Firmament Sword

A middle-aged man in a long gray robe appeared out of nowhere. He walked over to Wei Ziting’s lackey, who was lying on the ground unable to get up, and squatted down to examine him.

Then, he frowned and said, ”This arm is ruined. Even if it’s set, he’ll never be able to practice martial arts again. A shame for such a promising young talent...”

As he spoke, the man stood up and gave Xu Luo an icy glare. ”So young, yet so vicious and cruel. To strike such a heavy blow... I have no idea what the Dean was thinking, letting a menace like you in.”

”Cruel? A menace?” Xu Luo’s eyebrow twitched. The way the middle-aged man was staring at him made him extremely uncomfortable.

It felt like being targeted by a venomous snake. The man was clearly powerful, but his words ignited Xu Luo’s fury.

”Doesn’t True Martial Academy permit fights between students? On my very first day, someone told me that this is a place where fists do the talking. And from what I’ve seen, that’s exactly what True Martial Academy is. Perhaps you... see things differently?”

”Fists do the talking? Heh heh... I like that! In that case, how about you take a punch from me!” The middle-aged man sneered, then shot toward Xu Luo with incredible speed, raised his arm, and threw a punch.

The punch seemed unremarkable, but Xu Luo felt an immense pressure radiating from it.

The man appeared to be full of openings, but Xu Luo knew in his heart that this was just a display of supreme confidence born from overwhelming power!

Brute force overcomes all skills!

He was planning to overwhelm him with sheer power!

Xu Luo was furious now. He didn’t even know this man. He’d crippled Wei Ziting’s lackey’s arm because the guy had tried to kill him with a single punch!

Yet this man showed up, accused him, and was now attacking him. To be so brazenly biased and still act so self-righteous... he was a special kind of freak.

Xu Luo roared in his mind, ’Severing the Primordial Spirit!’

He unleashed the third kill of the Breaking Army Seven Kills!

BANG!

Their fists collided, releasing a powerful wave of energy that displaced the very air around them, creating a visible shockwave as they slammed into each other.

Xu Luo felt the qi and blood in his organs churn violently. A metallic taste rose in his throat, but he forced it back down. His body, however, was uncontrollably sent staggering back more than a dozen steps before he could regain his footing.

He then stared coldly at his opponent.

The middle-aged man was also startled. He had used sixty percent of his power in that punch, yet he... hadn’t managed to cripple the boy’s arm. It seemed he had only sustained some internal injuries.

”This... This is impossible!” the middle-aged man stammered, staring at Xu Luo in shock.

The Seventh Princess rushed to Xu Luo’s side, supporting him with a concerned expression. She then looked up, her gaze icy as she stared at the man. ”Instructor Wei... you’ve gone too far! As an instructor of the academy, how dare you attack a student!”

”Seventh Princess, watch yourself. Within this academy, you are nothing more than an ordinary student!”

The middle-aged man looked calmly at the Seventh Princess and said, ”This student is vicious. He crippled the arm of an outstanding student with a single blow. As an instructor, is it not my duty to teach him a small lesson?”

”Heh heh, Instructor Wei, what an impressive display of authority. Getting involved in a grudge between students and still managing to sound so righteous. Truly admirable!” A beautiful young woman slowly emerged from the crowd, shot Instructor Wei a cold glance, and walked over to the Seventh Princess.

”Teacher...” Huangfu Shishi’s face lit up when she saw the woman, and she called out affectionately.

The few young women with Huangfu Shishi also came forward and bowed respectfully.

The beautiful woman nodded, then looked at Xu Luo and said, ”Not bad, kid. The rumors were wrong. They almost made me think you were just for show. You’re already quite outstanding to be able to take a blow from Wei Yun at sixty percent power!”

Xu Luo gave a wry smile and nodded. In truth, he was in too much pain to speak. His opponent was simply too powerful!

His strength far exceeded Xu Luo’s expectations. He was definitely beyond the level of an ordinary Great Sword Master!

Just then, the middle-aged man, Wei Yun, glanced at the beautiful woman and said with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes, ”What’s this? Has Instructor Ning taken a liking to this kid?”

”Don’t try to provoke me, Wei Yun. You’re a member of the Wei Family, but you’re also an instructor at True Martial Academy. I hope you remember your duty! Getting involved in your family’s grudges to attack a mere child... Have you no shame?” As the beautiful woman spoke, she grabbed Xu Luo’s wrist and channeled a stream of True Essence into him.

Only then did Xu Luo feel his body lighten, and the mouthful of blood he had been forcefully suppressing finally burst from his lips.

He first bowed to Instructor Ning. ”This student thanks Teacher Ning!”

Then, Xu Luo spat a mouthful of bloody saliva in Wei Yun’s direction and said, ”Wei Yun. Instructor Wei? So you’re from the Wei Family. Heh. This student has learned his lesson. I will be sure to repay today’s punch in the future.”

Wei Yun snorted and said coldly, ”I’ll be waiting.”

With that, he turned and left without so much as a glance at Wei Ziting.

At this, Instructor Ning looked at Xu Luo with some concern. ”He’s not like the other members of the Wei Family. He probably just couldn’t stand how heavy-handed you were and acted without asking about the circumstances. You don’t need to stoop to his level.”

