138: A greater cultivation frenzy

The powerhouses from the four State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions of the Eastern Continent, who had come to the Eastern Wilderness to recruit Mahayana Realm Disciples, were intimidated and retreated. After the meeting in the Cloud Palace Great Hall, many high-ranking Cloud Palace figures, in fact, shared Huo Yaner's thoughts.

For example, Grand Elder Huo Rulie, Fen Juechen who replaced Wu Ming in ranking as the Third Grand Elder, Water Peak Lord Si Jin, and even the Fourth Grand Elder Wu Ming, whose feelings towards Long Aotian were extremely complex.

Wu Ming's demotion to Fourth Grand Elder was a new decision Long Aotian made based on his assessment of Fen Juechen and Wu Ming's strength. However, to most people, this was clearly Long Aotian deliberately targeting Wu Ming.

Even Wu Ming himself thought so, but due to Long Aotian's terrifying strength, he dared not speak out his anger.

By now, Wu Ming remained even more silent.

A Prodigy who held the hope of breaking the record of no one being able to Ascend to the Immortal Realm from the Sky Ruins Continent for hundreds of thousands of years—how could he dare to offend him again?

It was foreseeable that more and more people would want to curry favor with Long Aotian. If Long Aotian asked him to carry his shoes, he might not even be able to get in line... When Huo Yaner proposed this reward suggestion in the Cloud Palace Great Hall, besides Si Nan, who believed she had the strength to contend for second or third place and strongly supported it, Gold Peak Lord Gao Wen, Ice Peak Lord Ruo Han, Water Peak Lord Si Jin, and others also stepped forward to express that this reward was acceptable.

Water Peak Lord Si Jin was clearly more astute than her daughter, Si Nan, and Si Nan was the First Deputy Peak Lord of Ice Peak. This immediately stirred the hearts of the two Peak Lords of Water Peak and Ice Peak.

Gold Peak Lord Gao Wen's son, happy, was also the First Deputy Peak Lord of Gold Peak, and his combat power was not weak. Gao Wen felt that his son should have a place in the top three and also joined the supporting camp.

Thus, under the strong proposals of the four Peak Lords—Huo Yaner, Si Jin, Ruo Han, and Gao Wen—and with Ao Jingtain also joining in the commotion, Long Aotian finally nodded reluctantly, agreeing to fulfill one not-too-excessive wish within his capabilities for each of the top three Mahayana Realm Disciples in the Centennial Sect Competition.

Ao Jingtain only knew that she would definitely get first place in the Sect Competition, but she didn't realize she had been led into a trap by those old foxes, who had tricked him. Her overly simple mind sometimes truly made Long Aotian feel helpless.

After all, he was also the Grand Elder of the Cloud Palace. Since he had agreed, so be it. If it was truly difficult to decide, he would just reward each of them with an Immortal-tier Magic Treasure. Anyway, he had plenty of Immortal-tier Magic Treasures; taking out a few hundred would be no problem, let alone just a few. Long Aotian thought this to himself.

He also learned that the Cloud Palace originally had more than a dozen Immortal-tier Magic Treasures, but over the years, as Cloud Palace powerhouses either joined other State-Level or even Continent-Level Giant Cultivation Factions or were assassinated, the Immortal-tier Magic Treasures they took from the Cloud Palace when traversing the Yunmeng Marsh also ended up scattered outside.

Currently, the Cloud Palace only had a pitiful single Immortal-tier Magic Treasure left. This was also the fundamental reason why the Cloud Palace no longer dared to let powerhouses carry Immortal-tier Magic Treasures when traversing the Yunmeng Marsh.

With this one Immortal-tier Magic Treasure, the Cloud Palace could at least retain the hope of not being trapped and dying in the Eastern Wilderness. If even this last Immortal-tier Magic Treasure was lost, then the Cloud Palace would truly fall into complete despair.

