The wine is the rain of stars! This wine possessed a sensation of ethereal lightness. It was an emptiness, a floating, illusory spirituality.

Lu Yuan drank, listening to the discussions around him. “Truthfully, when discussing the Sword Gate, although its current strength definitely doesn't place it within the top three hundred and sixty-five, with the ancestor Jianmie and Lu Yuan as its twin pillars—Jianmie being vastly experienced, and Lu Yuan brimming with youthful vigor—relying on these two World Realm Fifth Heaven masters, securing a spot within the top thousand should be just about manageable.” “Hah, as if,” scoffed the person next to him. This man was bare-chested, an embroidered flying eagle adorning his back—the symbol of the Mad Eagle Sect.

The Mad Eagle Sect worshipped the eagle, taking the ancient Eagle Demon God as their idol; their fighting style was wild, and they were a powerful sect filled with ambition, aiming to break into the top thousand this time and become a Supreme Great Sect. “If our Mad Eagle Sect were to encounter the Sword Gate, we would surely make them lose at our hands,” roared the man from the Mad Eagle Sect, brimming with confidence. Just a mere Sword Gate; the current Sword Gate was already fragile beyond measure.

Alas, getting shot while lying down again. Lu Yuan could only hope to encounter someone from the Mad Eagle Sect during the Sect Ranking Battle. Since they had spoken so boldly, how could he not return the favor properly?

The wine was finally finished. In truth, real wine is never finished; how could one ever have enough? The main issue was the atmosphere.

Lu Yuan always had a specific rhythm for drinking, and with the mood being off, he simply stopped for the moment. Lu Yuan staggered slightly with each step as he returned to the Boat of Swords, now waiting only for the commencement of the Sect Ranking Battle. The Sect Ranking Battle was held at the absolute center of the Pingtian Continent, upon the Pingtian Plateau.

The Pingtian Plateau was condensed by the immense magical power of figures at the level of Vice-Ruler of Civilization. This plateau stood approximately a thousand zhang high, ten thousand li long, and ten thousand li wide, shaped like a perfect square, incredibly sturdy and difficult to destroy. And it was upon this plateau that this Sect Ranking Battle would take place.

To the east of the plateau stood a row of elevated seats. This row of seats was reserved for the Civilizations. The five highest positions were set aside for the Five Great Ancient Civilizations, while the thirty slightly lower seats were for the general Civilizations.

As previously mentioned, this kind of sect battle was a grand assembly of elite figures from various sects; many exceptional individuals would emerge. Under such circumstances, the Civilizations would observe, and if any figure displayed exceptional performance, they would be absorbed into the Civilization. And now, as the Sect Battle was about to begin, the members of the Five Great Ancient Civilizations and the thirty Civilizations had mostly arrived, seated high upon their chairs.

They wished to observe what fine talents might appear this time. They merely swept a cursory glance over Lu Yuan; his fame was immense, and his potential infinite, but he cultivated the Way of the Sword. None of the thirty-five Civilizations practiced swordsmanship.

They preferred to conserve their energy and seek out other promising talents instead. Only the envoy from the Law Ancient Civilization offered Lu Yuan a greeting. The envoy from the Law Ancient Civilization was the Imperial Son Fa Qiang, the very one who had provided Lu Yuan with specialized training.

Lu Yuan returned the courtesy. It was about to start! Yes, the long-awaited Sect Ranking Battle was finally commencing.

“The Sect Ranking Battle begins now! This ranking battle will be jointly presided over by the Martial King Imperial Son from the Martial Ancient Civilization, and Old Man Antarctic Immortal from the Immortal Ancient Civilization.” The speaker possessed a fierce and powerful aura, his voice resonating across the entire venue—it was the Martial King Imperial Son. Standing beside him was Old Man Antarctic Immortal, with white hair, white eyebrows, and a white beard.

Old Man Antarctic Immortal sat upon a white crane, radiating immense benevolence. Within the Immortal Ancient Civilization, Old Man Antarctic Immortal held considerable status; his master was the Celestial Venerable Yuqing of the Primal Beginning, a figure at the Civilization Realm. Since Old Man Antarctic Immortal was valued by a Civilization Realm expert, his standing was naturally extraordinary.

Within the Immortal Ancient Civilization, there were several figures at the Civilization Realm. Aside from the Lord of the Immortal Ancient Civilization, Hong, the strongest among them were the Celestial Venerable Yuqing of the Primal Beginning, the Celestial Venerable Lingbao of the Upper Purity, and the Celestial Venerable Taishang of the Great Purity—these three figures at the Civilization Realm. “Now, the drawing of lots begins.

The lot drawn determines your luck this time—it dictates the difficulty of the opponents you might face. It is divided into three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Difficult. If you draw Easy, opponents of simpler difficulty will be arranged.

If Normal, opponents of moderate difficulty. If Difficult, opponents of challenging difficulty will be arranged.” “Luck is also a part of strength.” The Sect Ranking Battle always began with this drawing of lots; everyone was aware of the procedure. One by one, they ascended to draw their lots.

Those who drew Easy shouted in delight over their good fortune, while those who drew Normal were generally unconcerned. Only those who drew Difficult wailed about their bad luck. The Difficult setting meant the opponents faced would be significantly tougher, yet there was no room for complaint, as everyone underwent the same process.

