The Elemental Tower reached its zenith just outside. Indeed, at the beginning, who would have imagined Lu Yuan could reach the ninety-third floor.

“I think Lu Yuan is quite remarkable; the Seven Sons of Fortune should be renamed the Eight Sons of Fortune.” “Indeed, calling him the Eighth Son of Fortune would be appropriate.” “But what should the Eighth Son of Fortune be called? The preceding ones are the Son of Immortal, the Son of Dharma, the Son of Martial Arts, the Son of Desolation, the Son of Sword, the Son of Buddha, and the Son of Devil.

If Lu Yuan is called the Son of Sword, wouldn't that overlap with Jian Wenchang, the Son of Sword?” “It is said that this Lu Yuan enjoys drinking; perhaps he should be called the Son of Wine.” “Haha, that name is quite fitting.” The moniker, Eighth Son of Fortune, Son of Wine, Lu Yuan, quickly spread. Of course, no matter how far this saying traveled, it wouldn't truly define him.

The Seven Sons of Fortune were no ordinary designation; they were figures determined by the Lords of several Ancient Civilizations through countless calculations, each destined for immense fortune and playing a critical role in the future. Simultaneously, some factions began trying to court Lu Yuan, though not many made overt moves.

It wasn't that Lu Yuan wasn't worth courting. (Baidu Huashan Immortal Gate Bar Update.) Rather, it was for several reasons.

Firstly, it was widely known that the Desolate Ancient Civilization seemed to harbor a strong dislike for Lu Yuan, and few forces dared to court anyone despised by the Desolate Ancient Civilization. Secondly, the Jian Civilization seemed locked in an eternal struggle with Lu Yuan, and the Jian Civilization was itself one of the great powers of the heavens and earth.

Thirdly, Lu Yuan’s battle with the Son of Sword was slated for just over two years away, and the two seemed locked in a life-or-death rivalry. Some factions preferred to wait and see which one emerged victorious before aligning themselves, though naturally, most people considered the Son of Sword the more likely victor, given he was an established member of the Seven Sons of Fortune.

Within the Elemental City, Lu Yuan was the overwhelming topic of conversation. In contrast, the buzz surrounding the Son of Buddha was significantly muted; Lu Yuan had completely overshadowed him by this point.

Lu Yuan, meanwhile, was deep in contemplation over two matters. The first concerned his Jian Ling (Sword Zero) and the technique Chuan Xin Yi Jian (Heart-Piercing Thrust).

He found that this sword technique was far more useful than he had initially imagined. Chuan Xin Yi Jian referred to a method where, if an opponent blocked with a weapon or treasure, the sword energy would pierce through the obstruction to strike the target.

Lu Yuan had initially dismissed this as a minor trick, only placing Jian Ling onto it for amusement. However, as Lu Yuan seriously analyzed this move now, he realized it was far from a minor technique; it truly lived up to the name of the starting point of the Ancient Sword Dao embodied by Jian Ling.

This specific technique, Jian Ling, Chuan Xin Yi Jian, was not merely a single method of penetration. Simply put, for every type of element that could be radiantly pierced, there existed a corresponding penetration attack.

He currently commanded ten types of radiant piercing elements, meaning he could execute ten distinct methods of penetration. No, it was more than that; these penetrations could be combined.

The sheer number of penetration methods available to him was difficult to fathom. After all, ten different radiant piercing elements could be combined to form a considerable array of penetrating radiation techniques.

Therefore, Jian Ling, Chuan Xin Yi Jian was proving exceedingly useful, far more so than he had anticipated. Furthermore, Lu Yuan discovered another thing.

His technique Jian Qi (Sword Seven), the Xiao Jian Jie (Lesser Sword Realm), did not require mastery solely within the Elemental Tower; it could be practiced in the outside world as well. However, practicing it externally demanded a considerable amount of time for contemplation and gradual mastery.

This slow, time-intensive method could not be accelerated by time-acceleration techniques; those were inapplicable. Time-slowing techniques were also useless, as while the time within the affected zone genuinely slowed, prolonged exposure caused one's own mental processing speed to diminish, rendering it useless for contemplation and advancement.

(Baidu Huashan Immortal Gate Bar Update.) If he had the luxury of time to grind it out, he could potentially use Jian Qi, Xiao Jian Jie to reach mastery over one hundred and twenty elements. He had already mastered ninety-two, meaning only the final twenty-eight remained; grinding for time would likely take a mere few hundred years.

But he did not have that time. What was to be done?

Lu Yuan directly questioned Qiu Qingshan. Qiu Qingshan hadn't mastered many elements this time, but his age afforded him more longevity and knowledge of such matters.

“After the Elemental Tower, one must generally begin seeking other methods to master elements. Within the heavens and earth, there exists something called the Essence of Element (Yuan Su Zhi Jing).

Even a single one of these essences is not cheap, and the higher the element, the more expensive the Essence of Element becomes. The essences of the earlier elements hold little value.” “Where can one find this Essence of Element?” Lu Yuan couldn't help but ask.

“The Essence of Element?” Qiu Qingshan replied, “I don't know exactly where they are located. For instance, within an endless iron mine, there might appear the Essence of the Iron Element; within an endless tungsten mine, the Essence of the Tungsten Element might emerge.

However, they do not appear in great numbers, and their precise locations remain unknown.” “I see,” Lu Yuan nodded. It seemed he needed to start collecting the Essence of Element now.

