With the Xiahou family destroyed, Jiang Chen found himself far more free on Myriad Abyss Island. There was no longer any need to conceal his identity, and he no longer had to be overly cautious about every little detail.
According to the information provided by the Sacred Ancestor of the Eternal Sacred Ground, the journey to the True Martial Divine Kingdom aboard the Star Fate flying boat would take roughly two to three days.
The True Martial Divine Kingdom and the Eternal Divine Kingdom had a good relationship. The two Sacred Grounds in particular maintained frequent exchanges, and there had even been many intermarriages between them.
In terms of their relationship, the True Martial Divine Kingdom frequently showed great respect to the Eternal Divine Kingdom, treating it much like an elder brother.
This was precisely why the Sacred Ancestor had suggested Jiang Chen travel to the True Martial Divine Kingdom.
The True Martial Divine Kingdom's general situation was much the same as that of the Eternal Divine Kingdom. The Sacred Ground had originally been the ruling power of the divine kingdom, and the True Martial Divine Kingdom also had many sects and noble families.
The True Martial Sacred Ground likewise had a Divine Dao Patriarch.
The rebel faction also had a Divine Dao Patriarch of their own, and in terms of strength, the two were evenly matched.
The two Divine Dao Patriarchs had been locked in continuous battle, with neither able to gain the upper hand over the other.
However, beyond the battle between the Divine Dao Patriarchs, the situation on every other front was dire — the rebel forces facing the True Martial Sacred Ground were truly formidable.
It could be said that the rebels' strength had even suppressed the True Martial Sacred Ground.
This situation was, in fact, more desperate than what the Eternal Sacred Ground had once faced.
Heading to a completely foreign kingdom, someone of Jiang Chen's temperament would naturally avoid drawing attention. When they were still tens of thousands of miles away from the True Martial Divine Kingdom, Jiang Chen and his companions abandoned their Star Compass flying vessel and switched to traveling on foot through the air.
Jiang Chen remembered that the Sacred Ancestor had told him his first objective upon arriving would be a Spirit Medicine Mountain belonging to the True Martial Sacred Ground.
This Spirit Medicine Mountain was a secret base where the True Martial Sacred Ground cultivated Spiritual Medicine.
The True Martial Sacred Ground had developed this stretch of spirit-rich land and established the Spirit Medicine Mountain there. It had been the single greatest achievement for the Sacred Ground over the past several decades.
The spirit veins in this location, once tapped, could support the growth of many varieties of Spiritual Medicine. Over time, it had evolved into the Spirit Medicine Mountain that existed today.
It was a critically important base for the True Martial Sacred Ground. Should this base fall, the blow to the Sacred Ground would be devastating.
At this stage, it seemed the rebel forces within the True Martial Divine Kingdom were not yet aware of this crucial base, which was why no significant portion of their main forces had been committed to the battle here.
However, news of this Spiritual Medicine base had somehow leaked. It was unclear whether the enemy's intelligence-gathering capabilities were truly that impressive, or whether there was a traitor within the True Martial Sacred Ground.
In any case, the base was now on the verge of being exposed. Fortunately, the True Martial Sacred Ground had deployed a massive array of illusion formations, trapping formations, and defensive formations around the perimeter. Once these formations were activated, the Spiritual Medicine base remained well protected.
Jiang Chen's first mission was to help this Spiritual Medicine base escape its predicament. Ideally, he would crush the rebel forces that had their eyes set on the base.
As for the base itself, it was overseen by a Sacred Lord of the True Martial Sacred Ground. This Sacred Lord happened to be the only female Sacred Lord in the True Martial Sacred Ground.
Among the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms, this Ziwei Sacred Lord was a figure of considerable standing. Within the True Martial Sacred Ground, aside from the Ancestor of the Divine Path, she was one of the most important leaders.
"Chen Shao, how do you plan to approach this?" asked the Divine Vermilion Bird.
Jiang Chen pondered for a moment. "This is the True Martial Divine Kingdom. There are many things we can't simply replicate from our campaign in the Eternal Divine Kingdom."
"Of course not. Either way, when it comes to fighting, I'll follow your lead." On the journey here, the Divine Vermilion Bird had done a great deal of thinking and had grown increasingly impressed with Jiang Chen.
Over the past few days, it had continuously fought to suppress its inner demons and purge distracting thoughts. This, paradoxically, brought a sense of calm to its heart, and the obsessions that had lingered within gradually dissolved.
With that, the knot in the Divine Vermilion Bird's heart had finally loosened. Having untied that knot of obsession, the Divine Vermilion Bird had once again regained its former spirited brilliance.
Moreover, after this series of battles and breakthroughs, the Divine Vermilion Bird's current combat strength had improved significantly.
Compared to before the fight with Elder Xiahou, its power had clearly risen by a great margin.
"First, we need a topographical map of this area. Then, we must learn how many defenses the Spiritual Medicine base has and how large the rebel force is. Only with this knowledge can we devise tactics and formulate a battle plan. I'll say it again: we must plan thoroughly before we act. It's either a single, decisive strike, or we hold our patience and do nothing."
Jiang Chen didn't have a specific stratagem yet, but the general direction was clear.
He knew that at this level of battle, it was either a successful one-hit kill. If things dragged on, the situation would only worsen.
This was because the rebels' strength and their numbers far exceeded those of the Holy Lands.
The Holy Lands simply couldn't afford a war of attrition, while the rebels had too many forces arriving in waves, which gave them the impression that their allies were plentiful.
Once the rebels formed this consensus, the willpower and fighting spirit they displayed in battle would, in turn, be bolstered.