The origins of Lu Yuan were a massive, rather bizarre accident! Yan Cangtian mused, hands clasped behind his back.

The Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds surged towards Lu Yuan.

Simultaneously, over a dozen Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds stabbed toward Lu Yuan, each possessing the cultivation of a Half-Step World Realm.

In an instant, they struck Lu Yuan—no, they didn't strike Lu Yuan.

It was a fake Lu Yuan!

This was not Lu Yuan at all; it was Floating Life, Fleeting Dream. What the dozen Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds impaled was merely an illusion.

Lu Yuan struck back with his sword. He had already discovered that while the exterior of the Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds was incredibly smooth, if one struck the head or eyes, it seemed impossible for the birds to discern the enemy's location. Furthermore, their defense was comparable to ordinary birds of the same rank, and once pierced by a single sword strike, their defense dropped significantly, making them easier to slay.

Essentially, the attack level of these birds was Half-Step World Realm, but their defense was far inferior.

Boom!

Upon the death of one bird, it emitted a soul self-detonation before its demise.

This was the critical moment. Lu Yuan immediately summoned Floating Life, Fleeting Dream.

Lu Yuan also wanted to know if his Floating Life, Fleeting Dream could evade the spiritual self-detonation, which was a spiritual-type attack.

This was truly a crucial juncture. If he could evade it, perhaps he could refine World Power from the Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds, hoping to aid his breakthrough into the World Realm.

Yan Cangtian watched expectantly. He had formally guided Lu Yuan into the Way of the Sword for over a year. Now, he wished to see Lu Yuan’s progress. He had paid attention to Lu Yuan’s information and knew that the move currently making Lu Yuan famous was Floating Life, Fleeting Dream. Now, he would witness this technique firsthand.

Boom! The soul explosion ended.

Lu Yuan found himself completely unscathed. Success! Lu Yuan inwardly noted that his Floating Life, Fleeting Dream could indeed bypass soul explosions. This meant that his Floating Life, Fleeting Dream was all-encompassing; it didn't just defend against physical and magical attacks, but also dodged soul attacks simultaneously.

Having evaded the first soul explosion, Lu Yuan sensed a trace of indescribable power hovering in the void beside him. He instantly extended a Dharmic Power great palm and seized hold of this indescribable power!

This power was minuscule, almost nonexistent, yet Lu Yuan faintly felt that this power was like holding the world in his palm.

This must be World Power.

It was World Power stimulated from the characters 'World' and 'Realm' emanating from the Gate of Words, wielded by the Light God, leader of the Mechanical Civilization.

It was the power that could help him break through to the World Realm.

This bit of power was extremely scarce; if not for sensing it with divine consciousness, one wouldn't notice it at all.

But what if this fragment of World Power was tiny? There were still so many Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds before him!

And this flock of Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds had a controller—in this case, a being controlling the flock. This being wasn't entirely complete, but it possessed the common joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures of living beings. This was a Light Slave created by the Light God, specifically the 3000th Light Slave.

The 3000th Light Slave observed the young man in green robes before him using methods dating back ten epochs, assessing him with an extremely cold gaze.

Although the young man in green robes had performed admirably at the start, the 3000th Light Slave did not pay him much heed.

Dozens of thousands of Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds were present! The power of soul self-detonation from such a mass attack was something even World Realm experts had to evade. This young man, who hadn't even reached the World Realm, how could he withstand such an assault? Moreover, the 3000th Light Slave knew he had a trump card.

One of the Mechanical Civilization’s greatest trump cards was the Grand Array.

Grand Arrays were marvelous things.

In the Central Celestial Dynasty, many people employed Grand Arrays.

However, there was a vast difference between humans using Arrays and machines using Arrays.

Arrays demand that every component adhere strictly to the steps, with everyone acting in concert to unleash the Array's full potential. But humans are living beings; they have thoughts. Even when practicing the same Array, they cannot unleash its maximum power. To wield an Array at seventy or eighty percent effectiveness was already remarkable; most Arrays only achieved fifty percent. The various Arrays Lu Yuan had dealt with, like the Stellar Gang Array, were all like this.

But machines were different. Machines lacked superfluous thoughts. Mechanical beings practicing the same Array could unleash one hundred percent of its power, a stable, unchanging value.

And the self-detonation Array commanded by the 3000th Light Slave was notorious for its terror. Let alone those below the World Realm, even those at World Realm Triple Heaven, Quadruple Heaven, or higher would suffer a massive loss against such a self-detonation Array.

At the command of the 3000th Light Slave, more Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds attacked Lu Yuan. This time, it was the Nine Extremes Grand Array: nine Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds simultaneously self-detonated in the pattern of the Nine Palaces. This soul self-detonation was more potent than the sum of nine individual soul self-detonations—this was the might of the Array.

