Shrouding the Heavens: Starting by joining the Holy Land of Yao Guang

Chapter 156 The Four Holy Envoys
"Isn't it too early? I'm not yet at the level to become a Holy Lord."

After Li Yao survived the second tribulation of immortality, Li Daoqing invited him into Yaoguang Mountain and told him his thoughts, preparing to make him the Holy Lord of Yaoguang.

Li Yao's first reaction was to refuse, not because he declined three times, but because he really didn't have much interest in the position of Holy Lord.

Perhaps, on the vast and boundless Eastern Wilderness, the identity of the Holy Lord of Yaoguang represents one of the masters of this land, holding a high position and great power.

But this didn't hold much appeal for Li Yao, whose current status was still quite high even if he weren't the Holy Lord of Yao Guang.

Li Daoqing had anticipated that Li Yao would refuse, but he insisted, "On this land, cultivation level can be used as a reference, but what is truly important is combat strength. With your current combat strength, you are already qualified to assume the position of Holy Lord."

Although Li Yao has only just broken through to the second level of the Immortal Realm, in terms of combat power, even Li Daoqing wouldn't dare say he could definitely win. That Chaos Dragon Fist combined with the Divine Forbidden Domain is extremely terrifying and could pose a fatal threat to him.

From this perspective, Li Yao is fully qualified to become a holy ruler.

Moreover, no one in the entire Yao Guang Holy Land will object; in fact, this may be the most uncontroversial transfer of power in the Yao Guang Holy Land ever.

With Li Yao's current reputation, no one dares to underestimate him; he is perfect in every way.

Li Yao had a bit of a headache. He really didn't want to take charge of a holy land because it would be very busy with a lot of mundane matters.

“But I feel that the position of Holy Lord will involve a lot of trivial matters, which will affect my cultivation.” Li Daoqing saw Li Yao’s worries and said.

Li Yao nodded, without denying it.

"You don't need to worry about that at all. You can delegate those miscellaneous tasks to others. You just need to keep an eye on the big picture."

"Is that even possible?" Li Yao looked at Li Daoqing with some doubt. Although he didn't know much about the Holy Land, he still knew the most basic things: his Holy Lord had never relinquished power.

“Don’t follow my example.” Li Daoqing waved his hand and sighed softly, “The reason I dare not delegate power is because once it is delegated, it cannot be taken back. But you don’t need to worry about that at all.”

Li Yao understood. In the end, this was a world of cultivation, where everything depended on strength. Although Li Daoqing was strong, he hadn't reached the level where words could become law. The eleven major lineage masters might not be as powerful as Li Daoqing, but the difference wasn't significant enough to achieve absolute suppression.

In this situation, once he relinquishes power, it becomes difficult to take it back.

Li Yao is different. Give him another ten years, and his cultivation and combat power will be unparalleled in the world. At that time, his words will be absolute decrees within the Holy Land, and no one will dare to disobey them.

From this perspective, it seems that he can indeed completely delegate authority and focus on his cultivation. As long as his cultivation level is high enough, no one will dare to disobey him.

"Are there any doubts now?" Li Daoqing asked.

“Completely gone.” Li Yao shook his head.

"Alright, then post it. Hold your Holy Lord Ceremony a month from now."

"There's a grand ceremony? Can we skip that step and skip all the formalities?"

“That won’t do. The Holy Lord Ceremony is to inform the entire Beidou region that the Yaoguang Holy Land will soon enter your era,” Li Daoqing said solemnly.

"Moreover, your ascension to the throne as the new Holy Lord is a great joy for the Yao Guang Holy Land. At that time, the entire Holy Land will be rewarded in your name."

Li Yao rubbed his forehead, feeling that these things were really troublesome and gave him a headache just thinking about them.

And what about those grand rewards? Isn't that just a trick used by ancient emperors after they ascended the throne, like reducing taxes, releasing prisoners who had committed minor crimes, or holding special imperial examinations?

It seems that even in the cultivation world, the practice of winning people's hearts is popular.

"Alright, don't worry about the trouble. There are people to take care of these things. You just need to show up on the day." Li Daoqing waved his hand.

"Then this disciple will take his leave first to consolidate his cultivation." Li Yao stood up.

"Take care, Holy Lord Yao Guang." Li Daoqing chuckled. At this moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation. He was no longer the Holy Lord Yao Guang, but simply Li Daoqing. From now on, he could focus all his attention on cultivation.

Li Yao was slightly taken aback, and said, "May the Supreme Holy Lord finally achieve his wish and become a king by severing the Dao."

