In the very heart of the Central Celestial Dynasty, there lay an immense jade stele, a monolith embodying the passage of ages, antiquity, and the vastness of epochs.

This stele represented Chaos, the Primordial Mist. It descended from the heavens; there was the stele when the midday heavens reigned. Even when there was no heaven, the stele remained. This single monument predated the reckoning of the heavens, existing since the very inception of the era. Indeed, this jade stele possessed an inconceivable power. Upon its colossal surface were inscribed fifty names. Each of these fifty names represented an individual who had shaken heaven and earth—the fifty Giants of the Celestial Ranking. They were the fifty figures closest to the true Heaven Rank. And the first on the Fifty Celestial Ranking was named Gu Shi, renowned as the 'Nascent Civilization.'

Gu Shi was said to be the very first being born in this epoch. He once attempted to break through to the Civilization Realm but failed. Yet, his survival after such an attempt cemented his status as the individual closest to that realm. He seemed but a half-step away from becoming a true Civilization, which is why he was called Nascent Civilization. However, even that final, fractional distance remained uncrossed. The last half-step towards Civilization is an arduous journey! And Gu Shi had not been seen for untold years.

Beside the Fifty Celestial Ranking sat the seventh-ranked figure, named Bu Fangzhou of Civilization’s Divination. To rank seventh among the fifty already placed him tremendously close to the Civilization Realm.

Bu Fangzhou specialized in the art of divination. He sat beside this Heaven Rank stele, using its presence to deduce the secrets of his supreme divination arts, thereby enhancing his cultivation. He had sat there for millennia, tens of thousands of years perhaps, without moving an inch. He was willing to go to such lengths for the sake of breaking into the Civilization Realm.

Fangzhou sat with his eyes closed, deducing the obscured workings of the Heavenly Dao—a Dao difficult to fathom! It was then that a sudden flicker crossed Fangzhou’s gaze.

Moments later, two names on the Celestial Ranking, the forty-sixth-ranked Zhu Tianren of Celestial Annihilation and the forty-seventh-ranked specialist in human heads, Wang Xueze, were instantly wiped away. This caused Fangzhou’s expression to shift—a rare event. Since the establishment of the Fifty Celestial Ranking, replacements were extremely infrequent. For a figure on the Ranking to perish required an immense force, unless a true master of the Civilization Realm intervened.

Immediately, two new names materialized upon the stele. These names initially appeared at the very bottom of the Ranking. One was Li Taishi, and the other, the Son of the Desolation.

The Son of the Desolation originally bore no personal name; he was a favorite of the heavens, endowed with infinite fortune upon action. Thus, he was called the Son of the Desolation—that served as his name. Fangzhou observed these newcomers. The Son of the Desolation was famous; even after tens of thousands of years of sitting here, Fangzhou had heard of him. But who was Li Taishi? Fangzhou employed his Cracked Heavenly Secrets Numerology to divine and was stunned to discover one fact: the person who had slain the two Giants of the Celestial Ranking was none other than this Li Taishi.

Fangzhou jolted. Too astounding! This newly emerged figure possessed such terrifying strength!

Earlier, it was mentioned that this jade stele possessed a mysterious, unfathomable power to divine heavenly secrets. And indeed, the rankings of the two new entrants began to climb rapidly. Li Taishi’s name stabilized at the forty-sixth position, ceasing its ascent. Meanwhile, the Son of the Desolation’s name continued to climb, quickly surpassing Li Taishi to land within the top thirty. He continued to advance through the thirties until he finally halted at the twenty-sixth position.

There was a reason for this, Fangzhou discovered upon re-examining the Cracked Heavenly Secrets Numerology: the Son of the Desolation had recently defeated Luo Sen, the Heavenly King of the Long Saber, who was ranked twenty-sixth. Heavenly King Luo Sen was also a well-known figure whose saber mastery had reached the zenith of perfection. Yet, such a master had been defeated by the Son of the Desolation.

It made sense: Li Taishi defeated Zhu Tianren, thus taking the forty-sixth spot. The Son of the Desolation defeated the twenty-sixth-ranked Heavenly King Luo Sen, earning the twenty-sixth spot. The triumphs and failures concerning the fifty giants of heaven and earth were all recorded and aggregated here.

The appearance of Li Taishi’s name was simply explained: the Deputy Master of the Confucian Civilization had once obtained a rare artifact. Using this artifact, he managed to alter his name, even deceiving the jade stele itself. This deception effectively shielded Lu Yuan’s identity from suspicion. If the Heaven Rank stele itself displayed 'Li Taishi,' who could question it?

“Who is this Li Taishi? What is his origin?” Fangzhou fell into deep contemplation.

Meanwhile, within the Confucian Civilization, Lu Yuan had finished collecting the Civilization Fragments of Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze. A significant portion had dispersed, but much remained—roughly a fifty-fifty split. The residual fragments amounted to more than Lu Yuan’s original total, but Lu Yuan encountered a problem: he couldn't use them. They lacked the Chaotic attribute; there was nothing he could do.

He needed to devise a method to refine these Civilization Fragments.

