No wonder Tong Yun-chou was startled. Thirteen Supreme Elders against one, one of whom was Jian Feng-zhong Zu at the fourth level of the World Realm, two at the third level of the World Realm—thirteen against Lu Yuan, who was only at the first level of the World Realm—yet they failed. This was rather bizarre, making even Tong Yun-chou, accustomed to the tempests of the Celestial Dynasty, feel a sense of strangeness.

"However, Lu Yuan has actually reached the second heaven of the World Realm. Now, there will be a good show to watch." Tong Yun-chou seemed to recall something and smiled faintly.

Meanwhile, within the Sword Sect.

Lu Yuan was enjoying a small cup of wine.

Lu Yuan realized he couldn't visit the commercial cities for the time being. The moment he showed up, most shops would immediately close their doors, clearly fearing he might start robbing them again. For this, Lu Yuan could only sigh helplessly. Did he really look like a bandit? It was truly speechless; that incident back then was just an emergency measure.

Forget about it, let's not dwell on these matters.

There were two things he could do now.

One was to cultivate his mana.

The second was to practice his sword skills.

On second thought, he should cultivate his mana first.

He was currently at the second heaven of the World Realm. Now was the time to strive for the third heaven, the Time Realm. Once he succeeded, his personal space would experience the flow of time, completely different from before. But how to break through to the Time Realm was a problem. Right, he should go find Ancestor Jian Mie now. As the foremost figure in the Sword Sect, Ancestor Jian Mie should have deep insight into this matter.

As Lu Yuan was contemplating this, he suddenly felt that something was amiss.

It was unequivocally, profoundly wrong.

He vaguely sensed an aura gathering in the sky, targeting him. Was he mistaken? No, he hadn't reached a point where his senses would deceive him like this. Lu Yuan raised his head but saw only empty space above. He rubbed his eyes again and finally discerned a clue.

In the sky above, tribulation clouds seemed to be slowly gathering.

Indeed, they were tribulation clouds.

And judging by the intensity of these clouds, they appeared to be forming a diagram in the void.

It had been mentioned before that when attempting to break through to the World Realm, the Graphic Heavenly Tribulation was extremely formidable, though less terrifying than the Gate-Level Heavenly Tribulation.

And now, directly above Lu Yuan’s head, there was a diagram seemingly composed of endless rivers, manifesting as a Diagram-Level Heavenly Tribulation.

What was going on?

It was logical that there would be a heavenly tribulation when breaking through to the World Realm.

But he had only just reached the second heaven of the World Realm; he wasn't attempting to advance any further. Why the tribulation?

He truly couldn't figure it out.

Moreover, Lu Yuan felt that although the tribulation clouds overhead had not yet descended, they were continuously accumulating. This heavenly tribulation, he suspected, would be far more terrifying than the one he faced when first advancing to the World Realm. While feeling frustrated, he had already flown to Ancestor Jian Mie’s location.

"Ancestor, what is the meaning of this tribulation cloud surrounding me?" Lu Yuan pointed to the sky, where the clouds were thickening rapidly.

Ancestor Jian Mie glanced at Lu Yuan: "Your tribulation cloud has finally arrived."

Hearing Ancestor Jian Mie say this, Lu Yuan seemed to realize there was an underlying reason, and his anxiety immediately subsided. He sat down to listen.

Ancestor Jian Mie spoke: "You have long known that the previous epoch was the Epoch of Engraving, and this current epoch is not the Epoch of Sword, but the Epoch of Desolation."

"The later epoch suppressing the former is the ultimate principle of Heaven and Earth."

"And this epoch's suppression of the Sword Epoch is not limited to us being countered by those who wield Primordial Chaos Mana, or the extreme discomfort we feel under the Desolate Aura," Ancestor Jian Mie continued. "We Sword Cultivators also have our two great calamities. The most terrifying of these is naturally when attempting to break through to the Civilization Realm. Sword Cultivators are fundamentally unable to reach the Civilization Realm; this has become an ironclad rule. In this epoch, not a single Sword Cultivator has ever achieved the Civilization Realm."

"The second calamity is this hurdle at the second heaven of the World Realm. Once a swordsman cultivates to the second heaven of the World Realm and opens their own minor world, which is entirely different from the Greater World of the Central Celestial Dynasty, the backlash from Heaven and Earth will arrive. The Heaven and Earth of this Central Celestial Dynasty epoch allow other cultivators to reach the second heaven of the World Realm and permit the emergence of various minor worlds, but it absolutely forbids the appearance of a sword's minor world, a small space belonging to the sword."

"This is the origin of your Heavenly Tribulation," Ancestor Jian Mie stated. "And this heavenly tribulation cannot be shattered."

"Because the backlash from Heaven and Earth is endless. No matter how strong you are at the second heaven of the World Realm, you cannot shatter this tribulation." "What? This tribulation cannot be shattered?" Lu Yuan was momentarily speechless. If a heavenly tribulation couldn't be broken, did that mean certain death? Well, he'd wait to hear the rest.

"Yes, this type of heavenly tribulation cannot be shattered."

Ancestor Jian Mie explained, "Therefore, there are three methods to resolve this heavenly tribulation. The first method is to gain the assistance of the Bronze Civilization and receive the Bronze Imprint, which covers the traces of the sword. This approach deceives Heaven and Earth, declaring oneself not a Sword Cultivator. In doing so, Heaven and Earth will naturally cease to trouble you, and the tribulation will dissipate. However, from that point onward, one will bear the mark of the Bronze Imprint forever, unable to escape it. Those who defect to the Bronze Faction follow this path."

