Holy Son

Yaoguang Palace.

This ancient palace had been built by the sect's founding patriarch himself. It used many rare divine materials, including Nine Heavens Divine Jade and Daluo Silver Essence, both of which could be used to forge Saint Artifacts.

Sacred light shone pure and clean, and divine might surged through the hall.

A divine statue shrouded in Chaos Qi stood at the very front of the grand hall. Its face and figure were impossible to make out; only its profound, sea-like divine might could be sensed.

Holy Lord Li Daoqing of Yaoguang, along with the Supreme Elders of the various lineages—sixteen mighty figures in the Immortal Platform Realm in all—watched the young man before them.

No one else had come to witness the ceremony, nor was anyone else needed.

Fang Yang wore a white Daoist robe embroidered with gold. Without a single other ornament on him, he stood solemnly, prepared to accept the Holy Son Position.

"From this day forward, you are the Holy Son of this generation of the Yao Guang Sacred Land."

Li Daoqing solemnly placed a dragon-shaped jade pendant and a small cauldron modeled after the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron into Fang Yang's hands.

He hadn't expected Fang Yang to progress so quickly. It hadn't been long at all, and yet he had already become the Yaoguang Holy Son. The young truly were to be feared.

"This dragon-shaped jade pendant is the token of the Yaoguang Holy Son. With it, you hold the same status as an Immortal First Layer elder and may enjoy the same privileges, including your annual allotment of spirit medicines, precious materials, Source Stones..."

"This imitation Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron is a mighty treasure interwoven with the Dao and its principles. It is your reward for defeating the previous Holy Son. Even if you lose the Holy Son Position in the future, it will not be taken back."

"But I hope that day never comes."

Fang Yang accepted the two treasures, hung the dragon-shaped jade pendant from his waist, and held the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron aloft in his left hand.

There was no need for more words.

The strong claimed the Holy Son Position, and the weak lost it.

Fang Yang was confident that no one in the Yao Guang Sacred Land could threaten his position now.

Afterward, the Supreme Elders of the various lineages all adopted warm, kindly expressions and struck up a pleasant conversation with Fang Yang.

This wasn't just because Fang Yang had inherited the title of Holy Son. In fact, that accounted for only a small part of it.

The title of Yaoguang Holy Son sounded impressive, but more than a dozen Holy Sons had already accumulated within the Yao Guang Sacred Land. They were all waiting for Li Daoqing to step down so they could compete for the position of Holy Lord.

Fang Yang was strong, and his talent was excellent.

But compared with those Yaoguang Holy Sons who had cultivated for a hundred years—or even close to a thousand—his chances of winning the position of Holy Lord were slim.

Without becoming Holy Lord,

even if Fang Yang grew to his full potential, he would at most become a Peak Mighty Figure, perhaps able to stand as an equal to the Supreme Elders.

Fang Yang was exceptionally talented?

Perhaps he could even become a Dao-Slaying King?

Setting aside the countless prodigies who had appeared in the Eastern Wasteland over the past several thousand years, only Jiang Taixu of the Jiang Family had ever reached Dao-Severing and become a king. Hailed as the foremost warrior in five thousand years, he was honored as the Divine King.

And even if Fang Yang became a Dao-Slaying King,

how many of these Supreme Elders would still be alive by then?

There was no need to curry favor with a mere Holy Son.

It was Fang Yang's status as a Source Technique grandmaster that truly made them look upon him with new eyes.

"Fang, that Dragon Loach... you gave it to your master? You really should show him filial respect. Next time you uncover a treasure that can extend one's lifespan, don't forget to let me know, Martial Uncle."

"Martial Nephew, don't tell that old geezer! He dares to make such a request without offering a thing—just look at how thick-skinned the old coot is!"

"I have a piece of Daluo Silver Essence here. It's only palm-sized, but don't you dare turn your nose up at it, Martial Nephew. If you come to me with a life-extending medicine in the future, I'll make you a fair offer!"

