The Fire Sword Tower. By this time, the results were largely in.

This session’s achievements were quite similar to those of fifty years ago: the majority scored zero, the higher the score, the fewer the people achieving it. Those who reached six were few and far between, and those who reached seven numbered zero.

Of course, there was one massive difference: this time, there was actually a nine. Nine!

What did a nine even signify? It had long since shattered the four-thousand-year record for passing the seven gates.

Normally, achieving this would have caused immense anticipation and excitement. The record that had stood unbroken for four millennia was on the verge of being completely demolished—how could one not be excited?

But, damn it all, this feat was accomplished by someone from Jin. If a Jin national actually succeeded, what face would the Great Qin have left?

The people of Great Qin have their pride! But where was that pride now?

Master Rizhao, Ye Xiangzhi, and Ao Lusheng, the three united, had been swiftly defeated by this man from Jin. This left them with only one thing to do: wait!

Yes, wait! The final gate, the Great Dharma Flower Temple, was universally acknowledged as the most difficult.

The Great Dharma Flower Temple was ranked first among the Four Great Immortal Sects, holding a position somewhat similar to the Huashan Immortal Sect in Jin. The seventy-three unique skills of the Great Dharma Flower Temple—even half of them would be extremely difficult to overcome.

This, too, was the Great Qin’s last bastion of pride. If this Jin man broke through all the techniques of the Great Dharma Flower Temple, then there would truly be no face left.

Now, they could only wait for the final outcome. Would the Jin national fail at the ‘nine’—the gate of the Great Dharma Flower Temple?

Or would he push through this gate and reach ten? Virtually every cultivator in Great Qin held the secret hope for the Jin man’s failure in their hearts.

Time ticked by, slowly, the wait stretching longer and longer. During this period, many lost the desire to challenge the tenth gate.

It was unnecessary; generally, the Great Dharma Flower Temple was considered the tenth gate, and it was widely known to be the hardest to pass. Whether one attempted it or not made little difference to most Great Qin cultivators waiting nearby.

Squeak! The sound of a gate opening.

Time seemed to freeze in place. Many eyes darted toward the spiritual-energy-coagulated leaderboard, anxious to see if the final tally would be nine or ten.

Silence… Ten! No matter how slowly heads turned, no matter how slowly gazes processed the sight, the result had to be accepted—the result was ten!

This Jin man had actually, brutally, broken through the techniques of the Great Dharma Flower Temple. This meant he had passed the final, most formidable hurdle: ten gates, ten challenges, all conquered by this man from Jin.

Damn it! Some Great Qin cultivators cried out in anguish, some cursed, some spat venomous words; truly blessing him was almost unheard of.

A mere lament of vanquished curs! Lu Yuan paid them no mind.

At this moment, the ten tokens—Huashan, Little Qingcheng, Wudang, Mount Tai, Kongtong, Quanzhen, Scarlet Dragon, Little Sword, Carefree, and Great Dharma Flower Temple—were finally in his grasp. He held the ten tokens aloft, and suddenly, ten beams of light seemed to pierce down from the void onto them.

The ten tokens rapidly began to merge, gradually coalescing into one—a crimson token blazing with fierce fire. This fire radiated onto Lu Yuan’s body.

What was that? Heaven and earth, all beings flourished.

But at this precise moment, whether due to the dryness of the weather or some other cause, a single wisp of flame suddenly appeared. As soon as this wisp emerged, it began to scorch the trees, growing rapidly until it became a raging forest fire, a blaze so immense that even the ancient peoples felt a tremor of fear.

The world operates on mutual generation and restraint; where fire appears, water must follow. And as the wild tongues of the fire raged through the timber, a sudden downpour erupted—a marvelous rain.

The ancient peoples rejoiced as the wildfire in the forest was instantly extinguished. Not long after, another wisp of flame manifested.

The weather was still damp from the rain, and this flame did not spread or grow larger; it merely burned quietly. The ancient peoples discovered the fire, utterly astonished.

Tentatively, amid their fear, they tested the flame’s terrifying power and its limitations. Then, quite by chance, a wild beast stumbled into the flames and was cooked.

The ancient peoples discovered that roasted prey tasted surprisingly delicious. Subsequently, the ancient peoples realized that beasts feared fire, and fire could be used to ward off enemies.

Time flowed on, and the flame continued to wax and wane, its myriad transformations observed by Lu Yuan. Suddenly, a flash of clarity struck him, a comprehension of the Fire Sword Intent.

In essence, the subsequent flames had hundreds of functions, but none were the flame’s true purpose. The true purpose of fire was simple: to burn everything.

All else was merely ancillary. By tracing back to this origin, focusing on the core intent, his mind cleared instantly.

Enlightenment! Enlightenment!

To incinerate all existence! This is Fire!

Lu Yuan exhaled deeply. He had mastered the Fire Sword Intent, his seventh Sword Intent.

At this moment, script appeared in the void: “...Fire Sword Tower. The Fire Sword Intent has been claimed.

