The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization, being the junior martial brother of the Lord of the Grand Unity Civilization, naturally possessed his own bearing and aura.

With one finger pointed toward the heavens and the other toward the earth, none could stand against him between the firmament and the ground. His mere stance was as if he were the sole eternal being in the vast expanse of heaven and earth, everlasting and unyielding.

His opponent, Lu Yuan, appeared far too young and callow. He lacked any aura of eternal indestructibility, nor did he possess the majesty of pointing one finger to the heavens and the other to the earth. All he carried was a sky-piercing sword qi, but this qi was too immature—could it truly withstand a figure like the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization?

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization and Lu Yuan engaged in a one-on-one battle. The other six Lords of Civilization observed the contest.

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization was in no hurry. He gently rotated his weapon; it was a whisk with a thousand white filaments and a handle of emerald jade. Within this whisk resided a thousand kinds of Dao and ten thousand kinds of esoteric arts. His whisk was named the Great Dao Whisk—the Great Dao is in my hand, the whisk is in my heart, thus it is the Great Dao Whisk. This whisk held mastery over the Great Dao of Heavenly Secrets.

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization suddenly swung it toward Lu Yuan. His sweep of the whisk was akin to the Great Dao itself in motion. Such an attack inspired utter despair.

Especially since it contained the magical power accumulated over thirteen epochs. This power from thirteen epochs was no ordinary force; the power of the third level of Eternity contained too much essence of the Eternal Gate. Both the quantity and quality of this magical power were vastly superior, utterly beyond Lu Yuan's comparison. Unleashing his thirteen-epoch power, he could utterly annihilate Lu Yuan.

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization was not one for trickery. If he could dispatch his opponent with outright might, he would do so honorably, because the more straightforward the approach, the fewer tricks the opponent could employ. The moment he attacked, the very air seemed on the verge of solidifying, time threatened to freeze, and space itself was poised to congeal. The strike from the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization sealed everything away. Even the Great Dao Imprints floating in the sky were paralyzed.

At this moment, Lu Yuan drew his sword with fierce resolve. The sword left its sheath, trailing a clear, bright streak of light.

A mocking smile touched the face of the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization. Not bad; Lu Yuan is indeed competent to draw his sword under such immense pressure. But what does drawing a sword matter? You will still be defeated by my hand! The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization let out a long cry, and his offensive grew sharper.

At this instant, heaven and earth seemed to vanish entirely for a moment. Only that whisk and that sword continuously approached each other. The whisk shimmered with countless secret methods and the very aura of the Great Dao. The sword bore an untamed sharpness that refused to yield to anything. Both weapons contained infinite mysteries, and these boundless enigmas collided once more. For a time, it felt as though countless splendors had bloomed and faded across a thousand years, perfectly embodying the saying of flowers blooming and falling, falling and blooming, endlessly. With a deafening Bang!, the whisk recoiled slightly, but the sword retreated even further. Yet, despite the retreat, the momentum of the sword had not dissipated; the sword soul remained undying, the sword's trace unaltered, the sword god eternally present.

The illusions vanished. The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization looked at Lu Yuan: "Your magical power is not ten epochs; it should be twelve epochs." His eyes were filled with astonishment. Lu Yuan had only just arrived in the Eternal Star Domain; how could he possess high-tier divine artifacts to boost his strength? How could he already possess twelve epochs of power!

Lu Yuan shrugged. "I'm afraid it's already twelve epochs."

This was truly bizarre. How had it jumped to twelve epochs so suddenly? This outcome stunned many onlookers, who could not fathom the reason. Especially the Lord of the Net Civilization, who pondered inwardly, No, that can't be right. When he arrived, Lu Yuan knew nothing, not even the movement techniques of a Civilization Lord. Estimating his power based on his speed then, he should be at ten epochs. How did he suddenly jump to twelve? Those two levels represent a massive gap, considering these are the final ten levels on the path of cultivation. Jumping two levels like this is simply unbelievably heaven-defying.

Among the faction favoring persistence, the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization, the Lord of the Buddha Origin Civilization, and the Lord of the Limitless Civilization all wondered: Lu Yuan had only just entered the Eternal Star Domain, why was he already at the twelve-epoch level? To reach twelve epochs required exceedingly precious high-tier divine artifacts and a considerable number of Heavenly-grade spiritual veins. Where Lu Yuan acquired these, one could guess easily—it was the work of the Instant Faction. That is to say, the Instant Faction viewed Lu Yuan as an Eternal genius and was now investing heavily, intending to groom him into a major figure within the Eternal Star Domain. Clearly, the Lord of the Grandmist and the others had misjudged the situation.

While they were deep in thought, the Lord of the Needle Civilization continued embroidering, as if she were perpetually engaged in needlework.

