Hope had often been the root of extreme disappointment. The Xiao Elders felt the same when Zhixian declared his desire to become the clan leader.
"What...."
"Why..."
The Elders around were surprised by his sudden change of attitude. Even Grand Elder Baizhen and Elder Nanfeng looked at Zhixian weirdly.
After all, didn't he change his decision too fast? Just now, he was extremely against that idea.
Zhixian also saw their weird look and knew that their decision was kind of abrupt. So, he immediately blamed the one guy who had been clamouring until now,
"I mean, Grand Elder, Elder Nanfeng is right. If I become the Clan Leader, I can gain the entire luck of the Xiao Clan, and my intuition tells me that I will definitely emerge as a Phoenix. So, I think even for me and the whole family's future, I should be the clan leader."
Zhixian said with a serious face, as if he totally believed Elder Nanfeng's nonsense.
He looked so sure and so innocent, full of hope, all the old fellows twitched their corners of mouths but stood silently as they couldn't bring themselves to persuade him otherwise.
So, all of them turned to look at Elder Nanfeng instead, who seemed gobsmacked by Zhixian's hopeful eyes.
Now, Nanfeng felt like he shot himself in the foot.
If nothing happened after he became the Clan Leader and Zhixian was disheartened, wouldn't Grand Elder skin him alive?
But before he could say something, Grand Elder sealed the deal with his last words.
"That's good then. Haha... in life, you have to take any opportunity you can and don't just neglect your intuition."
He laughed and patted Zhixian back, then ordered all the Elders.
"Okay, it is already late. Everyone should return. We will hold the ceremony for Zhixian in a week."
"Yes, Grand Elder."
What could poor Elders say now? They could only leave after giving a standard bowing salute to the old man.
But one thing was common among all of them—they hated this guy, Nanfeng, to the core.
"Elder Nanfeng, you will be responsible for holding the ceremony. From decorating the venue, inviting people, to arranging finances, you can deal with it."
Then Xiao Baizhen ordered the guy at his side to get him out of his stupor.
"Okay, Grand Elder!"
If it were before, Nanfeng would surely be happy at getting such a responsibility. But now he was feeling bad.
So, he just replied woodenly and quickly left the hall from the opposite side.
"Zhixian, you should also return. Practice hard and don't take today's incident to heart. I will keep eyes on the Father and Son duo."
"Yes, Grandfather."
"Hmm... as for the responsibility as a Clan Leader, you don't have to worry about it. Just let the Elders handle it. They are already middle-aged, and their potential isn't great. Let them work for the family."
After saying that, Grand Elder also left, heading towards his courtyard. Although something happened on his 100th birthday today, he was still quite happy inside.
His Grandchild seemed to have grown up and could see things far ahead.
For him, seeing his child grow and gain such foresight was both a source of pride and reassurance.
'Maybe, it is time to buy him a marrow cleansing pill.'
He thought and swiftly disappeared from the hall, leaving Zhixian all alone in the large hall.
'Wait, I forgot to give him the birthday gift.'
Only after the figure of Grandpa disappeared did Zhixian remember the birthday gift he prepared for him.
'Forget it. I will give it to him later.'
Zhixian shook his head and was about to head outside too when suddenly a robotic prompt from the system stopped him in his tracks.
Ding
[Congratulations on becoming the Clan Leader of the Xiao family.]
[Your journey to becoming the strongest antagonist in this universe has just begun.]
[Congratulations! 1000 Antagonist Points and a newbie gift pack have been delivered.]
[Do you want to open the Newbie Gift pack?]
"Yes! Open it."
Zhixian had been waiting for it for so long, so he immediately ordered while making his way towards his courtyard with a smile.
[Newbie gift pack has been opened.]
[Congratulations! You get 10 Qi Gathering Pills, 2 Essence Condensation Pill, 10 Ethereal Spirit Pills, 5 marrow cleansing pills, Eye of Insight, and a low-level Heaven Grade Sword Technique: Sky Piercing Slash.]
[Do you want to receive the skill Eye of Insight and the martial art Sky Piercing Slash?]
"Wow!"
Zhixian couldn't help but exclaim after seeing the prompt in his mind. This was just too much, wasn't it?
Feeling that the rewards were a little excessive, he confirmed once again, only to find that they were indeed correct.
'With the Qi Gathering Pill, I can raise my cultivation to the peak of the realm. Then, I can directly break into the Essence Gathering Realm with the help of the Condensation Pill.'
Zhixian felt that the system was too considerate.
'More importantly, five Marrow Cleansing Pills should be enough to alleviate my mediocre talent.'
One of Zhixian's sore spots had always been his low talent.
After all, transmigrating into such a magical cultivation world only to be the lowest level of scum—who would like that?
But after repeated failures and multiple near-death experiences just to earn a few spirit stones, he had already come to terms with his life over the past five years.
So, the Marrow Cleansing Pill was heaven-sent for him—so much so that he even forgot to focus on the Eye of Insight and the low-level Heaven Grade Sword Technique: Sky Piercing Slash.
'Calm down, Zhixian. This is not the time to lose focus.'
Feeling that he was a little too excited, Zhixian hurriedly breathed deeply.
By this time, he had already arrived at his courtyard. So, after calming down a bit, he finally looked at the two remaining rewards.
[Eye of Insight: Allows the user to see through a person's strength, talent, and physique, up to a maximum of two realms higher.]
[Sky Piercing Slash: A low-level heaven-grade sword technique. You can comprehend it up to the level of Proficiency after infusing the knowledge.]
[Comprehension Levels: Initiation, Proficiency, Mastery, Perfection, Transcendence]