When Jiang Chen finished speaking, everyone's hearts tightened. The ten Grand Elders exchanged glances, all sharing a wordless understanding. Jiang Chen had already done his part to perfection — everything that needed to be done, every concern that needed addressing, he had handled them all.
This final battle at the exit would naturally fall to the ten Grand Elders to display their might.
The Eternal Sacred Ancestor spoke in a deep voice: "Fellow Daoists, what Jiang Chen says makes perfect sense. This kind of encounter battle is a clash on a narrow path — the brave shall prevail! We must completely crush our opponents in terms of morale. I also firmly believe that the Ten Great Sacred Lands have the power to suppress any foe on the Divine Abyss Continent. As long as the enemy is not some extraterritorial raider, we have absolute confidence in overwhelming them. Once we suppress the opposition, I'm certain their fighting spirit will crumble."
"Fellow Daoist speaks truly. Those cultivators who escaped from the Infinite Prison — though they're ambitious, they're nothing more than a ragtag band in the end. Having been thrown together in such a short time, they can't possibly match our unity. So in an encounter battle, as long as we catch them off guard and strike hard — take out one or two of their stronger fighters — the rest will scatter like startled birds."
The Grand Elders of the Ten Great Sacred Lands were, for once, in rare and unanimous agreement.
Seeing their eagerness for battle, Jiang Chen felt considerably more confident. If the Grand Elders of the Ten Great Sacred Lands were willing to fight with their full strength, then in this encounter at the exit, their odds of victory were well above ninety percent.
After all, even if there was an ambush waiting at the exit, the enemy could never have anticipated that they would burst out from beneath the sea by swimming through the depths.
Launching a surprise attack while the opponent was completely unprepared — their chances were unquestionably higher.
The Black Tortoise divine beast connected its consciousness to Jiang Chen once more: "Chen Shao, the exit area is within a hundred li now. My spiritual sense can already cover the exit. Around the exit zone, there appears to be a formation with six or seven Divine Dao cultivators overseeing it. On top of that, there's a large number of half-divine cultivators. The numbers don't seem enormous, but with the aid of the formation, they should have the strength to hold you off."
Jiang Chen replied through divine consciousness: "If we had charged out blindly through the mist, we'd have walked right into their ambush in the chaos. But right now, we're about to emerge and they know nothing of it. In my view, we have an excellent opportunity to catch them completely unprepared."
"Mm, but let's not be careless all the same. Chen Shao, I agreed to carry you to the exit — I never agreed to fight on behalf of the Ten Great Sacred Lands," the Black Tortoise emphasized.
Jiang Chen chuckled. "Don't worry. I wasn't planning to trouble you for this. The Grand Elders of the Ten Great Sacred Lands should be more than capable of handling the situation. If I deliver them to the exit and they still can't do anything about it, then I can only say the Ten Great Sacred Lands have been a colossal disappointment."
The exit drew closer and closer.
In these final dozens of li of ocean, the Black Tortoise pushed its speed to the absolute limit. Its massive body carved a long trail of white foam across the sea's surface, accelerating faster and faster.
Meanwhile, at the outer exit of the Pingsha Island secret realm, a group of cultivators had gathered in one place, their minds equally clouded with doubt.
By their calculations, the people on Pingsha Island should have made a move by now. But up to this point, none of the sentries or ambush positions ahead had been triggered.
They were stationed here guarding the final chokepoint, and had received no warnings whatsoever.
"Could it be that the Ten Great Sacred Lands are sitting tight? Stuck in that thick fog and refusing to come out?"
"Hmph, that suits us just fine. If they waste away and die on Pingsha Island, isn't that exactly what we'd most like to see?"
"That's true. But if they had the courage to rally their blood and charge out all at once, who knows how it would end. Even if we could pick them off, the casualties on our side would be considerable."
"Heh, what a pity. The Ten Great Sacred Lands simply don't have that kind of spine."
Among these cultivators, there was even a faction of optimists.