Something incredible had just happened. Someone really had passed the ninth trial!
All of the executives shot to their feet in the same instant, amazement writ plain in their eyes. They were thoroughly astounded by what they’d seen.
“Who could that possibly be? What a prodigious genius!” The same thought flickered through everyone’s minds. The unknown young person’s exploits were worthy of uniform admiration.
Whoever this was had far exceeded all expectations. None of the executives seated here had been capable of such a thing in their own youths, not even one!
The genius who’d passed the ninth trial had demonstrated talent superior to every high-ranking member of the sacred lands here.
“Congratulations in advance, Daoist Qi. The future of the Eternal Sacred Land is bright indeed. We’re all very envious!” Someone remarked merrily to Eternal’s first prime.
The prime was uncharacteristically humble. “We don’t know whose genius it is yet,” she replied hurriedly. “It might not be someone from Eternal.”
“Haha, I have no doubt it is young Jiang Chen. We all know what the other geniuses are capable of. None of them could possibly hope to do this.”
“You’re right. Even the best disciples of the sacred lands have defined limits. We all have a good estimate of what they’re capable of. Jiang Chen is the only exception – because he’s popped up so quickly, we don’t know him fully yet.”
“Many congratulations, Daoist Qi. An excellent young man like him is hard to find. However, I do hear he is a native of the human domain rather than Eternal proper. I’m a little worried whether his loyalties will remain with Myriad Abyss?”
The first prime didn’t take the compliments with much seriousness. They were merely words of courtesy.
It was impossible to know the motives of the speakers behind them. The most pleasant of commendations could very well hide a consuming jealousy and burning desire for Eternal to fail. She remained firmly down to earth.
“My friends, you think too much. There are still almost ten geniuses left, and any one of them could’ve just passed the ninth trial. Jiang Chen is only one of them. I see you know his origins by now, but I know him well enough to perceive his strong sense of responsibility. He’s hardly going to be limited to the human domain alone. It’s too small to contain his greatness in any case. He will represent the entirety of Divine Abyss one day – yes, the entire plane!”
Her grandiose prediction was also a warning against the attempted provocations she’d just heard.
Of course, there were others with a different opinion when it came to exactly who was doing so well.
“At the end of the day, Jiang Chen is just a genius from the human domain. His talent is surely limited. In my opinion, Myriad Abyss has plenty of good geniuses of our own. Any of them could have had a breakthrough past their own limits. Isn’t this kind of competition precisely the stage for that?”
“Exactly so. I think that Flora’s Lu Mingye and Shi Qinglu are both wonderful talents.”
“Our arguing right now isn’t of much use. The answer is almost out. Shall we keep our eyes peeled and await the truth? Regardless of the genius’s identity, they are a blessing to Myriad Abyss.”
“Indeed. The ten sacred lands’ alliance is as good as fact. I’m sure this super genius will win a considerable deal of support for his faction.”
“Quite so. A genius like this will be a superb leader one day.”
The first prime was secretly overjoyed. Still, a bit of concern lingered. Yes, the person who’d just reached the tenth trial was very probably Jiang Chen, but what if it wasn’t? It would be a tremendous blow for Eternal. If prevailing public opinion was overturned, the whiplash would be painful in its own way.
“I hope you pull through, Jiang Chen,” the first prime prayed.
The discussion continued. “Don’t the ten restricted islands around Sandplain all have ancient heritages?” Someone asked. “The last few are especially mysterious. Does anyone know what the tenth contains?”
“Apparently, the tenth trial is absolutely off limits. Friends, have any of you entered it before?”
“Historically speaking, I don’t think anyone’s come out from it.”
“What??” The first prime felt a sharp pain in her heart. The historic annals did seem to mention such a thing.
Because no one had gotten close to entering the tenth in the last dozen thousand years, this fact had fallen out of memory.
The sudden mention of it reminded the first prime that this was indeed the case. The tenth restricted island was also nicknamed by some to be ‘the Island of Death’.
Only the best of the best had ever been eligible to enter it, but none had ever returned.
Her expression suddenly became very grave. Ziju Min’s smile froze over as well.
He wasn’t privy to the same kind of information the first prime was. “First prime,” he couldn’t resist transmitting, “is what they say really true?”
The first prime wanted to slap her own face. Why had she forgotten such a vital piece of information? She should have informed Jiang Chen of this well ahead of time!
If one didn’t set foot on the suspended bridge into the tenth island, there wouldn’t be any problems.
However, entrance into the tenth island proper meant that escape was impossible. Someone had compared the passage as the very same bridge as one that led to the netherworld.
The tenth island itself was painted as the physical manifestation of the world of the dead.
This was a significant exaggeration, of course, but the reasoning behind it was understandable. No survivors had ever been recorded so far, over hundreds of millennia of history.
The first prime’s expression caused Ziju Min to pale. So the rumors were true, then.
He started to panic. Jiang Chen was a genius, but even the greatest of geniuses wasn’t guaranteed protection. Could Jiang Chen become the sole exception to the rule by making it out of the tenth island alive?
