If Lu Yuan could truly slay the Son of Immortals... Lu Yuan absolutely would not miss the chance. Lu Yuan held a deep-seated disgust for the Son of Immortals. The Son of Immortals was truly too despicable and vile. However, Lu Yuan noticed the Son of Immortals had long been hovering outside the main fight, clearly prepared to slip away instantly at the first sign of trouble. The Son of Immortals currently possessed the Earth Immortal Ancestor's 'Shrink the Ground to an Inch' technique, capable of turning a hundred miles into dust, covering vast distances with a single step—at least ten thousand miles away. Such a person is hard to trap unless forced into a fight to the death. The Son of Immortals’ nature was not one for fighting to the death, so Lu Yuan simply let the man go, unwilling to waste his own energy. Unless he found a way to break the Earth Immortal Ancestor's 'Shrink the Ground to an Inch' spell, it was indeed difficult to kill the Son of Immortals unless dragging him into a life-or-death battle. And now, the final opponent remained: the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization.
The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization was currently furious. Other Civilization Realm masters usually needed to maintain calm to exert their full power, but the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization did not. The Strength Civilization and the Axe Civilization both inherited the orthodox Pangu lineage, and their cultivation methods were completely different from other civilizations. The angrier these people became, the greater the strength they could unleash.
The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization was now engulfed in surging rage, and as his fury mounted, his entire body underwent a rapid transformation. He was already quite large, but now he swelled, reaching a height of ten zhang. While ten zhang might not sound immense, it was far from simple; every inch of his skin seemed forged from gold. This was the Pangu Dharma Body!
The Pangu Dharma Body was no ordinary skill. It was a cultivation method passed down from the orthodox Pangu lineage. The Pangu lineage’s method allowed every inch of the body to withstand countless attacks, hailed as the most powerful and durable path. Usually, when an Era was on the verge of destruction, the Civilization Masters and Deputy Sovereigns would hide in the weaker sectors of the collapse. Yet, back then, Pangu practiced the Pangu Dharma Body and forced his way into the area where the Era's collapse exerted the greatest force, emerging completely unharmed. From that point on, the Pangu Dharma Body became renowned throughout the heavens and earth.
The authentic Pangu Dharma Body was only considered Great Perfection when it reached the color of Chaos. The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization was only at the Second Era level, having not achieved the Chaos-colored Great Perfection, but he had mastered the Pangu Dharma Body's Golden Body. While this Golden Body was inferior to the Great Perfection Chaos-colored form, it was still terrifyingly potent. Immense power, impenetrable defense.
The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization looked at Lu Yuan: "You have been using petty tricks, specialized skills to injure Wild Eagle and Octagon, but they are useless against me. My Pangu Golden Body grants limitless strength and solid defense, and I possess the magical power of two Eras, Lu Yuan. This time marks your final path." His Divine Axe of Heaven's Might swung down with an irresistible, sharp momentum.
Lu Yuan’s sword light moved in response, transforming into a soft, clinging array of moves to parry the Deputy Sovereign’s strike. In truth, killing the two civilization masters had already depleted three-tenths of his magical power, leaving him with only seven-tenths. Furthermore, his base magical power was already less than the Deputy Sovereign’s, so he absolutely could not meet the blow head-on. Thus, he employed flowing, yielding techniques to overcome hardness with softness.
Clang!
When the Divine Axe of Heaven's Might clashed with the Sword of Nurturing Myriad Selves, the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization retreated slightly, while Lu Yuan shot back a considerable distance. At the same time, Lu Yuan discovered that his Sword of Nurturing Myriad Selves had shattered again. Swords were completely inadequate in clashes between Civilization Ranks. He needed to forge the Divine Sword Apex soon. As soon as the word 'Zheng' was activated, the Sword of Nurturing Myriad Selves began rapidly restoring itself. Never mind; time to switch swords. Since the focus this time was defense, he moved his hand and swapped to the Apex Divine Sword.
Switching weapons back and forth was truly annoying! But there was no choice; after this battle, he absolutely had to acquire a suitable Divine Sword.
The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization looked at Lu Yuan: "Indeed, you don't have much strength left. It seems you will die beneath my axe." The Deputy Sovereign had discerned Lu Yuan's reality. "Moreover, I watched all your ultimate moves just now. I have recorded all of them. The sheer number of your specialized skills already exceeds that of many First Era Civilization Realm experts. I don't believe you have any more tricks left, so your special moves are useless against me now." This was the truth; once a special move was seen by the Deputy Sovereign, relying on the Pangu Golden Body, he could position himself to absorb the most potent strike without being fatally wounded.
Lu Yuan quickly tallied up the cost: to kill the Deputy Sovereign of the Octagon Civilization and the Deputy Sovereign of the Wild Eagle Civilization, he had used every single one of his ultimate moves, including the recently mastered Sword Ten, Heaven Round, Earth Square! That strike, along with the most perilous finishing move, or skills learned from Yan Cangtian, Zhou Qingxuan, or others—all his strongest Civilization-level moves—were entirely exhausted, not a single one held in reserve.
