It was no wonder they had become so emotional. This time around, aside from the Nine Abyss Sacred Land and the Nirvana Sacred Land, the emotions of every other sacred land's forces were extremely complicated.
Of the Ten Great Sacred Lands' main forces, only the Nine Abyss Sacred Land and the Nirvana Sacred Land could be restored within such a short time. Those were the only two within their reach.
The third target had originally been planned for the Bright Sacred Land.
The Extinction Sacred Land had been selected as their fifth objective — meaning, under normal order, the main force of the Ten Great Sacred Lands would not arrive here until fifth in line.
That was almost certainly never going to happen. They all knew that Old Man Guangdu had already begun his own moves as well.
So for
The people of the Bright Sacred Land and the Rising Sun Sacred Land were even more thankful to Jiang Chen than anyone.
The retainers who had remained at those two locations had already recounted everything that had happened to their respective ancestors. Now, upon reuniting and seeing their own sacred land's people again, those two great ancestors were overcome with a swirl of emotions.
They had, by all accounts, already given up hope — yet they had never expected Jiang Chen to deliver such a tremendous surprise.
Jiang Chen did not lay claim to any credit. Instead, he cupped his fists and said, "Honored seniors, I simply made the decision that was most advantageous to the larger situation given the circumstances at hand."
What Jiang Chen said was entirely the truth.
The four sacred lands already under Old Man Guangdu's control — he had not gone near them at all. Going would have been pointless.
So all he could do was choose the sacred lands Old Man Guangdu had not yet reached, and race against time. Fortunately, though he had set out several days later than Old Man Guangdu, he had still arrived first, completing the counterattack on three sacred lands and eliminating or subduing six Divine Path cultivators in total.
This was an enormous blow to Old Man Guangdu by extension. At the very least, the number of Divine Path cultivators remaining at Old Man Guangdu's side could no longer exceed ten.
Jiang Chen estimated that with the forces of four sacred lands gathered under Old Man Guangdu's command, there were probably around eight Divine Path cultivators. Even if the two Divine Path cultivators who had fled from Pingsha Island and vanished without a trace ultimately rejoined them, that would still only amount to ten.
However, Jiang Chen surmised that those two Divine Path cultivators from Pingsha Island were unlikely to ever appear again. Otherwise, Kasyapa Divine Lord and the others would not have been able to impersonate the pair so successfully — they would have been exposed long ago.
The Eternal Sacred Ancestor was now in excellent spirits. Jiang Chen's series of actions had only solidified the
Though his own prestige as the great ancestor had been somewhat overshadowed, he clearly no longer cared about that. After all, Jiang Chen's talent and potential were now plainly evident — as a great ancestor, there was truly no need for him to compete for the spotlight with a young genius.
No matter what, Jiang Chen now represented the Eternal Sacred Land. That was something no one could deny.
Zi Che Min gave a vivid, detailed account to the ancestors of the Ten Great Sacred Lands of everything that had transpired since they parted ways at Pingsha Island — how Jiang Chen returned to the Eternal Sacred Land, how he fought off the invaders who had infiltrated it, and how he destroyed Old Man Guangdu's left and right protectors.
Then, how he had jousted with Old Man Guangdu himself, ultimately forcing the old man to retreat in the face of such overwhelming odds.
The whole tale was thrilling and soul-stirring. After hearing it, the ten great ancestors sat in silence for a long time, and the atmosphere in the hall became eerily still.