All eyes were fixed upon the Lord of the Law-Transformation Civilization, the Vice-Lord of the Chart Civilization, and the trio including Lu Yuan.

Now it was Lu Yuan's turn to act, and everyone was eager to see how he would deal with the Primordial Characters. But! This! This is unbelievable. Lu Yuan simply swallowed the Primordial Character whole.

It had been eons since anyone had seen a person directly devour a Primordial Character. To think Lu Yuan could actually consume one! Everyone understood the immense power of these characters; a single Primordial Character could spawn numerous standard characters for offense, and the character itself was vastly stronger than a Tier Two character. Seeing Lu Yuan swallow it so casually stunned many.

However, many discerning Civilization Sovereigns couldn't help but recall the name of Zu Long. This was clearly Zu Long’s technique—the Nameless Devouring Art from his era. Lu Yuan had actually mastered it. Zu Long was an exceedingly mysterious figure. The Lord of the Law-Transformation Civilization mused, wondering what role Zu Long played in the context of the Desolate Child’s Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring Art.

After Lu Yuan consumed one Primordial Character, the Lord of the Law-Transformation Civilization manipulated the Ultimate Chart to tear open a second rift. The second character was the character for 'Tree,' a wood-element character and the strongest one held by the Vice-Lord of the Tree Civilization. This character unleashed countless branches. Normally, the Vice-Lord of the Tree Civilization would never dare unleash such a powerful character, but circumstances demanded it; losing one Primordial Character now was better than risking greater losses, perhaps even the annihilation of the Tree Civilization. Lu Yuan, of course, showed no mercy, seizing an opportunity so rare in the cosmos.

With a resounding boom, he absorbed that character as well. Every Primordial Character was a massive boon.

Lu Yuan continued to absorb characters. A series of Primordial Characters followed, such as the character for 'Frenzy,' belonging to the Strength Civilization, which could amplify berserk energy, and the character for 'Thunder,' from the Thunder Civilization, possessing infinite deterrence. Lu Yuan relentlessly absorbed these characters, while his Dao Character Incarnation was simultaneously displaying extraordinary brilliance.

The Dao Character was the foremost character in the Heavens. The Gate of Eternity, the Iron Law of Destiny, and the Dao Character—these were the three supreme entities of the cosmos. The Gate of Eternity was unfathomably deep, the Iron Law of Destiny ethereal and intangible, while the true body of the Dao Character towered above all ten thousand characters, commanding them all.

After absorbing a full ten Primordial Characters, Lu Yuan had elevated his Dao Character Incarnation to forty percent completion.

Lu Yuan was reveling in the moment, immediately moving to absorb the other characters. One after another, the Primordial Characters came into his grasp. Wait—this one he couldn't absorb. Lu Yuan, caught up in the rapid consumption, suddenly realized the next character before him was the character for 'Electric.' This character was critically important to the Thunder Civilization, possessing speed as quick as lightning. Lu Yuan finally recalled that he needed to keep this 'Electric' character for his own use; having it could significantly hasten his attack speed.

Lu Yuan unleashed the Devouring Dragon to seize the 'Electric' character, but the character seemed to sense the danger and attempted a swift escape. What a cunning character! Lu Yuan laughed heartily, "The Great Dao is like the Heavens; I am the Great Dao. You dare try to flee? Ridiculous! Seize it!" With a sharp cry, the Devouring Dragon automatically unleashed the Wind-Devouring Dragon and the Thunder-Devouring Dragon, which merged into a single swift entity. The 'Electric' character tried desperately to escape, but given Lu Yuan’s current strength, his form flickered once, calculating the perfect interception point. With a boom, the 'Electric' character slammed directly into Lu Yuan's hand. The Devouring Dragon moved instantly, capturing it. Only then did the 'Electric' character calm down, remaining still obediently.

Another character secured. After obtaining the 'Electric' character, Lu Yuan tested it in combat and found his attack speed had increased by a tenth. Excellent. This was truly an astonishing achievement. Speed, at this level, is notoriously difficult to enhance, and Lu Yuan's speed was already off the charts, demonstrating the immense power of the 'Electric' character.

After absorbing the 'Electric' character, he continued with the rest.

After absorbing another thirty Primordial Characters, the Dao Character Incarnation reached fifty percent completion. A five-tenths Dao Character already possessed extraordinary majesty and could instantly obliterate all other characters.

Lu Yuan pressed on with the absorption. Next were a few characters worthy of note, such as the 'Illusion' character from the Fox Civilization, which Lu Yuan decided to integrate into his Floating Life as a Dream Sword Dao. There was also the 'Defense' character from the ancient Buddhist script, which could enhance defense. Of course, most of the characters were ones Lu Yuan had no need for, but he paid them no mind, absorbing them all without leaving a trace. Truthfully, what Lu Yuan most desired was the character for 'Devour.' Both the Nameless Devouring Art and the Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring Art could be driven by the character for 'Swallow,' and he suspected the 'Devour' character could also power them, potentially increasing their might. Sadly, he did not find the 'Devour' character.

