This sword strike was undoubtedly Lu Yuan’s most advanced technique: the Six Extremes Return to One Sword Art.

The cosmos held Ten Extremes.

Ten Extremes Return to One: this was the God among Gods, the King among Kings, the Emperor among Emperors, the Immortal among Immortals, the Buddha among Buddhas—the ultimate supreme, the highest of the high, the very essence of Civilization itself.

Yet, no one in existence had ever achieved Ten Extremes Return to One.

Nine Extremes Return to One was already the absolute limit.

Nine, the number of extremity.

Nine Extremes, the count of the supreme of the supreme.

Innumerable practitioners at the Civilization Realm could not manage Nine Extremes Return to One, achieving only Seven Extremes or Eight Extremes Return to One.

For those in the World Realm, the ultimate number attainable was Six Extremes Return to One.

And Six Extremes Return to One, even within the World Realm, was no casual feat. Those capable of wielding it included countless masters and demons preparing to break through to the Civilization Realm, individuals who had lived for millions, even tens of millions of years. Even among these elites, at most thirty could execute Six Extremes Return to One.

Thirty sounded like a large number.

However, consider the sheer volume of cultivators stuck in the World Realm, striving towards the Civilization Realm—beings who had survived for millennia. It was only natural that thirty of them would possess such a skill. Thirty was, in fact, too few, not nearly enough.

Xie Ji Tianzun (Evil Extreme Heavenly Venerable) was one such master at the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm.

But he had never before witnessed a technique like this.

A figure of his caliber had never even glimpsed such an attack.

This attested to the sheer splendor of this move, and the boundless scope of the world they inhabited!

The Grand Myriad World!

As Lu Yuan unleashed this sword, Xie Ji Tianzun realized evasion was impossible. Blindfolded in the vastness of the Sword Hall, he found nowhere to escape. His supposed ultimate movement technique, Ghostly Unparalleled, felt utterly useless. How could this be! It felt as though he was facing measureless, boundless waves, which finally crashed into him with a resounding boom, leaving him grievously wounded.

He had lost!

Xie Ji Tianzun knew, in that moment, that he was defeated.

A sword strike like this shook the heavens and the earth. Could this truly be a sword art achievable by someone in the World Realm?

And as he was struck, he heard the song of the Great Dao, the resonance of the supreme principles.

Xie Ji Tianzun had always believed the strongest sword techniques resided within the Xie Ji (Evil Extreme) Civilization; that any external sword art was a fragile joke. Now he realized external techniques could be this powerful. This young man in green robes from the outer regions, while perhaps not matching the Vice-Master of the Xie Jian (Evil Sword) Civilization, was certainly superior to anyone else he knew.

Lu Yuan had passed the Blindfolded Sword Hall challenge—his third cleared hall.

However, one should not assume the ordeal was easily overcome. Ahead lay the Prone Sword Hall and the Seated Sword Hall. The Prone Sword Hall presented moderate difficulty, comparable to the No-Force Sword Hall. Yet, the Prone Hall was unique; if one couldn't adapt to fighting while lying down, it became tremendously difficult. Even superior swordsmanship might fail, as one's sightlines and control over the sword were severely limited while prone. The Prone Sword Hall would likely give Lu Yuan real trouble, where a single misstep could cost him the match.

As for the Seated Sword Hall, it was even more terrifying. The difficulty level was super-hard, considerably exceeding the Blindfolded Sword Hall. This stage would likely be extremely challenging as well.

Xie Ji Tianzun pondered this, his thoughts racing like lightning.

Of course, what Xie Ji Tianzun most desired now was to see Lu Yuan’s sword strike. The shock it delivered was immense. Because he was in absolute darkness, unable to see the strike at all—look up Baidu for Huashan Immortal Gate updates—he sensed it echoing the song of the Great Dao, representing its profound mysteries. He was infinitely curious about the specific form this sword had taken.

And at that moment, Xie Ji Tianzun realized Lu Yuan’s sword had not yet finished.

Yes, the strike was incomplete.

Lu Yuan himself had assumed the technique concluded upon defeating Xie Ji Tianzun, but now he faintly sensed a mysterious force across the cosmos pulling at his sword. What strange power was this, manifesting silently and invisibly in the pitch-black environment of the Blindfolded Sword Hall?

In that environment of absolute darkness, Lu Yuan utilized his Heart Sword and witnessed a sun.

Indeed, a sun—a sun shattered and dim.

What was happening?

Lu Yuan questioned himself in the darkness, as the sword strike seemed to be drawn toward this broken, faded solar body.

At the very same moment, within the Xie Jian Civilization, many citizens were discussing the recent stir surrounding the challenging of the Five Great Sword Halls.