A killing intent suddenly flared within the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization. The more the Instant Faction sought to nurture this Eternal genius, Lu Yuan, the more determined he was to destroy him. Otherwise, if Lu Yuan matured, he would pose an immense threat to the Persistent Faction. At that moment, the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization also received telepathic messages from the Lords of the Buddha Origin and Limitless. The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization nodded. "I understand."

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization fixed his gaze on Lu Yuan. "Twelve epochs, admirable. Unfortunately, even twelve epochs must bow down to defeat. Perhaps you do not understand the meaning of Eternal Force. But for someone like you, who just arrived from the outside world, raised only by the cultivation efforts of the Instant Faction to reach twelve epochs, you naturally wouldn't know what Eternal Force is. I shall use Eternal Force to crush you completely."

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization attacked again, raising that Heavenly Dao Whisk once more. However, a color now appeared on the whisk—a color that was both discernible and elusive, difficult to articulate, yet imbued with the faint aura of Eternity. Although subtle, the feeling of incorruptibility and indestructibility permeated the surroundings.

"Eternal Force!" the Lord of the Transformation Civilization exclaimed.

"Precisely, it is Eternal Force," the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization affirmed, showing a measure of smug satisfaction. "Lu Yuan, you likely have no concept of Eternal Force. Today, I shall teach you a lesson."

His faint Eternal Force began to thicken, inch by inch. Zero-point-one percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-two percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-four percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-seven percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-nine percent of Eternal Force! And it continued to rise! One-point-one percent of Eternal Force! One-point-three percent of Eternal Force! One-point-five percent of Eternal Force!

This! The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization suddenly unleashed one-point-five percent of Eternal Force, shocking those watching. One-point-five percent Eternal Force was a significant threshold, and he had actually achieved it. The Lord of the Transformation Civilization was startled; one-point-five percent Eternal Force—this would be difficult!

The Lord of the Net Civilization’s mouth twitched. The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization had actually mastered one-point-five percent Eternal Force. Now, the Lord of the Net Civilization had no confidence left in defeating him, and Lu Yuan was surely doomed.

The Lords of the Buddha Origin and Limitless inwardly conceded that the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization had concealed such a trump card; he truly could not be underestimated. This fellow, the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization, hid his depths exceptionally well, making him incredibly hard to deal with.

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization channeled his one-point-five percent Eternal Force and hurled it toward Lu Yuan. Possessing Eternal Force of such high quality bolstered his confidence immensely.

Lu Yuan looked at the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization. "Eternal Force, you say? Actually, I know it too."

Lu Yuan’s sword began to emit that same indiscernible, elusive quality, carrying the faint, immortal aura of the Eternal. This! This was Eternal Force. The six observing Lords of Civilization were all stunned, never imagining that Lu Yuan could also wield the Eternal Force.

The Lord of the Grandmist Civilization was also taken aback. How could Lu Yuan know such a secret technique as Eternal Force? However, in his heart, he paid it little heed. Even if Lu Yuan knew Eternal Force, it surely couldn't be as pure as his own; Lu Yuan was destined to be obliterated. He watched the Eternal Force adhering to Lu Yuan's sword gradually deepen from faint to dense.

Zero-point-one percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-two percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-five percent of Eternal Force! It actually surpassed zero-point-five percent—impressive, but likely the limit.

No, it was still increasing! Zero-point-seven percent of Eternal Force! Zero-point-nine percent of Eternal Force! One-point-one percent of Eternal Force! One-point-three percent of Eternal Force! It hadn't stopped; it was still growing. At this rate, it might catch up to the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization. One-point-five percent of Eternal Force! It caught up—it truly matched the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization. One-point-seven percent of Eternal Force! At this point, in terms of purity of Eternal Force, he had surpassed the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization, and most terrifyingly, it showed no sign of stopping. One-point-nine percent of Eternal Force! A full one-point-nine percent of Eternal Force!

This! For a thirteen-epoch being like the Lord of the Grandmist Civilization, achieving one-point-five percent Eternal Force was quite remarkable. For someone like Lu Yuan, who had just entered the Eternal Star Domain, the typical level would be zero-point-one or zero-point-two percent, certainly nothing higher. Of course, many newcomers wouldn't possess any Eternal Force initially, but after learning cultivation methods within the Eternal Star Domain, utilizing proximity to the Eternal Gate, and leveraging places of enlightenment, through eons of honing, they could cultivate some quantity of Eternal Force. However, breaking through the one-percent threshold was difficult, and breaking the one-point-five percent barrier was even harder; every minute increment in Eternal Force required immense effort.

Yet, what Lu Yuan displayed was a staggering one-point-nine percent Eternal Force, far exceeding all expectations. From every angle, it was impossible to comprehend how Lu Yuan possessed this level.

The world has fallen into chaos; everything is bizarre.

(Apologies for this late update, but two chapters will be guaranteed.)