Lu Yuan lightly flicked his sword.

"Then, Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization, only you remain. I shall send you on your way immediately."

The Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization was utterly shaken. Five hundred years ago, Lu Yuan was merely a figure from the Fourteenth Epoch. How could the returned Lu Yuan, five centuries later, be so utterly ruthless, slaying three with just five strikes?

But the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization was no easy target either. He roared in fury, "Lu Yuan, I will fight you to the death!"

Boom!

The attack from the Great Dao Halberd struck instantly. Within this assault from the Halberd, there was even a faint resonance of the Eternal Great Dao.

The halberd’s shadow was like the cosmos!

The halberd’s speed surpassed light speed!

The halberd cleaved through epochs!

This was the full-force strike unleashed by the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization, an Eighteenth Epoch entity.

Lu Yuan sighed softly. "What is the need? You know perfectly well this effort is futile." The sword light transformed into something like a gentle breeze, and this breeze-like sword light easily pierced into the attack radius of the Great Dao Halberd. The moment the character 'Break' manifested, Boom! Even with that hint of the Eternal Great Dao, the Great Dao Halberd was pierced through.

This was Break!

Even the opponent's weapon was instantly perforated.

"The Sixth Sword! Next is the Seventh Sword." Lu Yuan commanded faintly. The sword light shot forth like lightning, directly pursuing. The Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization summoned his defenses to block, but Break effortlessly overwhelmed his defenses. A single strike struck his shoulder, causing the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization to sustain a severe injury immediately. Roughly twenty percent of his Desolate Dao Minor World was annihilated.

The Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization realized he couldn't fight this way. The opponent's techniques were too profound, impossible to decipher, making correct evasion impossible. Therefore, his only recourse was defense, but the moment he defended, it was instantly broken. This battle was fundamentally unwinnable. The Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization immediately initiated an escape. Yet, the moment he instinctively fled, he sensed something was wrong; Lu Yuan’s speed far surpassed his own.

Lu Yuan smiled faintly. If the opponent had chosen to stand and endure, he might have withstood a few more blows. But now, he was fleeing.

As the saying goes, when an army is defeated, it collapses like a mountain.

Fleeing now only meant a swifter death.

Lu Yuan shifted his sword steps and unleashed a strike.

This sword strike slid smoothly into the viscera of the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization. Instantly, about sixty percent of his Desolate Dao Civilization's Minor World was destroyed.

The Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization finally recognized his grave error. He tried to defend again, but he had already been unable to block Lu Yuan's attacks; now, with such heavy wounds, blocking Lu Yuan's assault was utterly impossible.

"The Ninth Sword." Lu Yuan moved neither hastily nor slowly, walking as if strolling through a garden, effortlessly thrusting a sword into the body of the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization.

One strike was enough to decide life and death.

The sword plunged into the heart of the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization. He gasped, feeling his life force rapidly draining away from within his body. "I am not reconciled! I am truly not reconciled! Why, why must I die here? Lu Yuan, though you need not gloat, you will certainly perish at the hands of the Lord of the Ancient Desolation and Eternity." After uttering this sentence, his eyes closed, and he died.

He certainly held absolute confidence that Lu Yuan would die.

Because since time immemorial, across countless epochs, no matter how powerful the genius or how prominent the figure, none could overcome an Eternal Lord.

Lu Yuan scoffed, ignoring him completely.

Shrugging his shoulders, he showed no concern.

It took a total of nine swords to kill the opponent. After the nine strikes, the sword remained unstained by blood. Lu Yuan sheathed his Nourishing Immortal Sword.

The remains of the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization held unexpected treasures. Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up when he examined them, for there lay two High-Heavenly Tier divine artifacts. These two artifacts were not enough to advance the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization from the Eighteenth Epoch to the Nineteenth, but Lu Yuan himself already stood at the pinnacle of the Eighteenth Epoch. Obtaining these two High-Heavenly Tier artifacts would allow him to ascend from the Eighteenth Epoch to the Nineteenth.

Good, this trip had proven profitable.

Lu Yuan casually collected the rest of the items; most were useless to him.

Lu Yuan looked at the petrified members of the Inquiry Palace sect. By now, all the Civilization Realm cultivators among them had been slain by Lu Yuan. Only those at the World Realm remained. Lu Yuan tested his Righteous Qi, instantly executing all those who carried a heavy stench of blood—one of the functions of his Righteous Qi attribute. Then, he addressed the two survivors: "You two carry a much lighter blood scent and killed fewer people. For today, I will spare your lives. Carry a message back to that glowing bald head in the Ancient Desolation: tell him Lu Yuan has returned, and he should clean his scalp and wait for death."

How arrogant!

Lu Yuan was actually issuing such a direct challenge to the Lord of the Ancient Desolation and Eternity!

This was blatant face-slapping!

However, these two had barely clung to their lives, so they had nothing to say but immediate assent. After dispatching these people, Lu Yuan casually released the individuals from the Civilization of the Zither and the Civilization of Confucianism. Then, Lu Yuan vanished. Meanwhile, others on the planet were drawing closer to the Inquiry Palace. Normally, they feared the Desolate Guard Army, but seeing how many people had died there, with so few survivors left, they finally dared to approach.

"Heavens, is this Lu Yuan's handiwork?"

"Lu Yuan killed so many Deputy Civilization Lords and Civilization Lords."

