Of course, before entering secluded cultivation, Lu Yuan had already made arrangements. The Jiang clan and the Heavenly Court joined forces and began striking against members of the two major factions.
While halting their ongoing annexation of the various extraterrestrial factions, they also seized famous mountains and great rivers from their grasp.
Lu Yuan had an intuition that if the extraterrestrial heavenly demons were to descend, it was likely tied to the mountains, rivers, and terrain of this world.
In particular, the location where the nine-colored sacrificial altar had previously been discovered could absolutely not fall into the hands of the two factions. The Jiang clan responded enthusiastically, dispatching experts of the Immortal Realm and even Grotto-Heaven Immortals.
They, too, recognized the gravity of the situation. Under such circumstances, they could not afford to slacken in the slightest; unity was imperative.
This was one reason Lu Yuan could temporarily rest easy. Most of the two factions' high-end combatants had already been slain by his hand.
It could be said that the beings above the Immortal Realm from the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan on Earth hardly dared to make a move lightly, having developed a profound wariness of him after the previous incident.
This made it the optimal moment for the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan to take action. Naturally, the two factions could dispatch even more formidable figures, but if that happened, Lu Yuan would not sit idly by; he would intervene once more.
In short, the current situation meant that as long as the two Domain Lords did not appear, Lu Yuan could command the entire balance of power on Earth.
And events unfolded precisely as anticipated. The Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan joined hands and launched an offensive against the two factions. At first, the enemy put up fierce resistance.
Yet it amounted to nothing more. Lacking high-end combat strength, they simply could not hold their ground and suffered steady defeats, falling back step by step. This left the various extraterrestrial factions utterly astonished, for whenever they had clashed with the two factions, they had been unable to hold out at all.
Even when at the same realm of cultivation, they had been no match for the clansmen of the Ji clan and Eternal Clan, finding themselves completely suppressed.
None of those factions understood what was happening; after all, knowing nothing of the black blood, they were bound to suffer. But the Heavenly Court was different. Blessed with the power of providence, they possessed a natural counter against the black blood, making them ideally suited to confront the two factions.
Thus, the various powers across the universe bore witness to an astonishing spectacle: the two factions, previously so overbearing and arrogant, were utterly unable to withstand the Heavenly Court's advance.
Dead or wounded, they bore no resemblance to their former selves. Consequently, this fierce conflict caused numerous experts to regard the Heavenly Court with newfound respect.
They had initially thought Lu Yuan alone was terrifying enough. Never had they imagined that the Heavenly Court's rank and file would be so formidable as well.
Within a short span of a month or two, the two factions shrank back frantically. Lu Yuan, however, knew not to push them too hard. Once their objective was largely achieved, he instructed the forces of the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan to halt. After all, the true powerhouses of the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan remained out in the extraterrestrial domain.
Beings such as Heavenly Rank Immortals were stationed out there, having refrained from descending only because they believed things were still under control. If events crossed that threshold and Heavenly Rank Immortals descended, matters would become extraordinarily troublesome. Even Lu Yuan could not guarantee he could fully handle it.
After all, his current objective was merely to halt the two factions' expansion and thereby obstruct the descent of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons.
As long as this goal was met, few issues would remain. Now that the objective had been achieved, Lu Yuan had not yet considered entering an all-out war with the two factions.
Both the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan paused their operations for the time being. Following this campaign, the extraterrestrial factions gained a completely new perception of the Heavenly Court's strength.
It was astonishingly powerful. How much time had passed, yet it had already reached such heights? Some even believed the Heavenly Court was barely inferior to the Top Ten Star Sectors.
Unfortunately, it hardly ever allied with outside factions. By now, everyone realized that while the grand era had arrived, it also brought great warfare in its wake.
The conflict was bound to spread far and wide, leaving virtually no one untouched. In such circumstances, one had to either rely on one's own strength or find allies and a backer.
The two factions were certainly unreliable, leaving only the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan. Yet neither harbored any intention of forming alliances, leaving the other factions lamenting their missed chance.
Naturally, neither Zhu Qingyu and the others in the Heavenly Court nor Jiang Ningxian of the Jiang clan cared in the slightest.
They wholeheartedly agreed with what Lu Yuan had said: true allies were not forged through a few sweet words, but by standing shoulder to shoulder at the most critical juncture. Between the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan, they could accomplish plenty on their own—why bother unnecessarily seeking alliances with all those other factions?
For now, Lu Yuan remained unaware of these external developments, still immersed in secluded cultivation. Two months had slipped by.
His progress was not particularly noticeable; his combat strength had merely increased slightly, while other aspects remained essentially unchanged.
Evidently, it was virtually impossible for Lu Yuan to step directly into the Heavenly Rank Immortal realm within a short timeframe. Moreover, he had never even encountered an expert of that cultivation realm.
He had indeed met a Supreme Immortal—Jiang Taiyu—but that served little reference value. When they had met, Lu Yuan hadn't been able to discern anything from him anyway, given the vast chasm between their realms.
"Unless an opportunity arises for me to fight a Heavenly Rank Immortal," Lu Yuan suddenly thought. Indeed.
Only in the heat of battle could one probe deeper and learn more. Yet such opportunities seemed few and far between.
The Jiang clan possessed Heavenly Rank Immortals, but they clearly had more important matters to attend to. Jiang Taiyu had previously ordered the clan's experts to descend and aid the Heavenly Court, yet had not included anyone above the Creation Immortal realm.
Lu Yuan knew they must have had other tasks to manage; otherwise, they would have dispatched everyone down.
Thus, pursuing progress from that angle was indeed rather difficult. The two factions, on the other hand, were worth considering.
That Eternal Warship was right outside Earth, carrying Heavenly Rank Immortals from both clans. However, Lu Yuan would not act rashly. If an all-out battle erupted, the fallout would be difficult to contain, and it would be disastrous if Earth's living beings were caught in the crossfire.
Hence, he thought of another path: the seventh Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token.
Gifted by the Domain Lord of the Heavenly Dragon Star Sector, it was already on its way. He was confident it would reach his hands before long.
If he could integrate it, new discoveries would surely follow. Yet Lu Yuan was, after all, Lu Yuan; he did not pin all his hopes on that single token.
In the end, one had to rely on oneself. Throughout this period, he never slacked off. While monitoring the external situation, he continually cultivated and evolved, naturally conferring titles upon certain Jiang clan members as well, bestowing even more power of providence upon outstanding performers to make them stronger.
It was a virtuous cycle, offering opportunities to members of both the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan. In particular, Zhu Qingyu, Ice Fairy, and the others he held in high regard had made rapid strides.
All of them had reached the Great Saint Realm.
Chapter 452