How could the Peacock Great Emperor not hear it? That seemingly mild question from the Vast Sea Great Emperor was actually laced with hidden malice.
If the Peacock Great Emperor were to be overly conservative in his assessment, everyone would inevitably think: since Young Master Zhen is so mediocre, why did you designate him as your heir?
And if he were too optimistic, then should Jiang Chen stumble at the critical moment—or worse, get kicked out entirely—he would inevitably be mocked behind his back for having spoken too soon.
So the Peacock Great Emperor's words did not commit him to any fixed position. They were measured, factual, and airtight.
The Vast Sea Great Emperor chuckled upon hearing this. "It seems Brother Peacock is quite optimistic about that boy, Young Master Zhen. Challenging the eighth Glazed Stele—does that mean Brother Peacock believes this boy's talent and potential are the greatest in five thousand years, past and future?"
The Peacock Great Emperor gave a dry laugh. "Brother Vast Sea, you certainly are quick to draw conclusions. Whether or not he can break through to the eighth Glazed Stele depends on countless factors that no one can predict. Can you tell me how many of your own young masters—say, Ye Piaoling—will reach?"
If the Peacock Great Emperor had lost his temper at the Vast Sea Great Emperor, people would have thought him petty. But the Vast Sea Great Emperor's words were genuinely insidious—clearly an attempt to trap the Peacock Great Emperor in a corner of his own making.
The Peacock Great Emperor was a man of vast experience and insight. With just a couple of sentences in return, he left the Vast Sea Great Emperor speechless.
Indeed—could you predict the results of your own disciples? You don't care about the achievements of your own geniuses, yet you cling obsessively to the talents of Peacock Sacred Mountain. How interesting is that?
The Nian Great Emperor, who had been silent and thoughtful until now, suddenly asked, "Brother Peacock, this concept of 'pacing' you mentioned is rather novel. Could you elaborate?"
The Peacock Great Emperor knew the Nian Great Emperor harbored no ill intent and was genuinely curious to understand.
"In truth, this is a lesson I distilled from my own personal experience back in the day. Once you break through the fourth Glazed Stele, you receive a one-month time bonus. Break through the fifth, and you get another three months. That's a significant amount of extra time that can be used for cultivation, for strengthening yourself. Then, when you feel sufficiently prepared, you go and challenge the next Glazed Stele—making full use of the time granted by the Glazed Sovereign Tower. If you break through one Glazed Stele and immediately charge to the next, it might look impressive in terms of momentum, but from a time-efficiency standpoint, it's actually not worthwhile. After all, if the challenge fails, you're eliminated outright. And all that time you'd accumulated is completely wasted."
"So your meaning is that one should wait until the time is nearly expired before attempting the next Glazed Stele—to maximize the time available?" the Nian Great Emperor asked thoughtfully.
"In theory, yes. But the actual execution depends on the situation. If after cultivating you feel you've made tremendous progress—or even gained new inspiration—then going ahead and challenging the next Glazed Stele a bit early is perfectly fine."
Back in his day, the Peacock Great Emperor had broken through to the seventh Glazed Stele, but because he hadn't managed his pacing well, he ultimately fell short by the narrowest margin.
In truth, given his talent and potential, he had every hope of reaching the eighth Glazed Stele. But opportunity comes only once.
Miss it, and it's gone forever. This remained the Peacock Great Emperor's lifelong regret.
He clearly did not want Jiang Chen to repeat the same mistake—to rush headlong into things. Instead, he should first make full use of every moment available.
When it came to challenging the Glazed Steles, there was no shortage of time.
Moreover, this opening of the Glazed Sovereign Tower had unlocked three secret realms. And as a genius in the first tier of the Young Masters Rankings, Jiang Chen could move freely between all the secret realms without restriction.
He could fully leverage his advantages—making the most of both time and space to maximize his gains.
However, something soon happened that left the Peacock Great Emperor not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Because Jiang Chen had continued his challenge. After leaving the fourth Glazed Stele, he went straight to the fifth—advancing ahead of schedule to challenge the fifth Glazed Stele!
This scene genuinely left the Peacock Great Emperor at a loss. He had just been discussing the importance of pacing, and here was Jiang Chen already tackling the fifth Glazed Stele.
Although the fifth Glazed Stele would certainly pose no problem for Jiang Chen, this kind of impulsiveness was exactly what worried the Peacock Great Emperor. He feared that such a string of consecutive victories would rob a young man of his reason, would cause his confidence to bloat unchecked. And if that happened, when he eventually arrived at the seventh Glazed Stele, he might encounter formidable resistance.
All the geniuses who had entered the inheritance secret realm of the Glazed Sovereign Tower knew that the sixth and seventh Glazed Steles were two enormous barriers.
Breaking through either one was extremely difficult.
The vast majority of geniuses would ultimately stall at these two stages.
To break through to the eighth Glazed Stele—that marked a once-in-five-thousand-years supreme genius. As for the ninth, no one had achieved it in the last ten thousand years.
As for anything beyond that, the historical records of the Glazed Sovereign City were hazy at best—hardly any documentation remained.
"Brother Peacock, this young master of yours is turning out to be quite interesting," the Zhenyue Great Emperor remarked with a smile. He had always held the Peacock Great Emperor in considerable respect.
It wasn't just respect for the Peacock Great Emperor's strength and prestige, but also for his eye for talent. Setting everything else aside, among the seven great emperors of the Glazed Sovereign City, who else had unearthed such an unconventional genius?
Being supreme in both alchemy and martial arts was enough to stand above all other geniuses.
Leaving martial arts aside for the moment, his track record in the Dao of Alchemy—despite his youth—had already proven itself on the grandest stages.
Some geniuses were simply born for the grand stage. That was exactly the feeling Young Master Zhen gave the Zhenyue Great Emperor. The alchemical battle against Pill Fire City—that was a grand stage.
The dispute between Taiyuan Pavilion and Taiyuan Tower—that too was a grand stage.