In Lu Yuan's eyes, the later he drew upon this power, the better. In fact, it would be ideal if the day never came when he had to use it at all.
Without lingering on idle thoughts, he shifted his intent and departed the space, stepping directly back into the grand hall.
The Jiang clan elders noticed Lu Yuan's return at once. Rising from their meditative postures, curiosity washed over their faces.
He had remained inside far longer than anyone on any previous attempt, leaving them full of questions.
Unable to contain his eagerness, one elder blurted out, "How did it go? Did you unlock the power our ancestor left behind?"
The rest turned their gazes toward him as well, their hearts brimming with anticipation.
Stationed on the outside, they had no way of sensing what transpired within and could only wait for his answer.
A smile touched Lu Yuan's face, but rather than answering directly, he turned to look at the great sun.
The elders caught his meaning immediately and followed his gaze.
The aura radiating from the great sun was beginning to weaken, its blinding radiance slowly receding inward.
Eventually, the great sun vanished completely from sight. At the same time, through their very bloodlines, the elders felt that their ancestor's legacy had indeed been unlocked.
Otherwise, this scene would never have unfolded. Shock swept through every elder present, quickly replaced by sheer exhilaration.
After countless years, that legacy had finally been awakened and made accessible! Even though the one who unlocked it did not carry the Jiang clan's blood, none of them found anything amiss with that.
They all knew very well how extraordinary his relationship with Jiang Ningxian was. Whether he possessed the bloodline or not made no real difference.
"Good! Splendid!"
"There may finally be a way to resolve the turmoil spreading across the starry sky!" one Jiang clan elder declared with a beaming smile.
The others felt the same. Having lived for centuries, they saw through matters clearly.
Lu Yuan's success meant their ancestor had granted him recognition, so naturally they had no objections.
Moreover, none of the elders pressed him for details regarding that power. In their eyes, the current outcome was already more than enough.
Lu Yuan could not help but feel a touch of admiration. These elders appeared stern and unbending on the surface, but in truth, they were remarkably open-minded.
Soon, however, Lu Yuan pulled back his smile, swept his eyes over the hall, and asked with a hint of confusion, "Seniors, where is Senior Taiyu?"
He clearly remembered Jiang Taiyu being present before he entered. Why was he gone now? Lu Yuan was also eager to know how much time had passed while unlocking the legacy.
"Great upheavals have struck the starry sky. Traces of Extraterrestrial Demons have surfaced across numerous star sectors,"
"At the same time, people from the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan have shown themselves."
"The outside situation has descended into chaos," an elder answered gravely.
From his explanation, Lu Yuan learned that several months had elapsed while he unlocked the legacy of the Human Sovereign Heavenly Emperor.
During this time, the cosmic landscape had undergone drastic shifts, plunging into turmoil.
Not only the top hundred star sectors, but even the top ten had been dragged into the fray. Traces of Extraterrestrial Demons could now be found across virtually every major star sector.
In some regions, the devastation was so dire that an entire star sector had been completely overrun. Other sectors were temporarily holding out thanks to powerful figures stationed there.
Yet without a doubt, if this continued, disaster would inevitably engulf the entire cosmos sooner or later. Worse still, both the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan had mobilized.
Faced with these overlapping threats, Jiang Taiyu and a host of mighty experts had launched various countermeasures. However, their options were essentially limited to rushing experts wherever Extraterrestrial Demons were discovered.
Naturally, if an affected area was not of critical importance, they had to bypass it, as the forces at their disposal were simply too scarce.
Furthermore, the Extraterrestrial Demons remained concealed in the shadows while they operated in the open. They feared that concentrating excessive forces in any single location would leave other fronts vulnerable, making a measured approach the wiser path. After all, though the incursions had broadened in scope, they had not yet reached the point of utterly threatening the entire starry sky.
"Taiyu left word that once you emerged,"
"You should also take action as you see fit. As for the specifics, he will convey them to Xian'er," the elder said solemnly. Had his age and cultivation not held him back, he would have rushed to the front lines himself. Unfortunately, most of the Jiang clan's combat strength had already been deployed, leaving these old bones to guard Flame Star.
"I understand." Lu Yuan knew there was no time to lose. With the outside world in such chaos, he had to make his move.
Guided by the elder, he left the grand hall and proceeded to another quarter of the Jiang clan's grounds, where he found Jiang Ningxian.
At the moment, Jiang Ningxian was accompanied by a woman of dignified, aristocratic grace who radiated a powerful aura—one that had reached the Heavenly Position Immortal realm.
Needless to say, this was Jiang Taiyu's wife, effectively the mistress of the Jiang clan.
Jiang Ningxian's face lit up with delight the moment she saw Lu Yuan.
Over the past months, countless alarming reports had reached her ears, and she had longed to depart and combat the Extraterrestrial Demons. Yet because Lu Yuan had not emerged, she had held herself back.
She had also been plagued by worry that something might happen to him. Even though it was a trial left by their ancestor, no one could say for certain whether it was free of peril.
Seeing him safe and sound brought a radiant smile to her face.
After bidding farewell to her mother, she stepped outside alongside Lu Yuan.
"You've only just come out, so the elders must have briefed you on the outside situation. Well? What are your thoughts?" Jiang Ningxian asked directly, knowing that business came first.
With the Extraterrestrial Demons running rampant and major star sectors under attack, navigating the widespread chaos was indeed a daunting dilemma. The cosmos was simply too vast for them to protect every corner at once.
"The Ji clan and the Eternal Clan have shown themselves. What is their target?" Lu Yuan asked after a brief pause, his gaze turning grave.
Previously, members of both factions had kept entirely to the shadows, giving no opening for anyone to strike at them even if they wished to.
To Lu Yuan, those two major forces had always been of prime importance—and quite possibly held the key to the entire crisis.
As long as that problem was resolved, everything that followed would become far easier to handle.
Chapter 520