That was all well and good, but convincing the two great Divine Venerables, Pan Yuan and Yu Xian, clearly wasn't something that could be accomplished with a few casual words.
Divine Venerable Pan Yuan smiled faintly. "Empty words are worthless. If you two friends wish to earn our trust, you'll need to show some sincerity, won't you?"
"Hmph!" Divine Venerable Jiaye snorted coldly. "Pan Yuan, don't you dare put on airs in front of me. We both know exactly how much each of us is worth. My brother and I may have had a rough few days, but we haven't fallen so low as to come begging. The main force of the Ten Great Sacred Lands has been hunting the two of us, and even they couldn't do a thing about us! If we've managed to survive until now, we can certainly survive until we rendezvous with Lord Guangdu. As for you lot — heh heh — the main force of the Ten Great Sacred Lands is about to descend upon Radiance Sacred Land. I suggest you pray for your own deliverance."
This was the strategy Jiang Chen and his group had devised — they absolutely could not grovel or take too low a posture. Doing so would only expose their true identities.
After all, based on Yu Gong's memories, the divine-path cultivators dispatched to Pingsha Island were generally a cut above those sent to the Ten Great Sacred Lands.
Since their supposed cultivation was slightly superior, their bearing absolutely could not be too humble. Even during this period of supposed "hardship," they could not afford to lose their edge.
The cultivator impersonated by Yu Gong spoke with a dark expression. "Let's go. Why waste our breath on them? If this place won't have us, plenty of others will. The main force of the Ten Great Sacred Lands is about to arrive — you can deal with them yourselves."
Divine Venerable Jiaye and Yu Gong played off each other perfectly, making their act all the more convincing.
Divine Venerable Pan Yuan laughed heartily. "Why the anger, friends? We all serve Lord Guangdu. Our caution is simply because we don't want things to go wrong. Please, try to understand."
"Hmph! Are you mocking us for letting things go wrong?" Divine Venerable Jiaye grew even more irate, his tone suddenly brimming with hostility.
"Heh heh, not at all, not at all. Please don't be suspicious, friends. The battle at Pingsha Island — I hear the Ten Great Sacred Lands seemed to have divine help. It wasn't your fault."
"Enough talk. One word — are you letting us in or not? If not, we'll turn around and leave right now. I hear Lord Guangdu has already emerged from seclusion and begun gathering his forces. We'll go meet him ourselves." Divine Venerable Jiaye's tone was hard and unyielding.
Divine Venerable Yu Xian, who had not spoken until now, finally opened his mouth. "Both of you, simply swear an oath that you haven't defected to the Ten Great Sacred Lands, and we'll let you in. Then we can all work together against the Ten Great Sacred Lands."
"Swear an oath?" Divine Venerable Jiaye burst into loud laughter. "On what basis? You think you're worthy of demanding oaths from us? Don't get things twisted — we're not beggars here asking you to take us in."
"Please don't misunderstand. We simply want assurance, and we don't think of you as coming to seek our shelter. We all serve Lord Guangdu — if anyone is to take shelter, it would be from him," Pan Yuan hastily explained.
Divine Venerable Jiaye snorted coldly, putting on a show of deliberation, as though he had considered the matter for a time.
"For Lord Guangdu's sake, I'll swear the oath. If I, surnamed Han, have defected to the Ten Great Sacred Lands, may the heavens strike me down with thunder on the spot — may heavenly tribulation descend and the Five Thunders blast my head!"
The cultivator whom Divine Venerable Jiaye was impersonating bore the surname Han. Hence he called himself "I, Han."
In truth, he, An Jiaye, genuinely had not defected to the Ten Great Sacred Lands. His relationship with Jiang Chen was merely that of relatives — allies, nothing more.
Moreover, the oath was sworn in the name of the person he was impersonating.
Naturally, such an oath could never come true.
Divine Venerable Yu Xian and Divine Venerable Pan Yuan mulled it over and felt the oath was quite severe. Martial cultivators, especially divine-path cultivators, feared nothing more than violating a heaven-and-earth oath.
Once violated, the Heavenly Dao's perception was particularly keen, and retribution would inevitably follow.