Jiang Chen had never imagined that his identity would be exposed so quickly. Even less had he expected that the Holy Sovereign would reveal such a staggering secret to him—one that completely overturned his view of the Myriad Abyss Island.
He had always assumed that the Myriad Abyss Island was exactly as legend described: a refuge of cowards, descendants of ancient deserters. Now it seemed that this was too broad a generalization.
"Young man, regarding affairs in the Human Domain, I cannot currently offer you much assistance. However, as long as you are on the Myriad Abyss Island, I will give you my full support. The situation is dire at the moment, though, and there is much uncertainty…"
"Diré situation?" Jiang Chen was taken aback. "Could it be that the extraterritorial invaders have increased again?"
"Not exactly. The greatest problem the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms face right now is not the extraterritorial invaders—it is internal strife."
"Internal strife?" Jiang Chen frowned.
"Yes." The Holy Sovereign let out a soft sigh, his tone tinged with melancholy. "Perhaps you haven't been at the Eternal Holy Land long enough to notice. Give it time, and you'll see that the Eternal Holy Land's grip over the Divine Kingdom has weakened considerably. The same is true of every great holy land in the other Divine Kingdoms—their dominance is eroding. Meanwhile, other factions within each Divine Kingdom are quietly rising. The situation grows harder to control by the day."
"Like the Xiahou clan in the Eternal Divine Kingdom?" Jiang Chen asked thoughtfully.
"Precisely." The Holy Sovereign did not deny it. "So you've sensed it too."
"I've only caught a few hints, and I haven't dared follow that line of thinking. I've also wondered why Xiahou Zong could be so brazen—why, within the Eternal Holy Land, none of the Divine Kingdom's other factions showed any clear willingness to back the Holy Land. Instead, they all maintained an attitude of neutrality."
Jiang Chen had indeed noticed this.
Back when he had defeated Shi Xuan and was at the height of his fame, he had used his status as a holy land genius to propose a marriage alliance with the Yan family. Yet the Yan family patriarch had not dared commit to standing on the Holy Land's side.
Partly this was due to the patriarch's indecisive nature, but it also showed that his reservations were not without reason.
Under normal circumstances, choosing between the Eternal Holy Land and the Xiahou clan should have been easy for the Yan family patriarch. But he hadn't taken the step.
Was it really just a personality flaw?
Beyond the Yan family's reaction, none of the other major factions had openly pledged support for the Eternal Holy Land either. It seemed no one wanted to offend the Xiahou clan over this matter.
While this detail alone didn't prove everything, it was more than sufficient to show that the Xiahou clan's influence, though it hadn't eclipsed the Eternal Holy Land, had at least made every major faction deeply wary.
"Holy Sovereign, is the entire Ten Great Divine Kingdoms facing this kind of problem?"
"To varying degrees, yes." The Holy Sovereign did not deny it.
"There must be a way to resolve it."
"Resolution would inevitably spark internal conflict. And once internal strife begins, the resulting damage would be devastating. Take the Eternal Divine Kingdom for example. If the Xiahou clan truly challenged the Holy Land's authority, the Holy Land might be able to suppress them, but the losses would be catastrophic. The other Divine Kingdoms are in much the same situation. Once a holy land's strength is weakened, it cannot commit as many forces to the extraterritorial battlefield."
This was an inescapable contradiction.
The great holy lands had always held overwhelming strength, but the toll of maintaining their presence on the extraterritorial battlefield grew year after year.
Countless geniuses and great figures had perished there.
This made it nearly impossible for the holy lands to grow stronger. In fact, their power was steadily diminishing.
When a holy land's strength weakened to a critical point, it could no longer keep its grip. Its authority would decline across every domain, and its influence would falter.
At that moment, other factions could not help but stir with ambition.
It was like a crisis of central authority—when a ruling power falters, regional lords carve out their own territories and may even dream of seizing the throne entirely.
The Eternal Holy Land perhaps had not yet reached that dire point.
But if the Xiahou clan's ambitions went unchecked, that outcome was not impossible. After all, the Eternal Holy Land had been hollowed out from within by years of attrition on the extraterritorial battlefield.
Moreover, the Xiahou clan had planted many agents within the Eternal Holy Land, funneling intelligence back to the clan continuously.
The details of the extraterritorial battlefield were among the most closely guarded secrets of the Ten Great Holy Lands—the outside world knew nothing of them.
But the world could feel the invisible weakening of the holy lands' strength.
This was why the Holy Sovereign's tone carried such resignation. Externally, they had to contend with the extraterritorial crisis; internally, they faced the tangled, chaotic politics of their own Divine Kingdoms.
With their current strength, trying to manage both fronts was proving exhausting.
This was precisely why the Eternal Holy Land was so desperate for talented individuals.
"Young man, your appearance at the very least proves that the Eternal Holy Land's fortune endures. At the very least, it proves that the fortune of the Divine Abyss Continent still stands!"