Yet, looking at his mid-grade spirit stones, he realized he had few left—perhaps only a few hundred, enough for maybe five or six uses of the Wheel of Samsara. Lu Yuan hadn't felt this near depletion of resources in a long time, having neglected to gather mid-grade spirit stones when he could.

Now, he didn't even have enough elixirs to feed his Cloud-attributed spirit beasts. What a tragedy.

But this was hardly the time to worry about such things.

So far, he had managed to extract five types of sword intent, totaling ninety-six sword intents, from the Sword Intent Monster.

Nourishing his Sword Spirit and the Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Sword simultaneously drove them into a frenzy, forcing the Sword Intent Monster to unleash serious attacks infused with true sword intent, allowing Lu Yuan to siphon it off. Lu Yuan’s attacks came faster and faster. Faced with this onslaught, the monster had no choice but to counter, and ordinary moves proved useless against Lu Yuan's exquisite offensive techniques. It was compelled to use a Sword Intent-level strike once more.

Lu Yuan, naturally, was not going to be polite. The Wheel of Samsara sprang up again, absorbing this new sword intent. Upon receiving it, the thirty-ninth ancient talisman ascended above his head. This forty-ninth talisman bore the character "Frost" (). Frost Sword Intent? Another intent that could aid his enlightenment, though its practical use in combat was limited.

With a casual wave of his sword, he executed a strike that seemed as cold and sharp as the frost of autumn.

The exchange continued.

It was difficult to force the Sword Intent Monster to truly use its Sword Intent-level moves, Lu Yuan mused inwardly. However, he conceded it was understandable, as his own overall strength still lagged behind the monster’s.

Swords clashed and parried; the air was filled with the unending sound of steel meeting steel.

After chasing and evading like this for another half hour, the Sword Intent Monster was finally cornered into unleashing a Sword Intent-level strike. Lu Yuan laughed heartily, immediately burning another hundred mid-grade spirit stones. He cast the Wheel of Samsara out again, drawing in yet another strand of sword intent. Simultaneously, the fiftieth talisman rose above his head. The fiftieth ancient talisman bore the character "Rainbow" ().

Rainbow?

Lu Yuan unleashed a sword strike, and the space was instantly filled with endless, vibrant, seven-colored rainbow light.

This was the Rainbow Sword Intent!

Subtly, Lu Yuan sensed a connection between this intent and the Light Sword Intent. Since the Light Sword Intent was one of the Nine Yang Sword Intents—one he was destined to comprehend—this served as a foundation for mastering it.

Of the supposed Ten Most Difficult Sword Intents, Lu Yuan now knew eight: Heaven, Earth, Life, Death, Good, Evil, Light, and Darkness!

It was only now that he suddenly realized that the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Intents required eight of these—Heaven, Earth, Light, Darkness, Life, Death, Good, and Evil—from the Ten Most Difficult Intents. Why did Nine Yin and Nine Yang specifically point to the most difficult ones? Reflecting on it, it made a certain kind of sense: Nine Yin represented the extreme of Yin, and Nine Yang the extreme of Yang. Both were absolute extremes, just as the Ten Most Difficult Sword Intents were extreme concepts.

Simply put, it was the meeting of extremes.

Therefore, this overlap was perfectly natural.

The principles of Yin and Yang required far fewer sword intents than the law of Reincarnation, but correspondingly, the difficulty of each required intent was significantly higher.

Right now, what he truly needed were the six intents: Heaven, Earth, Light, Darkness, Good, and Evil; he had already mastered Life and Death.

These six intents were all notoriously difficult to grasp.

As for the other dozen or so intents required by Yin and Yang, they were relatively less difficult to comprehend. He only lacked the Sword Intents of Sun, Lightning, Motion, and Stillness—four in total.

A quick summary revealed that to master the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Intents, he was short ten sword intents in total.

Achieving the fiftieth sword intent filled Lu Yuan with immense joy. He looked at the Sword Intent Monster, which was now howling miserably. Lu Yuan had literally drained seven intents from it, leaving it with only ninety-four, making it much weaker than when it first manifested. However, this monster had been relentlessly pursuing him with the intent to kill just moments before.

For a Sword Intent Monster that tried to kill him, Lu Yuan had no intention of showing mercy.

Just then, a powerful surge struck him. Lu Yuan was startled—had the twenty-four hours elapsed? The intensity of pursuing the Sword Intent Monster had made him lose track of time, and now the limit was reached; he had to leave the Sword Scroll World.

What a pity!

That was Lu Yuan’s last thought within the scroll; he truly hated to leave.

The Sword Intent Monster involuntarily wiped a bead of sweat from its brow. It had finally endured. In ten years, it vowed to find a safe place. There were too many monsters in the Sword Gate, and for a cultivator at the Sixth Layer of the Great Dao Realm to be this monstrous... how was it supposed to compete?

Outside the Sword Scroll.

