Two figures from the Three Mythologies of Mount Hua were about to clash. Both were swordsmen, so they engaged with the sword. Lu Yuan asked, "Senior Brother Yan, I must ask one thing: why did you abandon your sword when you shattered the void back then?" Years ago, after Yan Cangtian dueled with Xiaoyaozi and shattered the void, Lu Yuan was merely a low-ranking Body Refinement practitioner who witnessed the battle.

He was then tasked by Yan Cangtian to bring the Flying Swallow Immortal Sword back to Mount Hua. Lu Yuan had kept this question buried deep: knowing Yan Cangtian’s strength, ascending to immortality while carrying his sword should not have been difficult. Yan Cangtian replied calmly, "The pretentious answer would be: having the sword within the sword, what difference does it make?

The true answer is that I was practicing the Heart Sword then. Where the heart resides, the sword resides. Because I needed to forge the Heart Sword, I had to temporarily forsake the physical blade.

Now that my heart is cultivated, there is naturally no need to abandon the sword." "And this so-called Heart Sword is a technique specifically designed to counter the Ancient Immortal Civilization. I have not forgotten the feud with them," Yan Cangtian stated coldly. At that moment, Lu Yuan sensed that Yan Cangtian would sooner or later storm the Ancient Immortal Civilization.

Yan Cangtian was an intensely cold, supremely proud, supremely confident, and exceedingly arrogant man. He was the unyielding Heavenly Sword, vastly different from the magnanimous and composed Earthly Sword, Zhou Qingxuan. Of course, the matter with the Ancient Immortal Civilization was far from settled; his ally, Chang'e, also counted them as enemies.

The Sovereign of the Ancient Immortal Civilization—Hong! Yan Cangtian declared, "Then let us begin now." With a movement of his hand, the Flying Swallow Immortal Sword was already drawn, flashing like lightning, aimed straight at Lu Yuan. Yan Cangtian’s style was diametrically opposed to Zhou Qingxuan’s; Yan Cangtian always attacked first.

This strike was breathtakingly magnificent; under that single thrust, Lu Yuan felt thousands of points on his body being assailed. This was only the initial move! Lu Yuan instantly used Instant Shift, but even after relocating, those thousands of points were still under attack; he could not escape Yan Cangtian’s single sword strike.

Lu Yuan ceased evading and retaliated with a reverse thrust, deploying the Sword Skill: Single Line Heaven. With absolute perfection of form, Lu Yuan completed this strike, yet the Sword Skill: Single Line Heaven could not block the complete attack. However, Lu Yuan immediately followed up with another Single Line Heaven, just enough to parry that one sword strike.

The Sword Skill: Single Line Heaven, in essence, is singularity. To layer one Single Line Heaven immediately upon another was incredibly difficult. But Lu Yuan achieved it.

Yan Cangtian’s eyes brightened: "Impressive. That first strike was the Swallow's Peck. Now meet my next move, the Swallow's Flicker." As this technique was unleashed, Lu Yuan saw streaks of sword light appearing and vanishing sporadically across the sky, yet he couldn't discern where exactly the light was aimed.

Was this the Swallow’s Flicker? An attack nearing the speed of light, where one couldn't even locate the target! Lu Yuan closed his eyes.

Facing an attack this close to light speed, keeping them open was useless; relying on intuition to draw his sword was better. But intuition alone was insufficient; he augmented it with the Minor Karma Iron Rule. Because Yan Cangtian had struck, Lu Yuan analyzed the origin of his sword strike.

The confluence of sword intuition and the Minor Karma Iron Rule successfully allowed him to track the Swallow’s Flicker. What a potent Swallow's Peck, what a formidable Swallow's Flicker. Lu Yuan looked at Yan Cangtian: "Then accept a move from me as well: the Deluge of Swords." This single strike resembled a vast, mighty river, unleashing every sword move he had ever witnessed within one overwhelming thrust.

