Firmament Sword

The man in white studied Xu Luo with a smile for a few moments, then sighed softly. ”Since you were able to make it here, it truly must be fate. I am more than willing to form a karmic bond with you.”

As he spoke, a brilliantly colored, palm-sized scale suddenly appeared in his hand, emitting a dazzling light. ”Your identity can be easily seen through by truly powerful experts,” he said. ”Once word gets out, you will never know a day of peace again! There are people looking for you... Heh heh.”

The man’s cryptic manner made Xu Luo extremely uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but ask, ”Senior... can you please explain in more detail?”

The man shook his head, a strange look on his face. ”They won’t tell you, so how can I? Just take this as a small gift. With it, it will be very difficult for anyone beneath the level of a Saint to see through to your true form. It should offer you some measure of safety.”

”This... is this... a reverse scale? Heavens!!!” Master Tao cried out in shock from the side. If it had eyes, they would surely be wide with disbelief. It couldn’t believe that the Lord Holy Beast would give his most important reverse scale to someone else!

The man in white shot a glare at Master Tao, as if annoyed by its big mouth, but he didn’t deny it. He smiled and said, ”An avatar of mine is sealed within this scale. It can block a single strike from a Saint for you! Remember, do not use it unless you have absolutely no other choice. The method to use it is simple. I will transmit it to you now...”

As he spoke, a spell-like incantation appeared in Xu Luo’s mind.

Xu Luo accepted the palm-sized scale, somewhat dumbfounded. A cold, yet incredibly comfortable, energy emanated from it.

Although he didn’t quite understand what was happening, Xu Luo wasn’t the type to accept favors for no reason. And judging by Master Tao’s tone, this scale was something extraordinary.

Especially since the man said the avatar inside could block one strike from a Saint... ’What realm is a Saint?’

It wasn’t Xu Luo’s fault for being uninformed; he had simply never heard of this realm. He knew of Sword Saints, of course. The Transformation Realm made one a Sword King, and the Divine Power Realm above that... was a Sword Saint!

’Could the Saint he’s talking about be a Sword Saint?’ Xu Luo wondered. ’Even if it’s just a Sword Saint, that’s still incredible!’

The middle-aged man didn’t seem to want to explain much further. Suddenly, a hint of anger appeared on his face as he looked at the rippling image in the air, which had not yet dissipated.

Xu Luo followed his gaze. The four old men, after interrogating the sect disciple, had actually killed him with a single palm strike!

And from the looks on their faces, they showed not a hint of remorse!

”Damn them!” Xu Luo’s face was a mask of fury.

The man in white sighed. ”I was originally going to give them a warning and expel them, considering their cultivation was not easily achieved. But now it seems I was too merciful...”

As he spoke, Xu Luo saw the man in white casually wave his hand through the air. Immediately, four wisps of gray energy formed into dragon shapes and vanished in an instant.

The man in white turned to Xu Luo. ”Consider this me helping you get rid of four powerful enemies. I originally didn’t want to get involved in this karma, but so be it. Someday... you must remember to repay this favor!”

Xu Luo was baffled. He felt that there was a hidden meaning in the words of this white-robed man, this human form of a Holy Beast. But since the man clearly didn’t want to say more, Xu Luo knew he couldn’t pry, so he just nodded in agreement.

Seeing Xu Luo nod, the man in white revealed a happy smile.

At that moment, in the rippling image, the four old men were preparing to leave when their leader, the one with the sage-like aura, seemed to sense something. He suddenly raised his head and stared blankly in the direction of Xu Luo and the others.

The feeling was strange; Xu Luo felt as if he had been discovered.

The man in white snorted coldly. ”He has some skill, but it’s a pity he chose the wrong path!”

The sage-like old man suddenly began forming a series of rapid hand seals, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood. His expression changed drastically as he said in horror, ”This is bad! I’m doomed!”

”Brother, what’s wrong?” the stout old man asked.

The hunchbacked old man also seemed to sense something. He stared in terror at the distant horizon and stammered, ”Over there... what is that?”

The dwarfish old man snapped irritably, ”Brother, what’s wrong with you?”

”This Small World... it really is alive! It’s alive! We... we can’t escape!” The sage-like old man’s face instantly turned ashen.

”Bullshit! In this Small World, we are supreme—ah!” The dwarfish old man didn’t finish his sentence before letting out a terrified scream.

Then, his body abruptly exploded!

Following him were the stout old man and the hunchbacked old man. Finally, the sage-like old man’s body also shattered, turning into a bloody mist in the air!

Xu Luo watched, dumbfounded, unable to believe what he was seeing was real.

’Is this the power of a Holy Beast? From hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles away, he annihilated four powerful Transformation Realm Powerhouses in the blink of an eye!’ A tempest raged in Xu Luo’s heart.

”Alright, you can leave now without any worries.” The man in white gave Xu Luo a deep look and, without even giving him a chance to speak again, waved his hand gently. Xu Luo felt his body become completely weightless, instantly flying into the sky.