The problem was, Qiu Qingshan's advice was as good as saying nothing at all. Forget it, he first needed to find the Essence of Element for the ninety-third element, Neptunium, to master it.

“Selling the Essence of Element!” “Selling the Essence of Element!” Unsurprisingly, where there is demand, there is a market, and where there is a market, there are merchants. Merchants selling the Essence of Element had now appeared in the Elemental City.

Lu Yuan followed them to see and discovered that the essences here were indeed astronomically expensive; generally, only the truly affluent dared to purchase much. Lu Yuan was, in fact, quite wealthy.

He had made a considerable fortune previously from slaying members of the Jian Faction and those on Earth Dragon Star, possessing a large amount of Earth-Tier spirit stones—about fifty thousand in total. A figure at the third level of the World Realm usually possessed wealth equivalent to only four or five thousand Earth-Tier spirit stones.

But even for the affluent Lu Yuan, after spending forty thousand of his fifty thousand Earth-Tier spirit stones, he had only managed to acquire the Essences of Elements from the ninety-third through the one-hundredth. Lu Yuan felt utterly fleeced, the pain acute, but he had no choice.

If he didn't suffer this exploitation, he couldn't save time. Spirit stones, after all, could be earned back.

He retained the remaining ten thousand Earth-Tier spirit stones for his Mythical-grade spirit beasts and for specific emergencies; he couldn't afford to be completely destitute of spirit stones. Lu Yuan’s display of wealth stunned the onlookers.

Where did he acquire so many spirit stones? He was too rich.

As someone from a supreme sect like the Sword Gate, he shouldn't have been this wealthy. After acquiring these essences, Lu Yuan carefully cracked them open in order, then entered contemplation one by one.

After a significant period, Lu Yuan had mastered the elements from the ninety-third to the one-hundredth. These eight elements were Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Californium, Einsteinium, and Fermium, respectively.

Having mastered so many elements, he felt an ever-growing grip on the very fabric of the material world. Concurrently, Jian Ling, Chuan Xin Yi Jian, enriched by the mastery of eight new radiant piercing elements, became far more versatile and difficult to defend against.

When Lu Yuan emerged from seclusion, he found very few people left in the Elemental City. Of course, the decade-long opening of the Elemental Tower had long passed; those who came had gone.

It was time for him to depart as well. Zhu Yan, Ji Qianyu, Qiu Qingshan, and the others had already left ahead of him, leaving Lu Yuan letters explaining their situations.

They all had their own affairs and couldn't wait for him. More accurately, (Baidu Huashan Immortal Gate Bar Update), they had begun searching everywhere to gather Essences of Element to propel themselves toward the fourth level of the World Realm.

They naturally didn't hold the same high standards as Lu Yuan, who aimed for full mastery of one hundred and twenty elements before advancing. Generally, reaching sixty elements was enough to attempt the breakthrough; seventy or eighty offered a very high chance; and ninety was a guarantee, as mastering ninety elements granted the qualification to strive for the Celestial Venerable Realm.

As for the Civilization Realm, they hadn't even dared to dream of it. The Civilization Realm was too difficult, too exaggerated; perhaps only one emerged every hundred thousand or several hundred thousand years.

Just as Lu Yuan was preparing to leave, he suddenly received a letter. The letter was sent from the Sword Gate.

Upon reading the contents, Lu Yuan was startled. The letter was written by Taishi Kong.

It stated: The Son of Sword had emerged from seclusion, apparently reaching an incredibly high realm, subtly hinting at him becoming the foremost figure in the Sword Gate. Furthermore, he had found a person previously exiled by the Sword Gate—a Sword Maniac True Person who had contended with Ancestor Jian Mie.

This Sword Maniac True Person had competed with Ancestor Jian Mie for the position of the Master of the Sword Ancestor Star, the true ruler of the Sword Gate. The result was that the Sword Maniac True Person was miserably defeated and expelled.

Now, the Son of Sword had rediscovered the Sword Maniac True Person precisely to challenge the legitimacy and justification of Ancestor Jian Mie’s status as the Star Master. Simply put, the Sword Maniac True Person was now seeking a re-election for the Master of the Sword Ancestor Star.

Naturally, this was absolutely not the Sword Maniac True Person’s own desire, but rather the will of the Son of Sword. And unquestionably, the Son of Sword intended to use this opportunity to seize control of the Sword Gate; the Sword Maniac True Person was merely a puppet the Son of Sword had placed in the forefront.

The Son of Sword was no ordinary figure; he was one of the Seven Sons of Fortune, and his strategic complexity surpassed that of Xuanyuan Wang, ranking only slightly below him. His prolonged inaction meant that when he finally struck, the assault would undoubtedly be overwhelming.

Therefore, the current Sword Gate was in extreme peril. Lu Yuan, currently only at the third level of the World Realm and intending to gather more elements, now felt compelled to return to the Sword Gate immediately to assess the situation.

Without further delay, Lu Yuan left the Elemental City, pierced the void with a single sword strike, and mounted his sword, soaring into the boundless expanse. (Book recommendation: I recommend a new book, Star Dust Armament.

This book was not written by a newcomer; it's by the author of Blood of the Stranger, who is quite famous. It is an Eastern Fantasy, book number: 2274355.

From no magic to the Great Desolation, star dust has changed the laws of nature and everything in the world. New environment, new cycles, adaptation, evolution, survival of the fittest—inescapable realities.

Alien races, once human three generations ago, are now demons. A gaming otaku transmigrates, forging his unique path to the summit.)