128: Dragon Supreme

Long Aotian defeating Wu Ming was something no one had expected, and it was also something no one dared to imagine.

At this moment, facing Long Aotian's desire to take Wu Ming's Grand Elder position, everyone fell into an astonishing silence.

Once Long Aotian took the seat, what would it signify?

Long Aotian would become Cloud Palace's newly promoted Grand Elder!

Could Long Aotian, who defeated Wu Ming, take this position?

Everyone couldn't help but look at Palace Lord Yue Yunzhan and the other two Grand Elders, Huo Rulie and Fen Juechen.

Could Long Aotian, who had just been promoted to Deputy Peak Lord of Dragon Peak, be promoted to Grand Elder? Everyone wanted to know the attitude of the Palace Lord and the other two Grand Elders.

Huo Rulie was the first to express his stance. His words were very impolite but also very realistic: "Haha, this is truly unexpected. I didn't think a conference to promote a Deputy Peak Lord would ultimately evolve into a conference to promote a Grand Elder. It can be considered a timeless tale."

While expressing his attitude, he also directly gave a definitive statement, which made everyone's hearts jump, and many couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Perhaps some of you are wondering if Deputy Peak Lord Long, being so young, can truly serve as a Grand Elder of our Cloud Palace?"

"Here, this one can tell everyone clearly:"

"Yes!"

"Why not?"

"Hmph, the Martial Arts World values strength above all else. Whoever has the harder fist is in the right. Is a Grand Elder position determined by seniority and age?"

"Of course not!"

"Without the strength, who would dare to sit in this position?"

"This one can clearly state that as long as one's strength is sufficient, even if Deputy Peak Lord Long were to beat down all the Grand Elders and others present right now and make them call him 'Grandpa,' what could the Grand Elders and others do?"

"Would you dare not to call him that?"

"Do you wish to die?"

"In a world where strength is revered, Deputy Peak Lord Long possesses the qualifications to become a Grand Elder of our Cloud Palace. If anyone is unconvinced, they are welcome to challenge Deputy Peak Lord Long!"

"This one can say that within Cloud Palace, no one can rival Deputy Peak Lord Long in strength, not even this one!"

"Deputy Peak Lord Long's promotion to Grand Elder of Cloud Palace, based on strength and ranked by strength, will make him our Cloud Palace's First Grand Elder or Grand Elder!"

"..."

After hearing Huo Rulie's words, some people who hated Long Aotian for taking their goddess suddenly felt as if they had been screwed, their hearts filled with extreme complexity.

Long Aotian becoming the First Grand Elder of Cloud Palace? Wouldn't that mean he would be the one with the most authority in Cloud Palace, the one even the Palace Lord couldn't control, the one even the other Grand Elders would have to defer to?

From now on, would they still dare to show any disrespect to Long Aotian?

Fen Juechen smiled gently and amicably, saying, "This one also agrees with what Grand Elder Huo said. Deputy Peak Lord Long will become our Cloud Palace's First Grand Elder."

"Furthermore, if Grand Elder Long decides to represent Cloud Palace as the leader in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts, this one also believes it is feasible. This might even be an Opportunity for our Cloud Palace to rise and become a State-Level, or even Sub-Continental or Continental Giant Cultivation Faction."

"..."

Hearing Fen Juechen's words, the faces of many high-ranking figures in Cloud Palace changed.

It wasn't that they couldn't accept Long Aotian suddenly becoming a Grand Elder of Cloud Palace; it was just difficult to accept at first. But now, hearing Grand Elder Fen say this, it seemed that Long Aotian becoming a Grand Elder of Cloud Palace would also be very beneficial to them?

At this moment, many people quietly changed their negative opinions of Long Aotian, and at the same time, they became less resistant, and even accommodating, to the matter of Long Aotian becoming a Grand Elder of Cloud Palace.

Especially Palace Lord Yue Yunzhan, his eyes lit up when he heard that Long Aotian representing Cloud Palace in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts might elevate Cloud Palace to a new height.

If Cloud Palace's Disciples didn't have to join other Giant Cultivation Factions to participate in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts, but could represent themselves, that would undoubtedly be a huge benefit for Cloud Palace.

