Yan Qingsang let out a strange cackle. His sense of belonging toward the Yan Family had never been the strongest, but he had always been loyal to them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have strongly opposed Jiang Chen getting close to his cousin Yan Qinghuang when they first met.
His disappointment with the Yan Family had grown step by step, gradually arriving at this point. The final straw was that the Yan Family patriarch had actually orchestrated an assassination attempt against his grandfather Yan Wanjun. That had shattered Yan Qingsang's faith in the family entirely.
In his view, this was the Yan Family betraying him — not the other way around.
Once that realization settled in, Yan Qingsang suddenly felt his spirits lift.
As for Xiahou Zong's mockery, Yan Qingsang didn't feel the slightest irritation. Instead, he tilted his head toward Jiang Chen and said, "Brother, it's all up to you this time. That jerk has been arrogant long enough. It's about time someone put him in his place."
Jiang Chen let out a soft sigh, his expression thoughtful.
For some reason, everything he had witnessed today suddenly reminded him of his last conversation with the Sacred Ancestor — a discussion about the crisis facing the Eternal Sacred Land.
At the time, Jiang Chen hadn't fully grasped the gravity of it.
Now, it seemed the crisis was no empty warning.
Though Jiang Chen had no concrete evidence, the way these geniuses of the Eternal Divine Kingdom fawned over Xiahou Zong spoke volumes.
At the very least, among the younger generation, Xiahou Zong's influence had already far surpassed that of the Eternal Sacred Land's geniuses.
The Eternal Sacred Land had its Five Young Lords, but the young talents who gathered around them — all combined — still couldn't match the crowd that swarmed Xiahou Zong.
For the Eternal Sacred Land, this was nothing short of an irony.
"All right, Qingsang, save your breath." The real showdown was about to begin. There was even less need for this kind of verbal sparring.
Jiang Chen exchanged a few brief pleasantries with some geniuses who came over, then left directly, heading back to the rest area arranged by the imperial family.
"Brother Shao Yuan, Brother Shao Yuan, please wait!"
Quite a few geniuses eager to curry favor hurried after him.
Yan Qingsang flashed a grin. "Everyone, please understand — Brother Shao Yuan wants to focus on his preparation before the Sword Discussion. If you wish to discuss the Dao with him, you can do so after the tournament."
They all felt it was a shame. Watching Jiang Chen walk away, they could only sigh in disappointment.
Yan Qingsang caught up and followed him into the rest area.
Each contestant had their own private rest area. Yan Qingsang came up beside him and laughed, "Brother, it seems your popularity is blazing. Back in our Eternal Sacred Land, even the Five Young Lords aren't a patch on you."
At this, Yan Qingsang grew a little indignant again. "It's a pity that beast Xiahou Zong has deep roots and has been building his reputation for years. He's the one with the biggest following of all."
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "If you had sat on the throne of number-one genius all those years, your popularity would certainly be even greater."
Yan Qingsang cackled. "True enough — only I never did." He paused, then added, "But seeing that beast Xiahou Zong looking so smug just gets under my skin."
Jiang Chen waved a hand. "Let him be smug. Once the Sword Discussion is over, he may not have the chance anymore."
Three days remained before the Sword Discussion officially began.
Jiang Chen had no intention of wasting them. Of course, his relentless cultivation wasn't solely for this tournament.
His goals were higher and far more distant than that.
Yan Qingsang had never seen Jiang Chen this serious and knew better than to disturb him. He said his goodbyes and left to return to his own quarters.
He had just broken through to the Heavenly Rank and had originally wanted to show off a little — make the Yan Family regret what they'd lost and be shocked by his progress. But seeing Jiang Chen's calm and detached demeanor, Yan Qingsang suddenly felt no motivation to flaunt anything. What would it even matter if the Yan Family found out? How could he be so shallow?
Yan Qingsang swept aside all distracting thoughts and went back to his quarters to cultivate as well.
In this way, the two of them stood out as somewhat unusual. These three days were supposed to be for the geniuses to mingle with one another.
This mingling was, in plain terms, communication between geniuses — a social event. Though many of them might end up facing each other in the arena, such sparring didn't necessarily have to be a fight to the death.
Some geniuses placed greater value on networking at occasions like this, on building connections and accumulating allies.
The Great Holy Lord had actually hoped Jiang Chen would spend more time socializing outside, building his network and winning supporters. After all, given his extraordinary talent in alchemy, winning people over should have been easy enough.
But Jiang Chen refused to play that game at all, and the Great Holy Lord couldn't help feeling somewhat disheartened. Still, considering the pressure Jiang Chen faced in the Sword Discussion, the Great Holy Lord couldn't ask for more.
The outcome of this battle was what truly mattered.
If this young man could pull off another miracle and defeat Xiahou Zong, he wouldn't need to do a thing — countless young geniuses would come fawning at his door of their own accord.
But if he was truly crushed by Xiahou Zong, then even his talent in alchemy wouldn't be enough to earn him much following.
It was no exaggeration to say this was a battle of fortune.
Whoever won would come to shape the future fate of the Eternal Divine Kingdom.