The preceding gamble, in all honesty, was a true spectacle, leaving everyone thoroughly entertained. The Desolate Emperor's Human Card, the Law Tyrant's Earth Card, the Bronze Cloud Sorrow's Heaven Card, and Lu Yuan’s Supreme Treasure.

Four cards, each more baffling than the last: they thought the Human Card would beat the Earth Card, the Earth Card would beat the Heaven Card, they believed the Heaven Card was invincible, only for the Supreme Treasure to appear. Exhilarating!

And the Desolate Son’s defiant challenge led everyone to expect another round of intense competition, but the result defied expectation—this Li Taishi surprisingly declined the challenge, disappointing many. Some who were prone to gambling even muttered that Li Taishi lacked courage, yet the more level-headed observers realized that refusing was the correct move, as the Desolate Son was, after all, a Child of the Epoch, blessed with peerless fortune.

And Lu Yuan, now clutching twenty thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones, felt an unprecedented thrill. Immediately, Lu Yuan departed Gambling Immortal Island.

There was no one left on the island willing to gamble with him except the Desolate Son. Adjacent to Gambling Immortal Island lay a smaller isle named Commerce Island, the designated marketplace where transactions took place.

It was the spot for those who profited on Gambling Immortal Island to purchase all manner of resources and spiritual objects, and for those who lost to mortgage their own possessions. Lu Yuan arrived there with the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization.

With twenty thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones in hand, Lu Yuan could afford to buy anything; after all, he had an abundance of Heaven-grade Spirit Stones. Earlier, the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization had specified his needs: the Essence of the Azure Heaven, the Grain of the Great Earth, the Essence of the Great Sea, the Essence of the Sun, and the Essence of the Moon.

These five were mandatory; essences of other stars, etc., were optional. Lu Yuan approached the largest shop and entered.

Inside, he discovered all sorts of essences, including the five he required. Essence of the Azure Heaven: Two hundred Heaven-grade Spirit Stones per unit.

Essence of the Great Earth: Two hundred Heaven-grade Spirit Stones per unit. Essence of the Sun: Two thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones per unit.

Essence of the Moon: Two thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones per unit. Essence of the Great Sea: Two hundred Heaven-grade Spirit Stones per unit.

Lu Yuan studied the price list: “Hmm, the Essence of the Sun and the Essence of the Moon are so expensive, while the other three essences are quite cheap.” Lu Yuan noted that one unit of the Sun Essence and one unit of the Moon Essence cost roughly ten times the price of the other three. The Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization shook his head: “It’s simple.

For one world, under normal circumstances, you only need one unit of the Sun Essence and one unit of the Moon Essence, so we price them higher. However, constructing your world requires the Essence of the Azure Heaven, the Essence of the Great Earth, and the Essence of the Great Sea.

You might need not just one unit of each, but perhaps a hundred units might not suffice—and that’s for a normal person. Your foundation is significantly deeper than a normal person’s, meaning you will require far more units; it’s hard to say how many will be enough.” Lu Yuan smiled faintly: “No rush then, let’s try it out first.” “If you’re buying, you must purchase the Essence of the Azure Heaven and the Essence of the Great Earth first.

Expand the space of your Sword Domain before you bring in the Essence of the Sun, the Essence of the Moon, and the Essence of the Great Sea,” the Deputy Master advised. “Is that so?” Lu Yuan nodded: “Then let’s start with one hundred units of the Essence of the Great Earth.” After spending twenty thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones on the first hundred units of the Essence of the Great Earth, Lu Yuan immediately began expanding his internal Sword Domain.

As these essences merged into the earth, Lu Yuan perceived the ground rapidly extending outwards, but the sky seemed unable to keep pace. The sky was small, the earth vast.

His original Sword Banquet space was only about the size of Mount Hua. Now, the area of the earth had suddenly expanded dozens, even hundreds of times.

Lu Yuan found his Sword Domain transformed into something immense, reaching the size of an entire Jin State. Estimating its potential, Lu Yuan saw there was still room to grow, so he unhesitatingly bought another one hundred and fifty units of the Essence of the Great Earth, spending another thirty thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones.

After this, his Sword Domain expanded to an enormous scale, reaching the combined area of the Jin and Qin States—equivalent to the two nations merged into one. Only now did Lu Yuan sense he was approaching a limit.

This was his Earth! Five thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones spent in total!

Having gained experience purchasing the Essence of the Great Earth, Lu Yuan directly bought two hundred and fifty units of the Essence of the Azure Heaven. Since Heaven and Earth must be equal, Lu Yuan purchased two hundred and fifty units of the Azure Heaven Essence, integrating it into the firmament of his Sword Domain.

Instantly, the sky began to expand rapidly, growing ever larger and broader. Finally, the sky attained the same vastness as the earth, covering the combined area of the Qin and Jin States.

Lu Yuan then purchased one hundred and twenty-five units of the Essence of the Great Sea. According to the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization, the Essence of the Great Sea generally required only half the amount of the Earth Essence.

