Firmament Sword

”I… I didn’t mean it like that!” Little Fatty argued, sounding wronged. ”I just meant that the gap between us and Xu Luo is getting wider and wider. If we don’t work hard to catch up, we’ll be left completely in the dust!”

”Heh, then work hard,” Huangfu Chongzhi said lightly, giving Little Fatty a wry glance.

Little Fatty sighed to himself. ’We’ve been brothers for so many years,’ he thought. ’We know each other inside and out. They understand what I really meant. This explanation… it’s just to make myself feel a little better.’

In truth, watching Xu Luo’s current progress, Little Fatty felt a sliver of jealousy.

Although he had always been happy to follow Xu Luo’s lead, what he admired most was Xu Luo’s intellect. In terms of strength, Little Fatty had always felt quite superior.

But in just over a year, Xu Luo had not only far surpassed him to become the true strongest of the five brothers, but had also left them all in the dust, so far behind that they had no hope of catching up.

This psychological gap was, for a time, difficult to bear.

Especially for someone like Little Fatty, who seemed cheerful and carefree on the surface but was immensely proud to the core.

Their brotherly bond wouldn’t change because of this, but the deep-seated sense of disappointment was unavoidable.

Little Fatty felt this way, but weren’t the others nursing similar complexes? However, Xu Luo was too good to them, and the bond between the five brothers ran too deep. While each of them had his own pride, the five of them were a single unit.

In anyone’s eyes, the five of them were one and the same.

Even with Xu Luo being so outstanding and exceptional, whenever people talked about him, they would always mention ”those five brothers…” and so on.

”Enough. These pointless thoughts are just trash that will cloud our judgment and harm our brotherhood. From this day forward, no one is to speak of this again. The heights we reach are a matter of our own fortune; let’s not waste time blaming fate or others. I believe a bright future awaits us all.”

Huangfu Chongzhi said, looking at the now-silent group.

Just then, Mo Yun, who had been sitting quietly beside Xu Jie, let out a soft laugh. As everyone’s gaze fell upon her, her face turned a little red, but she looked at Huangfu Chongzhi and spoke earnestly. ”Chongzhi, I’ve been here for several months now, and I’ve seen things quite clearly. You men may not have even realized it yourselves, but deep down, you’ve already accepted Xu Luo’s position as leader. The problem is that for all these years, he was the one you protected. Now that there’s been such a disruptive shift, you feel a sense of loss and find it difficult to accept. These feelings are perfectly normal.”

”That’s true. It’s not that we can’t stand to see a brother improve or have better prospects, but this guy’s transformation… it’s just been too fast,” Xu Jie grumbled from the side.

”All of that is secondary. No matter what, he’s your brother. You’ve always been willing to trust your brother. You even confirmed his core leadership position on the Southern battlefield,” Mo Yun said softly. ”But just now, you were all kicked out by a cat that hangs around Xu Luo… heh, that is the real reason you’re all so uncomfortable!”

Huangfu Chongzhi was silent for a moment before letting out a wry laugh. He had to admit, Mo Yun had hit the nail on the head.

Before, no matter what, it was always an issue between the five of them. Even though he was the eldest, he too acknowledged Xu Luo’s role as their core leader. But this battle… first, they could only stand by and watch, completely useless. Second, this talking cat had suddenly appeared, calling itself Master Mao, its power so overwhelming it was terrifying. It acknowledged no one but Xu Luo! And shortly after Xu Luo woke up, it had directly told them to leave.

And to top it all off, Xu Luo had shown no sign of objecting or stopping it!

This had made the other brothers feel quite unsettled.

’So in the end, we’re not even as important as a cat?’

’His cat can help him fight. What can we do for him?’

’Maybe following him to his fief was a mistake in the first place?’

All of these thoughts were perfectly normal—it was only human nature. After all, they weren’t Saints, nor could they face every situation with perfect composure.

Even a gentle and calm Prince like Huangfu Chongzhi had his moments of anger and foul moods, let alone the others.

Mo Yun smiled and said, ”Actually, you’ve all gotten it wrong. First of all, while I don’t know what kind of Spirit Beast that cat is, I’m certain it’s not actually a cat. Its true form is definitely countless times larger than you can imagine! It’s a genuine High-tier Spirit Beast. And High-tier Spirit Beasts have intelligence no lower than humans. In their eyes, humans… are actually just lowly creatures.”

”What?” Little Fatty stared at Mo Yun in astonishment. ”Mo Yun, are you saying we’re just lowly creatures in the eyes of some High-tier Spirit Beasts?”

Even Xu Jie looked at Mo Yun with surprise.

