A man, a mountain. The man was a languid figure in flowing green robes; the mountain was the formidable range of the Mountain of Courage. Lu Yuan had now fully reclaimed his identity, and he was currently searching the Mountain of Courage for the presence of the Demon God of Courage. Since he was looking for the Demon God of Courage, his pace wasn't overly swift. However, after patrolling the entire Mountain of Courage seven times over, he still hadn't sighted the Demon God. Without the Demon God of Courage, what was he to do now? Perhaps he should cleave the Mountain of Courage apart. The Mountain of Courage was divided into two parts: the core and the outer shell. The so-called core was the original component of the Mountain of Courage, the original gall of the Chaos Civilization Beast. The core of the Mountain of Courage held the true essence, yet no one had ever managed to break through it. The outer shell, on the other hand, formed after the Chaos Civilization Beast died and the Mountain of Courage absorbed spiritual energy; this part had been attacked by many. Some people could indeed cleave it open. After all, it wasn't the original gall of the Chaos Civilization Beast itself, and perhaps some Gall Essence could be obtained from it, allowing people to expand their own Minor Thousand Worlds.
Lu Yuan drew his sword and slashed rapidly at the outer shell. The outer shell wasn't exceptionally difficult to breach. After spending some time, Lu Yuan managed to hack out some Gall Essence and had already carved a passage deep inside, reaching the core of the Mountain of Courage. Finally, it was time to begin. Within the core of the Mountain of Courage, there surely lay the Chaos Gall Crystal. If he could cleave it open, the so-called Chaos Gall Crystal was, in fact, the very composition of the Chaos Civilization Beast's own gall—the core itself. Thus, this theory held water.
Lu Yuan gently blew on his sword. With the sword in hand, his magical output reached its peak. All his focus was poured in; his heart and spirit were elevated to the limit. Essence, Qi, Spirit—a complete unification. His aura ceaselessly climbed, finally reaching its absolute zenith. He unleashed a single sword strike, as if cleaving the heavens. A strike of blinding speed!
Clang! A crisp sound echoed. Lu Yuan felt an immense recoil through his sword body. He glanced at the core of the Mountain of Courage that his sword had just struck, only to see not a single scratch upon it—completely unharmed. If it was entirely undamaged, then this was problematic; it meant this path was also blocked. He had sought the Chaos Gall Crystal, and now both paths had failed. Two consecutive failures were quite demoralizing. What should he do next? This Chaos Gall Crystal was something he absolutely needed, otherwise, he couldn't break through to the tenth heaven of the World Realm.
Lu Yuan couldn't devise a solution, so he simply sat down atop the Mountain of Courage to ponder. From this vantage point, the scenery was magnificent. Looking down from here, he saw a vast, empty river channel below the mountain—if the Chaos Civilization Beast were still alive, this spot would likely have been its gallbladder.
Lu Yuan settled into a cross-legged posture, precisely in the center of the character 'Demon' (). It wasn't intentional; it was just that the Demon Son had indelibly carved the character 'Demon' right in the mountain's absolute center. As Lu Yuan sat upon the character, he strangely sensed that the area directly beneath the center of the character felt slightly hollow. What was this?
Lu Yuan immediately channeled his magical power into the spot and discovered that the very center dot of the character 'Demon' was hollow, allowing passage inside. The Demon Son had left behind something peculiar even after departing the Sacred Land of Civilization? Lu Yuan's curiosity was piqued, and he slowly let his body seep into the opening.
This was a region saturated with immense demonic energy, dark and gloomy all around. This was clearly still within the outer shell of the Mountain of Courage. Lu Yuan wasn't in a hurry to sweep away all the demonic energy. He wasn't sure what kind of place this was. However, Lu Yuan also detected a non-demonic aura within the darkness—the presence of other living beings. Lu Yuan immediately employed his Sword Intent of Concealment to mask his form and moved stealthily toward the location of that being. Because his own essence carried the 'Righteousness,' it made the 'Demonic' aura even more conspicuous to him, allowing him to detect so much.
"Crack!" A faint sound echoed, as if something had been broken free. "Demon Son, you still intend to capture me and then use some special method to transfer my destiny to yourself? Ridiculous! While you, Demon Son, are indeed troublesome, I, the Son of the Sword, am not to be trifled with," a voice declared. "Little do you know, I, the Son of the Sword, allowed myself to be captured deliberately."
Lu Yuan started in astonishment. In the space beneath the character 'Demon,' there was the Son of the Sword? And judging by the tone of his voice, the Son of the Sword had intentionally allowed the Demon Son to capture him. The Son of the Sword wasn't afflicted with masochism; why would he willingly let the Demon Son capture him? There must be some strange trickery involved here.
Lu Yuan decided not to reveal himself just yet.
The triumphant voice of the Son of the Sword continued, "Oh, Demon Son, Demon Son, you have no idea that within the Mountain of Courage lies a paramount treasure from within the Chaos Civilization Beast's body. I only learned of this news by sheer coincidence. That's why, knowing you would appear on the Mountain of Courage, I deliberately came here to be captured, so that while you were engaged in battle with the expert from the Confucian Civilization above, I could seize this paramount treasure and depart."
Lu Yuan was stunned. A paramount treasure from the Sacred Land of Civilization was here? What kind of treasure could it be? But regardless of what it was, it clearly belonged to him to seize—it absolutely could not fall into the hands of the Son of the Sword.
