Realm Competition
In the middle of Gaofeng's deep mediation, a voice rang out throughout the entirety of the small Solstice realm, which was the world in which the Atamura continent existed. The voice declared with an audible haughtiness, "The realms of the Kyetin Association have decided to bring forward the Realm Competition held every millennia. It will be held in four months from now, and in addition to the 17 medium realms of our Association, a total of 337 small realms under our jurisdiction will have the grand opportunity to participate. If you do well in the competition, not only will you gain fame and incredible prizes, but you will also have the opportunity to join a sect or power that acknowledges your skill and desires you to join them. Since the competition realm that is normally used is far from ready, it had been decided that this time's Realm Competition will be held in the perilous Mountain Jaws. I hope to see you all participate."
The voice never identified itself directly, but from its words there would soon be a chance for Gaofeng to truly spread his wings among the geniuses of more than 350 world. Although Gaofeng felt some annoyance at being awoken from his cultivation, this news made him tremble with excitement.
Gaofeng naturally knew about the Realm Competition, which was held every millennia, but it had always been held in what was generally referred to as the Genius Wasteland. It was called this due to the amount of geniuses which died there. He had never heard of this "Mountain Jaws", but from the tone of the senior who spoke this place was a place of far greater danger than that of the Genius Wasteland.
Even better, thought Gaofeng. Only the greatest of dangers could threaten my life, so hopefully I will be given a proper challenge. He was greatly expectant of the geniuses from other worlds, as well as the other geniuses of the Solstice world.
The timing of the Realm Competition couldn't be better, either, as there were about three months until the Divine Enlightenment tree would bear fruit. After ingesting the fruit and refining it properly it would be just in time to be able to participate in the competition.
All of the elders had currently arrived in the Grand Hall. The reason it took so long was due to the great distance between each mountain, and there had also been some elders outside of the temple who had to be notified to return.
Since they were here already, Gaofeng would inform them of the current situation regarding the future of the Holy Temple before going back to cultivating. He stood up and soon arrived at the grand hall.
The grand hall was currently completely packed, filled with hundreds if not thousands of elders, and in front of them all stood Shen Hai. He was attempting to calm this group of elders, but exclamation after exclamation could be heard from this group of elders. Some didn't seem to agree with Shen Hai's decision.
This was where Gaofeng came in. He released his aura throughout the room, and the bloodthirsty and domineering Primordial Yin-Yang Beast's suppressive might stifled all the dissenters. No-one even dared to speak, much less complain. It was as if they were a small mouse in the playful palms of a wolf. There was absolutely no way to retaliate, and even if they attempted to escape, the wolf would simply gulp them down in one go.
"I am the new lord and master of the Holy Temple, Shangsheng Gaofeng. If you have any complaints regarding this, then speak now. Otherwise, maintain your silence forever. To address a couple of concerns, yes I will be extracting some resources from the Holy Temple, but such resources and more will be returned when I achieve my future position of power. The Holy Temple's influence will grow, and will forever be known as the temple which nurtured the great Gaofeng. Such a reputation will be better than any commercial, and will grant your Holy Temple far more disciples in the future." Gaofeng's deep voice rang out through the entire hall, and after a moment of silence the elders began discussing amongst themselves in hushed tones.
Soon after the elders came to a general consensus of accepting their new subordinate role. Before they had doubted the might of Gaofeng, but seeing was believing. After experiencing his stifling might, they agreed that such a lord could truly bring their Holy Temple into a new golden age. It was not an opportunity they could let go of. Additionally, it didn't seem like Gaofeng had any intentions of meddling too deeply into the affairs of the Holy Temple, which would mean that they would still have their lofty positions.
Having job security was the most important, second only to their lives, for these older cultivators. It would allow them to cultivate mostly in peace and enjoy the fruitful resources of the temple. As for some temporary resources which they were promised to get back with interest later. That seemed like a good deal when considering the circumstances of being completely suppressed in might.
After hearing that the elders agreed without much difficulty, Gaofeng went on to the next order of business. He was only interested in items which could help with his cultivation and strength. As for other matters, he didn't care one whit. After informing the elders about this, they seemed to be relieved. Mere items were less important than taking away core inheritances or people, so they didn't mind having to give him some benefits.
Gaofeng's request for items was relatively simple, "I need a great amount of Blood Qi pills, pills which unite Yin and Yang, and any other spiritual plant or fruit which involves Blood Qi, Yin Qi, or Yang Qi. The higher the grade, the better. Also, I need a heavy staff as my weapon. Give me the best heavy staff available to the temple as long as it isn't bound by blood to someone else. If you provide me with enough resources of these types, I will reward you even better in the future. If you don't provide much, however…" Gaofeng let the threat hang in the air.
By using this simple tactic of the carrot and the stick, he would be able to better motivate them in doing his bidding. Pure suppression would likely lead to feelings of indignance and lead to minimizing their efforts to aid him. It would be better if they also saw that there would be a benefit to their own action, which not only would keep them in check, but also motivate them to go beyond the regular means and measures to help him.
As soon as he had finished informing them about his requirements, he waved his hand to indicate that they could leave. When the regular elders had left, Shen Hai came over to Gaofeng and gave him a suggestion, "Although there might be some staffs in the private possession of some elders, the true treasures are within the main treasury of the tenth peak. These are temple-guarding level items which have been gathered or created by the previous Temple Masters and Holy Monks. Even I couldn't get the recognition of the greatest staffs within the treasury. The one I currently use is of a medium quality in comparison to the treasures within the armory."
When Gaofeng heard this, his eyes lit up. He had heard about the treasury from the infiltrator from his clan, but there hadn't been any details regarding the specific items and grades within the treasury, so Gaofeng hadn't thought these treasures would be valued to this extent.
As an answer to Shen Hai, Gaofeng smiled to him and nodded, "I appreciate the frankness, Shen Hai. If you keep this up, the future benefits you will get will definitely not be less than your expectations."
They went silently through the complicated maze of the Holy Temple on the tenth peak, and soon found themselves in a large empty courtyard. Gaofeng had thought they would continue walking to the treasury, but surprisingly Shen Hai stopped at this point.
Shen Hai activated an amulet around his neck and used a special incantation to open a sealed space. The treasury was actually in a different dimension, and if one didn't know its exact location, one could even walk in the exact space the entrance was without being the wiser. Only with both the amulet and the incantation would the door reveal itself.
Gaofeng stepped into the doorway together with Shen Hai, and the sight which met his eyes was truly magnificent. They found themselves within a massive hallway, which could almost be compared to a grand hall in itself, and along both the walls there were crystal cabinets with a plethora of items lined up inside them. Underneath each item was a special inscription created by the person who placed the item here, explaining the item's significance, power, and history. What a detail-oriented treasury, Gaofeng thought to himself.
There were, however, some exceptions, as some of the inscriptions explained that the person who had placed the item here didn't actually know its purpose, but due to for example its absolute sturdiness or intricate inscriptions, they considered it to be a true great treasure. They could only hope that there would come someone in the future who would recognize them, or be able to wield their power.