The Candidacy Saintess is chosen by the Holy Land Grand Array, with no human intervention whatsoever. However, becoming the Saintess is no longer a decision the Grand Array can make on its own.
The Grand Array selects the most suitable Saintess, but the Forbidden Land holds absolute veto power.
Thus, even if a man were chosen as the most suitable candidate for Saintess, if denied by the Holy Land's Pure Goodness and Pure Evil, he could absolutely never become the Saintess.
But if the candidate were a woman, and Pure Evil found her truly suitable, it would be very difficult to veto her.
Take Jiu Xi, for instance. Zhi Shan vetoed her, but Pure Evil approved. That's why Yue Xi had to pull strings behind the scenes to get Jiu Xi out of the running. It's all very complicated.
However, no one else in the Holy Land asked too many questions about the backroom dealings. All they cared about was having a suitable Saintess.
