The shopkeepers nearby were all taken aback.

Having been within the Sword Gate, they had certainly witnessed grand spectacles and had indeed seen cultivators possessing thirty-seven types of ancient Laws. However, those who wielded thirty-seven Laws were typically ancient monsters thousands or tens of thousands of years old. It was rare to see someone as young as Lu Yuan. Still, the Sword Gate was known to harbor all manner of freaks, even figures like the Son of the Sword, so they were somewhat accustomed to the unusual.

What followed, however, truly astonished them: Lu Yuan, using a single Nascent Soul Talisman Pill, could simultaneously control twelve ancient Talismans.

This was merely one Nascent Soul Talisman Pill.

How could a single Nascent Soul Talisman Pill accomplish such a feat? They were utterly baffled.

And at this moment, Lu Yuan was still cultivating. Spirit is equivalent to the Divine Soul, and the main focus of the Longevity Stage is the cultivation of the Divine Soul.

Threads of spirit energy projected out from the white Nascent Soul, shooting towards the seven ancient Talismans of the Wood element: Wood, Wind, Rage, Thunder, Softness, Grass, and Thought. These seven ancient Talismans attempted to struggle, but Lu Yuan gave them no chance. Thread after thread of spiritual energy shot out, tightly binding the seven ancient Talismans until, before long, they submitted.

At this juncture, the Cloud Nascent Soul grew increasingly massive; with every ancient Talisman that submitted, the Nascent Soul expanded slightly and became more crystalline and translucent.

The Cloud Nascent Soul immediately projected more spiritual threads toward the eight ancient Talismans of the Earth element: Earth, Stone, Mountain, Defense, Mud, Sand, Moon, and Star. These eight ancient Talismans also tried to resist, but Lu Yuan, having undergone so much training, was now highly skilled. In a short while, he had subdued these eight ancient Talismans.

Spiritual threads then extended toward the last ancient Talisman: the ancient Talisman of Death. This Talisman was larger than the other five combined and floated in isolation, as if everything else instinctively avoided it. More spiritual threads were cast toward it, but they were instantly incinerated, turning black and dissolving into ash.

The ancient Talisman of Death was indeed powerful.

Lu Yuan paid it no mind and continued to pour out spiritual threads, only to have them continuously burned away.

At this point, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Awakening slightly, he realized the effects of the initial pill had worn off. It seemed he needed another Nascent Soul Talisman Pill. Coincidentally, he had exactly two hundred points remaining. He went to Shopkeeper Zhang and purchased another Nascent Soul Talisman Pill, immediately reducing the points on his jade token to zero.

Shopkeeper Zhang had long since abandoned any thought of fleecing an easy mark.

He was so dumbfounded that his mouth hung wide open.

One Nascent Soul Talisman Pill had managed to subdue a full twenty-seven ancient Talismans—how could anyone accept this?

For an ordinary person to control twenty ancient Talismans required at least ten or more Nascent Soul Talisman Pills.

He mechanically handed the pill over. The other nearby shopkeepers, though they had witnessed numerous grand scenes, were also paralyzed by shock at the current display. What in the world was happening? They rubbed their eyes, thinking they were seeing an illusion, only to realize this was certainly no mirage.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged once more and swallowed the Nascent Soul Talisman Pill. Immediately, thick spiritual threads emerged from his Cloud Nascent Soul, shooting toward the Death Sword Intent. He continued to project these threads toward the Death Sword Intent. The Death Sword Intent relentlessly burned away the threads, but after countless burnings, Lu Yuan invested countless more spiritual threads.

Finally, the first spiritual thread managed to adhere to the ancient Talisman of Death without being consumed by the black fire.

Immediately, more spiritual threads were cast onto the ancient Talisman of Death.

"Subdue!" Lu Yuan roared.

The Cloud Nascent Soul snapped open its eyes.

With the opening of its eyes, heaven and earth trembled. At that instant, the ancient Talisman of Death was instantly brought under control.

All thirty-seven ancient Talismans were completely subdued. Above Lu Yuan’s head, the Cloud Nascent Soul had grown considerably larger, flashing with all manner of colors—flashes of Wind, flashes of Thunder, transformations of Grass, the sight of Rage—before finally dissolving into nothingness, reverting to the pure white essence of the Cloud, now appearing like pure glazed crystal throughout.

Success at last!

He had finally reached the Sixth Level of the Great Dao Realm: Nascent Soul Dominance. At this moment, his entire reservoir of magic power surged violently, rising immeasurably—at least one and a half times its previous level. Simultaneously, his body underwent many changes, becoming firmer and more powerful, though the greatest transformation was seen in the Nascent Soul itself.

In truth, the benefits gained at this level were numerous: increased magic power, a solidified physical body, a strengthened Nascent Soul, and crucially, the Death Sword Intent was now completely under his command, ensuring that when he eventually comprehended the Life Sword Intent, it would not act independently.

His next step was to charge toward the Seventh Level of the Great Dao Realm. He always looked up with envy at the floating (Qingyun, or ‘Auspicious Cloud’) above the heads of those Grandmasters, and upon reaching the Seventh Level, he too would manifest his own Qingyun.

