Lu Yuan was now in dire straits. It was an absolute crisis! Every single person on the Fifty Heavenly Ranks list was a figure of immense, world-shattering power.

Ranking forty-sixth was Zhu Tianren, nicknamed 'Heavenly Extinction.' He had once annihilated dozens of planets, his hands stained with the blood of billions; hence the moniker. It was rumored he committed such slaughter to master a technique called the Chaos Heavenly Serpent Blood, practicing it with such ruthless disregard for life. If Zhu Tianren, at forty-sixth, enjoyed killing, then Wang Xueze, ranked forty-seventh, might not match Zhu Tianren in quantity, but vastly surpassed him in quality.

Wang Xueze notoriously rarely killed anyone below the World Realm, considering it beneath his dignity. He only targeted those at or above the World Realm. The heads of those at the tenth heaven of the World Realm, or even the Half-Step Civilization Realm, were preserved and hung around his neck—this was Wang Xueze's art.

Any individual on the Fifty Heavenly Ranks list was an earth-shattering grand figure, far surpassing Hua Fasheng in might. Whether Zhu Tianren or Wang Xueze, their combat prowess was not inferior to that of the Son of the Wilderness during his time in the Sacred Land of Civilization. And now, two masters from the Heavenly Ranks had both set their sights on Lu Yuan, intent on killing him.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath; these two opponents were terrifyingly strong! Unnaturally strong! He knew, currently, he stood no chance against either of them individually.

"Heavenly Extinction, World of Blood." Zhu Tianren struck first. He flung out a book. Having stayed within the Civilization of the Scholars as Li Taishi for so long, Lu Yuan had gained some understanding of books.

Others' books recorded various doctrines; even the books of the Heavenly Principle Civilization recorded diverse principles—only those from the Scholars recorded the righteous path, while the Heavenly Principle ones recorded the evil path. Beyond that distinction, there wasn't much difference. But Zhu Tianren, ranked forty-sixth on the Fifty Heavenly Ranks, was utterly different.

His book distinctly recorded streams of blood-light. Boundless blood-light instantly materialized around Lu Yuan, enveloping him completely. Lu Yuan immediately summoned the Character 'Zheng' (Righteousness).

Now, acting as Li Taishi, there was no need for concealment. The 'Zheng' character manifested, guarding his space, but curiously, it showed no restrictive effect on the Demon Child's power. What was happening?

"The Initial Character, 'Zheng'," Zhu Tianren's eyes glinted with avarice. "But to think you'd use 'Zheng' against me is laughable. Demons and Fiends are naturally suppressed by 'Zheng,' but my Blood World contains absolutely no demonic thought—it is purely blood.

Every person has blood, every living being has blood. How can the Path of Blood be considered an evil path? Therefore, your 'Zheng' cannot suppress me." Surging waves of blood rushed toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan felt his world vanish, finding himself submerged in the bloody tide. Facing such an attack, Lu Yuan could only summon the Immortal Scroll of Transmission and Rectification. He was growing quite adept at using it now, as his innate command over the techniques remained, even if it wasn't as potent as when he wielded a sword.

Still, Lu Yuan felt himself rapidly falling into a disadvantage. Meanwhile, Wang Xueze unleashed his torrential methods. With a wave of his hand, countless severed heads hurtled towards Lu Yuan.

Each head had been refined through his unique methods, rendering them incredibly hard. These heads were utterly ghastly and carried a soul-shocking quality; one slip, and one risked being stunned and harmed. Wang Xueze roared, "Heads Eternal, I Command the Heads." Though it seemed he merely commanded the heads, Wang Xueze's move, 'I Command the Heads,' was a supreme, terrifying killing technique.

Opponents who dared cross him often didn't even have time to react before their heads were already in his grasp. If the heads were already captured, naturally, they stood no chance against Wang Xueze. This was a great secret technique of heaven and earth.

To trace its origin, one would have to look back to the Witches' Civilization of many epochs past—a strange and ancient sorcery, passed down through eons, radiating a fearsome aura in Wang Xueze's hands. However, because Lu Yuan held the 'Zheng' character, he could defend against this dark art. Thus, Zhu Tianren posed a significantly greater threat to Lu Yuan than Wang Xueze.

But Lu Yuan grasped the truth: whether Zhu Tianren or Wang Xueze, both were capable of defeating him. When the two figures from the Fifty Heavenly Ranks attacked, their power was indeed extraordinary. Yet, these two Heavenly Rank masters were inwardly shocked.

They had never expected Li Taishi to withstand several exchanges under the joint assault of two Heavenly Rank experts! This Li Taishi, with boundless potential, likely possessed combat strength no less than Hua Fasheng's. What a powerful figure!

