After some thorough questioning, Ling Han finally learned that there was indeed more than one potential successor in the Fu Clan.
In reality, three-star forces and above would all raise more than one potential successor. Otherwise, what would they do if their successor suddenly died one day? At that time, how long would it take to raise another successor?
Generally speaking, these forces would raise around four to five potential successors at any one time. When it came to top-notch great sects, they would more so raise 10 or more potential successors at once.
These forces were extremely wealthy, and they also possessed astounding power and potential. Thus, it was only natural that they raised numerous potential successors.
Moreover, having several potential successors would also push them to compete with each other, and thus raise their own strength and abilities. This would in turn allow them to become even more impressive and outstanding.
For example, the Lunar Sect had seven potential successors, with Bei Xuanming being only one of them. His desire to become dao partners with Fu Xiaoyun was also partly because he wanted the support of the Fu Clan as this would help him solidify his spot as a Holy Son.
After all, the position of potential successor wasn’t guaranteed. If someone more outstanding were to appear, the weakest of the seven potential successors would be immediately demoted. They wouldn’t need to wait until the previous sect leader retired.
Regarding the Fu Clan, because they were inferior to the Lunar Sect even though they were both three-star forces, they also had fewer potential successors than the Lunar Sect. Right now, they only had four potential successors.
Apart from Fu Gaoyun and Young Master Hai—also known as Fu Tonghai—there was also Fu Xiuping and Fu Bingbing. Among them, Fu Gaoyun was the “newest” potential successor as he had replaced the original and weakest potential successor. Meanwhile, Fu Xiaoyun also had the potential to become a successor, and it was because of this that some members of the clan wanted to marry her out.
If she married into the Lunar Sect, she naturally couldn’t become a potential successor of the Fu Clan anymore.
Right now, there was a huge gulf between the cultivation levels of the four potential successors. For example, the most powerful Fu Xiuping had already reached the Dividing Soul Tier. Moreover, he was a heaven soul elite. Of course, he had already cultivated for an astonis.h.i.+ngly long time. In fact, he had already cultivated for over 10 billion years.
After him was Fu Bingbing. She was an earth soul elite, and even though she had cultivated for a shorter period of time compared to Fu Xiuping, she had still already cultivated for a whopping eight billion or so years.
Fu Tonghai was far younger than them, and he had “only” cultivated for around one billion years. He had just advanced to the Dividing Soul Tier, and he had also been the most supported potential successor in the past. However, following Fu Gaoyun’s sudden promotion, his popularity and support were instantly faced with a huge threat.
Fu Gaoyun was more talented than him, although it wasn’t by much. However, picking the clan leader was a task of picking the most talented among the talented. As such, any advantage in talent was naturally extremely valuable.
Thus, the conflict between Fu Tonghai and Fu Gaoyun was by far the most intense.
According to the rules of the Fu Clan, potential successors couldn’t directly fight with each other. Otherwise, it would be far too unfair. However, they could rely on their followers to compete with each other.
In the past, Fu Tonghai had enjoyed the most support, so he naturally had the most followers as well. Meanwhile, Fu Gaoyun had only been promoted not long ago, so he had far fewer supporters than Fu Tonghai. Moreover, his supporters were also far weaker than Fu Tonghai’s supporters.
Fortunately, the cultivation level of their followers was strictly limited to the Severing Mundane Tier. This was to ensure fairness, and it was also because Dividing Soul Tier elites could already be regarded as powerful beings in three-star forces. Thus, how could they become the followers of these youths?
Of course, since Fu Xiuping had already been a potential successor for so long, some of his earliest followers had already advanced to the Dividing Soul Tier. In this case, they were allowed to remain as his followers. It was just that they couldn’t partic.i.p.ate in the conflicts between followers anymore.
Upon hearing Fu Gaoyun’s explanation, Ling Han realized that he had unknowingly charged headfirst into another complicated conflict.
If Fu Gaoyun hadn’t recruited him, he wouldn’t have faced any problem at all. Now, however, he had attracted the attention of Fu Tonghai. Perhaps he had also attracted the attention of Fu Xiuping and Fu Bingbing.
Most importantly, the Fu Clan didn’t allow their members to directly fight with each other. However, he was an outsider, so who knew whether someone would find him annoying and attempt to kill him?
