The first sword strike was unleashed, barely utilized, before the second followed, unremarkable, then the third, subtle. While practicing the forms, Lu Yuan vaguely sensed the journey of another soul practicing swordsmanship in the previous era—a swordsman whose technique was not stunning, whose initial talent was merely average, both plain and faint, mirroring a life equally unremarkable.
Through the swordplay, Lu Yuan communed with another great soul long since faded into the deep recesses of historical time.
The fourth form: Sword of Ten Hammers. The fifth form: Sword of Hundred Refinements.
The light of the sword in Lu Yuan’s hand moved with the fluidity of flowing clouds and running water, utterly perfect, revealing not a single flaw, not even a sliver of weakness.
Form after form of sword light manifested in his hands.
Finally, it was the two hundred fifty-sixth form. The sword light traced a simple yet profoundly meaningful arc through the void, and then the blade was sheathed. This was the ultimate move, the Sealing Sword Return to Seclusion of the 256th form. With this, every sword move, from the first to the last, had been executed. The complete set of this swordsmanship was thus performed.
The phantasm with the round face and large ears within the jade stone watched Lu Yuan’s practice in silent contemplation.
“I hadn't expected the Second Era to yield such a promising seedling. Remarkable. The Way of the Sword is eternal, truly eternal. Congratulations, you have passed the test of the Third Trial.” The round-faced, large-eared phantom expressed deep emotion. In truth, the Vice-Lord of the Jian Yuan Civilization had long since perished; what remained here was merely a programmed construct designed to react to the swordsmanship of entrants across several distinct tiers.
Simply put, this program categorized human swordsmanship into five distinct tiers.
The first tier: Genius of Dao! The second tier: Foe of Ten Thousand in Swordsmanship! The third tier: Swordsmanship, Difficult to Match! The fourth tier: Perfection! The fifth tier: Intertwined Spacetime!
If one could reach the third tier, Swordsmanship, Difficult to Match, the Third Trial of the Ancient Swordsman’s Tomb would conventionally be considered passed. After all, for the following non-sword civilization, in an environment where the Way of the Sword was suppressed, achieving even the third tier of difficulty would likely be immensely hard. Thus, while five tiers and five reaction modes were established, they never truly anticipated the emergence of the fifth tier and the fifth reaction: Intertwined Spacetime.
What is known as Intertwined Spacetime is the resonance occurring between two great swordsmen across countless eons of time and space.
And now, Lu Yuan was resonating with that great swordsman across the long river of spacetime.
The creator of this set of swordsmanship was known as the Master of the Ancient Sword Civilization, whose name was Dugu Jian.
Dugu’s first life, existing solely for a single sword. He was, Dugu Jian.
Having comprehended this foundational set of two hundred fifty-six forms, Lu Yuan experienced a sudden awakening.
At that moment, a great aperture opened behind the jade stone at the very center of the chamber. With a sound from Kaka, a coffin rose from the floor. This coffin was transparent, revealing a physical body within—the very form of the round-faced, large-eared Vice-Lord of the Jian Yuan Civilization.
It has finally appeared! The final legacy.
Lu Yuan recalled his wandering focus. This was the most crucial moment to break through to the Civilization Realm. He looked toward the transparent coffin, which was inscribed with strange, ancient characters. Suddenly, a series of ethereal script appeared in the void before him: “What is mine, I leave to the inheritor. My remains shall be eternally interred here; they must never be disturbed again.” Many people desired to use the physical body of a Civilization Realm entity for cultivation. After all, fusing with such a body could forcibly propel oneself to the power level of an Era Law force, making subsequent breakthroughs to the corresponding realm vastly easier than attempting a true ascent to the Civilization Realm—a method used by figures like the Sons of Immortals.
Lu Yuan had not considered this path. Furthermore, given his character, even if he had conceived of such a method, the Vice-Lord’s explicit command—my remains shall be eternally interred here; they must never be disturbed again—meant Lu Yuan absolutely would not utilize it. This was fundamental respect owed to a senior master of the sword.
Therefore, only after performing the proper rites did Lu Yuan turn to the other objects.
“Senior Vice-Lord of the Jian Yuan Civilization, I am indebted for your gift today, which aids my push toward the Civilization Realm. In the future, I vow to restore the glory of the Way of the Sword,” Lu Yuan declared, his words firm and resolute.
Lu Yuan’s failure to move the Vice-Lord’s remains was an extremely fortunate turn of events.
The body of the Vice-Lord of the Jian Yuan Civilization was indeed his true corpse, but it represented the Fourth Trial of the Ancient Swordsman’s Tomb.
The Vice-Lord of the Jian Yuan Civilization, in his prime, managed the vast affairs of the Ancient Sword Civilization. Such a figure was naturally deeply shrewd and inherently suspicious, leading him to devise exceptionally complex considerations for any successor swordsman. The first three trials—the first concerning the ancient swordsman’s blood, the second testing perseverance, for how could an ancient swordsman lack resolve, and the third testing swordsmanship, for an ancient swordsman’s skill could not be lacking—perfectly established the prerequisites for an ancient successor.