Mo Yun smiled and said, ”When I was young, I also trained in a sect. My sect wasn’t particularly powerful, only considered third-rate among all the sects, but my master was very strong. She once told me something.”

A warm glint flashed in Mo Yun’s eyes as she reminisced, ”I was very young then, only eight or nine years old. I was often homesick, missing my parents. My master doted on me. Whenever I missed home, she would tell me stories. She called them stories, but they were all things she had personally experienced.”

”She once participated in a great competition between sects. That kind of competition, to put it simply, was held by the major sects to train their disciples. One year, when my master went to participate, she encountered the Sect Leader of a major sect whose strength was unfathomable. Following by that Sect Leader’s side was a Divine Bird that looked like a Phoenix.”

”A Phoenix… Divine Bird?” The group looked astonished.

Huangfu Chongzhi asked, ”Do Divine Birds like the Phoenix really exist?”

Mo Yun shook her head. ”Chongzhi, I don’t know either. But that Divine Bird by the Sect Leader’s side that looked like a Phoenix was actually a High-tier Spirit Beast, its power also unfathomable. An expert from another sect once teased the bird. Guess what happened?”

Everyone looked at Mo Yun.

Mo Yun said, ”The bird slapped the man viciously with its wing, and the blow made him cough up a torrent of blood. And do you know who that man was? A Tier Seven Sword Venerable!”

”Good heavens, what realm has that bird reached!” Little Fatty’s face was slack with shock.

Mo Yun said, ”Then, the Divine Bird spoke, warning the man that if he spouted any more nonsense, it would kill him!”

Huangfu Chongzhi and the others all sucked in a sharp breath. Through Mo Yun’s words, they were learning about what seemed like another world, one fundamentally different from the world they knew!

”That something like this could happen… it’s astounding. I never imagined the world was so much more… spectacular than we thought!” Xu Jie sighed.

Little Fatty was silent.

Sui Yan, however, had a look of yearning on his face. ’I wonder,’ he thought, ’if those sects have even more advanced Mechanical Skill?’

Mo Yun then continued, ”So, if you truly want to keep breaking through, if you want to keep pace with Xu Luo, you must re-evaluate your understanding of this world. Xu Jie, this brother of yours… he’s far from simple! The way I see it, his future accomplishments may not be any less than that major Sect Leader my master met all those years ago. And that cat by his side… in the future, it might not be any weaker than that Phoenix Divine Bird!”

Everyone fell silent. After a long while, Huangfu Chongzhi finally said softly, ”I understand. Thank you, Mo Yun.”

Mo Yun smiled and shook her head, saying, ”Actually, this is your good fortune. I’m just wondering to myself, how spectacular will Xu Luo’s future be?”

...

Xu Luo looked at Master Mao, his mouth twitching. ”Miaomiao, don’t you think you went a little too far? They’re my brothers, yet you drove them away so unceremoniously. They’re going to be upset.”

In front of Xu Luo, Miaomiao arched its back and stretched languidly. ”Upset about this? When you get even stronger in the future, won’t they be even more upset? You cunning brat. You’re plenty cunning when you’re with me, Master Mao, but you’re far too earnest with this pack of brothers!”

”Am I? When have I ever been cunning?” Xu Luo said with an innocent look.

”Hmph, Master Mao can’t be bothered to expose you. Master Mao just wants to tell you that you’ve already become very powerful, and you’re only going to get stronger. They’re your brothers, that’s true, but if you keep protecting them like this, it won’t do their own growth any good!” Master Mao said coldly. He then added, ”Take the battle from a few days ago. Was that group of yours really so weak they couldn’t even make a move? No, I don’t see it that way. You humans are all cunning. Even if your strength isn’t a match for your opponent, you can still harass them, can’t you? Wasn’t it through harassment that you created so many opportunities for me, Master Mao?”

”Their strength was just too far below. Going up there would have been suicide,” Xu Luo sighed. ”Do you think they have my kind of speed, able to dodge enemy attacks?”

Master Mao sneered, ”Don’t they claim they’d live and die with you? Since they aren’t even afraid of death, what’s wrong with sacrificing themselves a little?”

”Alright, Miaomiao, let’s not discuss this anymore. I believe they wouldn’t hesitate to give their lives for me,” Xu Luo said seriously. ”The way humans think is very different from you Spirit Beasts.”

”Fine, we’ll drop it. Let’s talk about something else.” Miaomiao did not pursue the topic, instead looking at Xu Luo. ”Brat, do you want to become even stronger?”

Xu Luo glanced at Master Mao. ”Do you have a method in mind?”