The situation at the border of the Aeternal Sky Starfield grew increasingly tense and frightening by the second. Despite the Sky Destroyers' imposing presence, the Imperial Clan's Imperial Monarchs and Sky Monarchs taking charge there, the outposts all bearing arms and teeth, the growing number of Ascended beings from the Endless Voyage Realm left the natives of the Aeternal Sky Star feeling uncertain degrees of concern and vigilance.
The strength of will in their eyes, however, was inexhaustible. The ongoing rampage throughout the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region was a clear sign of the devastation these invaders were bringing with them. They could feel no fear. For the sake of those behind them, their families, their friends, and their lovers, they had to fight. They absolutely, absolutely, ABSOLUTELY could not let them ravage their home!
"WHO THE FLYING FREAK ARE THESE CULTIVATORS?!" Sky Monarch Bai piloted a Sky Destroyer to the eastern region of the Aeternal Sky Starfield.
"Calm down," Tian Weilong, the Dracofist Imperial Monarch, and great-granduncle of Tian Taizong, sent with a strong, calm tone. He piloted a Sky Destroyer to the southeast alongside a young female Sky Monarch that had only entered the Earthly Saint Phase a few hundred years ago, hidden from the world.
The Sky Monarchs and Imperial Monarchs were within an interconnected spiritual network where they could communicate with each other in real-time, assisted by militarized spiritual jade artifacts. Not only was Tian Lingyu, Tian Muyang, Tian Shangyang-Tian Muyang's grandnephew, and Yang Chaogue here, but Sky Monarch Bai and Sky Monarch Kong were also present!
With the newly assigned female Sky Monarch, there were four Sky Monarchs and four Imperial Monarchs! A total of eight Earthly Saints! Normally, this would be utterly imposing and a fierce lineup, but the outsiders had already gathered thirteen Earthly Saints! All of them were surrounding the Aeternal Sky Star from different directions. And they were growing!!!
Sky Monarch Bai and Sky Monarch Kong both jointly piloted a Sky Destroyer, while the others were independent, guarding one of six directions.
"The greed in their eyes is palpable," Tian Muyang commented lightly, his eyes narrowing fiercely as starry light burned within his hazel-gold eyes. The Aeternal Sky Star attracted these Ascended beings' attention like moths to a flame, and while a few of them gave the Sky Destroyers and them a few glances, they had utterly no fear in their eyes as they did, only greed and the will to seize opportunities.
When their gazes met those Domains and their richly cultivated planets and lunar satellites, there was a notable shift in emotion and antsy look from them. Each celestial body in the Aeternal Sky Domain had experienced tens of thousands of years of bathing in the Aeternal Sky Star's solar essence and cultivated by top-tier forces through mystical means and efforts, containing ungodly amounts of resources and precious materials.
The quantity of Mystic-Earth materials was utterly insane. It was so greatly numerous that the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region used Mystic-Earth graded materials as food, mostly because they simply didn't have enough cultivators or Alchemists that could properly use them all. It was utterly wasteful, perhaps only extracting a percentage of their worth, but it was the only way.
Meanwhile, many forces had vaults carrying vast quantities of Mystic-Earth-graded earthly treasures and heavenly waters, just sitting there for thousands upon thousands of years. Each was normally volatile without the proper cultivation method or skilled Earthly Saint Alchemist. Due to the lack of Internal World legacies and Saint Rings, these vaults might be Sealed, but these Ascended beings had exquisite fortune-seeking spells that could detect these materials.
They had long since learned of the hundreds upon hundreds of vaults piled to the brim with unused materials accumulated over the thousands of years of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region's prosperous period led by Tian Taizong! How could they not feel greed?! What cultivator wouldn't?!
It was this reason why the Neo-Dawn Starfield had very few invaders. Despite the Supermassive Solar Star that was Baby Defiant, it was difficult to sense its uniqueness, and from a distance, it seemed like a typical mortal-tier Solar Star that was big, and the bubble-like barrier shielded from those fortune-seeking spells, giving the impression that it was utterly barren and tiny in comparison to the former Heptasage Pillar Stellar Region's ginormous size.
They could only run towards the large, bright star rather than small light comparable to a firefly. It simply wasn't worth the effort.
"Do they think our Imperial Clan doesn't exist?!" Tian Shangyang said through gritted teeth.
"We'll teach them otherwise," Tian Weilong replied calmly. The pride of the Dracofist Imperial Monarch hadn't diminished despite his recent loss to Wu Yu.
"There's about three dozen here. I can sense three Earthly Saints," Tian Muyang reported solemnly. These Earthly Saints were not ordinary at all. They didn't hold back the circulation of their Mystic Auras in the Dark Void, and despite their Runic Ascendant States not being too high, the strength of their Mystic Auras was spine-chilling to sense. Even the Soul of Mysticism and Demi-Mortal Lord-level cultivators out there were terrifying to his spiritual sense. Who were these people?
"Four Earthly Saints here!" Tian Lingyu reported.
"I have about a hundred Ascended beings, strange-looking ones with stars for pupils and tails! Moreover, there are seven Earthly Saints here!!" Tian Muyang reported as well. He had never seen Celestials before, so this shook him a little. Were they demons? They had physical characteristics that strongly resembled the elven race, being mostly slender, and tall, with sharp-tipped ears and vibrant hair colors. There were some females amongst this group that caused his eyes to brighten. Some were particularly beautiful, extremely so.
He couldn't help but think about how he would enjoy himself after their victory. In Tian Muyang's mind, forged by the Dark Stars Era, he was never one to think about failure before battle, and his eyes seemed to possess a type of greed that could rival these Ascended beings.
