Chapter 396

Fang Yu was not particularly interested in the position of Sect Master of the Xuan Sect, nor did he care much about protecting the Xuan Sect for thousands of years.

But Li Ruoyu, the master of Zhuofeng, cared—he was originally from Zhuofeng, a member of the Xuan Sect; every mountain, every stream, every flower, every blade of grass, every tree here was dear to him.

He had spent many years atop Zhuofeng, familiar with everything here; though he rarely visited the other main peaks, he still held affection for them.

So when Li Ruoyu sensed the immense strength of his "Imperial Son," he no longer wished to hide it—he went to see the Sect Master, proposing that his Zhuofeng lineage's eldest disciple become the candidate for Sect Master of the Xuan Sect.

This was not favoritism, but justice.

"To become a candidate for Sect Master, huh."

Fang Yu watched Li Ruoyu depart without refusing; though his primary goal was to become Sect Master of the Yuhua Sect in the Eternal Life Realm, becoming Sect Master of a Men Sect ahead of time was no bad thing.

The Xuan Sect had one hundred and eight main peaks—perhaps becoming a Sect Master candidate would grant him access to more divine arts to learn.

As Fang Yu pondered this, several beams of rainbow light rose from the distant main peak, Xingfeng, surging directly across the sky, a rainbow bridge descending between the two peaks.

Upon this rainbow bridge, several elders arrived instantly, addressing the disciples atop Zhuofeng: "Who is Fang Yu? Come to Xingfeng."

These elders radiated immense authority; their magic power was terrifying—they had directly extended their magic power from Xingfeng to Zhuofeng, causing all disciples on Zhuofeng to bow in reverence.

Yet Fang Yu's expression remained calm; he stepped onto the rainbow bridge and said, "I am."

"You are Fang Yu? Good. Your master speaks highly of you, and the Sect Master wishes to meet you."

The lead elder's gaze was sharp, looking down from above, as if trying to shake Fang Yu's spirit—he found the disciple named Fang Yu calm, neither arrogant nor anxious, seemingly oblivious to his piercing stare; internally, he felt a flicker of approval.

Merely maintaining such calmness before him revealed Fang Yu's formidable Dao heart; ordinary disciples would have trembled and dared not speak.

This Fang Yu was no doubt Li Ruoyu's disciple—he had received some true transmission.

But it remained to be seen how strong his true abilities were.

"Come, Li's senior disciple speaks highly of you—we wish to see your performance."

Another elder spoke, studying Fang Yu curiously.

In the blink of an eye, the group arrived at Xingfeng, leaving the disciples of Zhuofeng stunned and curious.

"What happened? Why was Senior Brother summoned to Xingfeng? Did Senior Brother do something wrong?"

"Didn't you hear? Our master recommended Senior Brother—he caught the Sect Master's attention. This visit seems to be an evaluation?"

"Evaluation? Evaluation of what? Are they now choosing the Xuan Sect's Holy Son? Shouldn't it be Senior Brother Hua Yunfei? Why is this changing?"

"Recently, we heard Senior Brother Fang Yu met Senior Brother Hua Yunfei—Fang Yu made plants bow, while Hua Yunfei made hundreds of birds bow; both senior brothers possess strength far beyond others."

"Now this will be interesting. The next Holy Son, the future Sect Master—there was no doubt it would be Hua Yunfei…"

The disciples of Zhuofeng buzzed with discussion, while Fang Yu had already arrived at Xingfeng and met the Sect Master and the peak masters of the Xuan Sect.

All peak masters except those in seclusion had come—Li Ruoyu had spoken so boldly, claiming his disciple bore the bearing of an Emperor, so every peak master who could come arrived, eager to see what this disciple of Zhuofeng, said to bear the bearing of an Emperor, looked like.

The Divine Body of the ancient Ji family emerged with peerless dominance in its realm, even able to fight beyond its level—but the Ji family never claimed it bore the bearing of an Emperor, at most calling it the bearing of a Great Sage or Saint.

Even the Divine Body of the ancient Ji family was not necessarily an Emperor's bearing—could the Xuan Sect truly have produced one? Was this Fang Yu stronger than the Eastern Wilderness Divine Body, Ji Haoyue?

That was too incredible.

"You are Fang Yu, the disciple Li's younger brother strongly recommended?"

The Xuan Sect Sect Master spoke—he wore a robe woven with starlight, his body flowing with stellar energy, youthful in appearance, a handsome man.

Endless starlight surrounded him, making this handsome man seem imbued with boundless immortal aura.

Immortal wind, Dao bones—that described the Xuan Sect Sect Master.

"I greet the Sect Master. I am Fang Yu."

