Firmament Sword

Xu Luo had just entered True Martial Academy and hadn’t gone far when a group of people approached him. It was none other than Wei Ziting and his gang of followers.

At this moment, Wei Ziting had lost all of his former arrogance and elegance. The moment he saw Xu Luo, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he glared at him with deadly intensity.

Xu Luo naturally understood why Wei Ziting had lost his composure.

Wei Ziting’s mother, the great lady of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, had committed suicide. It was rumored that she’d had an affair with a household servant, and after being fiercely scolded by Wei Feng, she felt she had lost so much face she could no longer bear to live, leading to her suicide.

But such matters were typically private affairs within great, noble families, and rarely would they be exposed to the public.

There were far filthier and more wicked things happening in noble houses, yet few of them ever circulated among the common folk.

However, the Wei Family’s situation was different. It had been exposed by an outsider!

The four large, blood-dripping words on Madam Wei’s bedroom wall: ”The adulteress must die!”

The story was now spreading like wildfire throughout the Imperial Capital, recounted with such vivid and specific detail it was as if people had witnessed it themselves.

So, even though Madam Wei had committed suicide, the impact of the incident was paradoxically growing even greater.

If she hadn’t died, things might not have become so serious. Her death, conversely, served to confirm the crime of adultery!

”If you weren’t ashamed, why would you kill yourself?” This was the first thought on almost everyone’s mind.

And Wei Ziting, who had watched his mother die right before his eyes, was deeply traumatized. He swore to tear the intruders limb from limb. ’If they hadn’t broken into our home, how would this have been exposed? Mother wouldn’t have died!’

No matter how flawed a mother might be, to her child, she is still the person closest to him in this world.

Therefore, even though he had long known that his mother was having an affair with a servant because his father neglected her, Wei Ziting still pretended to know nothing. In front of his mother, he could indeed be considered a filial son.

However, what Wei Ziting never expected was that his father, the current Prime Minister Wei Feng, who had gone to court to see the emperor in a towering rage, returned with a pallid, defeated expression. He gave an order in a hoarse voice: ”This matter... no one is to pursue it any further!”

What Wei Ziting found even more unbearable was that the funeral for his mother—the proper wife of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, a First-Grade Imperial Decree Lady—was utterly shabby!

The Wei Family didn’t even notify any friends or relatives, set up no memorial hall, and didn’t invite any eminent monks to perform rites.

With only a barely decent coffin, they buried Madam Wei on a desolate mountain over a hundred li away from the Wei family’s ancestral tomb.

Not only could she not enter the ancestral tomb, but any considerations of feng shui were completely out of the question.

For this, Wei Ziting, who had never dared to talk back to his father, tearfully and loudly questioned him that day: Why? Why be so cruel? Why treat his mother this way?

The expressionless Wei Feng answered Wei Ziting with a slap, telling him one simple fact: in this family, it wasn’t his place to speak!

Wei Ziting was filled with bitter hatred. He hated the culprits who had driven his mother to her death, and at the same time, he hated his own father!

No matter what, his mother was a young lady from a great clan, publicly courted by Wei Feng back in the day and brought home through the main gates in a grand eight-bearer sedan chair!

Yet after her death, she didn’t even get a grand funeral, and worse, she was denied the right to be buried in the ancestral tomb!

’Even if Mother’s family has declined, this... this is just too much!’

Not only that, but even for a grudge of this magnitude, his father—a high-ranking court official among the Nine Ministers—had actually just swallowed it!

’How the fuck could he tolerate this? How could he possibly let it go?’

On the day he bid his mother farewell, after everyone else had left, Wei Ziting wailed and made a vow: no matter what, he would find the culprits who caused his mother’s death, kill them with his own hands, and appease his mother’s spirit in heaven!

This young noble, once reckless, arrogant, and insolent, had finally matured a great deal after suffering such a major blow.

For this matter, Wei Ziting directly pointed the finger at the National Guardian General’s Mansion, the Xu Family!

Wei Ziting vaguely knew something about the incident from over a decade ago—the military defeat at Wansong Town that had caused the old General Xu Dingsheng to resign his post and nearly ruined Xu Ji’s reputation.

It was precisely because of the defeat at Wansong Town that the Military Merit Group, which had been regaining power over the past few decades due to instability on the borders, was completely overwhelmed by the declining Civil Servant Group.

The Civil Servant Group won a decisive victory, and the Wei Family leveraged this incident to rise directly to power!

One could say that the root of the current balance of power in the court lay in the ’Wansong Town defeat’ from over ten years ago.

If not for the Xu Family’s immense prestige within the military, that severe military defeat could have been enough to plunge Xu Ji into a state of eternal damnation!

Even if it didn’t manage to inflict grievous harm on the Xu Family, the entire Military Merit Faction was suppressed, and Xu Ji was burdened with a stain on his reputation that he could never erase.

The Xu Family must have had their suspicions about that incident long ago. Whether it was the old General Xu Dingsheng who resigned his post back then, or the current Grand General Xu Ji, they certainly held many doubts about the Civil Servant Group and the Wei Family.

But unfortunately, they had no evidence!

For the powerful, evidence isn’t needed for many things in this world; suspicion alone is enough.

But when it’s the powerful against the powerful, evidence... is still useful.

With no evidence, the Xu Family could only swallow their anger. Even if it festered into an internal wound, they couldn’t take any retaliatory action against the Civil Servant Group.