After absorbing forty more Primordial Characters, the Dao Character Incarnation reached sixty percent completion. Upon reaching this level, the infinite Song of the Great Dao echoed across the sky.

After absorbing all the remaining Primordial Characters, Lu Yuan discovered his Dao Character Incarnation had spectacularly risen to seventy percent completion. A seventy-percent Dao Character Incarnation! At this point, Lu Yuan felt a resonance with the true Dao Character behind the Gate of Characters—that character containing countless Great Daos. He wondered what purpose that original Dao Character served.

Lu Yuan circulated his newly enhanced Dao Character Incarnation and temporarily discerned four key functions of the seventy-percent state.

First: Character Suppression. Henceforth, any character, regardless of its ability, would be suppressed. However, this offered little use to him, as he already possessed the Nameless Devouring Art.

Second: This Dao Character Incarnation reaching seventy percent actually boosted his Eternal Force. He was previously at 1.6 percent Eternal Force; now, with the Dao Character Incarnation at seventy percent, it had soared to 1.9 percent—a gain of 0.3 percent. While 0.3 percent might sound small, the Eternal Force was such a crucial element that even this modest increase was significant.

Third: All laws originate from the Dao, whether poison or formations. Lu Yuan now felt that the formation array before him was no longer so difficult to comprehend. In the future, Lu Yuan would have more experience in breaking talismans, dispelling poisons, and dismantling formations.

Fourth: Direct Combat Power Enhancement. It provided a substantial boost to his fighting capability. Previously, his ability to challenge those of higher cultivation relied solely on his techniques; now, he had the Dao Character as a dual foundation, which was far superior to relying on a single source.

These four functions were what he had primarily discovered for now.

Lu Yuan finished absorbing the more than one hundred characters. The onlookers nearby were already awestruck. Only a sparse few understood the Nameless Devouring Art, and among them, only about ten or twenty knew that Zu Long had created the technique in his time. The others were ignorant but fully understood the power of the Primordial Characters. Lu Yuan was terrifyingly formidable to have absorbed over a hundred of them like this. This was just one benefit; everyone was quite envious, knowing that Lu Yuan's strength would inevitably rise alongside his absorption of these hundred-plus Primordial Characters, reaping immense rewards.

Boom!

With that, the Unit Isolation Star Domain Plane Array shattered violently, scattering countless motes of light.

The Lord of the Law-Transformation Civilization roared, "The enemy's defense is broken! Pursue them! The higher your merit in this battle, the more fiefdoms you will receive afterward!" Every civilization was allotted resources via fiefdoms, and hearing promises of land spurred everyone into a frenzy, especially the Dou Gu Civilization, which fought even harder. If they didn't seize this moment, when would they? This pursuit would determine the ultimate outcome.

Lu Yuan, however, was not overly excited. He felt he had already gained the maximum benefit this battle could offer. Just considering the facts proved it: his Eternal Force was now 1.9 percent, his Dao Character Incarnation stood at seventy percent, his personal magic power spanned nine and a half epochs, and he had slain the Desolate Child and other top experts. Such immense contribution overshadowed everyone else's. He didn't need to scramble for more merit. As for grievances, he felt he had settled most of them, having eliminated most of the people he needed to kill. He decided to simply watch the show, leisurely sipping his wine.

And thus, the pursuit battle officially commenced. The Desolate Immortal Buddha Alliance was completely unprepared for the heavily fortified Unit Isolation Star Domain Plane Array to be broken so easily; their faces turned ashen. The leaders of the Desolate Immortal Buddha Alliance lamented bitterly, "Damn it, it's Lu Yuan again." Indeed, this pursuit phase was only possible because Lu Yuan could decipher the Primordial Characters; otherwise, it could never have happened. The Vice-Lord of the Fate Civilization realized that his entire failure in this war rested on Lu Yuan's shoulders. A decisive battle like this, where losing meant total defeat, had been lost.

The pursuit began. A pursuit, by definition, was no longer a balanced confrontation but essentially a one-sided slaughter.

At this juncture, the Law-Martial Alliance showed no restraint; dealing with them now meant securing their future. Moreover, Lu Yuan had settled his personal scores, but others had not.

For instance, under the command of the Vice-Lord of the Ice Civilization, the Ice Civilization caught up to the Fire Civilization. Already leaderless, the Fire Civilization quickly collapsed and perished under the Ice Civilization Vice-Lord's single strike that froze the void, alongside the attacks of the other Ice Civilization members. This marked the second of the thirty standard civilizations to vanish, the first being the Heavenly Principle Civilization.

The Night Emperor led the Night Civilization in pursuit of the Star Civilization. The Star Civilization members attempted various invisibility tactics, but they were facing the Night Civilization, masters of stealth. The Night Civilization naturally did not relent, unleashing a variety of pursuit methods. After chasing for a while, the Night Emperor felt a pang of loneliness, as his long-standing rivals, the Star Civilization, were destroyed, reducing the count of standard civilizations by another one.

The Qin Civilization overtook the Fox Civilization, resulting in the Fox Civilization's destruction in this engagement as well.

(Apologies that this update is a bit late; this battle is nearing its end.) !@#