One didn’t slap a smiling face. Jiang Chen wasn’t going to turn a cold shoulder when the new Eternal genius was being so friendly. He was wary of Lan Huang, but he wouldn’t forget about proper etiquette.

“I greatly admire you for your glorious achievements given my own limited knowledge and talent, senior brother Jiang Chen. I’m sure to have many questions in the future. I hope senior brother will offer me guidance then.”

The thing about Lan Huang was that utmost sincerity shone out of his eyes and earnestness in his tone whenever he talked.

If Jiang Chen hadn’t already come to a personal judgement about Lan Huang, he’d have approved of or even taken a shine to the new genius.

“Haha, we should all exchange our experiences and learn from each other.” Jiang Chen wasn’t overly friendly, but he didn’t keep the young genius at arm’s length, either.

The first prime sighed in relief. She’d been worried that Jiang Chen would ignore Lan Huang or even knock the new genius down a peg. That would put her in a difficult place.

She relaxed when she realized that Jiang Chen was a bigger man than she’d expected.

Lan Huang was a sociable man. He soon engaged others in friendly conversation.

“Senior brothers, the genius competition is about to start. I’ll be cheering for you and bearing witness to your greatness!”

After the draft was the main course, the grand competition.

The competition was structured in a more unconventional way. It wasn’t a regular martial dao tournament or a game of random pairing-up and single elimination. The general public had grown tired of those age old tropes. Luck played too big a part in them. If the most powerful geniuses were pitted against each other in the early stage of the competition, one of them would be prematurely eliminated before their time.

The rules for this competition were more complicated.

The competition was divided into two stages with a group match for the first stage.

Every sacred land was to send six participants, and the six would be divided into two teams.

In other words, there would be sixty participants in total, divided into twenty teams.

“Everyone, you may decide your teammates yourselves. Every team needs to elect a leader. During the group match, the leaders will be awarded with more points.”

Generally speaking, it wasn’t difficult for the sacred lands to pick the two leaders. If there were two geniuses at about the same level, they’d each lead a team.

If there was one genius who was better than the others, it wasn’t hard for the sacred land to divide their participants, either.

It was trickier for the sacred lands with three geniuses at the same level. Picking the leaders required some careful consideration. One of the three would be sacrificed.

Once the rules were announced, both Wu You and Gan Ning turned to Jiang Chen with a smile. They both wanted to team up with Jiang Chen.

“Would you mind letting me join you, senior brother Jiang Chen?” asked Gan Ning.

“Same with me,” Wu You piped up as well.

Jiang Chen chuckled. “It’s us three then.”

“You be the leader,” both geniuses said without hesitation.

Jiang Chen didn’t excuse himself out of misguided humility. He nodded. “Alright, I’ll do my best so that you won’t regret joining my team.”

There were three other members of the Five Great Gentlemen. Naturally, they would become a team, with the strongest Sui Chen as their leader.

Sui Chen was determined to prove himself in the competition and restore his reputation.

The other two gentlemen were closer to Sui Chen than to Jiang Chen. Since Wu You and Gan Ning had already jumped on Jiang Chen’s bandwagon, their only choice was Sui Chen.

But, they had to admit privately that they stood a better chance of gaining more points if they were on Jiang Chen’s team.

“Alright, the teams should be decided on. The rules will now be explained. Remember, they will only be explained once. If you fail to remember them and break a rule, you’ll lose all your points and be ranked at the bottom.”

The crowd listened with rapt attention.

“Twenty teams will enter a large, exotic, and isolated island. Six hundred trial orbs will be placed on the island. Every one of them is unique and numbered. It’s against the rules to try masquerading other orbs as the trial orbs, and your score will be zeroed out if you attempt to do so.

“Every trial orb gives you one point. The number of orbs you gain will determine your total score. Utilize your intelligence, techniques, and power to locate the orbs. Remember, you’re allowed to take orbs from other contestants. Anything goes as long as no one dies. The bottom line is no deaths. If you kill someone, your and your teammates will lose all your points, and you’ll pay with your lives!”

No killing, but anything else was welcomed.

It was a simple and thrilling way of competing, which was especially motivating for the youths.

“You may be wondering, if everyone’s score is calculated by the orbs they acquire, what’s the point of forming teams?

“The answer is simple. The team with the highest total score will be awarded additional points. Fifty to the leader, thirty to the team member who contributes the most, and twenty to the one contributing the least.

“For the team with the second highest score, thirty points to the leader, twenty to the member contributing the most, ten to the one contributing the least.

“For the team at the third place, twenty points to the leader, ten to the member contributing the most, and five to the other member.

“Only the top three teams will be rewarded with additional points.

“Since it’s a group match, there are no individual prizes. Nevertheless, keep in mind that being a team isn’t only about finding the most orbs. You have to locate your team members and protect them, working in concert to safeguard the orbs you’ve collected.

“As a team, you’re in the same boat. If you fail to protect your teammates, it’ll be difficult to get a good score. You may think you’ll be able to collect many orbs on your own, but don’t forget that you’re allowed to steal others’ orbs. Without your teammates, you may face a team of three or even several teams at the same time.”