At present, the Heavenly Court could be said to be the mightiest power on Earth.
Essentially, any Awakened with a measure of talent chose to join its ranks, as it offered superior resources along with various breathing methods and visualization methods that could propel them further along the path of evolution. And of course, there was Lu Yuan himself, already revered by all; everyone wished to follow by his side.
It was not about anything else—his prestige was simply that formidable.
Naturally, talent was not the sole criterion by which the Heavenly Court admitted new members. Above all, personal willpower and character mattered most. In the eyes of senior leaders like Elder Ji and Elder Yun, talented individuals were plentiful, but few would choose to step forward heedless of danger when a crisis struck. Such people were often the most vital and the rarest of all.
Moreover, talent meant little to the Heavenly Court. Lu Yuan possessed the Investiture Decree; as long as he conferred an investiture, the recipient was blessed with providence.
Once blessed by providence, even those with ordinary talent and bloodlines would reap immense benefits. It was just like the current members of the Heavenly Court, whose progress in cultivation and evolution far outstripped that of Awakened on the outside.
With Lu Yuan investing another batch of deities, yet another group had received the blessing of providence. At the same time, because he had refined the fourth of the Nine Cauldrons, everyone listed on the Investiture Decree—even the mutated beasts—had benefited to varying degrees.
Lu Yuan, however, did not seem overly excited about this. While remaining in seclusion to cultivate, he continued to have the Beast Kings search for the remaining cauldrons. All told, this remained his top priority for the present.
Time slipped away bit by bit. Roughly half a month later, Lu Yuan had thoroughly stabilized his realm, and his combat prowess had risen to another level.
He had even gained entirely new insights and understanding regarding both the Ancestral Dragon Breathing Method and the visualization method from the complete Daodejing.
It was inevitable. Having fused with the Ancient Bodhi Tree, his comprehension and innate aptitude were such that few across the entire starry sky could compare.
For ordinary people, even sequence prodigies, grasping these two supreme arts and achieving meaningful progress within a short time would require extensive periods of study. But the blessing of hundreds of millions of times the talent granted by the Ancient Bodhi Tree was no joke.
What delighted Lu Yuan even more was that his deeper understanding of the breathing and visualization methods had propelled him another step forward in the Great Saint Realm. If this continued, he might soon stand at the peak of this realm.
This was due to his own profound foundation as well as his immense talent. Of course, Lu Yuan also harbored a suspicion: perhaps the power of providence lingering on the Investiture Decree was subtly blessing him as well.
If so, he had all the more confidence in breaking through the Saint Realm and stepping into the realm of immortals within the shortest possible time.
Immortal—another monumental watershed.
And while he was cultivating, the Beast Kings located the fifth of the Nine Cauldrons.
Lu Yuan rushed there immediately. This cauldron had appeared in a renowned mountain, exceptionally well hidden. Without the proper methods and sufficient confidence, it would have been nearly impossible to find. Fortunately, the Beast Kings had taken Lu Yuan's words to heart, fully aware of the cauldrons' importance. They would investigate thoroughly at the slightest anomaly, and combined with their own formidable cultivation realms, it was hardly surprising that they had managed to track it down over several months.
Although the name "Nine Cauldrons" sounded unremarkable, each was a true treasure of the realm. In Huaxia's history, whoever claimed them possessed the might to vie for supremacy over all under heaven.
Now Lu Yuan had collected the fifth cauldron, surpassing half of them; only four cauldrons remained.
Yet he knew well that the further along he went, the harder they would be to find.
After obtaining the Liangzhou Cauldron, Lu Yuan thanked the Beast Kings and returned once more to Mount Tai. He had no choice but to seize every moment to make himself as strong as possible.
The Nine Cauldrons could augment the power of providence. This was the fastest and most effective way, not only for himself, but for the entire Heavenly Court.
For him, urgency was only natural. As for the Beast Kings, they did not take his thanks to heart at all.
While Lu Yuan never treated the members of the Heavenly Court or the mutated beasts as mere subordinates, all living beings in the Heavenly Court regarded him as their sovereign lord. When he assigned a task, they naturally threw themselves into it with everything they had.
At the same time, the Beast Kings continued their search for the Nine Cauldrons, of which only four now remained. They had already traversed numerous famous mountains and great rivers, and had even searched regions beyond Huaxia. What lay ahead would likely be even harder to find, but the Beast Kings would not give up.
Before long, Lu Yuan returned to Mount Tai.
Just as he was about to enter his quarters to begin the refining process, Jiang Ningxian and her brother came over.
During this period, the siblings had also been in seclusion, building their strength, and had now essentially reached the Great Saint Realm.
Of course, that they progressed so swiftly was due not only to their extraordinary innate talent and bloodlines, but more importantly, to their profound foundation. Jiang Ningxian, for instance, had already attained the Great Saint Realm before descending to Earth; right now, she was merely regaining her former cultivation step by step.
"Congratulations. You've already obtained the fifth of the Nine Cauldrons, Huaxia's guardian artifacts."
Jiang Ningxian naturally knew what Lu Yuan had been up to lately, so when she spoke, a hint of playful teasing touched her eyes. In truth, the Jiang clan was also deeply interested in the Nine Cauldrons; one of Jiang Ningxian's original goals in coming to Earth had been to collect as many of them as possible. They were divine artifacts forged by ancient sages, imbued with layer upon layer of wondrous might, and obtaining them would surely be of immense use.
However, once Lu Yuan began gathering them, Jiang Ningxian had largely abandoned that ambition, feeling there was little difference between him holding them and her holding them.
Beside her, Jiang Haokong said nothing. He merely stood by, watching and observing Lu Yuan, before letting out a soft, helpless sigh.
The reason was simple: in that moment, he felt once more that he was still no match for Lu Yuan. It was deeply disheartening, leaving him all the more silent, at a loss for words.
He reflected on how, from the moment he had arrived on Earth until now, he had been constantly overshadowed.
"No need to joke. Is there fresh news?" Lu Yuan paid no heed to her teasing and spoke directly.
He knew the two siblings would never seek him out together unless something important had come up.
"Indeed, there is," Jiang Ningxian replied after a moment of thought. "Word came from my father. The Divine Sons of both the Eternal Clan and the Ji clan are already approaching the Milky Way Star Sector."
Chapter 320