Firmament Sword

It turned out that while no one was paying attention, Master Mao had charged straight for those unlucky young men. Wielding claws countless times sharper than any weapon, he tore out one man’s throat. Then, spitting out a bolt of energy, he skewered another!

The old man had brought a total of four young disciples, and in just a few moments, three were dead!

The last one remaining, scared out of his wits, scrambled toward the old man, screaming, ”Master, save me!”

The old man was beside himself with fury and charged madly toward Master Mao. At that exact moment, Xu Luo and Su Qianqian both moved to intercept him.

The Great Marsh, already devastated, was mangled even further by their fierce battle. In the sky, various energies tore at the void, threatening to rip it asunder.

The last remaining young man was an outstanding disciple, having reached the Sword Venerable realm at a young age. But before Master Mao, he was completely defenseless.

While the old man was held back by Xu Luo and Su Qianqian, Master Mao’s claws flashed like lightning, and he killed the last of the elder’s disciples.

”AHHH!” The old man, consumed by hatred, roared at the sky. ”You beast! I will kill you!”

BOOM!

The old man’s mangled hands once again erupted with a sinister red glow. In that instant, his entire aura surged to its peak, as if he had become countless times more powerful than before!

”This is bad! He’s putting his life on the line! Let’s go!” A flash of terror crossed Su Qianqian’s eyes. After shouting the warning, she immediately turned to flee.

Xu Luo had also sensed something wrong with the old man. The moment Su Qianqian shouted her warning, they both activated the Shaking Light Step almost simultaneously, instantly covering a distance of several hundred meters.

But Master Mao was even faster. In fact, even before Su Qianqian had shouted her warning—at the very instant he had killed the elder’s last disciple—Master Mao had already made a run for it and disappeared!

’What a cunning little thief!’ Su Qianqian couldn’t help but roll her eyes when she realized that out of the three of them, she—the one who gave the warning—was the slowest to escape.

The old man’s eyes were bloodshot. Fixated on killing Master Mao, he pursued him relentlessly.

”You beast! If I don’t kill you today, I’ll take my own life!”

The old man was truly enraged. Those disciples had all been his personal favorites, and he had specifically brought them along to gain some experience. He never imagined something like this would happen.

His beloved disciples had been killed one by one. Even if he chose not to pursue the matter, he would still have to answer to his sect upon his return!

For a major sect like Dubhe, this was an intolerable loss.

Master Mao sprinted for his life, roaring as he ran, ”You old coot, so I killed a few useless weaklings! Is that any reason to chase me relentlessly? If you really piss Master Mao off and I decide to fight you to the death, you won’t get off easy either, AHHHHHH!”

”Beast! Spare me your nonsense! You die today!” the old man roared.

”Hey, hey, hey! Kid! You little bastard, are you just going to stand there and watch your Master Mao get hunted down like this? Get over here and help, AHHHHHH!” Master Mao yelled, but his movements remained incredibly fast. Despite the old man’s strength, catching him was not going to be an easy task.

Master Mao’s strength was seemingly endless, but the old man was a different story. He was forcibly stimulating the True Essence in his Dantian to temporarily elevate his power to a higher level, a state he couldn’t possibly maintain for long.

One man and one beast, one in pursuit and one in flight.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared over the edge of the Great Marsh.

Xu Luo was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected the old man to lock onto Miaomiao so completely, ignoring both him and the young woman in his single-minded quest to kill the creature.

’What should I do?’ Xu Luo frowned slightly. Given the old man’s power, Miaomiao was definitely no match for him. ’But if it focuses only on escaping, the old man should have a hard time catching it.’

”Hey, kid.”

While Xu Luo was lost in thought, the young woman in the distance stopped and fixed her beautiful eyes on him, staring without blinking.

”What is it?” Xu Luo asked.

”I...” The young woman looked a little flustered and annoyed. ’Didn’t we just fight side-by-side? Does he really need to keep everyone at arm’s length?’ Despite her irritation, she giggled and asked, ”You came out of the ruins beneath this Great Marsh, didn’t you?”

”What’s that got to do with you?” Xu Luo replied coolly.

”How could it have nothing to do with me? Finders share the spoils. Don’t you know that rule of the Jianghu?” the young woman said with a completely straight face as she sidled closer to Xu Luo.

Using his Shaking Light Step, Xu Luo subtly retreated and said flatly, ”I don’t know anything about Jianghu rules. I’m not a part of the Jianghu.”

”Jeez, kid, why are you being so difficult?” The young woman’s eyes darted about before she suddenly put on a pitiful expression and pleaded, ”I’m just really curious what kind of treasures you found down there. I just want to broaden my horizons. You can at least let me have a look, right?”

Xu Luo shook his head and said, ”There was nothing down there. It was just a strange, empty space. You don’t actually think that just because something is called a ruin, it’s guaranteed to have treasure, do you?”

The young woman pursed her lips, unconvinced. Glancing at the Storage Ring on Xu Luo’s hand, her expression turned cold. ”You’re not telling the truth. Don’t force me to get rough!”

