Firmament Sword

Xu Luo walked with a casual air, deliberately avoiding the main roads and picking deserted alleys instead.

Because that feeling of being watched, of being stalked from the shadows, had returned!

Xu Luo wanted to know who it was. Who could have been so patient, watching him in secret for so many days?

The sky gradually darkened. The main roads of the Imperial Capital lit up, but the alleys Xu Luo chose were mostly old, historic ones. The walls of a few wealthy estates lined the lanes, with no residential entrances on the sides facing the alley.

The alley grew dim. Soon, there were no pedestrians at all.

Xu Luo was on high alert, every nerve taut. His steps seemed random, but they secretly followed the pattern of the Big Dipper, each foot landing on a stellar position.

If someone were to attack him from behind, Xu Luo was confident he could evade it in an instant.

As the world before him grew darker, the sense of unease in Xu Luo’s heart became more and more pronounced.

This alley was long and narrow—perfect for an ambush. Xu Luo was now starting to second-guess whether luring his invisible enemy here had been the right choice.

VWOOM!

A low, sharp sound suddenly tore through the air.

Xu Luo’s body sprang like a leopard pouncing on its prey. He leaped up, and the sword Lan in his hand erupted in a brilliant, blinding blue light. He thrust backward, stabbing viciously at the shadow lunging for him.

SHHIIING!

The magnificent Sword Qi sliced through the air, creating a sharp whistling sound.

A strike Xu Luo had been so confident in had hit nothing but air!

THWACK!

A muffled impact.

Xu Luo felt an immense force slam into his back, sending him flying more than ten meters.

His blood roiled in his chest, and his organs felt as if they’d been scrambled. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.

But Xu Luo didn’t stop. Using the Shaking Light Step, his figure flashed as he leaped into the air, trying to vault out of the alley.

BAM!

A powerful force struck him from behind once more.

It brutally slapped him out of the air. Xu Luo crashed hard onto the ground, feeling as if every bone in his body had shattered.

The pain was excruciating!

But Xu Luo gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out.

He struggled, trying to get up, but he couldn’t summon even a shred of strength.

’I’m done for!’

It was the only thought in Xu Luo’s mind. And what a thorough defeat it was. He hadn’t even seen his opponent’s face before being so utterly crushed!

He hadn’t even had a chance to fight back!

Even the immense power provided by his Shaking Light Star Soul was completely useless!

”Run! Go on, run for this Master! Hm? Why’d you stop? Aaaaaah, keep running, kid! You’re fast. This Master had high hopes for you!”

A voice, somewhat childish yet feigning a pompous, elderly tone, spoke from above him.

Xu Luo struggled, trying to turn over to see who his opponent was, but after a long effort, he found he couldn’t move at all.

He was too heavily injured. It seemed his opponent had intentionally spared him. Otherwise, he would have already been dead.

”Aaaah, can’t turn over, can you? Want this Master to help? You’re dumber than those turtles! Even when those turtles get flipped over, they can still flip themselves back with a bit of effort. But not you. Tell me, are you even worse than a turtle?”

”Fuck...” Xu Luo finally couldn’t hold back a curse. He gritted his teeth. ”Who the hell are you? If you’re going to kill me, just do it. What’s the point of humiliating me?”

”Hehehehe, you feel humiliated? But this Master doesn’t think it’s enough! What’s a little punishment like this? Aaaaaah, how can it compare to this Master’s losses? You damn... bastard! Aaaaaaaah!”

Then, Xu Luo felt a furry paw roughly shove his body and flip him over.

His entire body screamed in pain. The creature showed him no mercy, intentionally flipping him with great force.

But at last, Xu Luo could see the... enemy... that had left him so helpless.

It was a cat.

’I actually got beaten this badly... by a cat? My god...’ Xu Luo groaned weakly. His world turned gray.

Crouched before him was a large yellow cat, about two feet tall and three feet long. It sat there, a pair of aquamarine eyes glowing in the darkness as it stared coldly at him.

”Cat? Aaaaaaaah, you bastard! Damn you! What’s wrong with your eyes? You dare call this Master a cat? Have you ever seen such a wise and mighty cat? Have you ever seen such an agile cat? Have you ever seen... this Master... such a cool... such a handsome... such a dashing... cat? Aaaaaaaaaah!”

The cat shot up as if its tail had been stepped on. WHOOSH! It jumped to its hind legs and began flailing its front paws like a boxer, shrieking madly.

Despite the danger he was in, his life no longer in his own hands, Xu Luo still felt an urge to laugh as he watched the crazed creature.

’Seriously, where does this thing get all the energy for these dramatic screams? Aaaaaaah... isn’t it exhausting?’

After it had jumped around enough, the big yellow cat sat down in front of Xu Luo again. Its cold eyes stared at him as it said, ”This Master is thinking about how to punish you... Just killing you so easily won’t be enough to quell the hatred this Master feels for you! Ah! Ah! Aaaaaaaah!”