Lu Yuan enacted Floating Life, Fleeting Dream, dodging the detonation without the slightest injury. As the nine Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds exploded, nine streams of minuscule World Power flowed out, which Lu Yuan snatched instantly. Simultaneously, Lu Yuan cleaved out with his sword, seizing the opportunity to extinguish another Mechanical Myriad Poison Bird, and another stream of minute World Power flowed into his hand.

The expression of the 3000th Light Slave couldn't help but shift. The soul self-detonation of the Nine Palaces Array failed to affect this young man.

Then! He would use a stronger Array. He instantly commanded his subordinate mechanical lifeforms to assemble the Three Extremes Seven Stars Grand Array. Twenty-one Mechanical Myriad Poison Birds began self-detonating simultaneously. The intensity of this self-detonation was less than three times that of the previous one, and it was purely a soul self-detonation. If struck normally, it would cause excruciating pain and instant death to the brain of anyone below the normal World Realm. Even a World Realm First Heaven expert would find it extremely difficult to withstand this blow, potentially suffering injury.

Lu Yuan once again deployed Floating Life, Fleeting Dream, sustaining zero damage. Twenty-one streams of minuscule World Power flowed out. By now, he had collected over thirty streams of World Power, but each one was incredibly subtle; even thirty combined were minuscule. However, Lu Yuan didn't care.

The 3000th Light Slave was now locked in a battle of attrition with Lu Yuan. He refused to believe he couldn't take Lu Yuan down. This time, he utilized the Thirty-Three Heavens Grand Array, which was even more terrifying than the Three Extremes Seven Stars Grand Array.

But Lu Yuan once again employed Floating Life, Fleeting Dream.

The 3000th Light Slave ordered his subordinates to unleash the Great Evolution Fifty Grand Array. This soul self-detonation could cause a First Heaven World Realm expert to vomit blood and suffer grave injuries.

Lu Yuan completely ignored it, continuing to use Floating Life, Fleeting Dream.

The 3000th Light Slave commanded his mechanical subordinates to execute the Hundred Count Array. This soul self-detonation carried the potential for death even for a First Heaven World Realm expert.

But Lu Yuan still evaded it with Floating Life, Fleeting Dream.

The 3000th Light Slave commanded his mechanical subordinates to deploy the Two Hundred Fifty-Six Grand Array. This array could severely injure a Second Heaven World Realm expert.

Lu Yuan continued to evade with Floating Life, Fleeting Dream, utterly unmatched, while absorbing streams of World Power.

The 3000th Light Slave commanded his subordinates to deploy the Eight Hundred Eighty-Eight Grand Array. This array could kill a Second Heaven World Realm expert. This was no longer an ordinary explosion but a soul explosion storm, drawing terrifying currents of souls across the heavens and earth.

But Lu Yuan still evaded it with Floating Life, Fleeting Dream.

How could this be!

The 3000th Light Slave commanded his subordinates to deploy the Two Thousand Forty-Eight Grand Array. This array could severely injure a Third Heaven World Realm expert. Such an array was like the arrival of a storm of destruction, a storm terrifying to the extreme.

Yet, Lu Yuan still evaded it with Floating Life, Fleeting Dream. Under the effect of Floating Life, Fleeting Dream, facing such a terrifying storm of soul destruction, he remained completely uninjured.

The more Lu Yuan circulated Floating Life, Fleeting Dream, the more he realized how incredibly useful the technique was.

Meanwhile, the 3000th Light Slave was utterly shocked.

The 3000th Light Slave was a lifeform created by the Light God of the Mechanical Civilization. Although it possessed the common human emotions, it was not a normal being, and thus these emotions were quite sluggish. It was incredibly difficult, almost impossible, to make the 3000th Light Slave profoundly shocked.

But even so, the 3000th Light Slave was completely stunned now. This was the result after using the Two Thousand Forty-Eight Grand Array, which could heavily wound a Third Heaven World Realm expert.

Of course, what shocked the 3000th Light Slave even more was that, from the very beginning of the battle, the 1000th Light Slave had begun analyzing Lu Yuan.

His method of analysis was naturally unique; he used the Light Brain bestowed by the Light God for his calculations.

On the Light Brain of the 3000th Light Slave, a screen displayed: "Unknown swordsman, technique is bizarre, contains approximately ten percent illusionary component, fifty percent technical skill component, approximately ten percent of unknown component Alpha, possesses vast sword intent, insufficient data for analysis. Unknown component Beta, approximately ten percent, contains tree components and sword components, insufficient data for analysis. Unknown component Gamma, approximately ten percent, contains wood components and sword components, insufficient data for analysis. Unknown component Delta, approximately ten percent, completely unanalyzable."

"This technique is like a dream, unanalyzable. Flaw exploration underway, unable to explore. Nearly one hundred percent perfection."

"Physical attacks: Ineffective. Magical attacks: Ineffective. Soul attacks: Ineffective."

"Suspected technique created by a Civilization-level figure."