Three sharp shouts erupted, and the sixty-fifth layer of Righteous Qi surged forth, instantly shattering all obstruction like an invisible, righteous hand reaching for ownership of the Yinhe Tu (Galaxy Diagram). Although the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization struggled to resist, how could his thirty layers of Killing Intent stand against Lu Yuan’s sixty-five layers of Righteous Qi? With a resounding crash, the Yinhe Tu fell into Lu Yuan's grasp.

The medium-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, the Yinhe Tu.

Holding the Yinhe Tu, Lu Yuan found it incomparably beautiful. He casually infused it into his New Sword World, immediately sensing that the New Sword World had become incomparably more stunning and radiant.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization was now on the verge of madness. Sixty-five layers of Righteous Qi—this level of Righteous Qi surpassed even that of the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization. For Lu Yuan’s Righteous Qi to have reached such a height was simply astonishing. He had never, under any circumstances, expected Lu Yuan to possess such high levels of Righteous Qi.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. In a fierce contest over the Yinhe Tu, both sides had exerted their full strength. If either party suffered a spiritual consciousness backlash, they would be severely wounded. The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization had initially planned for Lu Yuan to fail in seizing the Yinhe Tu, and once Lu Yuan’s spiritual consciousness was severely damaged from the failure, the Vice-Lord would launch his attack to claim Lu Yuan’s head. Who would have expected the final result to be Lu Yuan obtaining the Yinhe Tu while the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization himself suffered a severe spiritual consciousness injury.

How profound was Lu Yuan's combat experience! Discovering the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization’s spiritual consciousness was severely wounded, how could he not seize the opportunity to strike? His first move was the Ultimate Killing Strike. As the Ultimate Killing Strike was unleashed, the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization immediately took notice, yet he dismissed it. What kind of civilization was the Star Civilization? It was a civilization renowned for assassination, specializing in sudden, surprise attacks. Lu Yuan’s Ultimate Killing Strike clearly belonged to the assassination category. To dare use an assassination-style move in front of the Star Civilization was like carrying an axe into the Lu Ban’s workshop or wielding a broadsword before Guan Gong.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization was adept at assassination moves and equally skilled at countering them. He instantly wove a net of blades—a net specifically designed to counter assassination techniques. However, his expression instantly shifted. He suddenly discovered that Lu Yuan’s Ultimate Killing Strike was so ultimate, so solitary, so unique, so fierce, so vicious, so mysterious, so strange, so cold, so desolate, so destructive.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization had witnessed countless assassination moves but found this one of Lu Yuan’s was comparable to the Star Civilization’s most potent assassination technique. Despite using every ounce of his strength for defense at the last moment, this sword mercilessly pierced his right shoulder.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization was now wounded upon wounded.

Facing the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization’s compounded injuries, Lu Yuan ceased using tricky, subtle maneuvers and instead began employing straightforward swordsmanship, switching to Yang Wu Shen Jian (Nourish My Divine Sword) and executing grand, upright sword techniques.

Stroke by stroke, form by form, immensely powerful and incomparably righteous.

This was pure application of technique, pure projection of momentum, physically crushing the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization.

Moments before it was tricky, but now it was straightforward. The constant shifting of tactics made the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization extremely uncomfortable.

Now, Lu Yuan truly had no need for deceptive tactics. His opponent’s prized mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, the Yinhe Tu, had been confiscated, and the opponent had suffered two injuries. Now, he merely needed to grind down his opponent with upright swordplay. The more straightforward these sword techniques were, the less chance his opponent had of counterattacking.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization had always favored tricky and deceptive moves, favoring stealth and lethal strikes from the shadows. He considered facing an opponent head-on with upright techniques utterly foolish. The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization had once mocked the Vice-Lord of the Three Books Civilization: “Vice-Lord of the Three Books Civilization, your so-called upright and magnificent style is rigid to the extreme. What use is that?”

And now, the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization realized how terrifying truly upright and magnificent swordsmanship could be.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization unleashed his Bai Zha Dao (Hundred Deceptions Blade), but Lu Yuan, ignoring the hundred deceptions and thousand tricks, struck him with a single, central sword thrust.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization used his Wan Gui Dao (Ten Thousand Illusions Blade), but Lu Yuan, disregarding all the strangeness, simply cleaved down with a direct stab, his momentum extraordinary.

The Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization used...

Boom!

Lu Yuan’s sword pierced the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization’s heart, and the sharp sword energy surged into the Star River World, instantly causing the Star River Minor Thousand World to completely collapse, simultaneously ending the life of the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization. This was the eighth Civilization Vice-Lord he had slain. From the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization, Lu Yuan also gained several benefits.

The first benefit was naturally the Yinhe Tu, famed as one of the most romantic Innate Spirit Treasures. There was also the embroidered ball held by the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Mother Civilization, which could serve as a betrothal gift.

The second benefit was some of the assassination methods from the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization. The Star Civilization was one of the two civilizations in the world most adept at assassination, and some of their techniques were worth Lu Yuan studying. When Lu Yuan examined these assassination methods, he had always believed his Ultimate Killing Strike was perfect, but now he realized he was wrong. His Ultimate Killing Strike was not entirely perfect. By integrating it with some of the Star Civilization’s assassination arts and absorbing their insights, his Ultimate Killing Strike would certainly become even more powerful.

