Two hundred and forty-nine nations, each holding billions of people, some even exceeding ten billion. Two hundred and forty-nine nations. A total population barely surpassing two trillion.

Two trillion humans! This number was terrifyingly immense! Of course, not every nation housed that many cultivators.

A typical country had perhaps only a few hundred thousand cultivators; overall, the entire cultivation world amounted to a few tens of millions. Adding those taking refuge in Shuijing County, Shuijing Prefecture, perhaps a few hundred million people were observing this battle—far fewer than two trillion. Still, merely a few hundred million spectators was an astonishing number!

All these eyes were fixed on Lu Yuan’s solitary fight. Ten thousand people had entered the Tongtian Tower; only Lu Yuan remained. In the twenty-sixth trial, observers, peering through the Water Mirror Technique, witnessed thirty divine beasts—Jiaos and Phoenixes dancing together.

Scarlet flames painted the heavens red. Thirty Jiaos and Phoenixes! Even Jing Huanzhen of the Jin Kingdom watched with a sharp intake of breath; his personal limit was managing about two simultaneously; three already strained him immensely.

Based on the combat prowess Lu Yuan displayed in the Huashan battle, he was expected to fail this stage. Setting aside other high-tier demonic beasts, the Jiao and the Phoenix alone were first-tier divine beasts. Thirty of them possessed combat strength that far surpassed all the forces the Heavenly Alliance had deployed to the Huashan battlefield, excluding Ren Du.

The people from the other two hundred and forty-eight nations, though lacking precise knowledge of Lu Yuan's exact strength, all believed he could not pass this level. Thirty first-tier divine beasts! The mere thought sent shivers down the spine!

Just as everyone expected a strange outcome, Lu Yuan moved. His feet remained rooted to the spot, and centered on himself, he swept his hand, drawing his sword. Instantly, the thirty divine beasts collided fiercely amongst themselves.

What technique was this? Star Shifting! Using an opponent’s strength against them!

Heaven and Earth Great Shift! Or perhaps, Tai Chi! Such thoughts flashed through many minds.

They seemed to recall seeing similar strange techniques before, wondering if it was one of these. Meanwhile, Murong Longhuang, the strongest figure from the Murong Kingdom, closely monitored the battle. He knew for certain this was not Star Shifting; Star Shifting lacked such flawless execution.

What technique was this, then? Could it be the legendary…? No.

Impossible. This young man from the Jin Kingdom was too young to have reached the Sword Emperor realm. Zhou Zhongyong, the Sovereign of the Dayong Kingdom, paused his hand on his beard, staring intently at Lu Yuan’s long, pale hand, then at his sword, and every gesture as the blade moved, seemingly lost in deep contemplation.

Trial Twenty-Six, cleared! Lu Yuan’s ranking instantly shot up to two thousand five hundred. Trial Twenty-Seven, cleared!

Lu Yuan’s ranking jumped immediately to one thousand three hundred. Trial Twenty-Eight, cleared! His ranking climbed to six hundred.

Trial Twenty-Nine, cleared! Lu Yuan’s rank soared to one hundred and fifty. Breaking the twenty-ninth trial placed him squarely within the top two hundred and forty-nine, qualifying him for the final assessment.

Lu Yuan finally let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It had been incredibly difficult; truly, extraordinarily difficult. The reason for this sudden surge in rank was simple: too many cultivators had been eliminated in trials twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-five.

Lu Yuan had initially lagged eight points behind the peak of the Sixth Layer of the Grand Dao realm in the magical power assessment. Eight points corresponded roughly to five trials. By consecutively breaking through trials twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, and twenty-nine, he had bypassed so many others in ranking.

He was now ranked one hundred and fiftieth. Trial Thirty, cleared! Lu Yuan checked his ranking again, and it leaped dramatically to eleventh place.

He had gained eight points in the magical power assessment, whereas Mo Zihe, at the peak of the Sixth Layer of the Grand Dao realm, had achieved a maximum of sixteen points. Lu Yuan had now consecutively cleared six stages, gaining nine points, thus exceeding the limit of peak Sixth Layer Grand Dao cultivators like Mo Zihe by one point. A single point—an abyss of difference!

He instantly jumped past Xiao Fengxiong and the other ten, securing the tenth spot. Eleventh place! A cultivator at the peak of the Fourth Layer of the Grand Dao realm achieving eleventh place among ten thousand geniuses was nearly unbelievable.

The hundreds of millions observing across the two hundred and forty-nine nations were collectively stunned. They praised the young man for being so extraordinary, achieving eleventh place with only the power of the peak Fourth Layer of the Grand Dao realm. High-level officials from every nation began swiftly searching for Lu Yuan’s background information.

Before the Jin Kingdom assessment, Lu Yuan was only famous within Jin, Yuan, and Qin Kingdoms. During the Jin Kingdom qualification assessment, Lu Yuan became known in the eight surrounding nations due to scoring six perfect tens, but his fame was restricted only to those eight. Now, the situation was completely different.

Lu Yuan had achieved instant worldwide renown across the two hundred and forty-nine nations of the Southern Territory, universally acknowledged as amazing for securing eleventh place with the power of the peak Fourth Layer of the Grand Dao realm, ranking just beneath those supreme geniuses. In Shuijing County, Shuijing Prefecture, within the Jin Kingdom, the Huashan disciples roared: "Long live the Sect Master!" Their blood boiled with fervor. The Sect Master was indeed the Sect Master!

So what if his ranking dropped initially? What did it matter if he fell to over seven thousand? Hadn't he already surged to eleventh place, and might he continue climbing?

