The Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin! What precisely was this cultivation technique that could rightfully claim the supreme status in the Way of the Sword? Countless questions churned within Lu Yuan's mind.

Di Zi Fa Yi extended a hand into the void and retrieved a scroll. This ancient silk, imbued with the scent of antiquity, seemed to have witnessed countless ages. Lu Yuan accepted it; the scroll felt impossibly heavy in his grasp as he slowly unfurled it.

“The Way of the Sword is masterless, and I shall be its master.” This was the opening line of the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin. What an imposing declaration—the Way of the Sword is masterless, and I shall be its master. Lu Yuan instinctively asked, “Who created this Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin?”

“The Lord of the Sword Summit Civilization,” Di Zi Fa Yi replied. “In ancient times, the Sword Ancient Civilization had two masters. One was the Lord of the Sword Ancient Civilization, whose strength ranked among the top three across more than ten epochs. The other was the Lord of the Sword Summit Civilization, whose strength placed him within the top twenty across more than ten epochs. While this Lord of the Sword Summit Civilization was not quite the equal of the Lord of the Sword Ancient Civilization, he was by no means insignificant; he stood at the apex of the Sword Dao, with only the Lord of the Sword Ancient Civilization above him.” Di Zi Fa Yi spoke of the former Lord of the Sword Summit Civilization with boundless reverence. He was truly a figure of transcendent genius, one that even Di Zi Fa Yi himself had to admire.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan returned his attention to the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin, penned by the Lord of the Sword Summit Civilization. As he read further, he realized the technique truly deserved its reputation as one of the supreme methods of the Sword Dao.

The Grand Array of the Cycle of Ten Thousand Swords stimulated vital points across the body using sword energy to elevate one's power.

The Sword Move of One in Ten Thousand Swords fused the ultimate secret techniques utilized by various masters within the Small Sword Realm into a single, extraordinarily rare strike.

However, both of these techniques paled in comparison to the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin.

The Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin involved creating a Sword Dao Black Hole within one’s own body.

Indeed.

And this Sword Dao Black Hole possessed the ability to devour the sword mana of others, augmenting one’s own power.

This was utterly perverse.

Absorbing the mana of other sword practitioners for one's own use was inherently a heaven-defying technique.

Furthermore, the Sword Dao Black Hole acted as a flawless furnace. No matter how much mana was poured into it, it was thoroughly refined, ensuring that no backlash from the foreign qi would occur.

This naturally allowed for a massive increase in personal mana. At the same cultivation level, mastering this Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin could increase one's mana manifold. In fact, this cultivation method proved immensely useful both in the early and later stages of practice.

In the early stages, one could absorb the sword mana of enemies to bolster one's own power, leading to faster breakthroughs.

In the later stages, breaking through bottlenecks becomes as difficult as ascending to heaven. For instance, Lu Yuan was currently stalled beneath the Civilization Realm, unable to enhance his combat strength. However, the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin offered a path to break through that stagnation, making it profoundly powerful.

This technique was strongest in the Sword Epoch. In the current epoch, its power had diminished significantly because the number of sword users had drastically decreased, yet the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin relied solely on absorbing the mana of those who wielded swords. However, Lu Yuan recalled the Child of the Sword and the Coiling Saber Civilization; both an individual and an entire civilization that inherently utilized the sword. He could potentially apply the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin to absorb their mana.

Of course, the Child of the Sword and the Coiling Saber Civilization were distant resources, unable to quench his immediate thirst.

But there was a nearer source.

The nearer source was the Sword Realm.

The various immortal swords within the Sword Realm each carried distinct forms of Sword Dao mana.

Lu Yuan immediately sat down, beginning the condensation of the Sword Dao Black Hole described in the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin.

“Profound, yet more profound; the gate to all mystery. Transform, and transform again; the Sword Dao Black Hole.” At some unknown point, Lu Yuan discovered a pitch-black singularity manifesting within his newly formed Sword World. This was his Sword Dao Black Hole, finally condensed. In the new world, this black hole stood like a dark sun, contrasting sharply with the naturally radiating bright sun, creating a duality within his inner world—a light sun and a dark sun.

Lu Yuan then consciously shifted his focus, transporting himself into the Sword Realm.

The gateway to the Sword Realm had long been breached by him.

Within the Sword Realm lay ten thousand immortal swords, each famous in previous ages. Every sword was once the treasured companion weapon of a formidable sword cultivator, carrying within it a significant amount of mana left by its owner. Over vast stretches of time, these immortal swords had also absorbed considerable spiritual energy, causing their inherent mana to grow ever denser.

As Lu Yuan began absorbing the mana from the first immortal sword, a slight thought crossed his mind: he could only draw half of this sword’s mana, leaving the other half intact. Otherwise, wouldn't he be vandalizing the Sword Realm? By taking only fifty percent, given enough time, these swords would naturally recover their spiritual vitality.

For this reason, Lu Yuan absorbed only about half the mana and ceased further extraction.

The Sword Dao mana attached to each immortal sword was not immense, and fifty percent made it even less, but for the integrity of the Sword Realm, Lu Yuan was determined to adhere to this principle.