After each made their repeated reports of the situation, it was counted that thirty-two Earthly Saints total were scattered in various directions. Some were in smaller groups and others were in larger groups. It was clear they were divided by an invisible segregation of factions. They didn't quite understand it, including the foreign robes and their meanings, such as the Azure Moon and Crimson Moon Librarian robes.
Shockingly, there was no Destined or Seeker present amongst these groups, exclusively those from the World Between the Fold's Azure-Prime Galactic Zone. It was clear that to keep the situation uncomplicated the Worldly Saints had sealed each Destined and Seeker to prevent any leakage of information or emotional betrayals from the ensuing chaos.
"Is this all?" Yang Chaoyue asked, her eyes as glacial as a blizzard. Despite her words, silence fell from the other Monarchs as if to say: "That's all?! You mad woman!" There were thirty-two Earthly Saints! However, Tian Weilong couldn't help but recall Wei Wuyin's feat of showcasing eighty Earthly Saints at his command, and given Yang Chaoyue's open status as his lover, it made sense that her arrogance was still deeply seated.
After all, if he had a lover that could control that force so casually, including a frightening Grand Knight of Neo-Dawn, it genuinely felt that the thirty-two Earthly Saints was a little lacking.
Tian Lingyu was also fearless, "The other Earthly Saints are currently ransacking the other starfields." Her words caused every Earthly Saint to stare at the incomparably far Neo-Dawn Starfield. There were no chaotic fluctuations of mystic power there. But then again, that made perfect sense!
Sky Monarch Bai didn't like Wei Wuyin at all. Despite him bestowing the world with images of the gorgeous Tian Xiaocheng in outfits that were like a heavenly blessing, mental images that he still used to this day, the fact that Wei Wuyin had kept her captive and could have done any number of things with made him enviously and enraged. However, even he couldn't help but feel that this situation wasn't too bad.
This was because he was subtly glancing at Yang Chaoyue and Tian Lingyu. Wei Wuyin had devastated Trueborn, forcing them to outright submit and turtle in their newly formed starfield for years, initiating all but complete war because of Yue Songli. At least, according to the intel reports.
Touching a Worldly Saint Alchemist's woman? One that commanded eighty Earthly Saints and an unfathomably fearsome Alchemic Knight was a mistake no one wanted to make.
Suddenly, the group of Earthly Saints seemed to have received a joint order, and their Mystic Auras flared wildly! They were going to attack! The Dark Void of the Aeternal Sky Starfield began to stir, spatial winds sliced through the world and waves of torrential mana smashed out in every direction!
HOWEVER!
Just as they were about to act, commence with a savage attack, gazes from all over scoured the Sky Destroyers, finding Yang Chaoyue. She was herself the center of attention within the blink of an eye. Her eyes only grew increasingly chilly.
The Earthly Saints from the Endless Voyage Realm had eyes filled with skepticism and shock. Most of them had a growing fear in their gazes, feeling uncertain and questioning the validity of this new information.
"..." Tian Lingyu furrowed her thinly styled brows. It wasn't openly known that she was Wei Wuyin's lover as well by most. This was mostly because she never announced it publicly, and only those privy to understanding the Imperial Clan's true situation and following all of Wei Wuyin's actions extremely closely would know. After all, most still believed that the Imperial Clan and Wei Wuyin were on the verge of war, only halted by the Chosen King Competition.
She immediately realized that these foreign invaders had just learned of Wei Wuyin and was informed somehow of Yang Chaoyue's relationship with him. They could all immediately tell from their expressions!
It was growing a little awkward as raging Mystic Auras and hesitant gazes formed a strong disjointed atmosphere. The Sky Destroyers were already emanating misty mystic light, charged to the brim with mystic energy, and ready to fight to the bitter end. The other Earthly Saints in reserves were going to act as a second line of defense, protecting the planets and managing the independent planetary and realm arrays against their invaders. The planets glistened with varied light of mystic power and the realms' core thrummed as power was siphoned out.
Tian Muyang watched as this internal conflict raged within the Earthly Saints' expressions. He could only bitterly chuckle. He deeply understood where their trepidation originated from, and he as well as everyone of the Imperial Clan had felt similar feelings. How many of them wanted to slap Yang Chaoyue silly due to her disrespectful attitude?! Yet they couldn't so much as touch her despite the flagrantly infuriating behavior. If they did, wouldn't Wu Yu show up on their doorstep? Likely with eighty Earthly Saints!
Even if they ravaged the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, touching a lover of an absurdly talented Worldly Saint Alchemist was like signing one's death warrant. What's the point of seizing treasures when you won't live long enough to enjoy it?
Suddenly, Earthly Saints and the Ascended beings all began to move away from Yang Chaoyue noticeably and deliberately. The sight was utterly baffling to those within outposts and acting as crew to the Sky Destroyers. While Yang Chaoyue's backing was enough to divert their aggression, they seemed to have no intent of stopping their assault!
"..." Yang Chaoyue was also taken aback by this, her ego was slowly inflating as she revealed a cold smile. Despite their hesitation, she would still slaughter them. After all, she had none of their hesitation!
BOOM!! BOOSH!! WHOOSH!!
Finally, as if given a proper order, the raging Mystic Auras were focused and thousands of Ascended beings rushed toward the Aeternal Sky Starfield!
"KILL!" Tian Muyang ordered!
"Defend our land!!" Tian Weilong added.
"KILL! KILL! KILL!" The crew and outpost members shouted viciously. The sight of thirty-two Earthly Saints leading thousands of Ascended beings was incredibly heart-shaking, yet they did little to halt the Imperial Clan's resistance.
"FIRE!"