What moved Long Aotian was that after he became the Grand Elder of the Cloud Palace, the Cloud Palace's last Immortal-tier Magic Treasure, originally jointly guarded by the three Grand Elders—Huo Rulie, Fen Juechen, and Wu Ming—was proposed by Huo Rulie and Fen Juechen to be handed over to him for safekeeping, and Wu Ming also agreed.

As the Cloud Palace's primary core leader, he also became the true core at that moment, and no one in the Cloud Palace dared to underestimate him anymore.

However, Long Aotian appreciated the good intentions of Huo Rulie and Fen Juechen but did not accept the Immortal-tier Magic Treasure.

It was just an Immortal-tier Magic Treasure; he had plenty of them, and of all types. Why should he covet this rare Immortal-tier Magic Treasure and invite gossip?

But then again, not all Cultivators viewed Immortal-tier Magic Treasures as lightly as he did. Immortal-tier Magic Treasures were so rare in the Lower Realm that even the Grand Elders of State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions did not each possess one.

Therefore, if Long Aotian were to truly offer Immortal-tier Magic Treasures as rewards, it was likely that very few people would be able to resist such temptation.

Of course, while he thought this, Long Aotian might not actually use Immortal-tier Magic Treasures as rewards. Firstly, if he truly did so, it might harm the recipients. Although Mahayana Realm Cultivators were already formidable, they were still far inferior to Tribulation Transcendence Realm Cultivators.

Treasures corrupt the heart.

An innocent man is harmed by his valuable possession.

When one's strength cannot protect a precious treasure, carrying and exposing such a treasure often leads to dire consequences. Long Aotian did not want something intended as a reward to help the recipient to ultimately become a death warrant, costing them their life.

Furthermore, using Immortal-tier Magic Treasures as rewards also carried the suspicion of squandering heaven's gifts and being a spendthrift. Long Aotian also didn't want others to truly call him a spendthrift... Two years later, after the Cloud Palace's first Centennial Sect Competition was confirmed, the Cloud Palace once again entered a Cultivation frenzy.

And not just the Cloud Palace; powerhouses from the Eternal Leaf Dynasty's Imperial Family, the Three Great Cloud Sects, the Five Great Cultivation Families of the Imperial City, and other factions also entered a state of secluded Cultivation, because the Genius Cultivation Disciples from these factions could also participate in the Cloud Palace's first Centennial Sect Competition.

The Cloud Palace's first Centennial Sect Competition held very special significance. Firstly, for the Cloud Palace itself, it was the first, giving it special meaning. Secondly, it was also the Cloud Palace's first time selecting talents to participate in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts, which also held special significance.

Invisibly, the Cloud Palace represented the Eastern Wilderness.

Participating in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts for the first time was of great importance. The Cloud Palace thus decided that the first Centennial Sect Competition would be open to the entire Eastern Wilderness. All Cultivators who believed they could win first place in the competition were welcome to participate.

If they won, equivalent rewards would be given.

The news released by the Cloud Palace undoubtedly shocked the entire Eastern Wilderness once again, and at the same time, it stirred up another wave of secluded Cultivation frenzy throughout the Eastern Wilderness.

The Eastern Wilderness Cloud Emperor Cultivation Tower undoubtedly felt this Cultivation frenzy the most. All Cultivation rooms were completely full, and people were still queuing, waiting for other Cultivators to emerge from seclusion so they could promptly rent a Cultivation room for their own seclusion.

All prominent figures in the Eastern Wilderness would attend the Cloud Palace's Centennial Sect Competition. If one could make a name for themselves on the arena, they would truly turn their lives around and might even be directly recruited as a Disciple by the Cloud Palace.

Furthermore, the Cloud Palace's rewards for the top-ranked Prodigies were also very generous, with the rich rewards making those Cultivators' eyes red with envy. As long as they could achieve even the lowest-tier reward ranking, the rewards they received would be an astronomical sum.

How could they not go mad?