Tower of Light was one of the four largest sky-scraping pagodas that dominated the Sky District. It was the home of the Eastern Light Clan, one of the four ruling powers of the Eastern Sanmu Metropolis. From a distance, it did not look like a classical pagoda with distinct tiers and curved, tiled roofs. Instead, it looked like a singular, narrow beam of yellow light that shot into the clouds.
The top of this massive tower was where the eastern light of daybreak first hit every morning. Needless to say, it was the home to Immortal Light of Daybreak Ming Mu, the 10th head of a clan which history spanned over three thousand years.
The Eastern Light Clan was able to produce a continuous stream of Spirit Kings, one after another. It was an unbroken lineage that maintained and grew their power and prestige in the subcontinent. A new one always arrived before the previous one died of old age without fail. This was the only way the clan could keep its position within the Immortal Association. If there was any interval without a Spirit King, no matter how small, they would be immediately set upon by their rivals.
Immortal Light of Daybreak Ming Mu was barely over three hundred years old. Among his peers, he would be considered young and spry. But compared to his ancestors, he was a failure. The reason was that he still had not found a worthy successor and his time was running out.
Maintaining an unbroken line of Spirit Kings required tremendous resources and a lot of luck. Raising a Spirit King took at least a hundred years given a heaven-shaking talent. One of average potential took a hundred and fifty years at best. If they went beyond two hundred years of age, it was almost certain to be a failure. The bad news was that none of his descendants currently at the Spirit Lord Realm were capable of breaking through.
It had been a disastrous century and a half. The clan had raised seven Spirit Lords in that time and within the whole clan, they had ten. Raising a Spirit Lord wasn't easy, even for a super sect like the Eastern Light Clan. Each one was the absolute best out of an entire generation, the victor of countless trials, missions, and life-or-death battles. Yet none of them were good enough, not good enough for the position of clan head, not good enough to be a Spirit King.
They were all useless. They weren't hardworking enough. They were too satisfied with their existing status and lacked the ambition to strive for more. They drank and played with women all day. Their position and comforts turned their brains had turned to molten slag and made them no longer capable of progress.
Immortal Light of Daybreak Ming Mu furrowed his brow as he sat in front of a desk made out of pure clear crystal. The other furniture in the room was similarly decorated, chairs, lamps, windows, and doors all made out of crystals of various colors. The ceiling wasn't so much a ceiling as a crystal dome with as little metal structural support as possible. It let in as much light as possible, which coincidentally happened to be what the clan's cultivation art was about.
Ming Mu sighed for the hundredth time and scribbled nonsense on a piece of paper. It contained a small portrait of a young man along with many paragraphs of tiny text. Around it was other similar reports, with a stack in a corner that contained at least a hundred of them. Each highlighted the biography and analysis of his most talented descendants, those that were approaching the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm.
Raising the next generation in hopes of finding someone who could take the mantle was his most important task. The First Light of Zhulong was an incomplete cultivation art. It was incomplete when the first clan head found it by a stroke of luck. It abruptly cut off at the Spirit King Realm with no possibility of progressing any further. Thus, caring for his descendants was far more important than his own cultivation.
A strand of spiritual energy floated into the room. It was a message from the floors below.
"Ming He, son of Elder Warder Ming Hai, is here." It stated.
The clan head found Ming He's profile among the mess and peered at it with interest. The young man was thirty-six but already at the lesser realm of Spiritual Awakening. He only had one lesser realm to go before he could try to break through to the Spirit Lord Realm. It seemed almost certain that he would reach it. He was certainly the most talented one of the bunch. The only problem was his father…
"Have him come in." The clan head said.
"At once!"
The crystal doors opened a few moments later and a man strode in. He was tall, handsome, and well-dressed. He was the type to make women's hearts flutter with a mere smile and make them wet with a simple touch.
Clan head Ming Mu frowned slightly upon observing these features. While they were not uncommon traits among the Eastern Light Clan, one known for a splendid male lineage, this Ming He seemed to have hit the jackpot in terms of all the best traits. Sharp jawline, thick black hair without a single trace of gray, and perfectly proportioned features, this young man put even his peers to shame.
"What do you need?" Ming Mu asked.
Ming He stood in front of his clan head with confidence. Being in front of such a powerful figure did not make him uncomfortable. Instead, he smiled slightly and nodded.
"Venerable Clan Head, I am approaching the end of the third stage of the First Light of Zhulong. My father says I will soon reach Spiritual Ascendance and afterward, I will prepare for my breakthrough."
Several rays of blue light shined over Ming He's body and examined him from top to bottom. This only took a split second and lights receded.
"Mmmm." Ming Mu nodded, "It's correct. Your progress is quite good."
"Thank you, Venerable Clan Head."
"So, what is it that you need that dragged you up here?"
Ming He answered promptly, "My father says that my final breakthrough requires a female companion, one who would become our first wife. He says that the more compatible the two of us are, the deeper our feelings are for each other, the faster and more profound my breakthrough to the Spirit Lord Realm will be."
"That is correct."
Ming He smiled brilliantly, his white teeth almost flashing, "Venerable Clan Head, I have made my choice. I would like to pursue Long Yifei as my Dao companion."
Ming Mu's frown returned. The First Light of Zhulong did require a female companion but it wasn't some sort of dual cultivation art. It came from an aspect of the cultivation art that a few of his ancestors suspected originated with the Shining Dragon, a divine beast. Dragons were well known in legend for being hopeless romantics that placed great emphasis on the matters of love. But the sheer idea that this cultivation art came from a divine beast was so ludicrous that only a few in each generation believed in it. It seemed that this Ming He was one of these few.
Ming Mu asked, "You are referring to the Marriage Seeking Event of Ten Thousand Flower Valley, one that is being advertised across the entire metropolis and beyond?"
Hearing the displeasure in his clan head's voice, Ming He's expression did not falter. He bowed respectfully and spoke again.
"Venerable Clan Head, I know that nothing is for certain. Many are interested in Long Yifei, including those from our clan as well as the House of Armament. I understand that if I fail, it may result in a heart demon that stumps my growth. Even so, I am willing to take that risk because if I succeed, all the other competitors that I defeat in the process will be plagued by their own heart demons. I would have won over everyone in my generation in one fell swoop. And most importantly, if I win, I will have proven that I am the best man in the whole of the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent, a worthy candidate to become your successor and a future Spirit King!"
Immortal Light of Daybreak Ming Mu studied his descendant in silence for a long time. Ming He's demeanor never wavered, even when put under pressure. The youngster's spiritual aura was strong, it was impressive, even to him.
Ming Mu finally nodded, "You may enter the event. I will do what I can to support you."
---
Ming He returned to his residences sometime later. It was somewhere in the middle of the tower and took up half of the entire floor. His concubines that were lounging around the main hall rose to greet him but he ignored them. He strode directly into his private room and closed it off against their protests.
Once alone, he grinned to himself in the darkness, his expression starkly different than before, almost like he was completely new person.
"A big fish is on the line." He said triumphantly.
A black shadow rose from the bed and took the form of a fox.
"About time."
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