The Son of Immortals was pushed to the brink by Lu Yuan. He never expected that four of his Five Immortal Escape Methods would be broken in such a short time against Lu Yuan—this was utterly unbelievable! The Son of Immortals took a deep, ragged breath, knowing this moment determined his very survival.

Thus, he unleashed his final life-saving skill.

Immortal Vanish!

This so-called Immortal Vanish was, in fact, the fifth ranked of the Ten Marvelous Arts of the Ancient Immortal Civilization.

The eleventh ranked art, Cloud Without Form, was already formidable, only countered by Lu Yuan’s innate affinity.

But the fifth ranked Immortal Vanish was even more potent.

Among the Ten Marvelous Arts of the Ancient Immortal Civilization, all those ranked above Immortal Vanish were offensive techniques. For a mere life-saving ability to be ranked fifth demonstrated its sheer power. Immortal Vanish was reputed to be the strongest preservation art in the Ancient Immortal Civilization. Even the Vice-Sovereigns of the peripheral civilizations in the Lost Lands had heard of its terrifying fame.

Instantly, the Son of Immortals vanished from the air.

No clouds, no mist, no spatial movement, no shrinking the ground to dust, no manipulation of time—absolutely nothing—yet the figure of the Son of Immortals was gone.

What kind of technique was this?

Lu Yuan couldn't help but be taken aback.

However, Lu Yuan instinctively felt that the Son of Immortals had not left; he must still be nearby. While this technique could conceal his presence, it probably didn't allow for extreme speed. If he waited any longer, the Son of Immortals would surely escape, and Lu Yuan absolutely could not allow that.

But how could he prevent an escape when he couldn't even detect the Son of Immortals? Lu Yuan’s desire to kill him was intense, yet one must have a method to kill. Lu Yuan’s sword danced through the void, piercing nearly every inch of space, yet he felt no impact on the Son of Immortals. Every spot had been stabbed in an instant; this was clearly beyond mere illusionary trickery.

Then, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and Lu Yuan finally understood something.

Years ago, Yan Cangtian had been practicing the Heart Sword technique. At that time, Yan Cangtian intended to use the Heart Sword against those from the Ancient Immortal Civilization, with whom he held a great enmity. Lu Yuan hadn't understood why he needed to practice the Heart Sword back then, but now he finally grasped it: the Heart Sword was the ultimate counter to Immortal Vanish, the premier escape skill of the Ancient Immortal Civilization.

Where the heart is, there the sword lies. Where the heart strikes, there the sword strikes.

Lu Yuan had learned the Heart Sword before, but it had always remained at the minor accomplishment stage.

He had no choice but to try it now. He figured that since Immortal Vanish ranked fifth among the Ten Marvelous Arts, the Son of Immortals might not have mastered it completely either. If given enough time, the Son of Immortals might truly master Immortal Vanish, but since Immortal Vanish was inherently a Civilization Realm technique, only achievable upon reaching that realm, the Son of Immortals truly couldn't have reached perfection in it.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, clutching the Nurturing My Immortal Sword. This time, he needed the Nurturing My Immortal Sword because it aligned most perfectly with his heart; even the Circular Extreme Divine Sword could not integrate so flawlessly with his core being.

Mind quiet, sword quiet, heart quiet.

Heart Sword!

His mind achieved utter tranquility, like an immensely calm lake surface. Suddenly, the surface stirred, as if a gentle breeze had swept across it.

Was this the wind moving, the lake moving, or the heart moving?

It was both the wind moving and the lake moving, and also the heart moving.

Yet, perhaps it was neither the wind moving, nor the lake moving, nor the heart moving.

What difference did movement or stillness make to the heart, the wind, or the lake? Lu Yuan unleashed a single sword strike in that instant.

This strike was the Sword of the Heart, fully manifesting the power of the Iron Law of the Heart.

The trajectory of this sword was terrifyingly swift!

And the moment this strike was unleashed, it instantly pierced the heart of the Son of Immortals. A torrential wave of sword energy surged into his heart, shattering it completely, and simultaneously destroying his Immortal Child World. The Son of Immortals weakly raised his eyes, a look of unconquerable despair flashing: "Why? Why did you break Immortal Vanish?"

The Son of Immortals let out a mighty roar, shouting his resentment toward the heavens: "I am the Son of Immortals! I am one of the Seven Fated Children! How can I die here? I refuse! I was meant to seize the position of the Sovereign of Civilization! I was to become the strongest, the apex civilization under heaven! I refuse to die here!" Though the Son of Immortals roared fiercely, he felt his strength rapidly draining away.

Lu Yuan looked at him: "I overheard the Vice-Sovereign of the Desolate Warmth Civilization mention the Sovereign of the Demonic Civilization and the Artifact Civilization to you back then. What is that about?" Lu Yuan asked, having heard the mention twice now.

The Son of Immortals glanced at Lu Yuan: "So you were following me even back then. Hahahaha! You want to know this? I swear I won't tell you a thing!" The Son of Immortals roared three times. His vital energy extinguished, and he fell dead right there—the first of the Seven Fated Children to perish by Lu Yuan’s hand. By the way, Lu Yuan hadn't heard news of the Son of the Sword in a long time; he wondered how he was faring, naturally unaware that the Son of the Sword had already met his demise.

