The Hundred Sacred Lands, meanwhile, were seething with fury. They had already offered Gongxi Hu such generous terms, only for the Eternal Sacred Land to snatch the man away in the end.
What made it even more infuriating was that Gongxi Hu had been so blunt about it, claiming that Jiang Chen's personal charisma had helped him make his choice.
Did this Jiang Chen kid really possess that kind of pull? Was this Jiang Chen truly the bane of the Hundred Sacred Lands?
Last time at the Eternal Sacred Land, they had lost Master Shi Xuan.
And now, when a young genius had finally appeared — one the Hundred Sacred Lands had long marked as a priority target — he was cruelly wrested away by the Eternal Sacred Land once more.
No failure stung quite like being beaten head-on like this.
Winning this crucial round had buoyed the Eternal Sacred Land's spirits immensely. For the next several geniuses, they were tactful enough to ease off.
Clearly, there was a basic sense of decorum to maintain. They couldn't just snatch every single prospect they saw — that would be far too greedy and would offend everyone beyond repair.
With so many geniuses on the board, it was only proper to leave some for others.
But the Hundred Sacred Lands were plainly enraged, and they had stopped caring about such considerations.
The rankings above twentieth place grew ever more dazzling one after another. The Hundred Sacred Lands, desperate for talent, tried to vie for nearly every single one.
However, the other Sacred Lands were no pushovers. They hadn't competed for Gongxi Hu simply because they hadn't considered him a particularly desirable target.
But times changed.
Seeing the Hundred Sacred Lands refuse to let even one go, the other Sacred Lands naturally grew displeased as well. An unspoken consensus quietly formed among them — they would stand against the Hundred Sacred Lands to the bitter end, even if it meant a grueling war of attrition.
As a result, while the Hundred Sacred Lands did manage to secure a fair number of geniuses, the cost of each acquisition quietly escalated.
Only the Hundred Sacred Lands, with their vast wealth, could afford to keep up.
Before long, the competition reached the top ten. These ten geniuses were the treasured gems in the eyes of all Ten Great Sacred Lands — every single one of them had broken through to the Celestial tier.
Among second- and third-rate forces, a young talent capable of breaking through to the Celestial tier was, in the Sacred Lands' estimation, an extraordinary existence indeed.
And so, all Ten Great Sacred Lands girded themselves for a fierce battle over these top picks.
"Chen Shao, of these ten geniuses, which ones do you think we should focus on?" Zi Che Min transmitted, seeking Jiang Chen's opinion.
"To be honest, I don't think it's strictly necessary to win every one. But for the sake of prestige, I'm sure the Great Sacred Lord would like to secure at least one or two more. If you're asking me personally, I'd say the seventh-ranked and third-ranked are relatively worth going after."
Jiang Chen offered his assessment.
These top ten geniuses were, in terms of cultivation realm, indeed the most outstanding of the bunch. But being the most outstanding only meant they were the most conspicuous at this stage.
In terms of potential, these ten were not necessarily the most promising.
Of course, gauging potential from such a brief window of observation was something most people would find nearly impossible.
But Jiang Chen was different — he had his own method of assessment.
He felt that the seventh-ranked and third-ranked had impressive realms yet were relatively less dependent on external resources. Moreover, temperament-wise, these two were more to Jiang Chen's liking.
Jiang Chen had never interacted with them, so by all rights he shouldn't have been able to analyze their character. However, by observing their eyes and their mannerisms, he had formed a rough judgment of his own.
When Jiang Chen mentioned the third and seventh, Zi Che Min couldn't help but ask, "The first-ranked, Lan Huang — the Great Sacred Lord is still most partial to him, isn't he?"