Chapter 133: The Four Great Extraterritorial Clans, the Three Realms of the Sanctuary, and the Crisis of the Great Peng

The Tenth Sequence of the Celestial Race understood this very clearly.

This world is extraordinary. It was incredibly glorious in ancient times, serving as the foundation for the Heavenly Court and producing several Celestial Emperors. Although it was sealed for a long time, causing the transcendent to remain hidden, its sudden eruption now will be terrifying.

All manner of good fortune and unimaginable divine objects will emerge one after another. The famous mountains and great rivers here contain mythical secret realms and the supreme legacies of ancient human sages. Obtaining even one, combined with the environment of this world, would bring benefits beyond imagination. Otherwise, the great races from various star systems would not have chosen to come here.

He himself paid a massive price, not hesitating to suppress his own bloodline talent, just to get a head start. The opportunity is right before his eyes.

Beside him, Zhou Yunqiong’s gaze remained fixed on the jade box. She knew this was the chance to completely change her destiny. Now that she held it in her hands, everything else seemed unimportant.

However, being a meticulous person, she soon looked up with a smile. "With that great figure and the support of the Celestial Race, it is we who will reach the end."

The Celestial Race man nodded and said no more. He looked out toward the mountain forest. After today, he would use a special method to contact the Nether Ox Race and perhaps other star-system races as well. In his calculations, Lu Yuan must pay the price.

Outside.

Since Lu Yuan slaughtered the three Nether Ox Race members at the Sovereign Realm, the extraterrestrial beings that had descended seemed to fall silent for a moment, ceasing their chaos. This allowed the panic-stricken domestic public and the awakened ones to breathe a sigh of relief.

Of course, they also began to pay attention to events in outer space, as the authorities had recently released news. The tunnel outside the solar system had suddenly shown anomalies again, with more extraterrestrial beings appearing, and their target was Earth.

Just as previously stated, everything had only just begun. As time went on, more and more powerful entities would appear. Yet, the people still believed that as long as King Lu was in charge of China, there would be no problems.

Until one day, equipment launched into outer space captured a video. It showed a giant, a thousand meters in height, covered in dense black mist, walking through the starry sky. It lived in the cosmos, and smaller meteorites were like pebbles in its hands. Before it stood a man with three heads and the face of a demon, holding a staff. Though smaller in stature, each of its heads could spit out a seven-colored glow with immense destructive power. A comet with a diameter of over ten kilometers was disintegrated instantly upon being struck.

Two types of extraterrestrial beings were locked in a great battle. It lasted for several days without a clear victor, but surrounding small stars were shattered—it was terrifying to the extreme. This was a level of power that even the fifth stage of evolution, the Sovereign Realm, could not display; they were fighting across the cosmos.

Upon seeing this video, everyone panicked and was filled with dread, for it exceeded their imagination. Even if they had now embarked on the path of evolution, the authorities took this very seriously. Who could withstand a battle of this level? King Lu was indeed strong, but could he destroy a small star in a single blow? If they descended, what would happen?

For a time, Elder Ji and Elder Yun were speechless, their hair turning white overnight from the stress.

It was not until a few days later that Jiang Ningxian emerged from her room and explained: "That is the Primordial Demon Race and the Three-Headed Ghost Race. They have a history of enmity, and a battle is inevitable when they meet. Those two are at the sixth or seventh stage of evolution, the Saint Domain Realm."

"The Saint Domain Realm is very strong—truly transcendent and holy, capable of resisting stars and traversing the universe. It is precisely because they are so strong that they cannot descend."

"Earth has protection left behind by ancient sages; forcing a descent would incur a massive price and cause grave damage to their physical forms."

Hearing this, Elder Ji and Elder Yun felt relieved. After all, that power was truly too terrifying. Fortunately, they could not land on Earth. They could not help but thank the ancient sages.

However, the two soon thought of a problem: would the sages' measures eventually fail?

Regarding this, Jiang Ningxian gave a definite answer: Yes, but not anytime soon. And currently, the real threats are not such figures. Based on information obtained by the authorities, she calculated that there were now over a dozen extraterrestrial races appearing outside Earth. Among them were four great races: the Celestial Race, the Primordial Demon Race, the Three-Headed Ghost Race, and one race hidden in the shadows.

A "great race" refers only to those who are masters among the top one hundred star systems. Races like the previous Nether Ox Race could not be called great races. Those great races would not send their Saint Domain level members down, but their subordinates were all very powerful and required caution.

After hearing this, the hearts of Elder Ji, Elder Yun, and the others sank again. But they did not despair. At least, there was still time. If those from the Heavenly Court could be nurtured, they might be able to contend in the future. Moreover, King Lu had already done so much, and they wanted to rely on their own strength to resist the outsiders.

Of course, the authorities issued an announcement to the nation regarding what Jiang Ningxian had revealed. The video was too shocking; to prevent panic, it had to be explained clearly. The public and the awakened ones felt slightly at ease upon hearing this.

"Fortunately, those terrifying creatures cannot descend, or we truly wouldn't know how to resist."

