The news of the Sacred Ancestor's liberation was undoubtedly the greatest morale boost for the Sacred Land's army, whose fighting spirit was already running high. The last shred of worry lingering in everyone's hearts dissipated completely.
With the Sacred Ancestor's return, so what if the Xiahou family had a Divine Path ancestor?
In the Eternal Divine Kingdom, only the Sacred Ancestor was the true guardian deity — the undisputed number one powerhouse, a totem-level figure beyond all debate.
"Carefree Marquis, accept your fate!"
The Grand Sacred Master finished speaking and flicked his hand. A weapon resembling a willow branch danced through the void, instantly transforming into countless intertwining tendrils that swept across the expanse of space.
At that moment, the Carefree Marquis was like a clay statue or wooden sculpture — his entire being seemed to have had his very soul hollowed out.
Facing the Grand Sacred Master's attack, he showed absolutely no intention of resisting.
Clearly, the news Jiang Chen had brought was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, utterly destroying the Carefree Marquis's last remaining will to fight.
For a cultivator, if his fighting spirit completely vanished, then the battle would become entirely meaningless.
Countless binding strands transformed into beams of light, continuously coiling around the Carefree Marquis. In the blink of an eye, the Carefree Marquis was wrapped up tight like a zongzi.
The three Grand Sacred Masters struck in unison, their three attacks slamming into the Carefree Marquis's vitals without the slightest hesitation. In a single move, they destroyed the Carefree Marquis's qi palace.
The Carefree Marquis's body collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud, drawing only breath out, with none going in.
With the Carefree Marquis eliminated, the Xiahou clan's resistance had completely lost all meaning.
The three Grand Sacred Masters ceased their attacks and began dispatching their forces to carry out the final sweep.
"Grand Sacred Master, the people of the Divine Capital are in a state of panic. The sweep should not be carried out too aggressively. The hearts of the people need to be soothed right now — we cannot add fuel to the fire."
Over the past few days, Jiang Chen had also been paying close attention to the situation in the Divine Capital. As such, he offered his own opinion.
The Grand Sacred Master pondered for a moment before saying, "The main forces of the Xiahou clan have largely been put to death. The remnants that remain won't be able to stir up any significant trouble. The situation in the Divine Capital indeed should not be allowed to descend further into chaos."
"Relay my decree: from this day forward, the Divine Capital is to pursue only the remnants of the Xiahou clan and the imperial family. Others must not be implicated, the scope of the crackdown must not be expanded, and killing innocents to claim false credit is strictly forbidden! Any who disobey this order shall be treated as traitors!"
The Eternal Sacred Kingdom had been shaken to its core by this rebellion, and its people were gripped by fear. The time had indeed come for appeasement. Otherwise, the taut string holding the Divine Capital together would snap.
What the Divine Capital feared most right now was the Sacred Land settling scores after the fact.
As soon as the Sacred Land's decree went out, it immediately put most of the Divine Capital's populace at ease. Only the remnants of the Xiahou clan and the imperial family would be executed — that meant the majority of people were still safe.
With the Divine Capital's situation pacified, the next matter to handle was the various major powers.
These major powers had initially followed the Xiahou clan in rebellion, only to later abandon the losing side and switch their allegiance. The Sacred Land had promised not to crack down on them and would allow them to redeem themselves through merit.
Therefore, these forces also had to be placated. The Eternal Sacred Kingdom simply could not afford yet another rebellion and upheaval.
As for those powers that had never followed the Xiahou clan's rebellion, had stood against them, firmly supported the Sacred Land, and fought to the death on the Sacred Land's behalf — naturally, they were to be doubly commended and supported.
Jiang Chen, as the foremost contributor to quelling this rebellion, was deliberately being groomed by the Sacred Land. They wanted him to make contact with all sides and give him every opportunity to step into the spotlight.
"Shao Yan, you have old ties with the Yan family. Do you have any thoughts on how to handle them?" The Grand Sacred Master placed great importance on Jiang Chen these days.
At the final moments of the battle, the Yan family had sent Yan Zhenhuai to lead a group of men to join the Sacred Land's army — which could be considered a small contribution.
However, to be perfectly honest, Jiang Chen didn't think this last-minute gesture was particularly clever on the Yan family's part.
If the Yan family had sent their people earlier, the Sacred Land might have taken note. Waiting until the grand situation was almost settled before sending anyone — that was obviously too little, too late.
Still, Jiang Chen would have to make a trip to the Yan family.
There were many matters that needed to be sorted out through the Yan family. Huang'er's parents, for example — he absolutely had to get concrete information about them from the Yan family.
The day after the Xiahou family was subdued, the Sacred Ancestor and the Zhuque divine bird returned in triumph. Under the combined assault of two such formidable powers, the Xiahou Patriarch had been thoroughly annihilated.
In that battle, however, the Sacred Ancestor did not compete with the Zhuque divine bird for spoils. The Xiahou Patriarch's divine spark went to the Zhuque divine bird.
With that, the rebellion within the Eternal Sacred Land was thoroughly quelled.
During this rebellion, the royal house of the Eternal Sacred Land had been destroyed, the Xiahou family had been destroyed, and the other first-tier powers had all suffered varying degrees of losses.
It was fair to say that after this battle, the Eternal Sacred Land had been severely weakened at its core.
Of course, because the suppression had been handled efficiently, the rebellion hadn't dragged on for long, and the war had not devolved into a protracted stalemate.
This meant the foundation of the Eternal Sacred Land had not been destroyed — the extent of the damage had not reached an irreparable state.
[[[lang:en]] ……
This battle could not be called a victory for the Sacred Land either, because during the early stages of the rebellion, the Sacred Land had suffered devastating losses as well.
Of course, the Sacred Land had not gone entirely without gain. They had gained Shao Yuan — gained this supremely gifted genius, a genius who had turned the tide.
Now, throughout the Eternal Sacred Land, even those who had once been jealous of Jiang Chen had nothing left to say.