Chapter 200. Global Panic, Sponsor? The Void Flame Celestial Mirror!

The world's Awakened and even the ordinary citizens began to panic. Everyone knew that the Sages from the Outer Cosmos were formidable beings. If they were to attack Earth, the resulting devastation would be catastrophic.

Their attacks couldn't be compared to the early mutated beast tides on cities. In fact, a mere wave of a hand from such individuals would claim countless lives in an instant.

Sages were like those beings described in ancient mythology. Yes, they were truly capable of boiling seas and overturning mountains. At the moment, Earth had no one capable of standing toe-to-toe against them.

The strongest Awakened on Earth remained on the fifth stage of evolution, even including the mutated beasts harboring exceptionally powerful bloodlines.

The gap between the Sages of the Outer Cosmos and Earth's Awakened was just

that

huge.

Lu Yuan was undeniably strong and crushed virtually every opponent he faced so far. He maintained his invincibility throughout his meteoric rise, but this time, his enemies were unlike his previous challengers.

Moreover, beings from the Outer Cosmos were spreading news describing just how powerful Sages truly were at the sixth stage of evolution. The rumors they spread cast a massive shadow over the hearts of everyone.

"The Sage Realm covers three sub-realms—Void Sage, Lesser Sage, and Great Sage. Even a Void Sage is capable of destroying small celestial bodies. All below the Sage Realm are ants. This is a universally acknowledged fact. That human Lu Yuan is strong, but he is absolutely too weak against Sages.

"This world is about to change drastically, and those powerful clans and races will soon come here to seize control of just about everything."

The invaders declared that Lu Yuan faced a high probability of being slain. They believed his influence would dissipate the moment he died. Those cowed into hiding would grow bold once he was dead. Without him, no one could suppress their ambitions.

After all, most of the humans were far too weak to stand up against them.

The strong would devour the weak; the powerful would reign supreme. This was the law of the universe. Without a powerful Awakened holding the line, suppression and subjugation would be Earth's fate.

Many beings from the Outer Cosmos had arrived here with the attitude of a superior civilization descending on the lands of those from an inferior civilization.

They believed that they could easily crush the natives of Earth, and their goal was to seize whatever legacies they pleased from the planet.

However, no one of them could have expected that Lu Yuan would appear and disrupt their plans. He was a domineering human with power to back it up. The invaders were helpless against him and were forced to hide in the shadows.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Many of them harbored deep resentment against Lu Yuan, the guardian of humanity. They all believed that Lu Yuan's results were all thanks to the Separation of Heaven and Earth. Had it not been for that, their more powerful elders would have descended long ago.

If that had happened, could a mere Venerable King truly cause such a stir?

Fortunately, three Sages were now after his life.

The invaders eagerly awaited the inevitable battle.

Meanwhile, Earth's Awakened and the ordinary citizens grew silent. They couldn't find any words to express their dread.

The enemies were just too powerful to overcome. They wondered if King Lu could truly fight against three Sages at once. Amidst the storm of despair and worry, time slipped away relentlessly.

More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the descent of the three Sages drew even closer.

***

Elder Ji, Elder Yun, and others mobilized every bit of manpower at their disposal.

Modern military units and newly trained Awakened all assembled to prepare for the coming battle. At this point, the world acknowledged the fact that a great crisis was nigh, and they had all chosen to support Lu Yuan with all their might.

They wanted to stand united and face this threat together.

Many answered the call. Zhu Qingyu and others from the Celestial Court went all out with becoming even stronger. They hoped to increase their strength as much as possible in the short time they had left.

If needed, they planned to act at the critical juncture. To outsiders, it seemed like they were overestimating themselves, but their courage to act when it mattered was the most important part here.

They felt that King Lu had already done enough for them.

Now that a crisis loomed over the horizon, they intended to shoulder the responsibility and hold the line with him.

In short, everyone answered the call. None chose to sit idly by and wait for their demise. They also decided not to rely on just one person to resolve the upcoming crisis.

***

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged in the training chamber with his eyes closed.

The Heaven-Flipping Seal hovered in midair before him. It emitted streams of brilliant light, appearing extraordinary. Even in its damaged state, an indescribable power churned within the artifact.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint

crack

echoed from the seal.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes at that exact moment, and joy spread across his face.

All restriction arrays have been refined. That was faster than I thought.

It seemed he had still underestimated the blood essence of a Human Sovereign. He initially thought the process would take nearly a month, but he succeeded before even twenty days had passed.

It was a pleasant surprise. Now that he had refined all the restriction arrays within the Heaven-Flipping Seal, he could control it freely.

As for how he could make use of it? It came to him instinctively. Lu Yuan instinctively understood exactly how he could maximize the effectiveness of the seal.

With a mere thought on his end, the Heaven-Flipping Seal radiated light. The seal showed little change, but a heavy and dense aura seeped out of it.

Every inch of the light it emanated contained a power that seemed as dense and as heavy as a mountain.

The Heaven-Flipping Seal hadn't even descended yet, but whatever its light touched was already crumbling down.

It had to be known that the training chamber was constructed with special alloys that an Unfettered Realm Awakened would struggle to destroy. Despite that, the light from the seal alone had already reduced parts of the training chamber into dust.

With a thought on his end, the light vanished.

