Lu Yuan was deep in thought.

What exactly was the Death Intent?

However, as one of the ten most difficult Intents to cultivate between Heaven and Earth, achieving complete comprehension in a short time was impossible.

All living things die! Animals perish! Plants wither! Mortals fall! Immortal cultivators meet their end! Heaven will collapse, and Earth will be annihilated! All beings and all things cannot escape the single character of 'Death,' and even entire epochs cannot evade it. But what is Death itself? Most people of the Northern Territory cultivate the Five Intents of Life and Death, yet among so many heroes and peerless geniuses, not a single one claims to have fully mastered the grand Intents of Life and Death.

For now, setting aside Life, he would focus only on learning the Five Intents of Death.

Yet, no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't grasp the Five Intents of Death.

It seemed that the Intents of Life and Death were the key to advancing his Five Paths.

He had now learned Reincarnation and mastered its power. Within Reincarnation existed the Reincarnation of Life and Death, and the Reincarnation of Time and Space. If he could master Life and Death, he could master the Reincarnation of Life and Death!

Secondly, Life and Death represented one Yin and one Yang within the cultivation method of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang. Once mastered, it would count as completing one-ninth of the Yin-Yang cycle.

Ah, right. When facing the man in white, the Void had unexpectedly manifested a Wheel of Reincarnation beyond his control. That Wheel had absorbed the five streams of Qi imbued with the Five Intents of Death that the man in white had struck out. He decided to examine it. With a wave of his hand, the Wheel of Reincarnation appeared in the Void.

The original Wheel of Life and Death Reincarnation was ethereal and indistinct.

Now, after absorbing the Death Intent, the Wheel had taken on a pitch-black hue. That blackness was so profound, it seemed to be the singular blackness since the dawn of time—a blackness that had persisted despite the destruction of countless epochs. Lu Yuan extended his divine sense into it. The moment his consciousness entered, he felt as if he were being overwhelmed by a frenzy of slaughter.

What darkness this was! What terrifying killing intent!

He seemed to witness all things flourishing and growing, only to reach the latter stages: flowers withered, trees shed their leaves, people died, beauty turned to white bone, and heroes crumbled to dust. Eons passed, infinite years flowed by, and whether possessing life or not, everything eventually vanished, disappearing at a terrifying pace.

Lu Yuan suddenly struggled and awoke from the boundless slaughter and profound blackness.

This time, he had comprehended a portion of the Five Intents of Death.

Essentially, by borrowing the power of the Wheel of Life and Death Reincarnation, he had grasped a fraction of what the man in white had comprehended regarding the Death Intent—a minuscule part of the Death Evening Intent (). This meant he had instantly gained the cultivation experience and insight the man in white had accumulated over several decades concerning the Death Intent. In total, the man in white had only centuries of experience regarding the Five Intents of Death.

Ah, he had figured out the secret to cultivating the Five Intents of Life and Death.

For the Five Intents of Death, the normal cultivation path, based on his Five Path innate talent, would normally take a hundred years.

But now, by utilizing the Wheel of Life and Death Reincarnation, all he needed to do was find cultivators from the Great Ancient Kingdom of the Northern Territory who practiced the Five Intents of Life and Death. By using the Wheel to draw them in, he could achieve rapid success.

This was indeed a shortcut.

With this realization, Lu Yuan opened his eyes.

He truly looked forward to his next opponent; he hoped it would be someone from the Great Ancient Kingdom of the Northern Territory.

At this moment, the fourth round of the competition had already begun. The fourth round was filtering the remaining one hundred and fifty contestants down to seventy-five. By this stage, only one hundred and fifty people remained. Every single person left was guaranteed entry into the Central Heavenly Dynasty, but this was now a contest for ranking, as each wished to join a better faction, such as Civilization!

With only 150 contestants left, the billions of spectators across the Four Territories were debating who among these remaining individuals was truly the strongest. The four generally acknowledged as the absolute strongest were Gu Qiushui, Xiao Xiongxiong, Fu Ying, and Li Qiuhuan. However, determining the fifth place was highly debatable, and once the frontrunners were settled, arguments shifted to the others.

And unquestionably, Lu Yuan was viewed by the people of the Southern, Eastern, Western, and Northern Territories as having been excessively lucky.

It seemed he had won each match by sheer chance, always dragging out his fights to the maximum duration.

Such a person making it to the fourth round was attributed to good fortune; he would likely lose his next bout.

In truth, those who had genuinely observed Lu Yuan's battles would not consider him weak. However, the early rounds featured matches grouped in sets of ten, and people naturally gravitated toward watching the higher-profile contestants. Someone like Lu Yuan naturally received less attention, leading many to believe he had merely stumbled through on luck.

The fourth round commenced.

What kind of opponent would the "lucky" Lu Yuan draw this time?

The fourth round consisted of seventy-five matches running simultaneously, with three bouts occurring at once.

When it was Lu Yuan's turn, he glanced at the pairing and let out a slight gasp.

Southern Territory's Lu Yuan versus Southern Territory's Mo Zihe.

