The Civilization of Artifacts already owed Lu Yuan a great debt, and now that Lu Yuan had intervened once more to save them, that debt grew even larger. Lu Yuan deliberately spoke in lighthearted jest, casually bringing up betrothal gifts to request some artifacts, which served to easily lighten the atmosphere. The Civilization of Artifacts was, of course, willing to comply with these requests for gifts.

Furthermore, Lu Yuan marrying Yun Xiuxue was actually highly advantageous for the Civilization of Artifacts. They were currently aligned with Lu Yuan, having abruptly shifted from a neutral stance to join the Law-Martial Alliance where they lacked a strong patron. In this era, lacking backing was difficult. With Lu Yuan marrying Yun Xiuxue, his future potential was certain to become terrifying, and as her husband, Lu Yuan would effortlessly gain entry into the inner circle of the Law-Martial Alliance’s supreme leadership. This meant the Civilization of Artifacts would effectively gain a new, powerful backer.

In these complex and interwoven times, it was not easy for any single faction to establish a firm foothold.

Lu Yuan spoke with the three Deputy Sovereigns of the Civilization of Artifacts casually, projecting an air that suggested he didn't even spare the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization a second glance. This subtly irritated the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization: "Oh, you are Lu Yuan. Your escape from the pursuit of the strongest assassination squad this time is indeed impressive. However, according to the Deputy Sovereign of the Star Killing Civilization, your 'escape' was merely due to your superior speed, which they couldn't match. The Deputy Sovereign of the Star Killing Civilization guarantees that if you dared face him in a direct confrontation, you would undoubtedly die. Very well, today is when I, the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization, will conveniently dispatch you here. You rank high on the Bounty List of the Desolate Immortal Buddhas, well within the top ten." Currently, the Law-Martial Alliance and the Desolate Immortal Buddha Alliance had completely severed ties, each maintaining a public bounty list. On the Law-Martial Alliance's list, the first position was held by the Lord of the Immortal Ancient Civilization, the second by the Lord of the Buddha Ancient Civilization, and the third by the Lord of the Desolate Ancient Civilization. The ranking reflected that although the 'Desolate' faction was always listed first overall, in terms of actual individual power, the Immortal Ancient and Buddha Ancient were slightly stronger than the Desolate Ancient, the latter still being relatively young.

On the Desolate Immortal Buddha Alliance's bounty list, Lu Yuan ranking tenth was a remarkable feat. Every one of the top nine individuals was a figure of world-shaking importance, each possessing combat strength approaching that of a Civilization Lord. Lu Yuan’s placement at tenth was actually credited to his evasion of the strongest assassination squad; otherwise, he wouldn't have made the top ten. Of course, even at tenth, Lu Yuan was undoubtedly the weakest among the top ten listed targets.

The Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization was now tempted. Slaying Lu Yuan would yield an immensely rich reward. Killing any of the top ten individuals on the bounty list guaranteed a divine artifact reward, a middle-tier one at minimum, certainly not some ordinary low-tier item; depending on the circumstances, they might even be awarded a high-tier divine artifact.

The Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization calculated swiftly in his mind. Lu Yuan’s inherent strength probably wasn't overwhelming; he likely relied solely on speed. His decision was made: "Lu Yuan, since you have arrived, you shall leave dead." He offered no further boasts. A dog that bites doesn't bark, and a Deputy Sovereign who kills dislikes swaggering. Moreover, the characteristic of the Star Civilization has always been assassination, disliking clamor even more, so his statement was delivered with quiet finality.

Following that flatness, the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization unleashed a deceptively simple slash.

This single strike possessed no notable characteristic other than sheer swiftness.

Lu Yuan dared not be careless; no Deputy Sovereign-level entity was ever simple. He manifested his Self-Nourishing Divine Sword, guiding it to clash head-on with the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization’s incoming blade.

At the instant the blade and sword met, countless rays of light erupted.

This light was not overly blinding; it resembled starlight.

In that instant, countless motes of starlight flared to life.

Yes, Lu Yuan suddenly found himself suspended in an environment composed of boundless starry skies. Countless celestial bodies near him materialized into countless points of light. It was a world woven from light and shadow: where stars shone, there was illumination; where they remained dark, there was shadow. Lu Yuan instinctively perceived danger.

Indeed, within the light, there was killing intent! Within the darkness, there was also killing intent!

The attack from the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization had imbued both the light and the dark with murderous purpose. Lu Yuan instinctively began to parry, his Self-Nourishing Immortal Sword deflecting the boundless killing intent. Yet, he could not fully block it. The killing intent emanating from the void and the darkness transformed into billions of blade-lights assailing him. Both the illuminated and the shadowed areas morphed into countless long sabers, all stabbing toward him.

This was the ultimate technique of the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization, famously known as the Galaxy Civilization Killing Method!

The Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization possessed a mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasure named the Galaxy Map.

Precisely, the Galaxy Map.

Legend claimed that within this galaxy resided countless stars. The Galaxy Map was reputed to be one of the most beautiful Innate Spirit Treasures.

The celestial river turns, swirling back the starlight; the silver estuary flows, mimicking the sound of water. Jade smoke grows damp and heavy, white as a banner; the silver cove turns at dawn, flowing toward the East of Heaven. White dew holds the bright moon; green dew cuts the Crimson River. The Milky Way stretches far, crossing secretly.