This was the first time Lu Yuan had slain anyone of the level of the Seven Fated Children. Though he had killed experts in the Civilization Realm before, slaying a Fated Child was unprecedented. Lu Yuan waved his hand and found that the Son of Immortals possessed quite a few Heavenly-grade Spirit Veins—fifty of them. To possess fifty Heavenly-grade Spirit Veins upon just entering the Civilization Realm showed the Son of Immortals was truly wealthy.

Lu Yuan quickly found other resources. From the Son of Immortals, he recovered the 'Gamble' Clone—a two-tenth portion. Lu Yuan hadn't upgraded his own 'Gamble' Clone in ages and promptly absorbed it. The fusion was successful instantly, revealing a shining four-tenth 'Gamble' Clone. With four-tenths of the 'Gamble' Clone, if only he could go to Gamble Immortal Island now, likely no one there could stand against him. Wait, Lu Yuan suddenly thought of something: Gamble Immortal Island prohibits anyone in the Civilization Realm from gambling there, allowing only those below that level. There must be a hidden reason. In this world, there are no such nonsensical 'Heaven and Earth Rules' preventing Civilization Realm experts from entering. Civilization Rules? What were those? Once one reached the Civilization Realm, even Heaven and Earth Rules could be reshaped; no domain could stop a Civilization Realm expert. Thinking it through, there could only be one explanation: the master of Gamble Immortal Island, the Island Master, was likely a Civilization Realm figure, and a powerful one at that, certainly no weaker than an average Vice-Sovereign leading a civilization.

Lu Yuan continued searching. The Son of Immortals had many good things, such as a secret manual for Cloud Without Form. Cloud Without Form suited his innate nature perfectly, and Lu Yuan immediately began refining it. This technique allowed one to hide within the ethereal clouds, becoming omnipresent within them; as long as the cloud remained, the ethereal presence remained. This was a technique for both attack and defense, not just escape, which he might utilize later.

Alas, there was no Immortal Vanish. As the fifth Marvelous Art of the Ancient Immortal Civilization, Immortal Vanish was always passed down orally, never recorded in text. Lu Yuan sensed the Son of Immortals hadn't mastered it fully, meaning that if he were to fight others from the Ancient Immortal Civilization in the future, he needed to strengthen his Heart Sword even further.

Similarly, the Earth Ancestor Clone's Shrinking the Ground to Dust also had no written record. There had been records, but a selfish person like the Son of Immortals would have immediately destroyed them after mastering the technique, leaving nothing behind.

After resolving the matter of the Son of Immortals, Lu Yuan rolled up his civilization remnant body and placed it into the Tomb of Civilization within his new Sword World. This made four bodies in his Tomb of Civilization. He then rushed like a phantom back to the Earth Ancestor Treasury. The Earth Scroll still remained there to be subdued. Lu Yuan immediately began subduing the Earth Scroll. The Earth Scroll was an innate spirit treasure integrating offense, defense, escape, and pursuit. Lu Yuan usually avoided using magical artifacts, but he decided to keep this innate spirit treasure for now; it might prove useful later.

Next on the agenda was utilizing the Ginseng Fruit Tree to break through to the Four Epochs.

Lu Yuan flipped his hand and brought out the Ginseng Fruit Tree. First, he carefully stored away the ginseng fruits hanging on it. Lu Yuan had heard the great name of ginseng fruit and knew it couldn't be contained in a wooden dish, reportedly destroying it on contact. Besides that, there were other rumors: it fell when touching metal, dissolved in water, scorched by fire, and burrowed into earth. Lu Yuan ignored the specifics and used his mighty magical palm to pluck the fruits directly. He then implemented vacuum preservation, suspending tens of thousands of ginseng fruits in the void, ensuring they touched none of the Five Elements—metal, wood, water, fire, or earth. This way, they naturally avoided the five elements.

...

Meanwhile, trillions upon trillions of miles away, at an altar.

It was an altar of bizarre design, inscribed with countless stars that rotated ceaselessly, perfectly embodying the phrase 'the stars shift and the heavens turn.'

Seated cross-legged upon the altar was a majestic and proud supreme war god, clad in dark green armor, still young in appearance. Beside him stood a colossal halberd planted upright.

It was none other than the Son of Desolation.

At this moment, the power of the Son of Desolation had reached the absolute peak of the Four Epochs. In terms of sheer magical force, he was considerably stronger than Lu Yuan.

The Son of Desolation frowned: "The Son of Immortals is dead."

"Damn it! The Son of Immortals is actually dead! Damn it! Who killed the Son of Immortals?" the Son of Desolation roared. "With the Son of Immortals gone, we don't know whose hands he fell into. This must be investigated immediately. The Seven Qi Unification relates to a grand secret of heaven and earth; without the Son of Immortals, it cannot proceed."

He mentioned something called Seven Qi Unification, though it was unclear what exactly it referred to.

However, interpreting it literally, Seven Qi Unification likely involved the Seven Fated Children.

But weren't the Seven Fated Children seven immensely blessed individuals?

How could these seven Qi sources unify?

The Son of Desolation seemed to possess secrets unknown to many others.

Seven Qi Unification!

(Second update delivered. The Son of Immortals has fallen. Please vote for the monthly ticket for this demise.) (To be continued)