Chapter 704: Chapter 703: The Confidence of a Top-Tier Powerhouse
On the one side, Helian Zhan and his daughter Helian Rong were talking; on the other, Wang Chunyang looked toward Zhuge Cang and frowned, "Someone from the outside world could actually cause you such injury?"
Wang Changchun was also startled and immediately looked toward Zhuge Cang, noticing that his aura was indeed not as strong as before and he already had hidden injuries. Thus, he too furrowed his brows in confusion.
Among the Hidden Sect Eight Great Forces, each family had no fewer than three strong practitioners at the peak of the Divine Travel Realm, and among these strong practitioners, Zhuge Cang definitely ranked in the top five in terms of combat power.
The likes of him would hardly be seriously hurt in the Hidden Sect World, yet now he had arrived in the Mortal World with grave injuries; naturally this shocked and piqued the curiosity of the strong practitioners from the Hidden Sect World.
Helian Zhan stopped his conversation with his daughter, turned to look at Zhuge Cang along with Ouyang He and Zhao Wuji.
Zhuge Cang was annoyed internally but maintained a calm demeanor and said, "The collapse of the Heaven Plane caused fluctuations in the Hidden Sect Plane. My Zhuge family has guarded the Hidden Sect Plane World for a thousand years, and when the family array was damaged, I suffered the backlash as a result. Since all of you could come here, I believe you must have seen the state within the Extreme Abyss, right?"
"The Extreme Abyss?" Wang Changchun frowned slightly.
Zhuge Cang said, "It’s the deep abyss channel that leads to this place. Originally, it was very stable, guarded by my Zhuge family generation after generation, maintaining its stability. However, this time, the entire Hidden Sect World was affected by the collapse of the Heaven Plane, and the array suppressing the Extreme Abyss shattered. As the one in charge of the array, I suffered the backlash."
Zhuge Wei and Zhuge Qian both nodded silently.
The three from the Duanmu Family kept their heads down and remained silent.
They all knew Zhuge Cang was lying, but as relatives or allies, no one exposed him.
After all, they were all leaders who cared about their face.
Wang Chunyang, having listened, nodded slowly, with a touch of respect in his expression, "I’ve heard that the Zhuge family has been guarding the Hidden Sect for a millennium. I did not expect it to be true. Brother Zhuge has my respects."
As he spoke, he clasped his hands together and gave a polite bow to Zhuge Cang.
Wang Changchun also clasped his hands and bowed, showing his respect.
Helian Zhan and Ouyang He smiled slightly but said little.
Wang Chunyang said to Helian Zhan, "You arrived here first; do you understand the situation of this Mortal World?"
Helian Zhan chuckled, "I just had a little chat with Brother Duanmu Wuwo and gained some intelligence from him."
"Oh? What’s the situation? Tell us about it," Wang Changchun chimed in.
Helian Zhan gestured toward the people of the Duanmu and Zhuge families and said, "I think it would be best to let them enlighten you all; they know much more details."
Wang Chunyang, Wang Changchun, and Ouyang He all nodded and turned their gaze to several members of the Zhuge and Duanmu families.
Duanmu Wugou cleared his throat and said, "This is not a good place to speak. May I propose moving to a private room in the Imperial City, where I can prepare tea and wine for us to discuss this leisurely?"
Upon hearing this, both Wang Chunyang and Wang Changchun looked to Ouyang He and Helian Zhan for their thoughts.
It was clear that the Zhuge and Duanmu families, having first arrived in the world, must have already formed a united front and become allies. If these four from different Sect families could join forces as well, the others would not dare act rashly. However, if they were to be separated...
Wang Chunyang thought about the tense atmosphere upon his arrival and chuckled inwardly.
Even Helian Zhan, renowned for being one of the top two most powerful Martial Artists, nearly fell at the hands of this alliance; other powerful practitioners from different Sect families who came here alone would surely meet with dismemberment.
Helian Zhan, perceiving the inquisitive looks from Wang Chunyang and Wang Changchun, smiled indifferently, "No need for the trouble of warm wine and tea. I have not yet seen the great landscape of the outside and wish to see it sooner rather than later."