First, their Cloud Palace would gain the qualification to engage in dialogue, and even equal dialogue, with those Giant Cultivation Factions, which would earn Cloud Palace precious quotas to enter the Tribulation Dao Secret Realm.

Second, their battles would be for themselves and for Cloud Palace, not for other Sects by joining other Giant Cultivation Factions and serving as cannon fodder for others.

Third, most Disciples who joined other Giant Cultivation Factions either became cannon fodder and perished in battle, or chose to leave Cloud Palace and never return. This is also why, as an old cultivation faction of hundreds of thousands of years, even if Cloud Palace had the ability to leave the Eastern Barrens, the number of Tribulation Realm Experts remained pitifully small, with only a handful being the fundamental reason.

The first reason was that Cloud Palace itself would send some Prodigy Disciples to the continent for experience, but those Prodigy Disciples who didn't perish basically never returned, either joining other more powerful Giant Cultivation Factions or being deeply attracted by the outside world and having no desire to return.

Therefore, Cloud Palace later simply stopped sending Prodigy Disciples to the continent for experience, to avoid depleting Cloud Palace's talents.

The second reason was that every thousand years, State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions from Eastern State would come to the Eastern Barrens to recruit Prodigy Mahayana Realm Disciples. Prodigy Mahayana Realm Disciples were basically Cloud Palace's Peak Lords, Deputy Peak Lords, Ten Great Elders, Ten Great Protectors, and numerous Core Elders, forming the backbone of Cloud Palace. Being recruited away was undoubtedly like cutting Cloud Palace's leeks and bleeding Cloud Palace dry.

But a world where strength is revered is just that cruel. Just as Huo Rulie said, if you are weak, even if the other party beats you down and makes you call him 'Grandpa,' you have to endure it humiliatingly.

Otherwise, it means death!

After so many years, Cloud Palace had long since become numb.

Those Prodigy Mahayana Realm Disciples who were recruited basically either became cannon fodder and perished, or left Cloud Palace to join other Giant Cultivation Factions on the continent, never returning to Cloud Palace.

Of course, there were also those who returned.

For example, Yue Yunzhan, Huo Rulie, Fen Juechen, Wu Ming, Peak Lord Lei Qian Chen, Peak Lord Shui Si Jin, Peak Lord Jin Gao Wen, and Peak Lord Bing Ruo Han—these individuals had deep emotional ties to Cloud Palace, or simply preferred living in Cloud Palace, so they all returned.

Among them, perhaps some returned with other motives.

For example, Wu Ming!

He was a Prodigy cultivated by a cultivation Family in the Eastern Barrens Royal City, later joining the Sea Cloud Sect, and finally Cloud Palace. During the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts two thousand years ago, he, along with Huo Rulie, Fen Juechen, and others, were successfully recruited as Disciples by a State-Level Giant Cultivation Faction from Eastern State, eventually achieving a Breakthrough to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm in the Tribulation Dao Secret Realm... Wu Ming originally thought that Huo Rulie and Fen Juechen had either perished or chosen to join other Giant Cultivation Factions on the continent. If he returned to the Eastern Barrens, to Cloud Palace, he might become the strongest person.

At that time, he would control the entire Cloud Palace!

But what he never expected was that when he returned, he saw that Huo Rulie and Fen Juechen had also returned, and the Opportunities they gained in the Tribulation Dao Secret Realm were no less than his. Huo Rulie's cultivation Realm was even a small Realm higher than his.

Originally wanting to be the boss, he ultimately had to settle for being second, which made Wu Ming feel extremely uncomfortable.

And now, something that made Wu Ming even more uncomfortable had happened: Long Aotian's slap made him doubt his life. Long Aotian, now Grand Elder Long, forced him into the third position, and whether he could even maintain that third position was another matter.

Because he was injured, and it was a very serious internal injury!

Fen Juechen and Yue Yunzhan were not to be trifled with, and there were also the other four Tribulation Transcendence Realm Peak Lords.

He, Wu Ming, not only failed to preserve his reputation in old age, but his status was also at risk...