The Ten Thousand Ways to Hug the Female Protagonist’s Thigh - Chapter 18.2

The elders and the clan leader looked at Wen Xuening with even more affection than they would their own granddaughters.

“Excellent, truly excellent!” the clan leader praised, but he didn’t press Wen Xuening about her alchemy or talisman crafting. Instead, he asked gently, “Ning’er, in five years, the major sects of the Eastern Continent will be recruiting disciples. Are you interested in joining?”

With her talent, Wen Xuening was destined for more incredible things beyond this small border region. If she succeeded in cultivating, she could secretly support the Wen family. The Wen family would always welcome and help her if she struggled, serving as her eternal stronghold.

The Wen family had once been illustrious, boasting a group of exceptionally talented prodigies. However, three hundred years ago, a tragic event led to the downfall of the entire main lineage.

Even the family’s late-stage Dao Integration ancestor hadn’t survived the tragic events.

“That person brought an end to all the main lineage members but, for some reason, spared the branch families,” the clan leader explained.

Wen Ziwen led the stunned Wen Ling away.

Once everyone had entered the inner hall, including Wen Shu and several elders, the clan leader set up a barrier and began recounting the events of three hundred years ago.

“Our Wen family has stood in Buzhou City for thousands of years. To grow stronger, we inevitably faced conflicts. With great power comes great enemies, and we had many. But that person… we had never heard of him.

I was just a lowly Foundation Establishment disciple from a branch family then. I don’t know what exactly happened that day or what caused it. Elder Wuchang was severely injured but managed to activate the family’s Ancestral Ark, saving us.

Perhaps because the ark only carried branch family members, that person didn’t pursue us.”

“When we reached safety, we quietly inquired and learned that the once-mighty Wen family had fallen into decline.”

“Over the years, rumors spread about our origins, and many sought the core inheritance of the Wen family. But the truth is, when we escaped, we had nothing!”

“As for the inheritance,” the clan leader continued, “Elder Wuchang once said that even without secret treasures or legacies, as long as we stood by our principles, disciplined ourselves, and valued humanity, we could restore the family’s former glory.”

The clan leader and the core elders were all at the Golden Core stage, survivors from the branch families. Their vision was far from shortsighted. While they had been lying low, if their enemies decided to eradicate them entirely, they would have no means to resist.

Thus, for a once-in-a-millennium prodigy like Wen Xuening, they were prepared to offer their full support.

“Xiao Shu is different,” the clan leader said, turning to Wen Shu with a complex yet delighted expression.

Elder Wuchang had taken Wen Shu as his disciple. Naturally, he hadn’t hidden this from the core members of the Wen family.

Whether the core inheritance of the Wen family still existed depended entirely on Elder Wuchang’s will.

Three hundred years ago, Elder Wuchang had led the branch families to establish a new family, providing them with spirit pills, precious talismans, spirit stones, and even a secret realm that had once belonged to the main lineage of the Wen family.

This secret realm was used to train the new family’s disciples. No one knew how Elder Wuchang had survived or how he had managed to preserve these treasures amidst the family’s collapse.

He never spoke of it, and no one dared to ask in the three hundred years since Elder Wuchang had only intervened once on behalf of the Wen family. All other crises had been resolved by the family members themselves.

Elder Wuchang had hidden his identity, teaching in the family’s school. He valued character above all else and rarely gave guidance on cultivation.

Decades ago, the clan leader had brought the family’s most talented disciple to Elder Wuchang, hoping he would take the disciple as his student. But Elder Wuchang had simply smiled and said, “Go back. There is no master-disciple fate between us.”

Yet, just a few decades later, his niece, Wen Shu, had become that fated disciple.