It was a marvelous, mystical thing. So long as the stakes were high enough, even an immortal would find themselves involuntarily drawn in. Ten high-grade spirit stones—the stakes were astonishingly high! Once this wager between Jian Wenhao and Lu Yuan was set, all forty-eight other newcomers nearby were captivated. The betting had truly begun! Seven newcomers from the Outer Domain, such as Shi Feixian, Huo Yibu, and Di Yun, naturally hoped Lu Yuan would win. Meanwhile, those from the Central Dynasty stood with Jian Wenhao of the Star of the Sword, both out of deference and rationality, as they simply didn't believe Lu Yuan stood much of a chance. This wasn't to say Lu Yuan lacked talent—his ability to reach this stage as an outsider certainly demonstrated considerable strength. However, the unfortunate reality was that Jian Wenhao’s elder brother was the Son of the Sword.

The Son of the Sword—a powerhouse of the Chaos Realm, one of the seven most famous peerless geniuses in the entire Central Dynasty.

Indeed, only the Son of the Sword truly merited the title "Peerless Genius." A few casual pointers from the Son of the Sword would be more than enough for Jian Wenhao to win this bet.

Therefore, Lu Yuan was doomed to lose.

Xuan Twelve stood with his hands clasped behind his back; his assessment differed from the others. Lu Yuan’s mastery of the Way of the Sword was already profound, though his magical power was lacking. This youth’s talent certainly couldn't compare to the Son of the Sword, nor to the other four peerless geniuses who had grasped the Sword Intent of Life under the previous Sword Master. However, Lu Yuan was undoubtedly a genius above the ordinary. Others might not see it, but Xuan Twelve had been deeply impressed when he witnessed Lu Yuan in action at Great Void City.

This young man’s future was uncertain. If one were to compare raw strength, talent, and potential, Jian Wenhao—who had been taught by the Son of the Sword for so long and grew up in the Central Dynasty, a place overflowing with spiritual energy and medicinal herbs—only managed to draw even with Lu Yuan during this recent breakthrough attempt. In terms of inherent ability, Jian Wenhao was naturally far inferior to Lu Yuan. Yet, Jian Wenhao’s brother was the Son of the Sword.

Hence, who would win this wager remained genuinely hard to predict.

Never mind, let's wait and see.

Regardless, both Jian Wenhao and Lu Yuan would likely become major figures within the Sword Gate in the future; both possessed either profound backing or immense talent.

Let's just enjoy the show, Xuan Twelve murmured slightly. "Oh, right, a brief introduction to this Soaring Sword Tower. This Soaring Sword Tower was accidentally discovered in an ancient ruin—very likely an artifact from the previous epoch, its origins utterly mysterious. According to the Lord of Martial Ancient Civilization who tested it, if one can ascend to the top floor, the 108th level, they will possess the strength of a Civilization Lord."

"It's a pity that in the ten thousand, even million-year history of our Sword Gate, not a single person has managed to pass the 108th floor, and virtually no one has even reached the 100th. What a lamentable shame." Hearing Xuan Twelve speak thus, Lu Yuan couldn't help but look up. So this Soaring Sword Tower was such an ancient relic, and reaching the level of a Civilization Lord was required for a complete clear.

Civilization Lord! That was the pinnacle power of an entire epoch.

Civilization Lord! That represented the convergence of numerous civilizations.

The Soaring Sword Tower now appeared incredibly magnificent in his eyes. Jian Wenhao looked at Lu Yuan: "Enough idle talk. I will reach the standard for an inner disciple sooner than you, and you will obediently accept defeat then." He was exceptionally smug; he intended to crush Lu Yuan. If he couldn't even suppress a mere Lu Yuan, how could he possibly qualify as the Star of the Sword, second only to the Son of the Sword?

Lu Yuan shrugged: "You should wash your neck clean and wait to concede."

News of this wager spread rapidly.

Jian Wenhao, the brother of the Son of the Sword, held considerable renown within the Sword Gate. Lu Yuan’s comprehension of the Dao by observing the words 'Sword Gate'—even without grasping the Sword Intent of Life—had startled a portion of the sect members, granting him some internal fame. Since the bet involved both of them wagering significantly, the news spread like wildfire.

Returning to his residence, Lu Yuan sat down cross-legged.

What truly troubled him now, what limited his combat strength, was undoubtedly the issue of magical power; after all, he was currently only at the fifth level of the Great Dao Realm in terms of energy reserves.

Therefore, what he needed to do now was break through his magical power. Once his energy could ascend to the sixth heaven of the Great Dao Realm—the Nascent Soul Sovereignty Realm—his power would reach a new height, and he could win the bet against the Star of the Sword.

The sixth heaven, Nascent Soul Sovereignty, required the Nascent Soul Sovereign to command all its inherent laws. His Nascent Soul was formed from his innate Law of Cloud. The so-called Cloud Nascent Soul meant he had to make his Cloud Nascent Soul command the other thirty-six ancient laws. Upon success, he could step into the sixth heaven of the Great Dao Realm.

