Chapter 178. Setting the Stage, a Massive Earthquake, Goal: Venerable King!

An array of meteoroids floated in neat rows just outside Earth, and massive starships were anchored to them, flickering with lights.

If a human being from Earth were here, they would be in awe at the sight that mirrored the awe-inspiring majesty of the universe itself.

Three figures radiating incomparably powerful auras stood amidst the array of massive ships. Among them, the Celestial Race's Lei You was the most striking. He had reached the seventh stage of evolution, and his mere presence made him look as if he were the very center of this vast expanse of the universe.

Lightning swirled endlessly around Lei You. His twin wings contained terrifyingly immense power. Once unleashed, it would surely disintegrate a small planet.

Just moments ago, Lei You had made a decision. Even at a huge cost, a large group of their people had to descend first. Time waited for no one. Earth was in the midst of a Global Awakening, so there were endless opportunities for the taking.

Eventually, more clans and races from the Outer Cosmos would descend, which meant massive conflicts would inevitably arise.

At that point, obtaining any real profits would be difficult.

"The Milky Way Starfield's awakening is a change unseen in tens of millions of years. If we seize this opportunity, we can reshape the universe's power structure." The Three-Headed Ghost Race's Void Sage spoke. He clearly understood what was at stake.

Soon, however, his tone grew heavy, weighed down by concern as he added, "But what about the human called Lu Yuan? He's not at the high stages of evolution, but his strength is terrifying. He must have shattered quite a number of genetic shackles. Otherwise, he couldn't be this strong.

"Unfortunately, we can't send anyone stronger down right now. If we fight him, we'll likely suffer major losses."

Those they sent to Earth could communicate with those above through special means. This was the reason they knew Lu Yuan's name.

From the information they had gathered so far, he had already made an educated guess about Lu Yuan's level of strength.

"That is indeed troublesome. Anyone who dares attack us must be eliminated," Lei You said, falling into brief contemplation. Then, his gaze became sharp and cold as he said, "A Ranker of ours has already descended and is currently adapting to Earth's environment. He'll completely adapt in no time."

"Everyone, why don't we join forces and send our race's prodigies to work together against him? Let's create a stage for us to attack and deal with him.

"If we succeed, this planet's strongest Awakened will disappear. In other words, our younger generation can do whatever they wish to this world, so it won't matter even if we can't descend ourselves."

Every major clan and race within the top hundred rankings of the Outer Cosmos had Rankers, and they were usually members of the younger generation. The meaning behind Lei You's words was unmistakable.

They were going to send their young Rankers to deal with Lu Yuan, and he believed it would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. After all, those Rankers possessed a supreme bloodline and racial talents.

If they worked together, their combined power would be terrifying. Dealing with a single human from the Milky Way Starfield named Lu Yuan wouldn't be too difficult for them.

"I agree. We'll do it when the time is ripe." The Three-Headed Ghost Race's Void Sage hesitated only briefly before agreeing. Lu Yuan was slaughtering his people in droves. He definitely had to die.

They had not acted rashly because they lacked confidence. Now that the Celestial Race was on their side, their concern vanished entirely.

Still unsatisfied, he turned toward the Primeval Daemon Race's Void Sage.

"Zhong Ye, what are you going to do? This concerns the grand plan. Surely you won't take that human's side, will you?"

He didn't want Zhong Ye to stand on the sidelines. He wanted to drag him into the muddy waters.

Zhong Ye remained silent, deep in thought. The dark fog around him pulsed, rising and falling with his breathing.

"Right now, our goals are aligned. If you just watch from the sidelines, you'll get nothing in the end," Lei You said, his expression icy as he laid out the stakes.

Only a few clans in the Outer Cosmos could truly be called "major powers." If they wanted to maximize their gains, they had to stand together.

"I know." Zhong Ye nodded slowly before continuing. "My people will participate in your plan. We'll act together. However, I've heard that someone from the Sky Dragon Starfield is here. Shouldn't we talk to them as well?"

As stated, everyone's goals were aligned. There was someone troublesome on Earth, and they had to be handled first.

However, Zhong Ye knew that another major clan had already entered Earth but had yet to reveal themselves. In his view, their four great clans and races ought to act together for better odds of success.

Despite being a native of the Milky Way Starfield, Lu Yuan had to be taken seriously. After all, he had grown rapidly even though Earth's Global Awakening had just begun.

"The Sky Dragon Starfield has always acted independently. No need to worry about them," said Lei You, shaking his head. "Besides, there are only a few of them here."

That clan was notoriously difficult to negotiate with. In addition, the Sky Dragon Starfield was extremely strong and was even ranked higher than the Thunderflash Starfield.

"Then, let's get ready," Zhong Ye said and went silent.

The Three-Headed Ghost Race's Void Sage and the Celestial Race's Lei You stepped forward, unleashing power as Sages. Massive waves of energy billowed out, sending violent tremors across the nearby meteoroids, which soon emitted light.

At the same time, figures from distant starfields noticed what was happening. In response, they sent their people toward the meteoroids. All of them were figures capable of briefly surviving in the vacuum of space.

Some were clad in thick armor, while others wielded halberds. Their forms varied wildly. Some resembled humans, while some resembled beasts. They moved closer, searching for a meteoroid.

The Sages of the three great races were about to forcibly send a group down to Earth. They had to move quickly, as this was their only chance to reach Earth before anyone else.

