Firmament Sword

Two streams of tears slowly trickled from the corners of Phoenix’s eyes.

It had been a great fortune that Li Wenxi had saved her from that great fire all those years ago. Back then, Li Wenxi was only a teenage girl herself. Just getting her out of the fire had been difficult enough. How could she have possibly had the strength to avenge her and kill those Black Armored Knights?

While presiding over the Fengyue Building, Phoenix had also investigated the slaughtered cities in the northern part of Cangqiong. Unfortunately, all the leads were vague. After all, so many years had passed, and in that period, seven or eight small towns in northern Cangqiong had been utterly massacred!

The enemy moved like ghosts. By the time the Cangqiong Army arrived, all they ever found were ruins and rubble, without even a shadow of the perpetrators.

Therefore, Phoenix had never blamed her master. She only hated that the group had vanished so completely. Although some clues pointed to the Da Han army, their phantom-like methods and cruelly bloodthirsty style didn’t seem like the work of a formal military force.

At least, in all of Phoenix’s past investigations, she had never found any related clues within any of Da Han’s armies.

But she was certain that Da Han was involved in the matter.

Phoenix had always buried this matter deep in her heart, never speaking of it to anyone. Those with Phoenix Bloodline flowing through their veins indeed possessed a pride in their very bones that was hard for ordinary people to imagine.

She refused to live under the pitying gazes of others, preferring to bear the burden alone.

Just then, a burst of voices came from nearby. It was the group of her fellow disciples, appearing from around a corner ahead. Phoenix quickly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, a brilliant smile blooming on her face.

”Senior Sister, we’ve been looking for you forever! We didn’t expect to find you here!”

”Yeah, this Earth Palace is so strange. I just inexplicably appeared in a different place.”

”Mhm, it’s like there are Teleportation Arrays everywhere.”

The group chattered excitedly as they surrounded Phoenix, their faces alight with joy.

”Did you all... have a fortuitous encounter?” Phoenix asked softly, seeing the happy smiles overflowing on her fellow disciples’ faces.

”Yes! We all received some kind of inheritance. Yaya was the luckiest. Not only did she get a Cultivation Technique, but she also ate an Elixir. Her strength soared!” one of the young female Merak Disciples said, looking at the somewhat dazed Yaya with envy.

”Is that so? That’s wonderful!” Phoenix said happily, smiling as she patted Yaya’s head.

She didn’t mention her own fortune. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her fellow disciples, but at a time like this, it was best not to let word of what she had obtained get out.

Whether it was the Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact or the Cultivation Technique she received, either one would cause a huge uproar if news of it spread.

”If we’d known everyone would get something good here, we should have called for Little Junior Brother to come with us!” someone said.

”Yeah, it’s a real shame Junior Brother Xu Luo missed this opportunity.”

”If he were here, he probably would have gained something even better!”

These Merak Disciples who followed Phoenix were all quite close to Xu Luo and felt sorry that he had missed out.

”Oh, him? He’ll find his own fortune,” Phoenix said with a smile. ”His luck has always been excellent!”

...

Xu Luo’s luck had indeed always been good. This time, upon entering the Small World, he had not only gained the acknowledgment of the Chaos Peach Tree but also harvested a large amount of Spirit Medicine.

More importantly, inside that mysterious Earth Palace, Xu Luo had also comprehended a powerful Cultivation Technique, the Tyrant Technique.

After leaving the Earth Palace, Xu Luo wanted to fulfill his promise to Xushan and help Xu Qing obtain the Dragon Bell, so he chased after it in the direction it had disappeared.

But this time, for some unknown reason, the good luck that had always been by his side seemed to have suddenly hidden itself away, disappearing as if playing a game of hide-and-seek with him.

First, Xu Luo encountered the most serious crisis since he had entered the Small World.

He was surrounded.

The vast majority of those who entered the Small World this time were young disciples from the major sects of the Central Plains Star Continent. However, not everyone who entered was young!

People like Fang Ping were not a rare exception!

In this world, there will always be a group of people who dislike putting in the effort themselves but envy and resent the rewards others gain through hard work. If they lack great power, these feelings can only manifest as pure envy and jealousy.

But once such people, who constantly envy and resent others, possess considerable power and a wicked heart, things can become very ugly.

Take now, for example.

Xu Luo never imagined that someone had seen him disappear beneath the Chaos Peach Tree.

The Shaking Light Step was unparalleled, and he had been in the middle of a chaotic battle. It was almost impossible for anyone to have noticed him.

And yet, even then, someone had already targeted him!

Later, when the Chaos Peach Tree vanished into thin air, the people who had been watching Xu Luo became convinced that its disappearance was directly related to him!

They were four masked old men. Although their faces were covered, the auras emanating from their bodies were all extremely powerful!

Their combined presence was like four great mountains pressing down on Xu Luo at once.

”Kid, we’ve been watching you for a long time. If you know what’s good for you, hand over the Chaos Peach Tree.”

”Don’t even think about denying it. We know for a fact that you have it!”

