Lu Yuan easily shattered the Heavenly Constellation and Earthly Fiend Utmost Sword Formation cast down by the left head of the three-headed lion, causing that particular head to momentarily freeze in surprise.

"Hahahaha." The middle lion head laughed heartily. "Your formation was broken so easily; how utterly ridiculous."

The right lion head also burst into laughter. "Left Lion, you are truly weak. Are you not ashamed? You are ruining the great name of our GuGu Beast."

The left lion head couldn't help but grow angry. "What are you two gloating about? Do you think you can stop this human? I say you won't be able to hold him."

The middle lion head cackled. "Just because you're useless, you assume we are too. Now it's my turn. Human, I, the incomparably wise and intelligent one, shall test you. If you pass my trial, I won't eat you. If you fail, I devour you. Eating someone who has been stumped—that truly is a delicacy."

Lu Yuan shrugged. He had mostly calmed down by now; he had no choice, as he was completely outmatched by the three-headed GuGu Beast.

The middle lion head lifted a claw and produced a pitch-black stone. "The second question is this: can you destroy this stone?"

As soon as the stone appeared, the left lion immediately cried out, "Too cunning! Even we Heavenly Venerates cannot break this stone. How can you expect such a weak human to destroy it?"

The right lion nodded in agreement. "Indeed, excessively cunning." (Baidu Huashan Immortal Gate Forum Update.)

The middle lion smirked. "Whether I'm cunning is irrelevant; this is called wisdom. I am the most intelligent of the wise GuGu Beast clan." As soon as he said this, the other two heads began to argue, apparently the GuGu Beast clan’s greatest joy was debating which head was the most intelligent.

Lu Yuan was also somewhat puzzled. These three-headed GuGu Beasts were truly the strangest demonic beasts he had ever encountered; he hadn't seen anything so bizarre since birth, considering it an eye-opening experience.

However, since the challenge had been presented, he had to solve it.

What was this pitch-black stone?

Lu Yuan took the stone into his hand. This time, the task was to shatter it. The stone felt about a hundred thousand jin in weight, and though small—not even palm-sized—it possessed a staggering density. The stone was smooth and ice-cold to the touch.

Lu Yuan immediately unleashed his swordsmanship, slamming it heavily into the rock. Yet, the stone showed no change whatsoever.

Wait, it wasn't that.

It wasn't no change; the stone was absorbing his sword energy.

A stone that could absorb his sword energy piqued Lu Yuan’s interest. He began to continuously feed his sword energy into the stone. After a prolonged input, the stone suddenly exploded with a loud boom, cracking apart, while a beam of light shot into the center of his brow.

Lu Yuan instantly felt his consciousness swim, and within the sea of his awareness, suspended in the void, he perceived a Sword Master Token.

Engraved upon this token was a line of poetry:

The ancient sages all lie in quiet dust; only the Sword Masters leave their names behind.

Lu Yuan directed his consciousness into it and understood. This was an artifact left from the previous Age of Swordsmanship, known as the Sword Master Token. Its function allowed passage within the areas accessible to Sword Masters. In the previous era, there were many locations exclusively for Sword Masters, but almost none remained in this era, rendering it mostly useless.

Of course, the Sword Master Token was forged from a special material, making it incredibly tough—even a Heavenly Venerate like the three-headed lion could not damage it.

It was only by inputting his sword energy that Lu Yuan managed to activate the token.

Still, this Sword Master Token seemed to have no practical use.

No, that wasn't entirely accurate.

The Sword Master Token must have some function.

For instance, there was a place called the Sword Realm. Lu Yuan focused his consciousness and immediately journeyed toward it.

Upon opening the gate to the Sword Realm, holding the Sword Realm Token, he discovered that the range of movement accessible to him within the realm had significantly expanded. Where he was once limited to the corner occupied by one hundred immortal swords, he could now traverse the area encompassing a full thousand immortal swords.

Because his access within the Sword Realm had increased, he gained an initial, vague understanding of the realm's overall scope.

It seemed that within this Sword Realm existed tens of thousands of immortal swords.

And these tens of thousands of swords appeared to orbit a central location. The center of the Sword Realm seemed to hold something extraordinary, a place rumored to be called the Sword Domain. He currently couldn't enter the Sword Domain at all. However, in addition to that, he now had nine hundred extra swords’ worth of territory he could explore.

This meant that his techniques, Sword Seven: Minor Sword Realm! and Sword Eight: Myriad Swords Return to One!, could both be greatly enhanced. Both sword moves were fundamentally derived from the Sword Realm, and greater mastery over the realm translated directly into greater power for these attacks.

Lu Yuan was not rushed. He spent a considerable amount of time reinforcing Sword Seven: Minor Sword Realm! and Sword Eight: Myriad Swords Return to One! These were powerful moves he needed to practice to face the myriad challenges ahead anyway.

