Firmament Sword

The corners of Xu Luo’s and the others’ mouths twitched violently. They turned away, pretending not to have heard Mo Yun.

Xu Jie stood stunned, staring at his wife. A complex mix of emotions played across his face as his mouth twitched violently. Finally, as if marching to his death, he looked at Mo Yun with grim determination and said, ”I would rather die than fight you!”

Pfft…

Xu Luo finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

Xu Jie rolled his eyes and sneered, ”What the hell are you laughing at, Xu Luo? If you’re so tough, why don’t you fight your sister-in-law?”

Xu Luo froze. ’Second Brother can’t possibly be unaware of my strength, can he?’ he thought. ’Even a Sword Venerable can’t get the upper hand against me. Second Sister-in-Law is powerful, but she hasn’t broken through to the Sword Venerable Realm yet. He wants her to fight me… What is he trying to pull?’

But then he saw Xu Jie waggling his eyebrows suggestively and finally understood. ’So, you can’t beat her, you’ve lost face, and now you want me to get even for you? This is between you and your wife, why are you trying to drag me into it?!’

At that moment, it dawned on Mo Yun as well. After all this time together, how could she possibly be unaware of Xu Luo’s true strength?

She sneered, ”Well now, you’ve gotten bold, haven’t you? You want your brother to beat me black and blue to get back at me? Why go through all that trouble? All you have to do is say, ’Come here, woman, let me give you a couple of slaps.’ As if I would dare resist!”

Xu Jie chuckled sheepishly. ”My dear wife, you’ve misunderstood. I’m an upstanding man. How could I ever have such a dirty thought?”

”Bah! Who are you calling your wife!” Mo Yun rolled her eyes. ”You really were quite upstanding in the past. But it seems you’ve been hanging around them for too long. You’ve picked up bad habits from them, especially from Little Fatty!”

Little Fatty, who was locked in a fierce battle with Sui Yan, heard this and rolled his eyes so hard he almost passed out from indignation. ”Hey, Second Sister-in-Law, you can’t just sling mud like that!” he yelled. ”How am I not upstanding? I... I...”

The moment his focus wavered, Sui Yan pressed his advantage. He was already much stronger than Little Fatty to begin with, and now he had him completely suppressed.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Sui Yan landed several punches in a row on Little Fatty, each one a solid, meaty thud. He wasn’t holding back at all.

The sight made even Mo Yun’s heart skip a beat. She shot a strange look at Huangfu Chongzhi and Xu Luo, who were watching with great relish. ’Men are so different,’ she thought. ’If women fought like this, they’d be mortal enemies afterward. But these guys… it seems the harder they fight, the more they enjoy it…’

’Just wait until I’m stronger than my wife,’ Xu Jie gritted his teeth, silently swearing an oath. ’I’ll definitely teach her a good lesson!’

People really do change as they grow. Looking back on your life, it’s often hard to believe the person you were a few, or even ten, years ago was really you.

”Why are you smiling like such a creep? Thinking dirty thoughts again?” Mo Yun shot Xu Jie a glare and said with a cold smile, ”You’re not allowed in my room tonight!”

Xu Jie was dumbfounded. ’So I get pushed around during the day, and I can’t even get my revenge at night?’ he thought miserably.

Meanwhile, the fight between Little Fatty and Sui Yan had reached a fever pitch. Although there was a minor tier separating them, Little Fatty’s strength was nothing to scoff at. Since neither was using a weapon and they were relying on basic hand-to-hand combat, it was difficult to see a clear winner emerging anytime soon.

Little Fatty’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, but Sui Yan wasn’t much better off; he was sporting two black eyes.

However, their recent period of desperate training had clearly paid off. The strength of both fighters had grown significantly.

This was especially true for Little Fatty. Pissed off about being the weakest of the group, he had been desperate to catch up. In just a few months, he had forced his way up from a Tier Five Junior Sword Master to Tier Five Peak. At the True Martial Academy, that was the kind of advancement speed reserved for genius students!

But if Little Fatty’s progress was fast, Sui Yan’s was by no means slow!

Although Sui Yan preferred Mechanical Skill, he wasn’t about to let his Fourth Brother surpass him. Thus, the two of them were constantly competing, driving each other’s cultivation.

Now, Little Fatty had reached the peak of a Tier Five Sword Master, while Sui Yan, in turn, had reached Tier Six Peak.

Both of them just needed a catalyst. It was only a matter of who would break through first!

”Hah! Taste my Tyrant Fist!”

With a great shout, Little Fatty leaped into the air. His massive fist, trailing a powerful gust of wind, ruthlessly flew toward Sui Yan’s face.

Sui Yan, however, remained perfectly calm, completely unfazed by his Fourth Brother’s tyrannical attack. In fact, a hint of mockery touched his lips as he crossed his arms to block the incoming fist.

THUD!

With a dull thud, Little Fatty’s punch, strong enough to shatter a solid wooden door, slammed into Sui Yan’s arms. It felt like hitting solid rock.