”Senior, uh... thank you!” Xu Luo shouted at the top of his lungs.

”I told you, just remember you owe me a favor. There’s no need for thanks!” The man’s gentle voice echoed in Xu Luo’s mind. By now, Xu Luo was already hundreds of miles away from Saint God Mountain.

He landed softly and looked in amazement at the Ancient Peach Tree, which had also been sent out. ”So, do you have any idea what all that was about?”

”How would Master Tao know?” the Ancient Peach Tree replied, seemingly lost in thought and speaking rather absentmindedly. It then added, ”In any case... I’ve never heard of the Lord Holy Beast being so hospitable, let alone seen anyone get his reverse scale... Kid, do you have any idea what that scale you have means?”

”What?”

”You’ll understand in the future. Weren’t you going to help that little girl get that Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact? Go on, then. If you’re the one to do it, it will be simple,” said Master Tao.

”I hate it when you’re so cryptic!” Xu Luo gritted his teeth.

”Why didn’t you say that to the Lord Holy Beast just now?” Master Tao sneered scornfully. ”Besides, if the Lord Holy Beast wouldn’t tell you, what could a know-nothing like me possibly say?”

Xu Luo was helpless. He pouted slightly and said, ”Then why did you say I’d be able to get the Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact if I went?”

”Ah, that I can explain,” Master Tao said, its voice filled with smugness. ”The reverse scale the Lord Holy Beast gave you is far more powerful than any Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact. What’s so strange about it being able to suppress a Spirit-Connected Dragon Bell? From now on, anyone below a Holy Beast... no, even ordinary Holy Beasts will give you a wide berth when they see you!”

”There’s a benefit like that?” Xu Luo was pleasantly surprised. He grabbed the Ancient Peach Tree and prepared to go find the Dragon Bell.

...

Xu Qing was in a foul mood. She was frustrated, and her day was completely ruined.

She had entered this Small World with absolute confidence, bringing a group of young experts from the Jade Balance Sect, determined to obtain the Dragon Bell.

The entire Jade Balance Sect had made ample preparations for this Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact, gathering all sorts of materials.

They had brought more than ten expensive Sealing Talismans alone—items that smaller sects had likely never even seen!

Because the Jade Balance Sect had been the first to discover this place, their understanding of the Small World far surpassed that of other sects.

The Spirit-Connected Dragon Bell was much stronger than an ordinary Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact, but it had a wild and cunning temperament. It was not a treasure that could be easily subdued.

Therefore, the entire Jade Balance Sect had invested enormous effort for this Dragon Bell.

This time, the mission was led by Xu Qing, assisted by three other talented young disciples from the Jade Balance Sect, all focused on capturing this Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact.

But who could have expected that the power of this Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact would far exceed everyone’s predictions.

They had used up all dozen or so Sealing Talismans without managing to suppress the sentient Dragon Bell. Instead, they seemed to have only provoked its anger and resentment, causing it to flee a thousand miles away in a flash.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. What Xu Qing found most unacceptable was that there was a traitor in their group who had leaked the information.

Now, people from nearly every sect were frantically tracking the Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact. To be more precise, everyone was tracking Xu Qing and her party!

Although they had failed to suppress the Dragon Bell, they had managed to leave a mark on it, allowing them to keep following it and preventing its complete escape.

Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded throughout the Small World: Xu Qing’s group from the Jade Balance Sect was in the lead, followed by young disciples from all the other major sects.

Everyone wanted to seize this opportunity. After all, with this kind of thing, there was no telling who it might end up with.

Hadn’t the Jade Balance Sect Master, Xushan, also obtained a great opportunity back in the day, allowing him to leap to his current position? Before he got that opportunity, who even knew who Xushan was?

Xu Qing was furious about this, but she was also helpless. After all, the Small World wasn’t anyone’s private territory, and the Dragon Bell was an ownerless object. She couldn’t just domineeringly chase everyone away, could she?

If she had the power to do so, she wouldn’t have minded chasing them off. The problem was, while Xu Qing was outstanding among the younger generation, she definitely didn’t possess that kind of unrivaled power!

”So shameless, this bunch!” a young woman beside Xu Qing said, her cheeks puffed with anger. ”If I find out who leaked the secret, I’ll never forgive them!”

”Sigh, what’s the use of talking about that now? It doesn’t matter who leaked it anymore. What matters is how we’re going to subdue this Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact,” said a talented young man from the Jade Balance Sect with a gloomy expression.

”I heard that Huangfu Shishi from the Kaiyang Sect obtained a huge opportunity this time. Word has already spread,” another talented youth from the Jade Balance Sect sighed. ”And yet, we still have nothing.”

”Yeah, and also Jiang Tianhai from the Kaiyang Sect and Gu Xing from the Shaking Light Sect. They were injured earlier, but then they found an Earth Palace and both received great opportunities!” said another disciple from the Jade Balance Sect.