Firmament Sword

The young man’s giant palm was dripping with blood, but it continued to reach for Su Qianqian.

”As expected of the Purple Dragon Vine. It’s truly powerful to have even injured me. A grand technique like this can only shine its brightest in my hands!” the young man said as his giant palm loomed over Su Qianqian’s head.

In the next instant, he could crush Su Qianqian completely!

Her Dharma Heaven and Earth shattered, Su Qianqian couldn’t stop herself from spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her vitality immediately waned.

A Dharma Heaven and Earth is intrinsically linked to its caster’s body. If the body is strong, the Dharma Aspect is strong; if the body is weak, the Dharma Aspect weakens as well, and vice versa.

Suffering from the backlash, Su Qianqian was powerless to evade the young man’s assault. A look of grim resolve flashed in her eyes. She would rather die than be captured.

Her body dipped, and she plummeted toward the ground below!

”I told you, it’s useless. You can’t escape,” the young man said calmly, unhurried. He hovered arrogantly in midair as his giant, mangled hand descended upon Su Qianqian, pressing down on her like a great mountain!

HUM!

The moment Su Qianqian hit the ground, a hum suddenly echoed through the silent night sky.

A blindingly bright light flared up from the jungle below, shooting toward the distant horizon!

”A Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact? So it was hiding. Did you think I was interested in *you*?” the young man muttered, standing in midair as he watched the blinding light. ’Although I do want you... compared to you, I want *her* more!’

Su Qianqian had chased that Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact into the forest below, where it had remained hidden. It only revealed itself to flee when she fell from the sky. It seemed to be a Magical Artifact with a high degree of sentience.

But at this moment, Su Qianqian couldn’t spare a thought for the Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact, because the massive hand was already right above her!

’Am I... really going to die here today?’ A flicker of indignation flashed in Su Qianqian’s stunningly beautiful eyes before they gradually dimmed with sorrow.

She turned her sword sideways, preparing to take her own life. She would rather die than fall into that young man’s hands.

Although he hadn’t shown a particularly vicious side, he was still an enemy. What good could possibly come from falling into an enemy’s hands?

”Father, Mother... Grandfather, I’m sorry. Qianqian is useless. I can’t avenge you. I’m coming to join you now!” Tears streamed down Su Qianqian’s face, yet in that instant, her heart grew incredibly calm. It was as if she had entered a profound, mystical state.

Devoid of sorrow and joy, her mind was a vast, tranquil emptiness.

At that moment, Su Qianqian thought she heard the mysterious resonance of the Great Dao. Though she couldn’t understand it, the sound seemed to cleanse her very soul. In a flash, she felt she had grasped many concepts she had never encountered before.

’But... what use is it now?’ Su Qianqian gave a faint smile, glancing at the giant, blood-soaked hand pressing down on her like a mountain.

She brought the sword in her hand cruelly across her own fair, jade-like neck!

CLANG!

A brilliant flash of light shot out, striking the sword in Su Qianqian’s hand with a crisp sound.

Su Qianqian felt an immense force travel up her arm. She couldn’t hold on to her sword, and it fell to the ground.

Her heart turned to ash. ’Don’t I even have the right to take my own life?’

But then, she sensed something was wrong. A towering, ink-black pagoda had suddenly appeared before her. It grew in the wind, expanding in an instant to push back against the mountain-like, blood-soaked hand.

”Huh?” the young man cried out in surprise. His massive, bloody hand didn’t stop, however, but continued to press down. ”A mere Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact dares to stand in my way? You’re courting death!”

The young man was overwhelmingly powerful and domineering. He didn’t even deign to acknowledge a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact and intended to crush it with brute force!

HUM!

The ink-black pagoda, now hundreds of meters tall, suddenly unleashed a vast power and collided violently with the young man’s giant hand.

RUMBLE!

The world around them twisted in an instant. Countless bottomless fissures ripped across the land, mountains crumbled, and rivers reversed their flow.

The power of that single blow was unimaginable!

”Come in!” A Divine Thought suddenly entered Su Qianqian’s Sea of Spiritual Consciousness.

Su Qianqian froze, not knowing who was speaking to her.

”I am the tower before you. Come inside!” the Divine Thought urged again.

Su Qianqian finally snapped out of it. She took a step forward and entered the tower directly. As for whether it was a trap... she, the Eldest Miss Su, wasn’t even afraid of death. Why would she fear a trap?

HUM!

After Su Qianqian entered, the ink-black pagoda let out a hum and transformed into a streak of black light, fleeing toward the horizon.

”Heh heh, interesting. This isn’t an ordinary Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact. My luck is just too good! This is a treasure delivered right to my doorstep. It would be a crime against heaven not to take it!” The young man’s face showed no sign of disappointment; instead, he looked pleasantly surprised.

But then, his eyebrow twitched. He looked toward a small, recently collapsed hill dozens of miles away and shouted coldly, ”Who’s skulking around over there? Show yourself!”

Xu Luo hadn’t expected the man’s Spiritual Sense to be so powerful. Just as he’d seen Su Qianqian about to kill herself and was about to call out, the ink-black pagoda had already flown over.

So, Xu Luo suppressed his impulse and concealed his aura, preparing to launch a surprise attack on the young man.

