Jiang Chen's deliberate or inadvertent favoritism had not gone unnoticed by the sect representatives. The Heavenly River Palace delegation, in particular, knew full well that they had been denied a single opportunity from start to finish.
Equally vexed was Master Dongye of the Heavenly Sound Temple. Yet Master Dongye hardly seemed to expect much either — he merely cast the occasional glance toward Jiang Chen, his Vajra Dharma Eyes brimming with a look of cold scrutiny, as though studying some manner of monster.
Over the course of three days of pill dao lectures, Jiang Chen had explained profound concepts in the most accessible way, weaving all manner of wondrous alchemical principles into his teaching. Not only did he ignite everyone's enthusiasm, he vastly expanded their horizons in the art of pill refinement.
By the end of the three days, whether rogue cultivators or distinguished guests from various factions, all had walked away with considerable gains. The depth of pill dao knowledge Jiang Chen had displayed during the Q&A sessions in particular left the entire audience thunderstruck.
Everyone had to admit that Young Lord Zhen's mastery of alchemy was nothing short of a living encyclopedia of the pill dao.
Once the pill dao lectures concluded, it was time to move on to the next major event — a segment everyone had been eagerly awaiting. A senior expert from the Myriad Abyss Island would be answering questions on the martial dao.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you've all been looking forward to this next segment for quite some time. Tomorrow, the mysterious expert from the Myriad Abyss Island will grace the Peacock Sacred Mountain with his presence. However, he has already given me a clear answer — he will only address seven questions. That means seven among you here today will become the lucky recipients. As per tradition, one of these seven opportunities will go to the distinguished sect guests who have come to Glazed Royal City, while the remaining six will be reserved for our friends from the rogue cultivator community. Only then will this Rogue Cultivator Assembly truly live up to its name."
"Still, the opportunity to seek martial dao guidance from a senior of that caliber is exceedingly rare. How exactly to allocate these chances — now that is a truly difficult problem."
"As everyone knows, the senior experts of the Myriad Abyss Island possess martial dao insight that far surpasses any of us cultivators here in the human territories. An opportunity like this is absolutely one of a kind. So, who should receive them? If we simply hand them to ordinary cultivators, it would be something of a waste. The cultivation problems encountered by your average practitioner can already be resolved by many emperor-realm and sovereign-realm cultivators present here..."
When Jiang Chen reached this point, he paused briefly before continuing: "Therefore, this Young Master is truly conflicted over how to allocate these slots. Everyone, please share your thoughts. At this Rogue Cultivator Assembly, we have Saint-realm cultivators, Sovereign-realm cultivators, and even Emperor-realm seniors. If I give all the opportunities to Emperor-realm powerhouses, that would be unfair to the Sovereign and Saint realms. But if I give them to Saint-realm cultivators, I'm afraid the Emperor and Sovereign realms would be displeased — they'd say that the martial dao problems of Saint-realm warriors don't warrant troubling the seniors of Myriad Abyss Island, since they themselves could provide the answers. So, let's hear everyone speak freely. This Young Master would like to hear your opinions."
This was indeed a difficult choice to make.
"Emperor Jingzhong, you are the most esteemed and venerable senior among the rogue cultivators here at this Assembly. Perhaps you could share your thoughts first?" Jiang Chen looked toward Emperor Jingzhong.
Emperor Jingzhong chuckled: "Honestly, I too hold the experts of Myriad Abyss Island in great reverence. I can understand Young Master Zhen's dilemma. In my opinion, this opportunity to ask questions is exceedingly rare and should be reserved for higher-realm cultivators. Since ancient times, the rule of the cultivation world has always been that the strong take priority. I believe the rogue cultivator friends present today can appreciate my meaning. However, if Emperor-realm powerhouses were to take everything, that would be rather unsightly. Therefore, I have a proposal."
"Please, do share, Emperor Jingzhong." Jiang Chen was only too eager for Emperor Jingzhong to have a good proposal that might relieve him of this great dilemma.
The last thing he, Jiang Chen, wanted was to offend the entire rogue cultivator community.
"These six opportunities could be determined by lottery among the Emperor-realm rogue cultivators in attendance. However, since Young Master Zhen's principle for this Assembly is to benefit as many people as possible, we shouldn't simply let people reap rewards without giving anything in return. I propose that whichever Emperor-realm powerhouse wins the chance to exchange insights with the seniors of Myriad Abyss Island must also show some sincerity — make a contribution of their own. This would also serve the principle of fairness."
"Oh? What sort of sincerity?" Jiang Chen asked with curiosity.
"Every Emperor-realm rogue cultivator who receives this opportunity, after gaining the guidance of Myriad Abyss Island's seniors, must in turn open a lecture hall and answer one hundred martial dao questions from the younger generation of rogue cultivators. What do you think, Young Master Zhen?"
Receiving guidance from the seniors of Myriad Abyss Island and then giving back to the younger generation of the rogue cultivator world — this was indeed a fine proposal.
The six Emperor-realm rogue cultivators had six opportunities in total. If each of them answered one hundred martial dao questions for the younger generation of rogue cultivators, that would amount to six hundred opportunities.
The group of beneficiaries suddenly expanded significantly.
"What do you all think?" Jiang Chen looked toward the other Emperor-realm powerhouses.
"Brother Hui's proposal is excellent. We absolutely support it."
"Exactly, it should be this way. Emperor Jingzhong's suggestion is very reasonable."
"Young Master Zhen, let's do it just as Emperor Jingzhong suggested! He has always been fair in his dealings, and for him to consider the interests of us junior martial cultivators at a time like this is truly rare. We support him!"
"Exactly, trading six opportunities for six hundred — that's generous enough. We have no objections."
The lower-ranked rogue cultivators naturally could not object any further. Indeed, in terms of qualification, if those prime opportunities were handed over to them, it would be a complete waste.
If their cultivation level wasn't high enough, they wouldn't be able to hold a meaningful conversation with the seniors of Myriad Abyss Island. They couldn't very well rush over to ask the exalted seniors of Myriad Abyss Island some rudimentary question, could they?
Most rogue cultivators hadn't even dared to dream of competing for such a magnificent opportunity. That it would go to Emperor-realm powerhouses — they felt that was only natural.
That Young Lord Zhen and Emperor Zhongjing were able to consider everyone's interests was already quite generous of them.
Seeing that no one voiced any objections, Jiang Chen was very pleased: "Excellent. With this arrangement, things couldn't be better."
"Representatives of the sect forces, you will also have one opportunity. For this opportunity, we will again use a drawing of lots to decide."
There were twenty-one rogue cultivator emperors, along with representatives from various sect forces. On the sect side, there were not only first-rate sects, but also second-rate sects and third-rate sects.
However, the representatives of those second-rate and third-rate sects clearly did not dare to compete with the giants of the first-rate sects for this opportunity.