They rushed to the Sunrise Sacred Land with the greatest speed they could muster. What greeted them was no different from the situation in Radiance.
It was completely empty. Not even the mundane daily necessities had been left behind, let alone anything of value.
“Bastards!” Lightford raged.
He didn’t care that the two sacred lands had been reclaimed. What troubled him was that the divine cultivators stationed here had disappeared as well.
He needed more of them. Things were looking worse and worse for him in this game of chess. It was an incredible frustration.
Upon reflection, he felt that he hadn’t made any wrong moves. His plan at Sandplain was flawless and he’d dispatched his people well, taking over almost every one of the sacred lands.
However, things had gone wrong at Sandplain in a way that he couldn’t have predicted. Even now, he still didn’t understand how the powerful Prismatic Convergence Formation and the unstoppable mist had failed to trap the ten sacred lands’ elites.
Moreover, how could they have all survived unscathed? It just didn’t make any sense.
If it’d been ten of his subordinate divines trapped on the Sandplain Island instead, they wouldn’t have been able to escape.
Despite his frustration, he had to face reality. One undesirable outcome had set a domino effect in motion. He was losing control of the situation.
“Is this the ten sacred lands’ doing, master, or the work of those from Eternal?”
“It must be the ten sacred lands.”
“Not necessarily. Those from Eternal are no simple foes, especially the old bastard An Kasyapa! He keeps popping up against our lord in every way!”
“Shut up!” snapped Lightford.
The group fell silent with a shudder.
“Prepare yourselves. We set out for the Void Sacred Land!” Lightford knew they had lost the initiative. If they didn’t move fast, there would be nothing left of his people when they arrived.
“Master, why don’t we contact our people through the formation and tell them to lay low?”
That did remind Lightford. He announced, “Pass down my orders. Have Void, Abyssal, and Nirvana be on their guard.”
“Master, Abyssal and Nirvana are likely to have been reclaimed by the ten sacred lands,” someone proposed in a low voice.
“Even so, we have to warn them,” snapped Lightford. “Tell them to go into hiding and conserve their strength.”
He regretted underestimating the ten sacred lands. If he’d told his divines to leave their posts and join him earlier, they wouldn’t have been killed.
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He’d thought at the time that the ten sacred lands were too important for him to just give up. What a fool he’d been!
A subordinate seemed to read his mood. “You have to put it behind you, milord,” the man advised. “Once those from Eternal target a sacred land, it wouldn’t have changed anything for our people to leave. They would’ve been ambushed one way or another. After all, this is Myriad Abyss. It’s our enemies’ home turf. We’d been kept in the Boundless Prison for countless years. We aren’t as familiar with the geography here.”
That made Lightford feel a little better.
“You haven’t made the wrong decision, milord,” someone else spoke up. “It’s the right thing to do to have them defend the sacred lands by utilizing the existing defenses. It doesn’t seem like Radiance and Sunrise have been through an intense battle. Something isn’t right. Perhaps they weren’t defeated. Rather...”
“What?” Lightford’s voice turned frigid. “Do you still doubt their loyalty to me?”
“This subordinate wouldn’t dare. I’m simply suggesting that our enemies may have tricked Yuxian and Panyuan into trusting them.”
That’s right.
“The ten sacred lands are cunning. They must have used a dirty trick.”
“Master, Void responded!” someone shouted with excitement. “Lan Tianhao and Xu Yigu still live! However, they seem to have discovered the enemies. They said that the two divine cultivators sent to Sandplain have requested sanctuary, claiming to be chased down by the ten sacred lands’ elites. Lan Tianhao and Xu Yigu haven’t let them in yet.”
“Sandplain?” Lightford went over the list of people he’d sent. What a bizarre situation.
He’d sent six gods. Two died on the island. Two - Yuan Zijing and his companion - had returned. The other two, he hadn’t heard from.
“Did they tell you who made the request?” Lightford asked in a cold voice.
“Daoist Teng and Daoist Huang. They’ve been missing since. Didn’t expect them to appear in Void.”
A myriad of emotions flashed through Lightford’s dark gaze.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up with realization. He snapped, “Tell them to be wary of those two men! They’ve been missing for a long time. They would’ve shown up already if they wanted to. They wouldn’t wait until now. Something isn’t right. Either they’ve taken the ten sacred lands’ side, or they’re imposters!”
He was no fool. He could identify the strangeness after some deliberation.
“Agreed. They were gone for so long. They should’ve come back a long time ago if they wanted to. Why would they go to the Void Sacred Land? Perhaps they’re responsible for what happened to Radiance and Sunrise.”
“That must be it. Have the two bastards truly turned to the ten sacred lands’ side? If that’s the case, Void is in real danger...”
“Set course the Void Sacred Land!” Lightford announced solemnly. “We must take down either the ten sacred lands’ elites or Eternal’s members, and we have to do it quickly! We can’t allow them to join forces, or that will spell trouble.”
Lightford had a good grasp of the situation. If the two groups succeeded in joining forces, they would be able to overpower him and his people.
Before his experience in Eternal, Lightford hadn’t considered the ten sacred lands an obstacle. He’d thought himself to be unstoppable. But after exchanging blows with the two sacred beasts, his confidence wavered.