Chapter 577. Waiting for the Right Moment, Finally Drawing Near

As far as the Eternals and the Ji Clan were concerned, all that remained was to wait for the right moment. Everything had already been arranged.

They had no means of overcoming the defenses left behind by Earth's ancient sages, but the Extracosmic Heavenly Demons did. Through some special method, those beings were steadily wearing away the remaining power.

Once it weakened beyond a certain point, the defenses would cease to pose a threat. With their cultivation, the experts of the two forces would then be free to do as they pleased.

After all, Celestial Seat Immortals stood among the most powerful existences not only in the Milky Way Starfield, but throughout the Xuanhuang Cosmos.

Most of the surrounding Teleportation Dao Platforms had already been destroyed, making it impossible for outside reinforcements to arrive in time. As an additional precaution, the two forces had completely isolated Earth, allowing entry but preventing anyone from leaving. Even news of what happened there could no longer reach the wider universe.

Earth and the Milky Way Starfield were central to their plans. Everything would begin here and end here. Otherwise, they would never have spent so much time and effort sealing off the region.

Even the appearances of the Extracosmic Heavenly Demons elsewhere in the cosmos were part of their design. Those incidents were meant to draw the attention of Jiang Taiyu and the other powerful figures away from Earth, leaving the two forces free to carry out their plans.

Both the Eternals and the Ji Clan had ample patience. But before the time came to act, they decided they might as well cause some trouble for the Celestial Court. It would not interfere with their plans and would serve as revenge against Lu Yuan.

At their command, the beings who had submitted to them began harassing the Celestial Court. Some even turned their attention to the five supercities.

That crossed the Celestial Court's bottom line. Most of the people living there were ordinary citizens, so it had no choice but to respond.

Earth, which had finally regained a measure of stability, descended into chaos once more.

As a Grotto-Heaven Immortal, Jiang Huanyun could sense subtle changes in the surrounding world. Some inexplicable power had appeared, though he could not identify it. He tried to send word to his clan, but no response ever came.

That confirmed his suspicions. The two forces had most likely sealed off the entire region around Earth.

"I hope you return soon," Jiang Huanyun murmured.

The combined strength of the Celestial Court and the Jiang Clan might withstand the coming calamity for a time, but they could not hold out forever. Their situation would improve considerably if Lu Yuan returned, yet Jiang Huanyun still had his doubts.

Both enemy factions had deployed Celestial Seat Immortals, experts surpassed only by Supreme Immortals in the present universe. Even if Lu Yuan returned, could he really stop them?

Lu Yuan's cultivation had advanced so quickly that Jiang Huanyun's latest information placed him only in the Creation Immortal Realm. That was already an astonishing achievement, but he should be far weaker than a Celestial Seat Immortal.

Even so, Jiang Huanyun could only place his hopes in Lu Yuan. He knew, after all, that Lu Yuan had a habit of creating miracles.

Time passed. Under the direction of the two forces, some Outer Cosmos beings continued provoking the Celestial Court and attacking the five supercities.

Earth was no longer as weak as it had once been. The Celestial Court now had many powerful cultivators and numerous Sages. With the Jiang Clan's support, the other Outer Cosmos beings could gain no advantage as long as the Eternals and the Ji Clan did not intervene themselves.

Nevertheless, the Celestial Court was being stretched thin. More beings were submitting to the two forces by the day, and if this continued, the Celestial Court would eventually be forced entirely onto the defensive.

Still, its members refused to yield.

Meanwhile, in the depths of space, a passage through the void opened and vanished, only for another to appear farther ahead. The cycle repeated as two figures crossed immense distances through the void.

Before long, Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian emerged into another region of space.

"It seems we've reached the Milky Way Starfield," Jiang Ningxian said, joy lacing her expression as she gazed at the brilliant expanse of stars ahead.

This was not her first time here, so she recognized it almost immediately. Still somewhat uncertain, she turned toward Lu Yuan for confirmation.

Lu Yuan nodded. "We have. We've finally reached the Milky Way Starfield."

He still remembered looking up at this same familiar river of stars as a child.

"Let's go. Earth is still some distance away," Jiang Ningxian said. They had already lost too much time along the way and needed to hurry.

Lu Yuan agreed, but his brow soon furrowed. "Why does the aura of this starfield feel different from before?"

He had lived here all his life, and with his current cultivation, there was no chance he had sensed it incorrectly. More importantly, the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token within his mind had begun glowing with faint rosy light, as though it had sensed the same aura.

This had never happened before.

Jiang Ningxian frowned as well. "I can sense something too, but... it's difficult to describe."

They exchanged a glance, both arriving at the same thought. Had the two forces done something during their absence?

"Let's go. We may find our answer once we reach Earth."

Lu Yuan waved a hand and poured even more power into opening the next spatial passage, allowing it to reach a far more distant destination.

The Milky Way Starfield spanned more than a hundred thousand light-years, though it was not considered especially large on the scale of the universe. Even with Lu Yuan's ability to open spatial passages, crossing it would take time.

His speed was terrifying nonetheless. Light itself would take more than a hundred thousand years to cross the Milky Way Starfield. Lu Yuan would need nowhere near that long.

Without further delay, he and Jiang Ningxian entered the spatial passage.