As Lu Yuan was idly seeking an opponent, the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son had already fixed his gaze upon him.

While the other Emperor's Sons were generally acceptable in appearance, the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son was an exception. His features were passable, but his eyes were excessively narrow, his eyebrows curved in an exaggerated descent, and his countenance was perpetually grim, giving off an aura of terrifying gloom. By any measure, his visage was below par.

The already narrow eyes of the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son became even more slits as he fixed his gaze upon Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan!" The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son shouted, instantly appearing before Lu Yuan and slamming a palm downward.

This strike contained the immense power of the Half-Step Civilization Realm; for that brief moment, it seemed the very sky was covered by that single hand. Lu Yuan instinctively drew his longsword almost instantly, aiming for the center of the massive palm. His thrust was like stabbing at the heavens itself, while simultaneously propelling his body out of the strike's coverage area.

What a powerful blow!

The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son, a Half-Step Civilization Realm expert, was indeed beyond ordinary speculation.

This was the true might of the Half-Step Civilization Realm. Earlier, when facing the Desolate Saint Emperor's Son, the latter had been suppressed by the 'Ke' clone and had not displayed the true power of his realm at all.

The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son gained the upper hand with this first strike. He coldly regarded Lu Yuan: "Lu Yuan, you are the sword; this Emperor's Son is bronze. Today, I shall show you that in this epoch, bronze far surpasses the sword." In reality, at that very instant, Tong Yun-chou had intended to join forces with the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son to jointly kill Lu Yuan. However, Feng Xingxing of the Wind Civilization, entrusted by Emperor's Son Feng Mingyi, instantly intercepted Tong Yun-chou. Feng Xingxing possessed a baby face split by a look of utter innocence: "Grand Strategist Tong Yun-chou of the Ghost Cry God Howl First Army, perhaps we should test our skills?"

Tong Yun-chou looked at Feng Xingxing with considerable resignation. This smiling tiger with a baby face, Feng Xingxing, always feigned cuteness, yet he was an exceptionally troublesome character.

Returning to the main engagement, the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son, having secured the initial advantage, did not hesitate and launched his second attack. Slaying Lu Yuan was his priority. His figure flickered like a phantom to Lu Yuan's side, and with a deep, resonant clang, his weapon, the bronze rod, was already unsheathed.

A bronze strike came.

It was the Bronze Devouring Sword Flow. This was not Lu Yuan's first encounter with the Bronze Devouring Sword Flow, and he had some experience. His Yang Wu Immortal Sword met the attack in the void.

The bronze rod clashed with the sword in the emptiness.

During this collision,

Lu Yuan could not help but retreat slightly. The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son's magical power was too ferocious. At that moment, the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son's bronze rod underwent an extremely bizarre transformation: it instantly lengthened and bent sharply. Lu Yuan hastily parried with his sword, but the opposing bronze rod’s change was instantaneous, ancient, bizarre, multitudinous, and complex. Caught off guard, Lu Yuan was actually wounded on his left shoulder.

Blood spurted out.

Lu Yuan shot back tens of thousands of feet.

The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son immediately pressed his advantage, his movements ghostly. His bronze rod was equally bizarre. Lu Yuan had encountered many practitioners of the Bronze Civilization; their bronze rods were normally rigid and unchangeable. But the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son's rod was abnormal and mutable. A bronze rod has many segments, but each segment of his rod could extend hundreds or even thousands of feet and could twist endlessly, all while achieving its extreme lengthening at an unbelievably fast rate.

This was the true, bizarre style of the Bronze Technique! It was unlike any Bronze Technique Lu Yuan had previously encountered.

The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son offered no explanation for his technique, nor did he bother to give Lu Yuan any opportunity to adapt. The sooner he killed Lu Yuan, the better—that was the Bronze Saint Emperor's style. His bronze technique conjured boundless, deceptive shadows of bronze in the void; countless bronze phantoms materialized.

These phantoms were not illusory but truly tangible entities. The actual length of his bronze rod was not seven feet, but ten thousand feet.

Yes, ten thousand feet.

And it could constantly change direction and shape.

This single bronze rod could execute an infinite array of variations.

'Ultimate variation' was certainly not an exaggeration when applied here.

This was the first time Lu Yuan had witnessed such a bizarre weapon manipulation. It was completely different from the 'Box' of the Ten Strong Martial Arts; the martial arts box of the Ancient Martial Civilization was about breadth, whereas this was about weirdness—a serpentine, uncanny strangeness.

Facing such bizarre attacks, Lu Yuan was continuously on the defensive, forced only to utilize the Yang Wu Immortal Sword to block. Temporarily, he had only the capacity to parry, none to counterattack; he was completely suppressed by the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son. On one hand, the way the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son wielded his rod was undeniably too strange. But the true reason was that his magical power was far superior, immensely stronger than Lu Yuan’s own. The Half-Step Civilization Realm placed immense pressure upon him.

Lu Yuan realized he was trapped in a predicament. Bronze phantoms assailed him from all directions, placing him at an absolute disadvantage, with a distinct possibility of being killed by the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son. If only Heart Mountain would open, allowing him to seize the Chaos Heart Crystal and advance to the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm, he wouldn't be so thoroughly dominated and could fight back. But now, Heart Mountain remained stubbornly closed, and he was trapped in a perilous situation.

