Chapter 440. Among the Strong, Goal, the Grotto-Heaven Realm
Jiang Haokong had always considered himself strong in every aspect. In talent and in strength at the same stage of evolution, he was unparalleled. Even beside the Ji Clan's Holy Son or the Eternals' Holy Son, he was pretty strong.
This was the confidence of someone considered to be the cream of the crop prodigy.
However, the issue was that the strength Lu Yuan had displayed went beyond anything a person could imagine.
He believed himself no weaker than the two Holy Sons, and at the same time, he never thought he was stronger than them. Lu Yuan, though, was miles stronger than those two. When Jiang Haokong compared himself to Lu Yuan, the cold reality slapped him across the face.
He likely had no way of catching up to Lu Yuan, so he believed there was little sense in piling too much pressure on himself. Of course, he hadn't actually given up. He had simply accepted things as they stood.
Jiang Haokong believed that trying to catch up to Lu Yuan was nothing more than making trouble for himself. And just like that, Jiang Haokong let go of his obsession for good.
When Jiang Ningxian heard that, she shook her head. All the same, she thought it was for the best, as it would keep this younger brother of hers, who feared no one, in check.
For him to willingly admit that someone had completely surpassed him was a good thing. Since good news ought to be shared, Jiang Ningxian went ahead and told Lu Yuan about it.
In response, Lu Yuan only sighed. He had never once thought of comparing himself to anyone, as there was simply no need for such a thing. All he cared about doing was becoming strong enough to tackle the upcoming crises.
Of course, Lu Yuan hadn't been idle all this while. Alongside his own training, he guided Zhu Qingyu and the others on their path of evolution. With the Jiang Clan's help, the younger generation grew at a truly remarkable pace.
More and more of them broke into the Void Sage Realm, and some reached the Lesser Sage Realm. Among them, Yinglong became a Great Sage.
Of course, none of them reached the Immortal Realm. Even Yinglong was still quite far away from it, but it couldn't be helped. Much like Lu Yuan, the time they had spent training and evolving was simply far too short.
In fact, even the beings from the Outer Cosmos found it hard to believe that so many of them had reached the Void Sage Realm. In their own case, it took them a long time to become a Sage, while the Milky Way Starfield had just awakened some years ago.
The fact that there were already so many Sages meant that in a hundred years, the Milky Way Starfield would climb into the top one hundred starfields, and they would be closer to the single digit.
With that in mind, a number of starfields chose to work with the Celestial Court. Since they all stood on the same level, cooperation made better sense than fighting one another.
As for the matter of the Eternal Starfield and the Ji Clan moving against Lu Yuan and the Celestial Court, they didn't feel troubled about it. They had seen far too many similar scenes in the Outer Cosmos.
The Ji Clan and the Eternals wouldn't just slaughter them all just because they had decided to work with the Celestial Court, would they? That would be far too domineering for everyone to tolerate.
Lu Yuan took no part in any of those, leaving Zhu Qingyu and the others to decide for themselves. Those were minor affairs, after all, and he couldn't see to every detail of them. There was also no need to do so.
It also gave the people under him a chance to sharpen their edges. Down the line, these people would have to stand on their own and take charge of things.
After thinking it over, Zhu Qingyu and the others agreed. They knew that relying on the Celestial Court's own strength to gain a firm foothold in the years ahead would be terribly hard. In addition, working with a few starfields would let them learn a lot of things.
After all, almost everyone's goal at this point was to obtain some of the Great Age's Providence. The issue was that no one knew how. With that being said, securing a few more allies first was the smarter move to make here.
Of course, they also knew that they couldn't exactly lean on these outsiders. After all, they knew that had it not been for Lu Yuan, these beings from the Outer Cosmos wouldn't have approached them in the first place.
In other words, they had come to work with Lu Yuan rather than with them. As a result, their so-called "cooperation" remained only at a surface level.
At the same time, the Celestial Court decided to bring the Jiang Clan into their fold. The Jiang Clan had been immensely helpful to the Celestial Court, and no one was going to deny that.
To put it another way, the two sides were now almost like one family. When it came to working with the clans and races of the universe, the Jiang Clan was far superior, as they knew a lot about those clans and races.
The Celestial Court also began seizing fortunes here and there, with Zhu Qingyu and the others at the head of it. At times, they had come to blows with beings of the Outer Cosmos, and battles even broke out between them.
Before long, Ice Fairy, Gu Sang, Zhu Qingyu, Chunyang, and the rest slowly made names for themselves by seizing boons and opportunities out there. They became known as the powerhouses of the Milky Way Starfield's younger generation, and everyone treated them on the same level as the Rankers of the Outer Cosmos.
Of course, they were too weak compared to the Rankers, but they had plenty of time, and no one doubted that once they grew strong, they would surely be as strong as those Rankers.
At this point, everyone had finally acknowledged that the Celestial Court was a formidable organization. If there were any doubts before, the recent battle had surely vanquished them.
As for Lu Yuan, he belonged to another level entirely in everyone's eyes. He counted as one of the younger generation, but he could already stand shoulder to shoulder with the true powerhouses.
Basically, he was not in the same tier as the younger generation. Of course, Lu Yuan couldn't care less. Upon seeing that things had settled down, he went back into seclusion.
With the help of the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token, his strength climbed to the peak of the Undying Immortal Realm. One step further, and he would essentially be a Grotto-Heaven Immortal. This was his next goal.
When it came to that breakthrough, he was absolutely confident. In fact, it was only a matter of time, and Lu Yuan could barely wait for that day to come.
Meanwhile, the Eternals and the Ji Clan had both fallen silent of late, but everyone knew that the quieter they were, the more devious the plan they were surely cooking behind the scenes.
Lu Yuan's plan was to become even stronger to call on even greater power from Providence. That way, he would have the strength to deal with the upcoming crises. In his eyes, this was the top priority.
As for matters in the outside world, he paid them no mind. With the Jiang Clan, Zhu Qingyu, and the others outside, he believed that there would be no issues.
Inside his training chambers, Lu Yuan sat with his eyes shut tight. Streams of powerful energy orbited him; the energy within him was no longer as violent as it had once been. Once someone reached this level of strength, they would become capable of freely manipulating their power.
I'm only a single step from the Grotto-Heaven Realm now. And once I become a Grotto-Heaven Immortal, I'll have the power to carve open an independent space. Of course, the spaces I can create won't last long, but it's still a big deal.
The Grotto-Heaven Realm was a step higher than the Undying Realm. His command over space would grow far sharper upon becoming a Grotto-Heaven Immortal, which meant he would have more tricks up his sleeve.
Once he reached that stage of evolution, he could set foot on the moon in just one step. In fact, he'd have no issues traveling to other starfields. With a goal in mind, Lu Yuan focused on his breakthrough!