Instructor Ning didn’t say it outright, but her words were a clear warning to Xu Luo: Instructor Wei was not only powerful but also had a complicated background!

”Teacher Ning, thank you for your help today!” Xu Luo didn’t respond to her warning. He knew exactly how powerful Wei Yun’s attack had been. If it weren’t for the Shaking Light Star Soul protecting him from within, his fate would have been no better than that of Wei Ziting’s follower.

Instructor Ning sighed softly, glanced at Xu Luo, and said, ”It’s best not to bring your family feuds into the academy. This is a place for cultivating talent for the nation, a pure place. Ah... forget it. Just be careful.”

With that, she also turned and left.

Wei Ziting’s lip twitched. Only today had he truly seen Xu Luo’s strength. He thought to himself, ’I can’t believe that piece of trash has gotten so strong without anyone noticing. I definitely couldn’t have taken that strike from Uncle Nine at sixty percent power, yet he only got off with minor injuries...’

Lost in thought, Wei Ziting gave Xu Luo a deep look, then had his men carry away the injured lackey and departed.

The young women with the Seventh Princess chirped their goodbyes, not wanting to intrude on the pair’s reunion. Before leaving, they even giggled and teased Xu Luo a bit.

These were all noble young ladies from the great clans of the Imperial Capital. They had temperaments that matched well with Huangfu Shishi’s, and despite not knowing each other for long, they had already become friends.

The surrounding crowd of students gradually dispersed. Huangfu Shishi looked at Xu Luo with concern. ”Are you okay?”

”I’m fine.” Xu Luo shook his head, slowly walked over to a bench in the shade of a tree, and sat down. He silently circulated the Shadow Shaking Heart Method for one full cycle, repairing the damage to his meridians, and then let out a long breath.

”This Wei Yun... he’s Wei Feng’s younger brother?” Xu Luo asked quietly.

The Seventh Princess hummed in affirmation and said, ”Wei Yun is Prime Minister Wei Feng’s ninth and youngest brother, a full-blooded brother. Over a decade ago, he was originally in the military’s intelligence department. I heard he held a very high position...”

”What?” Xu Luo was so startled he almost cried out.

”What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” the Seventh Princess asked, looking at Xu Luo with concern.

”I’m fine, I’m fine. Please, continue.” Suppressing his shock, Xu Luo swept his Divine Sense over the area. After sensing nothing unusual, he spoke again in a low voice.

”Mm, then for some unknown reason, he suddenly left the Military Department. He entered True Martial Academy and became an instructor. He’s usually very low-key and barely interacts with anyone. He’s never even shown any favoritism to the disciples of the Wei Family...”

”Qiqi, does this Wei Yun have any special talents? For example... in literary or scholarly pursuits?” Xu Luo asked softly, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

”Special talents? In scholarly pursuits? I... I’ve never heard anything about that. I only know that he’s incredibly strong. I think he was already an eighth-rank Great Sword Master several years ago. So for you to take his blow without being seriously injured is really amazing!” said Huangfu Shishi.

”Mm. Qiqi, don’t mention this to anyone, understand?” Xu Luo said.

Huangfu Shishi nodded and said softly, ”Don’t worry. I never tell anyone about your affairs.”

”Mm, that’s good,” Xu Luo replied, his mind heavy with thoughts.

After parting with Huangfu Shishi, Xu Luo immediately returned to his private dormitory. He checked it over and, finding no signs of entry, finally relaxed and headed for the secret training chamber in the basement.

When he opened the door, Xu Luo stood there, utterly dumbfounded, his mouth twitching violently.

Before him... was a huge pile of all sorts of treasures. The basement’s lighting was normally dim, but now the entire room was brilliantly illuminated.

The dazzling array of precious treasures nearly blinded Xu Luo.

A small, palm-sized yellow cat was sprawled atop this mountain of treasures, drooling in its sleep.

”You... you... What have you done? Where... did you get all these treasures?” Xu Luo stammered, gaping at Uncle Meow Meow.

”Hmph, it’s just a few little snacks. Is there any need to be so surprised? And you call yourself a human from a noble family. You can’t keep your composure at all. How could you possibly fathom the abilities of Master Mao?”

Uncle Meow Meow opened its eyes, stretched lazily, and then looked at Xu Luo. ”Eh? You’re injured? HAHAHA, you totally deserve it! Someone actually managed to hurt you! Mmm, Uncle Meow Meow is feeling very, very pleased right now, AHAHAHA!”

Xu Luo’s mouth twitched a few times. He ignored Miaomiao’s taunts and walked over to the pile of treasures to inspect it closely.

”Spirit Stones, Spirit Medicines, Demon Cores... and so many different elemental gems! I’m telling you, Master Mao, which great clan did you rob?”

Even with Xu Luo’s background, the sight of this hoard was enough to make his heart pound. It looked like the cat had made off with the entire secret vault of some major family.

”With Uncle Meow Meow’s skills, getting a few snacks is a piece of cake. Not like you, you idiot. Master Mao is gone for a little while and you get yourself beaten up. If Master Mao was gone for a whole day, wouldn’t you get yourself killed? When that happens, Master Mao won’t have any more Star Power! Who’s going to compensate me then, HUH?!”