As Lu Yuan stepped out of the gate of the Star Civilization, he naturally saw two red dots and nineteen white dots next to his name.

Only the Deputy Lord of the Axe Civilization shared the same marking: two red dots and nineteen white dots.

Everyone else already sported four or five, or even five or six red dots.

Clearly, he was now the furthest behind.

But Lu Yuan truly didn't care. He was brimming with excitement, focused entirely on the moment where he would strike for unmatched speed in all combat techniques. Everything else was a triviality not worth a second thought. Having mastered the stealth, speed, and concealment of the Star Civilization, and the illusionary arts of the Fox Civilization, which should he learn next? For Lu Yuan, this was an immense treasure trove.

Archery!

Lu Yuan immediately set his sights on it.

As mentioned earlier, there were four supreme masters of instantaneous action in the world: the Night Civilization, the Star Civilization, the Wind Civilization, and the Arrow Civilization. In fact, one more should be added—the Thunder Civilization. The Thunder Civilization was split into two factions: the speed faction and the attack faction.

He had already learned the Star Speed of the Star Civilization, which was divided into seven levels; only the Deputy Lord of the Star Civilization had mastered it to the seventh level, nobody else could manage it. When practicing Star Speed, Lu Yuan pushed it to the sixth level, unable to reach the seventh because the Star Civilization held certain arcane secrets in its techniques that were nearly impossible to fully grasp. Legend spoke of an eighth level, but no one had ever attained it.

The eighth level was the legendary Speed God Realm.

What Lu Yuan needed to learn now was Arrow Speed!

Indeed, Lu Yuan's primary objective was to make his strikes the fastest the heavens and earth had ever witnessed.

Lu Yuan quickly began learning Arrow Speed. Arrow Speed also had seven levels, comparable to Star Speed. It was faintly rumored that the Deputy Lord of the Arrow Civilization had reached the seventh-level limit, making him slightly faster than the Deputy Lord of the Star Civilization. Lu Yuan swiftly began training Arrow Speed.

Arrow Speed, Level One!

Arrow Speed, Level Two!

Arrow Speed, Level Three!

Arrow Speed, Level Four!

Arrow Speed, Level Five!

Arrow Speed, Level Six!

Finally reaching the sixth level of Arrow Speed. In truth, Arrow Speed differed somewhat from Star Speed. Simply put, Star Speed felt somewhat objective—a perception that the movement was inherently fast, naturally swift. Arrow Speed, however, was an active quickness, conveying a sense of continuous acceleration.

Even imitating it with the Myriad Forms All-Encompassing Sword Dao, Lu Yuan could only reach the sixth level of Arrow Speed, failing to attain the seventh.

Of course, reaching the sixth level of Arrow Speed still consumed a significant amount of his time.

After completing his training, Lu Yuan spent a short time learning some of the Arrow Civilization's ranged attack methods. This offered some benefit to his swordsmanship, though it was a minor detail, not his main focus. Having finished this, Lu Yuan first considered countermeasures for the Arrow Civilization's techniques. In fact, the best counter to the Arrow Civilization was duplication—creating endless clones to prevent the locking onto one's soul or vital energy, thus rendering attacks ineffective. Afterward, he proceeded to the end of the chamber to face its final trial.

He pressed the button, and instantly, countless long arrows shot forth. These arrows varied widely: some were Heaven-Shaking Arrows, others Sun-Piercing Arrows, and some were the Myriad Arrows from a Single Bow. All manner of shafts sped towards him. Lu Yuan unfurled his longsword, shattering these arrow techniques, applying the countermeasures he had just devised.

Success Rate: Eighty-nine percent!

Eh, only eighty-nine percent? Lu Yuan felt a slight dissatisfaction and dismissiveness. In reality, this score was astonishing; anything above eighty percent was already heaven-defying.

When Lu Yuan emerged, he found he was no longer last. Next to the Axe Civilization Deputy Lord's name were clearly two red dots, while his own name now carried three red dots.

Having learned Arrow Speed and Star Speed, his next step was to enter the Thunder Civilization. Lu Yuan immediately targeted the Thunder Speed within. Thunder Speed was also divided into seven levels, with the seventh being the peak; legend spoke of an eighth, though no one had ever reached it. The Deputy Lord of the Thunder Civilization himself was only at six and a half, not yet seven.

Lu Yuan proceeded to learn the Thunder Speed here.

Thunder Speed, Level One!

Thunder Speed, Level Two!

Thunder Speed, Level Three!

Thunder Speed, Level Four!

Thunder Speed, Level Five!

Thunder Speed, Level Six!

Upon reaching the sixth level of Thunder Speed, Lu Yuan's objective shifted. He was about to attempt something truly astonishing: combining the sixth level of Star Speed, the sixth level of Arrow Speed, and the sixth level of Thunder Speed. Lu Yuan vaguely sensed that the true Speed God Realm would require the addition of Wind Speed and Night Speed, but he obviously lacked the data from those civilizations. Lu Yuan drew his Meteor God Sword, continuously thrusting with his blade, constantly adjusting every minute detail of the movement. Star, Arrow, Thunder—the three flowed incessantly through his mind, manifesting in his hand.

This was the Sword of Star!

This was the Sword of Arrow!