"Those four who came to challenge the Halls—I hear three have already been confined. Only one remains active."

"Oh? One is still challenging? They weren't all captured?" Some expressed surprise; these observers assumed anyone daring to challenge the Xie Jian Sword Halls would be defeated easily.

"Which one is still fighting?"

"It’s the young man in green from the start; I think his surname is Lu."

"Hmm, this Lu character showed some skill by being the first to challenge the Xie Jian Civilization. By the way, what were the specific results of the four of them challenging the Halls?" someone inquired.

"For the first, all four challenged the Eyebrow Sword Hall together. The one without the scabbard failed in the Eyebrow Hall; the other three passed."

"The second challenge was the No-Force Sword Hall. The middle-aged man and the young man in white both failed; only the young man surnamed Lu in green passed."

"Now, the one challenging is the Blindfolded Sword Hall."

"The Blindfolded Sword Hall is guarded by Xie Ji Tianzun. With his Ghostly Unparalleled technique, he is virtually unbeatable in the dark. It seems Lu is fated to fail in the Blindfolded Sword Hall."

"Of course. How could anyone possibly pass the Blindfolded Sword Hall?"

Just as these people were debating, they noticed the light above them dim slightly. What was going on? The Xie Jian Civilization was an independent Lesser World, possessing two suns: one brighter, one dimmer. During the day, the brighter sun shone; at night, the dimmer, broken sun appeared.

These were the Twin Suns of the Xie Jian Civilization, alternating in dominance, one waxing, one waning.

Most inhabitants of the Xie Jian Civilization actually had no idea about the origins of these two suns, nor did many pay them much mind.

The first sun was, in fact, the massive star created by the Vice-Master of the Xie Jian Civilization, who refined the essence of the Heaven and Earth Disc and ignited it using nuclear fusion. The second, dimmer sun was also derived from the Heaven and Earth Disc essence, but fundamentally different: the second sun was actually the Heart of the Sword Saint.

Yes, the Heart of the Sword Saint.

The previous era was the Era of the Sword, which boasted many Civilization Realm entities dedicated to the Way of the Sword. Among them was the Righteous Sword Saint—a Civilization Realm entity and also the Seven Iron Principles Sword Saint. However, this Righteous Sword Saint ultimately perished in the cosmos. Subsequently, his heart became tainted by the demonic aura of the era’s destruction and died completely.

The Vice-Master of the Xie Jian Civilization chanced upon this utterly deceased heart of the Righteous Sword Saint during this new era. He intended to extract whatever was useful from this dead heart, but he spent a full few million years and failed to extract even a single shred of essence.

Angered, the Vice-Master of the Xie Jian Civilization grew ruthless. He hurled the dead heart into the sky, using it as the night sun. He thought perhaps the people of the Xie Jian Civilization might benefit from it. Alas, no one in the Xie Jian Civilization had ever gained any benefit from it. Most people didn't even realize it was a dead heart; they simply treated it as another sun, until this very moment.

In truth, even a deceased Civilization Realm entity’s heart held immense utility.

Unfortunately, this heart belonged to the Righteous Sword Saint—or the Vice-Master of the Righteous Civilization—who was a born antagonist to the Vice-Master of the Xie Jian Civilization. If one used righteous methods, perhaps some benefit could be gleaned from the heart. But the Vice-Master of the Xie Jian Civilization, steeped in evil and cunning, could not possibly extract even a trace of benefit. The other members of the Xie Jian Civilization, due to their evil-aligned nature, also gained nothing.

The Vice-Master of the Xie Jian Civilization had considered capturing cultivators with righteous attributes, but those individuals rarely practiced the sword, and those who did usually lacked peerless sword arts. Thus, the matter was shelved until now; even the Vice-Master had almost forgotten about using the dead heart as the sun.

But Lu Yuan possessed a righteous attribute, coupled with peerless swordsmanship. Now, he was manifesting the Six Iron Principles Return to One.

What was happening was resonance.

Yes, pure resonance.

Lu Yuan’s sword strike was resonating with the dead heart of the Righteous Sword Saint hanging in the sky.

The sword technique that Lu Yuan thought had concluded was actually extending further outward.

The people of the Xie Jian Civilization merely saw the dim sun flickering rhythmically, with perfect timing, but they understood none of the reason why. Meanwhile, in the deeper recesses, the Vice-Master of the Demonic Sword Civilization, who hadn't been paying attention at all, was abruptly awakened. He too looked toward the dead heart. While others were ignorant, he knew this was no ordinary sun—it was the dead heart.

What in the world was happening? What was occurring with the dead heart? The Vice-Master of the Demonic Sword Civilization had waited for this dead heart for tens of millions of years, and now it was finally showing activity. He was overcome with excitement.

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