Chapter 53 - Crossroad (2)

Lin Feng

Lin Feng is seriously contemplating Yang Wenming's proposal. He has been increasingly spending more and more time in . He is too busy working to have any personal time to meet someone special outside of work. As for dating someone from work? Norozza is a world controlled by deviant sects. As such, his superiors have chosen to assign only male cultivators to mitigate any possible complications that may arise from sending female cultivators there. As for the support staffs he regularly met back on Earth, only the most senior and experienced staff are being assigned to the task force. That means all females he has interaction with are all either married or twenty years his senior.

As for the future, Lin Feng still has no idea where he will be transferred to but it will definitely not be on Eldorin or Xinyuan. The country has far too few cultivators in the third major realm. It will be a total waste of human resources assigning them to safe worlds when these cultivators can accomplish so much more in the rest of the lower realm worlds. He could follow Lin Fu's foot step and marry a lower realm native but he will have to contend with the uncertainty in his children's cultivation talent. If given an option, any parents will want their children to be born with the best possible traits. Physically appealing, high intelligence and emotional quotient and with the recent development, high cultivation talent as well.

"If I am open to the idea of an arrange date, those plots in television drama won't happen right? My wife looks down on my family members. Years down the road, it is revealed all my children aren't mine. All my family's asset ended up in my wife's hand before divorcing me and left me with debts that can't be repaid within a few lifetimes." Lin Feng cautiously asks.

Yang Wenming laugh out loud hearing his best friend's question. "If you want me to say that such a thing only happens in dramas, you are wrong. However, let me assure you that all those plot twists will never happen with any prominent that values their lineage and reputation. Unless they no longer want to seal future alliance through marriages, your future in-laws will never pull such foolish stunts. If they dare to do it once, who can guarantee they won't dare to do something similar in the future? None of the prominent families in my circle will ever dare to marry their daughters into such a family nor dare to risk daughters from such a family marrying into ours. Relax, you are my family's benefactor. has elevated our family's political achievement more than you can imagine. My family's reputation and honor will be greatly tarnished if you ended up with a bad marriage. I can guarantee you my family will thoroughly vet all your prospective fiancée before arranging a date for you. If you are still worried, you can consider an experimental government program. Just like your cousin Lin Fu, the country will find a suitable wife for you."

"What's the catch? With Lin Fu, the country and the sect hopes to validate a hypothesis when it comes to Earth cultivators' progenies born in the lower realm. What do the country needs me to do if I take up the offer?"

"To most guys, it will be a dream come true but knowing you, you are more than likely to reject it. If you are to take up the offer, the country will introduce a suitable wife to you on Earth and a few suitable concubines in the lower realm."

"Are you serious? Why would the country attempt something so controversial?" Lin Feng can't believe what he is hearing.

"The country doesn't have much of a choice in this matter. There is no way our country can ever prevent our citizens from having multiple wives and concubines in the lower realm. You are well aware having multiple wives and concubines in the cultivation world is legally recognized, right? Their rights are very well protected unlike the sordid practice on Earth during ancient times where concubines and their children are poorly treated. Let's not even look back to ancient practice, even in our current time, there is no stopping some of the rich and powerful from having more than a single family. It is just that those rich and powerful figures kept their private life away from the public prying eyes. With the rise of Earth cultivators in the lower realm decades down the road, even if only a fraction of our country's cultivators took more than one wife, the sheer numbers alone will become a major social problem. Let's take a step back, access to means those cultivators planning to have more than one wife can always take refuge with Immortal Ascension Pavillion where polygamous marriage is recognized. Given how fickle human nature is, can you imagine how many citizens our country will lose just to the sect alone? Don't think that only male cultivators can't resist the allure of having a harem. You have spent enough time on Norozza to witness how some of those female deviant cultivators have a harem of male consorts. Don't worry about the controversial that might arise. It is easy to criticize but even the country's brightest mind couldn't come up with the perfect solution at this point in time."

"I don't think I will take up the country's offer. Family is important. I really don't want to see my family descend into chaos as my wives fought for favor and children destroy each other over inheritance. Take all those ancient costume dramas as an example, the infighting within the imperial harem is just nasty business and I don't want to see it happen within my family. Having more than one wife is overrated and well not worth the trouble. I believe the country has also made a similar offer to you, right?" Lin Feng tried probing his best friend.

 "The government did make a similar offer. Let's just say that despite the government best effort, there is still a possibility something might go awfully wrong. There is a reason why it is called an experimental program. As the saying goes, it is difficult to fully grasp a person true intention. One wrong wife or concubine and my family might descend into total chaos like those imperial harem dramas you mentioned. My family is in a very good position right now and we don't have any grand ambition that need us to quickly grow our family's descendants. I rather someone else becomes the lab rat exploring all the possible pitfalls. It all comes down to how grand you family's ambition is. If your family plans to establish their very own kingdom in the lower realm, it is always good to have a large family. A family with a hundred fourth major realm cultivators can better defend its territory than a family with just twenty fourth major realm cultivators."

"Oh, don't worry about my family. There is definitely no grand ambition whatsoever. We are just trying to achieve financial freedom, never having to worry about money ever again. So, my family is in a very good position as well. Arranged date is fine but no thank you to starting a harem. I am not keen of being used as a lab rat either."

 "If that's the case, things are much more straightforward. Before we discuss about your next assignment, I still have to offer you a word of advice in regards to your family. Bai Xue is currently taking charge of your entire family's direction and fortune. Bai Xue father is an orphan. That means you don't have to worry about any relatives on your uncle side. However, that won't be the case when it comes to her husband, Wu Yang. Wu Yang and his parents are upright citizens but I can't say the same when it comes to some of their relatives. Things are alright now but I can assure you that his relatives will become a problem as gains more visibility and momentum. There is no hiding the fact that your family is one of the early pioneers and at the rate the media is publishing all those money poured into , those relatives will come knocking like how sharks smelled blood. It is best you speak to Bai Xue and come up with a solution before his husband's relatives becomes a problem in the future."

Lin Feng is rather surprised hearing that. "How far did the country investigate my family? Is there a need for the government to waste precious resources investigating my distance relatives as well?"

" is a matter of national security and investigating your distance relatives is part of the procedure before your promotion. What? You think this reassignment is just a lateral move? Then, surprise and congratulation! The country is promoting you and your security clearance is getting upgraded a few ranks. Not only that, you get to choose your next assignment too. There are just too many places where the country needs a third major realm cultivator."