Firmament Sword

Guo Ying and Xu Su left the back mountain of the Stony Sect, still reeling from the shock. Her face filled with astonishment, she looked at Xu Su and asked, ”Who on earth saved us?”

Xu Su glanced at Guo Ying. Deep down, he wanted to trust this kind, daring woman, but given her background... Xu Su wasn’t sure if he should tell her the truth.

Guo Ying might have been young, but she was exceptionally perceptive. Seeing his hesitation, she smiled faintly and said softly, ”So you already know who saved you. Perhaps... it’s inconvenient for you to say who it is? That’s alright. You don’t have to tell me.”

”That’s not what I meant...” Xu Su felt his explanation sounded feeble.

”Hehe...” Guo Ying’s eyes crinkled into smiling crescents as she looked at Xu Su. ”Next... are you going to tell me you have a fiancée?”

”Er...” Xu Su smiled wryly at the perceptive woman. ’I’m called the Wise General, yet I can’t seem to hide a single thought from her.’

”I knew, actually. I knew from the moment you first rejected me. But... I still really like you. And... as long as you don’t reject me too harshly, I’ll compete with her!” Guo Ying smiled at Xu Su. ”I heard your marriage was arranged by your families? That girl might not be willing to be a sacrifice for an alliance, is she?”

”Things between us... are good,” Xu Su said sullenly, not daring to look at Guo Ying’s expression.

”Are they, really?” A faint trace of disappointment flashed in Guo Ying’s eyes before vanishing.

She looked at Xu Su. ”Even so, I still won’t give up.” Then, with a bright smile, she said, ”But let’s not talk about this right now. I think we should leave this place first.”

Xu Su nodded and looked up at the sky. He didn’t know if his younger brother was still there, but a wave of warmth spread through his heart.

’My little brother... he’s finally grown up,’ Xu Su thought with a swell of emotion.

Soon, they arrived at the living quarters for the Stony Sect’s Outer Disciples. The faint, lingering scent of blood in the air left them both shaken.

Guo Ying gasped. ”Whoever this was, their methods are ruthless! To think they cleaned out all these Outer Disciples before coming to save you!”

With a cold snort, Guo Ying added, ”Good riddance! The Stony Sect is rotten to the core, inside and out! Every one of these Outer Disciples deserved to die. It’s just a pity about those poor women they abducted from the mortal world...”

Just as she spoke, a figure darted past a nearby corner.

Xu Su and Guo Ying both noticed it at the same time. ’Did one of the Stony Sect disciples manage to survive?’

”Come out!” Guo Ying shouted coldly.

The corner remained silent. Not a sound could be heard.

Guo Ying sneered. ”Did you really think you could escape our notice just by hiding in a corner? How can a sect disciple be so naive!”

”I... I’m not a sect disciple...” a timid voice called out. A young woman who looked to be eighteen or nineteen, and quite beautiful, emerged from the corner. She looked at Guo Ying and said shyly, ”I’ve... I’ve seen you before. That day, they... they were forcing me to... to entertain them, and it was you, Miss, who drove those men away for me...”

Guo Ying’s brow furrowed for a moment before she realized. ”Oh, I remember you now. Yes, that did happen.”

”So, was it you who saved us, Miss? Did you kill all these wicked men?” Seeing that Guo Ying remembered her, the girl’s face broke into a happy smile as she fired off a string of questions.

Guo Ying shook her head, a little embarrassed. It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to save them; she had been on her own and simply powerless to help.

A look of disappointment crossed the girl’s face. ”We still have no idea who saved us,” she said. ”And we don’t know where to go... We’re too scared to stay here, not after so many people have died...”

”’We’? There are other survivors besides you?” Guo Ying asked.

The girl nodded. ”Over twenty more...”

Xu Su and Guo Ying exchanged a look, both feeling this was a difficult situation. If they didn’t intervene, these poor girls would likely meet a tragic end.

They might not even make it out of the sect grounds alive.

The Stony Sect was hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement in the mortal world, and the landscape outside was nothing but ice and snow. How could these frail young women possibly make it back to civilization safely on their own?

And even if they were lucky enough to make it back, what would their future hold?

”My sect... I don’t think I can go back anytime soon,” Guo Ying said to Xu Su. ”Why don’t... I let them come with me? I can teach them some basic martial arts. That way, if they want to go home in the future, they’ll have some skills to defend themselves and won’t be so easily bullied.”

Xu Su glanced at Guo Ying. ”And where do you plan on going?”

Guo Ying replied calmly, ”The world is a vast place; there will always be somewhere for me to go. My sect may be powerful and tyrannical, but there are... corners of this world they can’t find, where I can survive. So, you don’t need to worry about me.”

