The group was now faced with a difficult decisionâstrike out against the Void Sacred Land, or meet up with the sacred land alliance.
âYoung lord Chen, you decide!â Ziju Minâs attitude was quite clear.
Those of House Yan nodded in agreement. âThatâs right, you decide.â
Jiang Chen looked to An Kasyapa.
The god chuckled. âDonât look at me, Iâm fine with anything. Even if you decide to directly butt heads with that old fart, I wonât back down in the slightest.â
Jiang Chen nodded. âAlright, then weâll take another risk. Use the transmission formation to contact the alliance and have them convene at the Void Sacred Land!â
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 Chenâs 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 Lightfordâs 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 didnât have the strongest relationship 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 Chenâs first inclination was his usual trick of disguising himself to lure out the defenders and then mob them. It was a trick heâd 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 wouldnât necessarily work.
Therefore, they were in a contest of both time and acting skills.
The gods stationed at Void were roughly on the same level as the two at Radiance. The flip side was that they werenât as close to Lightford. Theyâd thrown themselves under his banner solely due to pressure. Therefore, there wasnât as strong a sense of belonging as had been elicited in Yuxian and Panyuan.
With the momentum of the times pushing 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 didnât show up with reinforcements, they would have to consider forfeiting Void. With their strength and a handful of demigods, they hadnât a chance in hell 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 defendersâ paranoia was far less than Yuxian and Panyuanâs. Only momentary consideration was needed before a passageway opened in the formation and the defenders came out to welcome their compatriots.
âFellow daoists, we heard that you were attacked in turn by the sacred lands on Sandplain. How might you two be appearing here now?â
An Kasyapa chuckled confidently. âWe attracted the attention of the main force and had them follow us on a wild goose chase. Otherwise, they wouldâve swept through all of the sacred lands long ago. Who knows how many of our brethren would fall to them? Theyâre hot on our heels today, which is why weâve come here for some shelter.â
The leader on the side of the Void contingent was a blue-haired, middle-aged man. He smiled. âItâs wonderful that you two have come. Weâve been fretting that our numbers are few. If we have your help and we act in concert, weâll be able to fend off their main forces for a while. I only hope that Master Lightford arrives soon. Otherwise, weâll be unable to put up a decisive fight even with the four of us.â
An Kasyapa and Yu Gong looked at each other, perturbed by the development. These two werenât on their guard, nor did they refuse to show their backs to their visitors. According to Yu Gongâs knowledge, they werenât close to Lightford at all.
That meant they were prime recruitment targets.
âDonât mention Master Lightford,â posited Kasyapa. âWe were hunted and chased down along the way, but he didnât send any help to us even though heâs come out of closed door cultivation.â
The blue-haired man chuckled, but didnât continue that line of conversation.
âHave 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 gods, there have been high casualties. In fact, more than half are dead already!â
âWhat?!â The blue-haired man didnât say a word, but his companion reacted with shock. âWhere is your news from, fellow daoist?â
An Kasyapa followed up his act and lowered his voice. âItâs absolutely true. Of the six gods that went to Sandplain, weâre the only ones left. The two enforcers and two gods sent to Eternal donât walk among the living anymore. Abyssal and Nirvana have been seized back by the sacred land alliance, so Iâm guessing the four assigned there are probably dead too. Apparently another group of Eternal experts headed for Radiance and Sunrise...â