Time flew by, and a month later, all the forces in the Eastern Wilderness gave Lord Li face, and almost all the Lords of each family came.

The only exception was the Holy Land of Ten Thousand Beginnings, where no Holy Lord arrived.

It's not that they don't want to come, but the Holy Land of Myriad Beginnings currently has no Holy Lord.

It has been three years since the Holy Lord of the Myriad Beginnings perished in the Myriad Dragon Nest, but in these three years, no new Holy Lord has emerged from the competition in this holy land.

The various factions have been fighting tooth and nail, but there's still no consensus.

A failed transfer of power is an unbearable loss for any sacred site.

Prolonged fighting will only deplete the Holy Land's strength.

The Holy Lord of the Beginning perished too early. The current Holy Son's cultivation level is still too low to become the new Holy Lord. Furthermore, the previous generations of Holy Sons did not have the absolute strength to defeat their opponents, so the stalemate has continued.

Fortunately, the Holy Land of Yao Guang did not have to go through such a process. The Holy Lord Ceremony proceeded smoothly, and not a single one of the twelve major factions jumped out to oppose it. Even the Holy Mountain did not express any opinion.

This is the advantage of having great strength; many problems are easily solved, and some don't even have a chance to arise.

Just as Li Daoqing said, on the day of the Holy Lord Ceremony, Li Yao only made a brief appearance, allowing everyone to see him and chat with the various Holy Lords for a while, and the ceremony was considered a successful conclusion.

From this day forward, the Yao Guang Holy Land enters the era of Li Yao's rule.

……

After the Holy Lord Ceremony, there were a series of miscellaneous matters, but Li Yao didn't need to worry about any of them.

Li Yao then handed over the management of the Grand Sacred Land and its subordinate grotto-heavens entirely to Zhang Chong and Yun Shang, effectively becoming a hands-off manager.

Li Yao was not interested in these things that others were enthusiastic about. Even though he was definitely one of the most powerful people in the Eastern Wilderness after taking control of the Yao Guang Holy Land, his ambitions lay elsewhere and he only wanted to focus on cultivation.

Several days after the Holy Lord Ceremony concluded, Li Yao summoned the twelve lineages of Yao Guang and publicly divided the Holy Lord's power into four parts, establishing four Holy Envoys to exercise power on behalf of the Holy Lord.

The four holy envoys were selected from Sunrise Island, Sunset Mountain, Tianxuan Mountain, and Yaoguang Mountain, respectively.

The Twelve Vein Masters were somewhat surprised, but they also felt it was reasonable. With Li Yao's talent, taking charge of the Yao Guang Holy Land would definitely waste his cultivation time, which would be a loss.

However, other factions also want to win over the Four Holy Envoys.

Everyone knows that with Li Yao relinquishing power, the four Holy Envoys will wield terrifying power; the position of a Holy Envoy is of paramount importance to one's faction.

"Holy Lord, shouldn't the positions of the Four Holy Envoys be contested fairly? This direct selection is unfair to other factions."

Li Yao looked at the person who jumped out and chuckled, "What, does Dragon Head Peak have a problem with my arrangements?"

Dragon Head Peak, the vanguard of the sacred mountain, was the first to jump out.

"I dare not, I only hope that the Holy Lord will treat everyone equally." The Dragon Head Peak Master dared not directly confront Li Yao's majesty.

Today, this young man, who is only twenty years old, has already grown into a true dragon, and even the master of the Dragon Head Peak dares not challenge his might.

Moreover, the Dragon Head Peak lineage master knew that his lineage's past actions had displeased the Holy Lord. Even though he later rectified the situation and dared not disobey again, the enmity had already been formed.

To be honest, if he had a choice, he really wouldn't want to jump out and oppose it, but the position of Holy Envoy is of utmost importance, and he still hopes to fight for it.

The atmosphere became heavy, and everyone felt as if a huge rock was pressing on their hearts. Could it be that the Holy Lord had just taken office and was already preparing to settle scores with those who had offended him?

No one dared to stand up and say anything; even Mount Zhisheng was just watching.

The Lord of the Sacred Mountain Range knew very well that jumping out at this time would only make Li Yao more resolute.

Now, Mount Zhisheng truly doesn't want to clash with Li Yao, although with Mount Zhisheng's strength, it certainly has nothing to fear.

But this is only the present. With Li Yao's talent for cultivation, things might be very different in a few years. If they don't want to completely break off relations and start fighting, the best option is to ease the tension between them.