Having witnessed Lu Yuan’s strength, Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze grew even more exhilarated. Killing the strongest individuals was the ultimate thrill for them. However, a conflict simmered between Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze.

In their view, Lu Yuan wouldn't last many moves against them; he was no match, so they needed to guard against each other. Zhu Tianren desired the Civilization Book and the 'Zheng' character, naturally intending to exclude Wang Xueze. Wang Xueze also coveted the Civilization Book and the 'Zheng' character, intending to edge out Zhu Tianren.

Precisely because these two—one ranked forty-sixth and the other forty-seventh, their strength nearly equal—could not effectively eliminate the other, they occasionally undermined each other. It was this friction that allowed Lu Yuan to hold on. Otherwise, Lu Yuan would have nearly been forced to use 'Floating Life Like a Dream,' which would instantly expose his identity as Lu Yuan rather than Li Taishi—a recourse Lu Yuan normally avoided at all costs.

This illustrated the immense pressure these two Heavenly Rank masters exerted. Too strong an opponent. Lu Yuan finally understood the true might of the Fifty Heavenly Ranks.

And these were merely the lower-ranked individuals; those in the top ten must be vastly more powerful. Lu Yuan guessed correctly: those in the top ten possessed strength nearly equal to the Civilization Realm. Although Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze were checking each other, Lu Yuan realized his maneuvering room was shrinking; the probability of him dying under their combined assault was increasing.

"Junior Brother Li Taishi, now!" A long roar echoed, accompanied by an intensely blazing white light that shot directly through the conflict. This scorching light instantly struck both Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze, blasting open flaws in their defenses. Lu Yuan seized the opportunity and fled the immediate battle circle.

Once outside, Lu Yuan spotted Kong Ni, Kong Mingde, and others beckoning him not far away. With no time to ponder, Lu Yuan shot like lightning toward them, reaching Kong Ni and Kong Mingde only to find they were positioned within the Myriad Book House. A defensive shield enveloped the Myriad Book House, sealing the inside from the outside.

Kong Ni explained, "Though our Scholarly Civilization's Grand Array was breached, we had contingency plans. We have forty-nine small formations, each interconnected, capable of generating various defensive shields. We occupy the forty-ninth and final one.

Without breaking the preceding forty-eight, one cannot breach ours. Furthermore, the shield can unleash some Righteous Qi attacks—like the one that just rescued you from Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze’s combined assault." This Righteous Qi attack had been fierce enough to catch even the two Heavenly Rank masters off guard, forcing them to expose weaknesses. Lu Yuan immediately asked if such an attack could be fired repeatedly.

"Impossible to chain them; the attack level used just now could only be deployed about ten times at most," Kong Mingde shook his head. "But we owe a debt to Junior Brother Li. If you hadn't tied down Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze, we wouldn't have been able to coordinate the escape of the majority of our Scholarly Civilization people into the forty-nine small formations," Kong Mingde added.

Hearing Kong Mingde’s words, Lu Yuan looked around and saw it was true. Under the siege of the two Heavenly Rank masters earlier, he hadn't had the mental space to observe the situation. ......

Meanwhile, Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze quickly recovered and launched their fiercest attacks directly at the forty-ninth defensive formation. They desired the Civilization Book and the 'Zheng' character most, striking the forty-ninth formation with maximal force. However, the celestial mechanism operating there prevented the forty-ninth formation from breaking.

No matter how Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze attacked, they could not breach it. At this point, a World Realm Tenth Heaven expert from the Heavenly Principle Civilization stepped forward and said, "This is an array; you must break the other forty-eight in sequence before you can breach the forty-ninth, and there is a specific order required." Hearing this, Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze could only nod and begin attacking the first formation. The first formation did not possess high defensive power.

Fortunately, when Kong Ni and Kong Mingde arranged things, they had not stationed anyone within the first thirty small formations. Thus, after the first formation fell, no Scholarly Civilization members were harmed, as it was already empty. Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze's irritation surged.

They needed to kill to vent this immense frustration, so they attacked the second small formation with renewed ferocity. Lu Yuan, meanwhile, sat cross-legged, consuming spiritual elixirs. After only a brief engagement with Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze, he was injured and his magical power nearly depleted.

These two Heavenly Rank masters were truly overwhelming. At the same time, Lu Yuan was deep in thought. He absolutely had to become stronger.

If he didn't strengthen himself, Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze would slaughter every last soul in the Scholarly Civilization. This was partly for chivalry, and partly because staying with the Scholarly Civilization under the guise of Li Taishi had bred some affection. But achieving a sudden surge in strength was never easy.

Hua Fasheng, hailed as the foremost expert below the Fifty Heavenly Ranks, had spent years failing to break into that list, demonstrating the sheer difficulty. (Second chapter delivered, requesting subscriptions.)