"Begin the trial of the Seven Emotions: Wrath." The Emotion Tester immediately began inputting a surge of furious emotion, and Lu Yuan once again immersed himself in the sentiment of the sword.

In truth, Lu Yuan had begun to notice something peculiar about himself. Back when he was forging his Three Souls during the Longevity stage, those souls had manifested as three distinct swords. Then, at the Tablet of Sword Forgetfulness, the last thing he remembered was a single sword. Now, the situation was even more baffling: attempting to utilize his own Seven Emotions failed, yet immersing himself in the sword's Seven Emotions—listening to its sound, feeling its sentiment—actually worked. Life was truly bizarre.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but recall Yan Cangtian's words: his very appearance was an accident—a massive one. What kind of accident was he, exactly? Ah, never mind. Lu Yuan gulped down a mouthful of wine. Life followed its own course; for now, he wouldn't worry about it, letting the tumultuous waves surge as they willed.

Soon, the results for the Wrath of the Seven Emotions were displayed. "Wrath of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior." Another Ninth Grade Superior. Ninth Grade Superior was the highest possible level within the Seven Emotions. For Lu Yuan to achieve this again was truly humbling. Jian Ruhai, Jian Yunzhongzu, Qiu Qingshan, and the others could only stare, their pupils wide. They genuinely could not fathom how Lu Yuan's haphazard approach could cause his Seven Emotions to continuously elevate. It was utterly unimaginable. Ninth Grade Superior! This was Ninth Grade Superior!

Standing nearby, Jian Ru'dun had always accepted that he was mediocre and understood the immense gulf between mediocrity and genius, so he took no offense; he remained open-minded. However, for the others—Qiu Qingshan, Jian Yunzhongzu, Ji Qianyu, Su Yingxiu—it was different. Though they might not seem outstanding when compared to Lu Yuan, they had all been geniuses in their respective sects during their youth, otherwise, they would never have reached their current levels. But now, these former geniuses realized the sheer immensity of the gap when measured against someone like Lu Yuan, the Son of the Sword. Damn it, comparing only made things worse; comparing oneself only led to fury.

Two aspects of the Seven Emotions had been tested, and both yielded the supreme Ninth Grade Superior. "Begin the trial of the Seven Emotions: Sorrow." A wave of sorrowful emotion was input into Lu Yuan's mind. Lu Yuan heard the sword's grief—indeed, the sword grieved for how few used the Way of the Sword today, for its profound decline. Lu Yuan felt as if he had transformed into a sword himself in that instant. "Sorrow of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior." Normally, achieving one Ninth Grade Superior was astonishing enough, yet Lu Yuan had directly produced three in a row. "Begin the trial of the Seven Emotions: Fear." The Fear of the Seven Emotions was a scene Lu Yuan himself anticipated, eager to witness the sword's dread. He wished to see the scene at the end of the previous epoch when the Way of the Sword shattered into pieces. He wasn't necessarily eager to see this sight itself, but rather felt an innate pull to look upon the Dou Tian— He needed to see what truly transpired at the close of the previous age. What terrifying entity could have delivered such a decisive blow to the Way of the Sword?

Lu Yuan, being a swordsman destined to strive for the Civilization Realm and revitalize the Sword Dao, naturally wished to know what occurred at the epoch's end, as he might face it himself. But alas, this time, Lu Yuan only saw a corner, a mere facet. Yet, even that small glimpse revealed countless sword cultivators of the last epoch falling like rain, swept away by a force that felt like true world-ending destruction, consuming and annihilating everything. Even seeing it for the second time, Lu Yuan couldn't help but gasp in awe; it was truly an indescribable, colossal power. "Fear of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior." "Begin the trial of the Seven Emotions: Love." After Fear came Love. The sword's love was an unwavering guardianship; because of this guardianship, it was strong; because of this guardianship, it was resolute. Lu Yuan deeply connected with the sword's protective love. Hadn't his own pursuit of strength also been driven by a need to guard something? Because he wished to protect certain things, he had become incomparably powerful. "Love of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior." "Begin the trial of the Seven Emotions: Hate." While undergoing the test of Hate, Lu Yuan found his thoughts drifting towards wine, a manifestation of the Sword Heart transforming—the human heart becoming the Sword Heart, human emotion becoming the sword's emotion. "Hate of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior." "Begin the trial of the Seven Emotions: Desire." Finally, the last test, the Desire of the Seven Emotions. Lu Yuan had achieved Ninth Grade Superior in the previous six aspects—levels so high they seemed impossible to surpass. Now, the measurement of Desire began. Could Lu Yuan complete seven for seven, all reaching Ninth Grade Superior? Everyone waited with bated breath. Time seemed to slow to a crawl in that instant. "Desire of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior." Another Ninth Grade Superior. All Seven Emotions were Ninth Grade Superior.

... This was truly a miracle!