"My mind is made up. The four Holy Envoys will be chosen from Rising Sun Island, Sunset Glow Mountain, Heavenly Pivot Mountain, and Yao Guang Mountain. Who agrees, and who disagrees?" Li Yao's tone turned icy as he stared directly at the other lineage leaders, excluding the four main lineages. Rising Sun Island was the faction that nurtured him, so they were considered his own people. Sunset Glow Mountain and Heavenly Pivot Mountain were the first factions to stand up and support him, and Yao Guang Mountain had also been of great help to him.

The other factions only came to him after he rose to power; adding flowers to brocade is certainly not as good as providing charcoal in the snow.

Whether it was Xuri Island, Luoxia Mountain, or Tianxuan Mountain, they all took enormous risks to support him back then.

Now that he has decided to delegate power, Li Yao will definitely choose from these factions.

The other clan leaders smiled bitterly. Who would dare to stand up and object? Although they all believed that their combat strength was no less than Li Yao's, they had almost reached their limit, while Li Yao had only just begun.

Moreover, they did not want to resist Li Yao, because they knew very well that he could take Yao Guang Holy Land far away. In the future, not only the Eastern Wilderness, but even the entire Beidou would respect Yao Guang Holy Land.

Seeing that none of the clan leaders had spoken up, Li Yao's expression softened a little. As the newly appointed Holy Lord, if anyone repeatedly contradicted him, it would prove that these people didn't take him seriously at all.

"The position of Holy Envoy is selected every ten years. The first selection will be from the four major clans. After ten years, it will be decided based on individual abilities," Li Yao finally said.

There's a saying that goes, "You can only reach for what I give you; you can't take what I don't give you."

He certainly couldn't keep letting people from the four major factions serve as Holy Envoys forever, because that would be unfair to the other factions. In the long run, they would inevitably become disloyal and resentful, even if they didn't say it.

Things are different now. Li Yao is now the Holy Lord, and other factions are also his people. Even if there are differences in treatment, he will not treat them as outsiders.

The reason I didn't mention it earlier was simply to see how obedient these lineage leaders were to me.

It seems that they are all above average, which makes Li Shengzhu very satisfied. Even Longshou Peak, although it jumped out, was very humble and focused on the issue, not the person. It was not intentional to stand up and sing a different tune.

Although Lord Li disliked it, he could accept it.

"Thank you, Holy Lord." The clan leaders were overjoyed and rose to pay their respects.

Compared to having no chance at all, the current result is satisfactory to everyone.

The four factions, including Sunrise Island, had no objections. Ten years of holding a quarter of the Holy Lord's power was enough for their respective factions to reap many benefits.

After resolving the matter of the Holy Sovereign's authority, Li Yao once again went into seclusion.

For the past month, he has been busy with many things, which has inevitably affected his cultivation. Now that he has been given more power, he can finally focus on his cultivation.

Inside the Holy Lord's Hall, Li Yao immediately entered the Creation Realm and began to comprehend the True Scripture of the Sun.

Soon, he discovered that after breaking through to the second level of the Immortal Realm, his time in the Creation Realm was extended again, from a little over a quarter of an hour to a quarter of an hour, and the insights into the Great Dao he gained were more than doubled.

However, the digestion time remained the same, or even shortened, because after breaking through to the second level of immortality, his speed of comprehending the Great Dao was obviously much faster.

Moreover, he now has some resistance to the Great Dao's oblivion, and even when entering the realm of creation, he can still retain his own emotions.

Unlike before, emotions suppressed by the Great Dao will not almost disappear.

At this stage, Li Yao's main focus in cultivation is on comprehending the Taiyin True Scripture and the Taiyang True Scripture. Although he has already embarked on the path of Yin and Yang transforming into chaos, he is still far from achieving mastery.

To achieve the union of Yin and Yang and the transformation of chaos, our current understanding of the principles of Yin and Yang is still far from sufficient.

"The road is long and long, and I will search up and down!"

Enlightenment!

Practice!

With a mind free of distractions and a state of complete detachment from the external world, only by wandering and elevating oneself in the realm of Tao can one become aware of one's own existence, silently comprehend, and understand the essence of the Great Tao.

And so, time flowed by like water, and Li Yao remained motionless like a rock, while the Yin-Yang sacred power surged within the hall, incredibly dense.

During his enlightenment, Li Yao also had an unexpected gain, or rather, a bonus he received from comprehending the Great Dao—the Martial Dao Heavenly Eye!
Li Yao had never considered cultivating this Heavenly Eye, because it wouldn't be of much use to him.

