The Son of the Sword refuted the claim that he owed Lu Yuan a hundred thousand Earth-rank Spirit Stones.

True Lord Sword Man was also perplexed. He had indeed heard of Lu Yuan’s name, but they had never crossed paths. When did he owe Lu Yuan a hundred thousand Earth-rank Spirit Stones? For True Lord Sword Man, a hundred thousand Earth-rank Spirit Stones was a substantial sum.

Lu Yuan casually raised a hand: “Senior True Lord Sword Man, you just claimed that Patriarch Sword Extinction poisoned you tens of thousands of years ago. Do you have any evidence now?”

True Lord Sword Man couldn't help but reply, “That incident was too long ago, and of the people involved back then, only Patriarch Sword Extinction and I remain; all other parties have passed away.”

Lu Yuan spread his hands: “That settles it. You claim Patriarch Sword Extinction poisoned you, yet you have no proof whatsoever. I claim you owe me a hundred thousand Earth-rank Spirit Stones, and I also have no proof. Both are baseless claims, pure bluster, with no difference between them.” Hearing Lu Yuan say this, many from the faction of the Ancestor Sword Cloud laughed. Earlier, True Lord Sword Man had slandered Patriarch Sword Extinction, and was unable to clear his name, being thoroughly smeared with mud. Unexpectedly, Lu Yuan used the same tactic against him.

True Lord Sword Man was struck dumb. What was wrong with these young people nowadays, possessing such sharp tongues.

Lu Yuan looked toward True Lord Sword Man: “So then, I demand payment from you now. True Lord Sword Man, you must repay the hundred thousand Lower-rank Spirit Stones you owe me. This isn't about seizing the position of the Master of the Ancestor Star right now; I have no interest in that. I am simply here to collect a debt. If you won't pay, we’ll have a fight first—debt collection by force.” Lu Yuan smiled as he looked at True Lord Sword Man.

True Lord Sword Man immediately felt the environment he was in had become several degrees harsher; Lu Yuan was challenging him.

True Lord Sword Man’s strength was inferior to Patriarch Sword Extinction’s; he was only at the fourth heaven of the World Realm. He was merely being propped up as a puppet by the Son of the Sword. If it were any other young person, he would be quite confident of winning the battle, but the one issuing the challenge now was Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan was no ordinary youth; he was rumored to already be at the third heaven of the World Realm, and reputedly had even defeated figures at the fourth heaven of the World Realm. True Lord Sword Man suspected he might not necessarily lose, but if he did lose, wouldn't the entire plan fall to ruin?

This was the Son of the Sword's scheme for seizing power.

True Lord Sword Man was momentarily at a loss for ideas.

Lu Yuan turned his gaze to the Son of the Sword: “Surely, if I come to collect a debt now, Son of the Sword, you won't employ the excuse that the master is busy and the disciple must labor in his stead?” This was clearly meant to mock the Son of the Sword. While it might be acceptable for a disciple to run errands, the idea of a disciple collecting debts for a superior was utterly absurd, causing those from the Sword Cloud faction to burst into laughter again.

Brilliant!

Truly brilliant!

No one expected that Lu Yuan, who usually kept his sharp tongue sheathed, could be so formidable when he chose to unleash it.

This mastery of rhetoric was truly undeniable.

In fact, being skilled with words had always been one of Lu Yuan’s excellent qualities, though he hadn't often deployed it recently. After this round of verbal sparring, he felt his proficiency in this area hadn't diminished at all. The essence of verbal combat, or 'cannon talk,' was to easily enrage the opponent while remaining outwardly calm, and while speaking, set traps for the other side to fall into.

Of course, he still had some distance to go before reaching the pinnacle of this art.

The Son of the Sword said calmly, “Enough, Lu Yuan, stop your wordplay. Let us speak with our swords.” Lu Yuan nodded and stepped onto the stage: “I was merely toying with you and Senior True Lord Sword Man a moment ago. Since you suggest speaking through the sword in hand, I share the same intent.”

The Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan faced each other, ready to clash.

The Son of the Sword was clad in flowing white robes.

Lu Yuan wore hunting azure robes that fluttered in the breeze.

The Son of the Sword held the Tai’a Immortal Sword; Tai’a, the divine artifact of the nation, the weighty implement of heaven and earth—with this sword in hand, his might oppressed all directions.

Lu Yuan held the Yangwu Immortal Sword; nurturing the vast, righteous energy of heaven and earth within himself, with this sword in hand, he upheld the righteousness between heaven and earth.

The original confrontation between the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan had involved a sword duel, but that had been a pure test of swordsmanship. This, however, was the true decisive battle between the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan. If the previous bout was a light appetizer before a meal, then this current decisive battle was the grand feast itself.

The Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan stood opposite each other.

The Son of the Sword spoke, “Originally, we had an eight-year pact, but it seems the true decisive battle will come in six years. Lu Yuan, this fight between us today is the highest-caliber sword dao confrontation in the Central Celestial Dynasty. Confining it merely within the Star Barrier is too small in scale; it lacks gravitas.”

“How about this: let the entire scope of the Sword Gate serve as our battleground. What do you say?” the Son of the Sword proposed.

“That sounds good,” Lu Yuan nodded, acknowledging the Son of the Sword’s measure of boldness. “But I have one condition to propose: we must not shatter the Sword Gate’s Three Great Stars.” Both the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan now possessed the ability to destroy stars. Admittedly, the Sword Gate’s three stars were reinforced with various restrictive formations, making them unlikely to shatter under normal circumstances, but if the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan fought to their absolute limit, destroying the Three Great Stars would not be outside the realm of possibility. Hence, the stipulation was necessary.