Mixed in was his absolute faith in the sword, infused with his profound affection for it, all contained in that one blade. It was like a galaxy of swords descending from the heavens. Yan Cangtian raised an eyebrow slightly.

What a powerful technique. His sword light transformed into numerous focused strikes, slicing towards the Deluge of Swords. After a long moment, the Deluge of Swords was completely cleaved away by him.

The engagement between Yan Cangtian and Lu Yuan continued. Every strike they exchanged was exquisitely subtle, yet each one contained boundless killing intent. Yan Cangtian employed quite a few sword techniques and utilized several Iron Rules, such as the Iron Rule of Time, the Iron Rule of Space, and the Iron Rule of Reincarnation, along with a peculiar Iron Rule.

This strange rule compelled Lu Yuan’s sword movements to involuntarily revert to their fundamental positions, brutally disrupting Lu Yuan's flow. This was not the power of Reincarnation, but an Iron Rule Lu Yuan had never encountered before. Lu Yuan, for his part, was equally uncompromising.

He utilized the same Iron Rules as Yan Cangtian—Time, Space, and Reincarnation—along with the Iron Rule of Yin and Yang, and the Minor Karma Iron Rule, which Yan Cangtian understood only vaguely. Their sword arts fiercely collided in the air. The Flying Swallow Immortal Sword clashed against the Nurturing Myriad Immortal Sword.

During the exchange, Lu Yuan grasped the Dao of Yan Cangtian: his Sword Dao was the supreme, peerless Heavenly Sword Dao—the Sword of Heaven. He was the Firmament above. Yan Cangtian, in turn, discovered Lu Yuan’s Sword Dao, which startled him.

Lu Yuan’s Dao was the all-encompassing Sword Dao of Myriad Phenomena. Yan Cangtian abruptly realized that Lu Yuan’s Dao was actually superior to his own. In this exchange, Yan Cangtian’s swordsmanship was still slightly superior to Lu Yuan’s, but the profound depth and all-encompassing nature of Lu Yuan’s Sword Dao surpassed Yan Cangtian’s.

In fact, Lu Yuan managed to learn two supreme techniques: the Swallow’s Flicker and the Swallow’s Peck. The greatest advantage of Lu Yuan’s Myriad Phenomena was its capacity to assimilate any technique encountered. Clang!

The Flying Swallow Immortal Sword and the Nurturing Myriad Immortal Sword met violently in the air. The swords stopped moving; the sword confrontation reached its conclusion here. "Not bad," Yan Cangtian nodded.

Indeed, not bad. When he first guided Lu Yuan into the Way of the Sword, Lu Yuan couldn't even be considered a Sword Marquis. Above the Sword Marquis came the Sword King, above the Sword King the Sword Emperor, and above the Sword Emperor the Sword Saint.

Now, Lu Yuan had become a Sword Saint utilizing four and a half Iron Rules. "Your current strength should be generally sufficient to deal with Xuanyuan Wang," Yan Cangtian stated calmly, retracting his Flying Swallow Immortal Sword. Lu Yuan likewise sheathed his Nurturing Myriad Immortal Sword.

"Your clone could clearly have slain Xuanyuan Wang." Having now tested their skills, Lu Yuan found Yan Cangtian's swordsmanship slightly superior, leading him to feel a touch of surprise. "Because I have no interest in slaying him; use him as your whetstone," Yan Cangtian replied dismissively. "Besides, if I appeared that time, those from the Ancient Immortal Civilization would certainly know...

let them hold me in slightly lower regard." "I also used an Iron Rule this time that you have probably rarely encountered—that is the Iron Rule of Order," Yan Cangtian revealed. "The Iron Rule of Order!" Lu Yuan couldn't help but be startled. Yan Cangtian nodded.

"Correct, the Iron Rule of Order, one of the Ten Great Iron Rules. Of course, the Iron Rule of Order differs from the others; you must explore it yourself to discover what kind of rule it is. All things in the world exist according to a certain pattern, arranged in a specific order.