Whether it's seeing through illusions with the Heavenly Eye or seeing through the essence of the laws of heaven and earth, in the end, it all comes down to mastering the Great Dao. When you reach a certain level of cultivation, even without the Martial Dao Heavenly Eye, you can still see through things at a glance.

In fact, Li Yao already possesses all of these qualities, because his cultivation is so profound that many things are no secret to him.

This opening of the Martial Arts Heavenly Eye was entirely unintentional.

Li Yao remained calm and unmoved, showing no joy. The Martial Arts Heavenly Eye offered him little benefit at the moment; his current concern was only the improvement of his own cultivation.

The days passed peacefully and uneventfully. Li Yao sat cross-legged in the Holy Lord's Hall, his mind free of any distractions, focusing solely on profound mysteries. His cultivation was also rapidly advancing.

Logically speaking, the higher one's cultivation level, the more difficult the cultivation becomes, and each breakthrough takes a long time.

However, this was not reflected in Li Yao at all; his progress in cultivation was even more exaggerated and rapid than when he reached the first level of the Sendai realm.

Meanwhile, outside the city, the four Holy Envoys were being selected one after another. The other three factions were all led by their respective lineage leaders, while Sunrise Island was somewhat unexpected, with a candidate Holy Maiden taking the position.

This seemed somewhat out of place, but no one dared to say anything, because this candidate saintess had a remarkable background; she had been personally guided to the holy land from the Spirit Ruins Cave by the Holy Lord.

She was also the only female disciple guided by the Holy Lord. Others couldn't figure out her relationship with the Holy Lord, and no one dared to offend her easily.

Li Yao, who was in seclusion, was unaware that his disciple Weiwei had become one of the Four Holy Envoys and entered the decision-making level of Yao Guang.

It has been almost five years since Weiwei joined the Yao Guang Holy Land. In this life, because Li Yao personally guided her, she was treated as a candidate for Holy Maiden when she first entered the Yao Guang Holy Land.

The Celestial Eye is a powerful physique. With abundant resources in the early stages, her cultivation progress was astounding. She is now at the Four Extremes Secret Realm, which is enough for the younger generation in the Eastern Wilderness to compete with the holy sons of various families.

The four holy envoys were selected to begin wielding the power of Yao Guang on behalf of the Holy Lord, and the Yao Guang Holy Land entered a period of rule by the Holy Lord.

Time flies by like a fleeting moment.

Seven months later, Li Yao emerged from seclusion and was met with a heavenly tribulation. The scene was extremely terrifying, with humanoid lightning, heavenly thunder, and ancient palaces descending all at once.

For others, this was a cataclysmic calamity, but for Li Yao, it was merely a minor tribulation. Although powerful, it did not cause him any harm, and he easily passed through it.

Only eight months have passed since the last breakthrough, and he has already broken through again, reaching the third small step of the second level of the game.

Everyone in the Yao Guang Holy Land was stunned. They felt that their Holy Lord's cultivation level was increasing too fast. It had only been a short time, and he had already broken through again!

The second level of immortality is different from the first level of immortality, which focuses on cultivating divine consciousness. This level involves exploring the immortal treasures within the entire body, and each breakthrough is extremely difficult.

Even someone with extraordinary talent would need at least a decade to break through a small step, but Li Yao broke through two realms in a row, directly reaching the third small step of the second level of immortality.

"Your Majesty, there is something that requires your decision."

After Li Yao survived his tribulation and returned to the Holy Lord's Palace, a holy envoy came to his door, and it was someone he knew very well.

"Weiwei?!" He was somewhat surprised, but quickly understood. It didn't matter to him who the Holy Envoy was; it wasn't anything to be surprised about.

"What is it? Tell me about it."

Four Holy Envoys were appointed to act on behalf of the Holy Lord. Even for major matters, the four Holy Envoys could discuss and decide on their own. As long as they reached a consensus, the matter could be implemented. Only for major events would the Holy Lord be consulted for a decision.

Li Yao was also very curious. He had only been in seclusion for seven months. Could it be that something extraordinary had happened in the Eastern Wilderness that required his decision as the Holy Lord?

Vivi was efficient and quickly explained the situation without any delay.

This matter concerns the Nine Secrets and is an extremely important event. Even the Four Holy Envoys would find it difficult to make a decision. Fortunately, Li Yao had just emerged from seclusion to undergo his tribulation, so he reported it to the authorities.

“Licheng, Jiumi.” Li Yao’s heart stirred as he recognized the familiar place name.

"This matter concerns the Nine Secrets, and we cannot make a decision on our own. We hope Your Majesty will provide guidance." Weiwei bowed and awaited Li Yao's reply.

(End of this chapter)