Lu Yuan shrugged: "Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization, I have indeed used up all my grand ultimate moves, every last one. However, today, I shall defeat and kill you using only the most fundamental sword techniques: Chop, Cut, Collapse, Draw, Block, Wash, Intercept, Stab, Twist, Press, Hang, and Sweep." The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization let out a cold laugh! "Stop blowing smoke. Chop, Cut, Collapse, Draw, Block, Wash, Intercept, Stab, Twist, Press, Hang, and Sweep are the most basic techniques. To defeat an enemy using only the basics, there is only one requirement: you must surpass the enemy in actual technique, and by a significant margin, since the enemy also knows the basics. Furthermore, the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization possesses ultimate skills that Lu Yuan has never seen. Moreover, the Deputy Sovereign's magical power is significantly higher than Lu Yuan's. Lu Yuan needs his skill level to be much higher than the Deputy Sovereign’s."
The Deputy Sovereign roared, bringing down the Divine Axe of Heaven's Might—this was the Pangu Sky-Slicing Style! A definitive ultimate move. Lu Yuan’s sword manifested the simplest variations in the void, evolving move by move.
... ...
The battle raged on. Lu Yuan was indeed meeting the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization with the most fundamental swordsmanship. During the exchange, the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization was shocked to find that Lu Yuan was actually able to defend against him using the simplest sword techniques. No matter what ultimate move he employed, such as the thirty-six forms of Pangu Earth-Striking Sky-Slicing, or even if he used basic axe techniques himself, he could not break through the defense Lu Yuan formed with the Apex Divine Sword. That layer of sword net defense, composed of seemingly the simplest swordsmanship, appeared as if it could be easily broken, yet it simply would not yield.
Lu Yuan struck out sword after sword. In the process of this exchange, Lu Yuan also realized that his swordsmanship was undergoing a sublimation. His previous techniques had been somewhat restless, too reliant on spectacular moves. Now, he had discarded the flashy complexity, returning to the origin; his sword work became simpler, more refined.
The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization fought on, growing increasingly uneasy. He realized he was gradually being ensnared within Lu Yuan's sword net. These were plainly simple moves, yet they wove into intricate, interlocking meshes. Initially, he could still use sheer force to tear through the net, but later, he couldn't even breach it.
The Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization suddenly understood: Lu Yuan’s mastery of pure technique was completely superior to his own. A junior who had just entered the Civilization Realm possessing superior technique mastery—this was unbelievable.
The exchange continued. This was the six hundred and eighty-seventh exchange.
In the six hundred and eighty-eighth exchange, during this clash, Lu Yuan’s sword light pierced the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization's throat. This strike did not kill him instantly, but it shattered the Deputy Sovereign's Pangu Golden Body. Having achieved this result, Lu Yuan remained unhurried, grinding down the Deputy Sovereign piece by piece.
At the eight hundred and ninety-first exchange, Lu Yuan pierced the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization's heart with a single sword strike, instantly causing the Deputy Sovereign to explode and perish. The Deputy Sovereign's defeat was not unjust; he understood this himself. He was defeated by Lu Yuan's fundamental sword skills. Lu Yuan’s victory was upright and noble; his loss was clear and absolute. Simply put, he was inferior.
The Elegy of Civilizations sounded for the third time—the same mournful tune of heaven and earth grieving, wind and cloud weeping. The first time it was heard, it was shocking, but hearing it three times in such a short span had dulled the impact.
Lu Yuan waved his hand, sweeping the corpse of the Deputy Sovereign of the Strength Saint Civilization into the New Sword World. This was the third one. He truly didn't believe that among the inheritances of three Civilization Realm experts, there wouldn't be anything good; that would be truly bizarre. This was the first time he had acquired such a wealth of heritage since ascending to the Civilization Realm. He needed to savor this thoroughly. Perhaps with this, he could advance his magical power to the Second Era level. While advancement within the Civilization Realm had fewer restrictions than below, do not assume it is easy; the lack of limits also presents significant difficulties.
Inside the New Sword World, Wanwan and Shi Feixian were both utterly dumbfounded. They were cultivating peacefully when, with a tremendous sound, a massive corpse plummeted into the New Sword World. This immense corpse was incomparably perfect. Wanwan and Shi Feixian now possessed cultivation approaching the World Realm, so their eyesight was sharp. Moreover, both had been hunted by Sky Ranking titans; they had witnessed the death of a Sky Ranking titan, but it was never this exaggerated, nor were their corpses this terrifying. Being exceptionally intelligent, Wanwan and Shi Feixian immediately guessed: this was the corpse of a Civilization Realm expert.
Lu Yuan had slain a Civilization Realm expert! They were inexplicably stunned.
And immediately after, another civilization corpse was dropped. They shuddered a second time. Lu Yuan had slain another Civilization Realm expert in such a short span—this speed was too fast.
After a slightly longer interval, a third civilization corpse was tossed down. This one was clearly stronger. Wanwan and Shi Feixian trembled for the third time: another Civilization Realm expert had fallen to Lu Yuan? Lu Yuan had only just broken through to the Civilization Realm and had already slain three Civilization Realm experts consecutively—too ferocious, too inhuman.
In fact, it wasn't just them. Outside the New Sword World, the Deputy Sovereign of the Martial Yan Civilization looked at Lu Yuan with a gaze that questioned his very species. To be this fierce right after breaking through to the Civilization Realm—what kind of creature was he?