The origins of Butcher Gao Jin were rooted in the executioner's blade, the one meant to slay immortals.

He possessed a multitude of formidable techniques.

Having just expended the skill known as "Three Roars to Sever the Soul," he immediately unsheathed his Butcher's Blade.

Where the blade pointed, invincibility reigned supreme.

He swept the blade horizontally towards Lu Yuan.

However, even as he made the horizontal cut, he deployed other auxiliary techniques; for instance, he flung forth the Three Souls Banner. Humans possess three souls and seven spirits; this banner specifically targeted the three souls, inflicting a massive disadvantage in combat. The inherent might of his Butcher's Blade was already great, but its power intensified exponentially when augmented by the Three Souls Banner.

Yet, Lu Yuan paid it little mind. His Nourishing Immortal Sword lashed out instantly, pointing directly at Butcher Gao Jin, a casual strike sufficient to intercept the Butcher's Blade.

A sinister grin spread across Gao Jin’s face. The Butcher’s Blade collided with the Immortal Sword, but the impact sent Gao Jin tumbling backward twenty zhang, momentarily stunned. This clash of spiritual power had resulted in Gao Jin being slightly disadvantaged. His expression shifted: "My magical power is actually greater than yours?"

"Is that so difficult to comprehend?" Lu Yuan asked with genuine confusion. "I already said it: a mere Gao Jin dares to pursue and kill someone from my Sword Sect? You seek death." Lu Yuan intended to kill Gao Jin for two reasons: first, Gao Jin’s notorious reputation demanded his demise as an act of upholding Heaven's mandate and eradicating a scourge; second, to establish the prestige of the Dao of the Sword, lest anyone think they could attack members of the Sword Dao without consequence. The revival of the Sword Dao begins with me.

Such an arrogant and domineering declaration.

Gao Jin was nearly choked with fury.

He was a towering figure on the Heavenly Ranking, capable of dominating nearly everyone below the Civilization Realm masters. Now, to be verbally skewered by a junior with such outrageous audacity—how could Gao Jin endure it?

Gao Jin let out a cold sneer. "Junior, it is time you learned why I am called the Thousand-Handed Human Butcher." Butcher Gao Jin’s slightly longer appellation was indeed the Thousand-Handed Human Butcher.

Gao Jin’s physique swelled considerably, and simultaneously, a thousand hands erupted from his back.

Thousand Hands!

Thousand Techniques!

As mentioned before, Gao Jin had once served as the immortal-slaying executioner, overseeing the deaths of countless immortals, thus acquiring an immense treasury of esoteric skills, earning him the moniker of 'Thousand Techniques.' The 'Three Roars to Sever the Soul' and the 'Three Souls Banner' were merely two of his myriad skills. Now, these thousand massive hands manifesting in the void each executed a unique ultimate move, spell, or magic treasure.

Eight hands unleashed the Pillars of Divine Fire, arranged according to the Bagua formation; each directional pillar manifested forty-nine ancient Fire Dragon Spirits of peerless might.

One hand employed the Great Stone Art, drawing down immeasurable, heavy boulders from the void to crash upon the enemy. This seemed simple, but what if the weight of those boulders reached an exaggerated magnitude?

The weight of this stone was of a measure so immense it was deemed 'Boundless Level'—a weight beyond all calculation.

In Buddhist reckoning, upon a single, minute hair tip reside countless Puxian Bodhisattvas; the number of realms contained within the tip of one hair is ineffable and boundless, an immeasurable vastness difficult to quantify.

Another hand wielded the Long Rainbow Tether magic treasure, capable of transforming into a long rainbow to bind the foe.

Another hand unleashed the Endless Storm Sorcery, birthing an unending void tempest.

Yet another hand utilized the demonic Heart-Piercing Nail, which targeted the heart directly. The heart is a vital locus for cultivators, even those in the World Realm. The Heart-Piercing Nail strikes directly at this center, making it impossible for even gods and immortals to defend against; countless deities have fallen victim to it.

This hand wielded the Fire Dragon Javelin, which shot forth a stream of fire to assault the enemy, with the javelin capable of continuous transformation.

Another hand employed the Formless Needle; this needle possessed both form and color, but it was so minuscule that even Immortal Eyes struggled to discern it.

One hand unleashed the Deity Sealing Finger, a technique capable of outright slaying divine beings!

The final hand executed the Eye-Plucking Technique, a specific cultivation method designed to attack the eyes.

Thousand Hands, Thousand Techniques! Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher!

This was the true face of Butcher Gao Jin.

Earlier, when dealing with the ten Half-Step Civilization Realm opponents, he had not deployed his ultimate arsenal, the Thousand Hands and Thousand Techniques, the Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher. Only because Lu Yuan persisted in his arrogance and completely disregarded Gao Jin’s status as a Heavenly Ranking giant and a senior, did he reveal his true, hidden power.

Witnessing the true form of Butcher Gao Jin, the remaining nine Half-Step Civilization Realm experts felt a chill run through them. Gao Jin’s true appearance was terrifying beyond measure.

Thousand Hands, Thousand Techniques!

One person might cope with one ultimate skill, or even ten, but dealing with a hundred, two hundred, or three hundred was simply excessive. To confront a thousand was an undertaking of almost unimaginable difficulty. Only now did the nine Half-Step Civilization Realm masters truly grasp the terrifying might of a Heavenly Ranking giant when revealing their genuine strength.

Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher Gao Jin gazed at Lu Yuan: "Lu Yuan, you mere junior dare to be so presumptuous before me, daring to obstruct my path to seizing the Body of Civilization. You seek death. Today, I shall let you know what true terror is." Gao Jin’s thousand hands attacked Lu Yuan in unison, unleashing a thousand ultimate techniques simultaneously. The sheer force emanating from this barrage was a cataclysm of raw energy, a grand spectacle of ultimate skills unbound.

