Jiang Chenâs powerful words sent a shockwave through the crowd. The wake-up call hit them hard.
He was right. Only in continuously improving their strength could they protect themselves in the long term. What the ten sacred lands were doing now could only last them for so long.
Theyâd been moving people and resources where they were needed, passively reacting to the coming threats and making futile resistance.
âThis goes back to your earlier reference of improving our overall strength, doesnât it?â
âThatâs right,â Jiang Chen said with great conviction. âThe one true solution is to become stronger. The rest are all temporary.â
Radianceâs forefather was silent for a long time. He sighed. âEveryone says youâre a god incarnate, young man. We may also be divine realm cultivators, but in many ways, our grasp of many of the problems weâre facing pales in comparison to you. How powerful must have you been in your past life?â
Jiang Chen scratched his head. âI donât know that myself, senior. I only know this much, and that a big part of my memory has yet to awaken. I donât know who I was in my past life. Perhaps me being a god incarnate is nothing but a rumor.â
âNo, no, you must be a god incarnate. Thatâs for sure. Youâve simply not completely awakened yet, and much of your memory lies dormant. Once you ascend to divinity and bridge the gap between your current life and past life, the answers will come to you.â
Radianceâs forefather was full of admiration and nodded smilingly. âStill, Iâd like to thank you for answering my question, young friend. Sunriseâs decision is mine, too.â
Sunriseâs forefather had promised to support Eternal unconditionally as long as Jiang Chen could answer his question, and he had indeed given the forefather a satisfying answer.
In this way, Eternal had gained both Sunrise and Radianceâs support.
Floraâs members couldnât be more upset. The young geniusâ speech had already prompted two sacred lands to choose Eternal, which meant Eternal had half of the tenâs support. Things werenât looking good for Flora. They were under great pressure.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Flora did have two loyal allies, Polylore and Void.
However, the same was true of Eternal. Martial and Abyssal had always been on their side, and now Sunrise and Radiance had pledged their allegiance as well. Eternal had the upper hand.
The only ones that hadnât picked a side were Nirvana and Immortal. If both picked Eternal, the sacred land would win the election by a landslide with seven votes.
If Flora could win the two sacred lands over, they could at least reach a tie, which was the most they could do.
Nirvana and Immortal didnât seem willing to take a stand just yet. They stubbornly remained neutral. Flora didnât know if they could convince the hold-outs.
There were exchanges between the ten sacred lands, but they didnât really have a close relationship.
Nevertheless, there was no way back.
Lu Mingye had a heavy weight on his shoulders. He knew his performance would have a significant impact on the result of the election. It might not determine the winner, but his performance would be examined closely.
Heâd always wanted to be the leader of the youths. However, now that Shi Qinglu had let him take the spotlight, he couldnât find it within himself to be happy at all. He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
He ranked second in the grand competition and first in Flora Sacred Land. No matter how stressed he was, he had to take the stage.
His heart pounded so hard it was as if a beast was rampaging in his chest.
Under everyoneâs scrutiny, he went on stage. As a disciple of a major faction, he did have a strong heart. Although Jiang Chenâs exceptional performance had seriously impacted his mentality, he managed to maintain his composure onstage.
Jiang Chen looked at Lu Mingye with a smile, the look in his eyes deep and meaningful.
Lu Mingye averted his gaze. No matter how he put up a front, it was clear that he felt inadequate after Jiang Chenâs performance.
The Eternal genius didnât try to sabotage him, but instead listened to him intently.
Lu Mingye had prepared a speech, but what he said was limited to what a regular youth would say. He focused on the future, talking about how Flora would bring together all factions in Myriad Abyss and fight for the continent.
There were flashes of brilliance, but nothing out of an average youthâs capability, and nothing worthy of the divine forefathersâ attention.
What Jiang Chenâs speech apart was that his content presented a bird eyeâs view of the entire continent. Even the divine forefathers of the ten sacred lands had to take his words seriously.
The audience was silent after Lu Mingyeâs speech. There was some applause from Polylore and Void, but the others didnât show much of a reaction. It was as if Lu Mingye had been talking to himself.
Truth was, they were somewhat disappointed.
Although it was unclear if what Jiang Chen had proposed would work, at least heâd painted a thrilling prospect. Lu Mingyeâs turn had almost put them to sleep.
The youths might find something of value in his speech, but it was far from enough for the older cultivators.
Some couldnât help but silently criticize Lu Mingye.
âLu Mingye may be a remarkable genius compared to the other youths, but thereâs a large gap between him and Jiang Chen. After a couple centuries, heâll have achieved a lot less than Jiang Chen.â
âEven their own poison consort is much better than Lu Mingye.â
Of course, they wouldnât say that out loud.
Lu Mingye knew his performance was mediocre at best despite not having made any mistakes. It frustrated him to think about how well Jiang Chen had done.
He hated losing, but had to admit that the gap between Jiang Chen and him seemed to be growing bigger and bigger.