Sovereign of the Three Realms - Chapter 1971

Chapter 1971: 1971

Jiang Chen was unaffected by these rivulets of aggression . Captain Yan had informed him that there was a divine cultivator behind Bluesmoke’s curtain . Just what kind of ambitions were they harboring with their presence here?

Regardless, now wasn’t the time to drag that into the open . Statements without evidence were meaningless and would only serve to put him on the back foot .

There were roughly three thousand young geniuses taking part in the selection . One or two rounds of elimination reduced that to about two hundred .  

These were comparatively elite among their brethren, but only a tenth were actually empyrean realm . That meant somewhere between more than a dozen to two dozen .

Een the best geniuses of the second and third-rate factions couldn’t compare to those of the ten sacred lands, nor could they contest the first-rate factions in the divine nations .

What Jiang Chen didn't expect, however, was that Rejuvenation and Tritalent each had a genius among the top two hundred .

Heavenlight had two, while Bluesmoke had five . The difference between the former and the latter was immediately evident .

The Bluesmoke Isles was very close to being a first-rate faction . Its strength far outstripped a second-rate one .

Now that the top two hundred was decided, there would be round after round of matches between the geniuses to calculate their precise ranking .

Jiang Chen thought this process too convoluted, but those involved seemed perfectly happy to be wrapped up in the busywork . Though it felt like a waste of time, he was obligated to watch the entire thing .

“Do you think the selection is boring, Jiang Chen?” Ziju Min asked, smiling .

“The competition of geniuses should be between the ten sacred lands, shouldn’t it be? Isn’t this preliminary selection too complex in light of that?” Jiang Chen tried to be tactful .

“Haha, it wouldn’t have been like this before . Because the ten sacred lands want to gather others to itself, a sense of participation for the second and third-rate factions is key . To put it bluntly, we’re trying to win over their hearts . There’s another reason as well, though: this is a good chance to audit all the other factions . This’ll give us a better picture of how strong Myriad Abyss is as a whole . ”

Jiang Chen understood the explanation immediately .

The factions of Myriad Abyss were manifold and scattered far and wide, with essentially no opportunities to gather together . Without a call from the ten sacred lands, they wouldn’t possibly be out in such force .

Therefore, it had always been a mystery as to exactly what the waters held . This was the best chance they had to clarify that .

There would be people and factions hiding their power, to be sure, but most were perfectly happy to show off their muscles in front of the ten sacred lands .

Anyone that did hide their strength had ulterior motives and designs .

Because the selection went into such detail, it took a very long time to complete . After half a month’s time, the final ranking was finally revealed . Of course, the ranking was directed towards the geniuses alone rather than their factions .

As expected, Bluesmoke took the top spot .

Perhaps more surprisingly, two more among the top ten were from Bluesmoke as well .

This astonished practically everybody – Jiang Chen included . So Bluesmoke’s heritage wasn’t just for show, then? Its young geniuses were nothing short of exceptional .

It had taken first, fourth, and eighth place .

The faction itself became prominent through proxy . The remaining two geniuses who came from there were among the top forty .

“Bluesmoke, was it? A faction to be reckoned with,” Ziju Min commented to Jiang Chen .

“The Bluesmoke Isles has a tradition of ancient jade . There are many opportunities for young geniuses to drastically improve there . ”

Though Jiang Chen’s last stay there hadn’t been pleasant, that didn’t stop him from giving an objective analysis . He was unsurprised at Bluesmoke’s results . In fact, he wondered whether it had sent all of its geniuses to the competition .

Regardless, it quickly became a hot topic after the selection process . Its second and third-rate peers envied and resented it .

Some resorted to flattery to get into Bluesmoke’s good graces . Everyone had the feeling that it was going to become a lot more important very soon .  

The first prime had observed the participating geniuses in secret . “Jiang Chen,” she declared seriously, “Lan Huang from Bluesmoke is first place in the selection . We have to figure out a way to get our hands on him . Any ideas?”  

It was obvious that she put a lot of stock in the champion’s performance .

Lan Huang was talented enough to rank among the ten sacred lands . Even Eternal’s Five Great Gentlemen didn't have an absolute advantage over him .

Though he had reported his cultivation to be third level empyrean, Jiang Chen doubted whether he was any weaker than Xiahou Zong had been . A certain amount of praise and currying favor was thus expected .

But because he was from Bluesmoke, Jiang Chen was unsure of how to judge him .

The young man’s silence prompted the first prime to frown . “Is there some difficulty, Jiang Chen?”

Jiang Chen smiled a little . “I have a few disagreements with the Bluesmoke Isles, so I’m not sure how I can help without having the opposite effect . ”

The first prime blinked with some disappointment, though she quickly cleared it away . “That’s alright . If Bluesmoke knows what’s best for them, they’ll be happy to wipe the slate clean . ”

Jiang Chen laughed, but said nothing more .  I’m not so sure that a few words will be enough to resolve the enmity between us .

Moreover, all ten of the sacred lands were likely to have their sights set on this Lan Huang . Since he was obviously a proud youth, it would be extremely challenging to make him join Eternal specifically .

Finally, the fact of the matter was that Jiang Chen didn't have nearly as high an opinion of him as the first prime did .