Xu Luo smiled, equally unconcerned. ”Oh? You want to get rough? Are you sure you can even catch me?”

The young woman glared at Xu Luo, her cheeks puffed in frustration, and felt her resolve deflate. She had just witnessed his Body Technique. She had no idea what kind of Cultivation Technique he practiced, but he was so fast that even she had trouble tracking his movements.

Su Qianqian knew in her heart that, in a direct confrontation, this kid was no match for her. However, she also knew that if he decided to run, she wouldn’t be able to catch him either.

”You’re impossible! Is it really too much to ask you to satisfy a girl’s curiosity?” Su Qianqian said, glaring at Xu Luo with a displeased look on her face.

Xu Luo nodded seriously. ”Everyone is entitled to their privacy. I’m sorry, but we’re strangers.”

”Honestly, you’re so stingy!” The young woman’s eyes darted back and forth, her expression one of mischievous calculation.

Xu Luo found her amusing. ’I can tell from her fight with the old man that she’s very powerful,’ he thought. ’She just lacks a bit of combat experience. She probably comes from a powerful sect, too.’

’I haven’t even become truly strong yet, and I’ve already made veiled enemies of several sects,’ Xu Luo thought. ’This isn’t the outcome I was hoping for.’

’This girl seems quirky and a bit demanding, but she’s not unlikable. She looks curious, but I don’t see much greed in her eyes. She must be someone who isn’t short on treasures.’

With that thought, Xu Luo raised the black sword in his hand toward her. ”See this? This sword is what I got from down there. Everything else had already rotted to dust.”

”Oh?” Su Qianqian’s eyes flickered as she glanced at the sword in Xu Luo’s hand. ”It looks like a decent weapon, I guess... but it’s so dark and plain. I don’t like it. Are you sure you didn’t get anything else from down there?”

Xu Luo gave a wry smile. ”What else do you think could have been there?”

”I’d think that in a grand site like these Ancient Ruins, there would at least be some Top-Grade Elixirs left over from the Ancient Era, or some kind of legacy inheritance,” Su Qianqian said.

Xu Luo nodded. ”I didn’t see anything like that. I only saw a few ancient texts...”

”Where are they? Where?” the young woman asked excitedly.

”The moment I touched them, they turned to ash...” Xu Luo said, looking dejected.

The young woman rolled her eyes dramatically and snapped, ”You idiot! How could you just touch them with your bare hands? If you don’t know the proper way to handle them, you shouldn’t touch them at all! Do you have any idea how much more valuable those things were? They were a hundred times better than that ugly black sword you’re holding!”

”Really?” Xu Luo asked, his expression serious.

”Of course! Why would I lie to you? You’re completely clueless,” the young woman said indignantly. ”Didn’t the elders from your sect ever teach you these things?”

”I don’t have a sect,” Xu Luo said.

”What? You don’t have a sect? How is that possible? So what, were you born with all those skills?” The young woman felt this little thief before her was too cunning; he had been deceiving her the whole time. His refusal to even admit he had a sect infuriated her.

”I learned my skills on my own,” Xu Luo said, looking at the girl. ”But I really don’t have a sect. I’m from the secular world, not a disciple of any sect.”

”The secular world?” The young woman shot Xu Luo a look. ”Who are you kidding? Are there young people as strong as you in the secular world?”

”I’m telling the truth,” Xu Luo said, glancing off into the quiet distance. Master Mao and the old man were long gone. He felt a pang of worry for his brother, Xu Su, but without Master Mao, he had no way to return to the space below.

The young woman pouted, clearly not believing a word he said. Still, there wasn’t much she could do, so she just stood there and sulked.

Xu Luo looked at the young woman and asked, ”What about you? Are you from a sect? Why did you get into a fight with them?”

”I’m not from a sect either.” When Su Qianqian mentioned the word ”sect,” a clear look of disdain flashed in her eyes. She continued, ”As soon as that group showed up, they surrounded me and demanded I hand over the treasure I got from the ruins. They were like a pack of bandits! I didn’t have any treasure, so I fought them.”

As she spoke, Su Qianqian shot Xu Luo a fierce glare. ”Come to think of it, this is all your fault!”

”Uh... I don’t see how that has anything to do with me,” Xu Luo said, looking wronged.

”How could it have nothing to do with you? You opened the ruins! You got the treasure! But I’m the one who got suspected! If it wasn’t your fault, whose fault could it be?” Su Qianqian said, glaring at Xu Luo in exasperation.

Xu Luo could only manage a wry smile. ’This girl’s logic is something else,’ he thought. ’But then again, I guess she has a point. It’s not entirely unrelated to me.’

”So, what are your plans now?” Xu Luo asked her.

”Plans? I don’t have any...” Su Qianqian said, her eyes darting about before she looked at Xu Luo. ”Are you really from the secular world?”

”That’s right,” Xu Luo said firmly.

”In that case... I’ll go with you and see what the secular world is like. You wouldn’t refuse, would you?” Su Qianqian asked, beaming at Xu Luo.