Truth be told, Jiang Chen rather admired the young man before him — Su Tong, who was none other than the same Su Hong from before. Su Hong's talent had been absolutely outstanding among his generation back on Dongyan Island. If not for the anomaly that was Jiang Chen himself, Su Hong would have been the undisputed number one.
Most importantly, the fact that Su Hong had managed to escape from Dongyan Island spoke volumes about his fortune. Of course, fortune alone wasn't the only reason he'd gotten out.
Judgment, quick wits on the spot, a variety of survival skills, and his own strength — all of these factors were indispensable, and not one could be missing.
Su Hong happened to possess every single one of them, which was why he'd become one of the lucky survivors.
Jiang Chen therefore held very high expectations for this Su Hong. What the man truly lacked was opportunity. He didn't know why Su Hong had ended up on Anyun Island, but it was probably because he'd been out of options at the time and had no other choice.
Now that fate had brought this encounter to Jiang Chen, he naturally couldn't stand by and do nothing. He was willing to give Su Hong a chance — a chance for the man's talent to truly be put to use.
Deep in his heart, Su Hong was ecstatic. After all, he understood better than anyone that his moment had finally arrived.
A man whose fate had been so cruel for so long had finally been granted an opportunity like this.
And just like that, Jiang Chen's personal guard gained yet another member.
The others had mixed feelings about Jiang Chen's choice. They weren't entirely convinced. Su Hong's talent? Hard to say. But his origins on Anyun Island alone were enough to give most people pause.
What if Su Hong turned out to have poor character? That would be a serious problem.
Jiang Chen, however, remained perfectly composed. He had no obligation to explain his decisions to anyone.
What happened next, though, only made matters more exasperating for the onlookers.
When the sixty-first candidate came up — a young man from the Huichun Island Domain — the Nirvana Sacred Land had already set its sights on him.
But the young man flat out refused the Nirvana Sacred Land's invitation and instead requested to serve under Jiang Chen as a personal retainer.
Any young man from the Huichun Island Domain — who wouldn't have heard of Young Master Jiang Chen? The entire domain now answered to Young Master Jiang Chen, so this young prodigy naturally understood that serving under Jiang Chen would bring far better treatment than joining some Nirvana Sacred Land.
Going to those sacred lands, at best he'd be just another ordinary talent.
But under Young Master Jiang Chen, there might be even more opportunities. Thinking along these lines, the young prodigy didn't hesitate for a second and proactively asked to join Jiang Chen's ranks.
Jiang Chen couldn't help but find the situation a bit amusing, but he naturally had no intention of turning away a willing recruit, so he accepted the young man on the spot.
And just like that, Jiang Chen's personal guard grew by yet another soul.
The ensuing scramble only intensified as time went on.
Jiang Chen was reluctant to make a move under normal circumstances. He didn't want to earn a reputation for poaching talent from others.
Moreover, he genuinely wasn't all that interested in most of these prodigies. He didn't see any reason to pay an exorbitant price.
Most importantly, as the rankings climbed higher and higher, these geniuses grew ever more demanding. Some of their requests were astonishingly steep.
Even Jiang Chen found some of it hard to stomach.
After all, no matter how outstanding these prodigies might be, they came from second- and third-rate powers. A situation like this called for at least a modicum of self-awareness.
Leveraging the competition between a few sacred lands to drive up their own price — that was the very definition of lacking self-awareness. Without question, someone who lacked that kind of wisdom would never go far, regardless of whatever talent they possessed.