Chapter 643: Disciple Acceptance Ceremony!

The main hall was silent, as if all the air had been sucked out.

Lin Zhenshan knelt there, a clear palm print still on half his face, his whole body limp as if all his bones had been removed, collapsing onto the ground.

The dull thud of his knees hitting the floor still echoed in his ears, but now he felt no pain at all.

He lifted his head to look at Jiang Feng, then at Linghu Xue, and only one voice madly echoed in his mind!

The young man he had thought a swindler was a Martial Grandmaster even the Linghu clan had to respect threefold.

The man he had just pointed at, cursed, and tried to drive out was a powerhouse standing at the very peak of the empire's strength, someone he could only glimpse a silhouette of in his whole life.

Lin Zhenshan felt his blood turn cold.

He had lived most of his life, seen too much, heard too many legends, and knew the weight of the two words "Martial Grandmaster."

On the empire's map, the gap between powers with a Martial Grandmaster in command and those without was wider than heaven.

He had once seen a Martial Grandmaster Ancestor of the Linghu clan from afar at their annual feast; the elder sat in the place of honor and never spoke a word to him, and he wasn't even qualified to step forward for a toast.

But just moments ago, he had taken a Martial Grandmaster for a charlatan, pointed at his nose and cursed him as a Jianghu sorcerer, and tried to drive him out of the Lin household.

Worst of all, that Martial Grandmaster had originally intended to take his daughter as a disciple, but he had refused.

Lin Zhenshan closed his eyes, then opened them again; the chill rising from his bones made him shudder involuntarily.

He drew a deep breath, planted both hands on the floor, leaned his torso forward, and his forehead almost touched the ground.

His voice was hoarse and trembling, filled with an extreme, abject panic.

"Please forgive me, Mr. Jiang! We failed to recognize a true deity, blind and ignorant, and offended you!"

His voice grew louder and louder, as if he were using volume to prove the depth of his remorse.

"For my daughter to become Mr. Jiang's disciple is her honor and our Lin family's blessing! Servants! Hurry and prepare—we will host a banquet for the five great clans of Tianzhou and announce that my daughter will soon be Mr. Jiang's disciple!"

The old steward stood at the door, still half-dazed.

Yet hearing Lin Zhenshan's words, he instinctively answered and turned to run outside.

Jiang Feng sat in the grand chair, watching Lin Zhenshan's abrupt shift from arrogance to obsequiousness, and the corner of his mouth twitched into a faint smile.

Like watching a farce.

He said nothing, just sat there in silence.

Linghu Xue saw Jiang Feng's reaction and knew deep down that the matter wasn't fully over.

She knew Jiang Feng too well—he yields to softness, not hardness; if Lin Zhenshan kept resisting, he would really turn and leave.

Fortunately, Lin Zhenshan knelt quickly and apologized thoroughly, at least laying the groundwork for reconciliation.

She stepped forward two paces, leaned close to Jiang Feng's ear, lowered her voice, and spoke in a tone only the two of them could hear.

"Mr. Jiang, the Lin family holds an extraordinary position in the empire's business world, especially controlling the trade routes of several key northern ports. Accepting the Lin family would also aid your future. Besides, they're merely blind to Mount Tai—you need not quarrel with them."

Having spoken, she stepped back, looked at Jiang Feng, her eyes filled with earnest pleading.

Jiang Feng did not respond immediately.

He sat there, his gaze shifting from Linghu Xue's face, past the kneeling Lin Zhenshan and the pale-faced Linghu Wan beside him, and finally settling on Lin Yanqian.

The young female doctor still stood where she was, her eye sockets red, lips lightly pressed, fists clenched tight.

Jiang Feng looked at her, fell silent for a few breaths, then spoke.

"Do you still want to take me as your master?"

As soon as he said that, Lin Yanqian's body jerked.

Her eyes instantly brightened, and the tears she had been holding back surged out.

She nodded firmly, her voice utterly resolute.

"Yes! Even if only as a nominal disciple, I would gladly accept it!"

Jiang Feng looked at her shining, excited eyes, gave a slight nod, his tone still flat but now carrying a hint of approval.

"If so, prepare the disciple‑acceptance ceremony."

He paused, his gaze grew a bit more serious, and his voice sank a little.

"Follow the initiation rite of a Kunlun disciple."

The main hall fell silent for a moment.

Lin Zhenshan knelt on the floor; upon hearing the four words "Kunlun disciple," his whole body jerked up as if struck by electricity.

His mouth gaped wide, his eyes bulged as if about to pop out, his lips trembled several times before he managed a shaky sound.

"Ku… Kunlun disciple?"

He of course knew Kunlun.

A legend of the empire's cultivation world, the ancestor of all sacred mountains, the place where immortals are said to dwell.

Tales of Kunlun have circulated in the empire for over a thousand years; even a three‑year‑old knows it is the holy land of cultivators.

He used to think those were just myths, but now someone stood before him saying they would accept his daughter as a disciple according to Kunlun's initiation rite.

Linghu Xue glared at him displeased, her gaze plainly impatient.

But she still spoke up to explain, her tone a bit cold but her voice clear enough.

"Mr. Jiang comes from Kunlun, and now Yan Qian has stepped into the Kunlun gate. Your Lin family has truly struck gold."

Upon hearing that, Lin Zhenshan sprang up from the ground like a lit firecracker.

He rushed a few steps to Lin Yanqian, seized her hand hard enough to whiten her knuckles, his expression shifting from terror to ecstasy, then to near‑exaggerated excitement.

His voice trembled, his speech rapid as a volley of gunfire.

"Daughter! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Becoming a Kunlun disciple is a blessing countless people dream of but never attain! Why didn't you tell your father!"

Lin Yanqian's hand ached from his grip; she frowned, trying to pull free, but after two tugs it wouldn't budge.

She looked at her father's red‑flushed, excited face, then glanced at Jiang Feng seated in the grand chair, feeling both annoyed and amused.

Her voice was soft, but tinged with a hint of helplessness.

Dad, I told you before, you don't believe me.

Lin Zhenshan's smile froze for a moment, then turned into an embarrassed grin.

That... that's not Dad being blind! Now I believe, now I believe!

He turned his head to look at the old steward, his voice rising eight degrees.

Issue orders Throughout the Lin Family! Including the second and third branches, as well as the Five Great Families of Tianzhou, everyone must attend to witness together! Make it grand! Make it splendid!

The old steward answered, and This Time he ran like the wind.

Jiang Feng sat in the grand chair, watching Lin Zhenshan's enthusiastic appearance, and said nothing.

He originally didn't care about these pomp and bustle, but Kunlun is after all the orthodox path of cultivation; the disciple-acceptance ceremony is a solemn affair, and its due procedures and etiquette must be observed.

Since Lin Zhenshan is willing to arrange things, he also couldn't be bothered to stop him.

He leaned back in the chair, his gaze lightly sweeping over the figures beginning to busy themselves outside the main hall, and spoke lightly.

First arrange a room for me; call me only when the initiation ceremony begins!

Yes! Mr. Jiang!

Linghu Xue rose voluntarily, standing like a maid beside Jiang Feng, and then the two left.

Throughout the Lin Family sprang into action.

The servants bustled back and forth in the Corridor and courtyards like startled ants.

The news spread like wings, flying from the main building to every corner of the Lin Family, then to every corner of Tianzhou City.

The Lin Family's eldest miss is about to become a disciple!