Little Fatty grimaced. ”I don’t believe this!” he roared.

With that, he unleashed a flurry of blows. The wind from his fists whistled, and his legs weren’t idle either, constantly lashing out in attempts to sneak in a low kick.

The scene was rather comical. Little Fatty’s body moved like a ball, rolling and tumbling around Sui Yan with blinding speed.

Sui Yan, on the other hand, was like a hedgehog. Though not as fast, his defense was impenetrable, leaving Little Fatty with no opening to exploit.

In the middle of the fight, Little Fatty suddenly let out a wild, arrogant laugh as a powerful aura exploded from his body. ”HAHAHA! Sui Xiaoshi, this brother has finally broken through! Scared yet? Tremble before me! Why don’t you hurry up and admit defeat? Otherwise, I’ll beat your face into a swollen mess!”

”What’s there to be so smug about? So what if you broke through? You think you’re the only one who can?” For the first time in a long while, Sui Yan spoke more than a few words. Then, an even more powerful aura erupted from his body.

At this critical moment, Sui Yan had broken through as well—from a Tier Six Sword Master to Tier Seven!

”Holy shit! This… this… this is fucking bullshit! There’s no justice in this world!” Little Fatty looked like he was about to cough up blood, his eyes bulging in fury. ”How could this happen? By what right do you get to break through right now too?”

POW!

Sui Yan sent Little Fatty flying backward with a single punch. He lay on the ground, not moving for a long moment. Just as Sui Yan began to worry he’d hit him too hard and started to walk over, Little Fatty kipped up. With a face that looked like a swollen-up pig’s head, he rushed over to Huangfu Chongzhi. ”Eldest Brother… I’m begging you! Give me a few of your little pills! Let me advance to Great Sword Master so I can beat the crap out of this damn stinky, hard-headed Stone!”

Sui Yan, standing off to the side, rolled his eyes and sneered, ”Idiot.”

Huangfu Chongzhi gave Little Fatty a helpless look. ”If your Third Brother agrees, I’ll refine them for you.”

Little Fatty turned to Xu Luo with a pathetic look. ”Third Brother…”

Xu Luo waved his hand dismissively. ”Don’t even think about it. Not unless you want to be stuck at the Great Sword Master realm for the rest of your life.”

”So what if I get stuck! I can’t stand being bullied by this stinky Stone every day! Master Fatty is not pleased!” Little Fatty finally exploded. He couldn’t stand having someone younger like Sui Yan lording his power over him.

”Really? Are you serious?” Xu Luo looked at Little Fatty, his eyes narrowed as he asked coolly.

”Sigh... I... I...” Little Fatty desperately wanted to say, ’Third Brother... Third Master, I’m serious! Give me the pills! I want to wreck this stinky Stone!’ But after stammering for a long moment, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Joking aside, the bond between the brothers was incredibly strong. If it weren’t, they wouldn’t have all voluntarily followed Xu Luo here when he was demoted.

Xu Luo had never explicitly stated his ambitions, but as his brother, Little Fatty knew one thing for sure: his Third Brother was not the kind of person to be content with simply being a secular Clan Leader.

Especially when almost everyone else in their Third Brother’s circle had joined a sect—how could he be any different?

That meant their future accomplishments couldn’t possibly stop at the Great Sword Master level. Judging by Xu Luo’s demeanor, not even becoming a Sword Venerable was his ultimate goal!

In a situation like this, with the five brothers striving together toward a higher goal, how could he willingly be the one left at the very bottom? Though Little Fatty was all jokes and laughter on the surface, at his core, he was an incredibly proud person.

After a long hesitation, Little Fatty finally shook his head with a grimace. ”Fine, if I can’t use them, I won’t,” he said with a sigh of resignation. ”I refuse to believe I can’t catch up to you, you stinky Stone! Fifth Brother, you just wait! One of these days, this brother is going to pin you down and give you the thrashing of a lifetime!”

To his surprise, Sui Yan just smirked. ”Sorry, I’m not interested in men.”

Little Fatty flew into a rage. ”Of course not, you idiot! Master Fatty isn’t interested in you either! Master Fatty wants to BEAT you! BEAT YOU! Got it?”

”Then come and try,” Sui Yan said.

Mo Yun covered her mouth, trying to hide her laughter, while Huangfu Chongzhi and the others laughed out loud.

Little Fatty rolled his eyes and said dejectedly, ”Just you wait. One day, Master Fatty will turn the tables!”

Once they had had their fun, the brothers gathered. Xu Luo’s voice turned serious. ”You all heard what General Su said. My thinking is, rather than wait for those people from Da Han to invade, we should take the initiative and strike first. It will be a perfect opportunity to test just how much we’ve improved these last few months!”

The moment she heard the word ”fight,” Mo Yun’s eyes lit up. She looked at Xu Luo expectantly and declared, ”I’ll be the Vanguard General!”

The corner of Xu Jie’s mouth twitched. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut.

What could he do? He was no match for his wife. There was no way he could snatch the position of Vanguard General from her.