This time, Lu Yuan spent ninety hours there.

Lu Yuan had now reached the eighty-fourth floor, Polonium. Upon arriving at the eighty-fourth floor, Lu Yuan immediately noticed that the element here was entirely different from those on the previous levels. If the earlier elements had been relatively mild, this layer was violently aggressive, capable of inflicting severe damage at any moment. Fortunately, his body was of the Divine Spirit level, making him immune to such harm. Lu Yuan quickly glanced over the description; he recalled reading that elements from the eighty-fourth floor onward possessed radioactivity, a penetrating quality harmful to living beings.

Lu Yuan paid no heed to the environment and began attempting to master the element Polonium.

Once he mastered the Polonium element on this floor, he would have definitively broken the record.

"Jian Qi, Little Sword Realm." The surroundings instantly became a world of swords, everything molded into the shape and form of a blade.

Lu Yuan then started mastering the Polonium element. It was right here, on the eighty-fourth floor, that he instantly understood why no one had ever passed this stage: the Polonium element held the deadliest poison known. The toxicity of the previous element, Arsenic, paled in comparison. Among the one hundred and twenty poisons in the world, Polonium was the most lethal.

Although Lu Yuan activated the Azure Saint Sword Dao, he found that even his own Azure Saint Sword Dao struggled to hold against it.

The title of the most poisonous element was indeed well-deserved!

Lu Yuan broke into a cold sweat. He knew he had reached a critical juncture. While using the Azure Saint Sword Dao to fend off the Polonium element, he simultaneously began trying to absorb it. If he could master Polonium, he would shatter the existing highest record and elevate his Azure Saint Sword Dao to a higher level. Afterward, only a handful of poisons in the heavens and earth would stand a chance of affecting him.

Under the azure glow of the Azure Saint Sword Dao, Lu Yuan's body slowly began turning yellow, then green, then scorched. The rate of change was not excessively fast, and Lu Yuan continued to gain mastery over the Polonium element.

In fact, by the thirtieth hour, the Azure Saint Sword Dao was on the verge of collapse. However, because he had gained some measure of control over Polonium, it managed to hold on a bit longer.

At the sixtieth hour, just as it seemed about to fail again, his grasp on the Polonium element reached a substantial level, allowing it to endure a while longer.

At the ninety-first hour, when it was clearly about to fail completely, it shattered with a resounding boom—he had fully mastered the Polonium element. This intensely venomous element instantly retreated from his body and began orbiting him. Lu Yuan let out a long breath and, with rapid movements of his fingers, started integrating the Polonium element into the Azure Saint Sword Dao.

Tempered by the Polonium element, the Azure Saint Sword Dao became increasingly pure and pristine. It seemed as though all poisons could now be resolved under this single azure light.

Lu Yuan was immersed in the joy of his Azure Saint Sword Dao advancing further.

Outside the Element Tower, however, everyone had lost control of themselves.

The previous record stood at the eighty-fourth floor, where the Polonium element was hailed as the most poisonous; no one had ever managed to clear it. But now, Lu Yuan had forcefully broken through this layer, establishing a new record and shattering the achievement of the Seven Sons of Fortune.

Dongji Xianweng, Xiji Xianweng, and many others present understood that a crucial reason the eighty-fourth floor was deemed the most difficult and insurmountable was precisely because it housed the deadliest of the one hundred and twenty elements. They were astonished that Lu Yuan possessed a method to counter the Polonium element, and one that could be used inside the Element Tower.

There was a strange rule within the Element Tower: magical artifacts were forbidden.

Indeed, there were external artifacts designed to resist poison, but they could not be used inside the Tower.

This was why the eighty-fourth floor caused such intense headaches for challengers.

Yet, Lu Yuan had now smashed that record and mastered Polonium.

The phrase "record broken," without any further embellishment, was enough to send the spectators into a frenzy.

At this moment, the Son of Buddha felt a great easing of pressure. Lu Yuan had previously surpassed him, naturally putting immense strain on him, but now that Lu Yuan had broken the records of the other Six Sons of Fortune as well, the pressure on the Son of Buddha’s shoulders lifted. Everyone had been outclassed by Lu Yuan.

"The record for the eighty-fourth floor is broken."

"Lu Yuan is truly astonishing."

"Yes, I wonder how many new records he will set this time."

"Eighty-fifth? Eighty-sixth?"

"We have no idea; we just have to wait and see the show."

Lu Yuan entered the eighty-fifth floor. Upon arrival, he discovered that the element here, Astatine, shared Polonium's radioactivity. He immediately began trying to master it, but even with the aid of Jian Qi, Little Sword Realm, the difficulty of mastering the element on the eighty-fifth floor was astronomically high.

The eighty-fifth floor was inherently a challenging stage.