”Why don’t you come back with me?” Xu Su said after a moment’s hesitation. As a man, he couldn’t bring himself to just abandon Guo Ying.

If not for her constant protection over the past several days, he would have been tortured and crippled by the men of the Stony Sect, if not killed outright.

Though he didn’t dare to accept her affections so easily, he felt it was his duty to help her as a friend.

”Would that... be alright?” Guo Ying’s heart leaped with joy. She lowered her head and asked softly.

Xu Su sighed softly, then smiled. ”You should already know about my family background. We’re fairly well-established. Besides, my younger brother now has his own fiefdom. You could go there, or you could go to the Imperial Capital of the Cangqiong Kingdom. Even sects tend not to act too outrageously there.”

”The Imperial Capital... that’s not a bad choice at all.” Guo Ying ignored his first suggestion. ’I don’t know his brother, and I don’t want to go to his fiefdom. I just want to live somewhere I can see Xu Su whenever I want.’

”Alright. In that case, we should ask the other girls for their opinion,” Xu Su said softly.

”We... we all agree! As long as... as long as you don’t think we’ll be a burden.” The girl, who had been listening to their conversation anxiously, immediately spoke up for the group.

”Can you speak for everyone?” Xu Su asked seriously.

”Of course!” The girl nodded without hesitation. ”We already discussed it.”

”Alright then.” Xu Su nodded, his mind already racing. ’How am I going to get Guo Ying and these women settled in the Imperial Capital? And... how am I going to explain all this to Mu Yao...?’

’And then there are the Ancient Ruins that only I can enter. I have to go back sooner or later, but it still seems too dangerous at my current level of strength. Yet if I don’t go now, I’m afraid that once Dubhe finds out what happened at the Stony Sect, they’ll definitely send people to find the entrance. At that point... getting in again... probably won’t be so easy.’

As Xu Su mulled it over, a thought suddenly struck him. ’If the person who just rescued me really was my brother, Xu Luo, then... I could just ask him for help, couldn’t I?’

With that, Xu Su made up his mind.

He would first bring Guo Ying and the other women back to the Cangqiong Kingdom, then arrange an escort to take them to the Imperial Capital. He would write a letter to Xia Muyao explaining what had happened. He was sure she would understand his actions.

Having made his decision, Xu Su felt a great weight lift from his shoulders.

Xu Luo and Master Mao continued to protect Xu Su from the shadows. With the group of women from the mortal world in tow, their progress was slow.

Xu Luo wasn’t in a hurry. After all, his brother was now safe, and the Da Han Empire had withdrawn its army. He was confident there wouldn’t be any fighting for some time.

So much had happened in the past year, from the failed Star Festival to the end of the war today. Recalling it all, Xu Luo couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of wistfulness.

”This past year... has been more exciting than all my previous years put together!” Xu Luo said to Master Mao. He was perched on a large tree, watching from a distance as Xu Su, Guo Ying, and the others grilled wild game over a bonfire.

Master Mao scoffed. ”What’s so impressive about that? The things I’ve experienced are beyond your wildest imagination. Do you ever hear me bragging about it?”

Xu Luo just smiled, not bothering to argue with Master Mao. Instead, he asked casually, ”Miaomiao, can I ask you something?”

”It’s Master Mao!”

”Among all Spirit Beasts, is your Heaven-Swallowing Fox clan considered the most powerful?”

”Well... how should I put it? You should know that the Beast Race is divided into Vicious Beasts, Fierce Beasts, Aberrant Beasts, and Spirit Beasts. Vicious Beasts are the easiest to understand—they’re just the various carnivorous beasts of the mortal world, like lions, tigers, and leopards. They’re ferocious and strong, more than a match for an ordinary person, but they have next to no intelligence.”

Instead of answering Xu Luo directly, Master Mao began to explain the entire Beast Race.

”Fierce Beasts are typically an evolved form of Vicious Beasts. They’re ferocious and powerful, but also much more intelligent—what you humans would call ’cunning.’”

”Aberrant Beasts are considered high-tier beasts. They’re intelligent, treacherous, and incredibly powerful, and they typically have very long lifespans. Some can cultivate by absorbing moonlight, while most seek out various low-grade Spirit Medicines and spiritual springs in the mountains. They possess high intelligence and generally avoid direct conflict with humans. While they may be weak in the eyes of a Spirit Beast, they are still incredibly formidable to the average human!”

”And that brings us to Spirit Beasts... that giant, black-striped tiger following you now is a Tier Three Spirit Beast. He’s quite strong—he could even handle a low-level Sword Venerable. The greatest strengths of Spirit Beasts are their high intelligence and their ability to cultivate by absorbing Star Power, moonlight, and all sorts of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. Most importantly, Spirit Beasts can use the Five Elements in their attacks...”