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**
After all the guests were seated, the Xiao Clan began to hold the coming-of-age ceremony. This time, the Xiao Clan's coming-of-age ceremony was personally presided over by the Clan Leader, Xiao Dongcheng!
Normally, such a ceremony would be handled by the Xiao Clan Elders; the Clan Leader wouldn't need to busy himself with these trivial matters. The Xiao Clan typically maintained three Elder positions: the First Elder, Second Elder, and Third Elder.
Just like back when Xiao Lin participated in the auction held by the Mittel Clan, aside from bringing three peers, the other person following him was the Third Elder.
Furthermore, during the expedition to the Secret Realm, the Xiao Clan had sent the Second Elder in addition to Xiao Lin and ten Da Dou Shi.
Unfortunately, as the years passed, the three Xiao Clan Elders—including the First Elder—had passed away one after another. Under normal circumstances, once the three Elders passed away, new Elders should have been appointed immediately.
However, the current situation of the Xiao Clan was somewhat special.
The old Clan Leader, Xiao Dongcheng, was preparing to abdicate soon. Therefore, after discussions, it was finally decided that the appointment of the new Xiao Clan Elders should wait until Xiao Lin took office.
This was also intended to establish Xiao Lin's absolute authority within the Xiao Clan in the future. After all, looking at the original story, when three Elders united, they possessed enough power to contend with the Clan Leader.
With Xiao Lin's current prestige and strength in the Xiao Clan, while it wouldn't necessarily come to that, letting him appoint the Elders was indeed the most appropriate choice.
As for the candidates for the three Elders of Xiao Lin's generation, Xiao Lin already had them in mind. Or rather, everyone in the Xiao Clan was clear about it.
If it weren't for the sake of letting Xiao Lin personally appoint them after taking office, these three might have inherited the Elder positions long ago after the three Elders of the older generation passed away.
Moreover, over these years, although these three members of the Xiao Clan did not have the title of Elder, they already performed the duties of Elders.
Before Xiao Lin's return, it was the three of them who helped Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng handle the large and small affairs of the Xiao Clan on a daily basis.
These three people were, naturally, Xiao Zhen, Xiao Ze, and Xiao Yi—the ones Xiao Lin had favored back then and brought to the Mittel Auction House.
Once Xiao Lin inherited the position of Clan Leader, the three of them would likely become the new three Great Elders of the Xiao Clan.
But for now, because their titles were not yet official, only Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng was qualified to hold this coming-of-age ceremony for the Xiao Clan.
Additionally, since it was his last day serving as the Xiao Clan Leader, it was only reasonable for Xiao Dongcheng to handle many of these matters. In Xiao Lin's words, it was to continue contributing some "remaining heat" before stepping down.
The coming-of-age ceremony was very tedious!
This was Xiao Lin's first internal reaction while observing Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng perform the ceremony. However, because he was about to succeed the position of Clan Leader, he couldn't slack off; he had to learn it!
After all, regarding these things passed down from the ancestors, as a Clan Leader, you might not like them, but you must know them!
These rules, which were deeply rooted in the bloodline of every Xiao Clan member, were sometimes truly unavoidable.
Therefore, during the prelude to the coming-of-age ceremony held by Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng, Xiao Lin was like a poor student, forcing himself to memorize every step.
"Xiao Lin, looking at you, it seems you're quite unaccustomed to this?"
Just as Xiao Lin was forcing himself to memorize all of Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng's movements, a voice suddenly drifted into his ear.
This voice carried a hint of mockery.
Xiao Lin didn't even need to turn his head to know that it was definitely his close friend, Nalan Jie. Only Nalan Jie would tease him at a time like this.
"Brother Xiao, you'll get used to it. After all, Brother Nalan and I went through this ourselves long ago!"
These words were spoken by Mu Chen. However, his words were less of a comfort and more of a "kicking someone while they're down"!
Given Nalan Jie and Mu Chen's status, their seats were naturally very close to Xiao Lin.
"Sigh, these rules are really quite annoying sometimes."
Facing the banter of his two friends, Xiao Lin couldn't help but complain.
These kinds of rules could be considered a common ailment among various factions.
"Xiao Lin, this is still the easy part. If I'm not mistaken, the Clan Leader Succession Ceremony later will only be more tedious than this. I hope you can hold out. I remember back when I succeeded the position of the Yun Lan Sect Master..."
Seeing that Xiao Lin's head was starting to ache, even Yun Shan couldn't resist adding fuel to the fire!
However, as Yun Shan reached the end of his sentence, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memories and hurriedly shook them out of his mind.
At the same time, he subconsciously glanced at Yun Yun, who was currently watching the Xiao Clan's coming-of-age ceremony with great interest beside him. Feeling her teacher's gaze, little Yun Yun turned her head and looked at Yun Shan in confusion.
"Teacher, what is it?"
Little Yun Yun asked, puzzled.
"It's nothing, Yun Yun. In the future, when managing the Yun Lan Sect, don't work too hard."
Yun Shan's words sounded somewhat mysterious to little Yun Yun's ears.
Nevertheless, she nodded her little head diligently.
On the other side, after hearing Yun Shan's explanation, Xiao Lin felt his vision go slightly dark. To be fair, what Yun Shan said made a lot of sense.
If the coming-of-age ceremony was already this tedious, how could the Clan Leader Succession Ceremony be any simpler?
"These rotten rules, I will definitely change them all in the future!"
At this moment, Xiao Lin secretly vowed in his heart!
Just like that, the prelude to the Xiao Clan's coming-of-age ceremony took nearly four hours!
It lasted from early morning until high noon!
Even little Yun Yun, who had been watching with great interest at the beginning, eventually lost her enthusiasm. However, looking at the faces of the various factions, they were clearly accustomed to such ceremonies.
After all, the clans they belonged to basically operated the same way.
"The rites are concluded!"
Finally, following the shout of "The rites are concluded" from Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng, the surrounding crowd, who had been drowsy, all felt their spirits lift. Because the climax of the coming-of-age ceremony had finally arrived.
This was the scene everyone was most interested in!
The potential of a family's younger generation depended on their upcoming performance.
"Next, we shall proceed with the final test. As of today, all members of the Xiao Clan who have reached the age of sixteen must undergo a test of their Dou Qi cultivation."
"Those whose Dou Qi cultivation has not reached the Seventh Stage Dou Zhi Qi before this will be dispatched to various locations under the Xiao Clan's jurisdiction for trial."
Clan Leader Xiao Dongcheng's incredibly solemn voice rang out once more.
As for the so-called "trial," it was actually being sent to various places to serve as managers.
In such a situation, there would basically be no hope for future advancement. It was very rare for someone who had not reached the Seventh Stage Dou Zhi Qi by age sixteen to be sent out as a manager and still manage to catch up later.
Although this system appeared somewhat cruel, it was actually very reasonable!
In a clan, it is impossible for everyone to be allocated the same resources. That being the case, talented clansmen can receive the clan's support; those without talent can only work hard to provide assistance to the talented ones.
This is the way a clan faction survives.
The scenario where you have no talent yet still expect the clan to support you only happens in brainless novel plots. Of course, this doesn't rule out clansmen who show talent later in life. But why should the clan gamble everything on that possibility?
Are you crazy, or is the clan crazy?
Therefore, even though Xiao Lin had awakened his innate wisdom and possessed memories of his previous life, he had no objection to this.
**
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