At that very instant, Lu Yuan’s hand tightened on his sword hilt, drawing the blade. A light, bright as autumn water, flashed forth, and then—nothing more could be discerned.

Gao Jin’s attacks were too numerous, too overwhelming. A thousand ultimate techniques, an explosion of primal energy—how could Lu Yuan’s single sword strike possibly be seen amidst such chaos?

In that fleeting moment, attacks surged like tide, water, sea, fog, mountain, and peak—all emanating from Gao Jin. The Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher, one man capable of slaying a thousand gods, truly lived up to his name. Fox Saint Imperial Consort and the other Half-Step Civilization Realm figures inwardly conceded that under such an exaggerated torrent of attacks from the Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher, the famed genius Lu Yuan would surely be reduced to dust, his name erased.

The figures of the Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher Gao Jin and Lu Yuan briefly separated, and the radiance of the thousand techniques dissipated, allowing vision to clear.

Astonishingly, Lu Yuan stood utterly unharmed, having survived the onslaught of the Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher Gao Jin’s move.

The nine Half-Step Civilization Realm experts were filled with shock.

Swoosh!

A spray of blood arced outwards! Was Lu Yuan injured after all? No—that splash of crimson originated from Gao Jin, near his shoulder.

The injured party was the Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher Gao Jin?

After such overwhelming power, after unleashing a single move incorporating a thousand techniques, he was wounded? This... this... how could this be!

The Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher Gao Jin finally spoke, his voice heavy with disbelief: "How is this possible? My thousand ultimate techniques could not withstand a single strike from your sword?" Gao Jin’s question finally eradicated the last flicker of doubt in the minds of the nine Half-Step Civilization Realm experts. Gao Jin, despite deploying a thousand techniques, had truly lost. It was a result that rendered them speechless. They could not fathom what had transpired in that invisible moment, or what kind of sword strike had shattered the Thousand-Handed Divine Butcher’s millennium of skills.

Lu Yuan’s sword returned to its sheath. "It is simple. No matter how old you are, no matter how many years you have lived, you could never truly master a thousand ultimate techniques to perfection. Your methods are too scattered; breadth poisons depth. I cultivate only the Dao of the Sword, practicing but one strike. With a single sword, I can shatter your thousand immortal spells, your myriad demonic arts, and your myriad monstrous skills."

Lu Yuan tilted his head. "The principle of specializing over generalizing—surely you understand this simple truth?" Gao Jin felt as if he were about to vomit blood. What he had always considered his greatest strength had turned out to be his most profound weakness.

Even if Gao Jin recognized his flaw now, what use was it? His fundamental weakness could not be rectified in an instant. Facing Lu Yuan’s astonishing sharpness, he could only resort to using the Thousand Hands and Thousand Techniques again, but even these were repeatedly undone by Lu Yuan’s deceptively simple single sword strike. Lu Yuan’s mastery of the sword inherently surpassed Gao Jin’s generalized approach, and coupled with Lu Yuan’s superior magical power, any casual move he made easily surpassed Gao Jin’s efforts.

Initially, Lu Yuan’s declaration—that the mere Butcher Gao Jin, ranked a mere thirty-eighth on the Heavenly Ranking, dared to act presumptuously before him—was not bravado, but stark truth.

Thus, the scene unfolded: the dignified giant of the Heavenly Ranking being thoroughly suppressed by a newcomer junior like Lu Yuan.

After seven more exchanges, a cold glimmer of sword light pierced through Gao Jin’s heart, extinguishing the last spark of his vitality.

In essence, Gao Jin had only managed to survive ten exchanges under Lu Yuan’s blade.

A colossal figure from the Heavenly Ranking, defeated in merely ten moves by Lu Yuan's sword.

It was preposterous.

If this tale were told, few would dare to believe it; even the nine watching Half-Step Civilization Realm experts struggled to accept what they saw, yet the reality was unfolding before their eyes.

Lu Yuan looked at Gao Jin and stated calmly, "You have committed countless evils; this is the retribution you deserve." Gao Jin stared back at Lu Yuan: "Lu Yuan, you, the Eighth Child of Destiny, possess such strength... But do you truly believe... you will fare well? I already dispersed the message before death... Stronger Heavenly Ranking experts are coming to seize the Body of Civilization. It will not be so easy for you to protect that woman of the Sword Sect."

"That is not for you to worry about. I will protect the people of my Sword Sect; otherwise, I am a worthless number one master of the Sword Sect," Lu Yuan replied. "No matter the difficulty, I will see it through." The sword light retracted into the sheath, and Lu Yuan immediately began sifting through Gao Jin’s remains, particularly the Civilization Fragments. Using the Civilization Refining Art learned from the Confucian Civilization, he refined the fragments and inserted them into his own Civilization Disk. This brought his disk to about seventy percent completion, marking a tangible increase in strength compared to just before his fight with Gao Jin.

Only then did Lu Yuan approach Shi Fei Xian.

The delicate, ethereal maiden finally reacted: "Thank you, Senior Brother."

"No need for thanks. If I cannot even protect the people of the Sword Sect, how can I speak of reviving the Dao of the Sword?"

Lu Yuan waved dismissively. "Since you are the Body of Civilization, I will guard you. Let the Heavenly Ranking experts swarm here; I want to see which one can harm you under my watch."

What Lu Yuan did not voice was that slaying one Heavenly Ranking giant could boost his Civilization Fragments by ten percent. Previously, he had struggled to find suitable targets among the Heavenly Ranking experts. Now, with Shi Fei Xian beside him, it seemed several more Heavenly Ranking masters would conveniently deliver themselves for execution, aiding his cultivation.