"Help?" Hearing those words, Chu Feng was momentarily taken aback, but he still replied: "Senior has shown me great kindness. I don't know what this matter entails, but if it is something within my power to assist with, I will absolutely do my utmost."
"Ah, this is a long story, but since Young Friend Chu Feng's help is needed, I'll speak plainly and not hide anything from the three of you." Yaojiao Guang then recounted the whole affair to Chu Feng and the others.
As it turned out, although Yaojiao Guang was the patriarch of the Yaojiao King Beast clan, his term as patriarch had already come to an end.
According to the Yaojiao King Beast clan's rules, the successor to the patriarch's throne was not chosen by him. Instead, it depended on which of the clan's younger generation — those below a hundred years of age — possessed the strongest cultivation. The strongest among them would inherit the position.
Currently, among Yaojiao Guang's children who still qualified as members of the younger generation — under a hundred years old — there were four: his ninety-sixth son, his ninety-seventh son, his ninety-eighth son, and his ninety-ninth daughter.
Of these three sons and one daughter, the strongest was his ninety-sixth son, Yaojiao Tinglei.
Chu Feng had already met Yaojiao Tinglei. He was the one who had represented the Yaojiao King Beast clan in the finals of the Strongest Young Generation Tournament.
That day, Yaojiao Tinglei had even put in a good word for Chu Feng in front of Zhang Tianyi's father, so Chu Feng had a favorable impression of him.
However, according to Yaojiao Guang, although his ninety-sixth son Yaojiao Tinglei was strong, he was not the most powerful member of the Yaojiao King Beast clan's younger generation.
The strongest young member of the Yaojiao King Beast clan was currently a man named Yaojiao Xueran.
Yaojiao Xueran was already ninety-three years old, yet he still fell within the younger generation. Moreover, he possessed cultivation even greater than Chu Feng's — he was an eighth-grade Half-Emperor.
By all rights, Yaojiao Xueran was the most suitable candidate to inherit the patriarch's throne.
Normally, that would not have been a problem. But the Yaojiao King Beast clan was divided into two factions. The first was the faction currently led by Patriarch Yaojiao Guang — the Peace Faction. They advocated for demon beasts and humans to coexist in harmony without conflict.
The other was known as the War Faction. The War Faction believed that demon beasts should reign supreme, that they should not yield so readily to humans, and that the Yaojiao King Beast clan should ascend to the pinnacle of the Martial Holy Land and make all of creation tremble at their name.
If the War Faction were to take the patriarch's throne, the Yaojiao King Beast clan would likely find it impossible to coexist peacefully with humans. Conflict would inevitably erupt, and that would be good for neither the humans nor the Yaojiao King Beast clan.
And Yaojiao Xueran was the son of the current leader of the War Faction. Furthermore, the War Faction's leader had long been at odds with Yaojiao Guang. If his son were to succeed the throne, the Peace Faction that Yaojiao Guang presided over would almost certainly suffer greatly in the future.
This was precisely why Yaojiao Guang so desperately did not want Yaojiao Xueran to inherit the patriarch's position — and why he had sought out Chu Feng, hoping for his help.
"Yaojiao Xueran may be an eighth-grade Half-Emperor and exceedingly powerful among the younger generation, but the patriarch of the Yaojiao King Beast clan must contend with Martial Emperors-level figures across the Martial Holy Land. His current cultivation is clearly insufficient to fill such a role."
"I don't understand — why must he be the successor? Why not select someone with even greater strength? Besides, Senior, you appear to be in excellent health. Even another two thousand years as patriarch would pose no problem at all. There's simply no reason to step down." Chu Feng looked thoroughly puzzled.
"Young Friend Chu Feng, there is something you are not aware of. This has been a rule of the Yaojiao King Beast clan since ancient times. I became patriarch at the age of ninety-eight, and to this day I have held the position for eight thousand years."
"The Yaojiao King Beast clan has a regulation: once a patriarch has served for eight thousand years, regardless of their cultivation or strength, they must step down. The most outstanding member of the younger generation is then selected to take their place," Yaojiao Guang explained.
"Eight thousand years — you've already lived for eight thousand years?" Hearing this, Hong Qiang was quite astonished. In his estimation, Yaojiao Guang's robust physique suggested he had lived at most three thousand years as a human would — eight thousand was simply unimaginable.
After all, for a human, even a Martial Emperor would become frail and aged by eight thousand years. Even if they still possessed heaven-reaching abilities, it would mean they were approaching the end of their lifespan. To put it simply, death would be near, and only precious heavenly treasures could prolong their life.
The Heaven-reaching Elders of the four great clans, and even Baili Xuankong, were all such individuals who had reached the end of their natural lifespans and were using special means to extend their existence. Yet even so, they could not sustain themselves for another thousand years — a few hundred more was the most they could hope for.
Although both had lived for so long, judging by Yaojiao Guang's appearance, living another four or five thousand years would pose absolutely no problem for him. There was simply no trace of aging about him whatsoever.