Having ascertained the precise timing of the Ancient Divine Power Sword Qi, and observing the distance between the Blindfolded Sword Hall and the Reclining Sword Hall, Xie Ji Tianzun shook his head. “It seems you won’t even need to enter the Reclining Sword Hall; you’ve cleared it already. That leaves only the final hall.” This was the truth; a single sword strike from Lu Yuan from a distance was enough to throw them all into disarray, leaving nothing more to be said.

“The final sword hall, the difficulty is the super-hard Sitting Sword Hall,” Xie Ji Tianzun announced.

Lu Yuan nodded, following behind Xie Ji Tianzun toward the Sitting Sword Hall.

The Sitting Sword Hall was the largest of the Five Great Sword Halls.

Judging by its exterior dimensions alone, it was at least five, perhaps even ten times the size of the Blindfolded Sword Hall.

Xie Ji Tianzun led Lu Yuan into the Sitting Sword Hall, and upon entering, they discovered it was indeed vast beyond measure.

In the Blindfolded Sword Hall, Lu Yuan had encountered several hundred people; in the Sitting Sword Hall, he saw thousands—yes, that many. This truly lived up to its reputation as the largest, most difficult hall. Lu Yuan remained perfectly calm: “Then, which one is the Hall Guardian?” They emerged!

And not just one, but ten of them at once.

Ten figures at the peak of the Tianzun realm!

Lu Yuan couldn't help but be startled.

Xie Ji Tianzun explained, “Correct. This is the Sitting Sword Hall. It has ten Hall Guardians precisely because they are all so powerful that we couldn’t distinguish any one as superior. Any one of them, if they fought me, would be no less capable. Thus, they guard the passage together.” “Now, let me explain the rules for the Sitting Sword Hall. Everyone sits in their designated spot and cannot move. You can manipulate your flying swords as you wish, but moving results in a loss. Anyone suffering grievous injury is also deemed to have lost,” Xie Ji Tianzun briefly introduced the Sitting Sword Hall.

“Is that so? Then we can begin,” Lu Yuan said.

Ten Tianzuns encircled Lu Yuan. The swordsmanship of each of these ten was absolutely on par with Xie Ji Tianzun's. They were all positioned relatively close to Lu Yuan. Soon, all ten would strike simultaneously, and Lu Yuan, with only his single sword, had to defeat the combined assault of these ten to pass.

Facing multiple opponents was inherently difficult.

But imposing the restriction that neither side could move made it even harder for the one facing the many. In multi-opponent scenarios, evasion and maneuvering are usually key, requiring footwork; restricting movement entirely, forcing everyone to fight while seated, layered difficulty upon difficulty.

And now, these ten peak Tianzuns were each radiating terrifying sword energy.

Almost instantly, the ten peak Tianzuns struck.

The first peak Tianzun employed the World-Ending Grade Sword Technique, The Three Forms of Demonic Sword, created by the Vice-Master of the Demonic Sword Civilization. This technique consisted of only three forms, yet each was a world-shattering art: the first, Evil Root Without Dao; the second, Heaven Root Without Limit; the third, Demon Root Without Heart. This sword art was practically evolving toward the Civilization Realm, seemingly touching upon the taste of Questioning the Firmament. Every move was terrifyingly profound, and this peak Tianzun unleashed all three forms concurrently, swallowing the sun and moon, shattering heaven and earth.

The second peak Tianzun used the Demonic Path Sword Art. This technique was rife with variations—millions of changes, tens of thousands of illusions, billions of moves—it had reached the absolute limit of combinatorial techniques. While the power of any single move might not be overwhelming, the incessant switching between countless forms created an incredibly troublesome situation.

The third peak Tianzun wielded the Evil Way as Heaven Sword Art, created by the Vice-Master of the Evil Sword Civilization. This was an imposing and malevolent sword art daring enough to claim it could replace the sun and moon with an evil sky. In many sword arts, those favoring the evil path lacked grandeur, but not the Vice-Master of the Evil Sword Civilization. He created a technique that dared to swap the sun and moon for an evil heaven, a Civilization-level sword art! This peak Tianzun possessed the Evil Way as Heaven Sword Art: grand and profoundly wicked!

The fourth and fifth peak Tianzuns...

The ninth peak Tianzun used the Eerie Illusion Sword Art. This technique embodied the extremity of Eerieness and the extremity of Illusion; it was sheer deception, the perfect sword art for infiltration and assassination.

And the tenth peak Tianzun utilized the Sword Art of Killing. This technique distilled the purest essence of the strongest killing intent across the world into the most straightforward and unadulterated sword art imaginable. It carried an incredibly dense confluence of killing aura, killing intent, killing thought, and killing momentum, all fused into one. Its eruption was earth-shattering.

Not a single one of the ten peak Tianzuns was ordinary.

All prepared terrifying killing moves.

Under such circumstances, to remain utterly still and block these ten simultaneous killing blows seemed impossible.

Between heaven and earth, the number of people who could withstand the combined assault of these ten peak Tianzuns without moving would not exceed fifty, excluding those in the Civilization Realm. Most of these fifty were in seclusion, striving for the Civilization Realm, rarely appearing in the open.

And Lu Yuan was certainly not one of them.

These fifty were known as the Fifty Heavenly Ranks.

The Fifty Heavenly Ranks referred to the fifty individuals most likely to break through to the Civilization Realm.

