A crowd watched in awe, marveling at the sheer power displayed by the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan. The difficulty of the Grand Cosmic Text Array should have overwhelmed anyone at the fifth or sixth levels of the World Realm, yet here they stood, both holding firm—truly befitting their reputation as the Sword Gate's most gifted individuals, possessing talents that shook the very heavens and moved the earth!

On the reverse side of the Sword Scroll, the Son of the Sword summoned forth the 'Point' Avatar.

This Point Avatar was impossibly sharp, ready to pierce the very textual threat that endangered the Son of the Sword’s life.

Initially, the Son of the Sword had indeed been in grave danger. However, as he gradually gained mastery over this Point Avatar, the surrounding threat diminished. Only then did he realize he hadn't truly commanded the Avatar before; now, he was beginning to grasp its essence.

The Point’s most formidable avatar was now in his hands.

With this Point Avatar, obtaining the Sword Scroll was now within reach.

The Son of the Sword mused internally, Lu Yuan, just fall before me.

The Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan were now aware of the rules: defeat three hundred and fifty texts within the time it takes for two sticks of incense to burn. It was difficult, but perhaps achievable.

At this moment, Lu Yuan was also deep in thought, calculating how to subdue three hundred and fifty texts in the allotted time. Unquestionably, Lu Yuan was a step slower than the Son of the Sword when it came to formulating a plan. The Son of the Sword already had a method: continuously hone the Point Avatar. Lu Yuan was still searching for a solution.

Where could a solution arise from?

How should he deal with the Earth-element and Fire-element texts?

If only he possessed the Earth Devouring Dragon or the Fire Devouring Dragon.

But mastering either of those was no simple feat. The four Devouring Dragons he had previously cultivated were all achieved under extremely rare and fortunate coincidences. Thinking back, achieving them was never easy. Perhaps he should just try? After all, it was the only idea he currently possessed.

Lu Yuan was the type to act immediately upon an idea. Since he thought of trying, he began trying at once.

He started rummaging through his Sword Space. He had recently slain quite a few figures from the Mad Gate, acquiring considerable spoils, along with previous loot, hoping to find something useful. If he had anything that could devour Earth or Fire, he would truly strike gold.

Lu Yuan searched and searched, scouring everything left behind by the members of the Mad Gate, but found nothing useful.

Frustration! Though, this was to be expected. Anything capable of cultivating a Devouring Dragon was extraordinary, beyond ordinary imagination. If such things were easily found, then the Formless Devouring Art would be commonplace. It seemed he would have to find another way to forge the Earth Devouring Dragon or the Fire Devouring Dragon.

Wait!

As he searched, Lu Yuan found a piece of flesh.

Oh, isn't this the Taisui?

He recalled obtaining this when he was in the State of Jin, within the True Martial Grotto-Heaven.

It must have been then, if his memory served him correctly.

He remembered trying to cut off a piece of the Taisui to taste it back then; it was much like ordinary pork.

After that, it had been shelved until now, virtually untouched.

Never mind, he might as well try it out.

Lu Yuan casually channeled Fire-element mana into it. Immediately, a small piece of the Taisui cooked. It seemed immune to Fire attacks was not the case. Lu Yuan then activated his Formless Art, circulating his mana and transforming it into Earth-element mana before inputting it. Truthfully, Lu Yuan held almost no hope at this point.

However, upon injecting the Earth-element mana, he noticed the Taisui slightly enlarged, and the sliver of Earth-element mana he input vanished.

It was completely gone.

What just happened?

The Taisui was discovered in the State of Jin.

Back then, the mana from his current World Realm fifth level, though a small portion to him now, was enough to crush anyone short of the peak figures in the Dao Realm fifth level—a terrifying power in Jin.

Yet, the Taisui showed no adverse reaction; instead, it absorbed that sliver of Earth-element mana and grew considerably larger.

This was suspicious!

Wait, could the Taisui be something capable of devouring Earth-element mana? And precisely the material needed for his Formless Devouring Art?

If that were the case, this was rather amusing.

Lu Yuan immediately activated the Formless Devouring Art. As it began to circulate, countless insights flooded his mind from the piece of Taisui. He learned that eons ago, there existed an incredibly peculiar fierce beast known as the Taisui Wang!

Indeed, the Taisui Wang!

This Taisui Wang was no ordinary creature. Not only was it immune to Earth-element attacks, but it could convert all incoming Earth energy into its own mana. Furthermore, it possessed a terrifying ability: it ate planets! Yes, in that era, the Taisui Wang continuously consumed worlds, devouring expanse after expanse of the starry void.

