Sovereign of the Three Realms - Chapter 1833

Chapter 1833: 1833

Taking Starfate, it took roughly three days for Jiang Chen to arrive at Martial Divine Nation . According to the venerated forefather, Martial Divine Nation was on friendly terms with Eternal Divine Nation . The two sacred lands often held exchanges or even arranged marriages with each other .

Martial Divine Nation respected Eternal Divine Nation like an older brother . That was why the forefather had suggested Jiang Chen pick it as his destination .

The political order in Martial Divine Nation was similar to that of Eternal Divine Nation . The sacred land held the reigns of power, and there were many subordinate sects and aristocratic families .

There was a divine realm forefather in the Martial Sacred Land, but the same went for the rebellion . The two forefathers were neck and neck, and their duel was gridlocked .

However, things were different on the lower levels . The rebellion army was quite formidable and dominated the sacred land, putting them in a more difficult place than the Eternal Sacred Land had been in .

Jiang Chen didn’t announce his arrival upon entering a completely foreign land . Tens of thousands of miles from Martial territory, he and his companions alighted from the airboat and flew on their own .

The forefather had said his first mission was to aid the sacred land’s spirit herb mountain, their secret base for cultivating spirit herbs .

They’d excavated a spirit vein, which enabled them to cultivate a great variety of herbs and make the mountain a general garden . Its development was the sacred land’s greatest achievement over the past few decades and crucial to the sacred land . Its loss would be a serious blow to them .

For the time being, the rebels hadn’t seem to have discovered the base yet and therefore hadn’t sent their most powerful force to it . But information had somehow been leaked . No one knew if that was because the rebels were adept at gathering intel, or if there was a mole inside the sacred land .

Whatever the truth was, the spirit herb base was close to being exposed . Fortunately, the sacred land had set up a great number of disorienting, trapping, and defensive formations around the base . When activated, they were enough to keep the place safe .

Jiang Chen’s first mission was to help the base overcome its current challenges . It was even better if he could destroy the rebel army that aimed to take the mountain .

The base was led by the only female prime of the sacred land - Prime Purplestar, a prominent cultivator in the Ten Divine Nations . Other than the divine forefather, she was one of the most important leading figures of the sacred land .

“What do you plan to do, young master Chen?” asked the Vermilion Bird .

Jiang Chen thought for a moment . “This is Martial Divine Nation . We can’t do much of what we did in Eternal Divine Nation . ”

“Naturally . I’ll follow your lead . ” The Vermilion Bird had spent some time thinking on their way here, which gave it a newfound respect for Jiang Chen . Over the past couple of days, it’d suppressed its inner demons and all intrusive thoughts, which calmed its mind and slowly eliminated its obsession .

With the knot in its heart resolved, the bird recovered its noble spirit as well . Moreover, the recent series of battles and breakthroughs had pushed its strength further . It’d made great progress since its fight with the Xiahou forefather .

“First, we need a map of the area . Then we can figure out how much defense the base has relative to the rebels . Only then do we formulate strategies and come up with a battle plan . Again, patience is a virtue . We either vanquish the enemies in one attempt, or we stay put, waiting for the opportunity to present itself . ”

He didn’t have a concrete plan yet, but he had a general idea of what he’d do . In a fight at such a level and scale, a swift, fatal strike was the only solution . Prolonging the battle would only made things worse since the rebels greatly outnumbered the sacred land .

The sacred land couldn’t afford the toll that would take, while the rebels simply numbered too many . They could keep replenishing their forces, making it seem as if the rebels had an unlimited number of supporters . If they all came to the same conclusion, they’d become much more strong-willed and hit harder .

A soldier’s will and power was often determined by the impetus driving their side .

That was what happened at the beginning of the uprising in Eternal Divine Nation . The rebels had been in high spirits and managed to keep the sacred land pinned down, making it a difficult fight .

In the final assault, the alliance had fallen apart and never recovered their original momentum . The Vermilion Bird’s attack was the last straw that broke them . Their failure could be partly attributed to their infighting, but also to the general trend of the war .

Therefore, Jiang Chen didn’t think it’d be worthwhile to just kill a few enemies or launch a few ambushes . Instead, the sacred land had to make a move that would determine the direction of the war, or even straight-up turn things around .

Such opportunities didn’t come by often, but he believed that was the right path to pursue .

Skirmishes raged near the spirit herbs base, taking him back to the days of war ravaging the Eternal Sacred Land . The fight in the Martial Sacred Land was much more intense by comparison .

The uprising against the Eternal Sacred Land had been kept a secret in the beginning . Thus, the rebels had been the only force surrounding the sacred land . The war in Martial Divine Nation was much more devastating and covered a significantly larger area .

Scouting wouldn’t pose much of a challenge to Jiang Chen since he had the Goldbiter Rats . Nonetheless, in order to keep them safe, he didn’t send a big group and deployed a smaller team of the most clever that were adept at gathering information .

The operation was risky, but the higher the risk, the greater the return .

Many intense conflicts had broken out around the base . Since the battlefield hadn’t been cleaned up yet, the rats would be able to acquire some loot .

Through observing the rebels on the outskirts, Jiang Chen came to some deductions .  

The rebels were gathering their troops, but their elites hadn’t found the right way to break into the base . Therefore, attacks hadn’t been launched in recent days .

The rebellion was led by a demigod forefather, under whom were a group of ninth level empyrean figureheads from major sects and aristocratic families .

The importance they placed on the base after its exposure was evident . They clearly had decided to conquer and gain control of the spirit herb base . They would then be essentially holding the sacred land’s lifeline in their grip, severely undermining the sacred land’s war effort .

“Young master Chen, the sacred land’s defense army is less than one fifth of the rebels,” reported the Goldbiter Kingrat . “They wouldn’t have been able to defend the base if not for the terrain and their formations and restrictions . My estimation is a conservative one . The ratio of their number may even be as high as one to six . ”

The rat didn’t give an accurate figure, but he was confident in his estimate .

Jiang Chen frowned . “Which means it’s only a matter of time before the rebels break in . ”

“That’s right,” the Goldbiter King agreed without hesitation . “The sacred land is even secretly planning on destroying the base if they fail to deter the rebels . They’d rather do that than to let the spirit herbs fall into rebel hands . ”

“They have backbone,” Jiang Chen praised . “How about the rebels? Any recent movement?”

“They’ve been studying and trying to break the formations outside the base . Once they succeed, they’ll be able to enter without much resistance . Without the formations, the sacred land can only rely on the terrain, but that won’t be of much help . After all, this is a battle between cultivators, not mortals . ”

In the mortal world, terrain gave army a significant advantage . In a fight between cultivators who could soar into the sky and go underground though, it was all too easy to destroy such advantages .

In other words, the only thing keeping the base safe was the formations outside, which were also the sacred land’s strong suit .

“Brother Chen, there’s a simple enough solution,” said Long Xiaoxuan . “The three of us can just charge into the rebellion army and kill the demigod forefather . Then the enemies will fall apart . Why make things so complicated?”

The Vermilion Bird shook its head . “Xiaolong, there will always be someone better than you somewhere . Your solution may work once, but it can end up making things worse in the long term . ”

Without the obsession plaguing its mind, the bird was much more clear-headed than it’d been . Once it had a good grasp of the situation, it recognized that they’d be vulnerable to ambushes if they launched a frontal attack .

The rebels had a demigod and a group of peak ninth level empyrean experts after all . If they formed a battle formation and lured the bird in, it was possible for them to trap the bird, or even kill it .

Hubris would be a cultivator’s downfall . There were plenty of such examples in the martial dao world .