The fog obscured the stars, holding all movement still. Those from the Thousand Waters Sect and the Fire Control Sect stood firm, their presence solemn and imposing, fearful that the Thousand Mountains Sect, the Unrivaled Sect, and the Savage Beast Sect might seize this moment to attack.

Shadows began to materialize faintly within the dense fog.

Could the enemy be advancing?

Ji Qianyu and Zhu Yan both straightened instantly. If the opposition was attacking, a massive battle would ensue. Now, their side comprised only two sects, lacking the Sword Sect’s strength, against the combined force of three enemy factions—placing them at a significant disadvantage.

The figures in the mist grew more numerous; it was clearly more than a single person.

Lu Yuan had gone alone. If it wasn't just him emerging from the fog, then it must be the people from the Savage Beast Sect, the Thousand Mountains Sect, and the Unrivaled Sect.

“Enemy attack! Target the sound—attack on my command!” Zhu Yan roared.

A firefight was imminent. Who knew how many would remain standing after this clash? Regardless, if they were attacking, they had to fight. Zhu Yan let out a long cry: “Prepare the Divine Fire Cannon!” The Divine Fire Cannon was a treasure of the Fire Control Sect, capable of gathering the fire-based power of many cultivators and unleashing it in a single devastating blast, possessing terrifying force.

The figures in the mist became clearer, numbering over twenty.

“Divine Fire Cannon, Fire!” Grand Elder Zhu Yan sensed they were within range and immediately commanded the cannon. A massive pillar of divine flame tore through the void, rocketing toward the shapes in the mist. This was the might of the Divine Fire Cannon. This particular shot carried a portion of Grand Elder Zhu Yan’s own magical power; even those at the second or third layer of the World Realm would struggle to withstand such an attack, and one at the fourth layer might suffer harm if caught unaware.

The scorching pillar of flame shot forward at extreme speed. The mist evaporated under the intense heat. Only once the fog cleared could they see the people within. Wait! Those aren't the Savage Beast Sect members—it’s the Sword Sect people! Qiu Qingshan and the others from the Sword Sect! But most importantly, that figure among them—is that not Lu Yuan, whom everyone presumed dead on Savage Soul Mountain?

What was going on?

Lu Yuan had ventured into Savage Soul Mountain alone; he was certainly supposed to die there. How could he appear here now, accompanied by Qiu Qingshan and the others? Did Lu Yuan somehow manage to rescue them?

This was impossible!

No, wait—the pillar of divine flame was bearing down on them. Under such a bombardment, Qiu Qingshan and the others, already heavily injured, faced utter annihilation.

In that precise instant, Lu Yuan executed an instantaneous movement, appearing directly in front of the divine fire pillar. His sword was drawn, and a clear, crisp sword light, like fine spring rain, began to erode the pillar of flame piece by piece. Finally, it completely neutralized the pillar, preventing even an ounce of its excess power from striking those behind him.

Zhu Yan let out a long, shaky breath. That was close, so close. If we had accidentally harmed or killed an ally, the embarrassment would have been monumental.

Lu Yuan landed with Qiu Qingshan and the others near the alliance of the three sects. The alliance finally had a chance to question what had transpired. However, before they could ask, they noticed that most of the Sword Sect members were holding severed heads—heads belonging, it seemed, to members of the Savage Beast Sect.

“These are?” Ji Qianyu inquired.

“Heads, our spoils of war. Though, mostly Lu Yuan’s spoils. We were just responsible for bringing them over.”

“What—what in the world happened?” Both Grand Elders Ji Qianyu and Zhu Yan were baffled.

“Simply put: I went to Savage Soul Mountain, eliminated all the Savage Beast Sect personnel there, and rescued the Sword Sect members,” Lu Yuan explained with extreme brevity. He spoke as if it were nothing noteworthy, yet those listening were struck dumb with shock.

“Hey, this is Xiong Zhan’s head. Xiong Zhan was a master at the third layer of the World Realm, and he died too?” Ji Qianyu looked at Xiong Zhan’s head and asked Lu Yuan, “Did you kill him?”

“Yes.” Lu Yuan nodded simply. To him, this was no great matter—just one Xiong Zhan. But to Ji Qianyu, it felt terrifying. Xiong Zhan was an exceptionally formidable figure; Ji Qianyu had sparred with him before, yet he died so easily at Lu Yuan’s hands.

“This is the head of Ancestor Teng Bazhong! The Savage Beast Sect actually sent Ancestor Teng Bazhong, and he died by your hand?” Zhu Yan looked at Lu Yuan with even greater disbelief. Ancestor Teng Bazhong was far stronger than Xiong Zhan—a figure of the Ancestor rank, holding considerable status even in the Central Heavenly Dynasty.

“Yes,” Lu Yuan stated nonchalantly.

Grand Elder Zhu Yan found it hard to accept. A figure like Ancestor Teng Bazhong slain by Lu Yuan’s sword—how terrifying was that? Zhu Yan admitted he might not have defeated Ancestor Teng Bazhong himself.

Is this Lu Yuan? He entered Savage Soul Mountain alone, and everyone assumed he was doomed. Yet, he single-handedly slaughtered the Savage Beast Sect forces and rescued the Sword Sect members. What is greatness? This is greatness.

One man, one sword, so utterly heroic!

