Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?!-Chapter 106-Merit System

Fang Yuan sat quietly in his room, the moonlight spilling across his table like silver ink.

A soft breeze rustled the scrolls and open books before him, but he didn’t move.

His eyes were distant, shadowed by thought.

"So... Elder Yin was ostracised by the very village she protected all these years? She never spoke about that..."

He leaned back slowly, arms folded, gaze fixed on the ceiling as if trying to see through the wooden beams above.

"How did she endure it?" he murmured. "How patient must she have been...? Would I have able to think about them if that had been me?"

The memory came unbidden.

Elder Yin, with her ever-circular way of speaking, always skirting the point, never quite direct had stood before him during the last elder meeting.

Her tone had been polite, her words cautious, but the request beneath it was clear: help for the villagers.

Fang Yuan hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Just a passing suggestion, irrigation trenches, nothing elaborate.

Simple, effective, easy to implement even with mortal means.

Yet to her, it had been like hearing a divine revelation. This world didn’t know irrigation yet and what he had said was the solution she had been seeking for.

She had clung to that suggestion with startling zeal, her eyes alight with the kind of gratitude that made him feel... uncomfortable.

His gaze lowered, fingers idly brushing the edge of his sleeve.

She had been ostracised, rejected by the very people she was meant to protect.

Yet when the chance came, she didn’t hesitate to help them.

He wondered, when she stepped back into that village, did she share the idea of his to the villagers? Try to ask for their help?

Or did she quietly get to work alone, sleeves rolled up, digging trenches with her own hands under the summer sun, just to help the villagers despite how they ostracised her?

Fang Yuan’s expression darkened.

If she did it silently, without asking for recognition or help, simply because she believed in her duty... then he had misjudged her strength. Perhaps even her heart.

A knot formed in his chest, unfamiliar yet heavy. He realised something bitter, he had become the clan head, yes.

He had wielded power, made decisions, fought enemies.

But he had never truly looked... never examined, deeply, what his elders carried behind their bowed backs.

Never asked what they had sacrificed to keep the clan standing.

Only now did he begin to understand.

Their time.

Time they could have spent with their families... lost.

Time they could have used to cultivate, to grow stronger... traded away.

All so the younger generation could have a place to stand.

They had endured quietly, bearing the weight of the clan even when it meant setting aside their own ambitions, their own peace.

And yet, they had never once asked for praise.

Fang Yuan’s chest tightened.

They had been willing to shoulder that burden... simply because someone had to.

Fang Yuan exhaled, long and low.

A sigh that came from somewhere deep.

"Hah... I suppose it’s time I start with what I can fix."

He sat up straighter, brushing his sleeve aside as a golden system screen bloomed into view at his gesture.

Lines of numbers flickered across it, the latest glowing softly in the corner.

[System Points Available: 121,000 SP]

He narrowed his eyes. It had sat unused.

"Let’s use this. Raise the potential of our talents... equip the family properly."

With a flick of his hand, he summoned a blank scroll and began to write.

"First," he murmured, "finalise the Lin family trade deal. That will stabilize our outer economy. And also solve our immediate problem for finance."

The brush glided across the parchment.

"Second... make full use of the alchemical notes Fang Tian left behind.

Turn it into a monopoly of spirit-grade pills. This should help us stabilise our finance as well."

His movements quickened, each stroke of the brush more confident than the last.

"Create spirit gathering formations across the compound. No—dedicated cultivation chambers... access granted based on merit. That should fuel competition and reward hard work."

He paused.

A flash of guilt crossed his face as he recalled the recent past.

"...Fang Mei and Fang Lian."

Fang Yuan set the brush down, his gaze falling to the fresh ink still glistening on the scroll. His thoughts wandered back, uninvited but clear.

He had let them use the spirit pond freely, without requiring anything in return.

At the time, it felt natural. One was family, the other his disciple.

But now...

He sighed, rubbing his temple.

"I let them skip the line while the others had to earn their place," he muttered.

There was no anger in his voice, just quiet honesty.

"It’s not fair. Not to the ones who’ve worked for it."

He leaned back in his chair, eyes drifting toward the half-open window where the first rays of dawn were slipping in.

"Favoritism, even when unintentional, sends the wrong message. If I don’t fix this now, I’ll lose the clan before I build it."

He clenched his jaw.

"That’s not the kind of leader I want to be."

He added a final note on the scroll:

All opportunities, spirit ponds, elixirs, resources will follow a merit-based system. No exceptions.

He sat back, staring at the list now filled with reforms, principles, and plans.

His hand ached slightly from writing, but he felt lighter.

The sky outside was already lightening, streaks of orange and gold cutting across the night.

Fang Yuan looked out the window, eyes thoughtful but this time, there was something new behind them.

He cracked a faint smile.

"Hah... finally. The internal system is done."

He rolled up the scroll and tied it with a red silk string.

"All that’s left... is to implement it."

Fang Yuan stretched, the stiffness of a sleepless night easing from his limbs.

A rare, small smile touched his lips as he pushed open the chamber door.

And froze.