”According to this old man’s divination, the Chaos Peach Tree was obtained by you. Young man, hand it over, and we’ll let you live!”

”A treasure of this caliber isn’t something a person like you can control! It’s better to just hand it over.”

The four men spoke one after another, pressuring Xu Luo.

Xu Luo looked at the four old men with some surprise. He raised an eyebrow and said, ”I’m curious, how did you all get in here? Isn’t this Small World supposed to reject anyone with a bone age over twenty-five? Could it be... you’re carrying Magical Artifacts that suppress your bone age?”

”Don’t change the subject! Hand over the item immediately. We don’t have time to waste on you; we still need to go get the Dragon Bell!” a slightly overweight old man barked coldly.

”Second Brother, why waste words on him? Let’s just kill him and be done with it!” The one who spoke was a dwarf, and his exposed eyes were filled with a cruel, bloodthirsty light.

”Young man, possessing a great treasure is a crime in itself. This old man advises you to hand it over!” The speaker had the air of a wise, immortal-like scholar. Though masked, he still carried an aura of refinement.

’You really can’t judge a book by its cover. Just because someone looks distinguished doesn’t mean they’re a good person,’ Xu Luo thought, feeling a wave of emotion as he looked at the old man.

Another old man, this one slightly hunchbacked, cackled, ”Our luck is really something this time! To think this Small World actually contains a supreme treasure like the Chaos Peach Tree. Once we get it, how could our grand cause possibly fail?”

The four men paid Xu Luo no mind at all. He was a young man not even twenty years old. Even if the outside world rumored him to be powerful, how powerful could he possibly be? Could he use Dharma Heaven and Earth?

Xu Luo remained silent, pondering his strategy. ’These old men used some unknown method. They seem even more capable than Fang Ping. Fang Ping appeared to have used some heaven-defying technique to revert his age to under twenty-five.’

’But these four old men haven’t changed their age at all. And from the fluctuations of their auras, their strength hasn’t been affected in the slightest. They’re all unfathomably deep.’

”It seems you won’t hand it over without learning a painful lesson...” the dwarf old man said coldly. His figure suddenly blurred into motion, and he thrust a palm at Xu Luo.

BOOM!

An overwhelming force, like a mountain collapsing or a flash flood, crashed toward Xu Luo.

The surrounding rocks shattered, and the very ground began to tremble.

This single palm strike could easily level a mountaintop!

If it were to hit a person, the result was easy to imagine!

Xu Luo’s eyes narrowed slightly. He channeled the Shadow Shaking Heart Method and directly unleashed the Tyrant Technique, throwing a punch toward the old man’s palm.

”Third Brother, be careful! That kid’s Cultivation Technique is strange!” the slightly overweight old man shouted a warning the instant Xu Luo made his move.

”Like hell I’m afraid of him! Just die!” The dwarf old man was extremely confident. With his strength at the Fifth Layer of Transformation Realm, he could easily cripple the boy.

RUMBLE!

A world-shaking boom resounded. The entire valley trembled as if struck by an earthquake. The ground split apart, and the shockwave radiating outward blasted countless trees into splinters and leveled several mountaintops.

Xu Luo felt the vital energy and blood churn within him. His three Star Souls—Shaking Light, Kaiyang, and Jade Balance—instantly released their protective power to stabilize his internal organs.

Even so, Xu Luo still felt a metallic, sweet taste at the back of his throat as he forcibly suppressed a mouthful of blood.

Looking at the dwarf old man, he had stumbled back seven or eight steps, failed to suppress his own mouthful of blood, and sprayed it out with a bizarre shriek.

”How is that possible? A mere yellow-mouthed brat! Even if he started cultivating in his mother’s womb, he couldn’t possess such tremendous power!” the hunchbacked old man exclaimed in shock.

The scholarly-looking old man also frowned slightly as he looked at the injured dwarf. ”Third Brother, are you alright?”

The dwarf old man gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at Xu Luo with venomous light in his eyes. ”Eldest Brother, I’m fine! This kid is a little strange. Don’t interfere, I’m going to cripple him with my own two hands!”

The hunchbacked old man chuckled. ”Third Brother’s angry now. He’s about to get serious!”

The slightly overweight old man looked as if he wanted to say something but held back. Clearly, he felt that it would be... difficult for the dwarf old man to make good on his words.

This young man seemed vastly different from those other sect disciples. There was a certain unsettling aura about him. He just couldn’t put his finger on what that aura was. As he thought this, he glanced at the scholarly-looking old man.

The scholarly-looking old man had his eyes slightly closed, his fingers forming various technique seals as if he were performing a divination.

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically. He then spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted at the dwarf old man, who was about to charge forward, ”Third Brother, wait!”

The dwarf old man turned back with a look of displeasure, but just as he was about to speak, he saw his Eldest Brother coughing up blood. He was stunned to see fresh blood dripping down from under the scholarly old man’s mask.

”Eldest Brother, what’s wrong?”

The scholarly-looking old man stared at Xu Luo in horror and asked in a grave voice, ”Who in the world are you?”