Of course, Jiang Chen did not linger on such thoughts.
Regardless of whether the situation was dire or favorable, his demands on himself remained unchanged — his original resolve never wavered.
"It doesn't matter whether we're talking about the Eternal Sacred Land or the Myriad Abyss Island. I can't control their situations. All I can do is focus on what's within my power. Improve my strength, so that when the great storm arrives, I'll have enough power to protect myself — and perhaps even to turn the tide and decide the outcome!"
Jiang Chen also understood that for any number of reasons, his position in the Eternal Divine Kingdom demanded that he stand firmly with the Eternal Sacred Land. He absolutely could not allow the Xiahou family to supplant them.
Otherwise, his fate would be terrible.
For Huan'er's sake, and for his own stable foothold in the Myriad Abyss Island, the Xiahou family had to be his sworn enemy — they had to be destroyed.
Having steeled this conviction, every stray thought in Jiang Chen's mind was swept clean.
At that moment, Huan'er and the others were slowly coming back to their senses.
"What happened? Why did everything suddenly feel so hazy?" Yan Qingsang mumbled, rubbing his head.
Huan'er was far sharper than Yan Qingsang. She immediately understood that the Sacred Land's Ancestor must have paid a visit and spoken with Jiang Chen. There were matters they were not meant to overhear, which was why they had been rendered unconscious.
"Brother Qingsang, didn't you say you wanted to make a trip to Cloud Camel Mountain? When are you going?" Huan'er deliberately changed the subject.
"That's right, brother — didn't you say you wanted to come along too?" Yan Qingsang's eyes were full of anticipation as he looked at Jiang Chen.
"I'll go, of course. Before the Genius Swordsmen Assembly, I'm free anytime."
"Excellent! Then let's make it in the next couple of days." Yan Qingsang grinned mischievously. "If you'd rather spend more time with my little sister, I can wait."
Huan'er shot Yan Qingsang a glare. "Brother Qingsang, you talk too much nonsense."
Jian Chen chuckled. "We'll have plenty of time to be together. Right now the situation is difficult, and my top priority is to defeat Xiahou Zong and crush the Xiahou family's arrogance."
"Yes, yes — bring down the Xiahou family!" Yan Qingsang clenched his fist. "Brother, if you can destroy the Xiahou family, I, Yan Qingsang, will happily betroth my own little sister to you."
Jiang Chen was rendered speechless.
Even Ling Bi'er couldn't help but laugh at Yan Qingsang's antics.
"Brother Chen, don't put too much pressure on yourself. No matter how your battle with Xiahou Zong turns out, you know where my heart stands."
Huan'er had always been full of confidence in Jiang Chen, but she did not wish for her beloved to bear too great a burden on her account. After all, Jiang Chen had already carried far too much pressure throughout his journey and shouldered far too many ambitions. In her heart, the last thing she wanted was for him to exhaust himself.
Jiang Chen smiled. "A little pressure is nothing. Besides, Xiahou Zong is nothing more than a stumbling block on the path of martial cultivation. He won't cause me much trouble."
He genuinely did not feel much pressure when it came to Xiahou Zong.
At the very least, he did not believe that Xiahou Zong posed a lethal threat to him.
What worried him more, in truth, was the Xiahou family's ambition. He knew little about them — their true strength, how far it had grown, whether their ambitions were already on the verge of erupting.
If the Xiahou family truly intended to replace the Eternal Sacred Land, that was the kind of sweeping momentum Jiang Chen would find hardest to resist. A single Xiahou Zong, no matter how brilliant — what was there to fear?
In his past life and this one, what kind of genius hadn't he seen?
So what if Xiahou Zong was the reincarnation of a god? On the Divine Abyss Continent, Jiang Chen was firmly convinced that he himself was the one of a kind.
Even if Xiahou Zong possessed divine memories, those would at most belong to an ordinary deity — and the inherited memories were not even fully restored.
That was fundamentally different from Jiang Chen, who had reincarnated with his complete memories from a previous life.
The next day, Jiang Chen and Yan Qingsang arranged their plans, gave a brief word of notice to the Eternal Sacred Land, and quietly departed for Cloud Camel Mountain.