They arrived at the Rising Sun Sacred Land at nearly their fastest speed. But what they saw and heard was no different from the Radiance Sacred Land at all.
The Rising Sun Sacred Land was just as deserted — not a broken bowl or chipped pot left behind, let alone anything of value.
"Bastards!" Elder Guangdu was thoroughly enraged.
He wouldn't have cared too much about losing these two sacred lands. But the fact that the Divine Path cultivators stationed there had completely vanished — now that was a massive problem.
What he lacked most right now was Divine Path combat strength. A game that had been going so well was being played worse and worse by his own hand, and Elder Guangdu was beside himself with frustration.
He told himself he hadn't made a single wrong move. His deployment at Pingsha Island had been nothing short of flawless. And the combat strength he'd dispatched to the Ten Great Sacred Lands had been perfectly balanced — he'd practically conquered all of them.
Yet somehow, a tiny flaw had appeared in his calculations for Pingsha Island. A flaw he never could have anticipated. Even now, he couldn't quite figure it out — why hadn't the formidable Taibai Light-Splitting Convergence Formation, combined with that all-pervading mist, been able to stop the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands?
Even if they'd managed to escape, why had every single one of them come out completely unscathed? It made no sense at all.
Even if he had sent ten Divine Path cultivators into Wanyuan Island to swap places with those from the Ten Great Sacred Lands, they never would have gotten out.
Frustrated as he was, reality was cruel — one misstep led to another, and another.
The situation had grown more passive with every passing moment.
"My Lord, was this done by the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands, or by the people from the Eternal Sacred Land?"
"It must be the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands, right?"
"That's not necessarily true. The Eternal Sacred Land bunch are no pushovers. Especially that old bastard An Jiaye — he's opposed you at every turn!"
Elder Guangdu barked, "Silence. All of you."
Everyone instantly went quiet, not daring to breathe.
"Pack up. We're heading to the Extinction Sacred Land!" Elder Guangdu knew full well that they were now entirely on the back foot.
If he didn't act with every second counting, the subordinates he'd dispatched would be wiped out completely.
"My Lord, why not use the formation to send them a message, telling them all to lie low for a while?"
Those words reminded Elder Guangdu, and he immediately issued his command: "Relay my orders. Tell the Extinction Sacred Land to be on full alert. And the Nine Abyss Sacred Land, and the Nirvana Sacred Land."
"My Lord, the Nine Abyss Sacred Land and the Nirvana Sacred Land have most likely already fallen to the main forces of the Ten Great Sacred Lands," someone ventured in a low voice.
Elder Guangdu snapped, "Fallen or not, we must warn them now. Tell them to lie low and preserve their strength."
Elder Guangdu also felt a pang of regret. He regretted that he had still underestimated the people of the Ten Great Sacred Lands. If he had ordered the Divine Path cultivators stationed at each sacred land to withdraw and rendezvous with him from the start, they never would have met such a fate.
At the time, he had believed that the territory of the Ten Great Sacred Lands could not be abandoned lightly.