Lu Yuan broke through the Eyebrow Sword Hall. In passing through the Eyebrow Sword Hall this time, he utilized the Myriad Manifestations Myriad Forms Sword Dao, though the onlookers all assumed Lu Yuan had previously learned the Eyebrow Sword Technique, so it didn't attract much attention. Many from the Evil Sword Civilization sneered inwardly, thinking, Is that all? You’ll see what awaits you in the next four Sword Halls.

Lu Yuan calmed his mind and entered his own realm of Sword Space.

In the Sword Space, flowers began to bloom.

As mentioned before, the combination of the small Sword Dao Tree, Zhou Qingxuan’s insights, and his own realizations from facing combat caused his personal small Sword Dao Tree to blossom. Lu Yuan experienced a sudden enlightenment, beginning to initially master the Adaptation Iron Rule—this was the seventh Iron Rule he had grasped.

It had been previously stated that the Adaptation Iron Rule was divided into two parts: adaptation to heaven and earth, and adaptation to warfare.

And now, Lu Yuan realized he had grasped one-tenth of the adaptation to warfare aspect. Once he mastered the full ten-tenths, he could completely command this facet of the Iron Rule.

One-tenth mastery of adaptation to warfare?

Lu Yuan mused internally. He had only reached one-tenth mastery by facing the utterly unfamiliar Eyebrow Sword Technique this time. This implied that adapting to different battles would significantly advance his grasp of adaptation to warfare. Therefore, seeking out the Evil Sword Civilization this time was proving immensely beneficial to his cultivation of the Adaptation Iron Rule.

Excellent!

This Adaptation Iron Rule was truly distinct in its method of cultivation compared to the other major Iron Rules.

The other Iron Rules required Sword Intent, whereas the Adaptation Iron Rule demanded fitness for all sorts of strange and unusual environments—a truly evocative realization.

He opened his eyes and saw the other three were currently challenging the Eyebrow Sword Hall.

The second person to pass through was Gu Qiushui.

Gu Qiushui looked at the White-Browed Elder: "It can begin." "Good." The White-Browed Elder activated a secret art, and his white eyebrows began to spin furiously. Gu Qiushui similarly used his magic power to spur the growth of his own eyebrows. The White-Browed Elder’s white eyebrow flying sword shot towards him, but Gu Qiushui’s magically driven black eyebrow flying sword struck like a dragon of destruction. The White-Browed Elder cried out in alarm: "Immortal-Shattering Ten Thousand!" With a whoosh, the White-Browed Elder’s body was pierced by dozens of black eyebrow flying swords.

Gu Qiushui nodded: "Indeed, it is the Immortal-Shattering Ten Thousand. Earlier, it was mentioned that the so-called Eyebrow Sword Technique actually evolved from the Million Sword Technique of a sword master surnamed Jiang from several epochs ago. That swordsman could command millions of swords and once fought fiercely against Hong, the Civilization Lord of the Immortal Ancient Civilization, before vanishing without a trace—no one knows where he went. Rumor has it Hong even suffered a loss at his hands."

"Legend says that after suffering that loss, Hong created a technique called the Immortal-Shattering Ten Million, specifically designed to counter sword techniques like the Jiang swordsman’s. This immortal technique existed in the Immortal Ancient Civilization, but ordinary people couldn't learn it; instead, they learned the simplified version, the Immortal-Shattering Ten Thousand. Gu Qiushui, while in the Immortal Ancient Civilization, happened to learn this Immortal-Shattering Ten Thousand and deployed it just now."

"This Immortal-Shattering Ten Thousand can also be executed using eyebrows, perfectly shattering the White-Browed Elder’s method entirely." Gu Qiushui passed the challenge.

After passing, Gu Qiushui looked towards Lu Yuan. He certainly wouldn't be weaker than Lu Yuan; he had defeated Lu Yuan during the assessment at the Central Heavenly Dynasty. Now, he naturally still wished to surpass Lu Yuan. Even if his magic power was less than Lu Yuan’s, he had immense confidence in his swordsmanship, believing he could best Lu Yuan.

The third to challenge was the Flying Sword Master. The Flying Sword Master usually relied on a single long sword to dominate, but facing the White-Browed Elder’s style of sword technique, he was considerably disadvantaged. He attempted to cut through using a sharp killing sword, but the result was that while playing with the Eyebrow Sword Technique, he was defeated by the White-Browed Elder. He immediately failed the challenge and was captured by men sent by the Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate and imprisoned.

The fourth challenger was Yan Feiyi, the Supreme Myth from the Eastern Great Yi Nation. Yan Feiyi also utilized the Eyebrow Sword Technique, matching eyebrow technique against eyebrow technique, barely winning against the White-Browed Elder. It turned out that while traversing the Lost Lands, Yan Feiyi had obtained the direct lineage of the Eyebrow Sword Technique, allowing him to pass by using eyebrow technique against eyebrow technique.

By this point, four people had challenged the first hall, the Eyebrow Sword Hall; three succeeded. The success rate appeared extremely high.

However, among the Five Great Sword Halls, the Eyebrow Sword Hall was the one with the fewest entrants and was the simplest.

And among those who succeeded, Gu Qiushui was lucky to have learned the Immortal-Shattering Ten Thousand, which countered the Eyebrow Sword Technique, and Yan Feiyi was lucky to have learned the Eyebrow Sword Technique itself. Of course, in the eyes of others, Lu Yuan was also extremely fortunate to have learned the Eyebrow Sword Technique, failing to realize that Lu Yuan had learned it by using the Myriad Manifestations Myriad Forms Sword Dao during the fight.

The remaining four halls would likely not be easy.

