That year, we challenged the Heavens. That was the Challenge of the Heavens!

And this Challenge of the Heavens brought about massive transformations. That time, when the Lord of the Jian Gu Civilization, the Lord of the Jian Ding Civilization, and others aggressively challenged the Heavens, they ended up damaging the Gate of Eternity, and it was rumored that something was leaked.

What was leaked was Fortune! And not just ordinary Fortune; it was said to be an immense amount of Fortune.

This influx caused numerous changes throughout the cosmos. For instance, the Child of Fortune who emerged at the end of the previous Epoch was incredibly powerful, with the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization reaching the rank of a Ninth-and-a-Half Epoch Deputy Lord in such a short time.

Meanwhile, the supposed great fortunes of those in other Epochs could only push them to the threshold of the Deputy Lord realm. Simultaneously, everyone understood that if a Child of Fortune were to arise in this Epoch, their Fortune would be absurdly potent, far exceeding those who gained Fortune in previous Epochs.

This is precisely why the Seven Children of Fortune were given such high regard. This is also why the Son of the Wilderness could so easily shatter the Deputy Lord realm and surge directly toward the Lord of Civilization realm.

Indeed, the Gate of Eternity truly scattered a significant amount of Fortune back then. It is estimated that Lu Yuan’s background stems from someone who absorbed some of the Fortune dispersed by the Gate of Eternity.

Such individuals were not singular; there were many. The Son of the Wilderness was one, the Son of Immortality was another, the Son of Martial Arts, the Son of the Sword, Yan Cangtian—all of them—along with countless other geniuses.

Some absorbed more Fortune, some less. Lu Yuan likely did not start with such powerful Fortune, but he experienced victory after victory, with very few defeats.

As previously mentioned, the Fortune of the young is not fixed; it can be seized from one another. Lu Yuan won often and lost rarely, so his Fortune grew stronger and stronger.

By now, although Lu Yuan’s Fortune cannot be seen, it is like a dragon returning to the vast ocean—hard for anyone to stop. At least the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization currently finds it difficult to withstand.

Only the Son of the Wilderness remains a true challenge; the next battle between the Son of the Wilderness and Lu Yuan is crucial. The victor will seize even stronger Fortune and move toward the Lord of Civilization realm; the loser will see their Fortune plummet, making it difficult to threaten the other again in the future.

Thus, Lu Yuan is a massive anomaly—not a reincarnation of any sort, but merely someone who accrued slightly more Fortune and then seized more along the way through constant victory to reach this stage. Of course, this Fortune has a slight bias toward the Dao of the Sword, as the people who unleashed this Fortune back then were masters of the Sword Dao.

Furthermore, by normal reasoning, since the previous Epoch belonged to the Sword, this Epoch fundamentally should not favor the Sword. That is the established norm.

The fact that the Sword Dao could revive in this Epoch, giving rise to Lu Yuan, Yan Cangtian, and the Son of the Sword, has only one reason: the Fortune scattered by Jian Gu, Jian Ding, and the others in the past years carried a slight bias toward the Sword, thus offering hope for the Sword Dao's resurgence in this age. At this moment, the First Imperial Scion of Dharma transmitted the truth of the Challenge of the Heavens to Lu Yuan, causing him to utter a slight gasp—so that was the meaning behind challenging the Heavens.

Lu Yuan now possessed sixteen red dots and two black dots. Lu Yuan observed his options and decided to head for the Demon Civilization, entering it.

The techniques of the Demon Civilization carried profound demonic energy, erratic and unpredictable, overwhelmingly domineering, and wreathed in dark auras. Ordinary people couldn't even perceive how the moves were executed.

Lu Yuan infused his eyes with peerless righteous energy, instantly rendering all manner of demonic great arts visible. Lu Yuan rapidly deconstructed the Demon Civilization's techniques; there was no need to even learn them.

Pass rate: 93%. Unquestionably, Lu Yuan possessed a substantial degree of mastery over this civilization, and with some targeted techniques, he achieved a 93% pass rate.

Lu Yuan’s current record stood at seventeen red dots and two black dots. In terms of sheer quantity, this record had now thoroughly surpassed the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization.

The Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization’s expression remained utterly cold; he had not betrayed a flicker of emotion even when facing the collapse of an Epoch. Lu Yuan proceeded to the next gate, which was the Demon Civilization.

The Demon Civilization’s techniques were similar to the Demon Civilization’s but possessed distinct differences. For instance, the Demon Civilization favored intricate patterns—many strange and bizarre variations—and their moves relied primarily on unpredictability, making it impossible to guess their next strike.

Righteousness could also neutralize them! Using the Eye of Peerless Righteousness, coupled with the Myriad Manifestations Sword Dao, nothing remained hidden.

Lu Yuan quickly dissected the Demon Civilization’s counter-techniques. Pass rate: 93%.

The exact same pass rate as the previous Demon Civilization trial. Lu Yuan’s achievement now stood at eighteen red dots and two black dots.

Purely by count, his performance had significantly overtaken the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization. It was utterly heaven-defying; out of twenty-one civilizations, Lu Yuan had only failed to break the techniques of two.

Now, he had mastered eighteen. The next door required no choice, as it was the final one among the first batch—the Civilization of the Sphere.