Lu Yuan instantly phased to the forty-ninth defensive formation: “Senior Brother Kong Ni, Senior Brother Kong Mingde, I have now secured the Civilization Fragments of Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze. Is there any way for me to utilize them?”

After asking, Lu Yuan realized Kong Ni and Kong Mingde were staring blankly, causing him to pause. He hadn't realized that the two Half-Step Civilization Realm masters were nearly stunned senseless by him. Others might be shocked, but Kong Ni and Kong Mingde, being Half-Step Civilization masters themselves, were profoundly aware of the immense power of the Fifty Celestial Ranking. To put it plainly: average Half-Step Civilization masters were on the level of Kong Ni and Kong Mingde. Higher-tier masters were like the Jade Emperor. A step higher than that was the level Lu Yuan himself possessed when he was in the Civilization Holy Land. One level above that was the standard of Hua Fa Sheng.

It took four distinct levels of advancement just to reach the Fifty Celestial Ranking. This illustrated the terrifying power of those fifty giants!

The Heavenly Principle Civilization possessed Wang Xueze, one of the fifty, a figure coveted with envy and hatred across the realms, known for his boundless might. But now, he had been utterly eliminated by Li Taishi. After Lu Yuan urged them a few times, Kong Ni and Kong Mingde finally snapped back to attention. Kong Ni coughed dryly: “There is indeed a way. I recall a technique for refining Civilization. I shall transmit the core method to you.” He flicked his finger, and a stream of mental scripture shot into Lu Yuan’s spiritual consciousness. Lu Yuan instantly grasped the method—a technique for refining Civilization Fragments. However, it involved substantial losses, which seemed inevitable when dealing with fragments of different attributes.

Lu Yuan immediately sat cross-legged and began the refinement process for Zhu Tianren’s and Wang Xueze’s fragments. Wisps of True Fire emerged from his palms. This was no ordinary Divine Fire; it was something bordering on the Fire of Civilization, permeated with the Great Dao of Civilization. The chaotic attributes, such as the demonic and sanguine energies, were continuously vaporized by this faintly discernible Fire of Civilization. What remained were remarkably pure Civilization Fragments, albeit drastically reduced in quantity—a necessary sacrifice.

Lu Yuan hesitated no longer, scooping the refined fragments into his own Civilization Disk. This time, there was no repulsion; the fragments integrated smoothly. Lu Yuan noted that his Disk was now approximately sixty percent complete. Since leaving the Civilization Holy Land, he had only managed to gather about forty percent. He needed just four more layers; killing a few more figures from the Fifty Celestial Ranking, and his Civilization Disk would be complete.

When Lu Yuan stood up, he noticed that the members of the Heavenly Principle Civilization surrounding him instinctively took several steps back. Their strength was comparable to the Confucian Civilization, but faced with someone who could slay two top masters like Wang Xueze and Zhu Tianren, their arrogance evaporated.

They wanted to flee, but the problem was they couldn't. The Deputy Master of the Heavenly Principle Civilization was still locked in combat overhead. The Deputy Master governed his subordinates with extreme severity; desertion would result in execution. Which of them dared to run? But if they stayed, they stood no chance against Li Taishi.

The collection of cultivators from the Heavenly Principle Civilization, spanning the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm and Half-Step Civilization masters, mostly wished they could bury their heads in the earth and vanish from sight.

But it was not their choice to hide. This was an opportunity to weaken the Heavenly Principle Civilization, and Lu Yuan would not let it pass. Lu Yuan fixed his sight on one of the Half-Step Civilization masters.

Lu Yuan instantly blinked, arriving before the Half-Step Civilization master. This master was robustly built and named Wang Daofa! He was usually arrogant and imperious, but now his face was ashen; he knew he stood no chance against Lu Yuan: “There are so many World Realm Tenth Heavens here, including two other Half-Step Civilizations besides me. Why target me?”

Lu Yuan replied dismissively, “You look far too righteous. For a strange civilization like the Heavenly Principle to have someone as upright-looking as you—it’s utterly offensive.” Wang Daofa was on the verge of tears. Looking too righteous? That was his reason? He didn't know what to do; he was about to weep.

“Enough talk. Surrender your life.” Lu Yuan brought forth his True Immortal Scroll, intending to unleash the technique, ‘The World is Vast, The Principle is Supreme.’ He had used it once and found it perfectly suited for this moment. Wang Daofa, seeing Lu Yuan prepare this move, felt utter despair. He had witnessed the might of ‘The World is Vast, The Principle is Supreme’; even Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze had fallen to it. What could he possibly do?

In that instant, a Civilization-level finger strike tore through the void.

What a strike—a true Civilization-level force! Lu Yuan could already withstand the magical power equivalent to one entire epoch. After repeated advancements and defeating Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze, blocking the finger strike of a Civilization Deputy Master became considerably easier. The True Immortal Scroll rose, absorbing the incoming magical force. Yet, even so, Lu Yuan found this defense incredibly taxing. The opponent's power was immense, far surpassing the Deputy Masters of the Primordial Force Civilization or the Integrity Civilization from an epoch ago.

What was the status of the battle raging above his head?