This was completely unexpected. He had been anticipating an opponent from the Northern Territory who utilized the Five Intents of Life and Death. He never imagined facing Mo Zihe. Although unexpected, it didn't matter; Mo Zihe had been buzzing around his ears like an annoying insect all along, and he didn't mind swatting him down again.

Lu Yuan shrugged.

He stepped onto the small arena. This time, the venue was a low, squat peak. Was it even a peak? It didn't matter much; he had practiced the Five Techniques on Mount Hua, and Mo Zihe had practiced the Five Great Techniques on Mount Jiuhua. Both were long accustomed to mountain environments, so it would have little impact on either of them.

Looking at his opponent, Mo Zihe was already standing at the summit of the peak, looking supremely smug. "Hahaha, Lu Yuan, I never thought you'd run into me! This time, I, this young master, will thoroughly teach you a lesson." Mo Zihe was beaming with satisfaction. Setting aside the grudges between their sects, he had fundamentally disliked Lu Yuan from the first moment he saw him. If Lu Yuan had just knelt down and licked his boots, he might have spared him. Instead, Lu Yuan had repeatedly ignored him, and during the previous Southern Territory assessment, Lu Yuan had ranked higher than him.

What good was a higher rank then? Lord Nalan De, the Second Ruler of the Great Yong Kingdom, disliked Lu Yuan and gave all the rewards meant for him to Mo Zihe, allowing him to join the Thirty Prodigy Training Program—how exhilarating was that? Furthermore, within this program, Lord Nalan De had specifically nurtured him, boosting his cultivation to the early stage of the Seventh Level of the Great Dao Realm. Since then, he had been unstoppable. Now, reaching the top 150 essentially guaranteed his entry into the Central Heavenly Dynasty. He had worried joining Civilization might be harder, but running into Lu Yuan at this moment was perfect.

Lu Yuan, you have reached this point through "good luck" and "sheer fortune." Sadly, all your "good luck" and "sheer fortune" will now serve me, propelling me into the top seventy-five, perhaps even helping me enter Civilization instead of just joining a sect.

How exhilarating! Mo Zihe felt his entire body flush with heat.

Too good!

Mo Zihe managed to suppress his boiling excitement and let out a loud laugh to the sky: "Lu Yuan, your luck ends here. You are destined to be defeated by my hands. You, the descendant of Xianhua Peak, are destined to become my stepping stone, unable to advance further!" Mo Zihe could sense that a climax was coming soon—yes, after he defeated Lu Yuan, his elation would peak. Lu Yuan, you vile wretch, daring to ignore this young master! Now you see my power!

Mo Zihe moved his hand, revealing his Spirit Weapon: the connected twin Spirit Blades, A Crane Spirit Blade, Ascending to Heaven Spirit Blade (，). Using these twin blades, his speed could reach its absolute limit. "Vile wretch, descendant of Xianhua Peak, bring out your Spirit Weapon! I will show you the vast gulf between you and this young master."

Lu Yuan didn't even touch his weapons. "Wasting my Spirit Weapon on a dog would sully it. This time, I won't be using any Spirit Weapon."

Mo Zihe trembled with rage. This wretch dared to be so arrogant just moments before his death! He decided he had to kill Lu Yuan brutally, leaving him not a shred of dignity, making him regret ever existing in this world. "Vile wretch from Xianhua Peak, then take this and die!"

Mo Zihe shook his hand and unleashed the Ten Kings Blade! Instantly, the Intent of Fire! The Intent of Thunder! The Evening Intent of Wind! The Intent of Mountain! The Intent of Rage! The Intent of Fury! The Intent of Flame! The Intent of Blazing! The Intent of Stone! The Intent of Kings! Ten Intents manifested in his hands—this was the secret technique of his Ten Kings Peak, the Ten Kings Five Methods ().

This Ten Kings Evening Method fixed ten Intents and simultaneously allowed them to be merged into one of the most violent and terrifying attacks. Though the Ten Kings Five Methods unleashed ten Intents, once launched, its power was said to be comparable to fifteen Intents. In an instant, his hands held what looked like an extremely violent and terrifying explosive device, hurtling toward Lu Yuan with a deafening roar.

What a fierce attack!

The Ten Kings Evening Method was truly formidable!

These past few days, Mo Zihe, relying on his decent strength and appearance, had attracted many admirers. These people cheered for Mo Zihe on the water mirror projections. Mo Yewang, the modern Sect Master of Mount Jiuhua, stroked his beard, proud that his son Mo Zihe was indeed excellent. The Ten Kings Five Methods already showed seven-tenths of his own mastery of the Five Paths. Coupled with his Seventh Level Great Dao Realm cultivation, sweeping Lu Yuan aside should be incredibly simple.

With this victory, his son would enter the top seventy-five. If he could advance further into the top thirty-eight, entering Civilization would bring immense glory to their ancestors.

The Mount Jiuhua lineage had persisted for so many generations, yet none had ever entered Civilization.

His son truly surpassed his predecessors.

Mo Yewang stroked his beard, deeply satisfied.

Then, he saw Lu Yuan strike out with a single palm, a strike that blasted forward with a roar, flattening Mo Zihe into a near-pancake.