Watching the figure in the flowing azure robes, with his long hair dancing in the wind, both Zhu Yan and Ji Qianyu sensed Lu Yuan’s extraordinary nature.

Immediately, on the Personal Contribution Rankings, Lu Yuan, previously ranked 163rd, shot upwards with alarming speed, quickly claiming the number one spot. His score had left the former first-place holder, Zhu Yan, far behind. These points were tallied once a year, but Lu Yuan’s power this time was immense: he had personally slain one expert at the fourth layer of the World Realm, one at the third, one at the second, one at the first, in addition to multiple experts at the Chaos Cauldron Realm. It would have been abnormal had his ranking not thoroughly eclipsed the second place.

Those who had previously mocked Lu Yuan as being undeserving of his reputation and too afraid to act dared not speak again. Lu Yuan’s factual actions had delivered a resounding slap to their faces.

Afraid to act? What a joke.

Next came the discussion of attacking Dilong Star. Ji Qianyu and Zhu Yan were no fools; they naturally understood the need to capitalize on the momentum generated by Lu Yuan single-handedly routing the Savage Beast Sect contingent and leveraging the enemy’s severe morale blow to secure Dilong Star, which possessed an Earth-tier Spirit Vein they desperately needed.

The subsequent battle for Dilong Star proved far easier than anticipated. The Unrivaled Sect and the Thousand Mountains Sect offered little resistance, withdrawing obediently. During their retreat, they even suffered further casualties. In truth, both the Unrivaled Sect and the Thousand Mountains Sect had been utterly demoralized. With Lu Yuan present, having wiped out the Savage Beast Sect garrison single-handedly, they saw no chance of victory. It was better to retreat now and see if the higher powers would dispatch other forces to contest Dilong Star later. They doubted their current strength was enough to sustain a desperate fight against the three-sect alliance.

Dilong Star returned to the control of the three-sect alliance. Lu Yuan first headed to the center of the planet, eager to examine the legendary Earth-tier Spirit Vein, which he had never seen. Deep within the star, in the core, an endless expanse of Earth-tier spirit stones shone with fierce radiance. Massive stones were interlocked beneath the surface. Lu Yuan dimly sensed these stones were utterly merged with the fabric of heaven and earth, meaning they could not be mined quickly; they would require time to wear down slowly. The Earth-tier spirit stones allocated to the Sword Sect on Dilong Star were his to claim after five years, and these resources alone would allow him to make a massive fortune.

After surveying the immense Earth-tier Spirit Vein of Dilong Star, Lu Yuan took advantage of the others’ inattention and flew straight toward Savage Soul Mountain.

There remained endless Savage-element materials on Savage Soul Mountain.

The Savage-element materials used by the Savage Beast Sect had not been collected at the time, and the other Sword Sect members couldn't gather them either. It was now Lu Yuan’s turn to collect. Placing these Savage-element materials into his Sword Space was impossible, as it would provoke a powerful backlash. However, he hadn't forgotten he possessed the Sword of Savage Repulsion.

Numerous Savage-element materials, including the souls of Great Desolation-era fierce beasts, were refined into the Sword of Savage Repulsion.

The original Sword of Savage Repulsion was merely an unfinished product. As it absorbed more and more Savage-element materials, the sword finally reached a length of nine inches—the complete form of the Sword of Savage Repulsion. With a resonant clang, a true Sword of Savage Repulsion manifested before him.

This true Sword of Savage Repulsion had a hilt that seemed to swallow everything like a greedy wolf, while its blade was thin, cold, and impossibly sharp, standing in stark contrast to the ancient, unrefined nature of the Great Desolation materials.

Lu Yuan gently stroked the Sword of Savage Repulsion in his hand. Finally, he had brought it to its complete state.

As he caressed the sword, Lu Yuan understood its multiple functions.

First: Devour. This ability was inherent, but now it was significantly amplified.

Second: Disguise. Previously, the Sword of Savage Repulsion exuded its own aura immediately upon deployment. Now, it could disguise itself and even forge lesser Savage-repelling artifacts. If the Ancient Desolation Civilization investigated, he could present these forged items to mislead them, stopping their investigation short of focusing on the true Sword of Savage Repulsion; after all, the forged artifacts were worthless.

Third, and most profound, was a mystery Lu Yuan discovered near his Sword of Savage Repulsion: it was subtly cultivating a clone of the character ‘Repel’ ().

The initial characters were indeed usually suppressed by the Devouring Dragon.

However, this was only the general rule.

Characters like ‘Savage’ (), ‘Immortal’ (), or ‘Martial’ () had long transcended the Five Elements and existed outside the Three Realms.

The Devouring Dragon could not suppress these characters.

Yet, in nature, every existence has its counter. There could not be absolutely nothing that restrained them.

Take the ‘Savage’ character, the strongest character born of this era. Correspondingly, within the Gate of Characters, there existed another ‘Repel’ character that could counter the ‘Savage’ character—it was the mortal enemy of the ‘Savage’ character. This ‘Repel’ character had remained confined within the Gate of Characters until now. Lu Yuan discovered that his Sword of Savage Repulsion could faintly communicate with this ‘Repel’ character. If cultivated further, he could summon a clone of the ‘Repel’ character, and eventually, perhaps even summon its true form. This technique was the ultimate countermeasure against the ‘Savage’ character, a decisive move that would prove critically useful when facing the Lord of the Ancient Desolation Civilization in the future.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.