Chapter 530: Langya Heavenly Palace, Relocation

"By the way, you just mentioned the Evil Spirit Festival in Qiling City?"

Xiao Han noticed this unfamiliar term mentioned by Jiang Lingxian.

"The senior may not know, but the Evil Spirit Festival is held every twenty years; it is the grandest and most solemn festival of our Evil Spirit Clan."

Jiang Lingxian had also learned of Xiao Han's identity, and regarding this legendary visitor from the Great Thousand World, Jiang Lingxian showed no ripples of emotion.

The Evil Spirit Clan had always been in a state of oppression by the Outer Realm Evil Clan; to say he had any affection for the latter would be pure nonsense, not to mention that he held an irreconcilable blood feud with the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

Facing the savior of the brother and sister, Jiang Lingxian did not hesitate to tell Xiao Han everything about the current situation of the Evil Spirit Clan.

"The hosts of the Evil Spirit Festival are the Evil Spirit Patriarchs of each city, supervised by experts from the Outer Realm Evil Clan, to select talented Evil Spirit Clan members of the appropriate age to enter the Evil Spirit Ancestral Land for intensive training."

"Once successfully selected in the Evil Spirit Festival, it is no exaggeration to say it is a change of fate against the heavens."

Jiang Lingxian's eyes sparkled.

"Even my goal back then was to enter the Ancestor Land through the Evil Spirit Festival."

"The Evil Spirit Ancestral Land?"

"Have you been there?"

Xiao Han asked.

Jiang Lingxian shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Senior, you are truly joking. The Ancestor Land is the supreme holy ground of our Evil Spirit Clan, filled with clouds of experts and numerous geniuses; how could people like us be qualified to go to the Ancestor Land!"

"The quota for each selection from the entire Qiling City to go to the Ancestor Land is less than five; it is said that when luck is bad, there isn't even a single spot."

"Then have those who have been to the Ancestor Land ever returned?"

Xiao Han asked out of the blue.

"Returned?"

Jiang Lingxian was slightly stunned. He had never considered this question before. At less than twenty years old, he was just a little brat in the cultivation world. His knowledge of the Ancestor Land and the Evil Spirit Festival came entirely from outside rumors, and he had never seen it with his own eyes.

Thinking about it carefully, those selected to enter the Ancestor Land were all geniuses. If such people returned to Qiling City, it would likely have spread throughout the city, but he had stayed here for so many years and heard nothing; it was indeed abnormal.

"Perhaps Qiling City is too small and no longer suitable for these geniuses to grow?"

Jiang Lingxian gave a seemingly reasonable answer. Xiao Han was noncommittal about this. There was a saying in the Great Thousand World that he agreed with: to be wealthy and not return to one's hometown is like wearing fine silk in the dark.

Once a former genius becomes an expert, even if only to show off in front of others, they would revisit their old home. It couldn't be that the geniuses of Qiling City were so unlucky that not a single one survived?

If Xiao Han's guess was correct, it was not just the small Qiling City; perhaps the geniuses selected into the Ancestor Land from other regions met the same result, remaining hidden from the public for some reason.

This so-called Ancestral Land of the Evil Spirit Clan likely had more than met the eye.

"When is the next Evil Spirit Festival?"

Xiao Han asked.

"In three years."

Jiang Lingxian answered immediately; he knew the time of the Evil Spirit Festival by heart.

"Three years?"

"Are there any specific requirements to participate in the Evil Spirit Festival?"

"There are."

Jiang Lingxian nodded.

"The age must not exceed thirty, and the strength must be at least at the Evil Spirit General level."

Evil Spirit General, according to the strength calculations of the Great Thousand World, is roughly equivalent to the level between the Three Days Realm and the Supreme Small Three Tribulations, and one must be under thirty—and that is just an admission ticket!

Such a standard could no longer be described as harsh, which showed the status of the Evil Spirit Festival within the Evil Spirit Clan.

Xiao Han keenly realized that the Evil Spirit Festival might be a golden opportunity for him to escape from the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

"So..."

"Kid, do you want to go to the Ancestral Land of your Evil Spirit Clan?"

While Xiao Han was trapped in the demon's den, the Langya Heavenly Palace also fell into a brief chaos because it was left without a leader.

In the council hall, Yi Huang sat in the seat that originally belonged to Xiao Han with a cold expression. The residual blood-evil aura from the slaughter of the Demon Emperor on the battlefield still lingered, and a single cold glance from her phoenix eyes suppressed the group of Elders present.

"At this critical moment of life and death, all Elders may speak freely on how to overcome this difficulty."

After the words fell, the hall was deathly silent. The Elders were all old and cunning; they all knew that in such a situation, the first bird to speak usually wouldn't have a good end.

Of course, this only applied to the average Elder; certain Elders were not among them.

For example...

"Madam, now that the Palace Master is missing, the casualties among Disciples and Elders are heavy, the loss of resources is countless, and the Outer Realm Evil Clan is eyeing our sect covetously. In this subordinate's humble opinion, it would be better to temporarily avoid the sharp edge and plan for a comeback."