Those drawing Difficult could only blame fate. Never underestimate luck; it is immensely important in a person's life, and equally so in the lifespan of a sect. A sect with good luck might encounter a great fortuitous encounter that propels it to prosperity.

Conversely, bad luck, like the Swallow Heaven Sect thirty thousand years ago, might encounter the demons from the Era of Demons emerging from the Lost Lands, resulting in the sect being ruthlessly slaughtered. Thus, this initial drawing of lots determining opponent difficulty by luck was considered normal. Finally, it was the Sword Gate’s turn.

Jianmie Old Ancestor looked at Lu Yuan: “Why don’t you go draw the lot?” “No, you go ahead,” Lu Yuan declined. After all, this was the prerogative of the Sect Master, and the true master of the Sword Gate was undoubtedly Jianmie Old Ancestor. Lu Yuan had no current interest in taking that position.

Jianmie Old Ancestor stepped up to draw, and this particular draw resulted in quite an issue. Difficult! What sort of draw was this!

Jianmie Old Ancestor was immediately depressed. How could he not understand the current plight of the Sword Gate? The sect was in its weakest period in history, weakened to the extreme.

Jianmie Old Ancestor had originally thought that even fighting desperately might barely secure them a spot within the top three hundred and sixty-five. If they had drawn Easy, they could have struggled for it. If Normal, there was little hope.

Drawing the most difficult setting meant almost no hope at all. Jianmie Old Ancestor truly began to suspect that this was utterly rigged. Could he lead the Sword Gate to hold onto the top thousand?

If they couldn't even secure the top thousand and consequently dropped to the rank of an ordinary sect, losing the title of Supreme Great Sect, their sect residence—three planets—would be compressed down to just one. That would truly be a colossal loss of face; how could he face the ancestors of the Sword Gate after his death? Jianmie Old Ancestor’s spirits plummeted, and the spirits of the others lowered in tandem.

Lu Yuan noticed their gloominess and burst into hearty laughter: “Hey, what’s with the long faces? Is this ‘Difficult’ something to be afraid of? We sword cultivators forge our path against the heavens, moving straight ahead, prepared to die without regret.” We sword cultivators!

Against the heavens! Moving straight ahead! Prepared to die without regret!

Indeed, this was the motto of the Sword Gate, said to have been established by the founding ancestor. “Regardless of the final result, let’s fight with gusto,” Lu Yuan declared loudly. Undeniably, Lu Yuan’s encouragement was highly successful.

Firstly, it was rooted in the very spirit of the Sword Gate; recalling the phrase ‘We sword cultivators’ stirred their hearts. Secondly, Lu Yuan’s past achievements provided a solid foundation for belief. Jianmie Old Ancestor’s morale was instantly lifted as well.

Lu Yuan had truly matured and become an excellent spiritual icon. The former ‘Son of the Sword’ served as a spiritual idol, elevated and looking down upon the masses, but in this regard, he was inferior to Lu Yuan. The drawing of lots was now completely finished, determining the difficulty of the subsequent opponents.

The arrangement of opponents was a semi-random mapping based on the difficulty level drawn. Relatively speaking, those who drew Easy would generally encounter exceedingly weak sects, while those who drew Difficult would face overwhelmingly strong opponents throughout. And immediately, the first round of the Sect Ranking Battle was about to commence.

The first round of the Sect Ranking Battle involved the sects ranked in the top thousand facing off against sects ranked below the thousandth position. This initial round was incredibly crucial: the top thousand would fight those outside the thousand. Any sect that lost this round would simply forfeit its title of Supreme Great Sect, and losing that title entailed losing a great deal of associated privileges.

Because of this, everyone was tense before the first round began; the very first battle was so gripping. The opponents for the first round were assigned through a semi-random method combining the drawn difficulty of "Easy," "Normal," and "Difficult." Quickly, the pairing list for the thousand matches was revealed. Those who saw their sect matched against a noticeably weak opponent naturally rejoiced, while those facing a strong opponent secretly cursed their misfortune.

Among them, the ten strongest sects paid absolutely no heed to their first opponent: the Hegemon Blade Sect, Blood Sect, Arrow Sect, Puppet Sect, Nanhua Sect, Shaoyang Sect, Long Spear Sect, Unique Sect, Youli Sect, and Fragrant Splendor Sect. These ten sects did not consider their opponents worthy of attention; they could crush such rivals with ease. At the same time, the people of the Sword Gate discovered their opponent for this round: the Mad Eagle Sect.

The Mad Eagle Sect was ranked just above the thousandth position, rumored to possess formidable strength, yet they harbored great ambition to break into the top thousand and become a Supreme Great Sect. Lu Yuan was momentarily startled upon seeing the name Mad Eagle Sect. His mind flashed back to the words spoken by the Mad Eagle Sect members he had overheard near the Wine Gate not long ago.

Haha, what a small world. He hadn't expected to run into the Mad Eagle Sect at this juncture. Excellent, truly excellent.

Since the Mad Eagle Sect had voiced such arrogant words, how could he not teach them a lesson? How could he possibly fail to live up to the Mad Eagle Sect's expectations? Lu Yuan chuckled lightly, picking up a flask of Underworld Fire Wine and taking a savoring sip.

The wine from the Wine Gate was excellent. Peaceful.