Jian Ruhai, Qiu Qingshan, Jian Yunzhongzu, Ji Qianyu, Su Yingxiu, Zhu Tianrong, Zhu Liefeng, and the others were utterly dumbfounded. They all possessed Seven Emotions ranked at Fourth or Fifth Grade. Lu Yuan, who originally suffered from deficient Seven Emotions, starting at First Grade Inferior and First Grade Intermediate, never even reaching First Grade Superior, had now directly achieved seven Ninth Grade Superiors. What an astonishing miracle! In fact, when striving for the Creation Realm, many used various methods to boost their Seven Emotions—all the Seven Sons of Destiny had done so. If they hadn't, techniques like the Water of Sorrow Restraining Wrath Art would never have been born. Even figures at the level of the Seven Sons of Destiny rarely managed to elevate beyond Eighth Grade, never reaching Ninth Grade directly. But Lu Yuan had hit Ninth Grade outright.

Ji Qianyu slapped her cheek: "Am I dreaming?" Zhu Liefeng muttered, "I finally understand the difference between a genius and those at the level of the Eight Sons of Destiny. How can this even compare?" Jian Ruhai spoke, "Excellent. Now that you can push your Seven Emotions to Ninth Grade Superior, as long as you find a few more things that allow comprehension of the Seven Emotion Extremes, you can use these resources to smoothly advance to the fifth heaven of the World Realm, the Creation Realm." Yes, after striving for so long, since first identifying the deficiency in his Seven Emotions, enduring countless failures and seeing no hope of success along the way—now, success was finally within reach. It hadn't been easy!

Even Lu Yuan felt the difficulty of the journey. Was success finally here? "Success? Succeed at what? How could you possibly succeed?" A loud, arrogant, and domineering voice boomed from the sky, resonating like thunder. Following the words came an overwhelming, crushing aura. Lu Yuan, Jian Ruhai, and the others were forced to look up sharply as the clouds parted in the void. The clouds parted, and a figure appeared. Suspended in the emptiness was a middle-aged man with thick brows, large eyes, rough hands and feet, radiating utter wildness, slowly descending. Zhan Kuangtie! It was Zhan Kuangtie, the man who had been relentlessly hunting Lu Yuan. Wait, how could Zhan Kuangtie find this place? Jian Ruhai’s heart convulsed violently. The Hidden Sword Sect's greatest strengths were not just one thing; first was their art of concealment and stealth, and second was their collection of peculiar items that boosted strength and unlocked potential. Their concealment skill was unparalleled, otherwise, they wouldn't be called the Hidden Sword Sect. So how did Zhan Kuangtie locate the Hidden Sword Sect? This was impossible! If the Hidden Sword Sect could be discovered so easily, it wouldn't be able to function anymore.

Zhan Kuangtie looked toward Jian Ruhai: "You must be wondering how I found the Hidden Sword Sect's location. The truth is, I didn't find it; our Mad Gate discovered the location of the Hidden Sword Sect. The Manifest Sword Sect and the Hidden Sword Sect, though claiming to be two separate factions, have always been intricately linked." "And throughout history, the Manifest Sword Sect was twice beaten to the point of extinction by our Mad Gate, only to mysteriously revive later," Zhan Kuangtie continued. "When we investigated that revival, we found the shadow of the Hidden Sword Sect within it. The collusion between the Manifest Sword Sect and the Hidden Sword Sect is deeper than one might imagine." "This time, our Mad Gate intends to resolve the Manifest Sword Sect issue permanently, to destroy the Sword Sect lineage entirely. But we feared the Manifest Sword Sect might rise again from the ashes, so we naturally had to deal with the Hidden Sword Sect problem. Discovering your Hidden Sword Sect was quite complicated initially, but through sheer luck, we stumbled upon a thread of evidence, allowing us to roughly pinpoint your location." "Of course, we didn't plan to act immediately then. We intended to wipe out the Manifest Sword Sect first before dealing with the Hidden Sword Sect. However, the Manifest Sword Sect is now on the verge of destruction, and their most crucial figure, Lu Yuan, is within your Hidden Sword Sect. It was easy to guess that in this region, only the Hidden Sword Sect possessed the capability to help Lu Yuan evade my pursuit." "So, I followed him here to the Hidden Sword Sect," Zhan Kuangtie stated. Seeing Su Yingxiu move as if to activate the Sleeve Boat, Zhan Kuangtie laughed coldly: "You court your own doom by trapping yourselves here in the Hidden Sword Sect. Don't even think about escaping in that vessel. Before I revealed myself, I used a special technique to seal this entire area. You cannot escape this domain." Zhan Kuangtie spoke with a sneer. He had prepared everything meticulously. Now, all that remained was the execution—capturing Lu Yuan. The net was cast; there was nowhere for Lu Yuan to run, no escape route. Starting from the planet Dilong, traversing countless stars in between, the time to kill Lu Yuan had finally arrived. Zhan Kuangtie felt it had been a long, arduous road, and it was time to reap the reward. As he landed, he casually glanced at the Emotion Tester displaying data next to Lu Yuan. He was a powerhouse of the sixth heaven of the World Realm, the Qi Realm, widely experienced, and the Mad Gate also possessed Emotion Testers, so he understood the device. Seeing the data displayed on the instrument, his expression instantly shifted. On the Emotion Tester, there were clearly displayed: Desire of the Seven Emotions, Ninth Grade Superior! These seven characters struck a chord deep within him! At least Zhan Kuangtie was shocked in that instant! He couldn't help but rub his eyes.