More and more people were being eliminated. Out of the nine hundred and ninety-nine entrants to the Elemental Tower, over five hundred had already been knocked out, leaving just over four hundred remaining.

And the most dazzling star among them was, naturally, the Son of Buddha.

The Son of Buddha had already reached the fifty-eighth level. The fifty-eighth level was the Barium element, and the Son of Buddha was attempting to master the Cerium element using the Bright Mirror of the Buddha Heart technique. However, even for the Son of Buddha, the fifty-eighth level proved somewhat strenuous.

Meanwhile, Ling Qingyun of the Confucian Civilization was on the forty-seventh level. The forty-seventh level involved the Silver element. Although Ling Qingyun ranked in the top one hundred on the Genius List, he was also struggling considerably on the forty-seventh level; it was far from easy.

Lei Qi of the Thunder Civilization was on the forty-fifth level, which featured the Yttrium element.

Zhan Bai of the Night Civilization was on the forty-third level, dealing with the Palladium element.

These four stood out the most. The main concentration of competitors was currently between the thirty-first and thirty-sixth levels. Of course, only a little over four hundred people remained in total, and the elimination process began accelerating relentlessly from the thirtieth level onward, with people being discarded at an alarming rate.

Lu Yuan was currently situated on the thirty-third level.

Outside the Elemental Tower, over five hundred people were gathered, and that number continued to swell—all those who had been eliminated.

"The Son of Buddha is truly formidable; he's already at the fifty-eighth level, almost challenging the highest record." "What was the previous highest record for the Elemental Tower?" "It was the eighty-fourth level, I think, set by the Son of Law."

"That’s right, eighty-four levels, and not just the Son of Law; the Son of Immortal also reached eighty-four." "It seems the Son of Buddha genuinely has a chance to break the ultimate record." "The Seven Sons of Destiny are indeed the Seven Sons of Destiny."

"Ling Qingyun of the Confucian Civilization isn't bad either."

"I hadn't noticed him much before, but now he's already on the forty-seventh level, second only to the Son of Buddha."

"Ling Qingyun was always talented. Simply put, none of the figures on the Genius List of the Central Celestial Dynasty are easy opponents."

"Is that so?"

"However, Lu Yuan is lagging far behind."

"Indeed, Lu Yuan is only on the thirty-third level; his progress is really slow." "Perhaps Lu Yuan’s slowness is a sign of steadiness; at least he hasn't been eliminated yet." "I don't think it's steadiness; he seems to barely squeak by every time. Sticking by such narrow margins, he’ll be eliminated sooner or later."

"Fame often hides reality."

On the thirty-third level, in this place saturated with Arsenic element—an element inherently highly toxic—Lu Yuan ignored the Arsenic and continued practicing his sword technique, Sword Seven, Technique One: Minor Sword Realm.

The location of the ninety-eighth Immortal Sword overlapped with this plane. The location of the ninety-ninth Immortal Sword overlapped with this plane.

The location of the one hundredth Immortal Sword overlapped with this plane!

Success!

Lu Yuan let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He had finally succeeded.

He finally mastered this move, Sword Seven, Technique One: Minor Sword Realm, just before time ran out.

It was a relief to have finally perfected this technique. Now, it was time to test it out.

Lu Yuan began his sword trial!

Holding his Nourishing Immortal Sword, he swung it through the air, scattering a sheet of light as bright as autumn water. With this sweeping motion, a streak of sword light instantly materialized in the air, followed by more and more streaks. The environment of the thirty-third level began to change rapidly.

It seemed on the verge of becoming a world of swords.

Sword Seven, Technique One: Minor Sword Realm.

After Lu Yuan unleashed Sword Seven, Technique One: Minor Sword Realm, the surrounding space connected with the Sword Realm, as if a small Sword Realm had descended into the mortal world. The true, most powerful version of this technique was Sword Seven: Sword Realm, not Sword Seven, Technique One: Minor Sword Realm. Of course, for now, he could only execute the Minor Sword Realm version.

Never mind that. Now it was time to charge forward and test the might of the Minor Sword Realm.

Upon testing it, he found that once the entire area transformed into a minor sword realm, everything around him took on the flavor of the sword. He could control it much better now. He mastered the Arsenic element of the thirty-third level in just four hours—what an incredibly short span of time.

The Son of Buddha mastering Hydrogen element took two hours, which stunned many at the time, including the two venerable immortals from the Ancient Immortal Civilization, Dong Ji Xian Weng and Xi Ji Xian Weng.

And without a doubt, mastering the Arsenic element on the thirty-third level was certainly more than twice as difficult as mastering the Hydrogen element on the first level.

This meant that the four hours Lu Yuan took to master Arsenic were actually significantly shorter than the two hours the Son of Buddha took for Hydrogen.

This was astonishing!

Of course, no one noticed this now, as Lu Yuan had spent far too much time comprehending Sword Seven, Technique One: Minor Sword Realm previously.

