The Emperor was now trying to smooth things over, but it was obviously too late. Once people's hearts had wavered, no amount of talk could calm them down.
"Your Majesty, these words are a bit late now. Back when the alliance was first formed, if everyone had truly been of one mind, without so much selfish scheming, would things have reached this point? You had our forces take the vanguard, and all the casualties were ours. You stayed in the back, reaping the benefits and watching our struggle. It was as if this alliance was our affair and had nothing to do with you. And now? Do you regret it? It's too late! The
The Sect Master of the Celestial Radiance Sect was seething with indignation, his tone brimming with fury. The sacrifices of the Celestial Radiance Sect had been far too great.
Nearly a third of the Celestial Radiance Sect's elites had been lost, dealing a devastating blow to their vitality.
Roughly comparable to the Celestial Radiance Sect were the Northern Palace family and the Feng family. Both had once been first-rate powers, but now they too had suffered catastrophic casualties.
By contrast, some factions had付出 little more than a token price in the final assault, having barely suffered any losses before that.
This was precisely why the Sect Master of the Celestial Radiance Sect felt so aggrieved.
While they were still talking, a sudden chorus of cries erupted from outside the palace walls. Then, a powerful and inexplicable pressure bore down from the distance, rushing toward them with terrifying speed.
"This is bad—they're already at our doorstep?" Everyone's hearts lurched.
"Let's go outside and see." The Emperor took the lead, and a contingent of imperial guards followed close behind, forming a protective cordon around him.
Marquis Xiaoyao also slapped the armrest of his chair and launched himself outward.
Then the other faction leaders surged out as well.
The immense pressure cascaded down from the sky above. Crimson clouds had already blanketed the entire firmament.
Within that blazing sky soared a divine bird, its entire body wreathed in raging flames, radiating dominance. Under the weight of its pressure, it seemed capable of reducing the entire Divine Capital to ashes.
Every cultivator within the Divine Capital trembled beneath this overwhelming presence, their legs shaking, their blood churning, on the verge of collapse.
"The Vermilion Bird—that's the bloodline of a divine beast, the Vermilion Bird!"
"As expected of an ancient divine beast! Heavens, how can our Eternal Divine Kingdom have an ancient divine beast?"
"A divine beast has appeared—could it be that the Eternal Sacred Land's fate isn't spent after all? Could it be that the Sacred Land's dominion over the kingdom is the will of Heaven?"
"Perhaps! I said it all along—the Sacred Land's rule over the divine kingdom is the tradition of Myriad Abyss Island. It's the will of the people, and only the Sacred Land can govern the kingdom. These treacherous fools just had to rebel. Now look—even an ancient divine beast has been stirred. This is the mandate of Heaven!"
"Sigh, the common people will suffer, the common people will suffer. If this Vermilion Bird attacks the Divine Capital, at least half the cultivators here will die."
"Isn't that the truth? The Vermilion Bird is born of fire, possessing supreme true fire within its body that can incinerate everything. If the Vermilion Bird unleashes its fury, the Divine Capital could very well be reduced to scorched earth!"
Just then, a figure materialized from the void and alighted upon the back of the Vermilion Bird.
The man carried a bow on his back, his expression serene, yet his eyes burned with piercing clarity. In the opening and closing of his gaze, it seemed as though he could fathom all the laws of heaven and earth.
"Who is that?"
"That looks like Shao Yuan! Shao Yuan of the Eternal Sacred Land!"
"Heavens, am I seeing this right? Shao Yuan is riding the Vermilion Bird? He… could it be that this Vermilion Bird is his mount?"
"That can't be, can it? An ancient bloodline as his mount? And Shao Yuan is a rogue cultivator? Who among you believes that a figure like him could possibly have started as a rogue?"
"Not necessarily—who knows, perhaps Shao Yuan is the reincarnation of a god, a god even more powerful than
"That makes sense—it might truly be so! But then again, if the Sacred Land has such geniuses, how could it ever decline? It seems the Sacred Land's fortune is far from spent."
Nearly everyone in the Divine Capital craned their necks upward, their eyes filled with a complex mixture of emotions—envy, fear, jealousy…
"Fellow cultivators of the Divine Capital, I am Shao Yuan of the Sacred Land, bearing the Grand Sacred Master's command to deliver a message."
"Since time immemorial, our Eternal Divine Kingdom has been governed by the Sacred Land, standing at the very apex of Myriad Abyss Island. The kingdom has enjoyed prosperity and harmony—this is the blessing of Heaven. Now, due to the ambition of a small minority, war has been rashly unleashed, bringing devastation upon the people and the deaths of countless cultivators. This is Heaven's punishment, but more than that, it is the calamity wrought by man."
"What purpose does our cultivation serve? Beyond our personal pursuit of the martial path, is it not to protect our families and our nation? To safeguard our homes? To shield those we hold most dear? Did you really cultivate your martial arts to serve the ambitions of a few?"
"How many bones lie buried beneath those ambitions? How much blood has been spilled in vain? Have you ever considered—when you die, what becomes of your families? When you die, who will shed a single tear over your remains?"
Jiang Chen's voice grew fierce with emotion: "They will not shed a single tear for your deaths! Yet you would risk your very lives to fight for their ambitions. Tell me—is that fair?"
Jiang Chen's words contained not a single curse, not a single harsh threat, yet they pierced straight to the hearts of countless martial artists.
Yes—after all this fighting and dying, what exactly were they fighting for?
Was the Sacred Land truly so bad?