The stomach of the Chaos Civilization, surprisingly small, only the size of a single vast lake. The clash between the Primordial Era and the Dharma Era raged fiercely within it.

Jiu Huangji laughed heartily, utterly triumphant, "A mere Lu Yuan is nothing more than a stepping stone for my fame; the name Jiu Huangji will soon shake the heavens and earth." At this moment, the four individuals who had not yet struck were Yuan Juexin and Yuan Juechi, both at the ninth heaven of the World Realm, Jiu Huangtai at the eighth heaven, and Jiu Huangji himself at the seventh heaven. Seeing Lu Yuan plunge into the intensely acidic heart of the stomach lake, these four wasted no time and launched their assault directly against the Imperial Scion Fa Xiaodi and the Imperial Scion Fa Qiang.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan, sucked into the stomach's core, experienced a bizarre psychological anomaly. How could he possibly lose to Jiu Huangji, who was merely at the seventh heaven of the World Realm?

It was preposterous. It was only during the fight that, for some unknown reason, an immensely powerful suction force erupted from behind him, compelling him toward the stomach's core.

This force was so immense that even his own strength could barely resist it. In truth, Jiu Huangji's fifteen saber moves had simply been augmented with a little extra force.

The power that truly drove him into the stomach's core originated from the magnetic attraction of the stomach itself. Thus, Lu Yuan's defeat was utterly bewildering.

Lu Yuan currently felt immensely frustrated. The potent acid within the stomach core was causing him significant harm.

Why had this potent acid from the stomach's core sucked him in here? Lu Yuan found the situation incredibly strange.

While mobilizing his spiritual power to resist the strong acid, he scanned his surroundings. He noticed the acid in the stomach core possessed an amber hue.

Lu Yuan's observational prowess was formidable now; focusing his spiritual energy into his eyes, he discovered that within the most minute areas of the core, there seemed to be all manner of cells. These cells were far from perfect; they certainly did not resemble the cells of the Chaos Civilization Master, but rather those of the World Realm, or perhaps even the Chaos Cave Realm.

What on earth was going on? Could it be?

Lu Yuan suddenly conceived of one possibility: this was a stomach. And a stomach, essentially, is a place for consuming food.

Were the other cells here residual cells from the food the Chaos Civilization Beast had swallowed? If he viewed it this way, it made sense.

Wait! Why was his stomach also beginning to pulse?

And it was beating with incredible speed, as if trying to resonate with the core of the Chaos Civilization Beast's stomach. What in the world was happening?

At that moment, a supremely powerful notion flooded Lu Yuan’s mind, finally clarifying the entire situation. The stomach of the Chaos Civilization Beast—the stomach, being the place where food is digested—the original Chaos Civilization Beast had certainly been a glutton, consuming untold treasures.

And Lu Yuan had always been fond of fine food, having eaten countless delicacies within his own body. In other words, the Chaos Civilization Beast’s stomach and Lu Yuan’s own stomach were resonating due to their shared gluttony for delicious things.

The reason for this resonance was that the Chaos Civilization Beast’s stomach was also beginning to exhibit signs of nurturing a Demon God. In the oral cavity, the essence of the Chaos Tongue Master had emerged.

In the brain, the Chaos Brainstorm Master had manifested. Because the brain possessed seven orifices and five sense organs, Demon Gods were exceptionally easy to breed there, and the environment was more hostile than within the body, which contained the fragments of civilization.

And the stomach? Although part of the body, this location was connected closely to the head.

Food arrived first at the stomach, meaning the stomach was gradually aspiring to birth its own Demon God. Such a Demon God was fundamentally similar to the Chaos Tongue Master and the Chaos Brainstorm Master.

However, the speed at which a stomach Demon God would arise was far, far slower than the other two. If things continued as they were, it was uncertain if a Demon God would manifest even after another eon.

But now, because the Chaos Civilization Beast’s stomach resonated with Lu Yuan’s, almost instinctively, the stomach core transmitted a Stomach Demonic Thought to Lu Yuan. Along with it, naturally, came the Chaos Stomach Crystal.

Yes, it was precisely the Chaos Stomach Crystal that Lu Yuan needed. The original Chaos Tongue Crystal and the Chaos Brain Crystal had required intense battles to acquire.

But now, the Chaos Stomach Crystal was delivering itself right to his doorstep, showing remarkable initiative. This was virtually an attempt to transform Lu Yuan into the Master of Chaos Stomach Acid.

Tsk, tsk, Lu Yuan had never imagined he was so close to turning into a sort of elite monster. Rare, rare indeed.

His initial mental construct straightened, thoroughly scrubbing away that Demonic Thought, and simultaneously accepting the Chaos Stomach Crystal into his New Sword World. Injecting his divine sense into it, he discovered that the Chaos Stomach Crystal was truly extraordinarily beautiful.

Yes, exquisitely beautiful, perfectly formed. This form of life was far superior to his own; compared to his life form, it was vastly lacking.