As the chief steward who managed most of the daily affairs of the Langya Heavenly Palace, Elder Yang Ling really could not ignore the earnest hopes of his colleagues and took the initiative to stand up, proposing a rather shameful suggestion.

After this suggestion was put forward, the atmosphere in the hall changed visibly. A sense of anger surged on the faces of some Elders, especially the Deputy Commander of the Langya Guard, Qian Sha, who was known for his decisive killing; his eyes widened in rage, almost as if he would devour someone!

What temporary avoidance of the sharp edge! It was nothing but a whitewashed term; wasn't it just asking them to be deserters? What a joke!

Having fought to the death with the Outer Realm Evil Clan on this continent for so many years, the number of sacrificed Disciples and Elders was countless. Especially in this recent war, they had paid the price of nearly one-third of their Disciples and Elders falling just to repel the aggressive offensive and preserve this foundation.

Now that things had come to this, someone actually wanted to run?

"Oh? Is Elder Yang's meaning to abandon this place?"

Yi Huang's tone was subtle. Yang Ling also knew that once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back, so he said bluntly:

"That is exactly so."

Unlike the many indignant Elders, Yang Ling, who had managed daily affairs for many years, knew the Langya Heavenly Palace better than almost anyone else, especially the fatal crises hidden beneath the appearance of prosperity.

"Madam, now that the Palace Master's whereabouts are unknown, our top priority is to find the Palace Master's location, rather than fighting the Outer Realm Evil Clan to the death."

Although the Langya Heavenly Palace had developed extremely rapidly in recent years, and the number of Heavenly Sovereign experts, who could be called giants of the Great Thousand World, could not be counted on one hand, it was a deserved behemoth in the Great Thousand World.

However, even so, it could not cover up a certain fact: the core of the Langya Heavenly Palace was the Palace Master, Xiao Han, and this had never changed.

In other words, even if Langya Heavenly Palace remained powerful after losing Xiao Han, it did not possess the qualifications to contend with the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

The reason Langya Heavenly Palace was able to engage in fierce battles with the Outer Realm Evil Clan at the border was not because of the Spirit Array traps spread across the entire continent or the Sect Protecting Array at the sect's base, but because of the absolute combat power of the Palace Master, Xiao Han.

Only Xiao Han, whose combat power far exceeded those of the same level, could deal with the endless stream of top-tier powerhouses from the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

Now, with Xiao Han missing, it was equivalent to snapping the greatest reliance of Langya Heavenly Palace, and the combat power of Langya Heavenly Palace would drop by more than half.

Looking at the Outer Realm Evil Clan, although they had lost two peak Mysterious Demon Emperors, their terrifying reserve of powerhouses allowed them to replenish top-tier experts in a short period, a point that the isolated Langya Heavenly Palace could not compare to.

Moreover, in the heart of Yang Ling, the probability of Palace Master Xiao Han surviving was slim; his greatest hope now was to let Langya Heavenly Palace recuperate and strive to give birth to another Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereign level powerhouse, only then would they possess the capital to fight the Outer Realm Evil Clan to the end.

Yi Huang also sensed the predicament facing Langya Heavenly Palace; having experienced the great war, Langya Heavenly Palace and Huan Continent had almost been reduced to scorched earth, the Spirit Array defensive marshes built at a huge cost had been completely destroyed, the energy of the Sect Protecting Array was exhausted, and almost all defensive measures had vanished into thin air; once the Outer Realm Evil Clan returned, they would likely have no choice but to fight to the death.

Consistent with Yang Ling, Yi Huang had no intention of holding their ground; if you preserve the people and lose the land, both the people and the land can be preserved; if you preserve the land and lose the people, both the people and the land are lost.

The most precious wealth of Langya Heavenly Palace was not a super continent engulfed in the flames of war, but the large number of Spirit Array Masters within the sect.

As long as the sect's vital strength was preserved, with the help of the massive resources of Langya Heavenly Palace, the sect's power would recover rapidly, and by then, they could simply take back the lost territory.

As for the consequences of losing the territory...

Huan Continent was originally reclaimed by Langya Heavenly Palace and was directly facing the front line of the Outer Realm Evil Clan; there were no other forces in the surrounding continents besides Langya Heavenly Palace, so even if they abandoned it, the impact would not be significant.

At most, they would lose some reputation, but Langya Heavenly Palace had never regarded reputation as the foundation of its existence.

Moreover, even if they left, Yi Huang would not let the Outer Realm Evil Clan take it over peacefully; the various Spirit Arrays on Huan Continent would help them relive the fear of being dominated by Langya Heavenly Palace.

Just as Yi Huang was about to make a choice, the Blood-colored Jade Pendant at her side suddenly bloomed with a striking radiance; she closed her eyes slightly, and after opening them, she smiled with relief.

"By the Palace Master's order, abandon Huan Continent, Langya Heavenly Palace will relocate to Ling Tian Continent."