Was he truly a magnet for trouble?
Fu Gaoyun tugged at Ling Han’s arm with a smile, and said, “Come, I’ll introduce you to a few friends.”
This academy was as large as a planet, so the residential areas for the students were also as extravagant as could be. Fu Gaoyun led Ling Han and his three companions to a courtyard that was situated on a mountainside and next to a limpid river.
As they entered, they were immediately welcomed by servants. Upon entering the courtyard, they saw that there was currently a gathering being held here. There were a dozen or so people drinking tea and conversing. When they saw Fu Gaoyun, they immediately stood up to greet him.
“Come, let me introduce these four friends to everyone. This is Ling Han, Brother Ling. These two celestial maidens are Brother Ling’s dao partners, and this over here is Mao Dai, Brother Mao.” Fu Gaoyun briefly introduced Ling Han and his three companions.
“Brother Ling, Brother Mao!” the people said in greeting and clasped their hands. As for the Empress and the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden, they simply nodded at them in acknowledgment. After all, they were Ling Han’s wives, so they couldn’t act too familiar with them.
Ling Han and Mao Dai also clasped their hands in greeting. They were being treated with respect, so they naturally had to respond with respect as well.
“It seems like Young Master Yun holds you in extremely high regard, hey!” a young man who was holding a teacup said. His eyes were fixed on Ling Han, and he continued, “Come, I’ll use tea as wine and give a toast to Brother Ling.”
He was feeling slightly bitter at this moment. This was because Fu Gaoyun had personally gone to invite Ling Han and his companions. Moreover, since Ling Han was with his wives, it was clear that he was the person being invited by Fu Gaoyun.
What right did he have to enjoy this treatment?
The corners of Ling Han’s lips curled up into a slight smile. He truly didn’t care about who became the clan leader of the Fu Clan. However, if anyone dared to provoke him, he definitely wouldn’t show any mercy, either. He was just about to raise his cup and punish the young man, yet the Empress suddenly reached over to stop him.
“You don’t have the right to enjoy tea with my husband!” the Empress said. Her slender hand pushed forward, and it was as quick and powerful as lightning.
The young man’s expression instantly changed. He hurriedly raised his other hand to block, yet he was no match for the Empress at all. Tea sprayed from his cup and drenched his entire face.
Who told him to have bad intentions? He said that he was toasting Ling Han, yet he actually wanted to target and embarra.s.s Ling Han.
Everyone was slightly surprised upon seeing this.
This young man was called Jin Zhiyu, and he was a junior of the Jin Clan, a subordinate clan of the Fu Clan. His cultivation talent was decent, and he had a chance to become a pillar of the Jin Clan in the future. When competing for the position of clan leader, Fu Gaoyun and the others didn’t only compete for the support of those in the Fu Clan. They also competed for the support of those in the subordinate forces.
Meanwhile, these subordinate forces would also seize this opportunity to raise their own status—if they picked the right person, their status would definitely rise by a significant amount. However, if they picked the wrong person, their fate would definitely be miserable. As the saying went, each leader would reshuffle their own subordinates.
Jin Zhiyu was at the peak stage of the second severance. Although he hadn’t performed flawless severances, his severances weren’t much weaker than a flawless severance. In fact, he was only slightly weaker than Fu Gaoyun. However, he was still completely no match for the Empress. This was quite scary.
Even Fu Gaoyun hadn’t expected this. He knew that the Empress was powerful, yet this was far too powerful, no?
“Haha, we’re all a family, so there’s no need to ruin the friendly atmosphere!” he hurriedly said. These were all his followers, so he naturally couldn’t allow them to become hostile with each other. Otherwise, how would he compete against the other potential successors?
Jin Zhiyu finally came to his senses, and there was a hint of fear in his eyes as he glanced at the Empress. With just a single exchange, he already knew that he was far inferior to the Empress. The gulf between them was far too huge, so much so that it couldn’t be surmounted even if he used his trump cards.
With this show of strength, everyone instantly became friendly and enthusiastic. In reality, cultivators were fairly realistic people, and they would immediately become obedient if they were beaten enough times.
Everyone conversed as they drank tea, and they also exchanged their understandings of cultivation. At this moment, someone said, “Young Master Yun, why don’t you play a few pieces for us?”
Fu Gaoyun’s expression instantly darkened.