Lin Mu had thought of many ways that today might go, but getting an offer to become the heir of a sect was not one of them.
"You want me to become your disciple? I don't think that's possible. I already have a master." Lin Mu replied.
"Oh, you don't have to be my disciple. It's clear that your master is… far better than me. You simply have to become a member of my sect and the position of the patriarch will be yours the moment you reach Dao Treading realm." Patriarch Shandian said with a smile.
"That…" Lin Mu was even more lost.
~Sigh~
You Yi rubbed his forehead as if knowing something like this was expected.
"Hey! No fair. I didn't even get to offer my position." The Patriarch of the Light Harmony sect spoke.
"Huh?" Lin Mu looked on weirdly.
"I offer the same thing. Become part of my sect and you will be the next patriarch. Additionally, you can marry as many female disciples as you want. We have some really nice beauties in the sect." The Light Harmony sect Patriarch explained. "Oh, and resources are implied. You will get them as the chief disciples, anyway. All that you need. We are specialized in alchemical pills, so it should help your cultivation a lot." He added.
"W-why? You don't even know me?" Lin Mu questioned, finding it all absurd.
"We know enough. We have been talking with Patriarch You Yi and Patriarch Hua for a while now and got to somethings. And they are enough to deem you worth." The Light Harmony sect Patriarch answered.
"Not even a century old and already at the Dao Shell realm. Just that alone is enough to put you at the top of our world. I dare say that even the ancestors who became immortals cannot compare to you." Patriarch Shandian stated.
Lin Mu looked towards Patriarch You Yi with an inquisitive expression and the man sighed.
"I asked them to do all this after we finished the alliance ceremony, but… ~Sigh~ We've already managed to verify a lot of your claims about the world and the invader. Hence, we now have a great base to trust you.
And adding your qualification as a cultivator and the world's ordained itself, no sect will deny you from becoming their heir." Patriarch You Yi explained.
"Just from this? Aren't I still wanted by the other sect and even the top sects?" Lin Mu said, thinking that it was all too quick.
"Perhaps you don't understand… they are simply fools who don't know better. But once they do manage to figure out the truth, they will leave no stone unturned to bring you into their fold." You Yi replied. "And if that does not happen… they will quite possibly try to get rid of you." He warned.
Lin Mu furrowed his brows and couldn't help but think.
"He is right, you know?" Xukong finally spoke. "You are a very valuable commodity to the sects now. And if they can't have you, they won't want others to have you either."
Lin Mu heard his words and thought over it for a few seconds before looking at the three patriarchs.
"Hypothetically, I accept any one of yours offer… won't that mean the other sects will turn hostile, anyway?" Lin Mu asked. "We would just be back to square one then, won't we?"
"That is indeed true. But as long as we are in an alliance, they won't do much. We are already in opposition to the zither wind alliance and they are in the control of Gu Yao, so they are out of the equation for you.
As for the top sects… they might offer you similar terms, but they will not give you the position of the patriarch with assurance. They might make you one of the candidates and you will have to prove your capability there.
The top sects have a different method of choosing their patriarchs and it is not done by the members. Let's just say there is no human intervention in it. Thus, even if they want you to be the heir, they can't." You Yi explained.
Lin Mu thought over it, but had already known his answer.
"And I'm guessing you want the same from me too… Patriarch You Yi?" Lin Mu asked.
"Well… yes. But I'm not as shameless as these two to act without prudence and was waiting for the right time for it." You Yi replied.
The two patriarchs didn't even deny his word and simply looked on with shameless smiles.
"So what do you say? Join my black dune sect. While we don't have the same amount of pills, we do have a lot of Qi skills and techniques you can freely learn. As for the women, that's a given. You don't even have to marry them. Female disciples of my sect like powerful men, so they will be willing to be with you anyways." Shandian offered.
"That…" Lin Mu felt awkward, but knew it was best to end it here.
~huu~
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds. All the elders watched on in anticipation, wondering what Lin Mu's answer would be. If they were honest, they would jump on the offer if they were given it without hesitation.
The position of a patriarch was not something that could be given easily, and yet Lin Mu was getting it. They themselves would have shed blood for their sects for hundreds of years and still might not get the chance.
The high elders couldn't help but feel their faces twitch and one of them in particular, High Elder Bugi was the most envious.
Jing Luo though, was chuckling inside and was trying to hide his laugh, knowing exactly what Lin Mu's answer would be.
'You fools are in for disappointment. Someone like him cannot be limited to a world like ours. Just his master alone is probably enough to make him deny everyone. All that you offer cannot be enough for him. He can probably obtain all that on his own either way.' Jing Luo rightfully thought.