For others, this hurdle wasn't overly difficult, but Lu Yuan possessed thirty-seven ancient laws—his innate law plus thirty-six others. This made it vastly more challenging than for those who only needed to master ten or so ancient talismans. Nevertheless, no matter how difficult, he had to push forward now.

I’ll risk it all!

He ignited the several hundred mid-grade spirit stones surrounding him, channeling the dense spiritual energy into a burning torrent. Over two hundred spirit beasts of the ferocious kind surged into his body, burning fiercely, pouring rolling vital energy into his frame. Lu Yuan calmed his mind; the most urgent task was enabling his Cloud Nascent Soul to control the other thirty-six ancient talismans.

Since his innate Nascent Soul was Cloud-attributed, which fundamentally belonged to the Water element, he decided to test controlling the Water-attributed ancient talismans first. He discovered that even controlling the Water talismans was exceedingly difficult. Initially, the Water talismans completely ignored the Cloud Nascent Soul.

"Innate Nascent Soul, Control!" Lu Yuan roared, intensifying his mental focus. Strands of spiritual thread emanated from the Nascent Soul, reaching out to control the single ancient Water talisman. The Water talisman struggled violently, attempting to break free, but Lu Yuan increased the pressure, casting line after line of spiritual thread down upon it.

Before long, this ancient Water talisman submitted beneath the control of the Cloud Nascent Soul, acknowledging its dominant position.

With the Water talisman subdued, the other Water-attributed ancient talismans—Ice, Snow, Lake, Sea, Wine, Mist, Rain—all began to fall under the command of the Cloud Nascent Soul.

At this moment, the Cloud Nascent Soul had successfully mastered eight ancient talismans, marking a promising start.

If only the rest went this smoothly. Lu Yuan immediately attempted to control talismans of other elements. He found that when trying to reach the Metal-attributed ancient talismans, he couldn't exert any control whatsoever, wasting vast amounts of spiritual threads—each thread formed from his own mental energy—leading to rapid depletion.

When attempting to control the Wood-attributed ancient talismans, the Wood talismans offered no response at all, letting the spiritual threads pass through them entirely without notice.

Trying to control the Fire-attributed ancient talismans resulted in the flames incinerating his spiritual threads before they could even draw near.

For the Earth-attributed ancient talismans, no matter how many threads were projected, they vanished without a trace.

Finally, when attempting to control the ancient Death talisman, which was five times larger than ordinary ancient talismans, the situation was far worse. The spiritual threads were completely annihilated upon contact, and the grim, ashen aura representing Death shot directly toward the Cloud Nascent Soul itself, coating it with a layer of blackness. Lu Yuan immediately severed the threads and managed to expel the deathly intent from his Nascent Soul with great difficulty.

This meant that in his current cultivation progress, he had only managed to control the eight Water-attributed ancient talismans, leaving twenty-eight others from different elements. The most troublesome was undoubtedly the Death talisman; it was too bizarre—any contact resulted in the instant destruction of the spiritual thread.

Lu Yuan held a jade token in his hand. He didn't know what material it was made from, but the person who delivered it was Xuan Twelve. Xuan Twelve stated plainly, "This jade token serves as your proof of identity within the Sword Gate. Since they were rushed, these were delivered slightly late. No external force can harm this token; you can test it out, no matter the strength you use." Seeing that the eight outsiders still hesitated, afraid of shattering the token, Xuan Twelve assured them, "Even I, with my Chaos Realm strength, cannot destroy this token, so you can rest assured." Lu Yuan tested it, channeling his magical power into it, and found the jade token remained utterly still.

Xuan Twelve continued, "This token will display your respective information, such as points. Your records climbing the Sword Tower will earn corresponding points. Currently, Lu Yuan, your points should be the highest—you reached the third floor, earning three hundred points, plus one hundred newcomer points. Shi Feixian and Huo Yibu, you both have three hundred points."

"Those who haven't cleared a single level receive one hundred newcomer points."

"With the corresponding points, you can acquire corresponding items."

"Within the Sword Gate, there are Scripture Halls and Commercial Districts. You can go take a look. You can exchange points for various items. Of course, as ordinary disciples now, you can only access small portions of both the Scripture Hall and the Commercial District, but you can still look around. The Scripture Hall contains all manner of ancient texts, but reading them requires spending points. The Commercial District has all sorts of goods; you can buy and sell using resources, or you can use points for transactions. This is the function of this personal jade token."

"Furthermore, in the future when you ascend the Soaring Sword Tower, you will need this token to verify your identity and record your progress. However, ascending the tower does not require spending points."

Lu Yuan was truly stunned.

So Mount Hua had a Scripture Pavilion and a commercial street?

And the Sword Gate was truly magnificent in its scale—a Scripture City and a Commercial City, one entire city dedicated to scrolls and books, another entire city dedicated to commerce.

The Sword Gate was truly vast beyond imagination. Built upon the foundation of the stars, even the smallest subsection occupied the scale of an entire city.