The members of the Heavenly Court had already made up their minds. Seizing this window of time, they swiftly pulled back their forces. At the same time, they redoubled their cultivation efforts, striving to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
This way, even if a crisis erupted, they would possess the means to respond rather than being caught off guard and scrambling as before.
In short, neither Zhu Qingyu nor the people of the Jiang clan pinned their hopes entirely on Lu Yuan's return. The situation was fraught with uncertainty; when push came to shove, they had to rely on themselves.
Meanwhile, the beings from various star sectors present on Earth were well aware that a clash between the Heavenly Court and the two great factions was inevitable sooner or later—a clash whose impact would likely be immense.
Now, the question was whether to submit and pledge allegiance to the Ji clan and the Eternal clan, or to hold their ground and remain unmoved.
Beings from many star sectors were torn with conflict. They knew the extraterrestrial heavenly demons stood behind the two factions. If a direct comparison had to be made, the Heavenly Court was clearly no match.
The disparity was simply too vast. True, the Lord of the Heavenly Court, Lu Yuan, had yet to return. But even if he did, what difference could it make?
The two factions had basically brought out their deepest foundations. There were Creation Immortals and Heavenly Position Immortals among them. Even if Lu Yuan returned when the time came...
...could he truly defeat a Heavenly Position Immortal? To their minds, that was impossible. Even if they acknowledged that Lu Yuan was extraordinarily formidable—having grown to such heights in so short a time, terrifyingly so, and fully worthy of being called a true powerhouse...
...compared to Heavenly Position Immortals, the gap remained immense. Moreover, there were still the extraterrestrial heavenly demons. Though they had never shown themselves...
...who could say for sure that they would not descend at a crucial moment? Therefore, in the eyes of many, if the Heavenly Court truly clashed with the two factions, the outcome was bound to be grim.
Under these circumstances, after agonizing deliberation, many decided that submitting was the right choice. Naturally, beings of other races felt otherwise.
Especially those who held favorable impressions of Lu Yuan and the Heavenly Court chose to stand against the two factions. For in their eyes, regardless of whether it was the Ji clan or the Eternal clan...
...while they might have been worthy of reverence in the past, things were different now. Resistance was necessary; submission was entirely out of the question.
The reason was quite simple: by allying themselves with the extraterrestrial heavenly demons, the factions had committed an act tantamount to betrayal. Under such circumstances, submitting to them would be betraying their own conscience.
They would rather stand alongside the Heavenly Court. Even if they ended up fully confronting the two factions and were completely wiped out in the end, they would have no regrets.
In the eyes of these beings, submission was simply another word for treason. Thus, the extraterrestrial beings on Earth were fundamentally divided into two opposing camps: one that chose submission, and another that chose resistance. Of course, there were also those who remained silent, though they were few in number.
Yet whether it was the Heavenly Court or the other extraterrestrial beings, all were currently pondering the same question as before: even though the situation was already abundantly clear, neither of the two factions had chosen to descend directly and strike at the Heavenly Court. This was exceedingly strange.
They had wondered about it earlier without finding an answer, and even at this critical juncture, they still could not comprehend what the two factions were waiting for.
At this moment, aboard the Eternal Warship.
"How are things?" a Heavenly Position Immortal of the Eternal clan asked, his expression grave.
"We must wait a little longer. Striking now would too easily provoke this world's worldly laws."
"These worldly laws were left behind by the ancient Earth powerhouses. They are exceptionally potent, and even we cannot withstand them in our current state. We can only use extraterrestrial power to steadily wear them down." A Heavenly Position Immortal of the Ji clan spoke, explaining the current situation and maintaining that it was not yet time to act.
The reality was just as many had guessed: the two factions were holding back not by choice, but because Earth still held the contingencies left by ancient sages and forebears.
Though not overwhelmingly omnipotent and incapable of shielding everyone, if someone attempted a large-scale invasion or sought to deliver a devastating, annihilative blow against Earth's inhabitants...
...it would inevitably trigger powerful worldly laws in resistance, akin to the Severance of Heaven and Earth. This was precisely why the Eternal clan and the Ji clan refrained from attacking and waited in silence.
Their line of thinking was simple: once they struck, they had to eliminate every single trouble in one fell swoop.
If striking now triggered the measures left by those ancient Earth powerhouses and put themselves in danger, the loss would far outweigh any gain.
In short, the two factions truly intended to wipe out the Heavenly Court, and even slaughter the beings of this world en masse.
Yet caution was still warranted where caution was due, for this concerned their subsequent grand plan.
"For those ancient experts to value the Milky Way Star Sector so heavily is indeed troublesome, but no matter."
"We're already in the final phase. All that's left now is to wait," an expert of the Eternal clan remarked, a touch of helplessness in his tone.
Yet he also knew that now was not the time for rashness. They had waited so long already; what was a little longer?
"By the way, has your Ji clan destroyed all the teleportation platforms surrounding the Milky Way Star Sector?"
"If that matter isn't handled properly, the repercussions could be enormous," he suddenly recalled, asking immediately.
Should anything happen to Earth or the Milky Way Star Sector, the entire cosmos would inevitably be shaken. After all, this region was currently the focus of attention across major star sectors; any slight disturbance would spread far and wide.
When that happened, numerous experts would inevitably flock here, just as on Celestial Star before. The difference was that Earth was unique, having produced the Human Sovereign Heavenly Emperor, and was now the nexus of the golden era; thus, the number of powerhouses drawn here would be even greater.
Therefore, they had to destroy the surrounding teleportation platforms. That way, anyone attempting to reinforce Earth would require a tremendous amount of time to travel there.
"It should be almost finished," the Ji clan member answered. Pausing in thought, he frowned slightly. "However, I haven't received word from him in quite some time." The last message he received confirmed that three teleportation platforms had been destroyed, but as for the final one...
...not a single word had come through to this moment. More importantly, he could no longer establish contact with that clansman.
Still, he did not believe anything could have gone seriously wrong. After all, the one sent out was a powerhouse at the Heavenly Position Immortal level!
In the present Xuanhuang Universe, who could possibly threaten an existence of that caliber? Thus, he assumed that after demolishing the final teleportation platform, his clansman was already rushing back toward Earth to deliver the news in person.
Beside him, the expert of the Eternal clan nodded upon hearing this.
If that was the case, then all they truly needed to do was wait.
Chapter 532