The Fire Sword Tower will collapse after the burning of one stick of incense and will never reappear.” Hearing this news, everyone quickly exited the Fire Sword Tower. Boom!

The Fire Sword Tower collapsed. Amidst the pristine white snow, the massive structure suddenly crumbled, followed by raging flames.

Curiously, these flames seemed confined only to the tower’s main body, leaving the adjacent Water Sword Tower and even the snow on the ground utterly untouched. Moments later, the four-thousand-year-old Fire Sword Tower had completely vanished from the earth, leaving only the Water Sword Tower, which bore a striking resemblance to its fallen sibling, standing starkly alone.

After a brief pause, a faint watery sheen began to spread across the surface of the Water Sword Tower as it became accessible. Lu Yuan followed the crowd into the Water Sword Tower.

As soon as he stepped inside, a line of text materialized overhead: “Between heaven and earth, there are not only techniques but also spells. In my entire life, the many spells I encountered were all mapped here based on the foundations of the Murong family.

If any can overcome these various gates of spells, the Water Sword Intent shall be added to their grasp.” The Water Sword Tower was divided into eight gates. These eight gates were labeled: “Metal Element Spells,” “Wood Element Spells,” “Water Element Spells,” “Earth Element Spells,” “Fire Element Spells,” “Wind Element Spells,” “Lightning Element Spells,” and “Mind Element Spells.” Normally, spells were categorized into seven major elements; the Mind Element Spells were considered a fringe category within a fringe category, not worthy of a separate classification.

Mind Element Spells focused primarily on psychic attacks! However, Daoist Shuǐhuǒ categorized them into eight groups because he himself had suffered a grievous setback from a Mind Element Spell in the past, which is why he gave it its own category.

Had he not been struck by Emperor Wu of Jin’s Mind Element Spell back then, he likely would not have been driven out of the Murong family. Emperor Wu of Jin was the second emperor of the Jin state.

The Jin state was treated as a puppet by the Five Great Immortal Sects; generally, the emperors chosen were incompetent and weak. Yet, occasionally, an exception arose.

The second emperor of Jin, Emperor Wu, was a man of great strategy and vision—a true sovereign. Naturally, the Five Great Immortal Sects disliked such capable rulers.

Emperor Wu of Jin was fiercely ambitious, planning to seize full authority, destroy the Five Great Immortal Sects, and forge alliances with various heroes. Daoist Shuǐhuǒ was one of the victims of that scheme, having been inadvertently caught up in the affair.

In the end, however, Emperor Wu of Jin was predictably assassinated by the Five Great Immortal Sects. This was unknown to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan was unaware that the Five Great Immortal Sects were currently investigating intelligence suggesting a connection between the current Heavenly Vengeance Alliance and the former Emperor Wu of Jin, though the nature of that connection remained unclear. Returning to the immediate situation, Lu Yuan stood within the Water Sword Tower.

There were eight gates in total. “This time, it’s about breaking spells.” “Speaking of breaking spells, Master Rizhao’s skill is the most formidable.” “Yes, his Vajra Bodhisattva Body is incredible.” “He took the medicinal draughts; he should be able to use the Vajra Bodhisattva Body again now.” “Even so, it’s hard to get past the seventh gate.

In the four-thousand-year record, the highest reached was only the sixth gate; no one has ever passed the seventh.” “That Jin man was decent at breaking techniques last time. Now that it’s time to break spells, he’s probably dumbfounded.” “What skill could a mere Jin man possibly possess?” “That’s right.

Let the Jin man properly witness the methods of our Great Qin cultivators.” The Great Qin cultivators were all clamoring, and they had their reasons. Generally, cultivators before the Longevity Stage specialized either in breaking techniques or breaking spells; few excelled at both, as most had a distinct weakness.

Since Lu Yuan had just earned the Fire Sword Intent and dealt a massive blow to Great Qin’s prestige, these people naturally intended to mock him fiercely now that the spell-breaking challenge had arrived. Lu Yuan merely shrugged.

There was nothing worth saying to a pack of defeated dogs. His task now was to break the various spells hidden behind the eight gates to earn the Water Sword Intent.

Lu Yuan scanned the gates and decided to enter the Wind Element Spells first. In truth, most of the spells were not vastly different, and he expected to break them all smoothly.

The troublesome gates would likely be Lightning Element Spells and Mind Element Spells. He had never encountered a Mind Element Spell before; this fringe art required caution.

As for Lightning Element Spells, he previously had no means to break them. However, in the Wusheng Legacy Palace, he had mastered the ‘Substantial Transformation’ of the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations, which could convert spiritual power into Earth Element spells.

Earth Element powers have a restraining effect on Lightning Element techniques, thus increasing his chances of breaking the Lightning system. Of course, since he hadn't actually attempted it yet, he didn’t know how challenging it would be in practice.

Incidentally, he harbored a malicious expectation: if these dogs were already acting this way now, how much more infuriated would they become if he successfully obtained the Water Sword Intent?