The moment Lu Yuan saw the message, he put away the Great Luo Sword Embryo.

He raised his head and gazed up at the sky. It was a fine, sunny day. Sunlight bathed the land, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was impossible to notice anything wrong in outer space from down here, but Lu Yuan knew that these peaceful days would not last much longer.

Lu Yuan emptied his mind and stepped forward.

The Mount Tai Trials Academy now served as more than just the Celestial Court's headquarters, as the officials had relocated their base of operations as well. In other words, the Trials Academy had become the control room of the entire nation.

Lu Yuan made his way to the tallest building in the complex, where Huaxia's space surveillance center was located. Elder Ji and the rest of the top officials had already gathered there, along with Zhu Qingyu and the other younger talents.

As soon as they saw Lu Yuan, they rushed toward him and greeted him with clear respect on their faces.

"King Lu."

Lu Yuan nodded and turned his attention to the large screen. "What's going on?"

The officials had deployed numerous satellites for the purpose of space surveillance. Those satellites could transmit information in real time. On the screen, the satellite feed showed countless points of light converging in the distance.

In addition, there were also massive celestial bodies, accompanied by all manner of powerful vessels, including starships. If one looked closely enough, one would be able to see individuals among them as well.

Since the beginning of Earth's second Global Awakening, beings from the Outer Cosmos had been making a beeline for the Milky Way Starfield. Those closest had arrived earliest, and now, it seemed they were about to welcome new arrivals.

Their numbers were far greater than the first wave of invaders, and they hovered just outside the planet, looking as if they could descend at any moment. Fortunately, the Separation of Heaven and Earth could still keep them at bay.

"It seems a full-on descent is nigh," Lu Yuan said, his gaze hardening as he took in the scene. Then he added, "Elder Ji, recall all those on missions outside, especially those stationed on our famed mountains and rivers.

"Then issue a public notice advising the ordinary citizens and Awakened alike to stay as far away as they can from those places.

"Additionally, inform the leaders of the Dao grounds on Mount Hulong and Mount Jiuhua to consolidate their forces as soon as possible. Soon, everything will change."

The Separation of Heaven and Earth was still intact, but if those beings from the Outer Cosmos were determined to invade Earth, they had many ways of doing so.

For example, the great mountains and rivers of Earth were the first places to reap the benefits of the Global Awakening, which meant they had changed the most in stark contrast to any other places on Earth.

In other words, they were unique places least affected by the Separation of Heaven and Earth. Hence, powerful beings could exploit them to construct passageways to send their experts through.

Lu Yuan had seen that happen in his previous life, and humanity had paid dearly for it. Even though nothing had happened yet, he wanted to be prepared for the upcoming storm.

"Understood, King Lu."

Elder Ji and the others raised no objections whatsoever. Lu Yuan was the lord of the Celestial Court, and he would probably govern all of Huaxia one day.

His prestige also meant no one questioned his decisions, and they all had absolute trust in him.

Afterward, Lu Yuan turned to Zhu Qingyu and the others. Then he instructed the leaders of the four divisions to keep expanding their ranks.

He then asked them to select thirty-six promising individuals from the Trials Academy. They didn't need to be particularly strong. As long as they had good potential, it would be enough. He had other plans for them.

The Celestial Court's general framework had already taken shape. The next step was expansion. They still needed more cream of the crop elites, and he planned on making use of the Investiture Edict to bless them with Providence, which would make their evolution significantly easier and faster.

For the time being, he could not make use of the four divisions, as there were too few of them. If he were to move any of them, their strength would be compromised. Hence, Lu Yuan could only make use of the Trials Academy.

The group nodded and accepted his orders.

Lu Yuan returned to his room. He did not resume training. Instead, he sat in quiet contemplation, studying the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token and the Investiture Edict.

The Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token hung suspended in midair. Just as before, wisps of purple energy streamed down on the Innate Spirit, which had taken on a purple hue under its influence.

As for the Investiture Edict, the Yongzhou Cauldron was depicted on its back, while there were several names on its front side. Of course, the words "Emperor Yuan" remained at the top.

Below "Emperor Yuan" were the Golden-Winged Great Peng, the Peacock King, and others, along with the sect leaders of the Three Immortal Islands.

Ever since I entered the Sage Realm, the Providence within the Investiture Edict has grown far more concentrated. Through the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token, the Innate Spirit's control over it has also increased drastically, Lu Yuan thought. He had recently discovered that he could channel the edict's Providence into a specific name. The recipient would then receive a wave of blessing, dramatically accelerating their rate of evolution for a short period of time.

Thanks to that, the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the others all reached the Venerable King Realm. Of course, they were still becoming even stronger. Lu Yuan felt like he was actually becoming the Celestial Emperor, with the power to bestow the blessings of Providence upon others through the Investiture Edict.

Of course, he still had a long way to go before he could become as strong as the Celestial Emperor.

According to the Daoist mythology of Huaxia, the Celestial Court was a powerful force with a complete hierarchy. It had the Three Pure Ones, the Four Sovereigns, the Five Elders of the Five Directions, the Dragon Gods of the Four Rivers, the Divine Monarchs of the Five Mountains, the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Twelve Zodiac Signs, the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Thirty-Six Celestial Generals, and so on.

If I want to rebuild the Celestial Court, all of them are essential. With the help of the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token, I can surely fill those roles.

Lu Yuan contemplated it for a while. He did not know what the Celestial Court actually looked like in ancient times, but he believed he could make use of that organizational structure in legend as a template to rebuild the Celestial Court.

He could start with the Thirty-Six Celestial Generals, and they would be the people Zhu Qingyu and the others were in the middle of selecting. In the end, Earth had to rely on those people against the invasion of those beings from the Outer Cosmos.

Lu Yuan emptied his mind and focused on his own progress. After all, he had been a Void Sage for several months now. It was time for him to push toward the next stage—the Lesser Sage Realm.

And so time passed, little by little.

Zhu Qingyu and the others carried out their orders perfectly and with great precision while simultaneously scouting the Trials Academy for suitable candidates. They did not know what King Lu was going to do with them, but they did not ask questions and simply executed their orders.

When the students at the Mount Tai Trials Academy heard that King Lu was looking for recruits, their excitement was palpable. Every student in the Academy was an Awakened that the officials of Huaxia had deemed to have potential. Some had come from the branches of the Aurora Academy, while others were recruited from outside under special circumstances. None of them was over thirty.

Without exception, they all wanted to enter the Celestial Court and follow King Lu. To them, King Lu was an idol, someone to look up to. Naturally, the chance to join the Celestial Court had them falling over themselves.

An old friend of Lu Yuan was one of them.