Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 495 Clan Leader Training

In the aftermath, Bai Zihan slipped back into a monotonous, peaceful rhythm. His mornings were strictly reserved for sword training.

Stationed alone within the confines of the Bai Clan training grounds, he wielded his blade with surgical precision.

Every strike sliced through the atmosphere with absolute grace. Possessing Intermediate Sword Intent, it was fair to claim that Bai Zihan stood among the premier swordsmen of the Empire.

Nevertheless, mastery required endless repetition.

Even though his Cultivation had surged to the Void Refinement Realm, Bai Zihan harbored no desire to slack off. In truth, he pushed himself with greater intensity than before.

Sword practice.

Cultivation.

Occasional short intervals of rest.

Day by day, his schedule felt repetitive. Or so he assumed. One afternoon, just as Bai Zihan concluded his drills and prepared to return to his meditation, a servant approached him.

"Young Master, the Clan Leader requests your presence."

???

Bai Zihan felt bewildered by this abrupt summons.

Inside the clan's inner sanctum, Bai Tianheng sat behind a desk buried under stacks of reports and jade slips. He barely glanced up when Bai Zihan walked in. "You've arrived."

Bai Zihan cast a look at the mountain of paperwork, his brows twitching slightly.

"...What is the matter?"

Bai Tianheng shifted his gaze upward. He swept his eyes over his son briefly before speaking with a steady tone.

"Your current Cultivation is more than sufficient for the time being."

Bai Zihan arched an eyebrow.

"And?"

Bai Tianheng leaned back in his seat.

"The time has arrived for you to learn how to administer the Bai Clan."

These words caused Bai Zihan to immediately furrow his brow.

"I have no interest in that."

As the heir, he might hold the title in the distant future, but certainly not now. Running a clan? That was a task meant for others.

Of course, he wasn't even certain if he wanted the role at all.

Unfortunately, Bai Tianheng was not in the mood to entertain a refusal.

"You are not given a choice in this matter."

His voice remained calm yet absolute.

"As the future Clan Leader of the Bai Clan, you must grasp your obligations, whether it pleases you or not; otherwise, how could you possibly govern the Bai Clan in the years to come?"

Bai Zihan parted his lips to argue, but Bai Tianheng had already diverted his attention back to his documents.

"Starting this moment, you will shadow me," he instructed. "Observe and learn. That is how I acquired my knowledge."

His tone permitted no debate. Bai Zihan studied his father for a moment. It was clear that rejection was not on the table.

"...How troublesome," he muttered under his breath.

From that day forward, the peaceful routine Bai Zihan enjoyed vanished. Instead, he began tailing Bai Tianheng, shadowing him through all the clan's complex affairs.

At the start, Bai Zihan merely played the part of an observer. He watched as his father convened high-level meetings with the clan's Elders. They tackled issues such as:

The distribution of essential Cultivation resources.

The administration of clan territories.

Diplomatic negotiations with rival organizations.

The integration of domains recently seized from the Azure Sun Holy Sect.

Occasionally, Bai Tianheng would catch him off guard with a question,

"How would you handle this scenario?"

Initially, Bai Zihan just shrugged. However, as weeks turned into months, he began to provide serious responses. Sometimes his suggestions were brutal—even ruthless. Yet, remarkably, many proved highly effective.

Though he clearly despised the drudgery, his strategic intuition was sharp and decisive.

He was further burdened with lighter tasks: scrutinizing minor reports, selecting training grounds for disciples, managing security forces, endorsing budgets, and overseeing branch office summaries.

Naturally, Bai Zihan found the entire ordeal incredibly tedious. Yet inexplicably, he performed his duties quite skillfully.

Bai Zihan was also dispatched to represent the clan in meetings where Bai Tianheng was typically expected.

While others might have dared to protest, they yielded when they saw it was Bai Zihan who arrived.

Who could possibly raise an objection?

Who still possessed the audacity to underestimate Bai Zihan?

The populace began to take notice, though they viewed the transition as entirely natural.

After all, Bai Zihan was the undisputed heir. Real competition had never existed.

Whispers had surfaced long ago, back when he was falsely believed to be crippled.

Some had debated whether the succession would shift, whether a rival claimant might rise to take the mantle. But those doubts evaporated the moment he was seen to be fully recovered. His body had healed, and his Cultivation had shattered all previous expectations.

Furthermore, it was tradition for a Clan Leader to personally groom the next successor—imparting wisdom on administration, the nuance of difficult judgments, and the intricacies of external relations.

This was a time-honored practice, usually performed when the reigning leader neared a breakthrough into the Immortal Realm.

Given the current trajectory of the Bai Clan, it appeared Bai Tianheng might reach that threshold sooner than anyone anticipated.

Ordinarily, these measures began when a son reached the age of thirty or older.

Quiet hushes among the Elders often centered on this exact topic.

"It is possible Bai Tianheng is readying himself to pass the mantle to him."

"Indeed! The Clan Leader approaches a breakthrough. If he intends to ascend to the Immortal Realm, he must enter an extended period of seclusion. During that time, the clan requires a potent leader. Who could possibly be more worthy than Bai Zihan?" Admittedly, certain concerns remained. Bai Zihan was still a youth, and his worldly maturity occasionally failed to keep pace with his innate talent.

At times, he acted upon personal whims rather than considering the broader clan interest. Even so, the advantages he displayed made these minor flaws trivial.

The Elders were impressed not only by his immense Cultivation but by his sharp intellect and his cold-blooded efficiency, which made him the natural choice.

There was no candidate more fitting within the inner circle—or perhaps, anywhere within the entire empire.

As time bled into the future, this reality grew increasingly apparent. Even among the younger disciples, there were no murmurs of dissent.

The timing was impeccable. With Bai Tianheng on the precipice of his breakthrough and inevitable seclusion, the clan could not afford internal hesitation.

The successor needed to be prepared—mentored, experienced, and capable of rendering firm judgment.

Bai Zihan embodied these traits perfectly. No one dared to doubt it. No one dared to challenge it.

The inherent order of succession was solidified.

If anything, the outcome felt predestined.

Even in the deepest thoughts of the Elders and branch heads, a single consensus persisted: perhaps no one possessed the capacity to lead quite like him.

Without a shadow of a doubt, it stood as the most logical, natural decision the Bai Clan could ever reach.