The Eternal Night humans were dark-skinned, but not so dark as to become invisible. This was beyond comprehension, a direct challenge to common sense.
"Impossible! There hasn't been any news of battles here, nor rumors of upheavals. A perfectly fine star-world — how can it just vanish? Who's playing tricks on me? What the hell is going on?"
Kui Mu's eyes widened as he swept the surroundings, desperate to find the missing star-world. But the truth left him utterly disappointed — the world was simply gone. Nothing remained but emptiness.
"We must find it. If we don't, Eternal Night is in real danger."
He quickly released a flock of Star-Chasing Birds, which shot off in all directions. These were special astral beasts bred in Eternal Night, small in size but terrifyingly fast, especially in the void. They could slip into starlight, transmit messages, and track star-paths with great efficiency.
Every star-trader like him kept such birds to help map and locate more star coordinates. They were indispensable.
At the same time, he spread word through his channels, consulting other strongmen while cross-checking his star-map against the local region.
"Wait, no… according to the map, there should be another star-world over there — a Mid-Thousand-class world. That one is gone too. What kind of joke is this?"
Kui Mu's face changed again. This was no isolated case — it wasn't just Tyre Star. Another one, the Giant Demon Star, had vanished as well.
If it had been only one, it might still be an accident. But now that it was multiple cases, there could be no doubt: something unknown and terrifying was at work, wiping out star-worlds silently.
"What? Star-worlds are disappearing elsewhere too? What is happening?"
Within moments, more reports came flooding in. Kui Mu's face turned ashen. From all corners of Eternal Night, news confirmed the same strange events. Even preliminary estimates showed the number of vanished star-worlds had already exceeded several hundred.
The terror was palpable.
And when word spread, Eternal Night was shaken to its core. Countless powerhouses stirred.
"Sirius Star is gone!"
"Blood Hunt Star too!"
"Dark Demon Star as well!"
One after another, more vanished worlds were reported. Shock turned into tidal waves of fear. Never before had Eternal Night suffered such a calamity. Not a handful, not even hundreds — when the final tally came in, it was confirmed that no less than 3,400 star-worlds had disappeared, all of them in the lesser- and mid-tier ranges.
All gone within the same short span of time.
Inside the Demon God Hall, the gathered demon gods sat grim-faced.
On the throne, the Evil-Eye Sovereigns presided with icy authority.
"Speak. What have you learned? How could so many star-worlds disappear without a trace? Even destruction would have left signs. This vanishing — silent and without disturbance — must have a root cause. Whoever dared to do this, we all know: Eternal. But what matters most is how they infiltrated our Eternal Night and by what means they took those star-worlds."
His cold voice reverberated through the hall. Anyone with half a brain could guess the culprit. Who else but Eternal, their eternal nemesis? The critical issue was finding the method. Unless the root was cut, Eternal Night would remain helpless, forever on the defensive, struck again and again until collapse.
"This cannot continue," the Evil-Eye Sovereigns declared.
"No signs at all. Reports from the guardians of the God–Demon Wells say there was no disturbance. No Great Yi cultivators crossed over. Great Yi's armies remain stagnant as before," said the Ice Demon.
"The Eternal Night battlefield too — heavily guarded, no abnormalities. The return paths to Eternal Night Continent remain unchanged," said the Flame Demon.
By all known channels — God–Demon Wells or the battlefront — there was no sign of infiltration. Which only underscored the seriousness of the threat: Eternal was striking from the shadows, while Eternal Night was exposed in the light.
It was a humiliation never before suffered. Since ancient times, only Eternal Night had invaded others. Never had their foes dared to penetrate their territory — and now they had not only infiltrated, but done so undetected.
The sting of that insult was unbearable.
"No matter what, we cannot let Eternal act unchecked. If they still have the strength to cause mischief here in Eternal Night, then the Demon Calamity's intensity is far from enough. In that case, we accelerate the fusion of the two realms — press Eternal directly."
The Evil-Eye Sovereigns 's eyes gleamed like frozen lightning. "Pass down my order: the Eternal Night battlefield and the Eternal God–Demon battlefield shall merge completely. Tear down all barriers. Let the fronts connect. Face to face. If it is war they want, then let's give them war to the bitter end."
At present, the two battlegrounds were like continents divided by a barrier. Once merged, that barrier would vanish — the battlefield would become a single bridge spanning Eternal Night and Eternal. Whoever held it could march directly into the enemy's world.
No turning back.
The Sovereigns had been pushed to fury. Eternal's brazen trespass was a naked provocation, and provocations could only be answered with blood. He had not intended to escalate the war to this level yet — but Eternal had forced his hand.
Why should Eternal Night fear battle?
"In the last era, we did not lose. In this era, we will not lose either. This is nothing more than the continuation of the last great war. If Eternal seeks war, then let there be war!"
The Evil-Eye Sovereigns waved his hand in finality, his words radiating infinite might.
"Yes, Sovereigns!" the demon gods roared, rising as one.
War? Eternal Night had never feared it.
If there must be war, let it shatter heaven and earth. Let it rend the cosmos apart.
The merging of the two realms' battlefields — this was only the beginning.
As for Eternal Night's furious response, Great Yi naturally knew nothing.
By now, the Tongtian Pavilion's infiltrators had all returned to Xuanhuang Immortal City, mission completed, and gone back to their cultivation.
Before Yi Tianxing lay more than three thousand pouches.
"Three thousand star-worlds. Enough to make Eternal Night bleed. A great harvest indeed," he thought, excitement surging.
Inside those pouches were worlds brimming with living beings. The value was beyond measure — enough to make saints gape in disbelief.
And he already had plans for them.
The first: to feed them into the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Pagoda, his natal treasure, letting it devour and refine them, swelling its inner worlds, pushing it toward the Great-Thousand threshold. Its power would surge, and so would his own.
The second: to hand them to the Chaos World Tree, to be digested and reborn as new leaves and expanded worlds, saving incalculable time and resources for Great Yi.
Both paths promised boundless benefits.
Without further hesitation, Yi Tianxing gathered the pouches and vanished into the core space of Xuanhuang Immortal City.
"Master, you've come!" Ruyi Fairy fluttered happily to him.
"This time I've captured a batch of Eternal Night star-worlds. They're for the Palace Treasure Tree to devour and refine, to strengthen itself. Big changes are coming — don't let the outside world learn of it. If there are anomalies, cover them."
"Rest assured, Master, nothing will leak out," she said confidently.
A great root emerged from the void, etched with chaotic runes.
"Open!"
Yi Tianxing tossed out a pouch. It burst apart, and a star-world tumbled forth, swelling madly toward its original size.
But no matter how it grew, the core space easily accommodated it, as though it could stretch without limit.
"This… where is this? What's happening?"
"Look! That thing's enormous!"
This was Tyre Star, with its Eternal Night human inhabitants. To them, everything had gone dark for a moment — then suddenly, they found themselves face-to-face with a colossal root-like appendage.