"This drop of Dragon Marrow can speed up your cultivation in the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm and help you build up your foundation. Consider it a gift to welcome you."

"And this bottle of Earth Marrow Fluid..."

A crowd of Supreme Elders, like kindly old men doting on the younger generation of their own family, pressed all sorts of treasures into Fang Yang's arms.

He couldn't refuse.

They'd take it as a slight.

"Thank you, Martial Uncles."

What could Fang Yang do? One couldn't refuse a gift from an elder. He didn't want to offend them, so he could only accept the dozen or so precious treasures.

"That's more like it."

Seeing Fang Yang accept their gifts, the Supreme Elders smiled with satisfaction.

They weren't asking for treatment on par with Li Daoming. They only wanted to be better off than the outsiders beyond the Yao Guang Sacred Land, and get priority when trading for life-extending treasures.

"Fang Yang, now that you're the Yaoguang Holy Son, you'll have more things to consider."

After the other Supreme Elders had left, Li Daoqing spoke earnestly, reminding Fang Yang of the matters he needed to keep in mind.

"Don't spend all your time cultivating. When you have nothing to do, you can stroll around the Holy City, or visit other major powers. Make friends among the younger generation—and fight them."

"As the Yaoguang Holy Son, you represent the Sacred Land to a certain extent. But don't be timid or overly cautious. Go and compete with the young prodigies. The strong earn their strength through battle."

"The Ji Family Divine Body, the Golden-Winged Little Peng King, the Wanchu Holy Son... They're all prodigies of their generation, and can serve as worthy opponents to temper yourself against."

For a full half hour, Li Daoqing laid out the tangled relationships among the Eastern Wasteland's major powers, telling Fang Yang everything and helping him distinguish true friends from false ones.

As for enemies?

The Yao Guang Sacred Land had none.

"Go. The future of the Yao Guang Sacred Land rests in your hands."

Li Daoqing ended with those words, revealing the great hopes he had placed in Fang Yang.

"I won't let you down, Martial Uncle!"

Fang Yang's voice rang out with conviction.

Holy Son Peak.

The Yaoguang Holy Son...the previous Yaoguang Holy Son knelt on the ground. Before him stood a mysterious figure draped in black robes.

"You've disappointed me."

"You were defeated so easily by a mere Mortal Body. Did all those corpses of mighty figures I gave you go to the dogs?"

The mysterious man's voice was hoarse, his tone displeased.

"Fang Yang's Yin Yang Tribulation Light was too powerful, and there's something strange about him. His combat strength is beyond the pale. He doesn't seem like a Mortal Body at all."

"Could he have some secret special constitution that no one has discovered...?"

The former Yaoguang Holy Son didn't panic. He respectfully tried to defend himself.

"Do you think I, a Peak Mighty Figure, could be deceived about whether Fang Yang has a Mortal Body?"

"I had high hopes for you. I thought you could devour the other Gu Insects, become the successor to the Indestructible Heavenly Art, and help us take full control of the Yao Guang Sacred Land."

"Three years. I'll give you only three years."

"If you can't defeat Fang Yang by then, you'll have no more value to me, Wuming!"

The man in black swept his sleeve and left, vanishing without a trace and leaving not even the slightest trace of his aura behind.

"Wuming... Heh."

A wild, repressed laugh echoed through the empty hall as the former Yaoguang Holy Son struggled to his feet.

If he couldn't even decide his own name, what meaning was there in living?

To him, the man in black was both master and owner.

The man had once told him plainly that once he became Holy Lord of Yaoguang, he could take Yaoguang as his name. Until then, he could only be a nameless nobody, unworthy of a name.

"Hua Yunfei..."

"I hope you don't disappoint me."

Wuming murmured to himself.

His once gentle, sunny air had vanished. In its place was the demeanor of a man-eating demon from Hell, with a ravenous light flickering in his eyes.