"We must accelerate our evolution. I have a premonition that there are many unpredictable disasters in the future."

"That's right. Fortunately, the creatures that have descended are temporarily deterred by King Lu. We don't have to worry for the short term."

"China is fortunate to have King Lu."

This was the most sincere thought in the hearts of many awakened ones.

But not long after, a new piece of news came out regarding the Nether Ox Race. Someone discovered that the Nether Ox Race had begun moving again. Thirteen had descended, and excluding the ones killed by Lu Yuan, the remaining ten had gathered together. It was unknown what they were doing, but they were not attacking human cities or seizing famous mountains. This puzzled people, and they decided to track them to see what the Nether Ox Race was planning.

A few days later, a short video of only a few seconds was uploaded to the internet. Several Nether Ox members were seen in a coastal area, chasing a bird of prey. The raptor was in a sorry state, but luckily it possessed great speed and managed to escape.

"It’s the Golden-Winged Peng, King Lu’s mount! The Golden-Winged Peng!" someone recognized it. Because its appearance was so distinct, and it had participated in several major events alongside Lu Yuan, almost everyone knew it. Now, seeing it being hunted, everyone was filled with rage.

"Is the Nether Ox Race crazy? Are they not afraid that King Lu will be enraged and slaughter them all?"

"It’s not simple. They were quiet for a while; they wouldn't just strike suddenly."

"Could there be some entity pulling the strings?"

People were suspicious, guessing that the Nether Ox Race could not be so foolish as to hunt the Golden-Winged Peng without orders from someone. Regardless, the incident drew everyone's attention. The authorities responded immediately, ordering all military bases to prepare, as they had analyzed the Golden-Winged Peng’s escape route, which was heading toward Mount Tai.

To ensure it was not harmed, major military units went into emergency status, even mounting nuclear missiles onto transport vehicles. Because it was King Lu’s mount, it held special significance, and they had to provide assistance.

Sure enough, through the route, they spotted the Golden-Winged Peng and several Nether Ox. The commander of a unit did not hesitate and launched a nuclear missile.

Boom!

A mushroom cloud rose. It struck one of the Nether Ox members. The power of a nuclear missile was indeed immense; even Beast Kings would die. But since the opponent was an extraterrestrial creature at the Sovereign Realm, it only sustained some injuries. Because they had attacked, the Nether Ox Race became alert, and subsequent missiles missed. However, it did slow them down, winning time for the Golden-Winged Peng to escape. As for the radiation released by the nuclear missiles, it had no effect in the new environment, which is why the authorities dared to use them boldly.

"How is it going? Where is King Lu’s mount, the Golden-Winged Peng? How far is it from Mount Tai?" a commander asked over the communicator, knowing that Lu Yuan was on Mount Tai and that it would be safe once it got close.

"Report: It is still far away, and we have detected more life signatures. It seems there are other extraterrestrial beings appearing," the response came.

The commander’s heart sank. King Lu had contributed so much to China; could they not even protect his mount?

"At all costs, use every means necessary. You must protect the Golden-Winged Peng," he gave the death order.

"Yes!" came the reply.

Meanwhile, at the Mount Tai Trial Academy, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged in his room, not cultivating, but focusing on communicating with and studying the Ancient Celestial Emperor Token. The purple aura it emitted was becoming increasingly dense, but strangely, no matter how hard he tried, he could not trigger any special changes in the ancient token.

"The power of the ancient token is to enfeoff immortals and gods; how is that to be achieved?" Lu Yuan opened his eyes and began to ponder. According to Jiang Ningxian, the Ancient Celestial Emperor Token represented the Celestial Emperor to a certain extent. Could it be that only when he reaches that realm can he unlock its abilities? How long would that take?

Perhaps it was simply incomplete. But how does one collect the rest of the Ancient Celestial Emperor Token? In this world?

Lu Yuan sighed, eventually deciding to stop trying to communicate with it and instead turned his thoughts to other matters.

"The second wave of mutation and recovery is almost at its end. Some mysterious places are about to open. I cannot keep sitting on Mount Tai; I need to act. The good fortune, ancient artifacts, and legacies in many places are of great use to me."

He had stayed here before because the time was not right, but now it had ripened. For instance, the Kunlun Mountains, the "Home of All Gods," where it was said the Yinglong would emerge—he had to go and see. In addition, there were the Taoist Kongtong Mountains, Mount Wutai representing Buddhism, and Mount Jiuhua where the monk Huikong resided. These were all places he should visit.

There, the dojos of Taoist immortals and Buddhist Bodhisattvas and Arhats would gradually open. Of course, this would be accompanied by threats, but his memories from his previous life could serve his path of evolution once more.

With these thoughts, Lu Yuan prepared to plan carefully how to proceed. But the next moment, he suddenly felt a chill in his body, not caused by the surrounding environment.

"Golden-Winged Peng!"

Lu Yuan spoke, his eyes sharp. The bloodline contract signed between them showed that the Golden-Winged Peng was injured.