Of course, his immediate priority was to proceed to the Soaring Sword Tower to fulfill the wager he had made with Jian Wenhao of Sword Star.

He was determined to utterly humiliate Jian Star so that he could not face others.

A mere Jian Star—he was challenging the Son of the Sword, not Jian Star.

Lu Yuan did not dwell on why he managed to break through to the Sixth Level of the Great Dao Realm with only two Nascent Soul Talisman Pills. This was, in fact, an incredibly profound matter. For a normal cultivator possessing thirty-seven ancient Talismans to challenge this threshold, they would need to prepare at least twenty Nascent Soul Talisman Pills, and that was just the starting point; consuming thirty or forty was entirely normal.

Lu Yuan succeeded with only two for two primary reasons.

First, Lu Yuan’s inherent spiritual power was immense. Spiritual power is Divine Soul, and a large part of the Longevity Stage is dedicated to cultivating the Divine Soul. While Lu Yuan’s original Divine Soul strength was merely average, during the battle to defend Mount Hua, he unleashed a powerful surge of will. At that time, he had already surpassed his limit, but his unwavering focus on holding the line, his profound belief, caused the Divine Soul connected to that belief to grow ever stronger. Lu Yuan’s Divine Soul strength was at least three times, perhaps more, that of a normal cultivator at the Fifth or Sixth Level of the Great Dao Realm.

Second, the growth of others was invariably aided by consuming numerous medicinal pills! Those who grew up in the Central Dynasty consumed the most pills. As for Shi Fei Xian and the other seven, while they consumed fewer pills than those from the Central Dynasty, they still consumed far more than Lu Yuan. They originated from great nations, after all.

Only Lu Yuan came from a remote border state. While he had taken some pills, he had consumed very few, and those elixirs were significantly inferior in effect compared to the pills consumed in the great nations and the Central Dynasty. Furthermore, medicinal resistance develops from pill usage. Lu Yuan, who rarely used pills, experienced the maximum potency when he did consume them.

Of course, Lu Yuan vaguely understood some of these internal reasons, while the others largely remained unaware, deeming the situation utterly bizarre.

“Old Zhang in my life has seen many great scenes, even witnessed the majesty of the Sword Master once, but I have never seen anyone this monstrous.”

“Too monstrous; two Nascent Soul Talisman Pills to control thirty-seven ancient Talismans,” the nearby shopkeepers murmured amongst themselves.

Subsequently, Lu Yuan and his entourage of eight purchased some items, while a few planned to accumulate more points to buy things they desired. In any case, everyone in this group had gained something, but without a doubt, Lu Yuan had gained the most—he had forcefully advanced from the Fifth Level of the Great Dao Realm, Nascent Soul Manifestation, to the Sixth Level, Nascent Soul Dominance.

Below the Soaring Sword Tower.

Lu Yuan arrived here, and every time he gazed upon the Soaring Sword Tower, he felt an impulse to worship. This structure was almost certainly an ancient relic, born from the previous epoch; those who passed through all one hundred and eight layers were known as Lords of Civilization.

The Sword Gate was vast, and its people numerous.

At every moment, cultivators were attempting to challenge the Soaring Sword Tower.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to enter, a voice called out to him, laced with youthful arrogance: "Lu Yuan, you've come to this Soaring Sword Tower too."

He had only recently joined the Sword Gate, so very few people knew him. Who could it be? Judging by the voice, it could only be that one person. Lu Yuan turned back and confirmed his suspicion: Jian Wenhao of Sword Star was striding forward with confident steps, accompanied by more than a dozen followers.

As the younger brother of the Son of the Sword, his entourage was unlikely to be weak.

Jian Wenhao stopped before Lu Yuan: "Oh, Lu Yuan, why are you here at the Soaring Sword Tower? Don't tell me you plan to attempt it, to see how many levels you can clear? Too bad, you only reached the third level yesterday and couldn't pass the fourth. What difference will one day make? You'll probably fail at the fourth level even if you try."

"You should just stay put and watch this young master succeed," Jian Wenhao said smugly. Ever since placing the bet with Lu Yuan, he had been focused. After all, ten high-grade spirit stones were his entire fortune, and he didn't want to lose. More importantly, he wanted to be the top newcomer.

To that end, he hadn't slept after returning yesterday; he had been taught a secret technique by his elder brother, the Son of the Sword, and now he had arrived armed with it.

With the secret technique taught by the Son of the Sword, passing the fourth level presented no difficulty.

With good luck, he might even clear the fifth.

Clearing the sixth level was still out of the question for now, but with his brother's guidance and a bit more training, clearing the sixth level wouldn't be hard. In that case, wouldn't he win against Lu Yuan? A mere outsider claiming superiority over him, the top newcomer from the Central Dynasty—how ridiculous.

It is said that fine clothes are wasted if worn in darkness; he was looking forward to clearing floors here, certainly passing the fourth and possibly the fifth, and he was just lamenting the lack of an audience.

It was completely unexpected to run into Lu Yuan here attempting the challenge.

Perfect. Lu Yuan could witness his failure and Jian Wenhao’s success firsthand.

Jian Wenhao felt an overwhelming surge of pleasure.