Just like that, a myriad of meteoroids began moving across the vacuum of space. Their destination? It was none other than Earth, which teemed with life.

***

Upon returning to the Trials Academy on Mount Tai, Lu Yuan sent the Golden-Winged Great Peng to gather spiritual fruits and exotic herbs for its wounds.

Afterward, he returned to his room to plan his next steps while solidifying his foothold on the Golden Body Realm before making his way toward the Venerable King Realm.

The Venerable King Realm meant becoming a venerable king among the Awakened. At this stage of evolution, one could be considered an expert even across the starfields.

Reaching this stage meant one would undergo a true and qualitative transformation. By then, one could exit Earth and briefly survive in the vacuum of space. It was a stage that brushed against the legendary Sage Realm.

The Global Awakening awakened many people to extraordinary powers, but most remained at the Foundation Realm and Awakened Realm, while only a small portion reached the Unfettered Realm.

Unfortunately, this couldn't be avoided, as very little time had passed since the Global Awakening. In truth, beings from the Outer Cosmos had to spend many years just to reach the Unfettered Realm.

Earth was different. It was sealed for countless years and had just begun its awakening, which meant its conditions were unique. Without outside interference, the Milky Way Starfield could soar to prominence and become one of the top hundred starfields across the universe in just a few centuries.

This was precisely why major clans were desperate to reach it. Of course, Earth needed time and a lot of it. Every starfield had its own unique conditions. Those ranked in the top fifty or top twenty had foundations terrifyingly deep.

Lu Yuan's goal was clear. He had to become stronger as quickly as possible. The Global Awakening had smoothed out everyone's journey on the path of evolution, but he wanted more than that.

He wanted to become strong enough to roam the universe.

His immediate goal was to reach the Venerable King Realm. However, this was a difficult endeavor that required massive amounts of energy. For ordinary Golden Body Realm Awakened, their foundation had to be deep enough to propel them to the Venerable King Realm.

However, Lu Yuan was different, as his foundation was unfathomably deep. Other people's physiques were like water jars, while Lu Yuan's physique was like a vast lake.

In other words, all that he needed was water—energy. This would be troublesome for him if it weren't for the support of the officials of Huaxia. He had access to spiritual fruits and exotic herbs from the West, and coupled with the Meridian Heavenmend Furnace's pill-refining capabilities, he had nothing to worry about.

In the days that followed, Lu Yuan gathered large quantities of spiritual fruits and exotic herbs. He placed them all into the furnace to refine a truly great pill.

At Elder Ji and Elder Yun's invitation, he provided guidance to Ice Fairy, Zhu Qingyu, and others in his spare time. They were all members of the Celestial Court, after all.

At the same time, the Peacock King and Nine-tailed Fox King gathered many mutated beasts, including several beast kings. Those beast kings were all at the Golden Body Realm, and most of them joined the Celestial Court as well.

The Celestial Court grew stronger by the day. Humans and mutated beasts stood side by side.

Just then, the world changed once again.

For an entire month, meteoroids descended from space, carrying countless beings from outer space. Although some were blocked outside and suppressed by the Separation of Heaven and Earth, a large portion of them still managed to land.

Unlike before, they went into hiding after arriving on Earth and did not immediately stir up trouble. Many Awakened believed this was the result of King Lu's earlier hunt. The beings from outer space had truly been intimidated by him.

Lu Yuan said and did nothing in response to their movements. He knew this day would come eventually, so he told the officials not to worry. Most people had already moved into the five supercities.

As long as they refrained from attacking the five supercities, everything would be fine and manageable.

Moreover, not all beings from outer space were enemies. Some were allies, like Jiang Ningxian. They had to observe them first before reaching a conclusion. If they wanted to compete for a place in the Great Age, allies were essential, at least for now.

Several days later, Lu Yuan had finally gathered enough spiritual fruits and exotic herbs. The so-called great pill formally entered the refining stage. It had so many ingredients that it would be weird if it weren't a "great" pill.

Soon, it would be made. It only needed enough time.

Today, Elder Ji and Elder Yun visited Lu Yuan with some news.

A few important figures from consortia and organizations similar to Skygod Technologies and Longevity Genetics had disappeared overnight.

The officials investigated their disappearance, but they only found a big pile of nothing. Eventually, they discovered some had approached those beings from outer space with unknown intentions.

They attempted a deeper investigation, but the other side was extremely cautious.

"Everyone can make their own choices. Let them be. The wealthy reigned supreme in the Old Era. In the New Era, strength reigns supreme, but they don't want to be trampled, so their decision is not strange at all," Lu Yuan calmly replied, completely unconcerned.

He had long expected this to happen. A few scum being filtered out was not necessarily a bad thing.

Elder Ji and Elder Yun agreed. Still, to prevent accidents, they assigned people to keep monitoring those people.

Lu Yuan returned to refining his pill. Since the officials were busy handling the issues outside for him, there was no need for him to be worried.

As time went on, the meteor shower finally ended, lasting a total of one month. No one knew how many beings from outer space had descended, and Earth had become too vast for them to conduct a search.

The officials conserved their resources and focused on protecting the five supercities.

One day, a massive earthquake struck, and the epicenter was determined to be in a coastal region somewhere in the east. Even Hu City was affected.

The source of the earthquake was traced to the deep waters of the Eastern Sea.

Before everyone could even process the shocking earthquake, another piece of news rocked the world. Yinglong from Kunlun had appeared once again. This time, it rose into the sky and flew eastward!