Wait, within this flow of intention, besides the stomach and the acid, there was something else. It was the method to break through to the ninth heaven of the World Realm—the Unity Realm.

Lu Yuan was currently at the eighth heaven of the World Realm, aiming first to reach the ninth heaven. However, after reviewing the numerous texts of the Confucian Civilization, there was no definitive doctrine on how to achieve breakthrough.

Some spoke of enlightenment, others of utilizing resources, but enlightenment had never yielded the precise method for this advancement, and resources suitable for breaching the ninth heaven of the World Realm were currently unavailable. Therefore, he had been perpetually stuck at the eighth heaven, the True Realm.

But now, upon receiving the Stomach Demonic Thought and the Chaos Stomach Crystal, he suddenly grasped the path to the ninth heaven of the World Realm, the Unity Realm. The eighth heaven, the True Realm, was characterized by the manifestation of one's own world.

The ninth heaven, the True Unity Realm, allowed the integration of the world's power into every strike and move. In essence, the key to this level was being able to utilize his New Sword World, wielding its might to crush opponents.

His previous inability to break through stemmed from his failure to integrate the power of the New Sword World. Lu Yuan experienced a moment of sudden enlightenment: food was in his stomach, and he could harness the energy within that food.

If the New Sword World could connect to his stomach, could he then channel the New Sword World’s energy through it? In other words, all he needed to do was link his New Sword World to his own stomach.

How could his stomach connect to the New Sword World? While his stomach was a part of his divine body, it wasn't overly robust.

His New Sword World, however, was entirely a world of swords—sharpness incarnate. If they were linked carelessly, the sheer sharpness might easily pierce his stomach, leading to severe internal injury.

That which can contain a sword must be a scabbard. No matter how keen the blade, it cannot harm the sheath.

The sharpest sword has its brilliance veiled by its scabbard. He needed to forge a scabbard for his New Sword World.

That is, he needed to transform his stomach into the ancient, profound essence of a scabbard, capable of containing endless sharpness. But how difficult was it to change the stomach into such a form?

Lu Yuan pondered this while simultaneously beginning to reshape his own stomach. It wasn't just the outward form; the very essence—the Divine Marrow—had to become that of a scabbard.

The first attempt failed, resulting in him involuntarily spitting out a mouthful of blood. The sharpness of the New Sword World had grazed his stomach; thankfully, he had retracted quickly.

The second attempt failed; again, he was injured by the sword world's edge. The third attempt also failed.

He had to try again, regardless of how many times he failed. Every increment of power gained brought him one step closer to the Civilization Realm.

He hadn't been this desperate to increase his strength normally, but with the immense pressure exerted by the Son of the Barren Lands, how could he afford to delay his cultivation? Lu Yuan continued attempting to turn the sword into the sheath.

But transforming a sword into a sheath was no simple feat. Lu Yuan molded phantom shapes in the void; his left fingers transformed into the sheath, and his right fingers into the sword.

His right fingers danced incessantly, while his left fingers moved in concert, resembling a duel between sword and scabbard. The sword forms were exquisite, and the sheath initially struggled to keep pace.

But gradually, the scabbard began to accommodate the sword's postures. After all, the sword and scabbard are fundamentally one; where there is a sword, there is a sheath, and where there is a sheath, there is a sword.

Of course, this held true for Lu Yuan. For those like the Flying Sword Guest, there was only the sword, no sheath, their attacks merciless.

As for Lu Yuan, in his daily life, he was lazy and extremely lethargic; only when forced to fight did his sword unleash its brilliance. Lu Yuan suddenly realized that his habitual idleness and love for drink were, in fact, a sheath—a sheath capable of obscuring the sword’s keen edge.

This was his Lazy Scabbard. At some unknown point, Lu Yuan also realized his scabbard was growing more successful: ancient, grand, deceptively leisurely, yet capable of completely concealing the sword's edge.

This was all accumulated from Lu Yuan's daily life. He had cultivated the scabbard alongside the sword; the sword was Yang, the sheath Yin.

Yin and Yang existed in the same body, co-existing. However, the cultivation on the sheath had remained dormant.

Upon this realization, he suddenly activated his sheath cultivation. The sheath, finally, was complete.

Lu Yuan stopped moving his hands and directed his divine sense into his stomach, truly reshaping it according to his understanding of the scabbard. This time, the transformation wasn't merely external shaping but a change in the Divine Marrow.

Slowly, the stomach's shape didn't alter much, but its Divine Marrow transformed. Ancient, grand, all-consuming, yet calm and leisurely.

This was the nature of his stomach. The Sword-Scabbard Stomach.

Observing his completed Sword-Scabbard Stomach with his soul, Lu Yuan thought, Finally, success. Yes, after numerous failures, by activating the cultivation of the sword-scabbard, he had finally succeeded.

Next came the final step for assaulting the ninth heaven of the World Realm, the Unity Realm: the crucial integration between the New Sword World and his stomach. This was the apex of the entire process.

(First update delivered.)