The White Lotus Clan was divided into three factions, each led by one of the current clan head's grandchildren.
The eldest granddaughter was a capable Sequence 3 and had built a respectable faction over the years.
The second grandson, Julius, was the clan's biggest disappointment. Despite being born into one of the country's most powerful clans, he had failed to advance beyond Sequence 2. Most had already written him off as someone with no real chance of inheriting the clan.
The youngest grandson was the clan's pride. A once-in-a-generation genius, he had reached Sequence 3 early in life, and most believed it was only a matter of time before he became the next clan head.
Their grandfather, the current clan head, made no secret of his expectations. Of the three, the youngest had always been his favorite, and most people believed the succession had already been decided.
Inside the White Lotus Clan Headquarters, Julius sat silently behind his desk.
One of his longtime supporters stood across from him, an envelope already in hand.
"I'm sorry, Julius," the man said. "I can't keep working for you anymore. Lady Evelyn made me a better offer."
Julius looked up.
"So... you're leaving too?"
The man lowered his head.
"I have a family to think about. Everyone knows how this succession is going to end. I can't stay on a sinking ship."
"I'll pay you double," Julius said immediately. "You know exactly what she's doing. She's throwing money around so people abandon my faction. Once the succession is over, she'll have no reason to keep any of you."
The man gave a bitter smile.
"Maybe."
He paused.
"But at least she'll still have a faction to lead."
Without another word, he placed his resignation on the desk, turned around, and walked out.
The office fell silent.
Julius stared at the closed door.
That made three people who had left him today alone.
People he had trusted for years were abandoning him one after another. Some accepted better offers. Some gave in to threats. Others simply didn't believe he had any chance of winning.
If he lost the succession, his faction would fall apart, his influence would disappear, and he'd be left with nothing more than a meaningless position inside the clan.
Bit by bit, everything he had built was slipping through his fingers.
Just then, the landline on his desk rang.
Julius let out a tired sigh before answering.
"...Don't tell me you're leaving too."
Silence.
For a few seconds, the only sound was the faint static on the line.
Then a heavily distorted voice spoke.
"No. Quite the opposite."
"I'm calling because I want to help you become the next clan head."
Julius' expression hardened.
The voice was so heavily distorted he couldn't even tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
"Who the hell are you?"
Julius checked the caller ID.
The display showed nothing but zeros.
Whoever was calling had deliberately hidden their identity.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked. "And what do you want?"
"Who I am isn't important," the distorted voice replied. "What's important is what I'm capable of."
"I'll give you a small demonstration before we discuss anything else."
A knock came from the door.
Julius frowned.
"Come in."
His secretary stepped inside carrying a sealed envelope.
"A fax just came in for you."
Julius looked back at the phone.
"You should take a look," the voice said calmly.
Julius opened the envelope.
Inside were several pages of internal documents.
They listed names, dates, secret operations and crimes, and financial trails linking politicians, contractors, and the clan.
None of it should have been accessible to anyone outside the clan.
Julius slowly lowered the papers.
"I don't know who you are," he said coldly, "but you're messing with the wrong people. If this is some pathetic attempt at blackmail, it won't end well for you."
A quiet chuckle came from the other end.
"You asked who I am. I told you I'd show you what I'm capable of first."
"I'm calling because I can help you win the succession."
Julius remained silent.
"You don't have to believe me. Just ask yourself one question."
"If I can get my hands on information like that... what else do you think I know?"
"And what do you want out of this?" Julius finally asked.
The distorted voice continued. "If we reach an agreement, I expect resources in return."
"Think of it as a long-term partnership."
A brief pause.
Julius remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"I understand what you're trying to do," he said. "You'll feed me information about what my brother and sister are planning so I can stay one step ahead of them."
"But it doesn't solve the real problem."
"In this world, strength decides everything. Politics, influence, money... none of it matters if you don't have the power to stand behind it."
"People who are born without talent don't go far in life. I used to think I was an exception because I was born into one of the country's strongest clans. But the reality is same for everyone."
"I poured every resource I had into my cultivation just to reach Sequence 2. That was my limit. A dead end. My aptitude simply wasn't enough to go any further."
"I refused to accept it, so I tried forcing a breakthrough to Sequence 3."
He paused for a moment.
"I failed."
"The backlash damaged my ether core. The doctors warned me that if I attempt another breakthrough, there's a good chance it'll shatter completely. If that happened, I'd become a cripple, unable to use ether for the rest of my life."
He looked back at the documents scattered across his desk.
"So tell me... even if you hand me every secret my siblings have, even if you help me win a few political battles, what changes?"
"At the end of the day, I'm still a talentless Sequence 2 standing between two Sequence 3 prodigies."
Lian's voice remained calm.
"If you still think talent and aptitude alone decide a person's future, you're looking at the world through a narrow lens."
"Domains are the remains of civilizations far older than ours. Every time one is explored, new knowledge comes to light. Most of it never reaches the public."
"Remember when two minutes ago I said"
'If I can get my hands on information like that... what else do you think I know?'
"You assumed I was talking about your siblings."
"I wasn't."
"I'm talking about governments. Clans. Corporations. It doesn't matter. Sooner or later, any powerful person hiding a valuable secret becomes a target."
"I work for an organization that specializes in acquiring those secrets."
"Not long ago, the Kingdom of Ferngard explored a newly discovered Domain."
"Among the things they recovered was the formula for a potion. One capable of increasing the speed of ascension by more than tenfold."
Julius frowned.
"And you're telling me your organization stole it?"
"Call it whatever you like," Lian said. "The important part is that we have it."
"The method isn't simple. It requires an enormous amount of resources and Sequence 2 soul cores, and it has a long, complex refinement process. Most attempts fail before the potion is even completed."
"But once the potion is refined successfully, it works."
"I know because I used it myself to reach Sequence 3."
Julius frowned.
"I still can't believe you. It sounds too good to be true. How do I know you're not making all of this up just to scam me out of my resources?"
Julius was unfortunately right on this one as Lian made that whole thing up.
Lian didn't answer immediately.
"You can choose not to trust me. That's completely fine."
"Trust isn't built with promises. It's built with results."
"So let's not start with the potion."
"For now, we'll keep things simple."
"Not just your brother and sister. I know far more about what's happening inside your clan than you realize."
"Who is meeting whom. What proposals are being prepared. Which factions are trying to pull people to their side."
"I'll tell you what they're planning before they make their move."
"How you use that information is your decision."
"If it earns you results, you pay me with resources."
"Once you've decided I'm worth working with, we'll talk about the potion."
Julius remained silent for a long moment before giving a short nod.
"Fine."
"I'll see what you're capable of."
--
The following day, Lian contacted Julius again.
The clan would soon be presenting proposals for a major military weapons contract, with each of the three factions preparing its own design.
Lian sent Julius copies of the proposals his brother's and sister's factions had prepared.
After comparing them, Julius abandoned his own draft. He took his sister's proposal, improved several of its weaker points, and submitted it as his own.
When the proposals were presented, his proposal stood out from the rest, earning him responsibility for overseeing the project.
As promised, Julius sent Lian the agreed-upon resources shortly afterward.
Lian's plan somehow worked, and he's planning to extort everything once Julius is pushed into a corner. Since Julius doesn't know anything about Lian, he can't do anything if Lian ever chooses to betray him. Meanwhile, Lian is already digging Julius' grave. Once Lian has all the secrets and evidence of all the crimes and shady shit Julius has been doing with him, Lian can extract as much value as possible, then sell him out and send him to jail.