Time flowed like water, vanishing without a trace. In the blink of an eye, a year passed—one year in the outside world, in the Eternal World.
During this year, the outside's attention on the Great Yi Immortal Court never lessened. The myriad races of the heavens watched closely, and even Eternal Night's spies paid great attention, seeking to uncover what was happening within Great Yi.
Yet no matter what methods they used, once they entered Great Yi, it was like a stone sinking into the sea. Not a single message or piece of feedback ever emerged. It was as if Great Yi had been cut off from the outside entirely. Even on the Star Network, there was no news leaked about Great Yi at all. Other external networks could not peer into its internal workings. Fortunately, the Star Network itself still functioned normally.
Moreover, during this year, the Star Network seemed to undergo a transformation, becoming even more wondrous.
Recording, live broadcasting, and more became wildly popular, burning like fire across the realms.
Many domains now relied on the Star Network for trade and communication, bridging vast distances in an instant.
Most importantly, the Star Network could now transmit items. Through one's wrist device, goods could be traded and swiftly delivered across the Star Network. Of course, such transfers required a fee. The farther the distance, the higher the delivery cost. Sometimes, when separated by entire worlds, the delivery fee could exceed the cost of the item itself.
But there was no doubt: this new function instantly raised the importance of the Star Network to the myriad races of the Eternal World. It had already become inseparably tied to daily life. Entire populations now relied on it. In impoverished realms, where countless beings might have starved during the Demon Calamity, supplies delivered through the Star Network allowed them to survive. Rare treasures difficult to find could now be requested through task postings, enabling resources to be exchanged and acquired.
It could be said that the Star Network completely transformed the way of life in the Eternal World.
Even amid the Demon Calamity, it kept hearts from falling entirely into despair. In exhaustion and hopelessness, the Star Network stood as a pure land—soothing inner wounds and easing pressure. It kept people from feeling utterly alone.
Yet during this same year, countless lives perished. The myriad races faced tremendous trials.
With the mass emergence of Demon Abyss, war became almost constant. Infrastructure and material production in countless domains fell into stagnation. At best, they barely maintained survival. In terms of civilization, many domains stagnated, some even regressing. Dynasties of fortune were overwhelmed and struggled merely to hold on.
Overall, the Eternal World remained barely stable.
The Chaos Heavenly Ladder continued. Regardless of Eternal Night or Eternal, every prodigy strove desperately within Buzhou Mountain, seeking opportunities. Already, some had leapt ahead, seizing fortunes and rising above their peers.
On the battlefield of gods and demons, war raged in a bloody stalemate, unimaginably brutal.
Fortunately, with the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans fighting desperately, the battlefront could still be held.
"As for Great Yi, whatever tricks they are playing, since they have sealed themselves away, we shall leave them be for now. Focus on attacking other domains. Our goal is not slaughter, but destruction. Destroy their environments, and their civilizations will wither."
"Still, we must continue monitoring Great Yi. Who knows what schemes they are planning? We must keep a close watch, but avoid provoking them directly. For now, they are not our primary target."
This conversation echoed from within Hydra.
Hydra had temporarily given up on confronting Great Yi head-on.
To clash recklessly would cost too much.
Thus, their strategy was to isolate Great Yi, prevent its expansion, and bide their time. For now, it seemed their plan had succeeded. Great Yi could no longer expand, and had even closed its borders.
In the outside world, many believed Great Yi was consolidating its gains—digesting the dozens of domains it had swallowed, fully integrating them without external interference. This explanation was widely accepted.
Thus, attention shifted away from Great Yi.
None knew that within Great Yi, an earth-shattering transformation was unfolding.
Time slipped by.
One year.
Two years.
Three years.… By the sixth year since Great Yi sealed itself away—
In the Nightmare World, a massive black pyramid floated in the void.
It seemed illusory—visible, yet untouchable—as it drifted through the skies. This was the Myriad-Evil Hall.