“Agreed,” the Son of the Sword conceded. The most magnificent sword battle in the Central Celestial Dynasty was about to commence.

Both the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan had their hands resting on their sword hilts. The atmosphere was intensely taut. Unbeknownst to them, rain began to fall—a soft, continuous drizzle. At the precise moment the first drop struck the ground, Lu Yuan and the Son of the Sword drew their blades in virtually the same instant. It was impossible to describe the speed at which the Son of the Sword drew his, nor was it possible to describe the speed of Lu Yuan’s draw.

The speed of both their draws was terrifyingly fast.

Throughout the Sword Gate, including the heavily wounded Patriarch Sword Extinction, all focused intently on this fight. They simultaneously realized that both Lu Yuan's drawing speed and the Son of the Sword's drawing speed had already far surpassed that of the former Sword Gate's number one, Patriarch Sword Extinction. But which of these two sword lights was faster?

The sword light was like refined metal—no, a thousand times faster than refining.

Two streaks of sword light converged toward Lu Yuan. The Son of the Sword’s light thrust toward Lu Yuan’s throat; Lu Yuan’s light stabbed toward the Son of the Sword’s throat. Both had chosen the opponent’s throat as the target. Whichever sword light was faster would pierce the opponent’s throat. No one had expected the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan to engage in such a desperate exchange right from the start; this style of combat was too terrifying.

Instantly, both swords froze, held motionless.

Because both the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan discovered one fact: the opponent's sword was exactly as fast as their own; there was no discernible difference in speed. If either had pushed forward, both throats would have been fatally wounded simultaneously, resulting in grievous injuries for both. The Tai’a Immortal Sword and the Yangwu Immortal Sword collided violently at extreme velocity for a moment.

It turned out the Son of the Sword was as astonishingly fast as Lu Yuan!

However, this initial clash was not a draw. The Son of the Sword did not retreat a single step, while Lu Yuan was forced back roughly a hundred zhang.

In this exchange, the Son of the Sword clearly held the advantage.

Of course, the reason for his advantage was simple: his cultivation base was deeper. “You have actually reached the transmutation clash of the fourth heaven of the World Realm. I had intended to use my transmutation realm abilities to alter you, but it seems that plan must be abandoned.” The Son of the Sword was slightly startled, not expecting Lu Yuan’s progress to be so swift—already at the fourth heaven of the World Realm. He had heard recently that Lu Yuan had visited the Elemental Tower, at which time he should have been at the third heaven of the World Realm. When the Son of the Sword first proposed the eight-year pact with Lu Yuan, Lu Yuan was still only at the third or fourth heaven of the Chaos Realm. Yet, six years later, he had reached the fourth heaven of the World Realm. Such advancement made even the Son of the Sword raise an eyebrow. Fortunately, now he could destroy Lu Yuan; there was no need to wait for the full eight years.

“Lu Yuan, under normal circumstances, a practitioner at the fourth heaven of the World Realm can defeat a general fifth-heaven World Realm cultivator, but you cannot defeat me.” The Son of the Sword sneered, completely entitled to say so. Both Lu Yuan and the Son of the Sword belonged to the category of super-elites; their swordsmanship and combat ability far surpassed those of their peers. Therefore, Lu Yuan was destined to be at a disadvantage against him.

The Son of the Sword immediately launched his attack. As he did so, several sets of World-Ending level sword techniques unfolded from his hands, such as the World-Ending Heavenly Void Sword Technique, the World-Ending Seven Reversals of Cold Heaven Tribulation, and the World-Ending Two Extremes Sword Stance. Various World-Ending techniques were unleashed from his sword. Previously, he had used these World-Ending techniques purely with swordsmanship, but now, infused with vital energy, they appeared all the more terrifying. Countless powers capable of shattering stars erupted into the void of space. By now, the battle between Lu Yuan and the Son of the Sword had long moved beyond the surface of the Ancestor Star, ascending into space, lest they accidentally obliterate the entire Ancestor Star.

Lu Yuan also unleashed World-Ending level sword techniques: the World-Ending Big Dipper Primary Slaughter Sword Technique, the World-Ending Supreme Slaughter Sword Technique, the World-Ending Heavenly Sword Traversing Sword Technique, and the World-Ending Sinking Star World Separation Sword Technique. These four World-Ending techniques exploded across space, sword energies crisscrossing, killing intent surging wildly.

So powerful!

Both the Son of the Sword’s and Lu Yuan’s sword techniques were outrageously strong.

When they had previously compared pure sword skills, everyone present had already noted that the power of Lu Yuan’s and the Son of the Sword’s techniques stood peerless within the Sword Gate, perhaps even across the entire Central Celestial Dynasty. But in just these two years, the many talents of the Sword Gate now discovered that the strength of Lu Yuan’s and the Son of the Sword’s swordsmanship was even greater than before.

The Martial Saint Imperial Scion, the Bronze Saint Imperial Scion, the Desolate Plains Imperial Scion, and the Dharma Saint Imperial Scion—though occupying different positions—all felt a simultaneous shock. They naturally possessed World-Ending level moves as well, but they could barely execute them with such terrifying force. They realized that Lu Yuan’s and the Son of the Sword’s mastery of these techniques had reached a dreadful, terrifying level.

In terms of pure sword skill exchange so far, Lu Yuan and the Son of the Sword were essentially locked in a stalemate, just as they had been two years prior.

However, in the actual battle, the Son of the Sword held the upper hand.

This was because the Son of the Sword’s cultivation base was firmly established at the fifth heaven of the World Realm.

With the power of the fifth heaven of the World Realm, the Son of the Sword was completely suppressing Lu Yuan, leaving him with few opportunities to counterattack.