"The second method is to receive the Desolate Imprint conferred by the Primeval Desolation Civilization. The Desolate Imprint differs from the Bronze Imprint. The Bronze Imprint transforms the user's sword aura into bronze aura to fool Heaven and Earth."

"The Primeval Desolation Civilization is the strongest civilization born in this epoch, recognized by Heaven and Earth. Once they confer the Desolate Imprint, the result is gaining Heaven and Earth's acknowledgment, and the heavenly tribulation automatically vanishes. However, the Primeval Desolation Civilization already regards us as aberrations and would never easily grant us the Desolate Imprint. To obtain the Desolate Imprint conferred by them, one must sign a series of unequal treaties. This is already granting the Primeval Desolation Civilization face; otherwise, they would surely wish for the entire Sword Sect to perish."

"The third method is to go to the Sword-Forgetting Stele (Jian Wang Bei). The Sword-Forgetting Stele is a marvelous location between Heaven and Earth. There, one discards all memories. If you discard every memory and no longer belong to the path of the sword, Heaven and Earth will naturally stop punishing you. Of course, it is rumored that going to the Sword-Forgetting Stele offers a slim chance of success. If a person possesses exceptionally strong willpower and exceptionally deep obsession, they might pass the trial of the Sword-Forgetting Stele without losing their memories, and Heaven and Earth will no longer punish them."

"However, the success rate for this third method is terrifyingly low. In the entire history of the Sword Sect, only one person succeeded. Among the ancient swordsmen, it is rumored only three succeeded, and those two include the one from the Sword Sect."

"Thus, very few people choose the third path to the Sword-Forgetting Stele."

"Swordsmen are not tolerated by Heaven and Earth. To advance, only these three paths exist."

"Because only these three methods can avert the heavenly tribulation, Sword Cultivators are becoming fewer and fewer, and the number of Sword Cultivators at or above the second heaven of the World Realm is extremely scarce." Only when Ancestor Jian Mie finished speaking did Lu Yuan recall that within the entire Central Celestial Dynasty, World Realm cultivators at the second heaven and above were astonishingly rare—perhaps no more than twenty in total. Among these twenty, about ten belonged to the Bronze Faction, and the remaining dozen or so broke through after negotiating with the Primeval Desolation Civilization and receiving the Desolate Imprint.

Now, it was Lu Yuan's turn.

Lu Yuan shrugged: "How did Xié Zhizi overcome this heavenly tribulation?"

"He negotiated with the Martial Desolation Civilization and obtained the Desolate Imprint," Ancestor Jian Mie replied.

Lu Yuan inquired: "Then let me see the regulations of the Primeval Desolation Civilization."

Ancestor Jian Mie nodded and handed the regulations of the Primeval Desolation Civilization to Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan couldn't help but alternate between irritation and amusement as he read.

These regulations were truly absurd.

The document contained a series of unequal pacts, such as being subject to the supervision of the Primeval Desolation Civilization in all future actions, or facing severe punishment if one dared to lay a hand on a member of the Primeval Desolation Civilization. Lu Yuan nearly gagged reading the endless stipulations. He had seen disgusting things, but never anything this repulsive.

Ancestor Jian Mie sighed helplessly: "There was no other way. This was what the Ancient Law Civilization managed to negotiate for us; otherwise, our Sword Sect would have been wiped out long ago."

"No other options?" Lu Yuan asked.

"Essentially none," Ancestor Jian Mie shook his head. "Or perhaps encountering some divine artifact recognized by Heaven and Earth, but such artifacts bearing the Primordial Chaos Imprint are not easily found." Divine artifacts are different from rare wonders. The Central Celestial Dynasty had many rare wonders, but divine artifacts were pitifully few. Simply put, only those emerging from the collapse of an epoch or the moment of creation could be called divine artifacts. Since divine artifacts are scarce, those recognized by Heaven and Earth bearing the Primordial Chaos Imprint are even rarer.

Lu Yuan scoffed: "I absolutely will not sign these regulations."

"Alternatively, you could let the Ancient Law Civilization intercede for you," Ancestor Jian Mie suggested.

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. This was indeed a viable option. He generally did not rely on the power of the Ancient Law Civilization, but in such a critical moment, what harm was there in borrowing their influence once?

Lu Yuan immediately sent out a message.

The result came back quickly.

The Ancient Law Civilization and the Primeval Desolation Civilization could not reach an agreement.

And this was not a minor disagreement; the Lord of the Primeval Desolation Civilization personally stated that he absolutely would not confer the Desolate Imprint upon Lu Yuan unless Lu Yuan agreed to sign those unequal treaties. This wasn't hearsay; it came directly from the Lord of the Primeval Desolation Civilization. At this point, even the foremost ranked Imperial Sons, Fa Yi-dizi and Fa Sheng-dizi, were powerless.

As for the Lord of the Ancient Law Civilization, he was currently in seclusion cultivating an unparalleled divine technique and was completely unreachable.

Furthermore, it was highly unlikely that the Lord of the Ancient Law Civilization would completely fall out with the Lord of the Primeval Desolation Civilization over Lu Yuan’s matter. The fact that the Lord of the Primeval Desolation Civilization agreed to grant the Desolate Imprint, albeit with unequal terms, was already showing respect.

Yet, Lu Yuan, by his very nature, could not agree to those terms.

"Better to seek what is straightforward, not what is crooked."

This was Lu Yuan. This was the sword. This was Lu Yuan's Dao of the Sword.