After completing these refinements, he finally opened his eyes. (Baidu Huashan Immortal Gate Forum Update.)

Upon opening them, he saw the three-headed GuGu Beast in the GuGu Forbidden Land stomping its feet in agitation.

"Why? Why is it that the stone, which even our Heavenly Venerate cultivation level could not damage, was destroyed by a human with such weak power?" the middle lion head grumbled, looking fierce and ready to forcefully demand answers from Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan remained unhurried. "I've heard that many cliché villains, when they can't stump someone, like to break their promises and make trouble for the other party. Could the renowned GuGu Beast be one of those cliché villains? No, cliché evil beasts."

"That's right! We are the famous, intelligent GuGu Beast Three-Headed Lords. How could we behave like cliché villains?" The middle lion head nodded, only to be loudly criticized by the other two heads. Nevertheless, the second trial was finally passed. Now it was time for the third, as the right lion head turned to Lu Yuan. "Now it's my turn. Human, I am the most intelligent head among the GuGu Beast Three-Heads." As he spoke, the other two heads showed distinct displeasure.

"You got lucky breaking the formation in the first trial, and lucky destroying that stone in the second. The third trial won't be easy. The third trial is the Land of Death."

The Land of Death?

Lu Yuan couldn't help but pause in surprise.

What was the Land of Death?

The right head of the three-headed lion chuckled smugly. "That's right, the Land of Death. You humans probably don't know that outside the official roads of our demon beast territories, there are all sorts of Lands of Death. Any living creature entering a Land of Death will perish, even we dislike staying there. Now, I shall take you to the Land of Death."

The Land of Death!

The right head's description sent a chill down Lu Yuan’s spine, and he became extremely cautious; he absolutely could not afford to be careless.

Immediately, the three-headed lion led the way, guiding Lu Yuan toward the Land of Death.

The three-headed lion moved incredibly fast, but Lu Yuan was not slow either. They soon arrived at the Land of Death. Even before reaching it, Lu Yuan sensed an agitated, deathly aura emanating from the ground. Looking at the bizarre landscape, the earth was crimson like fresh blood, devoid of any trace of life.

This was the Land of Death!

The right lion head looked at Lu Yuan. "If you can remain in the Land of Death for ten days, you will pass my test."

Lu Yuan stepped into the Land of Death. The moment he crossed the threshold, his expression shifted to one of shock and confusion.

This was the Land of Death?

What a joke!

Lu Yuan found himself surrounded by all manner of elements within this place—various radiating energies existing in an exceedingly violent state. Moreover, he recognized over ninety elements he had already mastered, alongside a portion he had not yet mastered.

Lu Yuan used his divine sense to analyze the surroundings, and what he discovered was astonishing. The elements he had not mastered numbered exactly twenty.

In the space between heaven and earth during this current era, there were only one hundred and twenty elements in total. He had already mastered the previous one hundred, leaving only these twenty unmastered. This meant that all the elements he lacked were present here! Could it be that by utilizing Sword Seven: Minor Sword Realm, he could absorb all the remaining elements and finally reach the fourth heaven of the World Realm, the Object Transformation Realm? (Baidu Huashan Immortal Gate Forum Update.)

Lu Yuan realized why this place was so dangerous that even the three-headed lion avoided it. The elements here were volatile, exponentially more ferocious than those in the Element Tower, with constant, piercing radiation making existence intensely agonizing. Lu Yuan felt extreme discomfort the moment he entered.

As for the three-headed lion, Lu Yuan suspected that when they attempted to advance to the World Realm Fourth Heaven, they had not fully integrated all one hundred and twenty elements, which is why they found it unbearable. In truth, Lu Yuan had only considered one reason. The second reason was that most demonic beasts were not adept at the art of object transformation. The method for demonic beasts to break through from World Realm Triple Heaven to World Realm Fourth Heaven differed greatly from that of humans. Furthermore, the GuGu Beast's intelligence was not high, and they had little contact with humans, naturally remaining ignorant that the Land of Death was a massive tonic for human cultivators.

What incredible luck!

Lu Yuan felt he had experienced an unprecedented run of good fortune recently.

Since his birth, he had never enjoyed such magnificent luck.

First, entering the GuGu Forbidden Land outside the main road, then encountering demonic beasts far stronger than himself, and specifically, the GuGu Beast. All three challenges set by the GuGu Beast were precisely what he needed for his cultivation.

This fortune was truly immense.

The reason for this, in fact, was that the Luck of the Son of the Sword was currently too powerful, and the Son of the Sword possessed countless ultimate techniques. To maintain balance between the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan, Heaven had granted Lu Yuan a surge of good fortune as well.