"Wasn't Lu Yuan only in the Fourteenth Epoch five hundred years ago? How can he so easily kill those from the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Epochs now?"

"Exactly, and he even took down the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization, an Eighteenth Epoch entity."

"Lu Yuan is magnificent when he strikes! His first appearance after five centuries completely annihilated the once imposing Desolate Guard Army. From this day forward, the Desolate Guard Army should become a legend."

"Hahaha, we won't have to look over our shoulders anymore." Those who had previously been too terrified to speak at the mention of the Desolate Guard Army were now congratulating each other on this joyous news.

And this news was spreading with lightning speed towards the Central Celestial Dynasty, towards the entire world.

It spread to the Ancient Desolation Dynasty and also to the Rebel Faction. Now, the entire heaven and earth knew of Lu Yuan's return. Furthermore, thanks to numerous intelligence organizations, they knew that Lu Yuan had slain four Civilization Lords, including the Eighteenth Epoch Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization, using a mere nine swords in total.

Too powerful! Lu Yuan’s resurgence this time was simply too overwhelmingly strong.

It was an incomparably potent display!

Those living under the oppression of the Ancient Desolation Dynasty and the iron fist of the Desolate Guard Army were practically ready to set off firecrackers to celebrate; this was truly a grand occasion. On the side of the Rebel Faction, after enduring suppression for over four hundred years and nearing collapse due to constant attacks, receiving such electrifying news instantly galvanized everyone. The Rebel Faction re-emerged, and rebels everywhere chanted, "The Desolation approaches Lu!" Indeed, the Desolation approached Lu! Hahahaha, this was the best news they had received in four hundred years.

At this moment, in a branch of the Rebel Faction, a beautiful young matron in white palace attire smiled faintly. "Husband, you have finally appeared. I knew you hadn't died." Yun Xiuxue’s power had reached the level of the Second Epoch, forcibly built up by the Lord of the Ancient Law Civilization using vast resources. As the Rebel Faction constantly fled everywhere, the Lord of the Ancient Law Civilization, worried for his daughter’s safety, spared no expense in backing her development.

In the same Rebel Faction branch, the Lord of the Ancient Law Civilization stroked his beard and smiled. He had finally appeared.

In another Rebel Faction branch, a man playing the erhu smiled faintly. This erhu player possessed the power of the Tenth Epoch. Originally, Zhou Qingxuan in this lifetime should have found it difficult to break through to the Civilization Lord level, but amidst the chaotic times, he managed to forcibly break through to the Tenth Epoch during a fierce battle.

In another void space, a middle-aged man dressed in white as snow gazed at the starry sky. "Lu Yuan, have you finally appeared? Your strength after returning is truly impressive." This was none other than Yan Cangtian, whose current power was already unfathomable, far surpassing Zhou Qingxuan of the Tenth Epoch.

In yet another Rebel Faction branch, a middle-aged man whose bearing was like a dragon and whose aura was like a dragon stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the earth. "A fellow Eternal Genius, Lu Yuan, have you shown yourself?"

In yet another Rebel Faction branch, the remnants of the Civilization of Medicine, the Deputy Lord of the Civilization of Medicine stroked his white beard. "Lu Yuan, thank goodness you have appeared, or we almost couldn't hold on. However, facing the Eternal Lord, what means do you have?"

In another Rebel Faction branch, a silver-haired little girl sat in a apricot blossom tree, lightly swinging her feet. "Oh, Lu Yuan has appeared, and his strength is still this great. Even I, now at the Nineteenth Epoch, cannot match him." Chang'e had received the final legacy transmission from the Lord of the Instant Civilization, reaching the Nineteenth Epoch.

The silver-haired, exquisitely beautiful little girl said to the radiant young woman beside her, "Zhong Ling, you can rest easy now. Lu Yuan hasn't died; he has even returned."

The radiant, red-clad young woman replied, "It’s just that... just that, Lu Yuan has killed the Lord of the Desolate Dao Civilization and destroyed the Desolate Guard Army the moment he returned. If the Lord of Eternity retaliates madly, I fear he will be in great trouble."

In yet another Rebel Faction branch, a graceful yet spirited young woman in cyan listened to the news and smiled faintly. Little Qing of the Yue Maiden sect’s power was also growing stronger; nurtured by the Lord of the Ancient Phoenix Civilization, she had forcibly reached the First Epoch.

Countless rebels hurried to share the good news, spreading the prophecy of "The Desolation approaches Lu" everywhere.

Meanwhile, within the Celestial Palace of Eternity.

The Lord of the Ancient Desolation and Eternity, the foremost figure across myriad epochs, roared coldly, "I don't care how many difficulties there are; you must find Lu Yuan as quickly as possible. Simultaneously, promote Lu Yuan to the top spot on the wanted list. Wherever the Ancient Desolation Dynasty holds sway, upon sighting Lu Yuan, report it immediately. Everything else can wait; slaying Lu Yuan is the absolute priority."

The Eternal Lord's voice descended into the Nine Heavens, spreading out.

As soon as the command was given, billions upon billions of living beings obeyed.

This was the current Lord of the Ancient Desolation and Eternity.

"Yes." Countless people of the Ancient Desolation Dynasty mobilized, spies of every kind searching everywhere for Lu Yuan.

(First update delivered... RQ