Their method of attack was quite peculiar: their assaults took spherical forms, rolling toward him relentlessly. Even breaking down their moves proved difficult, as a sphere possessed incredibly high defense, offering no weak points to exploit.

Upon entering this chamber, Lu Yuan found the Sphere Civilization's techniques extremely troublesome and hard to counter. Even the ultimate move of the Deputy Lord of the Jian Yuan Civilization from years past, which he had learned, was exceedingly difficult to break.

As Lu Yuan pondered how to counter the Circular Civilization’s attacks, he vaguely realized that dealing with circles required something sharp—specifically, the ultimate archery technique he had recently learned. One arrow through the center of the circle, one shot directly into the sphere's core, using absolute sharpness to pierce the slick roundness.

Incorporating some elements of the Sword Dao would make it even better. Lu Yuan experimented ceaselessly.

This Sphere Civilization took a little longer, but he finally carved out a path to break the sphere. Pass rate: 90%.

When Lu Yuan stepped out of that door, the crowd waiting outside fell silent. Every Deputy Lord of Civilization had been utterly stunned—whether it was the Deputy Lord of the Dragon Civilization, the seemingly venerable Deputy Lord of the Diagram Civilization, the ethereal Deputy Lord of the Medicine Civilization, or the aloof and reserved Tian Yu Ji, all were profoundly shaken.

Although the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization maintained an extremely cool demeanor, a flash of sheer horror crossed his eyes. The Deputy Lord of the Wind Civilization remarked, “Out of twenty-one civilizations, nineteen have had their techniques broken by over forty percent, with only two failures.

Lu Yuan is truly remarkable; our old bones are far behind.” The Deputy Lord of the Martial Fist Civilization paused briefly in thought and said, “Look closely. The two civilizations Lu Yuan did not pass were the Talisman Civilization and the Formation Civilization.

These two do not rely on mere techniques; one uses talismans, the other uses formations, placing them outside the scope of conventional moves. That is why Lu Yuan did not pass.” “Lu Yuan seems capable of breaking any technique, regardless of which civilization it originates from,” concluded the Deputy Lord of the Martial Fist Civilization.

This conclusion caused those nearby to become even more astonished. To break any technique, irrespective of its origin—merely hearing this suggested an utterly terrifying ability.

The Night Emperor’s voice resonated through the darkness: “The King of Techniques?” The King of Techniques! This was not a title easily won.

Everyone relied on techniques, and to claim kingship among them implied a difficulty almost beyond measure; no one would willingly concede such a title. Yet, it was uttered by the Night Emperor, and there was a reason for it.

Deconstructing techniques was something that typically favored older experience, yet Lu Yuan achieved what many veterans present could not. Naming him the King of Techniques seemed quite appropriate.

The Lord of the Dharma Transformation Civilization toyed with a piece of his Hundred Forms War Chess, a playful smile gracing his lips. He gently pressed down a piece.

The board was currently in a subtle balance, but one easily disrupted. After placing his piece, the Lord of the Dharma Transformation Civilization smiled faintly: “Now we can look at the final results.

In terms of quantity, Lu Yuan is first, the Deputy Lord of the Ice Civilization is second, and the rest follow suit, with the Deputy Lord of the Axe Civilization ranking last. However, after quantity, we must assess quality; quantity and quality are equally important.

I hope your pass rates are better.” First, they examined the pass rate of the Deputy Lord of the Axe Civilization. He had two red dots, with pass rates of only fifty and forty percent—both very low figures.

Yet, the Deputy Lord of the Axe Civilization paid it no mind; he was never a finesse practitioner—brute force and muscle were everything to him. Next came the Deputy Lord of the Wind Civilization.

He had twelve red dots, and his pass rates hovered mainly around fifty or sixty percent. In truth, rates of fifty or sixty percent held little real value, as many of those counter-techniques had already been developed and offered no new contribution.

Only undiscovered counter-techniques useful in a decisive battle held value. Of course, he did make some contribution toward the Star Civilization, but it was extremely minute, nowhere near enough to exchange for a mid-tier Divine Object—in fact, not even enough for a low-tier Divine Object.

Divine Objects were not easily traded. Then followed the record of the Deputy Lord of the Zither Civilization.

She also had twelve red dots, with pass rates mostly at fifty, sixty, or seventy percent. She made a distinctive contribution regarding the Flower Civilization, though this contribution was not substantial either, likely only enough to exchange for some Heavenly-rank Spirit Veins.

Furthermore, the Zither Civilization and the Flower Civilization were bitter rivals, explaining why the Deputy Lord of the Zither Civilization focused on researching counters to the Flower Civilization’s moves. After that was the Deputy Lord of the Dragon Civilization.

He had thirteen red dots, but his pass rates were quite commendable: seventy percent for the Strength Civilization, seventy percent for the Seed Civilization, seventy-three percent for the Talisman Civilization, alongside many at fifty or sixty percent. The Dragon Civilization and the Tree Civilization had long been mortal enemies, so his contribution toward breaking the Tree Civilization’s techniques was substantial.

Combined with his other contributions, his overall input was likely sufficient to exchange for the lowest-tier low-rank Divine Object. Next in line was the Deputy Lord of the Medicine Civilization.

His contribution to countering poisons was quite significant, achieving a pass rate of ninety percent. (First update delivered, the first update of August, a good start.)