Regardless of what those two Holy Sovereigns were thinking, once Jiang Chen made his decision, it could not be changed. Moreover, Ziche Min was standing on Jiang Chen's side.
Put simply, even the Eternal Holy Ancestor, at this stage, would not necessarily be able to directly influence Jiang Chen's decisions, let alone issue commands to him.
It was no longer Jiang Chen who survived at the mercy of the Eternal Sacred Land; rather, it was the Eternal Sacred Land that existed by virtue of Jiang Chen's glory.
Aboard the Star Fate flying ship, all the members of the Yan family, as well as those from the Sacred Land who were closely connected to Jiang Chen, were present. Among them were An Jiaye and his four divine servants.
Yan Wanjun sighed lightly. "Jiang Chen, with you being so unyielding, I'm afraid the Second Holy Sovereign will speak ill of you before the Holy Ancestor when the time comes."
Jiang Chen smiled casually. "If he wants to sow discord, he'll only humiliate himself."
Ziche Min also chuckled. "There's no need for you to worry, Friend Wanjun. The Holy Ancestor now discusses many matters with Jiang Chen before making decisions. If the Second Holy Sovereign fails to see the bigger picture and tries to stir up trouble, it will do him no good. He may even face the Holy Ancestor's rebuke."
Yan Wanjun fell silent. After all, he was not a member of the Sacred Land and could not say too much. But from Jiang Chen's attitude, he could tell that this grandson-in-law of his truly had confidence to spare. Even the Holy Ancestor would probably find it difficult to sway his decisions.
At this thought, his heart swelled with immense pride. This young man was so outstanding, and yet he was his grandson-in-law. The world might now be laughing at the Yan family's destruction, but one day, they would envy the Yan family — envy them for having such a remarkable grandson-in-law as Jiang Chen!
An Jiaye had been wandering around the flying ship the entire time, admiring everything with clicks of wonder. "Jiang Chen, this flying ship of yours is truly impressive. It doesn't appear to be crafted with modern techniques."
"This flying ship is an ancient inheritance. It contains numerous formations that integrate offense and defense as one. From the outside alone, you can't tell that it differs much from other flying ships. But when actual combat arises, this Star Fate flying ship is vastly superior to ordinary ones."
"I can tell. The defensive level of this ship — even if it took a full-powered strike from a Divine Dao cultivator, it would likely hold. Truly remarkable!" It was clear that An Jiaye genuinely admired the Star Fate flying ship.
Jiang Chen chuckled, then changed the subject. "Divine Venerable Jiaye, where should we go next? Where do you think that old man Guangdu will head?"
"Wherever the main forces of your Ten Great Sacred Lands are, that is where he will appear." Divine Venerable Jiaye was very certain about this.
Upon careful consideration, it was easy to deduce. The most urgent matter for that old man Guangdu was none other than annihilating the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands.
"Jiang Chen, you killed a few Divine Dao cultivators at the Eternal Sacred Land and may think the situation has dramatically improved, even turned the tide. In truth, your Ten Great Sacred Lands are looking at best a fifty-fifty proposition. To put it bluntly, defeat could come at any time."
A bucket of cold water had been thrown straight in their faces, but Divine Venerable Jiaye's words were no empty scaremongering.
Once the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands were intercepted by old man Guangdu, they would inevitably be locked in a bitter struggle. If Guangdu had numerous Divine Dao cultivators at his side, even the combined main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands would suffer in a prolonged battle.
The Ten Great Sacred Lands themselves were not a monolithic bloc. Though they had formed an alliance, there were still many internal frictions. If these contradictions were to erupt at a critical moment, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Therefore, at this juncture, it was truly hard to be optimistic.
"Then where are the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands right now?" Jiang Chen furrowed his brow. Wanyuan Island was vast — finding the main forces would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Even between the Sacred Lands, communication had to go through message-formation arrays. Yet during their time at the Eternal Sacred Land, they had not received any messages through the arrays.
What did this mean?
It meant the Ten Great Sacred Lands were occupied — perhaps locked in bitter combat, perhaps having no time or opportunity to contact the Eternal Sacred Land through the message-formation arrays.
The ocean was vast and boundless. Where should they go to rendezvous with the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands? Jiang Chen and everyone else were completely clueless.
"Bring me the maps." Jiang Chen sighed softly and issued the order.
Soon, maps of Wanyuan Island were brought out one after another. Maps of various formats and styles depicted the island's layout from different angles and perspectives.
"Perhaps we can actually work through the reasoning. If we were the ancestors of the Ten Great Sacred Lands, having just left Pingsha Island, what choices would we make?" Jiang Chen offered his suggestion.
Divine Venerable Jiaye chuckled dismissively. "Jiang Chen, when you reason through this, you can only do so from the most rational perspective. But in situations like these, everyone has personal biases. If their decision wasn't made from the most rational standpoint or the one best aligned with the Ten Great Sacred Lands' interests, we might rush over and find nothing. Besides, so many days have passed — if they completed the rescue of one Sacred Land, they would have moved on to the next. No one can say with certainty which region they're in now."
"When I left, the Ten Great Sacred Lands had already been arguing about this very matter. Everyone ultimately agreed to choose the option most beneficial to the overall interest, the one that best served the greater good. Absolutely no personal sentiments were to play a role."
"Perhaps that was their decision at the time, and if the plan went smoothly, it could have continued. But if they encountered any setbacks or surprises along the way, all bets are off." Divine Venerable Jiaye had never been particularly optimistic about the alliance of the Ten Great Sacred Lands.
Everyone was weighed down with concern as they continuously ran through various scenarios on the maps.
For now, regardless of what decisions the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands might make, at least at this stage, they could only speculate based on the most logical routes.
As for human factors and random variables, those would have to be considered secondary for the time being.
Jiang Chen still remembered that when he had departed, he had offered some advice to the ten great ancestors. He had suggested they choose the most remote, most improbable, and least expected Sacred Lands to rescue.
Looking at the maps, two Sacred Lands fit this logic. One was the Nine Abyss Sacred Land, and the other was the Nirvana Sacred Land.
Jiang Chen looked back and forth, tracing routes between these two Sacred Lands. Gradually, certain paths began to take shape.
"Everyone, based on the timeline, the progress of the Ten Great Sacred Lands' main forces wouldn't be very fast by now. They would likely be focused on either the Nine Abyss Sacred Land or the Nirvana Sacred Land. After that old man Guangdu fled, both of these locations are quite far from our Eternal Sacred Land. He would need time to reach the other Sacred Lands and rally cultivators from various factions. Therefore, I believe that at the very least, Guangdu does not yet have the opportunity to seek a decisive battle with the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands!"