The Heaven-Flipping Seal's true power is in its density. Its density scales with its user's power, and eventually, it'll become so dense that a single strike from it can shatter an asteroid. That's how you use this thing.

Lu Yuan finally understood how to make use of the seal.

He could just use the seal—which resembled a brick—to crush his opponent. As long as he was strong enough, the Heaven-Flipping Seal would remain powerful. In the future, it could probably become strong enough to shatter asteroids.

At the moment, it was more useful than the Great Luo Sword Embryo. This made him rather curious. What material was used to forge this artifact?

Of course, it was merely curiosity on his end. At the same time, he felt a surge of admiration toward its crafter.

The Heaven-Flipping Seal was truly worthy of its place as a supreme treasure that Immortal Guang Chengzi had left behind.

Just what kind of devastation would the Heaven-Flipping Seal cause if he were to attack someone with it while making full use of his twenty-eight grotto-heavens? He could easily destroy an entire mountain range if he were to do that.

Sadly, the artifact was incomplete. If it were whole, it'd be a different story. Of course, Lu Yuan wasn't planning on being greedy. Even the mightiest treasure required a powerful user. Otherwise, one could never unleash its true power.

At the same time, he knew that he couldn't afford to be careless against a Sage, not to mention three Sages, at that. With that in mind, he had to become even stronger as soon as possible.

He had to reach his most optimal state before the.

Just as he was about to continue with his seclusion, he detected someone approaching his residence. He quietly rose and walked outside, where he found Jiang Ningxian. She had finally emerged from her seclusion.

The power emanating from within her was denser than before, but Lu Yuan still could not perceive her exact strength. It seemed to be being concealed by some mysterious means.

"I just came out of seclusion and heard that three Sages are about to descend and take your life. Is it true?" asked Jiang Ningxian with a serious gaze. It seemed she truly cared about Lu Yuan's circumstances.

"That's right." Lu Yuan nodded. "Does Miss Jiang have any suggestions?"

Since she sought him out immediately after coming out of seclusion, she clearly had something to say to him.

"If they wish to descend, they will have to pay a certain price. The Separation of Heaven and Earth is still protecting this world, after all. In other words, they may not be able to exert their full strength."

Jiang Ningxian pondered for a moment before adding, "But a Sage is still a Sage. Becoming a Sage is not that easy. Moreover, Lei You of the Celestial Race has reached the seventh stage. He is a Lesser Sage. You..."

"Are you trying to say I cannot possibly be their match?" Lu Yuan smiled faintly and added, "But things have already reached this point, so I have no other choice."

"The death of Winged Celestial God meant the enmity between the Celestial Race and me was decided. Then, they laid a trap for me. In other words, I never initiated any of this."

The meaning behind his words was simple. All three Sages were determined to end his life, so this battle was simply unavoidable.

"I know." Jiang Ningxian nodded, easily noticing what Lu Yuan was trying to say. "You're not the type of person someone can hold back. Once you've made a decision, nothing can convince you to change it."

"However, the truth is that I support you. Those three races have been too overbearing lately. Since their juniors had proven to be not your match, their elders grew restless and decided to descend personally to settle the scores.

"How shameless and uncouth. They deserve to be taught a lesson, but..." Jiang Ningxian trailed off and stared quietly at Lu Yuan. She said nothing, but Lu Yuan knew what she was trying to say.

Fighting a Sage was extremely difficult, and he had to face three at once.

Without further ado, Jiang Ningxian went straight to the paint. "If you need my help, I won't refuse. After all, we are collaborators."

As she spoke, two small dimples appeared on her face as she revealed a radiant smile. She genuinely wished to help Lu Yuan. As for the specific reason why she wanted to help him, no one knew the answer to that.

There's no such thing as a free lunch...

Lu Yuan thought, and then he replied, "Since they're targeting me, I should handle them myself."

Jiang Ningxian belonged to the Jiang Clan, a great clan ranked within the top ten in the Outer Cosmos. Perhaps her clan even had an Immortal, so a Sage wasn't special to them. They could easily deal with a Sage.

However, the issue was that Earth was still being protected by the Separation of Heaven and Earth. Sages would face suppression here. Hence, Lu Yuan concluded that if Jiang Ningxian were to help, she'd have to pay a huge price of her own.

Lu Yuan never liked owing favors, so he chose to refuse the offer.

Perhaps she had no ulterior motives herself, but the powerful Jiang Clan behind her was different.

Upon hearing his response, Jiang Ningxian was silent for a while. Eventually, she appeared to have realized Lu Yuan's concerns and let out a soft sigh.

"I understand. However, I have a rather favorable impression of you, King Lu. And we are collaborators, so I do not want anything to happen to you.

"How about this? I have something I cannot use anyway, so let me lend it to you instead. Think of it as me sponsoring you personally. What do you think?

"It's called the Void Flame Celestial Mirror. It can be used for both offense and defense. An elder from my clan gave it to me."

Jiang Ningxian produced an ancient-looking bronze mirror from her sleeve. It was roughly the size of a palm, and mysterious patterns were inscribed on it. At the very center of the mirror was a blazing sun. When it appeared, the surrounding space distorted as if trying to say that it contained an extremely horrifying power.

Upon seeing it, Lu Yuan's eyes widened with surprise. "A Sage Weapon?"