Even figures like the Desolate Saint Emperor’s Scion or the Dharma Saint Emperor’s Scion, who had long resided at the tenth heaven of the World Realm, did not make this list. The Fifty Heavenly Ranks were a myth, a legend held in awe above all others.

In that instant, a streak of sword light materialized in Lu Yuan’s hand. From its very inception, this sword light began to resonate with the rhythm of the Great Dao, seeming to represent the supreme transcendence of the Dao. Then, what did everyone see? The constantly cycling, five-colored flashing light must be the Wheel of Reincarnation. The black-and-white yin-yang symbol must be the Wheel of Yin-Yang. The countless records of cause and effect transforming were the Wheel of Great Karma. Flowing mightily like the passage of time was the River of Time. Was that river the River of Space? And what was that one? It seemed that all things in existence were arrayed within it—that must be the River of Order. There was also a flickering, intermittent river; this river seemed capable of smoothing away all imperfections, eliminating the unfit—that must be the River of Adaptation.

Three wheels and three and a half rivers, but the most terrifying aspect was that all of them merged into one.

This was the unity of six and a half fundamental laws!

It was that same sword strike. Xie Ji Tianzun had previously felt the edge of this sword, but because he hadn't seen it clearly in the Blindfolded Sword Hall, he finally saw it now. The unity of six and a half fundamental laws—the majesty of this sword strike was absolute, unmatched, and unrivaled. For Xie Ji Tianzun, this was witnessing the fulfillment of a long-held wish.

All the sword techniques unleashed by the ten attacking Tianzuns were completely repelled by Lu Yuan’s single sword strike. The faces of the ten peak Tianzuns changed drastically. Six and a half fundamental laws united! This! This! This!

Furthermore, endless sharp edges surged toward the ten Tianzuns. Since these ten could not shift, dodge, or move, they could only meet the brilliance of this sword head-on. As they absorbed the impact of this sword energy, they were all left in disarray. Simultaneously, the ten Tianzuns understood they had lost, for Lu Yuan could actually execute the unity of six and a half fundamental laws.

To wield the unity of six and a half fundamental laws solely through swordsmanship meant one had reached the peak of mastery, potentially qualifying for the Fifty Heavenly Ranks below the Civilization Realm—that is, purely based on technical capability. If combined with magical power, Lu Yuan was still incredibly far from the Fifty Heavenly Ranks; his overall strength lagged far behind.

After the time it took for half an incense stick to burn, all ten peak Tianzuns conceded defeat.

“Sitting Sword Hall, Passed.” At this moment, Lu Yuan had cleared all five great sword halls of the Evil Sword Civilization: the Eyebrow Sword Hall, the No-Power Sword Hall, the Reclining Sword Hall, the Blindfolded Sword Hall, and now the Sitting Sword Hall.

“What? That young man named Lu cleared all Five Great Sword Halls?”

“Impossible, isn’t it? How could our Five Great Sword Halls possibly be cleared by someone?”

“Especially the Sitting Sword Hall—ten guardians, ten peak Tianzuns. That passage is incredibly difficult to clear.”

“Hmph, I heard that young man named Lu actually used the unity of six and a half fundamental laws.” “What? The unity of six and a half fundamental laws?”

“For most sword cultivators, achieving the unity of two or three laws is considered excellent; achieving unity is exponentially harder. Did you hear correctly that he achieved the unity of six and a half laws?” “I didn't hear wrong.”

“By the way, I heard that the Reclining Sword Hall hasn't been cleared yet.” “The Sitting Sword Hall, such a super-hard challenge, is passed; surely the normally difficult Reclining Sword Hall can’t stop him.” “That’s not necessarily true. Each of the Five Great Sword Halls has its unique subtleties. Someone once cleared the Blindfolded Sword Hall but still fell before the Eyebrow Sword Hall. The Reclining Sword Hall also has its own tricky aspects.” “Tch, that’s because you don’t understand. Wasn't there that sword qi from an Ancient Divine Dragon that rushed out of the Blindfolded Sword Hall and swept through the Reclining Sword Hall?” “You mean?” “Yes, that sword qi, like an Ancient Divine Dragon, was struck by the young man named Lu.” “Tsk, tsk.”

“I always believed the strongest sword arts in existence were within our Evil Sword Civilization. Now, perhaps that’s not the case.” “Do you want to die? How dare you say such a thing, aren’t you afraid of the higher-ups finding out?”

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan stood on the ground, facing the towering figure of the Vice-Master of the Demonic Sword Civilization hovering in the sky—a colossus tens of thousands of feet tall. The pressure was immense. Lu Yuan found himself engulfed in ultimate demonic flames; if he was careless for even a moment, demonic energy would seep into him, completely suppressing even his Immortal Fostering Sword, preventing it from even humming.

This was a Civilization Deputy Master—someone who could crush him with a single finger.

The power of the Civilization Realm! He desired the power of the Civilization Realm.

After a long silence, the Vice-Master of the Demonic Sword Civilization finally spoke: “You have succeeded in challenging the Five Great Sword Halls. State your demand.” His voice boomed like thunder, resonating around him. Facing this entity of the Civilization Realm, Lu Yuan felt like a mere mortal—a complete, immeasurable gap in raw power.

“The Southern Border. That is my territory. By the rules, the Evil Sword Civilization shall not intrude.”

“Agreed,” the Vice-Master of the Demonic Sword Civilization nodded.