Lu Yuan smoothly advanced to the thirty-fourth level. Selenium element resided there. Lu Yuan let out a long shout: "Sword Seven, Minor Sword Realm." Once he used this technique, the environment of the thirty-fourth level instantly transformed, seemingly becoming part of the Sword Realm, and Lu Yuan smoothly began mastering the Selenium element. This time, the duration was also incredibly short, consuming only three hours.

Mastering Selenium in three hours—this was also an explosive level of achievement!

However, just as he was about to complete the mastery of Selenium, with only the final step remaining, Lu Yuan suddenly became melancholy.

The reason for his melancholy was quite simple. He had always taken an extremely long time to pass each level of the Elemental Tower, often spending nearly a hundred hours to complete the earlier stages. To suddenly break through a level in three hours was disorienting and depressing.

What should he do now?

Lu Yuan sat down cross-legged, habitually reaching for his wine, but there was no wine. Ah, running out of wine was upsetting.

Right, the sword! Even without wine, there is the sword!

This was the inspiration for Sword Eight.

He had vaguely sensed inspiration for Sword Eight before. When the Sword Realm appeared, feeling each Immortal Sword solidified that inspiration. Now, the Sword Eight he created was named Myriad Swords Return to One—yes, Sword Eight: Myriad Swords Return to One!

As Lu Yuan aligned the plane of existence for each Immortal Sword in the Sword Realm with the plane of the Central Celestial Dynasty, sensing each one, he vaguely felt that every Immortal Sword held a story from its past, seemingly imbued with the legends of previous epoch-making swordsmen who wielded them.

And faintly, Lu Yuan could perceive the ultimate techniques of those past awe-inspiring swordsmen upon their blades.

Indeed, the so-called Sword Eight: Myriad Swords Return to One! This technique was actually the one that channeled all the ultimate skills of the numerous Immortal Swords within the Sword Realm into a single strike. Every Immortal Sword in the Sword Realm was extraordinary, and their former masters possessed world-shaking ultimate moves. Lu Yuan intended to borrow the power of the Sword Realm to unify all these ultimate moves into one technique—this was the true meaning of Sword Eight: Myriad Swords Return to One. Since he wasn't in a hurry to breach the Elemental Tower, he might as well start practicing this technique first.

Lu Yuan had always been the type to act upon his intentions. He immediately settled cross-legged in contemplation, his consciousness sinking into the Sword Realm.

The Arrogance Immortal Sword. Its former master was immensely cold and proud. Lu Yuan inferred his ultimate technique and finally deduced it: Arrogant Striding. This technique utilized a strange form of negative energy. The epoch-making swordsman, Master Arrogant, relied on this move to dominate the early stages of this era's Primordial Chaos until he was assassinated by a sneak attack from the Vice-Master of the Bronze Civilization.

The Celestial Heaven Immortal Sword. This was an Immortal Sword possessing considerable leadership aura. Its former master was one of the sword dao leaders of this era, who was ultimately slain by the Ancient Desolate Civilization. Lu Yuan also gradually deduced his technique: Celestial Heavens Are All Capable of Being Sheathed, a strike that summoned the constellations of the heavens as its swords.

The Hegemon Immortal Sword. This belonged to a hegemon, exuding a domineering power that connected heaven and earth. The technique he left behind, which Lu Yuan also deduced, was Peerless Hegemon Sword, a move imbued with boundless dominance.

And the Great Defiance Immortal Sword. Its former master had a tragic childhood, resulting in an extremely radical and rebellious mindset—everything had to be the opposite, the reverse, constantly defying. This person possessed astonishing talent, capable of reversing all things in the world. His ultimate technique was Reversal of Heaven and Earth; under this sword, the sky turned and the earth spun, and all things changed color.

One by one, Immortal Swords; one by one, awe-inspiring sword cultivators; one by one, overwhelmingly powerful ultimate techniques.

Lu Yuan inferred and studied these infinite techniques, embedding them all deep within his mind.

Finally, the ultimate skills left behind by all one hundred epoch-making sword cultivators were imprinted in his mind.

Of course, during this process of cultivation, he was also progressing through the Elemental Tower at a comparatively slow pace. By the time he had learned all the ultimate skills of the last one hundred epoch-making sword cultivators, Lu Yuan had reached the thirty-seventh level. The Sodium element resided there. Lu Yuan paid it no mind, instead focusing freely on creating his Sword Eight.

Finally, after spending so much time, Lu Yuan felt the moment was right.

"Appear, then."

Lu Yuan straightened his body, his hand gently stroking his sword blade.

"Venerable predecessors of the Sword Dao, lend me your power." "I will use the power of all you predecessors to expand the Sword Dao and then forge the true, supreme Great Dao of the Sword."

"I will not let the Sword Dao remain so sunken." "I will ensure sword cultivators no longer suffer such misery."

"I want this heaven and earth to have a domain for sword cultivators." "I want my sword to point directly to the heavens, questioning the heart of the sky." One fervent shout after another burst from Lu Yuan's mouth. At this moment, all the Immortal Swords within the nearby Minor Sword Realm began to hum in unison. The once dim Immortal Swords all lit up brilliantly, clearly agreeing to lend their ultimate techniques and their strength to Lu Yuan.