The Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization roared, intending to tear Lu Yuan to shreds to avenge his lost son.

Sons could be many, but beloved sons were few. Furthermore, for the past five hundred years, the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization had ranked within the top five of the entire Ancient Desolate Dynasty and the top five under heaven, fostering a personality that demanded obedience: prosper with me, perish against me. Even Lu Yuan, a figure steeped in legend, who had killed his son, must be annihilated.

This was him: the leader of the Desolate Guard Army, the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization.

The Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization shouted fiercely, his killing intent soaring; he had decided to act personally.

“Facing a wanted criminal like Lu Yuan, ranked second on the bounty list, there’s no need for courtesy, nor is a one-on-one necessary. This is the capture maneuver of the Desolate Guard Army, representing their enforcement of the law.” Beside the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization stood another Lord of Civilization, known as the Lord of Punishment Civilization. He commanded all instruments of torture under heaven and was the third highest-ranking figure in the Desolate Guard Army; where his ultimate punishment descended, all things were destroyed.

Punishment!

Punishment confines all sentient beings!

This was the Lord of Punishment Civilization.

He looked at Lu Yuan, devoid of any killing intent.

It was simply that his form of punishment had already determined that this wanted criminal, Lu Yuan, would be brought to justice.

The Lord of Punishment Civilization wielded the magic power of the Fifteenth Epoch. He did not believe Lu Yuan could escape his torturous restraints; it was fundamentally simple. Although Lu Yuan was a legendary figure, his highest achievement five centuries ago was merely slaying those of the Fourteenth Epoch. The Lord of Punishment Civilization, however, was of the Fifteenth Epoch. Even if Lu Yuan’s strength had improved further, so what? They had numerous experts on their side; a confrontation of many against one guaranteed victory.

“Right, why be polite to Lu Yuan?” spoke a youth whose voice seemed to encompass the heavens—this was the Lord of Heaven Civilization, who had previously clashed with Lu Yuan near the Gate of Eternity, suffering two defeats. Having been routed by Lu Yuan twice back then was the greatest humiliation of the Lord of Heaven Civilization’s life. Although he had submitted to the Eternal Lord of Ancient Desolation these past five hundred years, acting arrogantly and receiving the Eternal Lord’s aid to ascend to the Fifteenth Epoch, failing to defeat or kill Lu Yuan remained his life’s greatest regret. Now, Lu Yuan had finally appeared, and the Lord of Heaven Civilization was brimming with confidence, intending to utterly destroy Lu Yuan here.

If Lu Yuan were not killed, he swore he would not be human.

And beside the Lord of Heaven Civilization stood the Lord of Earth Civilization.

This Lord of Earth Civilization had once belonged to the faction opposed to immortality and had also fought Lu Yuan, falling into a disadvantage. Yet, now he was confidently set on eradicating Lu Yuan, since Lu Yuan’s power five hundred years ago was only that of the Fourteenth Epoch, and they possessed a master like the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization. Therefore, he too was confident in killing Lu Yuan.

At this very moment.

The Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization of the Eighteenth Epoch, the Lord of Punishment Civilization of the Fifteenth Epoch, the Lord of Heaven Civilization of the Fifteenth Epoch, and the Lord of Earth Civilization of the Fourteenth Epoch—the four Lords of Civilization—all joined forces to close in and crush Lu Yuan.

Four against one. This was decidedly unfair.

But fairness had never existed in the first place.

The Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization unleashed his Great Dao Halberd, which commanded the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, bearing the limits of seventy-nine moves as it slammed heavily toward Lu Yuan. Originally, he possessed the limit of forty-nine moves, but the Eternal Lord’s boundless might had directly augmented him by thirty limits of moves.

“Lu Yuan, you might not know yet that the reason you could always suppress the Desolate Path was the primordial character ‘Suppress’ (). But now, the primordial character ‘Suppress’ is useless. Lord Eternal Lord, with his supreme power, seized the true body of the ‘Suppress’ character from within the Gate of Characters, integrating the true body of ‘Suppress’ into our Ancient Desolate realm. From now on, our Ancient Desolate realm will no longer be suppressed. It was a pity that the true body of the ‘Dao’ character escaped that battle; otherwise, the true body of ‘Dao’ would have been captured too.” Infiltrating the Gate of Characters to seize the true bodies of primordial characters—such a feat had never been heard of in previous epochs; it was utterly unbelievable. Yet, the Eternal Lord of Ancient Desolation had managed it through sheer force.

This was boundless, magnificent power!

“Moreover, the Eternal Lord also bestowed thirty limits of moves upon each of us, allowing us to hold the absolute advantage in fights of the same level. Of course, against your one hundred and forty-one limits, we still suffer a slight disadvantage, but it is absolutely impossible for you to use this to defeat us by another minor realm.” The Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization declared. This was indeed the case: facing someone with seventy-odd move limits while possessing one hundred and forty-one move limits allowed for victory, but achieving victory across another minor realm was utterly impossible.

Simultaneously, the long halberd of the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization swung straight down.

Boom!

The might of the Eighteenth Epoch was simply terrifying.

The moment the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization struck, he established the upper hand, immediately showcasing his three major advantages.