The third benefit concerned the spirit veins. This time, he acquired two hundred Heaven-rank Spirit Veins. Coupled with the eighty Heaven-rank Spirit Veins he already possessed, he now had a total of two hundred and eighty Heaven-rank Spirit Veins. Unfortunately, he only obtained Heaven-rank Spirit Veins; the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization possessed no mid-grade divine objects, which was somewhat regrettable.

These were essentially the three main gains; nothing else was worth mentioning. Lu Yuan collected the corpse of the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization and placed it in the Civilization Tomb within his New Sword World. His New Sword World’s Civilization Tomb now contained six civilization corpses.

After finishing these tasks, Lu Yuan smiled faintly and looked toward the Vice-Lords of the Heavenly Attack, Heavenly Treachery, and Heavenly Defense Civilizations: “Having dealt with the Vice-Lord of the Star River Civilization, it seems I can now openly request some magic treasures to serve as betrothal gifts.”

The three Vice-Lords of the Magic Treasure Civilization were all stunned. Lu Yuan’s sixty-five layers of Righteous Qi had caused an immense shock. Everyone cultivated Qi. The Star Civilization cultivated Killing Intent to kill; the Confucian Civilization cultivated Righteous Qi for elevation; and the Magic Treasure Civilization also cultivated Qi—they cultivated Treasure Qi. Treasure Qi served two functions: first, it made it easier for members of the Magic Treasure Civilization to forge magic treasures; second, it amplified the power of those treasures.

Whether it was Righteous Qi, Treasure Qi, Killing Intent, Hegemonic Qi, or others, the difficulty level for cultivation was roughly comparable. The Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Attack Civilization had twenty-eight layers of Treasure Qi, the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Treachery Civilization had twenty layers, and the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Defense Civilization had eighteen. They never expected Lu Yuan to unleash sixty-five layers of Righteous Qi. Such a high level of Righteous Qi nearly blinded the three Vice-Lords. How did Lu Yuan cultivate such Righteous Qi? Sixty-five layers of Qi could claim supremacy over everyone below the Civilization Masters; in this regard, he was practically unrivaled.

While they were deeply shocked, upon hearing Lu Yuan’s words, they could not help but laugh lightly. The Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Attack Civilization chuckled, “Brother Lu wants some magic treasures? Our Magic Treasure Civilization happens to have some treasures particularly suited to be betrothal gifts. They will surely satisfy the Ancient Magic Civilization.”

Lu Yuan felt a little embarrassed: “It’s better not to trouble yourselves. I can exchange some Heaven-rank Spirit Veins for them.”

The Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Attack Civilization smiled: “If Brother Lu is so polite, you are treating the Magic Treasure Civilization as mere acquaintances.”

The Vice-Lords of the Heavenly Treachery and Heavenly Defense Civilizations immediately nodded vigorously. Lu Yuan had bestowed too great a kindness upon the Magic Treasure Civilization; how could they possibly accept Lu Yuan’s Heaven-rank Spirit Veins? Furthermore, they basically intended to invest in Lu Yuan. It was difficult for the Magic Treasure Civilization to navigate the world without a backer, but having Lu Yuan as a backer would make things much smoother.

Thus, the three Vice-Lords of the Magic Treasure Civilization meticulously prepared several magic treasures as gifts. Every single gift made Lu Yuan genuinely admire them. The Magic Treasure Civilization truly lived up to its name; in terms of magic treasures, they were unparalleled and invincible throughout the Central Heavenly Dynasty. Admirable, truly admirable.

And the Treasure Empress smiled slightly: “Lu Yuan, I have been invited by Sister Xiuxue to be a bridesmaid this time. You must perform well.”

...

Lu Yuan obtained several suitable magic treasures from the Magic Treasure Civilization, adding to the Yinhe Tu, an excellent item for a betrothal gift. He felt that the gifts were nearly prepared. Coupled with his own considerable assets, this collection was about enough—basically reaching the required standard. Lu Yuan stayed with the Magic Treasure Civilization a while longer, until personnel from the Central Heavenly Dynasty arrived to formally welcome the Magic Treasure Civilization into the Martial Arts Alliance. Then, he departed the Magic Treasure Civilization and headed directly toward the Central Heavenly Dynasty.

So, the next step should be the wedding.

Lu Yuan had never attended anyone else's wedding and was completely unfamiliar with the process. He felt a slight unease in his heart. However, Lu Yuan had always been an extremely carefree individual. He grabbed some wine and drank until he was half-drunk, which settled his mind completely. He simply watched the clouds drift lazily by.

Meanwhile, within the New Sword World, there was a Lu Family Estate. Several people in the Lu Family Estate were also quite anxious. This so-called Lu Family Estate was essentially centered around the two elders of the Lu family—Lu Yuan’s parents. Lu Yuan’s parents and younger siblings had always resided on Mount Hua. The last time Lu Yuan met Yan Cangtian, he brought them into his New Sword World and established the Lu Family Estate for their use. The two elders and other siblings had all been elevated by Lu Yuan to the Great Dao Realm, granting them immensely long lifespans. The two elders were now also preparing; their son was getting married. How many years had they waited? Although their son was incredibly successful, his unmarried status had always been a lingering concern. Now that he was finally marrying, the Lu elders were excited and were planning what needed to be prepared for their son’s wedding.

(First update delivered.)