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**
Business—this was the consensus of every member of the Xiao Clan over the past month.
However, even so, every face in the Xiao Clan bore a smile that could not be concealed. At the same time, the festive atmosphere within the clan had infected nearly the entire surrounding street.
Many people still didn't know exactly what was happening within the Xiao Clan, but those who had received invitations already knew that the clan was about to usher in a new era.
Indeed, the invitations sent out by the Xiao Clan had already mentioned that Xiao Lin would succeed the position of Clan Leader on the day of the Coming-of-Age Ceremony. Regarding this matter, most people were not surprised.
If anything, Xiao Lin's succession was actually considered a bit late.
Take the other two Dou Wang clans in the Capital of the Jia Ma Empire, the Nalan Clan and the Mu Clan, for example; over the past six years, their Young Clan Leaders had already successively taken over the leadership.
Currently, the Clan Leader of the Nalan Clan was Nalan Jie, while the Clan Leader of the Mu Clan was Mu Chen. Xiao Lin was the last of the three to become a Clan Leader. Of course, concerning Xiao Lin's upcoming succession, invitations had been sent to both the Nalan and Mu Clans.
To this, both Nalan Jie and Mu Chen expressed that they would attend in person.
Both men had good relations with Xiao Lin.
Over the years, there had been various business collaborations between these Dou Wang clans. It had to be said that this was the first time the Dou Wang clans in the Capital had lived in such harmony!
Back before Hai Bodong broke through to Dou Huang, the Mittel Clan and the Yinter Clan were constantly engaged in all sorts of overt and covert struggles.
It could only be said that the relationship between the three Dou Wangs—Xiao Lin, Nalan Jie, and Mu Chen—maintained the current stability between their respective clans.
After all, if the Dou Wangs of the three houses were good brothers and friends, could the people below them really stir up any trouble?
Naturally, aside from the Nalan and Mu Clans, invitations were also sent to powers like the Jia Ma Imperial Family, the Mittel Clan, and the Yun Lan Sect. However, the probability of the Dou Huang powerhouses from these factions attending was quite low.
The Xiao Clan was well aware of this.
So, amidst this flurry of activity, the day of the Xiao Clan's Coming-of-Age Ceremony finally arrived. Early in the morning, Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng personally took Xiao Lin's son, Xiao Zhan, to the entrance of the Xiao Clan to welcome the guests.
Having the current Clan Leader and the son of the future Clan Leader greeting people at the door gave considerable face to the visitors from all sides.
As for Xiao Lin, he was inside directing the clan members.
As the man about to succeed the position of Clan Leader, Xiao Lin hadn't even had time to practice during this past month. He had been frantically learning how to manage the various affairs of the Xiao Clan.
By today, Xiao Lin had essentially taken over all authority from Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng. Therefore, in today's internal direction of the clan, Xiao Lin handled everything in an organized and meticulous fashion.
He didn't want any blunders to occur, lest they lose face for the entire Xiao Clan!
At this time, a massive plaza had been cleared within the Xiao Clan. In the center of that plaza stood a black stone monument. This was clearly intended to test the Dou Qi cultivation of the younger generation during the ceremony.
Such an object existed in the original story as well.
After all, before Xiao Lin's succession ceremony, there was still the ritual for the clan's youth. It should be noted that this Coming-of-Age Ceremony was not prepared solely for Xiao Zhan. Even if Xiao Zhan was the biological son of the future Clan Leader, he didn't have that much face!
The Coming-of-Age Ceremony was a ritual that every member of the younger generation who had reached the age of sixteen by this day had to undergo.
It was currently November.
This meant that even if you had turned sixteen in January, you had to wait until today for the ceremony. Because the ritual itself was quite tedious, if they held a ceremony every time a clansman turned sixteen, it would be annoyingly frequent.
While Xiao Lin was directing the arrangements, the shouts of the Xiao Clan attendants could be heard from outside.
