodline Basin, and the compa.s.s will immediately reflect the result!" Luo Qingchen said.
"Alright then. However, I"ll just say in advance that my bloodline is so thin that it"s almost negligible… I hope that you won"t raise the matter of having me become the head of the Luo Clan anymore after this test!" Zhang Xuan said.
As an offspring of the Zhang Clan, his bloodline definitely had no ties to that of the Luo Clan at all, so there was no need for him to worry at all.
Hu!
He flicked a droplet of his blood into the Bloodline Basin, and it fell into the groove at its very center.
Weng!
A slight whirring sound echoed in the air, and the droplet of blood suddenly burst into flames. Seemingly triggered by some unknown energy, the compa.s.s needle began spinning frenziedly.
Jiya!
A while later, it came to a stop. The number that it was pointing at… "9"!
"How could it be 9? This Bloodline Basin must be spoilt!" As if a streak of lightning flashed across Zhang Xuan"s mind, he nearly lost his mind at that ridiculous result.
He was an offspring of the Zhang Clan! How could he possibly have the Luo Clan bloodline… and such a pure one at that!
Or… did the Xingmeng Sword Saints make a mistake? But his blood did fuse perfectly with that of Meng Sword Saint! Wait a moment, he did check for the Zhang Clan bloodline in him, and there was not the slightest trace of it at all. Did that mean that…
A mini explosion occurred in Zhang Xuan"s head at this moment, preventing him from thinking any deeper than that.
While Zhang Xuan was still completely frenzied by the outcome, Luo Ganzhen, Luo Qingchen, and the others froze on the spot. Indescribable joy slowly coursed through their entire beings, and their bodies began trembling intensely in reaction. If not in consideration of their standing, they might have even begun skipping around the place excitedly!
A bloodline purity of "9"… That effectively meant that the middle-aged man was not just a member of their Luo Clan—he was even a core member that was even more crucial than any one of them present!
It was no wonder he could comprehend the Spatial Quintessence of Sealing! Even if he had not done so, just his bloodline alone would have qualified him to become their next clan head!
Knowing that this was the opportune moment to make his move, Luo Ganzhen clasped his fist and bowed down. "Paying respects to our clan head!"
The wily elders also swiftly understood Luo Ganzhen"s intention, and they quickly bowed down too. "Paying respects to our clan head!"
If it was because they had no other choice that they were pressuring the middle-aged man to be their clan head before, after seeing the sheer purity of the bloodline he possessed, there was no way that they could possibly let him get away!
They eyed Zhang Xuan intently as if cougars who had found their prey.
"I… I really am from the side family. I can"t possibly qualify to become your clan head…" Zhang Xuan protested feebly.
Thinking that the middle-aged man was just too shocked by the abrupt turn of events, Luo Ganzhen explained with a radiant smile on his face. "Brother Tianya, you need not be so humble. The heritage of our Luo Clan bloodline happens by chance. Those from the main family can very well birth offspring whose Luo Clan bloodlines are negligibly thin. Similarly, from time to time, there are offspring from the side family whose bloodlines are even purer than that of the main family, leaving countless stumped by how such a thing could happen…
"It"s for this reason that the clan conducts a bloodline test on all offspring of the Luo Clan, regardless of whether they are from the main family or the side family. You might be from the side family, but due to the purity of your bloodline alone, you are more than qualified to return to the main family and become our next clan head!"
It would not be inaccurate to say that the inheritance of a bloodline was a random event.
In fact, there were many cases throughout the Luo Clan"s history where the Luo Clan bloodline in the main family had suddenly died out, and someone else from the side family had risen to power instead.
While the Luo Clan did conduct bloodline checks on all newborns of the main family and side family, it was inevitable that there would be lapses in their checks from time to time, especially considering how huge the Luo Clan had become over the ages. There were cases in history where a grown up from the side family had suddenly been shown to possess unbelievably pure Luo Clan bloodline, so Luo Ganzhen and the others were not too surprised by the matter.
"Brother Tianya, I beseech you to lead our Luo Clan to greatness! Your bloodline has been shown to be one of the purest in the history of our Luo Clan, and you have comprehended the Spatial Quintessence of Sealing as well. There"s no one who could be more worthy than you to take on this role!"
"Our Luo Clan has just suffered a major setback. At a time like this, we need a powerful leader like you to rally everyone!"
"You are the only one who can unite our members together!"
"If you don"t agree to it, our Luo Clan will really fall into decline!"
The elders also swiftly voiced their pleas as well, upping the pressure on the middle-aged man.
On the receiving end of the pleas, Zhang Xuan clutched his hair in frenzy.
He had only agreed to the bloodline test in order to create a legitimate excuse to reject the Luo Clan. Who could have thought he would end up cornering himself instead?
After soothing the stifled feeling in his heart, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and said, "I… To be honest with you, the reason I came here today is to impart the method of cultivating the Spatial Quintessence of Sealing to you all. I didn"t come here for honor or power…"
Putong!
But before he could finish his words, and a pair of knees fell to the ground. Luo Xuanqing was kneeling before him with a determined look in his eyes.
"Luo Xuanqing pays respects to teacher!"
"Eh?"
Zhang Xuan was stunned.
You said that I was fast, but aren"t you way faster than I am? To actually acknowledge me as your master all of a sudden, is this really fine?