This rotation of guards had given the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast a grand feast. In less than a quarter of an hour, Xun Lao and his entire group had been devoured completely.
"Not bad, not bad." The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast could only praise over and over.
"Brother, this siege of the Sacred Land will offer you plenty of opportunities to feast. I think after this battle is over, your chances of comprehending the Divine Dao will be even greater." Jiang Chen could tell this kind of situation was exactly what the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast loved.
"You're right. I'm very fond of this kind of arrangement." The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast's heart soared with joy.
Soon, Jiang Chen retrieved his original rotation credentials and destroyed everything else that had belonged to the previous holders.
These moves were meant to make it clear that the four of them had never come into contact with Xun Lao and the others. After all, those fellows were all dead. Dead men tell no tales.
Jiang Chen quickly relayed the message.
Prince Shang soon received the news: "What? Xun Lao and the others are all dead? What about the ones from the Zhonguang Sect who went to rotate in? Are they dead too?"
"No. They were the ones who discovered Xun Lao and the others dead. The news was even brought back by one of their men. He said that place seemed quite dangerous and asked Your Highness to send more reinforcements."
Prince Shang's face turned ashen: "Even if they die, they need to hold the line for this Prince. Reinforcements? Where am I supposed to find more people? If I had that many troops to spare, would I have needed them?"
Now, Sector Sixteen had become a high-risk zone. No one wanted to be posted there. Nobody wanted to throw their life away in that cursed sector.
Since the invasion of the Sacred Land, the casualty rate in Sector Sixteen had been staggeringly high. That was precisely why this zone always seemed short-handed. Too many people died, and nobody was willing to come.
In Prince Shang's eyes, only the Zhonguang Sect batch—the ones who had returned from out of town and didn't understand the latest trends—would be so eager and proactive.
Sending reinforcements now? Almost impossible.
"Send someone to reprimand them. Tell them to work hard and fight bravely. Even if they can't kill many enemies, they must ensure the sector doesn't fall. They cannot affect the overall situation."
"Yes, I'll see to it at once."
Soon, a messenger from Prince Shang arrived at Jiang Chen's sector. The messenger first praised Jiang Chen and the others for their brave fighting spirit, then admonished them, relaying Prince Shang's demands.
Jiang Chen naturally agreed to everything without objection.
After all, this was a place far from the capital, far from supervision. Whatever he did out here, the outside world had no way of knowing—just like how he had disposed of Xun Lao and the others moments ago.
The messenger delivered his mix of carrot and stick, then departed.
Once the messenger was gone, Jiang Chen simply sneered: "Prince Shang. That fellow really does think he can push us around like fools."
"Heh heh. Want me to go kill him?" The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast licked its lips. Its appetite for battle was surging right now.
On the verge of breaking through to the Divine Realm, its fighting spirit and motivation had multiplied a hundredfold.
"No rush. This Prince Shang isn't particularly sharp. Killing him and replacing him with someone smarter would actually be worse."
Jiang Chen had his own plans. He wasn't in any hurry to make a move. After all, his grasp of the bigger picture wasn't thorough enough, not yet perfect enough.
Besides, when doing this sort of thing, it had to be clean and decisive. Either you didn't act at all, or when you did, it had to settle things in one blow.
Petty skirmishes were only suitable for operating in the shadows. Incidents like today—wiping out Xun Lao and his group—were things done almost on a whim, and they were unlikely to arouse suspicion.
As they were speaking, a nearby adjacent sector suddenly sent out an emergency distress signal. The signal was rendered in blue light.
Blue light meant the threat level of this warning was fairly high.
"That's Sector Eighteen, isn't it? Just to our right. I think there's a rule that neighboring sectors are obligated to provide mutual aid."
Jiang Chen fell into thought. This sudden development caught him slightly off guard.
However, he quickly calmed himself and decided to wait and see.
If Prince Shang wanted to blame him later, he could easily come up with an excuse—say that there seemed to be Sacred Land figures lurking around his sector, and that he had stayed put to protect its security rather than rush to help.
Jiang Chen held his position, but he hadn't expected that before long, the trouble would come charging straight into his own Sector Sixteen.
From a distance, a voice transmission shot toward them: "Fellow Daoists in Sector Sixteen, be on high alert! A Sacred Land remnant has slipped into your sector. Be on high alert! Be on high alert!"
The transmission clearly came from Sector Seventeen. It was easy to see what was happening—these people were all cunning. They had deliberately let the hot potato slip through, steering the danger straight into Jiang Chen's sector.
Since nobody wanted to face whatever had burst out of the Sacred Land, it had to be something truly formidable.
When Jiang Chen saw how the various sectors of the Anti-Sacred Land Alliance were scheming against each other like this, he didn't feel angry at all. Instead, he smiled.