It could be said that the Galaxy Map was the most romantic of all Innate Spirit Treasures. A renowned grand master, acknowledged by many as a supreme idler, once remarked that arranging a tryst with a beloved on the grass beneath the starry expanse of the Galaxy Map would undoubtedly be one of the most romantic experiences in the cosmos.

However, this most romantic Innate Spirit Treasure, when wielded by the Star Civilization, could unleash utterly terrifying destructive power. With the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization holding this Galaxy Map, he transformed it into a lethally potent killing method. Now, within a near-perfect replica of the Milky Way, everything was suffused with the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization’s will; both light and darkness could become instruments of slaughter in his hands. This demonstrated the formidable might of the Deputy Sovereign of the Six Epochs’ Star River Civilization.

Lu Yuan’s azure robes were already nicked in several places by the blade energies. He channeled his Self-Nourishing Divine Sword to defend against attacks arriving from every conceivable angle—wherever a ray of light could pass, an attack would land. What a formidable opponent. Lu Yuan instantly considered breaking away using his supreme speed, but no matter how fast he flew, he remained trapped within the expanse of the Galaxy Map, unable to even glimpse the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization.

This was the cunning of the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization: he attacked relentlessly, yet his opponent could not see him, all while being constantly assaulted. Moreover, the Galaxy Map was too vast to simply flee from; the battlefield itself was inescapable.

Deputy Sovereigns were truly never simple foes. The Deputy Sovereign of the Desolate Warm Civilization had his own lethal technique, and now this Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization possessed his own ultimate move. This level of strength was immensely difficult to handle. Lu Yuan sustained minor injuries repeatedly as he frantically sought a way to break this signature move.

Light held killing intent! Darkness held killing intent! All were blade energies, and the entire galaxy was saturated—nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape. What could he do? More critically, the enemy remained hidden within the endless void; Lu Yuan couldn't even locate him. This equated to a battle where he could only defend, never attack. How could one fight that? What kind of fight was this!

Lu Yuan did realize that the so-called Galaxy Map wasn't the actual Milky Way in size, but it was still immense, moving wherever he did, preventing any escape from its boundaries.

While defending, Lu Yuan considered countermeasures. Suddenly, an inspiration flashed across his mind. If that was the case, he would proceed accordingly.

Lu Yuan held his Self-Nourishing Divine Sword and struck the first blow: "Light, be the light of righteousness."

"Darkness, be the darkness of righteousness." This was the second strike.

"Light and darkness, righteousness stripped away, righteousness permeates Heaven and Earth." This was the third sword strike.

Lu Yuan roared, drawing upon inspiration gained while refining the Self-Nourishing Divine Sword. Normally, when forging the sword, there were seven streams of Civilization Divine Weapon Light. Later, he discovered there were more than just seven, involving the seven fundamental elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and thunder. He had forcibly separated them into Yin and Yang, birthing the righteous Civilization Divine Weapon Light, which the Self-Nourishing Divine Weapon absorbed.

Now, facing the Galaxy Map, Lu Yuan reasoned internally: the opponent infused light and darkness with killing intent, so he would infuse light and darkness with righteousness. If his righteousness could seize control over the light and dark, the opponent would be rendered powerless, and the Galaxy Map's offensive would naturally collapse.

Massive streams of righteousness scattered from Lu Yuan's Self-Nourishing Divine Sword, beginning to contend for control over the Galaxy Map.

The Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization, hidden within the Galaxy Map, saw this and could not help but let out a dry chuckle.

Lu Yuan was dreaming in broad daylight.

In truth, this idea of Lu Yuan’s had been attempted by others before, and every single one had failed. In a contest of wills like this, because the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization held the Galaxy Map, he was the master, granting him a substantial advantage. For example, if the contest was killing intent versus killing intent, success required the challenger’s killing intent to exceed the defender's by a factor of three. But Lu Yuan was using righteousness, which inherently possessed less raw destructive power. Therefore, his righteousness would need to be at least four times greater than the opponent's killing intent for him to succeed in seizing the Galaxy Map.

Did Lu Yuan’s righteousness amount to four times his killing intent? How was that possible? He was the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization, hailing from the assassination-focused Star Civilization, whose primary cultivation focused on killing aura. If Lu Yuan possessed four times his righteousness, he wouldn't need to bother with this; it was utterly laughable. The Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization mocked Lu Yuan’s absurdity. Lu Yuan was truly ridiculous right now. Lu Yuan, today you will perish beneath the Galaxy Map, destroyed by the Galaxy Civilization Killing Method. The head of the tenth-ranked target on the Desolate Immortal Buddha Alliance Bounty List would be his.

Lu Yuan released a vast amount of righteousness, allowing it to disperse into the surrounding void.

The Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization countered by unleashing immense killing energy to control the surrounding void light and darkness.

The battle between Righteousness and Killing Intent thus began.

As this contest of wills commenced, the Deputy Sovereign of the Star River Civilization immediately revealed a chilling killing intent, built up to an extreme degree.

(Second update delivered; based on current progress, there should be a third update today.)