More than ten years had passed since that incident, and many of the original participants had already retired from the circle of power.

But Wei Ziting believed the Xu Family... would not forget this grudge.

’If it were him, he would never forget either!’

Following that was his attempt to have Xu Luo hunted down and killed. A plan he thought was foolproof had unexpectedly failed.

And then the words Xu Luo had whispered in his ear that day had truly frightened him.

Even after so much time, every time Wei Ziting recalled it, Xu Luo’s expression from that moment would surface in his mind.

Cold, brimming with killing intent—he absolutely wasn’t joking!

And not long after Xu Luo had said those words to him, the Wei Family suffered a great calamity!

He’d die before he believed this matter had nothing to do with the Xu Family!

”I heard you were seriously injured not long ago and nearly died? But looking at you now, all lively and jumping, you seem to be doing just fine, don’t you?” Wei Ziting stared deadly at Xu Luo, the hatred in his eyes impossible to conceal, and spoke in a sinister tone.

”Oh? Has Young Master Wei learned to care about people now? Heh heh, not bad. Such a good boy!” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow and said with a beaming smile.

Then he brushed past Wei Ziting and walked on.

”Xu Luo, don’t get cocky too soon! I’ll definitely make you pay!” Wei Ziting hissed at Xu Luo through clenched teeth, his voice a low threat.

Hearing this, Xu Luo stopped. A scornful smile touched the corner of his lips as he said coolly, ”Young Master Wei, I’ll say the same to you.”

”How dare you speak to Young Master Wei like that? You’re courting death!” one of the followers, a Tier One Sword Master, roared at Xu Luo. ”Apologize at once!”

Xu Luo glanced at the follower as if he were an idiot and said flatly, ”Wei Ziting, control your dog. Otherwise, I don’t mind killing another one for you!”

”This is True Martial Academy! I’m going to teach you a lesson today!” This follower of Wei Ziting’s was tall and powerfully built, with outstanding sword skills. He had never believed Xu Luo was that strong. Even though Xu Luo had once sent the ”Little Speed King,” who was also a Tier One Sword Master, flying with a single kick, he remained unimpressed.

”The Little Speed King? Heh, he just relied on his speed. Without that advantage, he... couldn’t even take one of my strikes!” This was something Wei Ziting’s follower had once publicly declared.

Wei Ziting didn’t say anything to stop him. He had wanted to kill Xu Luo for a long time, and now that he also blamed Xu Luo for his mother’s suicide, his hatred was compounded.

Just then, a cold reprimand came from a distance: ”Who dares to cause trouble for Xu Luo? I won’t let them off!”

The Seventh Princess, accompanied by a few pretty girls, walked over from afar. Her gaze toward Xu Luo was filled with longing and, faintly, a hint of worry.

Wei Ziting laughed out loud at this and said, ”Princess, this... is the academy. And in the academy... fighting is not forbidden.”

Although he still harbored some feelings for the Seventh Princess, Wei Ziting’s heart was now filled more with hatred. Seeing the way she looked at Xu Luo, in particular, made him feel as if his heart was being gnawed by ten million ants.

”Fighting isn’t forbidden in the academy, but unprovoked brawling is not allowed!” one of the girls with the Seventh Princess said coldly.

”Heh, unprovoked? He insulted my boss, so I’m going to teach him a lesson. Is that... reason enough?” Wei Ziting’s follower sneered. ”And you, what right do you have to interfere? Is the Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl your husband or something?”

”You...” The girl next to the Seventh Princess blushed and was rendered speechless with anger.

”What did you call me?” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow, looking at Wei Ziting’s tall, brawny follower and asked coolly.

”Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl! Isn’t that your name? Everyone calls you that!” Wei Ziting’s follower looked at Xu Luo with a defiant smirk. ”What, are you angry? Then how about we have a little spar?”

”Since you’re so insistent on getting your ass kicked, well then, I’ll grant your wish...” As Xu Luo spoke, his figure suddenly blurred into motion!

Wei Ziting’s follower had been provoking Xu Luo, waiting for this exact moment. He swung a massive fist, instantly channeling all the True Essence in his body into his arm, and smashed it viciously toward Xu Luo’s face!

”Ah! Be careful!” several of the girls with the Seventh Princess cried out in alarm.

The Seventh Princess also looked nervous. Although she had faith in Xu Luo, the man before them was no nobody at True Martial Academy—even the Little Speed King was no match for him!

Facing the incoming fist, Xu Luo didn’t dodge. Executing the Shaking Light Step, his body flickered, and he surged forward.

He raised his arm and threw a punch of his own!

’Broken Tendons and Bones!’ Xu Luo roared in his heart!

BANG!

A dull thud echoed.

An immense and unparalleled wave of True Essence Power surged out from Xu Luo’s arm, concentrated in his fist, and brutally poured into his opponent’s arm.

CRACK!

Immediately, the sound of shattering bone was accompanied by a blood-curdling scream from Wei Ziting’s follower.

His huge body was thrown into the air like a kite with a snapped string.

He crashed heavily onto the ground several meters away. The arm that had met Xu Luo’s fist hung limply at his side, completely deformed!

With a single punch, Xu Luo had utterly crippled his arm!

The power of the First Kill of Breaking Army Seven Kills was just that tyrannical!

The wind from Xu Luo’s punch stung Wei Ziting’s face. At that same moment, his expression turned incredibly ugly.

The surroundings fell silent. Everyone’s gaze on Xu Luo was filled with utter shock!