Firmament Sword

”Xu Luo, this mission is even more difficult than the last,” Instructor Zhou said, looking at him with a serious expression. ”Are you confident?”

Xu Luo nodded. ”Don’t worry, Instructor Zhou. We’ll be extremely careful and ensure the mission is completed!”

”Good. This battle concerns the next twenty years of peace. If you succeed this time, you will surely go down in history!” Instructor Zhou said, looking at Xu Luo with great satisfaction.

Although this great victory was something of a fluke, Instructor Zhou’s contribution was not insignificant. Most importantly, he was proud to have trained a general like this!

A seventeen-year-old general, a Senior Third-Grade Official!

Such an honor... while one couldn’t say it would never be surpassed, it was at the very least unprecedented!

And he was the one who had trained such an outstanding talent!

His only regret was Wei Ziting’s group. They had been a great disappointment. Not only had they failed to achieve a single shred of merit, but they had also been constantly trying to suppress Xu Luo. The entire group had even resorted to slander before the matter was even properly investigated...

This had infuriated Instructor Zhou, who sent Wei Ziting and his cronies straight to the front lines under Xu Zhongtian. Out of sight, out of mind.

”I just returned from seeing the Champion Marquis. This time, I will also be leading troops to help General Cao quell the internal rebellion, so I can’t offer you much support. You must all be careful,” Instructor Zhou said.

”Then I wish you success, Instructor!” Xu Luo said.

”And you as well!” Instructor Zhou nodded at Xu Luo, then turned and left.

...

”This time, we’re going deep into the territory of the Cao Kingdom to find a way to harass the Yan Army’s supply lines. General Yuwen and Instructor Zhou originally wanted to assign me a unit of soldiers, but I think too many people would just alert the enemy. So, I’ve decided that our Martial Soul Squad alone will be enough!”

Xu Luo looked at everyone and said, ”Of course, this is no ordinary matter. The ones escorting the Yan Army’s supplies will certainly be their elites, and there will be many of them. So, I don’t plan to engage them head-on. Instead, we’ll look for an opportunity to burn their provisions!”

As he spoke, Xu Luo looked at the others. ”Any thoughts?”

Li Hong frowned slightly. ”It’s a good idea, but pulling it off will be extremely difficult. Before our last battle, the Yan Army’s supply convoys might not have been so heavily guarded. But after what happened, they’re sure to be much more cautious. After all, they know there’s a force still active inside the Cao Kingdom that they have to be wary of.”

Huangfu Chongzhi added, ”During the last battle, many of the Yan Army’s generals had the strength of Great Sword Masters. Many of our comrades died at their hands. It’s impossible for their supply escort teams to not have experts of that caliber. We have to come up with a foolproof plan.”

”First, let’s use the intelligence General Cao provided to find the Yan Army’s supply routes. We’ll decide what to do after that,” Xu Luo concluded.

The Martial Soul Squad vanished without a trace into the vast Endless Forest Sea. Almost no one knew where this group of youths, fresh off a major victory, had gone.

Xu Luo’s relentless training during this recent period had finally begun to pay off.

「Late on the fourth night in the Endless Forest Sea.」

Xu Luo sat cross-legged in his tent, continuously circulating the Shadow Shaking Heart Method. He could feel a surging power filling the meridians throughout his body.

Xu Luo used the Shadow Shaking Heart Method to guide this power, relentlessly driving it toward his Dantian. A series of nearly inaudible popping sounds echoed from within his meridians.

Eventually, the sound reached his bones. All over his body, a series of cracks erupted like popping corn, growing louder and louder.

Finally, the surging power coursed through every meridian in his body before violently charging toward his Dantian!

This time, the Shaking Light Star Soul didn’t greedily absorb the energy. Instead, it allowed the force to slam into his Dantian.

RUMBLE!

In that instant, a monumental change occurred within Xu Luo’s body.

In that moment, all the blood in his body felt as if it were boiling, about to burst into flame.

Yet Xu Luo felt no discomfort. He only sensed the power continuously hammering his Dantian, as if something was about to shatter!

The True Essence in his Dantian grew and grew until the staggering quantity finally triggered a qualitative transformation. Xu Luo’s Dantian abruptly doubled in size!

A powerful aura instantly erupted from Xu Luo’s body.

It erupted outward, forming a faint True Essence Aura that enveloped his body!

Great Sword Master!

He had actually broken through from the realm of a Tier Two Sword Master to that of a Great Sword Master in a single leap, skipping an entire major realm!

From this moment on, Xu Luo had stepped into a whole new realm as a Martial Artist!

Releasing True Essence to form an aura!

This... was the unique hallmark of a Great Sword Master!

Phew!

Xu Luo let out a long breath. He had been waiting for this day for a very long time.

Upon reaching the Great Sword Master level, Xu Luo’s perception of the world became fundamentally different. Everything in his eyes grew clearer!

Before, his perception could only penetrate about three feet into the ground. But after his promotion to Great Sword Master, he could actually see things ten feet deep!

This fundamental change made Xu Luo incredibly excited.

At the critical moment of Xu Luo’s breakthrough, Master Mao, who had been sleeping to the side, cast an Energy Aura that completely enveloped the tent.

