This sword strike resembled a gentle spring breeze turning into rain, brimming with endless springtime vitality, yet hidden within that boundless spring feeling was a potent, surging intent to kill.

The next strike drifted and swayed, entirely unmoored from any fixed position.

One sword followed another, each one exquisitely precise, executing more than ten distinct sword intents in rapid succession.

The deployment of these sword intents was seamlessly connected. Since the entity manifesting these intents was a monstrous construct formed entirely of swords, Lu Yuan managed to evade one strike only to face the next. When evasion became impossible, he relied on Lun Hui (Reincarnation) to parry, immediately retreating upon impact while the sword intent monster ruthlessly pursued him.

One fleeing, one chasing, within the confines of the Sword Scroll world.

Effortlessly, tens of thousands of li were traversed.

Time relentlessly ticked by. Lu Yuan managed to catch his breath, having sparred and fled from this sword intent monster for so long that his mana had been severely depleted. Flying itself didn't cost much, but having to block the monster’s sword techniques drained his power significantly. The sword intent monster itself possessed the mana level of a Ninth Level Dao Realm expert, bolstered by a hundred and one different sword intents, ensuring it held the upper hand in every exchange.

Truly frustrating, Lu Yuan felt utterly helpless.

Why the frustration? Entering the Sword Scroll was a rare opportunity to comprehend new sword intents. Before entering, he had grasped three; after entering, over the span of eight or nine hours, he had managed to comprehend two more.

Two sword intents in eight or nine hours—in the subsequent ten-plus hours, even though grasping new intents became progressively harder, surely grasping another two or three shouldn't be too difficult, perhaps even four.

Instead, what was the current situation? Utterly disastrous luck. Hunted by the sword intent monster for countless hours, time was wasted, yet no new sword intent was gained.

And looking at the remaining time, it seemed scarce.

Bad luck.

Truthfully, he had devised methods to deal with the monster, but after trying more than a dozen approaches, he couldn't even make a dent in the sword intent creature.

The sword intent monster continued its relentless pursuit, chuckling eerily, "I must kill you! I sense the aura of my own kind upon you; I absolutely must kill you." Kindred aura. This monster had likely intercepted the residual fortune of the previous epoch, having gathered the myriad sword intents left behind from that era, thereby capturing its fortune as well.

Lu Yuan, unaware of these intricacies, cursed inwardly: My foot, you're my kind!

Through the cycle of fighting and fleeing, Lu Yuan slowly began to adapt to the sword intent monster's attacks. After all, this was a monster born decades ago. Its attacks focused primarily on sword intent, and they were somewhat monotonous; lacking any other ultimate moves besides sword intent, it was easier to deal with than other Ninth Level Dao Realm experts.

He landed atop a peak. It was a volcanic area. "Are there volcanoes here? I can borrow some strength. Fire Emperor Sword Dao, cleave for me!" He channeled the volcano’s power, only to find no fire beneath him whatsoever. Damn it—he forgot this was a world utterly annihilated; even the flames were in a state of absolute cold, possessing no fiery essence to borrow.

The sword intent monster let out a strange, eerie laugh and unleashed another razor-sharp sword qi. Forced into a direct confrontation, Lu Yuan met the blow, collapsing backward into the crater. He tumbled down into the lava—which held no warmth—and thought to himself, Fine, I'll use the downward path to break through. The sword intent monster hesitated for a moment before immediately following him down.

Now inside the crater, Lu Yuan found it surprisingly deep. He rolled downward, descending thousands of meters until, with a thud, he fell into the deepest part of the volcanic vent. Huh? Where am I? Lu Yuan realized he was inside the belly of the mountain.

The sword intent monster hadn't immediately followed. It was a pitch-black descent of several kilometers; perhaps it had taken a wrong turn in the confusion.

Never mind, let’s see if I can shake this monster off, Lu Yuan mused. Encountering a sword intent monster within the Sword Scroll could only be attributed to extreme misfortune.

He observed the cavernous interior when suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a flower.

It was a flower in the very act of blooming.

The bud was straining to release the vital energy held within.

And at that precise instant, this small cosmos had been shattered and frozen. This very flower was preserved in that exact state, arrested in that single moment.

Thus, when Lu Yuan arrived, he witnessed one of the most beautiful sights imaginable.

It was the zenith of surging vitality.

Across countless epochs, flowers bloomed myriad times, but to be frozen at the precise instant of maximum vital outpouring was nearly impossible.

In that moment, a profound emotion stirred within Lu Yuan.

Simultaneously, the characters for Jian Men (Sword Gate), inscribed by the previous Sword Master of the Sword Gate and imbued with the Sword Intent of Life, echoed repeatedly in his mind. Along with them appeared the Sword Intents of River, Flow, and Spring—three intents overflowing with life. At this instant, everything began to merge and connect seamlessly.