After completing these three, the Vice-Lord’s phantom deliberately announced the third trial passed and implied there were only three trials in total. This was intended to induce complacency, for the Fourth Trial remained.
The Fourth Trial was the matter of the remains.
The Vice-Lord was not reluctant to part with his body; contributing his remains to the Way of the Sword was something he genuinely desired. However, in his past involvement with the War Against Heaven, his body had been afflicted by a Heavenly Curse, rendering the remains entirely unusable. The Vice-Lord intentionally left the clear warning: My remains shall be eternally interred here; they must never be disturbed again. If the inheritor ignored this reminder and attempted to use the body, it would reveal a flaw in character—a lack of respect for a predecessor. In that case, letting the fusion occur would be disastrous, as merging with a cursed body meant complete ruin.
This was the Fourth Trial! A trial centered entirely on character!
Lu Yuan, however, was entirely unaware of this Fourth Trial, and due to his inherent nature, he was immune to the insidious trap of the Heavenly Curse. Thus, he passed the Fourth Trial safely. Searching among the remains, Lu Yuan found numerous valuable possessions left by the Vice-Lord, including one hundred Celestial-rank Spirit Veins.
One hundred! Unbelievably generous. A peak master on the Heaven Ranking typically possessed only one Celestial-rank Spirit Vein. The Vice-Lord, with a single sweep, gathered one hundred. Lu Yuan was genuinely awestruck. These veins were immediately integrated into his nascent Sword World, forming a Celestial Spirit Vein Ring that dramatically increased the density of spiritual energy, making cultivation to the Chaos Sphere Realm within his inner world incredibly easy.
Lu Yuan also discovered a sword manual. This was no mere foundation text of 256 forms. He saw the title inscribed: “The Dao of Jian Yuan.” This appeared to be the Vice-Lord’s compiled insights. Lu Yuan stored it carefully. The Vice-Lord’s swordsmanship was likely not beneath his own and certainly contained unique wisdom he would need to study diligently. In this current era, encountering superior sword techniques was rare; he was eager to see how the swordsmanship of a Civilization Vice-Lord from the previous era fared.
Lu Yuan located other useful items, such as the Vice-Lord’s personal weapon, the Yuán Jí Divine Sword. This weapon was designed to complement the Dao of Jian Yuan and was a Civilization-grade armament, far superior in quality to Lu Yuan’s own Nourishing Immortality Sword. Currently, his Nourishing Immortality Sword was quite fragile; without the support of the 'Zheng' character, it would have shattered dozens of times already. He knew he needed to upgrade his immortal sword to a divine sword as soon as the opportunity arose.
After some searching, he finally found the crucial item he needed: the character Yuán (Circle/Round).
The initial character, Yuán.
It was this character that could aid his breakthrough into the Civilization Realm.
It was finally in his grasp!
Lu Yuan could hardly contain his excitement, knowing his time was limited as opponents at the Civilization Realm were closing in. He took a deep breath, calming himself, and immediately activated the Yuán character, refining it with his magical power. The light of this character bathed his body and, more importantly, his soul.
On his divine soul rested four characters: Wine (Jiǔ), Sword (Jiàn), Lazy (Lǎn), and Righteousness (Zhèng).
These four characters had been distinctly separated, but under the illumination of the Yuán character, they began to form into a circle, seeming to connect. As they linked, a faint, chaotic, colored light began to emerge. It worked! This Yuán character was indeed the key to his breakthrough into the Civilization Realm.
Once these four characters truly and completely connected, they would unleash the full chaotic light.
But it was not enough yet.
Lu Yuan instantly summoned several other prepared items. This included the Civilization Divine Essence extracted from Wán Wān and Shī Fēi Xiān’s bodies. Once invoked, this essence began to burn with an incredibly brilliant light, revealing traces of numerous civilizations within its radiance. Lu Yuan also invoked the Book of Civilization—though the chance was only one in fifty, it was still a significant probability—and further activated the streams of energy gathered from his mastery of the Hundred Defeats Scripture. The Scripture offered a ten percent chance of breaking through to the Civilization Realm upon gathering thirty-three defeats; Lu Yuan calculated based on the eighteen defeats he currently possessed, applying that proportional effect.
He also ignited the Civilization Disc! As the Civilization Disc on his soul began to burn, countless representations of wine and swords flew out, symbolizing the civilizations of Wine and Sword.
With the aid of these numerous artifacts, the connection between Wine, Sword, Lazy, and Righteousness grew stronger, and the chaotic light intensified. Seeing this momentum, the chance of successfully breaking through to the Civilization Realm now seemed overwhelmingly high.