However, it was not insurmountable for Lu Yuan. While mastering the Astatine element, he also pondered the consequences of integrating that penetrating radioactivity into his sword techniques. Though he didn't spend much time consciously thinking about it, he inevitably reflected on it while pushing his ascent.

The eighty-fifth trial took ninety-two hours.

For the eighty-sixth trial, Radon, Lu Yuan spent ninety-three hours. During the mastery of this element, Lu Yuan was simultaneously researching sword moves incorporating that penetrating radioactivity, seemingly having a breakthrough.

The eighty-seventh trial involved Francium, consuming ninety-five hours, during which Lu Yuan continued to develop the sword move utilizing penetrating radioactivity.

For the eighty-eighth floor, Radium, Lu Yuan took ninety-six hours.

The eighty-ninth floor, Actinium, was undoubtedly another radioactive element, demanding ninety-seven hours. It was during this stage that Lu Yuan finally concluded his research on the penetrating sword technique. Lu Yuan made a motion, and the sword body transformed in the void.

"Piercing Heart!" Yes, that was the name of the move. The function of this strike was not earth-shattering; it merely allowed the sword energy to pass through an opponent's weapon or magical artifact when blocking, offering a surprise attack beyond that.

Of course, one should not underestimate this Piercing Heart strike. If executed well, it could catch an opponent completely off guard, relying on the penetrating nature of radioactive elements. It was a minor sword skill.

Trying to force this into the pure framework of Jian Jiu would be laughable. Jian Ba's Myriad Swords Return to One possessed unparalleled destructive power, whereas Piercing Heart was fundamentally just a small trick, a niche expertise.

Forget it; he would designate this as Jian Ling.

Jian Ling, Piercing Heart Strike!

This Jian Ling was the weakest strike among his collection of sword techniques.

This particular move held some interest. He used the Piercing Heart Strike once, but without an opponent, its full power could not be realized. Lu Yuan shrugged, sheathing his Yangwu Immortal Sword, and continued his ascent. Next was the ninetieth floor, Thorium, which took ninety-eight hours.

The ninety-first floor, Protactinium, required ninety-nine hours.

The ninety-second floor, Uranium, demanded nearly a hundred hours.

Finally, at the ninety-third floor, Lu Yuan could no longer master any element and was expelled.

At last, Lu Yuan was ejected from the Element Tower.

The Element Tower stood empty.

Having spent over a year inside the Element Tower, the moment Lu Yuan emerged, the entire structure erupted into sensation. Who could have imagined that this time, the record would be shattered? The previous benchmark at the eighty-fourth floor was considered impossibly high, yet Lu Yuan had swept them all aside.

Dongji Xianweng and Xiji Xianweng were deeply moved. Lu Yuan had overcome ninety-two stages, failing only at the ninety-third, meaning he had reset the new record to ninety-three floors. The pressure exerted by this new ninety-three-floor record was mountainous, pressing down hard on those who followed. It was likely an insurmountable height for the foreseeable future—a towering landmark.

"Lu Yuan is so powerful."

"Indeed, Lu Yuan is overwhelmingly mighty. The highest record held by the Seven Sons of Fortune was merely the eighty-fourth floor, where they failed. Now, Lu Yuan has reached the ninety-third! Is his innate talent stronger than that of the Seven Sons of Fortune?"

"That’s not necessarily true. Many of the Seven Sons of Fortune fell at the eighty-fourth floor. The Polonium element there is called the most venomous element, yet artifacts are prohibited within the Tower, making it impossible for many to pass. Of course, very few ever reached the eighty-fourth floor to begin with, and those who did likely hadn't anticipated reaching such heights, meaning they hadn't brought sufficient antidotes, leading to their failure on that floor."

"Regardless, it's clear that Lu Yuan is dominant in the Way of the Sword. However, he has a weakness: only his sword path is strong; other areas are lacking. His ability to challenge the ninety-third floor stemmed from employing specific tactics to leverage his sword talent. While the individual aspects of the other Seven Sons of Fortune might not match Lu Yuan's peak, their overall capabilities far surpass his." Finally, a balanced voice stated this, offering the most rational explanation, which was, in fact, the true reason.

Simply put, it was like comparing two wooden buckets.

Lu Yuan's bucket had one plank—the one representing the Way of the Sword—that reached an extreme height, while all the other planks were extremely short.

The Seven Sons of Fortune, however, had a bucket where all the planks were of similar, moderate length. They were lower than Lu Yuan's highest plank but significantly higher than his shortest ones.

In any single discipline, the Seven Sons of Fortune were slightly inferior to Lu Yuan.

In comprehensive ability, the Seven Sons of Fortune could instantly crush Lu Yuan.

Yet, even achieving supremacy over the Seven Sons of Fortune in a single domain was earth-shattering news, and this information rapidly spread across the various directions of the Central Heavenly Dynasty.

(I am genuinely moved by how early this chapter update is today.)