As the saying goes, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Now the imperial family and the Xiahou clan were feeling that truth in the deepest marrow of their bones.
Watching the various factions continuously withdraw their forces, the Emperor and the Carefree Marquis felt their hearts bleeding, sitting across from each other in utter silence.
A sense of absurdity filled their hearts—everything before them felt unreal. How had the situation undergone such a dramatic reversal in the span of what seemed like an instant?
Where had this Vermilion Bird divine beast come from?
And how had the main assault force been inexplicably neutralized by the Wind and Cloud Soul-Dispersing Powder?
The Carefree Marquis had always believed that the Wind and Cloud Soul-Dispersing Powder was one of the Xiahou clan's most closely guarded secrets. Apart from the clan's core figures and core geniuses, no outsider could possibly possess its formula.
So how had it ended up in the hands of the Eternal Sacred Land?
All of these questions were riddles without answers. Perhaps they would never learn the truth.
Once the tide had turned, the Sacred Land's authority proved far more convincing than the imperial family's. Across the capital—whether among major factions or wandering cultivators—the wind had shifted decisively toward the Sacred Land, and public opinion had begun to turn against the imperial family and the Xiahou clan.
The consensus among the populace was growing ever more unified. Everyone had witnessed the recent turn of events. As the war had dragged on in stalemate, conditions—both in the Eternal Divine Capital and throughout the Divine Kingdom—had deteriorated beyond anything they had experienced before the rebellion.
Countless innocent people had been dragged into the conflict, losing their lives for no reason they could comprehend.
Public order across the Eternal Divine Kingdom was collapsing. Cases of murder and robbery were exploding in number.
All of this was telling the people one thing: the present was nothing compared to the era of Sacred Land rule. The Sacred Land's reign might not have delivered frequent surprises to the citizens of the Divine Kingdom, but at least it had not brought nightmares.
Since the rebellion had begun, the Divine Kingdom had been living in a daily state of panic and dread, its people paralyzed with fear.
Only by comparison could one judge which was superior.
When measured against the present, everyone suddenly remembered how good they had had it under the Sacred Land. Only now did they realize they truly had failed to appreciate the blessings they once enjoyed.
"Your Majesty, we must think of something. We cannot simply let it end like this. If we do, all our efforts will have been for nothing!" the Carefree Marquis said, anguish etched into every word.
Roughly only a quarter of the original factions remained. Half of that quarter were die-hard loyalists to the imperial family and the Xiahou clan. The other half wavered, held in place not by conviction but by deep-seated fear of the Xiahou clan and the imperial family.
As for Jiang Chen, he had no intention of continuing to persuade those who remained.
He knew that anyone still standing there at this point was either a stubborn hardliner or a sworn loyalist—people who could only be crushed, never convinced.
The reason the Anti-Sacred Land Alliance had managed to suppress the Eternal Sacred Land in the first place was not that the imperial family and the Xiahou clan were genuinely stronger.
The fundamental reason had been a single word: momentum.
Previously, the Alliance had been riding a wave of overwhelming momentum, hitting while their advance was still at its peak. With the current of events flowing in their favor, they had been able to suppress the Eternal Sacred Land and draw ever more factions into their ranks.
But now, that momentum had been reversed. The Anti-Sacred Land Alliance was disintegrating—when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. In terms of both raw power and the direction of public opinion, the Alliance had become nothing more than an empty shell.
Under these circumstances, Jiang Chen saw no reason to waste breath on further persuasion.
He cast a cold glance downward. "It appears the rest of you have decided to accompany the Xiahou clan and the imperial family to their graves. Don't say the Sacred Land didn't give you a chance. Since you insist on walking this path straight into the dark, don't blame the Sacred Land for showing no mercy when the time comes."
It had to be said—Jiang Chen carried real authority now. After his words, several more factions slipped away from the Alliance's ranks under half-hearted pretenses.
The Emperor's eyes blazed with fury, yet he could do nothing.
The Carefree Marquis transmitted a message: "Your Majesty, the situation has turned against us. The Eternal Sacred Land was able to reverse the tide solely because of this Shao Yuan and the Vermilion Bird. If we can find a way to eliminate this combination, I believe there is still a chance to turn things around."
"Eliminate them? How?" The Emperor wanted Jiang Chen dead even more desperately than the Carefree Marquis did. He now deeply regretted that such a genius could not be put to use by the imperial family. If Shao Yuan had served them, the balance of power would have tipped toward the Alliance long ago, and the Eternal Sacred Land might well have fallen already.
"We must take the field ourselves. Using the great formation of the imperial palace and marshaling every elite we have between our two factions, we can attempt to reverse the situation in a single decisive strike," the Carefree Marquis said. "This Vermilion Bird appears to be only at the half-god level—it has not yet fully condensed its divine authority. This is our only opportunity. Once it becomes a true divine being, its combat power will be absolutely terrifying. Forget about contending with it—we might not even have a chance to flee."
"The Four Great Divine Beast bloodlines—even at the half-god level, their combat power rivals that of true gods. That is universally acknowledged," the Emperor sighed. He could not help but wonder whether the Sacred Land's fate truly had not yet run its course.