The Lord of Punishment Civilization also raised his hand and struck with his weapon. His weapon was neither a saber, a sword, a halberd, nor a spear; it was a chain—a chain seemingly drawn from the deepest parts of heaven and earth, carrying a full seventy-five variations of move limits as it assaulted Lu Yuan. Should his chain make contact, one would be instantly bound and captured; it was terrifyingly potent.

Moreover, a character for ‘Punishment’ () manifested above his head, causing Lu Yuan’s speed to slow down considerably.

The Lord of Heaven Civilization also unleashed his attack. His attack showed little difference from five hundred years prior, but his Eternal Force had risen to a full three-and-a-half tenths, up from just two-tenths. Three-and-a-half tenths is vastly superior to two-tenths. For the Lord of Heaven Civilization to improve this much through his own efforts over five hundred years was impossible; however, with the Eternal Lord present, anything was possible. This was another reason for the Lord of Heaven Civilization’s immense confidence.

Currently, the Ancient Desolate Dynasty, besides the Eternal Lord presiding, boasted quite capable masters. In terms of move limits, they had each increased by thirty; the Vice-Lords of Civilization had each increased by ten. Regarding Eternal Force, most had seen a direct increase of over one-tenth. Under these circumstances, the situation for the anti-Desolate rebels was becoming increasingly difficult.

The Lord of Earth Civilization launched his attack at the same time. His power as a Fourteenth Epoch combatant was the smallest, but the true might of the Fourteenth Epoch was not insignificant either.

Four great experts completely surrounded the single figure of Lu Yuan.

This is truly troublesome!

Surrounded by the four Lords of Civilization, Lu Yuan secretly let out a breath. In truth, the most troublesome aspect was the intensity of their Eternal Force—two of them possessed three-tenths or four-tenths, especially the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization with five-tenths Eternal Force. The pressure was immense. Lu Yuan still possessed only two-tenths of Eternal Force, and he had long realized he could no longer refine more. The refinement of Eternal Force required the Gate of Eternity, which was currently within the body of the Eternal Lord of Ancient Desolation. Therefore, the inability to refine it was perfectly normal; in terms of magic power quality, Lu Yuan was at a disadvantage.

This was a fact, an unfortunate reality.

This was the first time since his debut that Lu Yuan’s magic power quality was inferior to his opponents'.

But would this stop Lu Yuan? Facing the coordinated assault of the four Lords of Civilization, Lu Yuan’s fingers gently rested on his sword hilt.

Draw the sword. Sheathe the blade.

Although he had slain many before, this was Lu Yuan’s first time drawing his sword—no, not just the first time now, but the first active move in five hundred years.

The moment he acted, the world gasped in shock.

So many move limits, so many limits carrying boundless might, descended suddenly.

However, the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization was unconcerned. Everyone knew Lu Yuan possessed one hundred and forty-one move limits. Wait, no, this was not merely one hundred and forty-one move limits. It was one hundred and fifty-two. No, one hundred and seventy-seven. No, two hundred.

Still wrong!

Lu Yuan’s initial sword strike was incomparably stunning; it actually possessed more than two hundred move limits.

No, no, it wasn't just those—it was two hundred and twenty-two move limits.

How could there be so many move limits?

No, no, it wasn't just those; it was two hundred and fifty-two move limits.

Lu Yuan offered a faint smile: “You actually believed I only possessed one hundred and forty-one move limits? How unfortunate, you are gravely mistaken.” Lu Yuan inherently possessed two hundred and twenty-two move limits. In the Ancient Sword Ancestor’s Tomb, an additional thirty move limits were added; this was the maximum extra limit the Gate of Eternity could grant. It was true the Lord of the Ancient Desolate Civilization obtained the Gate of Eternity, but the seniors of the Sword Ancient lineage had also shattered the Gate of Eternity in the past. Lu Yuan knew some secrets of the Gate of Eternity within the Ancient Sword Ancestor’s Tomb. With his very first strike, Lu Yuan unleashed two hundred and fifty-two move limits instantly.

Compared to Lu Yuan’s two hundred and fifty-two move limits, the sixty or seventy move limits of the four Lords, including the Lord of the Desolate Path Civilization, seemed utterly meager, almost laughable. Just moments ago, they were boasting about their superior move limits compared to other Lords of Civilization, but now facing Lu Yuan, they felt their numbers were extremely small.

The disparity between them was truly vast.

Lu Yuan struck his first sword, just the first strike, embodying two hundred and fifty-two move limits, yet he did not fall into a disadvantage against the four masters.

Lu Yuan lightly blew across the sword’s edge: “It has been five hundred years. My first move in five hundred years must be spectacular. You four Lords of Civilization, how about this: I wager none of you will survive ten moves under my hand.”

What Lu Yuan blew away was not blood, but snow.

The vicissitudes of five hundred years passed in a flash.

The currents of five hundred years flowed like a song of change.

But all the chaotic turmoil was about to end, for he had appeared.

The sword light was pure and clear, reflecting Lu Yuan himself upon its blade.

Beyond that, there were no others.

Lu Yuan hadn't taken the four opponents seriously at all, because, in his current estimation, they were far too weak.

(First update delivered.)