The visage of the swordsman was finally revealed after he had slain Fang Tu. It was the appearance of a relatively refined young man, his blue robes fluttering in the wind.
A current of righteousness, intensely loathed by Fang Tu, emanated from the blade. Fang Tu gasped heavily, intending to utter the name Lu Yuan, but lacked the strength.
Dying at the hands of Lu Yuan, Fang Tu’s vision tunneled black, and he was officially removed from the Heavenly Rankings. The first Heavenly Ranking Titan hunted down—Fang Tu secured.
He truly had to thank Gu Gu; without it, he would never have been able to pinpoint his opponent’s location so clearly. With Gu Gu’s assistance, tracking and counter-tracking felt divinely aided.
Lu Yuan flicked his hand, already seizing Fang Tu’s Disc of Civilization. He immediately activated the Civilization Refining Art.
Rolling torrents of divine fire consumed the disc until, finally, civilization fragments significantly smaller than the original disc appeared. With no time to waste, Lu Yuan merged these fragments into his own Disc of Civilization.
His Disc of Civilization was now eighty percent full—only the final twenty percent remained. Fang Tu was a Heavenly Ranking Titan, so his salvaged possessions were naturally rich.
The Heavenly-tier Spirit Stones were no longer counted by the piece, but by the vein—an entire Heavenly-tier Spirit Vein. In fact, the three he had slain before—Wang Xueze, Zhu Tianren, and Gao Jin—each yielded one Heavenly-tier Spirit Vein.
Lu Yuan now possessed a total of four such veins. Moreover, from Fang Tu, he acquired a manual—one of immense utility.
This manual was the Art of Tracking. It sounded unremarkable, merely a basic technique, yet Lu Yuan benefited greatly.
It pertained to tracking techniques, an area where Fang Tu’s mastery ran deep; otherwise, he wouldn't be known as a Hunter. While Gu Gu could track and counter-track any trace of wind, it understood nothing of concealing one’s own presence.
Since Gu Gu was ignorant in this, Lu Yuan was too. Lu Yuan’s success in killing Fang Tu this time relied on completely scrambling the surrounding yuanqi to mask his own traces.
Now, with the Art of Tracking, he could learn how to erase his own footprints and more. Tracking, truly, was a profound subject.
Beyond that, Lu Yuan obtained an Immortal Sword. He had not expected Fang Tu to possess an Immortal Sword.
This sword was exceptionally thin, slender, and long, measuring about seven feet. It was as thin as a leaf, utterly inconspicuous when laid aside.
This sword could change color, instantly matching its surroundings. With a gentle flick of a finger, the blade vibrated slightly, emitting a clear, crisp hum.
A fine blade! This was an excellent assassination sword!
Lu Yuan examined the hilt. It was less thick than the hilt of his Yangwu Immortal Sword, but the grip felt superb.
Engraved on the scabbard were the characters: “Meteor.” Was this the Meteor Immortal Sword? He felt he had encountered this name somewhere before.
Lu Yuan sifted through the data in his mind and, after a long search, found the sword's name deep within his memory. Did not the Sword Spirit, Princess Ji, possess a sword named the White Rainbow Immortal Sword, ranked among the Ninety-Nine Immortal Swords?
Back then, he had assumed the Ninety-Nine Immortal Swords were the pinnacle, so he had looked up some information. Among them was the name of this sword, Meteor.
He had obtained the Meteor Immortal Sword—one of the Ninety-Nine! The Ninety-Nine Immortal Swords, allegedly, were all peerless in strength!
Good! Lu Yuan praised inwardly.
When employing his ultimate move against the Jade Emperor, he had already felt that the Yangwu Immortal Sword was unwieldy. This didn't mean the Yangwu Sword was flawed, but his ultimate strike was one of pure assassination, while the Yangwu Sword was aligned with righteousness—meaning the two were fundamentally conflicting, thus creating a flaw in his ultimate technique.
Therefore, obtaining the Meteor Immortal Sword was truly a great boon for him. Lu Yuan gently caressed the Meteor Immortal Sword.
The blade was long, precisely seven feet and two inches. Stroking the sword again, Lu Yuan suddenly drew it for a simple, commonplace strike.
Yet, through this movement, Lu Yuan comprehended the full capabilities of his Meteor Immortal Sword. He could guarantee that the final vulnerability in his ultimate killing blow was now sealed.
The thought that the flaw in his ultimate strike was gone brought Lu Yuan immense satisfaction and elation. Lu Yuan casually swung the Meteor Immortal Sword, etching a few rough characters onto the ground: "Slaying Heavenly Ranking Titans is like slaughtering chickens." Having finished, Lu Yuan vanished immediately.
Not long after Lu Yuan disappeared, several figures materialized at the spot. The weakest among them was a Half-Step Civilization Realm cultivator.
"What? The Heavenly Ranking Titan, the Blood Hunter Fang Tu, is dead?" one Half-Step Civilization Realm cultivator gasped in horror.
"Lu Yuan killed another Heavenly Ranking Titan?" another asked, equally shocked. "Heavens, Lu Yuan’s power is too overwhelming." "There are characters on the ground." "What do they say?" "'Slaying Heavenly Ranking Titans is like slaughtering chickens.' This Lu Yuan is too arrogant, truly boundless in his audacity." At this, all the Half-Step Civilization Realm cultivators erupted, feeling Lu Yuan’s arrogance knew no bounds.
...... "Lu Yuan killed Fang Tu, ranked thirty-ninth?
