Hundreds of stars shot toward the Huawen Grotto-Heaven.
Huayu Old Immortal and his subordinate Gu Immortals had long received the warning and were already in defensive positions.
"They're coming!"
"Quick — activate the immortal formation!!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The stars crashed into the immortal formation, unleashing tremendous impact force.
Brilliant light flared as the stars shattered into countless fragments.
The formation endured the fiercest bombardment, and a large number of Gu Immortals coughed up blood from their injuries.
After a brief while, the battered immortal formation still stood in place — but several more stars were hurtling toward them.
"Disband the formation," Huayu Old Immortal ordered.
"My lord?!"
"We can't! The Grotto-Heaven is right behind us!"
"If something goes wrong…"
"I won't retreat! Even if it costs us our lives, we will defend our home!"
Though the Gu Immortals were in a wretched state, their fighting spirit remained high.
The Huawen Grotto-Heaven had originally been anchored in the void, compressed to a single point. No matter how the stars flew and spun through the outside world, they should have had nothing to do with it. But now that the Two Heavens had merged, a catastrophic change had occurred.
Every Grotto-Heaven anchored within the Two Heavens had been affected to some degree, forced to reveal its location.
Right now, behind the tattered immortal formation lay the Huawen Grotto-Heaven's aperture entrance.
Although the entrance was sealed tight, it had been exposed and could not vanish.
Huayu Old Immortal immediately barked, "I have my own methods — do not hesitate, or you'll be throwing your lives away for nothing!"
The immortals fell silent. They swiftly dismantled the formation and retreated one after another, entering the Huawen Grotto-Heaven.
They all trusted Huayu Old Immortal.
"Here it comes." Huayu Old Immortal stood alone, watching the stars bearing down on him, his expression grave beyond measure.
Immortal killer move — Frigid Words!
Immortal killer move — Idle Chatter!
The first move emanated a bitter, freezing chill that steadily slowed the stars' velocity. The second sliced through them, causing them to shatter apart.
However, large fragments of the stars still carried devastating impact force.
"I'll risk it all!" Huayu Old Immortal roared, disregarding his own life as he frantically deployed move after move, finally managing to block every last star fragment.
*Pfft.*
He vomited a mouthful of fresh blood, his face the color of pale gold paper, his entire body riddled with wounds. Light from the Star Path leaked from his injuries.
During the merging of the Two Heavens, the flight of stars was influenced by the Heavenly Dao in chaotic ways — yet simultaneously bolstered, making their power tremendous.
Even for an Eighth Transformation Huayu Old Immortal, resisting them had been extremely taxing.
Huayu Old Immortal was about to turn back when he suddenly spun around to see another wave of stars flying toward him.
If these stars truly reached the grotto-heaven, the consequences would be unthinkable!
His pupils contracted sharply, his expression went rigid — then, a moment later, he relaxed.
He had long made peace with this.
Even if it cost him his life, he would block this wave!
But just then, Jun Shenguang appeared.
Heavenly Curtain!
While flying, he swept his hand forward, rapidly deploying the Heavenly Curtain in front of the stars with astonishing speed.
The stars slammed into the Heavenly Curtain, which shuddered violently, sending enormous transparent ripples cascading through its surface.
"That's Jun Shenguang — a Gu Immortal of Heaven's Court!" Huayu Old Immortal's expression shifted in surprise.
"And that's Huayu Old Immortal of the Great Love Alliance!" Jun Shenguang was equally taken aback, though worry quickly followed. This was a critical moment — if Huayu Old Immortal made a move, the Heavenly Curtain could be destroyed again.
However, what Jun Shenguang feared ultimately did not come to pass.
A torturous quarter-hour passed, and Huayu Old Immortal stood by without lifting a finger, watching as Jun Shenguang sealed the Heavenly Curtain shut, wrapping every last star inside it.
In the end, Jun Shenguang gave Huayu Old Immortal one long, deep look before dragging the enormous Heavenly Curtain bundle away, stars and all.
The aperture entrance yawned wide open. Huayu Old Immortal's feelings were complicated as he entered the grotto-heaven.
He had, in fact, owed his life to Heaven's Court.
Looking down over the entirety of the Huawen Grotto-Heaven, disasters were everywhere — earthquakes here, floods there, thick smoke from volcanic eruptions blanketing vast stretches of sky, and acid rain that had been falling continuously for dozens of days.
"The merging of the Two Heavens has thrown the Heavenly Dao into turmoil. Even Heavenly Will has gone chaotic, and we grotto-heavens of the Two Heavens are all nodes along the Heavenly Vein — every one of us is suffering for it."
"The people are drowning in misery, weeping and wailing!"
"Alas… I have failed them…"
Huayu Old Immortal let out a deep sigh, his heart filled with a tangled web of self-reproach, helplessness, resentment, and other complex emotions.
The Gu Immortals who inhabited the Two Heavens' grotto-heavens harbored deep affection for their homes — something that set them apart from the Gu Immortals of the Five Regions' surface.
Gu Immortals of the Two Heavens were shunned by the Five Regions and could only survive in the perilous space between them.
The vast majority lived as recluses, regarding their grotto-heavens as the last, warmest, most peaceful sanctuary and homeland in the world.
Among these grotto-heavens, the Huawen Grotto-Heaven — with its unique imperial system, its unified Gu Immortal power, and its profound attachment to its realm — valued its home more deeply and fervently than any other.
One by one, the immortals came to pay their respects to Huayu Old Immortal.
"That was far too perilous. We should appeal to the Great Love Alliance for aid once more!"