As a result, even though Huangfu Chongzhi and the others were camped only a stone’s throw away, they felt nothing out of the ordinary.

”Human, congratulations on finally graduating from the useless scrub phase and reaching an average level.” Master Mao’s venomous tongue was as sharp as ever. Seeing Xu Luo’s successful breakthrough, the creature immediately offered his ”blessing.”

It was just the kind of blessing that left one speechless.

In the world of human Martial Artists, the Great Sword Master Realm was already considered extremely powerful.

Perhaps within the great sects, there were many who surpassed the Great Sword Master Realm, but the world of the sects and the secular world were two completely different things!

In other words, now that Xu Luo had broken through to the Great Sword Master Realm, he was already considered a true powerhouse in the world!

”Heh heh.” Xu Luo chuckled, ignoring Miaomiao’s sarcasm. He was already used to the creature’s mouth.

Xu Luo had heard from Cao Tianyi that the true peerless geniuses of the great sects were incredibly formidable. Phoenix’s master, for example, had already reached the realm of a Tier Nine Great Sword Master at the age of sixteen. Even so, Xu Luo was still happy with his own progress.

’Those peerless geniuses might have reached Tier Nine Great Sword Master by sixteen, but they’d been cultivating for over a decade at least. Me, on the other hand... I did it in less than a year!’

Xu Luo’s eyes flashed as he thought to himself, ’If you gave those geniuses one year, could they reach the realm I’m at now?’

This wasn’t arrogance, nor did he have any need for it. This was true self-confidence!

At seventeen years old, reaching the Great Sword Master Realm in less than a year... in the eyes of others, such speed was truly monstrous!

”Hm? Why is a powerful aura rapidly approaching? Wait... it’s not just one... there are two? The aura of a Spirit Beast? They must have a death wish! Aaaaaah! What blind fool dares to trespass on Master Mao’s territory?” Miaomiao suddenly leaped to its feet, its two brilliant, jewel-like blue eyes shooting out beams of excitement.

Master Mao had been bored stiff lately. He’d finally gotten into a fight a few days ago and had even killed a human, but the credit had to go to Xu Luo. This had left Master Mao feeling quite disgruntled.

Now that they had finally left the army, Master Mao felt much more at ease. He had been hoping for a powerful enemy to invade or something, just so he could show off his skills. He never thought an opportunity would present itself so quickly.

”Holy shit, Boss... run! Goddammit, I pissed off a powerful Spirit Beast! Help me!” Ling Luoxi’s panicked voice drifted over from the distance, then quickly faded as he ran farther away.

”Holy shit, what’s happening?”

”What’s going on?”

”Didn’t Ling Luoxi go on night patrol?”

”Was that Luoxi’s voice just now?”

Everyone in the Martial Soul Squad was startled awake by the shouting. A moment later, Xu Luo’s voice carried from the distance, ”Stay put, everyone! I’ll go check it out!”

Xu Luo’s voice was clear at first, but by the time he finished speaking, it was already echoing from far away.

Huangfu Chongzhi and the others exchanged stunned glances.

”The Boss’s strength... it’s improved again?” Xiahou Xian, the martial arts fanatic of the group, looked dumbfounded, the corner of his mouth twitching. He mumbled, ”I never see him training that hard... Is this what they call a gap in talent?”

The others couldn’t help but nod in unison, deeply agreeing with Xiahou Xian’s sentiment.

’It really is... a huge gap.’

”Luoxi will be okay, won’t he? His voice sounded really panicked,” Li Hong said, his eyes filled with worry.

”It sounded like he provoked a Spirit Beast. How could he have been so careless?” Liang Ziyi said with a frown. ”Why don’t we go after them and see?”

”If it’s really a Spirit Beast, it would be useless even if all of us went. All we can do now is hope the Boss can bring Luoxi back,” Li Hong sighed.

...

Xu Luo pushed the Shaking Light Step to its absolute limit. He moved like a gust of wind through the forest; one could see the leaves and branches sway in his wake but couldn’t see his figure at all.

Ling Luoxi’s own movement technique was not to be underestimated; it was definitely among the top three in the Martial Soul Squad. Otherwise, he never would have been able to evade the Spirit Beast’s pursuit for so long.

But compared to the Shaking Light Step, Ling Luoxi’s technique was far too slow. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Xu Luo spotted a massive, ink-black figure frantically chasing Ling Luoxi.

The creature was over ten feet long. With every leap, it covered thirty to fifty feet, its speed like a bolt of lightning!

Ling Luoxi managed to dodge by a hair’s breadth several times. If the Spirit Beast’s claws had been able to reach just a foot or two farther, he would have been done for.

After all his recent experiences, Ling Luoxi had become quite adept at jungle survival. He constantly led the Spirit Beast in circles, never running in a straight line and specifically weaving around large, thick trees.

The Spirit Beast behind him, however, was utterly domineering. It simply smashed straight through whatever blocked its path.

Following behind, all Xu Luo could hear was a continuous series of CRACKS and SNAPS. Everywhere the black Spirit Beast passed, it left a trail of utter devastation!

”Luoxi, run this way!” Xu Luo shouted, seeing that Ling Luoxi was at the end of his rope.