But the young ones were calves unafraid of tigers. Wu You and Gan Ning reacted far better than Ziche Min did. They weren't particularly interested in what history's records had to say.
They only trusted their own instincts.
"Senior Ziche, rumors and records exist to be broken. Since Senior Jiang Chen first rose to prominence, how many utterly impossible things has he encountered? And in the end, didn't he always turn the impossible into the possible?" Wu You's voice carried absolute conviction whenever he spoke of Jiang Chen.
"Exactly right. Every record exists for someone to shatter. No matter how terrifying the tenth Forbidden Island is, it's still just an island. He passed through the eighth and ninth Forbidden Islands with ease — the tenth won't stump him either. I just have a feeling that Senior Jiang Chen will walk out of that tenth Forbidden Island!"
Seeing these two young men so full of confidence, a spark of belief stirred in Ziche Min's heart for no reason he could name. Yes — why was it that the younger generation could place such unwavering trust, while he, a Supreme Elder, couldn't manage the same?
"Great Sovereign, what Wu You and the others say makes sense. Jiang Chen was born to shatter every impossibility. No matter what's deemed impossible, he has the strength and the potential to turn it into reality!"
The Great Sovereign's gaze was complicated, her tone heavy with regret and self-reproach: "This time may truly be different. It was my negligence. My negligence."
The other sacred land titans noticed the shift in the Eternal Sacred Land's Great Sovereign's expression and realized the subject had hit a nerve.
Some chose to hold their tongues. Others, however, seemed to twist the knife: "They say the tenth Forbidden Island leads straight to the underworld — death, with no path to survival. No one knows if it's true or not. After all, in ten thousand years, no one has ever entered the tenth Forbidden Island. Perhaps this genius will finally verify whether that rumor holds?"
"If the rumor turns out to be true, what a terrible loss. I don't know which sacred land this genius belongs to, but it would be an enormous blow to the Abyssal Island regardless."
"Indeed. A genius capable of breaking through the ninth trial — if he truly perishes, it would be an unbearable shame."
The Great Sovereign's mind grew even more tangled with anxiety. If Jiang Chen truly perished, she would have no way to account for it when the Sacred Ancestor arrived. She could only imagine the thunderous wrath that awaited.
At that moment, two more geniuses were eliminated from the Forbidden Islands one after another. Both had fallen on the eighth island.
Hours passed, and geniuses continued to be eliminated in steady succession.
Before long, only four remained.
Two from the Hundred Sacred Lands — Lu Mingye and Shi Qinglu. One from the Rising Sun Sacred Land — Holy Maiden Sitong.
And the last, naturally, was Jiang Chen of the Eternal Sacred Land.
These few were all recognized as top-tier powerhouses. Among them, Jiang Chen drew the loudest cheers. Now, everyone grew increasingly convinced that the one who had entered the tenth Forbidden Island was almost certainly Jiang Chen.
The atmosphere grew heavier and heavier. The sacred lands whose geniuses had already been eliminated, while somewhat bitter about it, also felt a measure of relief.
At least it wasn't their sacred land's genius who had ventured into the death-bound tenth Forbidden Island.
An hour later, yet another person was eliminated.
This time, it was Lu Mingye.
Lu Mingye's face was contorted with unwillingness, his appearance haggard and thoroughly disgruntled. The moment he emerged, he asked whether he was the last one out.
When he learned that three people had yet to be eliminated, it struck his chest like a devastating blow. He had been caught off guard on the eighth trial and expelled — thinking back on it now only fueled his frustration.
He had actually believed he might be the last one standing. But the truth delivered an even more bitter pill.
Three people had outperformed him in this phase?
When he learned the names of those three, his expression turned even darker. Sure enough — they were precisely the opponents he dreaded most.