The Son of the Sword's voice carried again, "Found it! Hahahaha! I, the Son of the Sword, truly deserve my reputation as one of the Seven Sons of Destiny! Furthermore, I am unwilling to settle for being the sixth among the Seven Sons of Destiny; I aim to challenge the Son of the Wilds!" The Son of the Sword’s strength was far inferior to that of the Son of the Wilds, the Son of the Immortal, the Son of the Law, or the Demon Son. However, he was ambitious and aimed high, naturally setting the Son of the Wilds as his target. "With this legendary paramount treasure in hand, I can surely crush that mere Lu Yuan under my heel! Lu Yuan, I swear you must die! I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes, ensuring you never find peace in death!" The Son of the Sword had only just begun to revel in his triumph when thinking of Lu Yuan filled him with burning rage. The person he hated most, without exception, was Lu Yuan.
"I truly never imagined you hated me so much that you wished to grind my bones to ash and scatter them, denying me eternal rest," a clear, crisp voice sounded out of thin air in the darkness. The Son of the Sword started, clutching his Tai'a Immortal Sword in hand. "Who is it?" "Hey, you were just cursing me, and now that I speak, you still don't recognize me? How clumsy, considering I'm the one who defeated you once before." A figure in green robes emerged from the darkness.
The Son of the Sword narrowed his eyes upon seeing the green-robed figure. "Lu Yuan." Damn it! How could Lu Yuan appear here? If he encountered Lu Yuan elsewhere, the Son of the Sword wouldn't be afraid in the slightest, but meeting Lu Yuan here made him incredibly vexed. This was the very place where he was about to obtain a paramount treasure from the Sacred Land of Civilization. Why would Lu Yuan appear at such a critical moment? Wasn't the Demon Son fighting above? With the Demon Son's combat power, crushing Lu Yuan wouldn't be difficult. How could Lu Yuan have entered this place? A strange feeling washed over the Son of the Sword.
Lu Yuan lifted his wine gourd and took a deep swig.
In the darkness, the Son of the Sword and Lu Yuan faced off.
The Son of the Sword suddenly threw his head back and laughed, "I heard that over two years ago, you were chased by the Son of the Wilds, playing the part of a stray dog. You truly disgraced the prestige of our Sword Dao. It seems I, your senior martial brother, must give you a proper lesson." He felt somewhat confident. Although he had lost to Lu Yuan's sword in the past, his progress over the years had been immense. He was now at the ninth heaven of the World Realm, whereas the rumored strength of Lu Yuan was not high; before his disappearance, he was at the sixth heaven of the World Realm. In the slightly more than two years since his disappearance, he couldn't have progressed that much. He had to win this fight to wash away the former humiliation.
"You still want to contend for victory with me?" Lu Yuan looked at the Son of the Sword with a peculiar gaze. The Son of the Sword frowned slightly. "What do you mean?" "No meaning at all. It's just that the ensuing battle will clearly be one-sided. You won't even have the slightest power to retaliate against me. I can guarantee you won't manage a single counter-strike."
Upon hearing this, the Son of the Sword's anger flared instantly. He had never been so insulted! He was the Son of the Sword among the Seven Sons of Destiny, dominating the Central Heavenly Dynasty. Although the Sword Dao was in decline, others still showed him considerable respect. Not a single expert at the Heavenly Venerate level would meet him without courtesy, and many figures in the Civilization Realm held him in high regard. A person like him was revered wherever he went. Now, Lu Yuan was saying he would be utterly suppressed without the ability to retaliate even once? "Lu Yuan, it's been over two years, but your skill at bragging hasn't diminished one bit. Let's see just how much you can boast." "I'm boasting? Then try me," Lu Yuan retorted sharply. ......
The battle between Lu Yuan and the Son of the Sword commenced. Lu Yuan instantly summoned the Gate of Sword Dao and pressed it down toward the Son of the Sword. The Son of the Sword had initially intended to counter-attack, provoked intensely by Lu Yuan's assertion that he couldn't strike back. But now, faced with the endless sword light emanating from the Gate of Sword Dao attacking him, he found it impossible to retaliate. If he tried to counter now, he would suffer grievous injury. Reluctantly, the Son of the Sword could only raise his hands to defend.
The Gate of Sword Dao hovering above Lu Yuan's head generated countless rays of sword light, streaking toward the Son of the Sword. The Son of the Sword desperately defended, but just as he prepared to launch his newly created ultimate move, the 'Shattering Strike,' to counter-attack, another beam of sword light struck him from the Gate of Sword Dao. The sword light manifested by the Gate of Sword Dao seemed to encompass everything about the Sword Dao, and simultaneously, it restrained everything within the Sword Dao. Within the Sword Dao, it was the supreme existence.
The Gate of Sword Dao attacked relentlessly; the Son of the Sword could not counter a single move. This was already the seventh strike. By the thirteenth strike, the Son of the Sword was hit on his left arm, yet he still couldn't manage a single counter. By the nineteenth strike, the Son of the Sword was hit on his left arm again. His situation was now dire and extremely dangerous, yet he still could not land a single counter. The situation was completely one-sided. The Son of the Sword was utterly unable to break the 'Curse of One-Sided Attack' Lu Yuan had predicted. He was in a thoroughly wretched state. Lu Yuan, meanwhile, was increasing his speed, wanting to defeat the Son of the Sword as quickly as possible to find out what treasure the Son of the Sword had mentioned.