Discussions about the results were already underway.

Those remaining outside the scroll were those who hadn't met the standard of obtaining three sword intents, leaving little to discuss. Yet, many who stayed outside were formidable figures. For example, Shangguan Sha under Supreme Shangguan, Baili Bing under Supreme Baili, and Xuanyuan Ling under Supreme Xuanyuan—all were at the Tenth Layer of the Great Dao Realm.

It wasn't that the strength or sword talent of these three was lacking. Rather, they had entered the Sword Scroll too many times. The more often one entered, the less effective the scroll became. Therefore, gaining even one sword intent at this stage was respectable; they simply couldn't achieve the three required for the scroll’s recognition.

In fact, not just them, but all the leading disciples under the Nine Supremes were waiting outside.

Among them, the eight core disciples of Supreme Taishi, from the twenty-third disciple Qin Shuangcheng down to the thirtieth, were all outside; not a single one had entered the scroll.

Whoosh! The disciples of the Nine Supremes immediately looked over. They saw a true disciple emerging, clearly entering the scroll for the first time. He spoke with boundless excitement, "I comprehended four sword intents! Four sword intents!" He was ecstatic. Including any he managed outside, he had grasped four in total—a massive achievement for a mere true disciple.

For a first-timer to grasp four intents as a true disciple was a lot, even for Supreme Taishi's lineage. However, compared to the disciples of the other eight Supremes—top-tier figures like Shangguan Sha and Baili Bing, who managed five or six intents on their first try—four was merely decent.

Whoosh! This time, a figure from Supreme Xuanyuan’s lineage emerged. His name was Xuanyuan Dan. As he appeared, Xuanyuan Ling asked, "How many intents did you grasp?"

"Six," Xuanyuan Dan replied calmly.

Xuanyuan Ling showed no surprise, saying, "Oh, not bad." Six was an excellent result for most other lineages, and even within Supreme Xuanyuan’s school, it wasn't common. Supreme Xuanyuan led the Nine Supremes, and his lineage was inherently the most arrogant and accomplished.

Thus, Supreme Xuanyuan's disciples maintained their own high standard.

Then came several more whooshes, as more people were ejected—true disciples and core disciples alike. Most managed four intents; those reaching five were rare, and those reaching six were even fewer. Xuanyuan Dan's result was quite commendable.

Whoosh! Jian Wenhao of the Sword Star lineage appeared in the assembly.

"How many?" Xuanyuan Ling asked.

"Eight," Jian Wenhao stated with a notably flat tone. Internally, however, he was ecstatic. Eight! That was eight! Given Jian Wenhao’s natural talent, he should have only achieved three or four. But before entering, his elder brother, the Son of the Sword, had given him an ultimate treasure: Enlightenment Immortal Marrow (Wudao Xianzhi). This marrow was extraordinary, extracted from the essence of beings above the Primordial Chaos Realm. Once ignited, it was a hundred times more potent than any Enlightenment Treasure Pavilion, but its power came with a staggering price, requiring a Primordial Chaos Realm expert as material.

This item was only traded on the black market; it was impossible to find officially. Furthermore, the black market price was astronomical—far beyond the reach of an ordinary Primordial Chaos Realm cultivator.

However, the Son of the Sword was wealthy enough to rival nations, making the purchase possible for Jian Wenhao. Thanks to the Immortal Marrow, Jian Wenhao managed to comprehend a staggering eight sword intents this time.

"Eight."

"Eight!!!"

"It's actually eight! It’s truly fortunate to have the Son of the Sword as a brother."

"Indeed, the Son of the Sword is rich enough to fund an entire lineage; he let Jian Wenhao get eight."

"The future of Jian Star is boundless. He will surely become a major figure in the Sword Gate; the position of Supreme is practically guaranteed. Achieving the rank of Supreme is incredibly difficult, but someone with Jian Star's backing absolutely can. After all, the Son of the Sword is the strongest talent in the Way of the Sword among the billions upon billions of beings in the Central Celestial Dynasty."

Whoosh! Lu Yuan reappeared.

"Hahahaha, Lu Yuan, you dare call me a dead dog? This time, I want to see who the real dead dog is!" Jian Xing laughed triumphantly. "Gaining eight intents in one go—can you compare? You were utterly humiliated by me last time, beaten like a dead dog, but now I finally have my moment of vindication!"

He stood before Lu Yuan, puffed up with arrogance, and declared, "This time, Lu Yuan, you lowly outsider, how many intents did you comprehend?"

"Idiots are always idiots," Lu Yuan replied coolly.

Jian Xing nearly exploded with rage. Given his temper, he wanted to attack immediately, but remembering he was no match for Lu Yuan, he forcibly suppressed his anger. "You don't dare say how many intents you comprehended, do you? Hahahaha, hahahaha! You’re stunned by my eight, aren't you?"

"Thirteen!" Lu Yuan stated calmly.