Ziche Min fell silent, ruminating. His impression of Yan Qingsang had never been particularly deep. In his memory, Yan Qingsang had essentially arrived at the Eternal Sacred Land as a sort of add-on.
Ziche Min didn't look down on Yan Qingsang, but he felt that given Yan Qingsang's talent and reputation, securing one of the remaining four slots for the Genius Sword Summit would be far from easy. One might even say it would be an extremely difficult thing to accomplish.
However, upon seeing that Yan Qingsang had broken through to the Celestial realm, Ziche Min was genuinely surprised. He said, "Qingsang, the old you would have had absolutely no chance of participating in the Genius Sword Summit. Even if you had forced your way in, you'd only have been thrashed mercilessly."
"Mm." On this point, Yan Qingsang couldn't deny it.
Before he had met Jiang Chen, Yan Qingsang probably wouldn't have even been able to snag a spot to attend the Genius Sword Summit within the Yan family, let alone at the Eternal Sacred Land.
But the Yan Qingsang of today had been completely reborn.
He felt that while his seniority within the Sacred Land might still be lacking, in terms of genuine strength, he absolutely qualified to compete.
"You've broken through to the Celestial realm — that's no small feat. I didn't expect your martial cultivation potential to be this impressive. It's genuinely surprised me. I'll fight to secure you a slot for this competition. At the very least, I'll get you a chance to compete on fair terms."
The so-called chance to compete on fair terms meant that within the Sacred Land, there would likely need to be an internal selection round first.
True to his word, Ziche Min didn't drag his feet. He was a man of action. Having promised Yan Qingsang, he set about making arrangements right away.
Yan Qingsang was Jiang Chen's sworn brother, and the two shared an exceptionally close bond.
On top of that, his breakthrough to the Celestial realm had suddenly elevated him to stand out among the Sacred Land's younger generation.
So, by both principle and pragmatism, while he might not be a lock for one of the slots, he was at least a serious contender.
In the end, more than a dozen geniuses qualified to compete for the four remaining slots. With no other way to settle it, an internal selection had to be held.
Yan Qingsang was dead set on proving himself this time, so he fought with reckless determination, leaving everything on the line. His resolve was absolute — he would seize his place.
It had to be said, this kind of fierce tenacity carried a significant advantage. It allowed him to narrowly defeat two opponents across two rounds of selection, firmly snatching one of the competition slots for himself.
And so, the Eternal Sacred Land's ten slots for the Genius Sword Summit were finalized.
According to the rules, seven days before the Genius Sword Summit, all participating factions had to submit their rosters. By the third day before the event, every participating genius had to report to the organizers for identity verification and confirmation.
Only once all of this was settled could the organizers arrange the tournament brackets and carry out other necessary preparations based on the total number of participants.
The Genius Sword Summit was held so rarely that every major divine kingdom treated it with the utmost importance.
It could also be viewed as an internal qualifier for the Grand Genius Tournament held several years later.
The Grand Tournament involved geniuses from all ten great divine kingdoms, and those who earned the right to compete had, naturally, already distinguished themselves in their respective kingdoms' Genius Sword Summit.
Layer by layer of selection — how many geniuses rose to prominence, and how many faded into obscurity.
"Elder Ziche, has Shao Yuan still been cultivating in the Eternal River this whole time?" the Great Sovereign asked with evident concern.
Ziche Min nodded. "Yes. He's been in there for quite some time now. With any luck, he'll make a breakthrough this time."
The Great Sovereign sighed. "A few days ago, Xiahou Zong's father, Marquis Xiaoyao of the Xiahou clan, came before me running his mouth, boasting about how Xiahou Zong was unmatched under heaven. I'm afraid the clash between Shao Yuan and this Xiahou Zong is inevitable. I still don't feel particularly confident about it."
The thought gave Ziche Min a headache as well. He had always had great faith in Jiang Chen. But this time was different.
Xiahou Zong's reputation within the Eternal Divine Kingdom was simply too dominant. And while Shao Yuan had demonstrated a measure of his martial talent during the Nine-Loop Cloud Grotto, the gap between Shao Yuan's cultivation realm and Xiahou Zong's was simply too vast.
Shao Yuan had only broken through to the Celestial realm about a year ago. Not much time had passed since then — at best, he might have reached the second level of the Celestial realm?
The second level of the Celestial realm, going up against Xiahou Zong, the foremost genius of the mid-stage Celestial realm — no matter how you looked at it, there was no grounds for optimism.
"That Xiahou clan is nothing but a bunch of fame-mongers. Xiahou Zong's talent is high, certainly, but his personality is far too arrogant. Perhaps that is Shao Yuan's only opening."
The Great Sovereign nodded. "The roster has already been submitted. Tomorrow, the participants need to go for the identity review. Shao Yuan won't miss this, will he?"
Ziche Min said gravely, "He should have known these rules well in advance. If we still have to go chasing after him, that would be rather unreasonable."
Their worry now was that if they submitted the roster but Shao Yuan failed to appear for the identity verification the next day, the slot would essentially be forfeited.
If that happened, it would become a laughingstock.
The entire Eternal Sacred Land would be made a fool before the world.
"Let's wait and see. Before we set out tomorrow, he'll definitely show up." Even Ziche Min's tone had grown less certain.
Early the next morning, the several geniuses representing the Eternal Sacred Land in the Genius Sword Summit had already gathered at the meeting point ahead of schedule.