After Yi Tianxie's transformation within the Demon God Palace, the Myriad-Evil Hall had followed a hidden passage into the Nightmare World, wandering aimlessly, drifting south at times, north at others.
Merged with the power of myriad desires, the Hall moved like a fish in water within the Nightmare World, unhindered by the will of Nightmare itself.
"Six years… that should be enough. Eternal Night's spies should all have lost my trail by now. Time to get to business."
Seated in the hall, Yi Tianxie's eyes glimmered with wicked light, a faint smile on his lips.
Six years of aimless drifting had been a ploy to mislead Eternal Night. He knew they would never entrust such a mission to him alone. He had volunteered to enter, but Eternal Night's rulers surely had other agents in play. It was impossible they would bet everything on him.
If he had truly believed otherwise, he would be a fool.
Thus, these six years were meant to dispel their suspicions. By leaving his traces visible, he allowed the "tails" following him to see he was indeed searching the Nightmare World for the Eternal Night pioneers. Only now had those spies eased their vigilance, withdrawing to search for traces of their own.
But the Nightmare World was vast, its laws constantly shifting and mutating. Searching it was like climbing to heaven itself. Even Eternal Night likely held little true hope.
"You're gone now. Then it's my turn. Heitian, full speed ahead toward the target coordinates."
At his command, the Myriad-Evil Hall vanished into the void, racing at impossible speed toward its true destination—the sealed location of the Eternal Night pioneers.
Even so, with the Hall's speed, it would still take a year to arrive.
"One more year…" Yi Tianxie muttered as he gazed into the void. "Now we'll see if this body can complete its final transformation. With ten thousand years of time, what spark will Great Yi ignite? Eternal Night will receive quite the surprise. The final battle is coming. Eternal Night's pioneers may have fallen, but Eternal's pioneers are returning. This is our one chance to reverse the tide. Can we seize it?"
This was why Yi Tianxing had received such immense Heavenly Dao merit when striking against Eternal Night's pioneers. That act had shifted the balance of power between Eternal and Eternal Night—creating, for the first time, a true possibility of victory for Eternal.
So long as timing aligned, the battle could become fifty-fifty.
Such an opportunity was unimaginably rare. Even Yi Tianxing could not ignore it, choosing instead to reverse time itself for Great Yi.
…
In the blink of an eye, the tenth year of Great Yi's seclusion arrived.
For the outside, only ten years had passed.
On the surface, little seemed changed.
But within Great Yi, ten thousand years had gone by.
Within the walls of the Iron-Blood Great Wall, within every domain ruled by Great Yi, tremendous changes had occurred.
One could see immortal cities marked by the traces of time, exuding an aura of ancient vicissitudes. Yet within them was vibrant prosperity.
Closer inspection revealed that each city was vastly larger than before, as if expanded tenfold. Their populations had multiplied many times over, far exceeding normal limits. Facilities within the cities had undergone sweeping transformations.
For example, in every immortal city stood two towering spires reaching to the heavens. Crafted by the Heavenly Works Pavilion, they were named the Tower of Solar Radiance and the Tower of Lunar Glow. One drew upon the power of the sun, the other the moon, refining body and soul respectively. Each stood as a sacred treasure of cultivation.
Every tower held eighty-one levels. The higher one climbed, the greater the effect. At their cores were forged the Sunlight Golden Pool and the Lunar Cold Pool.
They possessed remarkable defensive powers as well as offensive might, while also serving as unparalleled supports for cultivation. They embodied the crystallized wisdom of Great Yi's countless cultivators.
Once forged, they immediately became supreme holy grounds. Each immortal city was built with these twin towers, which had become symbols of Great Yi's immortal cities.
Among the people too, countless new innovations flourished. New foods of every kind, rare materials never before seen—many not drawn from heaven and earth, but synthesized from special formulas.
Even the bricks of Great Yi's city walls had changed. No longer were they forged merely from Xuanhuang Bricks. Instead, an upgraded form was used—called the Xuanhuang Creation Bricks.