For instance, why is this stone placed here? Why do trees grow upward? Why does a mountain possess that specific shape?

These are manifestations of the Iron Rule of Order. If you comprehend the world’s intricacies, you will understand how to forge the Iron Rule of Order. I won't elaborate further; you must cultivate it on your own." "Now, I will take you back to Mount Hua.

It has already been over ten days," Yan Cangtian said. Yan Cangtian led Lu Yuan, flying straight ahead, seemingly searching for a location. In truth, he was seeking a spatial weak point—a location extremely close to the Southern Border of the Outer Domain—before unleashing a single sword slash.

A dark, perilous passage reappeared before them. Yan Cangtian guided Lu Yuan onto this path. After an exceedingly long journey through the tunnel, they could finally see the scenery of the Southern Border in the distance.

Lu Yuan stepped out, but this time, he found himself descending not into the Jin State, but into an unfamiliar nation. Fortunately, they were within the boundaries of the Southern Border, so finding the way back to Jin State would not take too long. After inquiring about the direction, Lu Yuan set off toward the Jin State.

Meanwhile, Yan Cangtian followed this passage back to the Lost Land, where his cultivation continued. At that moment, two figures materialized ahead of him: the Eastern Ghost Emperor and the Half-Demon Emperor, who had been observing the entire fight. One was the Heavenly Venerable of the Netherworld Civilization, and the other, the Heavenly Venerable of the Demon Civilization.

These two Heavenly Venerates blocked Yan Cangtian’s path. "Yan Cangtian, Zhou Qingxuan, Lu Yuan—it seems your Sword Dao does possess some strength," the Eastern Ghost Emperor addressed Yan Cangtian. "Are you interested in joining forces with us?" Yan Cangtian frowned.

"I am already aware of the schemes you people are plotting, but I have no interest in such affairs." "Furthermore, you are blocking my way." Yan Cangtian’s hand rested on his sword hilt, radiating chilling sword energy. The Eastern Ghost Emperor and the Half-Demon Emperor both frowned involuntarily. This Heavenly Sword truly was unusually cold and arrogant, and he refused cooperation.

Yet, inexplicably, both the Eastern Ghost Emperor and the Half-Demon Emperor involuntarily took several steps back. For some reason, Yan Cangtian simply walked past them. The Netherworld Civilization, the Demon Civilization, and other powerful factions within the Lost Land were indeed engaged in conspiracies aimed at subverting the current Central Heavenly Dynasty—a fact Yan Cangtian had known for a long time.

However, a sword is a sword; he truly held no interest in cooperating with these demons, devils, and shades. Later, Xuanyuan Wang was outside Mount Hua. He was not rushing to attack nor revealing his presence.

He was simply waiting for time to pass, waiting until he sensed the Enforcement Officers had departed. Finally, he could make his move. Xuanyuan Wang’s spirits lifted.

Xuanyuan Wang was not a mere vengeful maniac, but an exceptionally astute individual. His intention to trouble Mount Hua was not solely for revenge; that would be too foolish. Xuanyuan Wang never made flawed moves.

The reason he waited outside Mount Hua was to probe the secrets of the mountain. Why did Yan Cangtian, Lu Yuan, and he heard rumors of a Zhou Qingxuan, appear in a mere Outer Domain? Such powerful fortune should not reside there.

He had also researched Mount Hua’s history and discovered it was entirely anomalous. In all other aspects, it conformed to a normal high-grade immortal sect, yet periodically, a genius would emerge. The secret of Mount Hua was truly deep, perhaps connected to the previous Epoch.

If he could uncover the secrets of Mount Hua, his own Sword Dao fortune would flourish immensely, allowing him to become the next Yan Cangtian, Lu Yuan—no, with his Sword Dao fortune, he would surpass younger generations like Yan Cangtian and Lu Yuan. In Xuanyuan Wang’s eyes, Mount Hua at this moment was a massive treasure trove.