In truth, Jiang Chen had a lot of respect for Su Tong, who he’d known as Su Hong. Su Hong’s talent had been unrivaled back in Winterdraw among the youths. If not for Jiang Chen, he would’ve been the unequivocal top genius.
Moreover, the fact that Su Hong had escaped the island was proof of his uncommon luck, which wasn’t the only reason he’d survived Winterdraw.
His lucky escape had been the culmination of his judgement, personal strength, survival skills, and the ability to think on his feet.
Thus, Jiang Chen had high expectations for Su Hong. What the young man lacked was an opportunity. He didn’t know how Su Hong ended up in Tranquilcloud Island, but he must have been left with no other choices.
Jiang Chen wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing now that they’d met again. He was willing to give Su Hong a chance to truly fulfill his potential.
Su Hong was inwardly elated. This was it! A ray of hope had finally dawned in his life after the tumultuous hardships of his life.
He became another addition to Jiang Chen’s personal guard.
The others had doubts about Jiang Chen’s choice. Although it was difficult to tell if Su Tong was as talented as Jiang Chen had claimed, the fact that he came from Tranquilcloud was enough to deter them. If there was a flaw in Su Hong’s character, he could be more trouble than he was worth.
Jiang Chen didn’t seem at all fazed. He was under no obligation to answer others’ questions.
That wasn’t the most infuriating thing that would happen during the draft.
Genius number 61 was from Rejuvenation. The Void Sacred Land had settled their eyes on him, but the young man turned their invitation down and offered his allegiance to Jiang Chen instead.
Every Rejuvenation youth knew about their young lord. The entire isles was under Jiang Chen’s command. The young genius knew he’d receive better treatment serving Jiang Chen as a servant than joining the Void Sacred Land.
If he joined the sacred land, he’d be no different from the other geniuses. With Jiang Chen, he might be given more opportunities. Therefore, the young genius chose Jiang Chen without any hesitation.
Jiang Chen was caught off guard, but he wasn’t going to turn the young man away. He accepted the Rejuvenation youth into the fold. Another genius thus joined his guard.
The competition for new blood grew fiercer.
Jiang Chen refrained from making further moves. He didn’t want to be criticized for getting in others’ way. Besides, most of the geniuses didn’t really interest him. He wasn’t going to make them an offer to win them over.
More importantly, the higher-ranking the geniuses, the greedier they were. Some of them made ridiculously high demands. Even Jiang Chen disapproved.
No matter how talented the geniuses were, they came from second or third tier factions. One should know their place in such an occasion.
Some of them overestimated themselves and started bargaining for better offers simply because a few sacred lands were fighting for them. Fools like them would never go far despite their talents.
However, the ten sacred lands was desperate for new talent. Although some geniuses were off-puttingly greedy, it didn’t douse the sacred lands’ enthusiasm.
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Every top fifty genius was greatly sought after. Sometimes there were even three to four sacred lands fighting for one.
Tension ran higher and higher, and the sacred lands made more and more outlandish promises and offers. Jiang Chen sighed inwardly.
He wanted to advise the first prime to stay calm. Once the draft became a competition, the focus would shift from winning the geniuses to winning face.
It was human nature to be vain.
Since the first prime had made up her mind to be overly generous, Jiang Chen wasn’t going to object. However, there were some geniuses that he took an instant dislike to. He made his opinions known and explicitly disapproved of recruiting them.
He couldn’t read minds, but he had a good grasp of the human heart with his God’s Eye, Boulder’s Heart, and powerful consciousness.
Those who lacked integrity and had questionable character mustn’t be brought into the sacred land, no matter how talented they were. People like them could be bought with material benefit, but once their greed outgrew what they were offered, they would be insatiable and untamable.
More importantly, they were naturally calculative and wouldn’t hesitate to change allegiances. They might end up doing more harm than good.
Jiang Chen’s insistence forced the first prime to give up on some geniuses who had piqued her interest.
On the other hand, Ziju Min trusted Jiang Chen’s judgement unconditionally. He felt that Jiang Chen had a keen eye for character.
The selection continued. Soon, the top twenty were taking the stage.
The genius ranked twentieth seemed quiet and somewhat of an airhead, but he was remarkably talented. Moreover, the young man possessed a wood spirit constitution of a high order like Mu Gaoqi, which was an exceptional bloodline.
Although there were countless geniuses in Myriad Abyss, only a selected few possessed such constitutions.
Mu Gaoqi was talented, but he had been held down by the limits of his sect, background, resources, and a lack of foresight. If not for Jiang Chen, he would’ve never met Myriad Abyss’ standards.
In comparison, this young man had been raised in Myriad Abyss and thus received a lot more resources.
“You can compete for this one, first prime. Don’t let the Flora Sacred Land get him. I believe they’ll be willing to pay a great price for him.” Jiang Chen transmitted to the first prime.
The young man didn’t talk much. His self-introduction reflected his personality. He didn’t try to appeal to any sacred lands but instead put on a defiant look. It wasn’t the sacred lands doing the choosing. He would be the one making the final decision.
Before him, some geniuses had abstained from making a decision to increase their value, some had bargained for a better offer, and some had changed their minds several times. However, he was the first to show such arrogance.
Nevertheless, Jiang Chen was genuinely interested in the thin-faced genius with a lazy mein.
“Gongxi Hu?” He considered the young man curiously.