Chapter 52 - Crossroad (1)

Lin Feng

"Congratulations, Wenming. I will definitely clear up my entire day's schedule to help out for your engagement party." Lin Feng happily offers.

"My family has hired a wedding planner to get everything sorted out. You just need to be there during the engagement party. My wedding day however, you won't be able to escape being busy for the entire day." Yang Wenming answers.

"So, did your family picked your fiancée for you? When do I get to meet her?" Lin Feng continues to question his best friend.

"You make it sounds like I don't have much of a say in my own marriage. I did go on a number of arranged dates before meeting Zhao Min. We did go on a few more dates after that before deciding to get engaged. I will try to organize a dinner to introduce you to her before the engagement party." Yang Wenming then unlocked his phone to show Lin Feng a photo of his fiancée.

The couple photo on the phone is a selfie taken by Zhao Min and Lin Feng has to say his best friend just got himself a very beautiful fiancée.

"She looks quite young though. As an official that upholds the law, I hope you have not knowingly committed a crime here. Knowing your personality, how did you deceive her into becoming your fiancée after just a few dates? She is beautiful and since it is an arranged date by your family, most likely comes from another prominent family. Given her qualities, her suitors could probably form a long line that stretches for miles." Lin Feng couldn't help teasing his best friend with a hint of envy.

"Hey, why would I need to resort to deception. I have my qualities, ok? My looks might not compare to all the celebrities out there but I will say that it's definitely above average. I am tall, have a successful career and comes from a prominent and well-respected family. How many guys do you know out there that can beat my qualities as an eligible bachelor? And what crime? My fiancée just has a baby face. She is in her last year of her undergraduate study and definitely of legal marriage age." Yang Wenming proudly counters. "It is not like both of us have much of a choice. Both our families knew the truth behind and has been aggressively pushing every single descendant to get married. As for those who are already married, there is a very big carrot out there for every new child that is being born. Our families are now obsessed with having as many descendants as possible. You don't have to envy me though. If you are open to the idea, you just have to say the word and I can guarantee you all the prominent families in my social circle are more than happy to have their eligible daughters go on an arranged date with you. Look at your cousin, Lin Fu. He even gets to have the country arrange a bride for him."

Lin Fu situation is a unique one though. He is the earliest Earth cultivator to lose his physical body back on Earth, turning him into Earth's first permanent resident in the cultivation world. Due to Earth cultivators' unique constitution, both the sect and the government has greatly encouraged him to marry early and validate if his progenies will also inherit Earth cultivators' superb cultivation talent. Due to his mission on Norozza, he had only met his cousin once when Lin Fu got married more than three years back.

Lin Feng must say that Lin Fu got a very good deal out of the whole arrangement. Although her bride only possesses a grade five cultivation talent, far inferior to Lin Fu's grade three talent, she is only a year younger than Lin Fu and a top-notch beauty and comes from a very respectable clan in the lower realm. Over the past three years, her sister-in-law had given birth to a son and daughter. However, none of Lin Fu's two children managed to inherit his superb cultivation talent. His eldest nephew only has a grade seven talent and his younger niece, a grade five talent. Just like the rest of the cultivation world, even Earth cultivators' progenies are subject to the same genetic inheritance randomness and up to fate.

Although the sample size is small, adding up Lin Fu family's situation with seven other Earth cultivators' families that is in an almost similar situation, the sect has concluded that Earth possesses a unique environment that helps to elevate a person cultivation talent over time. However, there seems to be a limit to how far a person talent could be elevated. If not, there won't still be a minority of Earth cultivators that only possess a grade seven spirit root or immortal bone.

"Haha, given our relationship, is there a need for you to say such pleasantries? Sure, our family has benefited a lot from being some of Earth's earliest cultivators and doing very well for ourselves in the lower realm. That's is still nothing in comparison to all those prominent families. I don't see any compelling reason why I have suddenly become a highly sought after son-in-law." Lin Feng is rather amused by his best friend's claim. There is not much of a reason those treasured daughters of prominent family will show any interest in him. From a physical stand point, he looks decent but it is still a far cry from being handsome enough for ladies to swoon over. In terms of career, he performs well but it is definitely nothing in comparison to Yang Wenming's glowing career achievements. Although wealth disparity is less of a hurdle in modern society, the few successful marriage are the outliers rather than the norm. Most marriage with such a huge disparity in wealth usually don't end well.

"You seem to have severely underestimated your own appeal to all the prominent families out there. Sure, not all prominent families know the truth behind but I can confidently tell you they definitely suspect is far more important than the official statements that has been released to date. The government has been diverting far too many strategic resources into . More importantly, there is no hiding the fact that all the prominent families that are aware of the truth behind is now aggressively pushing their progenies to get married and have children. As I have told you before, those in the know are made up of different factions and it is blatantly obvious something is amiss when everyone of them are suddenly singing to the same tune. If you are in the position of those prominent families that don't have all the answers, what will you do?"

"The safest course is to emulate what your family has been doing as long as the risk is acceptable." Lin Feng cautiously answered.

"Exactly. Even if the other prominent families not in the know copy our family's action, what is there to lose? The country's plummeting fertility rate is a major concern and it doesn't hurt to show a proactive stance supporting the government's policy encouraging childbirth. Let's first talk about your family. Your family's unique circumstance didn't exactly go unnoticed to the rest of the prominent families. It will be irresponsible of the government not to vet your entire family before offering so many preferential treatments to aid your family's growth in the lower realm. Those prominent families' wealth and relationships don't carry as much weight in the cultivation world. Your family on the other hand holds a lot of resources in the lower realm. Take the lands your family own in Ovina alone, it might just be a single percent and sounds rather insignificant but even you knew how valuable those lands will become in the future and will not sell for any amount of money. Just imagine your family owning a single percent of all land in the center of Beijing or Shanghai, do you still think that your family's wealth couldn't compare to those prominent families?"

"Wow, my family does sound impressive if you phrase it that way." Lin Feng subconsciously agrees.

"Next, let's talk about you. Your qualities as an eligible bachelor aren't that far worse than mine. For those prominent families that don't have the entire truth, their daughter marrying you means that they will obtain even more information behind and if they are lucky, the entire truth. As for your career, the government has also place you on the fast tract. You should seriously consider my suggestion to get married early and plan for a large family. It will definitely help to further strengthen your family's position in the lower realm a few decades down the road. As long as I put the word out there for you, those prominent families will definitely set you up with their most promising daughter."