Jiang Ningxian left behind those final words and returned to her quarters.
Alone in the courtyard, Lu Yuan remained seated where he was. Watching the rustling leaves drift down, his expression stayed completely calm.
"In this great era, who will make it to the very end?" he murmured, repeating her words. But as he finished, a faint smile appeared on his face.
A new era. An evolutionary era. It would only grow more perilous from here on, yet at the same time, all the more magnificent. He looked forward to it.
No matter what the future held, strength remained the foundation of everything.
The Void Saint Realm was not the end; neither were the Demi-Saint or Great Saint Realms—not even immortals represented the pinnacle.
He had long prepared for everything, his ultimate goal nothing short of claiming the supreme peak.
Without another word, he rose, returned to his room, and entered secluded cultivation.
And so, time continued to slip by as days passed.
The Heavenly Court's strength and foundation steadily expanded. Once again, Lu Yuan conferred titles upon several individuals on the Investiture Decree, granting them the blessing of providence. Endowed with far greater talent than before, their cultivation and evolution progressed at a swifter pace.
Meanwhile, the transfer of administrative power had largely concluded, though Elder Ji and the others still managed daily affairs. In truth, it was merely operating under a new name; the Heavenly Court had now taken the helm of everything.
Today, the Heavenly Court's prestige was unmatched by any force in the world.
Beyond accumulating strength, an announcement was also issued, advising citizens and Awakened alike to relocate into the five super cities as much as possible. It warned that the days ahead would grow extremely perilous and urged everyone to prioritize their lives.
Heeding the notice, countless people followed the guidance, moving into the super cities unless urgent business kept them away.
At the same time, the Peacock King, the Spirit Monkey, the Nine-Tailed Fox King, and other Beast Kings warned the mutated beasts not to stir up trouble recklessly. The Four Divisions also dispatched personnel to monitor external developments, strictly instructed to retreat immediately if they encountered unknown powerhouses, regardless of their motives.
Lu Yuan understood clearly: this marked the moment extraterrestrial great clans abandoned cautious probing and began descending in earnest.
Under these measures, the entire world fell into a strange calm.
In the outside world, only a few extraterrestrial beings remained active. Even then, they caused no overt disruptions.
Yet those entities were well aware that the Heavenly Court—and that human, Lu Yuan—had likely sensed what was coming. But it mattered little; the broader trend was irreversible. The Yin Sparrow Clan, the Three-Headed Ghost Clan, the Origin Demon Clan, and others had all chosen to descend.
Then came the day.
Several extraterrestrial beings headed into the depths of a certain mountain range.
A spatial corridor opened, and colossal silhouettes slowly approached. Once through, they all gathered together, bowing their heads slightly in deep deference. They were members of the Nether Bull Clan, though not particularly strong, standing only at the fifth stage, the Sovereign King Realm.
Together, they opened another corridor.
*Hum~*
Before long, ripples of spatial distortion surfaced across the open expanse in the distance.
Quickly, a spatial corridor formed, within which figure after figure appeared.
At the forefront stood a slender man with white hair, white robes, and golden pupils. Two wings sprouted from his back, arcs of lightning coiling around his frame, radiating a terrifying, supreme aura.
This leader was named Lei Xiao, a sequence prodigy of the Celestial Clan whose high standing and rank far surpassed the previously encountered Lei Xuan.
His cultivation was formidable, having entered the Saint Realm. Coupled with his terrifying bloodline, his combat strength far exceeded that of ordinary peers in the same realm.
Behind him stood a dozen or so winged individuals, both men and women. Every single one possessed an immensely powerful aura, standing worlds apart in talent and strength from the extraterrestrials that had previously set foot on Earth.
Lei Xiao stepped slowly out of the spatial corridor. The moment he set foot upon this land, countless arcs of lightning shot forth. In an instant, the surrounding boulders and colossal trees shattered and collapsed with a deafening roar, as if his physical body possessed immeasurable weight.
Seeing these figures appear, the Nether Bull Clan members immediately bowed their heads. Paired with their towering frames, the spectacle looked somewhat bizarre.
"Greetings, Lord Lei Xiao! Greetings, honored lords of the Celestial Clan!"
"How is the current situation on Earth?" the leading man asked.
Hearing his inquiry, the Nether Bull Clan dared not conceal a single thing and reported everything in detail.
"A human named Lu Yuan?"
Lei Xiao spoke slowly, a glint of murderous intent surfacing in his eyes. "He may count as an exceptional figure, but regrettably, he is far too arrogant. To offend the Celestial Clan is to court total obliteration."
Yet despite the intense murderous intent he harbored toward Lu Yuan, Lei Xiao did not choose to head straight for Mount Tai.
Descending here was not merely about seeking vengeance. Only after everything was properly arranged would further plans unfold.
Thus, Lei Xiao did not act rashly. Having spoken, he took a step forward. The thunder across his body erupted violently, shaking distant mountains and tearing cracks across the earth. He simply led his Celestial Clan subordinates and the Nether Bull Clan away from the area.
Meanwhile, in another mountain range—the Hengduan Mountains.
The spatial corridor appeared once again.
Roughly half an hour elapsed.
Unlike before, the figures stepping out this time did not belong to the Spirit Clan.
Instead, three individuals emerged: two men and one woman, standing flank to flank.
They bore little outward difference from humans, their physiques tall and flawless. Behind the head of each, however, shimmering divine halos flickered.
They looked like true gods descending into the mortal realm, emanating a terrifying aura pushed to the absolute extreme, brilliant divine light continuously radiating from their bodies.
"Huh? Where are the people from the Spirit Clan? Why aren't they here?" The woman surveyed the surroundings, her brow furrowing slightly, displeased that no one had arrived to receive them. "Could an accident have happened to them?"
The man on the left glanced toward the center figure. "My lord?"
The central figure did not respond immediately. He closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them, a sharp glint flashing within his gaze as he spoke slowly: "I just received word from the clan. Ling Que and the others are dead. Preliminary assessments indicate that in this world, only that Lu Yuan possesses the ability to slay them."
"The human Lu Yuan who shattered the Ranked Immortals' plan?" the woman said, continuing, "He does have some skill, it seems."
The leading man smiled faintly, a hint of playful amusement in his eyes. "Men like that don't die easily. Still, repelling the Ranked Immortals did exceed my expectations. He has caught my interest."
"Having grown up in this world, a wisp of great era providence has likely formed within him."
"So what if he birthed great era providence? For this world and this era, our Eternal Clan has prepared for ages."
"If that man truly possesses strength and knows enough to bow his head and adapt to the times, we can overlook his past offenses," the woman remarked, adding, "Submitting to our clan is what he ought to do."
Chapter 241