Silence. Dead silence. Not a sound.
For a moment, the hall held no noise, only faint breaths.
Tens of thousands of gazes converged on that one person.
The vast arena held only one person standing; all other opponents lay beneath the platform.
Feng Lin stood alone on the high stage, feeling the loneliness of invincibility.
That family prodigal son, Feng Lang, was utterly stunned.
He never imagined Feng Lin had truly done it.
Outnumbered, he had violently swept all opponents away, unmatched and unrivaled.
Among them were three of his former nemeses, whose names Feng Lin didn't even know, yet he had swept them aside, fulfilling his earlier promise.
Feng Lang's expression was incredibly complex, feeling that, without realizing it, Feng Lin had grown to a level he could never reach, like a sparrow unaware of an eagle soaring tens of thousands of meters high, overlooking the world.
The entire venue fell silent. After a long pause, a solitary clap suddenly rang out, jarringly abrupt.
But the applause quickly spread, rippling across the whole crowd, as everyone paid tribute to the new champion of this family ranking tournament.
In the interstellar era, genetic cultivation and life evolution had become the mainstream of humanity.
In the cruel universe, governed by the dark forest law, the life-and-death struggles between cosmic races made people deeply understand the importance of strength and respect the powerful.
Though Feng Lin had been unknown before, his meteoric rise, with peerless strength among his generation, earned the respect of the entire clan, and they applauded him with the highest esteem.
The clan leader stood on the high platform, looking at the top ten fighters being helped up from the ground below the arena, and felt a headache coming on.
In this chaotic battle mode, ranking was determined by how long one lasted.
Now, these people had been swept down almost simultaneously—how was he supposed to rank them?
It wasn't that they were weak; it was that their opponent was too strong.
Feng Lin stood alone on the arena, with no rival in sight, already the undisputed strongest among the younger generation of the clan.
"The final victor of the family ranking tournament: Feng Lin!" The clan leader made a swift decision and announced, "Now, as the clan's top genius and champion reward, we decide to award you ten million family points!"
"So many family points! This Feng Lin is about to hit the jackpot!"
"Previous champions of the ranking tournament didn't get this many points. These points are enough to jump Feng Lin from the lowest 9th-level clan member straight to 2nd-level, becoming one of the upper-class members!"
"Isn't that normal? Though Feng Lin is the lowest lower-class member, with his strength, becoming upper-class is just a matter of time. The clan leader is just returning the favor!"
...
A wave of murmurs swept through the clan—envy, jealousy... sounds that lingered, refusing to fade.
The Feng clan had a strict hierarchy, divided into levels 1 through 9.
Level 9 was the lowest, level 1 the highest.
The higher a clan member's level, the more tangible and intangible benefits they enjoyed, receiving a heavy tilt of clan resources.
Lower-class members lived in cramped underground spaces, while upper-class members enjoyed imperial treatment—the gap was immense.
To raise one's level, there was only one way.
Earn family points, and lots of them.
These family points were hard to come by, requiring personal contributions to the clan, making them extremely precious.
Points were almost all-powerful within the clan; they could be spent to exchange for anything the clan could provide—star coins, gene potions, techniques, martial arts... everything imaginable.
The more points, the more valuable the resources one could obtain.
But the greatest use of family points was to raise one's level within the clan.
Going from level 9 to level 8 only required 10 points, from level 8 to level 7 needed 100 points, and so on, with each subsequent level requiring ten times the points of the previous one.
With Feng Lin receiving ten million points at once, he could directly jump from a 9th-level clan member to a 2nd-level one, becoming a true upper-class member, just one level below the clan's direct descendants.
All clan members watched with burning eyes—so many points were incredibly tempting.
But the clan had always favored geniuses, so there was little to say.
Feng Lin was the undisputed first in the family ranking tournament, defeating many alone, sweeping all opponents with an invincible stance.
Such stunning and powerful performance deserved such high points.
This way, he would receive the clan's full support to tackle the interstellar college entrance exams, with a real chance of getting into genuine interstellar universities.
They seemed to see a new clan star rising.
