The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

The True Dragon List also held fifty names. Anyone above the Saint Realm and under five hundred years old was eligible to compete.

Currently, the list consisted of forty True Saints and ten Grand Saints.

No Saint Kings had appeared yet. That was because Saint Kings under five hundred were extremely rare. Moreover, this was only the third year since the list's inception. Since the final rankings wouldn't be calculated for some time, there was no rush to claim a spot.

Among the listed cultivators, the weakest was at the third layer of the True Saint Realm, while the strongest had reached the second layer of the Grand Saint Realm.

Fang Yan, leading the True Saint-level Hidden Dragon Guards, arrived at the Martial Arena. As before, they relied on intelligence from Drunken Immortal Pavilion to select suitable opponents.

Fang Hao, who had been at home recently, was among them.

Of course, not all those listed on the True Dragon List were present in the arena. Challenges required someone to issue a formal declaration, notify the other party, wait for their agreement, and then for them to show up.

This meant the True Dragon List updated much more slowly than the Flood Dragon List.

The first to appear on the True Dragon List was Fang Yan, who challenged the current 29th-ranked cultivator — a powerhouse from the Mighty Ox Demon Clan — and defeated him.

As a result, Fang Yan took the 29th spot, pushing the Ox Demon cultivator down to 30th. The names below shifted down accordingly, and the 50th was pushed off the list entirely.

The second to enter the list was Fang Hao, who became the 31st.

Although Fang Hao's cultivation at the fifth layer of the True Saint Realm was two stages below Fang Yan's seventh, their actual combat power was nearly the same.

"Look! Two more newcomers with the surname Fang just appeared on the True Dragon List!"

"They must be from the Fang Clan too."

"I didn't expect that the Fang Clan, aside from those monstrous prodigies, would have younger generation True Saints as well!"

"We've underestimated them."

"I watched Fang Yan fight earlier. His techniques and fighting style were familiar. I think I once encountered someone like him in a ruin — masked."

"Looks like the Fang Clan had been deliberately low-profile. All their young elites were secretly cultivated. Now that their strength is sufficient, there's no need to stay quiet anymore."

"At this rate, the Fang Clan will remain the overlord of Cangzhou, both now and for the foreseeable future."

As time passed, more Hidden Dragon Guards among the True Saints took the stage and challenged their way onto the list.

After a while, ten of them had successfully claimed spots on the True Dragon List.

Although no Saint Kings had shown up yet, and not many Grand Saints were competing, most of the list still consisted of True Saints.

Even so, the fact that the Fang Clan had ten people on the True Dragon List in such a short time was already enough to shock the world.

More importantly, their battles had all taken place in full view of the public.

Anyone with even a modicum of cultivation skill could see clearly:

The Fang Clan's contenders were invincible within their realm — and could challenge above their level with ease.

Currently, they were True Saints, only because of their youth and limited time spent cultivating.

Given time, most of them would break through to the Grand Saint Realm, and even reach the Saint King Realm!

At that point, no one dared say another word about the Fang Clan having no successors.

At the same time, Qu Wubing, who had been appointed by Fang Ting as the new City Lord of the Holy City, remained busy with countless matters.

Previously, the Holy City had been jointly governed by the Three Great Sacred Lands, with many key positions held by their elders and true disciples.

After the destruction of those sacred lands, these posts were left vacant, and Qu Wubing had to appoint new capable personnel.

He also had to clean up all the leftover problems left behind in the city.

Fortunately, a few Hidden Dragon Guards with strong administrative skills had been helping him all along. Because of this, Qu Wubing gradually adapted to the role and arranged everything in an orderly manner.

Even so, it had taken him several years to restore the Holy City from the chaos left by the sacred lands' downfall and fully bring it under control.

Now, at last, Qu Wubing had some free time.

"I've been busy for years... time to go home and visit."

To Qu Wubing, the Fang Clan was home, and the Fang Clan's people were his family.

After instructing his steward, Qu Wubing used a teleportation array to arrive at Ascension City.

The city's prosperity left him awed.

"Forget the Holy City of today — even at its peak, it's nothing compared to Ascension City."

With emotion, Qu Wubing entered the imperial palace and made his way into the Fang Clan's internal world.

He paid visits to Fang Ting, Fang Chu, Fang Hao, and others, before finally traveling to the eastern sea of the small world.

Whoosh...

Standing on the ocean's surface, Qu Wubing watched as the sea suddenly churned violently, giant waves rising more than 300 feet.

A colossal black turtle slowly surfaced.

This ancient beast had a pitch-black shell, a flattened head, and massive limbs.

It was called a "giant turtle," but its shell alone was at least 30,000 feet wide — big enough to resemble an island floating atop the sea.

Fortunately, the ocean in the Fang Clan's small world was vast enough to support its growth for hundreds or even thousands of years.

This was the Ancient Beast: Heaven-Penetrating Black Turtle, who spent its days doing nothing but eating and sleeping.

"Old friend, it's been a while."

Smiling warmly, Qu Wubing tossed over several high-tier beast corpses and inner cores.

The Heaven-Penetrating Turtle opened its mouth and swallowed them in one go.

Back in the Broken Mountain City's blessed cave, Qu Wubing often visited this turtle to chat and offer food, so their relationship had always been close.

As soon as Qu Wubing entered the area, the turtle sensed his aura and emerged from the depths to greet him.

The two stood side by side — Qu Wubing on the turtle's head — chatting at length before he finally left the Fang Clan's small world and headed for the Martial Arena.

Now that he was here, naturally he had to represent the Fang Clan, and stretch his muscles a little while he was at it.

Though Qu Wubing's War Immortal bloodline was comparable to the top sacred Bodies, and he enjoyed the full benefits of the Fang Clan's cultivation resources, he was not a Heaven's Mandate child. He wasn't blessed by the heavens, and lacked the endless fortuitous encounters of people like Fang Luo or Fang Chen.

Now, Fang Luo and Fang Chen had already reached the third level of the Grand Saint Realm, while Qu Wubing was still only at the third level of the True Saint Realm — a considerable gap.

And as time passed, that gap would only widen.

But that wasn't just Qu Wubing's problem — all geniuses would fall behind compared to Fang Luo and the others.

Still, Qu Wubing's raw combat strength was formidable. He effortlessly defeated the True Dragon List's second-to-last-ranked True Saint, who was at the fourth level, thus securing a spot on the list himself.

"Qu Wubing! Isn't that the current Lord of the Holy City?"

"It's him! I remember seeing him on the Heaven's Chosen Rankings years ago — listed as a Fang Clan member."

"No wonder he could become City Lord with just True Saint cultivation. He's from the Fang Clan!"

"Though a bit below the top Fang prodigies, Qu Wubing's War Immortal bloodline is still monstrously rare. Once fully matured, he'll definitely be a major force in Cangzhou!"

"Who still dares say the Fang Clan lacks depth? Their foundation is terrifying!"