The group was now faced with a difficult decision—strike out against the Void Sacred Land, or meet up with the sacred land alliance.
“Young lord Chen, you decide!” Ziju Min’s att.i.tude was quite clear.
Those of House Yan nodded in agreement. “That’s right, you decide.”
Jiang Chen looked to An Kasyapa.
The G.o.d chuckled. “Don’t look at me, I’m fine with anything. Even if you decide to directly b.u.t.t heads with that old fart, I won’t back down in the slightest.”
Jiang Chen nodded. “Alright, then we’ll take another risk. Use the transmission formation to contact the alliance and have them convene at the Void Sacred Land!”
Sunrise possessed a similar formation, and reality was just as the young lord surmised. The alliance was indeed at the Abyssal and Nirvana Sacred Lands.
By now, the alliance had finished cleaning out the invaders at those two sacred lands. They were readying to charge into the Radiance Sacred Land.
After receiving Jiang Chen’s communication, some rejoiced while others despaired.
Radiance and Sunrise were delighted that Jiang Chen had taken care of the enemy and regained safety for their factions.
Martial, Flora, Polylore, and Immortal were heavy-hearted. Having been fully consolidated by Old Man Lightford, it was sure to be utter devastation in their sacred lands.
But there was nothing to be said when faced with the greater picture. Their sacred lands were all too far from Sandplain Island. There was nothing to be done even though they wanted to rescue their people.
In the end, they decided to meet up with Jiang Chen at the Void Sacred Land first, as well as the group coming from Radiance. They would look to merge forces and prepare for a final battle with Lightford’s contingent.
After settling on things, Jiang Chen had the remaining Sunrise members follow him to Void. He deployed Starfate and set course for Void at the fastest speed possible.
He too knew that time was of the essence. They were in a race with Lightford. If the enemy visited Radiance first and then Sunrise, then Jiang Chen would absolutely have an opening to take back Void before the enemy arrived.
When it came down to things, Void didn’t have the strongest relations.h.i.+p with Eternal. In fact, they even were on unfriendly terms. After all, Void and Polylore had supported Flora before.
But with the current situation, factional divisions were no longer as evident. The most important thing now was that there was still a chance to fight for Void.
Starfate sped through day and night at the fastest speed possible. They arrived within Void territory on the afternoon of the second day.
Jiang Chen’s first inclination was his usual trick of disguising himself to lure out the defenders and then mob them. It was a trick he’d never get tired of.
However, new worries were emerging at this point for this sort of plan. Lightford should almost be at Radiance by now. If he discovered that Radiance had fallen, he would certainly immediately contact Sunrise and Void.
Once he spoke with Void, the sacred land would be even more cautious and prudent. If that was the case, the good ole trick wouldn’t necessarily work.
Therefore, they were in a contest of both time and acting skills.
The G.o.ds stationed at Void were roughly on the same level as the two at Radiance. The flip side was that they weren’t as close to Lightford. They’d thrown themselves under his banner solely due to pressure. Therefore, there wasn’t as strong a sense of belonging as had been elicited in Yuxian and Panyuan.
With the momentum of the times pus.h.i.+ng them forward however, they were taking things a day at a time.
Though they had set up camp in Void Sacred Land at the moment, an anxious fire burned in their hearts. According to their calculations, the sacred land alliance would arrive on their doorstep any day now.
If Lightford didn’t show up with reinforcements, they would have to consider forfeiting Void. With their strength and a handful of demiG.o.ds, they hadn’t a chance in h.e.l.l of fighting the alliance.
They surely had no desire to fight to the death.
Therefore, when a disguised An Kasyapa and Yu Gong showed up and sent in their name cards, the defenders’ paranoia was far less than Yuxian and Panyuan’s. Only momentary consideration was needed before a pa.s.sageway opened in the formation and the defenders came out to welcome their compatriots.
“Fellow daoists, we heard that you were attacked in turn by the sacred lands on Sandplain. How might you two be appearing here now?”
An Kasyapa chuckled confidently. “We attracted the attention of the main force and had them follow us on a wild goose chase. Otherwise, they would’ve swept through all of the sacred lands long ago. Who knows how many of our brethren would fall to them? They’re hot on our heels today, which is why we’ve come here for some shelter.”
The leader on the side of the Void contingent was a blue-haired, middle-aged man. He smiled. “It’s wonderful that you two have come. We’ve been fretting that our numbers are few. If we have your help and we act in concert, we’ll be able to fend off their main forces for a while. I only hope that Master Lightford arrives soon. Otherwise, we’ll be unable to put up a decisive fight even with the four of us.”
An Kasyapa and Yu Gong looked at each other, perturbed by the development. These two weren’t on their guard, nor did they refuse to show their backs to their visitors. According to Yu Gong’s knowledge, they weren’t close to Lightford at all.
That meant they were prime recruitment targets.
“Don’t mention Master Lightford,” posited Kasyapa. “We were hunted and chased down along the way, but he didn’t send any help to us even though he’s come out of closed door cultivation.”
The blue-haired man chuckled, but didn’t continue that line of conversation.
“Have you heard? Master Lightford seems to have eaten a devastating loss in the Eternal Sacred Land. Even his two enforcers died at their hands. Of us two dozen G.o.ds, there have been high casualties. In fact, more than half are dead already!”
“What?!” The blue-haired man didn’t say a word, but his companion reacted with shock. “Where is your news from, fellow daoist?”
An Kasyapa followed up his act and lowered his voice. “It’s absolutely true. Of the six G.o.ds that went to Sandplain, we’re the only ones left. The two enforcers and two G.o.ds sent to Eternal don’t walk among the living anymore. Abyssal and Nirvana have been seized back by the sacred land alliance, so I’m guessing the four a.s.signed there are probably dead too. Apparently another group of Eternal experts headed for Radiance and Sunrise…”