But what puzzled them was that most people, upon receiving so many family points, would be ecstatic.
Feng Lin, however, remained calm, showing no joy at all. He slowly spoke, and his words shocked the entire venue into dead silence.
"I want to give all these points to my family!"
"What?"
"Is he crazy?"
"Giving up family points—does he want to stay a lower-class member forever?"
...
Shock after shock; they looked at Feng Lin with eyes full of confusion, bewilderment, doubt...
No one expected Feng Lin to make such an unwise choice, effectively giving up a bright future. Without the clan's support, it would be hard for him to keep advancing.
Though Feng Lin didn't know what they were thinking, he could tell from their astonished gazes.
He didn't care at all.
Did he win first place against many opponents thanks to the clan's support?
The so-called geniuses nurtured by this clan's support had been swept and defeated by him—nothing special. How good could their resource allocation be?
After all, flowers raised in a greenhouse were only good for show.
Now, Feng Lin had obtained all the foundations of Giant Pharmaceutical, become a gene pharmacist and a junior elite hypnotist, and was walking the unprecedented path of Sun Wukong's myth, with limitless potential.
Feng Lin had full confidence; he himself was a powerhouse, with ample foundation.
If he continued to grow, he could spawn a powerful clan on his own—nothing was impossible.
So why should he fight with these clan members over meager resources?
The clan's resource support might be important to others, but Feng Lin didn't care at all.
The only thing tying him down now was his family!
The gap in life level between Feng Lin and his family was growing, and with time, it would widen until it became an unbridgeable chasm.
Feng Lin had embarked on the path of cultivation; his future journey lay among the stars, destined to be a lonely and infinite voyage.
His family were his relatives in this life. As a child, he had to repay the debts of karma and kindness.
Only by properly settling his family could Feng Lin set out to pursue his own path with peace of mind.
When he was weak and oppressed by the head steward and the clan, he had thought about leaving.
But Feng Lin wasn't reckless. Calming down, he realized that would be immature and irresponsible.
The solar system was a chaotic star region, where laws were virtually nonexistent. The outside world was far too complex and dangerous.
With his cultivation, Feng Lin wasn't worried; he could come and go freely, thriving anywhere he went.
But his parents, younger brother, and sister were ordinary people.
If he left and they didn't go with him, they would surely suffer bullying at home.
If they went with him, the harsh outside environment meant Feng Lin couldn't be everywhere at once to protect them.
If he stayed by his family's side, how could he cultivate?
One couldn't be too selfish, but also not too selfless.
So Feng Lin decided to do what was most appropriate for his family at the moment.
He chose to give all the family points he had earned to his family, allowing them all to jump to level 3 clan members, enjoying the clan's generous treatment.
And this was just level 3, the lowest level of upper-class members, without touching the core interests of the clan's high echelons.
For an ordinary family, staying low-key was best, avoiding deliberate harassment.
As long as he kept growing, he believed the clan wouldn't be foolish enough to oppose him when he had risen, targeting his family. Instead, they would greatly favor them to win his loyalty.
His existence was the support behind his family; no one would dare bully them.
Feng Lin could ensure his family lived in peace and happiness within the clan.
If his younger siblings later showed great cultivation potential, Feng Lin wouldn't mind giving them a hand.
Feng Lin chose to stay in this clan he deeply disliked, all for his family, nothing else.
The clan leader paused, surprised that this suddenly rising clan member had made such a choice.
Family points—how precious were they?
To selflessly give them away was truly admirable.
But he didn't know that Feng Lin wasn't just selfless; he simply didn't care.
He could live well even if he left the clan; points were neither here nor there for him.
Cultivation on his person was the real treasure, something no one could take away.
With great strength, who would dare look down on him for being a level 9 clan member?
"Are you keeping nothing for yourself?" The clan leader looked deeply into Feng Lin's eyes, confirming again.
"That's right!" Feng Lin shook his head, giving a firm answer.
With those words, the matter was settled.
From all directions, gazes fell on Feng Lin's parents, filled with envy, envying them for having such a good son.
As the old saying goes: When one person attains enlightenment, the whole household ascends to heaven.