This was Lu Yuan’s code: he would absolutely not destroy the Sword Realm, this miniature world of supreme magnificence.

After absorbing fifty percent of the first sword's Sword Dao mana, Lu Yuan felt only a slight increase in his own power—not much. Should he proceed to absorb half the mana from the next sword? Most areas of the current Sword Realm were open to him, though a few core regions remained restricted.

As Lu Yuan absorbed the mana from those swords, the infusion of Sword Dao mana felt genuinely faint, almost negligible.

But now, it wasn't just one source, but thousands.

After absorbing three thousand sources of Sword Dao mana, Lu Yuan noticed a substantial improvement in his own power.

And after absorbing five thousand sources of Sword Dao mana, Lu Yuan realized his power had advanced greatly.

Upon absorbing nine thousand sources of Sword Dao mana, Lu Yuan observed his power increasing with astonishing speed. Compared to before he began practicing the Grand Art of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin, his mana had effectively increased by about one and a half times—a massive surge, considering the limited mana attached to each individual immortal sword.

Beyond the sheer quantity, there was another benefit: a subtle shift in the fundamental nature of his own mana.

First, Lu Yuan had always possessed a relatively placid disposition, and naturally, his mana had followed suit, remaining calm and mild.

Second, Lu Yuan practiced the Formless Devouring Art. To put it plainly, this art was not purely a mana cultivation manual; it was designed to devour Civilization Texts, aiming to forge the character 'Dao' and achieve eternal lordship. Ancestral Dragon had failed using it and subsequently abandoned the technique. While the Formless Devouring Art was ferocious when dealing with Civilization Texts, the inherent nature of the mana it generated was not inherently aggressive.

Third, Lu Yuan’s mana was of the Cloud Element, which also tended toward softness and fluidity.

But now, having absorbed nine thousand sources of Sword Dao mana—which was fundamentally oriented toward sharpness—this essence, refined within the Sword Dao Black Hole, caused Lu Yuan’s native mana to gradually adopt a sharper edge. On the surface, it remained incredibly yielding, yet now it possessed a needle hidden within silk, a razor edge concealed within softness.

Now, with everything prepared and his mana significantly bolstered, he was ready to challenge the next Civilization Vice-Lord, marking his tenth battle.

Di Zi Fa Yi had already provided the data: the opponent for the tenth fight was the Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization.

The Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization was a very young Vice-Lord, and also one of the weaker ones in terms of pure mana reserves, possessing only the power equivalent to one epoch.

Of course, this weakness was relative only within the Civilization Realm.

Compared to everyone below the Civilization Realm, he remained overwhelmingly, incomparably powerful.

He could effortlessly slay ten half-step Civilization Realm cultivators fighting in unison with a single finger strike.

Such was the might of the Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization.

The guiding principle of the Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization had always been that the magical arts should pursue the path of ultimate rigidity, using maximally rigid spells to utterly crush opponents. He was the leading figure of the Rigid School of Magic. Rumor had it that his spells achieved the utmost hardness; even martial artists and cultivators of the Desolate Path, who specialized in rigidity, often had to evade his formidable, unyielding techniques.

The Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization was also an influential figure within the Fa Gu Civilization. In reality, any being at the Civilization Realm level held immense status within any faction across the heavens and earth. In an ordinary civilization, such individuals were typically among the supreme giants. For example, the Vice-Lord of Integrity in the Confucian Civilization, also possessing the mana equivalent of one epoch, was the third greatest power within the Confucian Civilization.

The residence of the Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization was known as the Fa Gang Heaven.

Most Civilization Vice-Lords could only occupy a single Heaven. Civilization Lords, however, could preside over multiple Heavens. For instance, the residence of the Lord of the Fa Gu Civilization was called the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Fa Realm, comprising thirty-three celestial layers. It was rumored that the residence of the Lord of the Immortal Ancient Civilization also consisted of the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Immortal Realm.

Thirty-three seemed to be a number rich with resonance; many phenomena converged coincidentally around the number thirty-three.

The Fa Gang Heaven had been particularly lively recently. How could it not be? The Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization had just taken a new concubine. Reportedly, this concubine was a World-Class figure from the Artifact Civilization, named Lin Miaoyu.

The Vice-Lord of the Fa Gang Civilization had always advocated for taking multiple concubines, using the path of ultimate rigidity to master the path of ultimate softness. He already had ten concubines and was currently seeking an eleventh.

Do not assume that beings in the Civilization Realm were devoid of personal interests or hobbies. Civilization Realm experts were still human, and humans possess human desires. Some, like him, enjoyed acquiring concubines; this was entirely normal. Furthermore, a brief note on the Artifact Civilization: this civilization had not fully committed to the Ancient Desolation, Ancient Immortal, or Ancient Buddhist factions, nor had it entirely aligned with the Ancient Martial or Ancient Magic factions; it maintained a generally neutral stance. Many civilizations existed in such a neutral state. This explained why the Treasure Imperial Daughter of the Artifact Civilization maintained a close relationship with Yun Xiuxue, and why individuals from the Artifact Civilization were present in the Desolate Alliance at the Civilization Holy Land.