Immediately, an ocean appeared within the Sword Domain. Lu Yuan spent two thousand first-grade Spirit Stones to buy one Essence of the Sun, and another two thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones to buy one Essence of the Moon.

With some Heaven-grade Spirit Stones remaining, he also bought ten units of Star Essence, which also cost two thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones each. The Star Essences would lend complexity to the world, preventing it from becoming too monotonous; otherwise, his future Sword World would be quite dull.

Finally, everything was purchased. Accounting for all the purchases, he had spent one hundred and forty-nine thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones, leaving fifty-one thousand remaining.

This expenditure of one hundred and forty-nine thousand Heaven-grade Spirit Stones was an outrageously large figure; a normal Badao Sect’s treasury held only ten thousand. Lu Yuan finally understood why so many people spent tens of thousands of years stuck at this stage—these resources were not easily gathered.

He had only managed to accumulate them by staking everything on a massive gamble using his Gambling Clone. At this point, Lu Yuan observed that within his Sword Domain, which spanned the combined area of the Qin and Jin States, an ocean had formed, illuminated by a single Sun, a single Moon, and ten Stars hovering in the void.

It finally possessed the preliminary form of a Sword World. Lu Yuan clapped his hands in satisfaction, yet he wondered why he hadn't advanced to World Realm Eighth Heaven, the True Realm.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but open his eyes and look at the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization: “Didn’t you say that advancing from World Realm Seventh Heaven to World Realm Eighth Heaven has no obstacles? That as long as one accumulates enough resources—the Essence of the Great Earth, the Essence of the Azure Heaven, the Essence of the Great Sea, the Essence of the Sun, and the Essence of the Moon—one will naturally ascend to the World Realm Eighth Heaven?” “That’s correct,” the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization nodded.

“There are indeed no hurdles. Once the resource impact is sufficient, you naturally rise to the World Realm Eighth Heaven.

As for why you haven’t ascended yet, the reason is quite simple: your Sword World is undergoing evolution.” “Evolution?” Lu Yuan frowned, clearly not fully understanding. “Yes, evolution,” the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization explained.

“Your current world lacks rivers, lacks lakes, lacks rain—it only has the Great Sea, which is the source of everything, of course. Your current earth is flat; there are no valleys, no high mountains, no hills—nothing.

And the Earth is the source of all things. While what you call the sky is indeed the sky, it has no clouds, no lightning, no rain, no snow—nothing.

Naturally, the Sky is also the source of all things.” “The Essence of the Great Sea, the Essence of the Azure Heaven, and the Essence of the Great Earth that you introduced are all sources. For these sources to evolve into lakes, rivers, high mountains, valleys, and various weather patterns, a certain amount of time is required.

When this period of evolutionary time passes, you will naturally advance to World Realm Eighth Heaven, the True Realm. This is a simple matter.” “This is evolution; you just need to wait,” the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization stated.

“How long will that take?” Lu Yuan asked. “The time is uncertain, but the longest record hasn't exceeded five years.

It depends on time; generally, it won’t take more than three years, sometimes as fast as one year. This presents no real difficulty, and a few years is nothing for our long lifespans, which is why we didn’t emphasize this point.” “I see, then I will wait,” Lu Yuan nodded.

The Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization smiled faintly: “By the way, congratulations on something—you have passed my test.” “Oh?” Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Yes.

The Gambling Clone was the test I set for you. If you had been too rigid and pedantic, refusing to use the Gambling Clone, you would have failed.

If you had used the Gambling Clone recklessly, becoming overly immersed in it, you would have failed as well. Moreover, throughout your gambling, you maintained control—you controlled the gamble, rather than the gamble controlling you—which is excellent.

Even with the immense hatred you bear for the Desolate Son, you remained sufficiently calm and avoided a high-stakes, fifty-fifty gamble with him. Furthermore, since you haven't reached the True Realm yet and must wait, yet you lack the time to wait with various challenges pending, you haven't grown anxious—this is very good.” “Therefore, you have passed the test.” “Self-reliant, self-possessed, neither arrogant nor impatient, capable of mastering one’s own heart—a person like this can be called a true gentleman.

Thus, you have passed my test.” “Next, you will accompany me to the Confucian Civilization. Of course, you will do so under the identity of Li Taishi, to cultivate there for a period.

We will see how much you can learn before you reach the Sacred Land of Civilization, and I will teach you as much as I can before my death. How much you ultimately learn will depend on fate; fate arrives and empties, fate departs and empties.” The Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization said casually.

“Of course, publicly, it will be announced that you were introduced by Li Haoran. The identity I left behind, Li Haoran, the successor of the Light Civilization, has some ties with the Confucian Civilization.

As for your true identity, Lu Yuan, you are genuinely too famous; for now, you still cannot enter the Confucian Civilization.” Indeed, Lu Yuan’s current fame was too great; he needed to let the name Lu Yuan fade for a few years before making a reappearance. “In the next few years, focus diligently on cultivating the identity of Li Taishi,” the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization smiled faintly.

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