This was the Sword of Thunder!

The fusion began. Initially, merging Star and Thunder was relatively easy, but integrating the Arrow proved more difficult. Star and Thunder, put plainly, were forces of nature, whereas the Arrow represented humanity—one side being Heaven, the other Man. Right, Heaven and Man in Unity. Inspiration flashed through Lu Yuan's mind, and in a hazy moment, Heaven and Man achieved Unity.

Then, Lu Yuan thrust a sword, and the Meteor God Sword moved suddenly.

What a fast sword strike!

This was the Sword of Star, Arrow, and Thunder combined!

Lu Yuan was certain this strike had surpassed the sixth level of speed, reaching at least the seventh. The Deputy Lord of the Thunder Civilization was at six and a half, the Deputy Lord of the Star Civilization at seven, and the Arrow Civilization's speed was at the peak of seven. Lu Yuan estimated this single sword strike of his had reached seven and a half—not quite the eighth level, but definitively the Half-Step Speed God Realm.

Half-Step Speed God, unmatched under heaven.

Lu Yuan was certain that within the Central Heavenly Dynasty, apart from the Civilization Lords, no one’s attack speed could match his now. Consequently, his ultimate finishing strike became even more terrifyingly difficult to defend against, and his other sword moves, benefiting from the increased sword speed, would also become frighteningly fast.

His sword speed was essentially approaching invincibility! This was only because he hadn't witnessed the Civilization Lords in action; otherwise, he would have dared to proclaim his striking speed unmatched throughout the world.

His power had advanced tremendously this time.

Having accomplished this, Lu Yuan began studying the Thunder Civilization's spells and other attacks, simultaneously devising corresponding countermeasures. This demonstrated the most monstrous and peculiar aspect of the Myriad Forms All-Encompassing Sword Dao; in no time at all, he had analyzed perfect counter-moves for all the relevant techniques.

Lu Yuan walked to the very end of the chamber to test them—breaking through the various spells of the Thunder Civilization. Lu Yuan relied entirely on skillful parries, finding the weaknesses in virtually every spell.

Success Rate: Ninety percent.

It seemed to be around ninety percent every time. Why couldn't it be higher? Lu Yuan wondered idly.

As he stepped out this time, he ran into the Deputy Lord of the Dragon Civilization. The Dragon Civilization Deputy Lord’s name already sported the tenth red dot, while Lu Yuan's displayed the fourth. It was clear the Dragon Civilization Deputy Lord had far outpaced Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan’s current ranking was second to last among the seventeen participants, just above the Axe Civilization Deputy Lord. Of course, the Axe Civilization Deputy Lord’s low record was understandable; he knew few countermeasures, relying entirely on brute force to break through, achieving only a meager forty percent success rate on a couple of tests. Thus, Lu Yuan was second to last. However, Lu Yuan's poor record was also understandable; he was still young.

The Dragon Civilization Deputy Lord looked at Lu Yuan: "I will defeat you." He was currently filled with confidence; he was determined to seize the true inheritance of the Ancestral Dragon.

"I hope you can manage it," Lu Yuan replied casually. Lu Yuan was in high spirits, progressing rapidly toward unmatched combat techniques. In a contest of skill, the Ancestral Dragon would certainly be no match for him in the future. Lu Yuan was becoming a God of Technique, and he was undeniably too pleased with himself. Invincible under the heavens—no, invincibility for an entire epoch was not something easily achieved. To put it this way: the former Lu Yuan would not have defeated an Eighth Epoch figure so easily, but now, with his Half-Step Speed God Realm, he could win against an Eighth Epoch figure quite comfortably. If he managed to master the essence of all the techniques from these twenty-one civilizations, figures from the Eighth Epoch would be considered formidable if they could withstand three of his moves.

The Dragon Civilization Deputy Lord's fighting spirit was soaring, excited by the prospect of obtaining the true inheritance of the Ancestral Dragon. Being of the same Dragon race, he understood the Ancestral Dragon's immense power—a strength that even he, a figure from the Ninth Epoch, felt was as deep as an abyss. Among those most likely to have taken a half-step toward the Eternal Realm was the Ancestral Dragon.

Just then, the extremely cold Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization, with silver hair, emerged. His record already showed thirteen red dots. Seeing only four next to Lu Yuan's name on the board, he furrowed his silver brows: "Lu Yuan, I want to defeat the you who is at your peak vigor, not the you who is dejected. Show me your strongest state so I may defeat it." Whether in the previous epoch or this one, the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization sought powerful foes; a life without the challenge of strong adversaries would be too lonely. As the second favored son of destiny in the previous epoch, he wished to defeat the second favored son of destiny in this epoch when he was performing at his absolute best.

Meanwhile, the Lord of the Transformation Civilization was drinking wine alone while playing a game of Hundred-Square War Chess—an extremely complex strategic game designed for a hundred players. The Deputy Lord of the Transformation Civilization was single-handedly deducing the variations across a hundred squares, the battle unfolding with intense ferocity. Yet, he still had the leisure to observe both the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization and Lu Yuan. Excellent; a competitive atmosphere was forming. Neither of these two would disappoint him.

(The 30th is here, leaving 29 hours until this month ends. Seeking monthly votes and subscriptions.)