This was Jiang Chen's ultimate objective in hosting this Dragon Tiger Summit.
He was building momentum for Glazed Royal City, raising the summit's appeal and influence. And what would raise it? Naturally, the summit's very content.
Unearthing treasures was excellent content indeed!
A fascination with the extraordinary was never in short supply in the martial dao world. The pursuit of treasure was also the deepest obsession in the hearts of every cultivator.
"Young Lord Zhen, we all trust you — just announce the results!"
"That's right! Everyone trusts Young Lord Zhen's integrity!"
"The Glazed Royal City's reputation is golden — if we didn't trust it, we wouldn't have come!"
The rogue cultivators below were shouting at the top of their lungs.
Obviously, they could barely contain their anticipation.
Jiang Chen smiled. "With over three thousand treasures, announcing them one by one would be an enormous task. Instead, we will present all the fifth-tier items together. If any belong to you, you will easily sense them. The fourth-tier items will likewise be presented together, and you will be able to sense those as well."
"For the third-tier treasures, we will provide a brief explanation for each. They will be divided into fifteen batches of ten. If one is yours, you will recognize it at a glance."
"The real focus is on the second-tier and first-tier treasures that follow, as well as the supreme-grade items. This time, there are fifty-two second-tier items — quite a considerable number."
"For the first tier, we have selected twenty-one pieces. That also exceeded our expectations."
"As for the three supreme-grade items, they were a delightful surprise. For these second-tier, first-tier, and supreme-grade treasures, we will introduce each one individually. If any belong to you, you will naturally have an even clearer understanding."
Jiang Chen went through them one by one.
"All right, let us begin with the public display of the fifth and fourth tiers. Pay close attention — it will go quickly, so don't miss anything. But even if you do, don't worry. If your items don't appear among the third-tier, second-tier, first-tier, or supreme-grade selections, then they must be in the fourth or fifth tier."
The rogue cultivators burst into laughter upon hearing this.
In the guest area, the major figures from various great powers had also been thoroughly intrigued by this appraisal segment. Three supreme-grade treasures?
That was what had whetted their appetites the most.
"Third Elder, why do I get the impression that those four seniors all seem to defer to Young Lord Zhen? They seem perfectly content to play supporting roles for him?" Xu Shan, the Saintess of the Moon God Sect, could not help but remark.
The Third Elder pondered for a moment. "Xu Shan, the Grand Elder brought you along to help you fulfill a wish. Don't let your mind wander any further down this path."
Xu Shan's face flushed crimson. "Third Elder, please don't tease your disciple."
"I have no intention of teasing you. I am simply worried that you'll sink deeper and squander the talent of your Inverse Yin-Yang bloodline."
Xu Shan let out a soft sigh but said nothing more. There was a nameless, indescribable feeling stirring inside her. For the longest time, she had been telling herself that her attention toward Young Lord Zhen was solely because he had given her a second chance at life — for no other reason at all.
But sometimes, late at night when the world was quiet and she thought about it carefully, was that really the truth? Xu Shan did not dare follow that thought any further. Each time she examined it closely, she grew frightened — even at a loss for what to do.
The representative of the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect watched the composed and eloquent Young Lord Zhen on the stage, his emotions a complicated mixture. He sighed inwardly, "Thankfully, our enmity with this young man never ran too deep. The way this has been resolved — our sect has taken a loss, but it may well turn out to be a blessing. A young monster of this caliber, once he fully matures, is bound to sweep across the entire human domain. This is the sort of prodigy that appears once in a hundred thousand years. If the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect were to make an enemy of him, it would be absolute foolishness."
He glanced toward the guest area and noticed that among the Eight Great First-Rank Sects, the Eternal Heaven Sect was conspicuously absent. What did that tell him?
It told him that Young Lord Zhen was already showing his teeth — that he had already torn off the mask with the Eternal Heaven Sect and expelled their people!
Thinking of this, Shangguan Yanqing, the Twelve-Star Patroller of the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect, felt a deep wave of relief wash over him. He had made up his mind: "When I return, I will do everything in my power to persuade the Sect Master to put a stop to anyone in the sect who still harbors designs on causing trouble for this young man. Particularly Grand Elder Chen Lei — Cao Jin's mentor — who is dead set on settling scores. That is most inadvisable. Provoking this boy would absolutely spell destruction for the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect."
For some reason, this conviction only grew stronger and stronger within him. The young man's standing in his mind continued to climb ever higher.
The representative of the Heavenly River Palace watched the vivacious Young Lord Zhen with a mixture of envy and irritation. The Heavenly River Palace was one of the First-Rank Sects that was entirely aligned with Myriad Flame City — one might even call it a vassal state.
The Heavenly River Palace also had the shallowest roots among the Eight Great First-Rank Sects. It could almost be said that Myriad Flame City had single-handedly elevated it to First-Rank status.
As such, the Heavenly River Palace's loyalty to Myriad Flame City was absolute.
Watching Young Lord Zhen steal the spotlight at this Dragon Tiger Summit, watching the event grow more and more popular with ever-rising appeal — the Heavenly River Palace representative could only seethe internally.
But there was nothing he could do about it, no matter how unhappy he was.
For this Dragon Tiger Summit, four of the six great titans of the rogue cultivator world had shown up in person. Twenty to thirty rogue cultivator emperors had also appeared.
This scale would almost certainly surpass the Pill and Martial Grand Assembly hosted by Myriad Flame City.
For Myriad Flame City, this was nothing short of humiliation.
Because previously, Glazed Royal City had been far behind Myriad Flame City in terms of influence. And now, without the Peacock Great Emperor, Glazed Royal City should have fallen even further behind — yet here it was.