Then, slowly, Bai Ren turned to Lin Xuan.
“Lin Xuan, was it?”
He asked seriously.
“Would you be willing to become part of the Bai Clan?”
Lin Xuan blinked, surprised by the question. He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.
“I… I don’t want to join the Bai Clan,” he said slowly but firmly. “I only want to serve Young Master Zihan.”
His voice was calm but resolute.
But Bai Ren didn’t seem offended. Instead, he laughed.
“Hahaha! Good! Loyalty is a virtue this clan could use more of.”
He nodded approvingly and added, “Since that’s the case, there’s no need to force anything. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who serves Zihan’er is part of our Bai Clan. I’ll inform the clan to send cultivation resources directly for your use. Pills, spirit stones, weapons—whatever you need.”
Lin Xuan was stunned.
“T-That’s too much, I—”
“Accept it,” Bai Zihan interrupted with a casual wave of his hand.
“This much won’t even put a dent in our treasury.”
His tone was flat, but there was a sharpness behind it—like he was speaking less to Lin Xuan and more to everyone else in the room.
Bai Ren chuckled again, clearly pleased.
“Hahaha! This is truly heaven’s blessing. The Bai Clan has gained the only Heaven-Grade Dao Resonance genius in the entire sect!”
But Bai Zihan, leaning lazily on the side, casually refuted, “That’s not true!”
The smile on Bai Ren’s face faltered.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s another,” Bai Zihan said, his voice calm but absolute.
Bai Ren looked shocked.
After all, it was already extremely rare to have even one Heaven-Grade Dao Resonance genius in a generation.
But there was another one?
“Who?”
Bai Ren asked. If there was another and they could recruit them too, he felt the Bai Clan would truly become unstoppable.
“Bai Xinyue!”
The entire room went silent.
Bai Ren’s pupils shrank.
Bai Xinyue!
The former genius of the Bai Clan, once thought to have even greater talent than Bai Xueqing.
With her, Bai Ren had believed that their Bai Clan would rise further and become the strongest in the Desolate Heaven Empire.
However, that didn’t happen—she was expelled.
This was also one of the reasons why he had disliked Bai Zihan.
Not only because Bai Zihan was the reason she was expelled and had her Dao Bone stolen, but also because he himself couldn’t even awaken the talent she had—even after receiving her Dao Bone.
“Impossible… She was exiled! Her Dao Bone was taken. She—”
“She has regained her former talent, perhaps even become more talented,” Bai Zihan cut in coldly.
A strange tension entered the air. Even Chu Ziyan, who had vaguely heard of Bai Xinyue, looked uneasy.
She’d heard about Bai Xinyue and knew there was some unresolved tension between the Bai Clan and her—specifically her fiancé and Bai Xinyue.
She also knew about Bai Zihan’s visit to Bai Xinyue, though it didn’t seem like anything had happened between them.
Chu Ziyan just continued to observe, wanting to know what exactly had happened between one hailed as a genius and one once hailed as a waste.
The only reason she couldn’t come to a conclusion was because even after Bai Zihan got Bai Xinyue’s Dao Bone, he remained trash.
Otherwise, if he had risen and Bai Xinyue was expelled, anyone could tell that Bai Zihan must have taken something from her.
But because Bai Zihan remained trash, it was nearly impossible to know what really transpired between them.
Bai Zihan let out a small, mocking laugh.
“She’s truly been waiting to take revenge on me.”
Bai Ren felt a chill down his spine. It looks like Bai Zihan was scheming something against Bai Xinyue.
Grand Elder Bai Ren was full of regret about Bai Xinyue. Regret because he was still in seclusion when Bai Xinyue was expelled, otherwise he would have stopped it.
If he had been present, perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out the way they had.
And they would have had two Heaven-Grade Dao Resonance geniuses in their clan.
Perhaps they still could mend that?
Well, he looked at Bai Zihan and realized that it would be impossible.
There was no way Bai Zihan would apologize and humiliate himself for what he had done.
Though if one were to blame, it should be his mother.
Even so, Bai Ren felt that Bai Xinyue was still a Bai Clan Member—at least their blood ran in her veins—and he didn’t want her to fight her family.
Of course, he knew that was a lot to ask after what she has suffered.
If it had been before, Bai Ren wouldn’t have hesitated to abandon Bai Zihan for Bai Xinyue, but it was different now.
Bai ZIhan had shown himself capable and cunning, even possessing powerful Earth-Grade cultivation methods from who-knows-where.
Even if Bai Xinyue was truly talented, it now seemed impossible for her to take revenge.
Rather, he was worried about the opposite.
Would Bai Xinyue fall at Bai Zihan’s hands?
“Don’t worry! I’ve decided I won’t do anything to Bai Xinyue,” Bai Zihan declared, as if he could read Bai Ren’s mind—much to his embarrassment.
If it were yesterday, Bai Ren might have laughed at the idea of Bai Zihan sparing Bai Xinyue, who had regained her talent—but today was different.
With his schemes and mercilessness, Bai Ren couldn’t rule out the possibility that, if Bai Zihan wanted, he could take her out.
After all, in terms of strength, even Shen Liang was stronger than Bai Xinyue—but didn’t he end up crippled by Bai Zihan?
Moreover, Bai Zihan couldn’t be blamed. Everything could be said to be justifiable.
Although the truth was far different from what Bai Ren thought.
Spare Bai Xinyue?
Bai Zihan didn’t dare take on Heaven’s Chosen, even if he had equal strength.
He knew that when on the verge of death, these Heaven’s Chosen would start pulling out one trump card after another—and if they didn’t have one?
By sheer luck, they’d survive and return stronger to take his life.
So, until he was absolutely certain, he had no intention of doing anything to a Heaven’s Chosen.
But Bai Ren didn’t know that, and thought that Bai Zihan truly didn’t hate her—and had no reason to go after her.
Even if Bai Xinyue showed aggression, perhaps Bai Zihan understood her anger?
Not likely—but Grand Elder Bai Ren wanted to believe it, and wanted to imagine a future where she would be back where she belonged.
“If you want to and can, you can bring her back to the clan as well. I can talk with my mothers to not harm her either.”
Bai Zihan said, showing that he didn’t hold any grudge against Bai Xinyue—even if she came seeking revenge.
“Good! It’s better for families to stick together!”