Fang Yu nodded, his gaze fixed on the Sect Master, sensing the dense starlight around him—he knew this being cultivated the Star Method, though he wondered how it differed from the Starless Infinity Scripture of the Eternal Life Realm.

He stood among many peak masters without fear; ever since he assimilated the seven-layer Five Element True Fire and the eight-layer Seven Color True Fire from the Fire Domain, even Immortal Platform Realm cultivators were not beyond his power to kill.

Thus, his expression remained calm, his demeanor composed before the many peak masters.

"Excellent, excellent, Li's younger brother—your disciple's temperament is truly extraordinary. Very good."

The Xuan Sect Sect Master, witnessing this, showed a peculiar gleam in his eyes; normally, even the most talented disciples of the Xuan Sect grew restrained before him—yet this disciple was exceptional, calm and composed; merely this temperament showed potential to become Sect Master.

"Fang Yu, to become the Holy Son of the Xuan Sect, a future Sect Master candidate, you must be peerless in your realm. Yunfei is absent now, but if you can defeat Hua Yu from Xingfeng, I shall promote you to Holy Son and grant you certain authority within the Xuan Sect."

After studying Fang Yu for a long while, the Xuan Sect Sect Master spoke.

"Alright."

Fang Yu nodded.

A disciple emerged from Xingfeng—he was about eighteen, very young, dressed in a star robe, clearly a disciple of the main peak Xingfeng.

This disciple also bore the surname Hua, indicating he was a carefully nurtured disciple of Xingfeng; chosen as the obstacle to Fang Yu's promotion to Holy Son, his strength was evident.

The Xuan Sect Sect Master and the peak masters left the open space to Fang Yu and Hua Yu.

"Who do you think will win if Hua Yu and Fang Yu fight?"

"Everyone knows Xingfeng has Hua Yunfei, whose strength sweeps all young disciples—but few know Hua Yu; he once fought Hua Yunfei and lost by just a few moves. Now, after more cultivation, he must be immensely strong."

"True, I know a bit about Hua Yu, but little about Fang Yu. Yet Senior Brother Li is a man who never lies—I believe he recommended Fang Yu because he truly believes in him."

"If Fang Yu truly defeats Hua Yu, making him our Holy Son is no problem. The ancient Ji family has produced an Eastern Wilderness Divine Body, dominating his realm—if nothing goes wrong, he will soon grow strong and protect the Ji family for millennia."

"But we must see if he can evade Kong Quewang's pursuit. The Eastern Wilderness Divine Body—we dare not touch him; one move triggers a chain reaction, unless we wage total war against the ancient Ji family. But Kong Quewang has moved—and moved thoroughly. It sounds good—the Ji family must not produce another Divine Body."

"Don't speak of these matters—let us simply watch the duel between these two young disciples."

As the peak masters debated, the duel began.

"Senior Brother Fang, I'm attacking!"

In the arena, the cultivator named Hua Yu, seeing Fang Yu, addressed him as "senior brother," then exhaled a clear breath; starlight shimmered across his body, and seven stars suddenly appeared.

These seven stars were as large as human heads, like seven miniature suns; once they floated up, they surged in all directions.

In an instant, the sky turned pitch black, and stars appeared overhead.

Hua Yu, the second strongest disciple of Xingfeng, had instantly sealed the sky with powerful divine power, setting a celestial prison that trapped Fang Yu.

Fang Yu's expression remained calm; he did not move, observing the starlight Dao art Hua Yu used—he wished to see what subtleties this disciple's starlight Dao art possessed.

"Borrowing the divine power of the Northern Dipper Star Lord!"

Just at this moment, Hua Yu let out a great shout, and seven stars in the sky began to shine. However, these were not the true Northern Dipper, but rather the Northern Dipper starlight he had accumulated over many years of cultivation.

"Tianshu Divine Sword!"

Another great shout rang out. Among the Northern Dipper, the Tianshu Star blazed with incomparable intensity, shooting down a streak of sword qi straight toward Fang Yu.

"Tianxuan Divine Sword!"

Among the Northern Dipper stars, the Tianxuan Star shone with extraordinary splendor, scattering dazzling radiance that condensed into a sword, which also slashed down toward Fang Yu.

"Tianji Divine Sword!"

Another streak of sword light appeared—this was the Tianji Divine Sword, arriving like a bolt of lightning across the sky.

Clang, clang, clang.

As Hua Yu's successive commands rang out, the seven great stars in the sky—Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, Yaoguang, Tianji, Tianxuan, and Tianshu—blazed with extraordinary brilliance, bursting forth with resplendent, dazzling radiance that transformed into seven divine swords, slashing down in all directions.