”I say... can you at least let me know why I’m dying? What did I do to offend you?” Xu Luo asked with a wry smile. ’This thing in front of me obviously can’t be a real cat. It just looks a lot like one.’

’A real cat wouldn’t have the power to swat me out of the air while I’m using the Shaking Light Step. A real cat couldn’t possibly speak like this thing does. And its intelligence seems to be quite high!’

’So, this thing is clearly a Spirit Beast!’

’And it’s likely a High-tier Spirit Beast!’

’In that case... there’s only one possibility.’

As Xu Luo thought this, a bitter smile touched his lips. The image he had seen that day flashed through his mind.

The scene of that yellow shadow slaughtering High-tier Spirit Beasts in the sky...

For a while after he returned from the Black Forest, he had been on edge.

But as time went on, the Tier Nine Spirit Beast that guarded the Seven-Colored Light never came looking for him. Xu Luo had assumed it couldn’t find him and had gradually begun to forget about the matter.

He never expected that after so many days, the creature would actually find him. The unease he’d felt for the past few days must have been caused by this big yellow cat, which was very likely a Tier Nine Spirit Beast.

He just didn’t know why it hadn’t made a move inside True Martial Academy, waiting until he came out to attack.

”You don’t know who this Master is? Aaaaaah, humans really are stupid! You don’t even recognize your Master Li! But you should at least remember the Seven-Colored Light you stole... in the Black Forest, right? You bastard! That was your Master Li’s treasure! A treasure your Master Li guarded for many, many years! Aaaaaaaah! You damn... you stole Master Li’s treasure and thought you could just walk away? How could Master Li possibly let you go?! Aaaaaaaah!”

The big yellow cat cursed Xu Luo irascibly, pacing back and forth with its back arched, baring its teeth at him threateningly from time to time.

”So you’re the renowned Tier Nine Spirit Beast, the Heaven-Swallowing Fox! Forgive my disrespect, but I’ve been truly wronged! When I saw that Seven-Colored Light, you weren’t there...”

”Shut up! Master Li may not have been there, but Master Li’s scent was! Scent! Aaaaaah, do you understand what scent is? Master Li’s scent was there, and you still dared to steal it... Aaaaaah!”

”Er... how could a human’s nose be as sensitive as yours? When have you ever seen a human track prey by sniffing the air?” Xu Luo added internally: ’That’s what dogs do!’

”That does seem to make some sense, but... you still stole Master Li’s Seven-Colored Light. If you return it to Master Li, and Master Li is in a good mood, I might just grant you a clean corpse! Otherwise, Master Li will chew you up, bite by bite by bite by bite, aaaaaaah, and then turn you into Master Li’s droppings, piece by piece by piece by piece! Aaaaaaaah!”

”That... Seven-Colored Light... um...” As Xu Luo spoke, his voice grew weaker and softer, so faint that even the Heaven-Swallowing Fox could barely hear him.

Worried about the whereabouts of the Seven-Colored Light and feeling that the human before it was no longer a threat, the big yellow cat leaned its head close to Xu Luo’s mouth. ”Hey, you damn human, speak up! Your Master Li can’t hear you!”

”I said... the Seven-Colored Light... GO TO HELL!” Xu Luo suddenly let out a low roar. The Shaking Light Star Soul in his Dantian erupted with an incomparably dazzling radiance. A vast, ocean-like power flooded his entire body and, in the next instant, was completely unleashed!

The dark, deserted alley was instantly illuminated by a light brighter than the sun!

”Shaking... Light... Burst!”

It was a destructive force, erupting suddenly with the unstoppable might of a falling star!

With Xu Luo’s roar, the big yellow cat’s body was thrown high into the air like a small boat struck by a giant wave. It flailed its limbs in the sky, let out a piercing shriek, and in an instant, became a small black dot that vanished into the night sky.

RUMBLE!

The walls on either side of the alley could not withstand such immense power and collapsed with a deafening roar!

Watching the green brick walls topple down to crush him, a flash of despair crossed Xu Luo’s eyes. He closed them and murmured, ”Father, Mother... your son can no longer fulfill his duty to you...”

WHOOSH!

A yellow shadow, faster than lightning, descended from the sky. The moment before the collapsing walls were about to bury Xu Luo, it snatched his body and vanished into the night sky like a shooting star.

BOOM! BOOM!

The tall, heavy brick walls nearly filled the entire alley, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

A moment later, no fewer than several dozen figures shot toward the location like bolts of lightning.

Unfortunately, all they saw was a scene of rubble and the dumbfounded servants from the wealthy households on either side.

Not a single other trace could be found!

When they questioned the servants, who had arrived at almost the same time, they couldn’t get a single answer. The servants themselves were even more bewildered: ’Although these walls were old, how could they have collapsed without some external force?’

These servants, having just rushed out, even cast suspicious glances at the experts who had come to investigate.

The experts could only leave, filled with endless frustration and confusion, leaving the City Defense Army that arrived later to handle the aftermath.

「...」