No matter how the four great divine servants pleaded, Lord Jia Ye's tone remained absolute and final, leaving them no room for negotiation.
Huang'er had wanted to speak up, but Lord Jia Ye struck her unconscious on the spot without hesitation. He then turned to the four great divine servants and instructed them: "Your duty is to watch over Miss Huang'er. All of my hopes rest upon her. As long as she is safe, I will certainly return unharmed."
Lord Jia Ye's affection for Huang'er was genuine and deep — his doting on her even surpassed what he felt for his own daughter, An Yu'er.
An Yu'er, for her part, harbored no jealousy toward her daughter. She knew full well that her daughter's talent and potential in the martial dao far surpassed her own.
Moreover, she understood that she had already missed the optimal window for cultivation.
Being able to leave that opportunity to her daughter filled An Yu'er with genuine happiness. After all, she carried an enormous sense of guilt toward her child.
Ever since her daughter had been born, the girl had never received their love. Instead, she had been forced to bear the blame for them time and again, enduring countless hardships.
If not for the grace of heaven, after they had escaped from the Eternal Dungeon, there would have been no living daughter left for them to see — she would have long since turned to dust.
The Second and Third Sacred Masters of the Eternal Sacred Land had also received Lord Jia Ye's assessment of the situation. They understood that there was no option left besides breaking through the siege.
These two Sacred Masters were deeply conflicted in their hearts.
A breakout would not necessarily succeed.
But if they did not break through, given the enemy's relentless offensive, the defenses would inevitably fall before long. When that happened, death was certain.
Not only would it mean certain death — the Sacred Land's heritage, its accumulated resources, and all of its treasures would fall into enemy hands.
Should that come to pass, the two of them would become eternal sinners of the Eternal Sacred Land.
Thinking it through, they concluded that no matter how slim the chance of a successful breakout, it was still a chance. Remaining here to endure head-on with no escape — that led only to certain death.
If even a figure as exalted as Lord Jia Ye felt powerless, then the enemy's momentum was truly terrifying.
What made the situation especially dire was that the enemy's ranks had deployed four cultivators at the Divine Dao level. This completely overturned the two Sacred Masters' understanding of the world.
Was a single Eternal Sacred Land truly worth sending four divine-level cultivators?
Just how terrifyingly powerful was this enemy, to field such an extravagant lineup? Four divine-level cultivators — even on Myriad Abyss Island, among the Ten Great Sacred Lands, such a thing was considered inconceivable.
"You have half a day to prepare. Pack up everything of value — clear out every storehouse and gather the most precious treasures. Prepare to break through!"
Break through!
All of the Eternal Sacred Land, from top to bottom, had received the order to prepare for a breakout. This meant that the Eternal Sacred Land's foundation could no longer be held.
Breaking through was the only path to survival.
The moment those two great protectors had appeared, the Eternal Sacred Land's defenses had grown even more fragile — and that was only because Jiang Chen and the Sacred Ancestor had repeatedly modified the defensive systems.
Otherwise, within a quarter of an hour, those four Divine Dao cultivators would have utterly destroyed the Sacred Land's defenses entirely.
Now, everyone was racing against time.
The Eternal Sacred Land needed time to prepare for the breakout — to organize their forces, pack their valuables, and gather the most precious treasures from every storehouse.