Lu Yuan from the Southern Great Yong Nation, Gu Qiushui from the Western Great Rui Nation, and Yan Feiyi from the Eastern Great Yi Nation—the three of them emerged from the Eyebrow Sword Hall. Their eyebrows had returned to normal; for people of their caliber, controlling the growth of eyebrows was trivially simple. Lu Yuan realized that having now practiced the Eye Sword Technique and the Eyebrow Sword Technique, he had honed his skills immensely.

Next, they were heading to the second hall. They could choose the order of the halls themselves; there was no compulsion.

"Let's go to the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall," Gu Qiushui suggested.

"That works too," Lu Yuan nodded.

The three of them, led by the Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate, proceeded to the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall.

The Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall looked quite simple: a house that wasn't overly tall. Pushing open the door and stepping inside, Xu Yuan suddenly discovered his magic power was sealed by a restriction. Simultaneously, he noticed that the overwhelmingly powerful magic power emanating from the Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate had essentially vanished.

The Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate seemed unconcerned: "In the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall, magic power is temporarily suppressed; do not be alarmed. Furthermore, this hall contains a significant amount of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi—some gentle, some violent and highly unstable. You must rely on this ambient Yuan Qi for combat. How high a level you can fight to depends entirely on yourselves." Fighting using only the surrounding Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi without even a trace of personal magic power? His Sword Six, 'Deter Heaven,' seemed applicable.

Upon entering the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall, they found the number of people inside wasn't small, but fewer than in the Eyebrow Sword Hall. The Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate explained, "The Five Great Sword Halls are actually divided into four difficulty tiers. The simplest is the Eyebrow Sword Hall. Average difficulty includes the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall and the Lying Down Sword Hall. Hard difficulty is the Closed Eyes Sword Hall. Super Hard difficulty is the Sitting Down Sword Hall. This difficulty structure exists because virtually no one practices the Eyebrow Sword Technique, making its hall the easiest. Since situations requiring the depletion of magic power or fighting while lying down rarely occur, these two halls have more people than the Eyebrow Sword Hall, but not too many—the difficulty isn't too high, as greater numbers generally increase competition and thus the hall's difficulty."

"Since people might encounter situations where they must fight while sitting down, or where their eyes are temporarily unusable, the Closed Eyes Sword Hall is set at Hard difficulty, and the Sitting Down challenge is Super Hard." The Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate provided a general overview of the Five Great Sword Halls. "Of course, if you underestimate the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall simply because its difficulty is rated 'Average,' you will die horribly. Consider this a friendly warning from this Heavenly Venerate."

The Five Great Sword Halls of a civilization were not something Lu Yuan dared to take lightly.

Lu Yuan now felt his blood surging; all these varied combat scenarios were truly fascinating.

He just wondered which of the people present would be fighting next. Lu Yuan looked over at the occupants of the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall.

Among those within the hall, a tall, thin swordsman stepped forward. Only when he approached did they notice a cross-shaped scar on his face: "I am the Cross Daoist, the Guardian of the Magic Power Depletion Sword Hall. Within this hall, in the absence of magic power, my swordsmanship is supreme. If you can defeat me, you pass the trial." The Cross Daoist stated calmly, "Then, the first one: Yan Feiyi." The previous round started with Lu Yuan; this time, it was reversed, starting with Yan Feiyi.

Yan Feiyi walked close, grasping his famous sword, Butterfly's Love Flower (Die Lian Hua). The sword’s name, Butterfly’s Love Flower, held its own story, much like Lu Yuan’s Sword of Nurturing Immortality (Yang Wu Xian Jian). Of course, Lu Yuan’s sword was gifted by his master, who hoped Lu Yuan would nurture the vast, righteous energy of heaven and earth within himself. Yan Feiyi’s Butterfly's Love Flower, however, carried a story of sorrowful passion.

Yan Feiyi was quite confident because during his cultivation, he had once suffered the poison of the Pill Fire. After being afflicted by this poison, his power vanished for many days. He later exhausted all his efforts to recover his cultivation, and upon recovery, his magic power grew significantly. Precisely because he had lost all his magic power once, Yan Feiyi possessed considerable self-assurance when fighting by drawing upon the surrounding Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi without any personal magic power.

Yan Feiyi flicked his sword: "My sword is named Butterfly's Love Flower; I ask for your guidance." The Cross Daoist flicked the sword in his hand, the tip pointing down: "My sword is named Loss (Shi Qu); I ask for your guidance." Both were sword cultivators, performing the sword ritual according to custom. After the ritual was complete, the battle began immediately.

Lu Yuan observed the fight from the side, knowing he would be up soon. He watched Yan Feiyi's moves, finding them precise and subtle. Indeed, Yan Feiyi understood how to utilize the surrounding Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, infusing significant latent power into Butterfly's Love Flower, unleashing a succession of exquisitely clever sword techniques. Such swordsmanship should theoretically win.

However, Lu Yuan only needed to examine the Cross Daoist’s sword strikes once to realize Yan Feiyi stood no chance. In terms of utilizing surrounding Yuan Qi to manifest even more subtle and superior sword techniques, the Cross Daoist held a significant advantage over Yan Feiyi.

The Cross Daoist was destined to win; Yan Feiyi was destined to lose.

Just as Lu Yuan formed this judgment, after thirty-three moves, the Cross Daoist’s Loss sword was resting against Yan Feiyi’s throat: "You lost." After his defeat, Yan Feiyi was immediately apprehended by agents of the Evil Supreme Heavenly Venerate. Of the four challengers, only two remained untaken.

The Cross Daoist, having defeated Yan Feiyi, stated calmly, "Next." The next challenger was Gu Qiushui.