Bang!

Heart Mountain pulsed once more, a violent shudder.

It seemed as if the chaotic mist surrounding Heart Mountain had momentarily dissipated.

Heart Mountain had finally opened officially.

This was the moment to seize the fragments of the Chaos Civilization. However, this time was different from previous occasions; the factions were split into the Desolate Alliance and the Anti-Desolate Alliance, both agreeing to defeat the other side before dividing the Chaos Civilization fragments. Therefore, no one rushed to the summit of Heart Mountain. Moreover, collecting the fragments was not a quick process, so everyone remained locked in fierce combat. Yet, compared to moments before, this bang seemed to ignite a higher fighting spirit in everyone, intensifying the battle.

Seeing Heart Mountain activate, a surge of excitement filled Lu Yuan’s heart. He had finally waited for the mountain to stir. Fighting while retreating, Lu Yuan reached the vicinity of Heart Mountain. Now was the time to seize the Chaos Heart Crystal. The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son’s offensive intensified, but Lu Yuan ignored it. He manifested endless mist while simultaneously using a strange weapon to strike Heart Mountain, unleashing a flurry of three hundred blows in an instant.

As Lu Yuan struck his three-hundredth blow, he left an opening. The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son impaled him with his bronze rod—he succeeded! Wait, it wasn't a phantom, nor Lu Yuan's true body. This was Floating Life Like a Dream (Fu Sheng Ruo Meng). Lu Yuan possessed this ultimate technique but had never used it until now. Suddenly unleashing this move, Lu Yuan revealed he had many hidden trump cards, kept tucked away for critical moments, and this was undoubtedly one such moment.

While the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son was still figuring out how to counter Floating Life Like a Dream, Lu Yuan had managed to grasp a tiny sliver of the Chaos Heart Crystal. With this fragment secured, he had gathered all the Chaos Noses he required. He could now attempt to break through to the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm, but this was not the place; he needed to leave first.

Swoosh! Lu Yuan vanished instantly.

The Bronze Saint Emperor's Son immediately pursued him.

Lu Yuan fled; the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son chased.

The two shot across tens of thousands of miles in an instant. Hah, ahead lay the Lung Air Bubbles. They had discussed this earlier: the Lung was a towering ancient tree that continuously generated countless air bubbles containing bizarre things. Tens of thousands of Lung Air Bubbles instantly severed the Bronze Saint Emperor's Son’s pursuit, throwing the local atmosphere into chaos.

Simultaneously, Lu Yuan used this cover to slip away successfully. After escaping, he flew for another tens of thousands of miles before stopping. This time, he was lucky to have encountered the Lung Air Bubbles; without them, he likely would not have escaped so easily. Now, it was time to begin his ascent to the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm.

Lu Yuan summoned the Chaos Tongue Crystal, Brain Crystal, Stomach Crystal, Gallbladder Crystal, Liver Crystal, Spleen Crystal, Lung Crystal, Intestine Crystal, Foot Crystal, Kidney Crystal, and finally, the Heart Crystal—eleven crystals materialized in the void. Once they appeared, the Chaos Heart Crystal became the center, with the other ten surrounding it like moons orbiting a central star.

At the same time, an ineffable, profoundly mysterious sensation washed over him.

Lu Yuan felt as if he had glimpsed the shadows of a Civilization.

It was as if the spectral image of an entire Civilization hung suspended in the void.

Perfect, complete—that was the feeling engulfing him now.

Lu Yuan channeled his divine sense into the formation, slowly savoring the beauty before him.

He gazed at the chaotic eleven crystals before him with near-rapture. After a long while, he snapped back to reality. Now, the work had to begin; he needed to hurry and reach the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm.

He possessed eleven types of Chaos Crystals, each unimaginably perfect. Using these eleven crystals as blueprints, Lu Yuan began to restructure his physical body. First, he tackled the Chaos Tongue Crystal, refining his own tongue to achieve a perfect structure. Such structural alteration required massive energy, but fortunately, he had procured a full five hundred thousand Heavenly-Grade Spirit Stones from the Demon Son, so he needn't worry about insufficient power.

In the end, it took a full ten thousand Heavenly-Grade Spirit Stones just to perfect his tongue.

Next, he modified his cranium. The brain was far more complicated than the tongue. He proceeded with extreme caution during this modification; frankly, he had no desire to become an idiot. This restructuring was both brilliant and perilous, but with the Chaos Brain Crystal as a reference and having weathered countless major confrontations, this relatively minor challenge was not insurmountable. It took thirty thousand Heavenly-Grade Spirit Stones to remodel his brain, which now felt significantly refreshed.

The stomach came next, the easiest of all. This was because he held another identity—the Lord of Chaos Stomach Acid—and had already inherited the Will of the Stomach. Thus, with ease and only about twenty thousand Heavenly-Grade Spirit Stones spent, the stomach modification was complete, encountering practically no difficulty.

Modifying the gallbladder was also not particularly difficult, costing roughly twenty thousand Heavenly-Grade Spirit Stones as well, bringing the gallbladder closer to the perfection seen in the Chaos Gallbladder Crystal.