Ouyang He nodded and said, "Indeed, let’s discuss it here."
As he spoke, a disdainful smile appeared on his aged face. He glanced over the people from the Zhuge and Duanmu families and said, "Since you two families have joined forces and arrived early in this Mortal World to set up your schemes, and with all six of your formidable Martial Artists making an appearance in the Divine Continent territory, I assume that the control of Divine Continent Country has already fallen into your hands?"
Both Wang Chunyang and Wang Changchun’s eyes flashed sharply as they looked towards the six individuals from the Zhuge and Duanmu families.
Seeing this, Zhuge Cang sighed and said, "There’s no need to hide anything from you all. Frankly, our two families did intend to seize control over the Divine Continent Country, but to our embarrassment, even the best-laid plans of men can’t outwit the heavens. We underestimated the power of the secular forces in the Divine Continent and failed to achieve our goal."
"Oh?"
Both Wang Chunyang and Ouyang He could not help but express their confusion.
In their view, although Divine Continent Country also had many powerful Martial Artists, compared to the Hidden Sect World, the Martial Artists of Divine Continent were far inferior and simply no match for them.
The rulers of the secular nations, faced with Martial Artists of their caliber, would have no chance to resist. Controlling those people should have been extremely easy.
However, they had not anticipated that, despite the Zhuge and the Duanmu families deploying their top warriors and spending over a month on this task, they had not fully succeeded. What was going on?
Helian Zhan also appeared curious.
Previously, Duanmu Wuwo only mentioned the shifts in the Earth world when they chatted, scarcely touching upon the situation in Divine Continent Country.
"The cutting-edge weapons of the Mortal World still pose a great threat to us," Zhuge Cang said.
Wang Chunyang frowned and shook his head, "Indeed, nuclear weapons can indeed kill Martial Artists of our level, but they cannot be easily deployed, and we are not inanimate targets but operate in the shadows. Without a target to strike, even the most powerful weapons are useless, unless they are willing to perish alongside us."
The crowd nodded in agreement.
This was the source of confidence for the Hidden Sect’s elite warriors.
With their immense individual strength and ability to strike unpredictably, they would never let themselves become fixed targets for precision strikes.
As long as the outside world did not dare to use nuclear weapons and risk mutual destruction against them, they had considerable room to maneuver and exert terrifying deterrent power.
In modern language, Martial Artists of their caliber were the most agile and top-tier weapons.
Even those in the Innate Realm could be deemed National Guardian Level warriors by the Mortal World; one could imagine the danger posed by these top-level Divine Travel Realm Martial Artists stepping into the Mortal World.
Yet, under such circumstances, the Duanmu and Zhuge aristocratic families deployed six top-level Divine Travel Martial Artists and numerous Innate Realm experts, only to still fail in quietly taking complete control of Divine Continent’s power. How could this not surprise and make Wang Chunyang and the others doubt?
With a wry smile, Duanmu Wuwang said, "Originally, like you all, I believed that as long as we entered the world, all its powers would fall under our control. But that was not the case. The rulers of the Mortal World also have considerable strength. They have developed special weapons aimed at Martial Artists like us, preventing us from capturing them all at once."
Zhuge Cang immediately added, "However, it’s only a matter of time before the Hidden Sect forces completely take control of Divine Continent Country. Those resistors are merely struggling in their death throes against absolute power."
The crowd nodded in agreement.
They held absolute confidence, agreeing with Zhuge Cang’s statement.
Even if they hadn’t yet fully taken control over everything in Divine Continent Country, with a bit of time and without competition from other forces, any of the Eight Great Forces taking over the reins of Divine Continent wouldn’t be difficult.
The reason Wang Chunyang and the others were surprised earlier was that despite the alliance of the Zhuge and Duanmu families and after so much time, they still couldn’t completely subdue the secular elites of Divine Continent, which made them slightly disdainful.
"What is the current situation in Divine Continent Country?" asked Helian Zhan.