Free Web NovelChapter 15: 15. In hopes of praise, a punishment awaits.
"Father!"
The doors to the clan hall burst open and a small figure rushed inside without the slightest hesitation, her voice bright and cheerful as she ran toward the front of the room.
For a moment, the hall fell silent as every head turned toward the newcomer, then, almost immediately, frowns appeared on many faces.
This gathering wasn’t an ordinary clan meeting.
The younger generation present today consisted of the most talented disciples in the Lin Clan. Every one of them had reached at least the Seventh Layer of Body Tempering.
Yet Lin Zhaoyue had simply barged in as though she were entering her own courtyard.
Several elders immediately frowned at the breach of etiquette.
Only Lin Xuan seemed completely oblivious to their reactions because the moment he saw his daughter, his entire mind had gone blank.
Tenth Layer of Qi Refinement.
His daughter was standing at the peak of Qi Refinement.
For a brief moment, Lin Xuan wondered if he was hallucinating.
A ten-year-old at the Tenth Layer of Qi Refinement?
Even the geniuses of the great sects would struggle to achieve such a feat.
More importantly, she wasn’t some elderly cultivator trapped at a bottleneck.
She was ten years old.
With her talent and youth, reaching the Golden Core Realm in the future was practically guaranteed.
The Lin Family’s next Golden Core cultivator.
The thought echoed repeatedly in his mind.
Meanwhile, the reactions of the others were entirely different.
The elders naturally noticed that they couldn’t sense Lin Zhaoyue’s cultivation.
However, none of them arrived at the correct conclusion.
After all, every elder present was at least in the late stages of Qi Refinement.
Some had cultivated for decades. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Others for nearly a century.
The idea that a ten-year-old girl possessed a higher cultivation than all of them was simply absurd.
As such, most of them instinctively assumed she was still a mortal.
Or perhaps she possessed some kind of concealment treasure.
In any case, nobody paid it much attention.
Unfortunately, that didn’t improve their mood.
One elder immediately stood up.
His brows furrowed deeply as he looked at Lin Zhaoyue.
"Impudent!"
The sharp rebuke startled several younger disciples.
"This gathering concerns the future of the clan. How dare you intrude without permission?"
Lin Zhaoyue blinked.
Only now did she notice the room full of people staring at her.
She had been so excited to share her breakthrough with her father that she hadn’t paid attention to anything else.
The elder, however, wasn’t finished.
"As expected."
He snorted coldly.
"A child remains a child. Charging into an important gathering without understanding basic etiquette."
The atmosphere became awkward and several younger disciples lowered their heads.
Others secretly glanced toward Lin Xuan.
At the side of the hall, Lin Zhenghai watched everything unfold with a faint smirk.
The old man leaned back comfortably in his seat.
Over the past two months, he had been buried beneath mountains of administrative work thanks to Lin Xuan.
Every day had been miserable.
Naturally, he hadn’t forgotten who was responsible.
Unfortunately, opportunities for retaliation had been scarce.
Lin Xuan had conducted himself almost flawlessly.
His daughter, however, was another matter.
As he watched the elder scold the girl, the corners of Lin Zhenghai’s mouth curved upward slightly.
He had wanted revenge for a long time.
He simply hadn’t expected an opportunity to present itself so soon.
Just as the atmosphere began to grow uncomfortable, Lin Zhenghai slowly rose from his seat.
The movement immediately drew everyone’s attention.
The Supreme Elder glanced at Lin Zhaoyue before looking toward the elder who had spoken.
"That’s enough."
His tone was calm and unhurried.
The elder paused.
Lin Zhenghai lightly stroked his beard and smiled.
"She is still a child. While barging into the hall was certainly inappropriate, there is no need to make such a fuss over a ten-year-old girl."
His gaze shifted toward Lin Zhaoyue.
"Besides, she is the Patriarch’s daughter. It is only natural for her to seek her father."
The words sounded reasonable and forgiving.
Lin Zhenghai then sighed softly.
"The younger generation should be guided, not frightened."
The disciples present immediately felt their impression of the Supreme Elder rise.
Despite his disagreements with the Patriarch, he was still willing to stand up for the Patriarch’s daughter.
What broad-mindedness.
What magnanimity.
Several young disciples looked at him with newfound admiration.
The elders, however, remained expressionless.
Some even lowered their heads to hide their amusement.
Broad-minded? Magnanimous? Please.
After spending decades with Lin Zhenghai, they could practically predict his next sentence before he spoke it.
The old fox was clearly trying to improve his image.
Unfortunately for him, nobody in the elder council was foolish enough to be deceived by such a transparent act.
Lin Xuan naturally saw through it as well.
In fact, he found the whole thing rather amusing.
Still, a faint smile appeared on his face as he shifted his gaze towards Lin Zhaoyue.
The little girl immediately straightened.
For a brief moment, father and daughter looked at one another.
Lin Xuan gave a subtle nod but the meaning was clear.
Lin Zhaoyue’s eyes immediately brightened.
The praise she had been hoping for finally arrived.
Lin Xuan’s expression became stern.
"Lin Zhaoyue."
The girl immediately stood at attention.
"Yes, Father."
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
The smile on her face froze while several younger disciples suddenly looked sympathetic.
Lin Zhaoyue hesitated before lowering her head.
"...I interrupted the meeting."
"You interrupted an important clan gathering."
Lin Xuan’s voice remained calm.
"You entered without permission and disregarded proper etiquette."
The girl shrank slightly.
"Yes, Father."
Lin Xuan nodded.
Since she acknowledged her mistake, there was no need for a lengthy lecture.
"The rules of the clan apply equally to everyone."
His gaze swept across the room.
"Go to the Punishment Hall and have fifty contribution points deducted from your name."
The entire hall became quiet.
Even the elder who had originally scolded her looked surprised.
Lin Zhaoyue herself stood there with a dazed expression.
Fifty contribution points wasn’t a crippling punishment, but it certainly wasn’t insignificant either.
After a brief pause, she lowered her head.
"Yes, Father."
Seeing this, several elders nodded inwardly.
Regardless of their opinions of Lin Xuan, his handling of the situation was difficult to criticize.
He had acknowledged his daughter’s mistake and had punished her according to the rules.
And he had done so in front of everyone.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhenghai’s smile became slightly stiff.
The old man had expected Lin Xuan to defend the girl.
Instead, the Patriarch had calmly turned the situation into a demonstration that even his own family was not above clan law.
As a result, the favorable impression Lin Zhenghai had hoped to earn among the elders vanished almost immediately.
Only the younger disciples remained impressed by his earlier intervention.