"Clan Leader of the Chen Clan—Chen Yunyang has arrived!"
"Clan Leader of the Qin Clan—Qin Ke has arrived!"
"Hall Master of the Shan Hai Hall—Wan Qianlou has arrived!"
"Governor of the Cang Qing Prefecture—Nan Gongzheng has arrived!"
...
One by one, the heads of factions that maintained decent relations with the Xiao Clan arrived.
Xiao Lin immediately had clan members arrange seating for these guests. Those able to establish ties with the current Xiao Clan were basically factions that possessed a Dou Ling. Ordinary clans were not qualified to receive a specific invitation from the Xiao Clan.
Of course, if those ordinary clans were willing to come, the Xiao Clan naturally welcomed them warmly. However, those guests from ordinary powers might not be allowed into the inner area to observe the ceremony.
Don't blame the Xiao Clan for being snobbish.
This was essentially the standard practice for most factions dealing with outsiders. On a festive day, anyone coming to offer blessings was welcome, as long as they weren't there to cause trouble.
The brain-dead plot points from novels in Xiao Lin's previous life—where someone arrives uninvited without status or strength, yet insists the host treat them with the highest etiquette—basically never happened.
Such nonsense only occurred with people who didn't understand their own status.
Likewise, if you purposely acted like a "pig to eat a tiger" just to be looked down upon and then slap the host's face—to a bystander, that was also a sign of a brain-dead individual.
A normal person wouldn't do such a thing.
If anything, that behavior proved you came looking for a fight from the very beginning. On this big day for the Xiao Clan, such tropes did not occur. Finally, after these smaller factions, some heavyweight major powers made their appearance.
The attendant's voice rang out once more.
"Clan Leader of the Nalan Clan—Nalan Jie has arrived!"
"Clan Leader of the Mu Clan—Mu Chen has arrived!"
"Grand Elder of the Mittel Clan—Mittel Tengshan has arrived!"
Among the three factions arriving in succession, the Mittel Clan had actually sent their number two figure, Mittel Tengshan, which slightly surprised Xiao Lin.
However, he still greeted the man warmly.
Following that, the Jia Ma Imperial Family also sent a Dou Wang powerhouse to participate in the Xiao Clan's Coming-of-Age Ceremony and Succession Ceremony!
Even the Alchemist Association sent an elder to the Xiao Clan to express their congratulations!
From this, one could see the current status of the Xiao Clan within the Jia Ma Empire.
It absolutely belonged to the top-tier group!
It could be said that by now, there was only one heavyweight power left in the entire Jia Ma Empire that had not appeared. However, after seeing the luxurious guest lineup today, no one doubted that this last power would send someone.
People were merely speculating on who exactly this last heavyweight power would send.
This power, naturally, was the Yun Lan Sect!
In Xiao Lin's estimation, given the current relationship between the Xiao Clan and the Yun Lan Sect, Yun Shan would most likely send an elder, just like the Imperial Family, the Alchemist Association, and the Mittel Clan.
However, when the attendant's voice rang out once more, even Xiao Lin couldn't help but be stunned!
"Mis... Yun Lan Sect, Sect Master, Yun Shan, has arrived!"
Perhaps due to sheer disbelief and excitement, the voice of the Xiao Clan attendant actually trembled this time. As the attendant's voice fell, the chatter coming from the factions already inside the Xiao Clan vanished instantly!
Following that, every single one of them wore an expression as if they had seen a ghost.
Wait, did they just hear that correctly?
The Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect, Yun Shan, had actually arrived in person?
Fake, this must be fake!
Either the attendant had made a mistake, or they had misheard. In short, regarding the Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect personally attending the Xiao Clan's ceremony, they did not believe it in their hearts!
One had to understand, this was Yun Shan!
What kind of virtue or ability did the Xiao Clan have to make Sect Master Yun Shan of the Yun Lan Sect arrive in person?
**
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