Time spent in the Eternal Sacred Land was surprisingly peaceful. Only a few probationary disciples were around. The others were journeying to experience the world, leaving only Jiang Chen and Yan Qingsang the only two probationary disciples here.

The two of them took to their new life like a duck to water.

Jiang Chen began digesting the Emperor Supremacy Pill. Time was marching inexorably forward. He believed that right now was the best time to breakthrough.

Instinct told him that Xiahou Zong was likely to end closed door cultivation before the sword competition for geniuses next year. Jiang Chen didn’t have a lot of time, but one year was long enough for him to prepare.

He was quite confident that he’d be able to reach peak great emperor in a month. Even if he needed more time, it wouldn’t be that much longer.

Yan Qingsang also threw himself into cultivating under Jiang Chen’s guidance. He improved himself in many different aspects. His cultivation level was at peak great emperor, which wasn’t bad, it was actually higher than Jiang Chen’s. In terms of fighting ability however, five of him wouldn’t rival one Jiang Chen.

It wasn’t because of a lack of talent, but a lack of understanding in martial dao. His foundation wasn’t solid enough.

Having identified the problem, Jiang Chen knew that it stemmed from the limited resources from House Yan. It made for Yan Qingsang having only a rough grasp of many details in martial dao.

What Jiang Chen had to do was to help fill in those gaps.

It was unrealistic to expect Yan Qingsang to become a new person in a month, but Jiang Chen’s understanding of martial dao allowed him to to resolve many of the pre-existing problems.

As time passed, the Yan genius could feel keenly the amazing transformation he was going through. He marveled at his progress, which boosted his confidence considerably.

Ziju Min checked up on them several times throughout the month. He was pleased to see the two of them work so diligently. That was more than he could hope for.

He had especially high hopes for Jiang Chen. His biggest worry was that the young man’s remarkable talent in pill dao would hinder his progress in martial dao. It turned out that these worries were unwarranted. The young man was more hard working than he could’ve imagined.

What put Jiang Chen at a disadvantage, compared to geniuses of Myriad Abyss Island, was the fact that he’d taken over the body of a boy over the age of ten when he reincarnated.

As a result, his cultivation history was more than ten years shorter compared to other geniuses. This was why he was still aiming for peak great emperor while the top Myriad Abyss geniuses had already reached empyrean realm.

If given ten more years, he’d be able to easily defeat any young geniuses in Myriad Abyss. That much he could say with confidence.

Time flew. More than twenty days had passed. The one-month mark was coming.

Thanks to the Emperor Supremacy Pill, the spirit energy in Jiang Chen’s body was abundant and vigorous. Like beasts brandishing their claws, they were ready to rip away the shackles that held him down from reaching peak great emperor.

It was a sign that he was close to breaking through.

He was relaxed and calm, his mind was free of all unnecessary thought. His heart beat steadily as he awaited this reverent moment of great importance.

Everything seemed to naturally fall into place now that he’d reached this step. No one understood the difficulties he’d overcome to get to this point.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

His meridians expanded as the spirit energy in his body soared. A seemingly limitless stream of energy flooded through his system in a mad rush. Warmth rampaged out of his dantian, reaching every part of his body in an instant. He felt it in every pore and bone.

Jiang Chen had experienced the rush countless times, but he’d never been as excited as he was now. He’d finally reached peak great emperor!

It might not be that much of a milestone for geniuses in Myriad Abyss, but it was remarkable for him to catch up when he’d been ten years behind all this time. The most critical thing was, he hadn’t arrived at Myriad Abyss for long.

There was far less ambient spirit energy in the human domain. If he’d reincarnated into Myriad Abyss Island, he’d have reached the same cultivation level as the top geniuses by now, if not much higher.

He could feel the seal in his consciousness become more active after his breakthrough. Signs that hadn’t been present before started to show. He had a feeling that the secret of the seal would be revealed to him once he reached empyrean realm. He very much looked forward to that.

Although he’d been living in Divine Abyss Continent for a long time, the millions of years from his past life still held a special place in his heart. He never forgot, even for a single second, about the love and devotion that his father from his past life had shown.

Even after coming to a different world, he believed that their bond hadn’t been severed after his his reincarnation. There seemed to something unexplainable maintaining the link between him and his father. Their bond remained intact.

“Perhaps the nine droplets forming the chain seal is the clue that father left to me about my past life.” He resolutely believed that he was getting closer to finding out the ins-and-outs about everything.

“The sword competition is one year away. I must reach empyrean realm before that no matter what. Only then will I be able to stand out among the other young geniuses.”

Jiang Chen knew that he’d be able to take on many initial empyrean geniuses in combat. He could summon Confounding Puppets or set up the Nine Labyrinth Formation, to name just a few ways.

There were other methods that could effectively deal with the top geniuses, even when he remained at peak great emperor. However, he wouldn’t necessarily be able to dominate the competition.

Eternal Divine Nation was among the most powerful entities on Myriad Abyss Island. The top geniuses in the nation ranked in the top of Myriad Abyss as well. There was no telling if the geniuses possessed powerful treasures themselves.

If the gap between their and Jiang Chen’s equipment was smaller, it’d naturally be more difficult for him to fight them. That was, unless his cultivation could reach their level.

Ascending to empyrean realm was a necessity.

In Eternal Divine Nation, only those above empyrean realm could be considered first tier geniuses. Anyone below that could only be second tier.

Take Yan Qingsang and Yan Jinnan, they were at peak great emperor. Even then there existed a difference in power between those at the same level. As for geniuses who’d reached empyrean such as Yan Zhenhuai, they were the top geniuses in the nation.

The numbers of top geniuses differed between the great factions.

According to the dossier from Ziju Min, there were roughly twelve young geniuses who’d reached empyrean realm in the Eternal Sacred Land.

Meanwhile, there were at most six in the other great factions, and even the lowest possessed at least one. It made for an impressive final figure. These were the true best of the best in Eternal Divine Nation.

There were tens of thousands of second tier geniuses like Yan Qingsang, and countless third tier geniuses.

There existed a large gap between the first tier and second tier geniuses. If one could cross that gap, then he too would become one of the leading figures within the nation. If one failed to bridge the gap before age sixty, it’d be close to impossible to surpass the others in their lifetime.

Nothing was constant in the world of martial dao, but there was a pattern to it most of the time.

The higher one’s potential was when young, the more advantages later in life. Different starting point led to differences in the foundation of cultivation and mindset, which in turn led to different levels of success.

Of course there was the rare exception. Some were able to change their fate and catch up after gaining a special heritage or a fortuitous encounter. That happened more often than one would think, but in the end, the lucky ones were in the minority. Perhaps one struck gold out of a hundred, or even one out of a thousand. 

Jiang Chen had gained a basic understanding of the composition of geniuses in Eternal Divine Nation. The nation wasn’t among the top in the Ten Divine Nations, but it was above average.

The Ten Divine Nations weren’t all equal in power, but the differences weren’t significant.

As long as he could ascend to top rank within Eternal Divine Nation, he’d be among the top in all of Myriad Abyss.

He’d been unrivaled in the human domain. Coming to Myriad Abyss had helped him recover his passion in the race to the top of martial dao. It was as if he was back to his time in the Precious Tree Sect, Regal Pill Palace, or Veluriyam Capital. However, this time he was faced with even greater challenges.

As usual, Jiang Chen upgraded his various methods, techniques, and equipment after breaking through. He possessed a great variety of resources, and they all needed periodic tending to.  

A month was just about enough for him to do all that. Soon enough, the evaluation to become a formal disciple arrived. 

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