At a time like this, they were indeed at a bit of a loss. The departure of the powerful figures from the two major factions should have been good news.
Yet now it seemed entirely the opposite—it portended a crisis. And the reason everyone's gaze was fixed upon Lu Yuan was not only because he was immensely powerful, the highest among all present, but also because he was the Lord of the Heavenly Court.
Moreover, in the many prior events, Lu Yuan had always taken the lead. Under various circumstances, he had already become the leader of the Heavenly Court and even the Jiang clan.
He could make all kinds of decisions and have those below execute them. Even the Jiang clan would follow them without question.
"The cosmos is far too vast, beyond what your strength or mine can reach. Thus, all we can do right now..."
"Is spread the information in our hands, and then quietly wait." Lu Yuan spoke with a solemn look in his eyes, voicing the thoughts in his heart. It was also the decision he had reached after deep consideration.
There was no other way. He knew the two major factions were brewing a grand scheme regarding the extraterrestrial heavenly demons that could threaten the safety of the entire universe and bring about a Great Tribulation.
Yet the crux of the matter lay in the fact that the cosmos was simply too vast, and their scheme had already succeeded. This meant the extraterrestrial heavenly demons could appear anywhere.
How could they guard against that? The enemy was in the shadows, while they were in the open. The only thing left to do was wait. Upon hearing this, no one present spoke immediately.
For they all knew this was the best course of action available. After all, there was truly nothing else they could do right now.
"All right." Finally, Jiang Ningxian spoke. "Regarding this matter, we must relay the word to my father as soon as possible." With that, she nodded to Lu Yuan, said nothing more, and led the Jiang clan members away.
The matter was of paramount importance. The more crucial the moment, the more calm one had to remain without hesitation, or else the overall situation could easily be compromised.
Now, all they could do besides waiting was to report the news. Naturally, there was one more thing: improving their own strength as much as possible in the shortest time.
As long as one was strong enough, one could face any future crisis with composure. In fact, not only did the Jiang clan think this way, but so did Lu Yuan.
Originally, he had thought he could relax a little. But now, the two major factions had already made their move. The extraterrestrial heavenly demons were very likely to appear.
What followed would be the true trial. At such a time, not a single matter could be neglected.
Thus, without overthinking, he entered secluded cultivation once more. During this time, however, Lu Yuan bestowed even stronger destiny power upon those inscribed upon the Investiture Decree.
This was the limit of what he could achieve right now, with the aim of helping them grow as quickly as possible. Though he knew this carried the suspicion of pulling up seedlings to help them grow, at this juncture, he simply could not afford to worry about so much.
Even Lu Yuan himself utilized the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Tokens and destiny power to aid the growth of his own strength and realm.
A Creation Immortal was worthy of being called an expert, but that was all. It could not be called truly invincible. Moreover, he now faced the looming threat of extraterrestrial heavenly demons. Naturally, Lu Yuan hoped to attain the Heavenly Position Immortal realm a step earlier.
Yet that was extremely difficult, not something achievable in the short term. Time continued to flow like this.
The beings of the various outer star sectors had no idea what was about to happen.
They only knew that the two major factions who had threatened them and constantly annexed various forces had departed. To them, this was purely good news; after all, no one wished to be the next target of conquest.
Yet some great clans appeared somewhat hesitant, sensing that this sudden move was deeply abnormal. They wanted to investigate, but did not even know where to begin.
Finally, one day, the matter of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons was spoken of, though no one knew from whose mouth it had first come. These words were exceedingly unfamiliar to most beings among the various races.
Yet certain great clans possessed some understanding of them. Thus, beings across the races began to learn.
The extraterrestrial heavenly demons were entities that brought a Great Tribulation upon this universe. According to rumors, back then, even the Human Sovereign Heavenly Emperor had paid a tremendous price to deal with the extraterrestrial heavenly demons.
There were even rumors that the Ten Great Star Sectors were actually guarding different quarters of the cosmos. In a short span of time, the matter of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons threw people into widespread panic. For many great clans of the star sectors had heard that the two major factions were brewing a scheme to summon the extraterrestrial heavenly demons.
Such an action was tantamount to condemning all living beings of this universe to unrighteous doom. Some chose to take action, questioning the Celestial Clan, Nether Bull Clan, and other great clans closely aligned with the two major factions.
However, none could provide genuinely useful information. Although those factions had submitted to the Ji clan or the Eternal Clan, they had not actually been deeply involved.
They had merely thought that if the two major factions annexed all sides, their own status would naturally rise along with them.
Another point was that those from the Celestial Clan, Nether Bull Clan, and others who had descended to Earth were only a fraction of their people, not the whole.
In other words, they were just a bunch of thugs and subordinates used by the two major factions. Wanting to obtain anything from them was simply impossible.
Thus, everyone had no choice but to give up. Yet deep down, they remained uneasy. Originally, not many knew about the extraterrestrial heavenly demons.
The reason it had spread was that Lu Yuan had deliberately instructed the Jiang clan to disseminate it. He had two purposes in doing so: first, to see if beings in other star sectors had more information regarding the extraterrestrial heavenly demons; and second, to put all races on high alert.
The Great Tribulation would occur before long, and leaving the various races kept in the dark was clearly not wise.
Under such circumstances, it was better to give them advance warning. It was just that, in the end, the first purpose had not been achieved.
Of course, Lu Yuan had not counted on obtaining more information anyway. The descent of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons was essentially set in stone.
Uncovering a few more clues would not make much difference. Therefore, he remained in secluded cultivation, striving to take another step forward.
Unfortunately, things did not go as hoped. The gulf between a Creation Immortal and a Heavenly Position Immortal was truly immense. Even for Lu Yuan, this held true. His speed of evolution had already been astonishingly fast.
Yet upon reaching the Immortal Realm, it still slowed down. This was not because his talent or other aspects were lacking, but rather what anyone would experience—even the chosen prides throughout history.
None had ever been able to surge ahead continuously, breaking through to higher realms without pause. Lu Yuan, naturally, was no exception. Thus, during several months of secluded cultivation, apart from changes in his combat strength, other aspects remained just as before. Yet just when Lu Yuan was beginning to feel a touch of helplessness, he received thrilling news: the seventh Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token had arrived!
Chapter 455