In that second, he saw grass breaking through the earth, petals unfurling from buds, dogs giving birth to pups, hens laying eggs, frogs spawning, and even sights usually unseen: ancient divine dragons mating and birthing dragon whelps. Pushing further back, new life began to gestate within the chaos.

This epoch had begun.

At the dawn of this epoch, it seemed, within a grand gate, boundless vitality began to release itself, spreading into the primordial chaos.

At this moment, Lu Yuan even saw the majestic, imposing gate bore the inscription: Qi Yuan Zhi Men (Gate of Origin)—four ancient characters that had endured untold ages.

Countless chains dropped down, yanking his spiritual consciousness back, and in an instant, the magnificence of the Gate of Origin vanished from sight.

Lu Yuan awoke, yet even though he was lucid, he couldn't shake the memory of the Gate of Origin’s grandeur. This was the third gate he had encountered—the previous two being the Gate of Heaven and Earth, and the Gate of Laws. What was this world truly composed of, that so many ancient, weathered gates existed in the distant depths of spacetime?

And at this moment, Lu Yuan understood: he had comprehended the Sword Intent of Life. Up to this point, he had mastered both the twin intents of Life and Death. Having grasped both profoundly, insights flooded his mind almost instantaneously. He understood the principle: Life conquers Death, and Death restrains Life.

Indeed, understanding that Life restrains Death and Death restrains Life was also linked to his present environment—in this environment of total life extinction, new life could still emerge, exemplified by the sword intent monster.

There is no absolute Life, nor absolute Death. Life and Death mutually restrict one another, like a great serpent biting its own tail, much like the Yin-Yang fish.

This meant he had comprehended the Second Yin and Second Yang among the Nine Yin and Nine Yang.

Bang! At that moment, the rock wall was violently blasted open, and the sword intent monster stood before Lu Yuan once more, cackling, "Kid, you can't escape! This time, you die by my hand!" He launched his attack again, and Lu Yuan could only continue to defend against it.

As he clashed with the sword intent monster, a flash of inspiration struck Lu Yuan’s mind: having achieved the twin Sword Intents of Life and Death, why not attempt to manifest the Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation formed by these two intents?

The word Reincarnation (Lun Hui) was profound. He had only grasped the initial force of Reincarnation before, but now, mastering Life and Death sword intents allowed him to activate the Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation. Wait—using this plate with his current mana level was insufficient; his power was too low. Never mind, he would burn spirit stones!

Instantly, a hundred mid-grade spirit stones ignited, supplementing Lu Yuan’s mana. Lu Yuan roared, "Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation, appear!"

Following his shout, a massive Reincarnation Plate materialized in the void. Within the wheel, it displayed the form of the Yin-Yang fish—one side black, one side white. The black side governed the Sword Intent of Death; the white side governed the Sword Intent of Life. These two intents cycled perfectly within the Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation, and Lu Yuan found himself standing precisely at its center.

The plate beneath his feet seemed to embody the antiquity of primordial times!

The sword intent monster cackled, "What good is some strange, odd-looking thing? Break for me!" He had always assumed defeating Lu Yuan would be easy and paid it no mind, launching a strike that resembled the Milky Way plunging from the Ninth Heaven, possessing immense momentum. As this sword strike shot out, Lu Yuan also wished to test the Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation, bringing his own long sword forward, unleashing the power of Life and Death Reincarnation.

In that instant, something remarkably subtle and ineffable seemed to occur.

It appeared as if something from the sword intent monster was transmitted through the power of Life and Death Reincarnation, arriving upon Lu Yuan.

What just happened in that split second?

The sword intent monster froze, feeling that something essential was missing from him.

Lu Yuan also froze, sensing he had gained something.

For a moment, neither dared to be certain.

After a long pause, the sword intent monster shrieked, "What's happening? I've lost a sword intent! Why?"

He was missing a sword intent? Lu Yuan quickly checked himself but found no obvious manifestation. He immediately activated the talisman floating above his head. He originally had thirty-seven ancient talismans; this enlightenment had gained him five more, bringing the total to forty-two. But upon careful count, there were forty-three.

The Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation! Could this thing absorb others' sword intents and transfer them to oneself?

Impossible!

He recalled his Martial Ancestor Zhou Qingxuan briefly explaining the Plate of Life and Death Reincarnation, stating it was meant to consume an enemy's lifespan, with limitations—for instance, it couldn't consume the life of someone two cultivation tiers above him due to insufficient mana. But against this sword intent monster, instead of consuming lifespan as expected, it absorbed the opponent's sword intent?

This was truly extraordinarily strange.