Fang Tu was too useless," Si Tu Gui Mi stated calmly when the news arrived, showing no concern. Fang Tu’s death and downfall were Fang Tu’s business; Si Tu Gui Mi was certain he himself would neither die nor fall.
If he lacked such confidence, he wouldn't deserve his position. Since Si Tu Gui Mi was named Si Tu Gui Mi, he naturally possessed many esoteric arts.
Si Tu Gui Mi held a Magnetic Mirror Scroll documenting the battle in the Civilization Holy Land—the scene where Lu Yuan fought six opponents simultaneously. Si Tu Gui Mi watched the scroll repeatedly, focusing on Lu Yuan’s decisive strike against the Jade Emperor.
"This strike is powerful, but it still has a flaw," Si Tu Gui Mi explained to his subordinates. As he spoke, his pair of uncanny silver eyebrows moved strangely.
His subordinates were internally aghast; to think that such a decisive blow had a loophole in the eyes of Si Tu Gui Mi—truly worthy of the Rank Thirty-Three powerhouse, whose reputation was well-earned. Si Tu Gui Mi was also studying Fang Tu's injuries.
Fang Tu clearly suffered the exact same strike as the Jade Emperor, and Si Tu Gui Mi, having recently examined the sword marks, deduced that Lu Yuan’s ultimate strike likely hadn't fully repaired its vulnerability; it must still possess a weakness. If that were the case, he might be able to exploit it.
"If Lu Yuan uses this strike..., I can use it to wound him back," Si Tu Gui Mi repeatedly schemed in his mind, finally devising a technique. This move, executed with his wide sleeves, was named "Startling-Breaking Sleeve," crafted specifically to counter Lu Yuan’s ultimate strike.
"As long as Lu Yuan dares to show himself, I will ensure he dies by my hand," Si Tu Gui Mi said plainly. This wasn't self-aggrandizement; he was stating a simple fact, for he truly possessed the ability.
After creating the "Startling-Breaking Sleeve," his confidence swelled immeasurably. All his subordinates in the Gui Mi Alliance shouted in unison: "Long live the Alliance Master, ancestor of the Gods!" "May the Master shock the realm and live for countless eons!" These were the standard, sickeningly sycophantic cheers of the Gui Mi Alliance, but Si Tu Gui Mi adored them, so his followers complied.
Just then, a flash of sword light pierced the air. Impossible to describe the speed of this strike, impossible to describe its ferocity, impossible to describe its finality, impossible to describe its singularity, impossible to describe its strangeness, impossible to describe its isolation, impossible to describe its swiftness.
This strike was too fierce, too absolute, too unique, too bizarre, too lonely, too fast! This strike was too far, too strange, too deviant, too bizarre, too terrifying, too dreadful!
It was the ultimate killing blow! Lu Yuan had arrived!
Si Tu Gui Mi was not startled but delighted. Others meeting this ultimate strike might be doomed, but not him.
He had studied this move of Lu Yuan’s in depth and, for that reason, had created the "Startling-Breaking Sleeve" specifically to counter it. Once this move was broken, it would be simple for him, the esteemed Rank Thirty-Three on the Heavenly Rankings, to kill Lu Yuan.
Si Tu Gui Mi instantly unleashed the "Startling-Breaking Sleeve." The subtlety of this sleeve was aimed precisely at the ultimate killing strike, but Si Tu Gui Mi immediately realized something was terribly wrong. Lu Yuan’s sword had sealed the flaw!
How could this be! Lu Yuan’s strike against the Jade Emperor had a flaw, and the one against Fang Tu moments ago also had a flaw—why was the strike against him flawless now!
Si Tu Gui Mi was inwardly stunned. His cleverness had tricked him, and he was incredibly unlucky.
Who would have thought that Fang Tu, for some unknown reason, had managed to collect a Meteor Immortal Sword? In truth, it wasn't strange for Fang Tu to possess such a sword; every Titan on the Ranking held a trove of collected treasures.
Lu Yuan had perfectly remedied the ultimate potential of his strike using the Meteor Immortal Sword. Had Lu Yuan not acquired this sword, he truly would have been slain by Si Tu Gui Mi exploiting the weakness in his ultimate technique.
The Meteor Immortal Sword plunged deep into Si Tu Gui Mi’s heart. The opening Si Tu Gui Mi exposed was enormous!
Lu Yuan looked down at him: "You just said that as long as I dared to appear, I would die by your hand. But the reality is, you die by mine." "How...
how is this possible!" Si Tu Gui Mi could not fathom why he was so unlucky; this time, it was too much misfortune. Lu Yuan smiled faintly and paid him no more heed.
Sword energy erupted across Si Tu Gui Mi’s body, utterly erasing him from existence in the world. Si Tu Gui Mi, Rank Thirty-Three on the Heavenly Rankings, was dead!
Another Heavenly Ranking Titan vanished. Lu Yuan collected a portion of the civilization fragments, bringing his own total collection to a staggering ninety percent!
Just one more titan to slay, and his Disc of Civilization would achieve completion, allowing him to move to the next stage of cultivation. With a wave of his hand, he swept Fang Tu’s and Si Tu Gui Mi’s remaining possessions into his new sword world.
As for Si Tu Gui Mi's followers, they had just witnessed their master boast of effortlessly slaying Lu Yuan, only to see him executed the next instant. They stood dumbfounded, overwhelmed by the sheer, crushing contrast.