Charge! Die! Charge!

Lu Yuan had passed the thirtieth trial, ranking eleventh. Reaching the staircase, he couldn't help but stop to rest. Even using the Power of Reincarnation, the sheer volume of divine beasts in the thirtieth trial had severely depleted his magical energy.

He took this opportunity to replenish it. Only after replenishing almost completely did Lu Yuan stand up again to challenge the thirty-first trial. Stepping into the thirty-first trial, he barely paid attention to the swarming waves of demonic beasts.

He only wanted to know how many divine beasts appeared this time. There were Jiaos, and there were Phoenixes. However, both the Jiao and the Phoenix served only as attendants, like stars surrounding the moon, positioned beside a colossal entity.

This massive being radiated an overwhelming pressure just floating in the sky. Countless wisps of cloud churned around it. As the massive form occasionally emerged from the clouds, revealing half a scale or a single claw, after a while, it seemed as if the behemoth had swallowed the clouds whole in a single breath.

Appearing before Lu Yuan was a colossal creature possessing the face of a horse, the head of an ox, the horns of a deer, the whiskers of a tiger, the ears of an elephant, the neck of a snake, the scales of a fish, and the talons of an eagle—a Dragon. The chief of scaled creatures, capable of being subtle or bright, minute or massive, short or long; ascending to heaven at the spring equinox and submerging into the deep at the autumn equinox. Capable of becoming large or small, rising or hiding; when large, it conjures clouds and mist; when small, it conceals its form.

Ascending, it soars through the cosmos; hidden, it lies deep within the waves. Now, in the depth of spring, the Dragon transforms according to the season, just as a person realizes their ambition and roams the four seas. Hidden Dragon, do not act—it is a Dragon!

Seeing the Dragon in the fields—it is a Dragon! Leaping in the abyss—it is a Dragon! Flying Dragon in the sky—it is a Dragon!

The soaring Dragon has regrets—it is a Dragon! Dragon fighting in the wilderness—it is a Dragon! The Dragon holds different meanings in various regions.

In the Jin Kingdom, the Dragon is sacred. To possess the strength of one Dragon meant one could be called a Grandmaster, one of the supreme few in the Jin Kingdom. Back in Jin, Lu Yuan had heard countless legends of the Dragon.

At that time, his understanding was shallow, and he never imagined he would one day fight a Dragon. But now, in the sky, surrounded by a thousand demonic beasts acting as attendants, with other first-tier divine beasts—Jiaos and Phoenixes—acting as mere stars, the Dragon had appeared. This must be the true power of One Dragon!

Lu Yuan wanted to test what "the strength of One Dragon" truly meant! He drew his Nourishing Spirit Sword. "Good companion, feel the heat!

This is a battle against a Dragon. Whether we win or lose, this fight is destined to be exhilarating." He first attempted to use the Power of Reincarnation. If he could directly control it, it would be much simpler.

But Lu Yuan found that after he unleashed the Power of Reincarnation, the giant Scarlet Dragon merely looked at him as if he were a fool. It wasn't that the Power of Reincarnation was insufficient. As one of the Ten Great Iron Laws of Heaven and Earth, the Power of Reincarnation was already among the most potent forces in the current world.

The reason it failed to subdue the Scarlet Dragon was simple: his magical power was too weak, severely constraining his combat effectiveness. But retreating now was impossible. Lu Yuan moved instantly, thoughts racing through his mind.

This was a Scarlet Dragon. He decided to attack first with the Water Sovereign Sword Dao, just to test. Mid-air, he executed a flawless posture, slashing out the move, "Water Torrent Mourns the Azure Sky." This strike was exquisitely beautiful, intensely vibrant, and profoundly sorrowful—like the quiet sorrow of a girl of sixteen, or the deep resentment of a secluded young wife.

Within this endless melancholy, Lu Yuan infused the Water Sovereign Sword Dao. The Scarlet Dragon merely shook its head. As Lu Yuan's sword neared its body, a layer of fire armor materialized across its scales.

Fire, normally gaseous, visible yet untouchable, manifested as an incredibly hard, solid shell around the giant Scarlet Dragon. Flames were being solidified—truly terrifying was this Scarlet Dragon. The Scarlet Dragon opened its maw and exhaled a long stream of flame, erupting towards Lu Yuan like a volcanic burst.

This Dragon was hundreds of feet long, its head as imposing as a mountain peak; a single fiery exhalation incinerated everything around it. Lu Yuan immediately used the White Emperor Sword Dao to accelerate, leaping aside, planning his counterattack. As soon as Lu Yuan evaded, the ground where he had stood moments before melted away under the intense heat, releasing a blast of superheated steam.

This Scarlet Dragon was immensely powerful. The strength of One Dragon was indeed worthy of its name. Lu Yuan planted his sword, refusing to yield.

How could he speak of giving up before the last trace of magical power was spent? Lu Yuan lay panting heavily on the ground. A nearly transparent defensive shield shimmered over his body; the Protective Jade Pendant had shattered.

He gasped repeatedly, sucking in air. The strength of One Dragon was indeed the strength of One Dragon; a true dragon was a true dragon. While his current power allowed him to slice through cultivators of the Sixth Layer of the Grand Dao realm like chopping melons and vegetables, facing a true dragon at the Seventh Layer of the Grand Dao realm was proving too difficult.

This was his limit! He had failed this stage as well, but failure was not inherently negative. Occasional failure allowed him to recognize his own strength, his boundaries.

He was not destined to be invincible forever. His final ranking was set at eleventh place.