The Taisui Wang had no eyes, no nose, no hands, no feet—it was merely a massive lump of flesh. Another defining characteristic was that any attack insufficient to utterly destroy it would result in its rapid regeneration, as if unharmed.

It was virtually invincible in its time, and for a long period, the luck of that epoch favored the Taisui Wang.

Many sought to eliminate the Taisui Wang, as a creature constantly consuming the cosmos was too dreadful; if left unchecked, the very regions where civilization thrived would be devoured. But with fortune on its side, every individual who dared to strike at the Taisui Wang perished without exception.

Consequently, in that epoch, the term 'Fierce God Taisui Wang' arose, giving birth to sayings like 'disturbing the earth beneath the Taisui's head' or 'offending the Taisui'—truly illustrating the creature's terrifying authority. It had reached the level of a Civilization Deputy Lord, arguably the most formidable Demon King of its age.

However, there came a point when patience ran out. By then, the Taisui Wang’s authority was absolute, a Civilization Deputy Lord. Ultimately, several Civilization Lords jointly intervened, completely obliterating the Taisui Wang into countless shards, billions upon billions. The Taisui Wang met its definitive end, but from that cataclysm emerged various legends of the Taisui, which inherited the King’s traits: infinite regeneration and the ability to be endlessly divided.

Among those billions of fragments, several exceptionally vital pieces—containing the very essence of the original Taisui Wang—survived. And Lu Yuan was fortunate enough to possess one of these essence fragments. But the legends of the Taisui Wang were so ancient that when Lu Yuan first acquired the Taisui, he had no idea of its significance. To be precise, in this current epoch, very few remembered the Taisui Wang; most treated the Taisui merely as a source of meat, forgetting its terrifying legacy.

It was only by using the Formless Devouring Art that Lu Yuan accidentally triggered this ancestral memory. If he hadn't targeted it with the specific requirement for the Earth Devouring Dragon, such memories would never have surfaced.

Lu Yuan was stunned. The piece of Taisui he obtained back at Mount Hua was actually an essential fragment from the remains of the Taisui Wang, and now it could help him forge the Earth Devouring Dragon among the Seven Devouring Arts. This felt utterly bizarre; for a moment, Lu Yuan couldn't process it.

What is destiny? This is destiny!

Lu Yuan became increasingly certain of his own unbreakably robust fortune. How could someone possess such formidable luck?

He immediately began cultivating the Earth Devouring Dragon!

Lu Yuan activated the Formless Devouring Art while rapidly absorbing the flesh mass. The instructions for the Formless Devouring Art flashed through his mind sentence by sentence. The necessary materials were all present, and the Earth Devouring Dragon of the Formless Devouring Art was cultivated with astonishing speed.

A pale-blue dragon coiled above Lu Yuan's head. As it circled, the surrounding Earth-element texts seemed to wobble precariously. Finally, Lu Yuan knew: his Earth Devouring Dragon was complete.

Of the Seven Devouring Dragons, he had now mastered five, leaving only the Wind Devouring Dragon and the Fire Devouring Dragon.

The Wind-element texts had minimal effect on him.

Therefore, only the Fire Devouring Dragon remained.

He calculated that dealing with the other six types of texts would take negligible time. Could he manage the remaining fifty Fire-element texts within nearly two incense sticks' worth of time? Lu Yuan pondered, having already resolved to try. He hadn't studied swordsmanship for so long just for show; he had a decent amount of confidence to attempt this.

If this attempt succeeded, he would truly strike it rich. Absorbing such a massive quantity of texts—his previous record was absorbing twenty texts during that confrontation with the Son of the Sword, which left the latter pale with heartache—and now, three hundred and fifty at once!

The Grand Cosmic Text Array!

Three hundred and fifty texts—a monumental challenge.

However, before facing this trial, he needed to recall his Water-element swordsmanship. He commanded the Water Emperor Sword Dao! The best counter against Fire-element texts was indeed the Water Emperor Sword Dao. Lu Yuan raised his Yangwu Immortal Sword, and instantly, a faint layer of watery light enveloped it. The Water Emperor Sword Dao proved quite effective, as Lu Yuan casually brandished his blade.

Alright, it was time to begin.

The grand challenge commenced. Whether he could absorb all three hundred and fifty texts in one go depended on this moment.

By the way, absorbing so many texts previously had yielded almost no discernible benefit, save for the Copper Civilization transforming into sustenance for his Sword texts. But now, he dimly sensed that absorbing texts of other elements might finally reveal a purpose.

Though not yet explicit, he felt that the benefit of absorbing these three hundred and fifty texts would manifest after this attempt.

(Second chapter delivered.)