Xu Luo didn’t think there was anything shameful about a sneak attack. This young man was simply too powerful—so powerful that Xu Luo felt like he couldn’t even breathe in his presence.

Even Xushan didn’t seem to possess the same world-scorning aura as this young man!

Xu Luo knew very well that he was no match for this young man.

Seeing the ink-black pagoda carry Su Qianqian away, the tension in Xu Luo’s heart finally eased somewhat. He was about to leave quietly and look for Su Qianqian later.

After all, she had already appeared in this Small World. In two days, when the passage to the Small World opened, he was bound to run into her.

He never expected the young man’s Spiritual Sense to be so sharp that he would be discovered.

’What do I do? Fight?’ The thought flashed through Xu Luo’s mind for only a moment before he immediately dismissed it.

’Fighting him would be a joke. It would be asking for a death wish.’

’Since fighting is out of the question, I’ll have to show myself and play it by ear. I’ll just have to bet that he doesn’t recognize me!’

It took a moment to describe, but in reality, it was just a single thought that flashed through Xu Luo’s mind.

Xu Luo slowly emerged from his hiding spot. He held up his hands to show he meant no harm and looked at the young man with a sincere expression. ”My apologies, I don’t have any malicious intent. I just saw some commotion over here and came to check it out...”

The young man squinted, sizing Xu Luo up. He saw a young, exceptionally handsome man with refined features. His aura wasn’t particularly strong, only at the First Layer of Transformation Realm.

On the Central Plains Star Continent, he could be considered a young genius, but in this man’s eyes, that was nothing special.

The young man paid Xu Luo no mind, but he was slightly annoyed. Because of this delay, the black tower had vanished without a trace.

While he wasn’t worried that Su Qianqian would disappear for good, he was still quite displeased with Xu Luo for interfering.

”Kid, you ruined my plans. Cut off one of your arms and you can leave. I won’t lower myself to your level,” the young man said slowly, taking a deep breath. ’I’m still not ruthless enough,’ he thought. ’If you had run into the people who wiped out the Su Family, they would have killed you on the spot. You’re lucky you ran into me.’

”Uh...” Xu Luo didn’t feel lucky in the slightest. He looked at the young man with an innocent expression. ”You can’t be serious. You’re that cruel? As they say, an honest mistake isn’t a crime. I didn’t provoke you. It’s just a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact. If you can’t find it, can’t I just help you look for it? Why do you have to take my arm? A handsome guy like me would have to become a one-armed hero, and that’s just too ugly. Not happening!”

”Not happening?” The young man was so angry he laughed. He looked at Xu Luo with a smirk, not thinking for a moment that the boy was stalling for time. Although the Su Family was also on the Central Plains Star Continent, they had little interaction with the major sects.

When the young man entered the Celestial Break Mountain Range, he had noticed a large gathering of sects that looked like they were having a meeting, so he subconsciously assumed the boy before him was a disciple from one of them.

”It’s not up to you. Because you showed up, I failed to obtain that Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact, causing me a great loss. If you don’t want to lose an arm, that’s fine. Just compensate me with another Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact, and we’ll call it even,” the young man said, smiling at Xu Luo.

’Tsk... this guy’s a real chatterbox!’ Xu Luo had been deliberately spouting nonsense to stall for time and give Su Qianqian a chance to escape, but he never expected this young man to be even more long-winded than he was.

”Brother, look at me. Do I look like I own a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact? How about this? I know a place with a powerful Holy Beast. If you’ve got the guts, come with me and we’ll slay it! A Holy Beast is a treasure trove, worth way more than some Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact!”

As Xu Luo spoke, he prayed inwardly, ’Lord White Flood Dragon, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend your esteemed self. Please forgive me this one time. I have no choice but to use you as a shield!’

”A Holy Beast? Heh, do you even know what a Holy Beast is? Aren’t you afraid of biting your tongue with all that bragging!” the young man said with disdain.

”It’s true! How would I dare lie to you? It’s really a Holy Beast. I’m just afraid...” Xu Luo said, looking up at the young man and trailing off.

”Afraid of what?” the young man asked, raising an eyebrow.

”I’m afraid you won’t dare to go!” Xu Luo said in a low voice. ”You may be powerful, but I don’t believe you’re a match for a Holy Beast!”

”Tsk... To be looked down upon by a nobody like you. Fine. Take me there. I’ve never seen a Holy Beast myself and was just thinking I’d like to see what one looks like,” the young man said with a grin. Then his expression turned serious. ”But if you dare to lie to me, it’ll cost you more than just an arm.”

”I absolutely wouldn’t dare!” Xu Luo thought, ’I’m not lying to you. Let’s just see if you have what it takes to escape from the Lord Holy Beast alive!’

”By the way, what’s your name?” The young man didn’t actually believe the story about the Holy Beast, but he was somewhat intrigued by the boy before him. He found him rather interesting.

Born into a family like his, the young man was destined to never have any close friends. He had come to the Central Plains Star Continent on a mission, and deep down, he was incredibly lonely. He felt this young man’s personality was quite compatible with his own. In truth, even if Xu Luo hadn’t mentioned a Holy Beast, he wouldn’t have actually killed him.

Because, fundamentally, this young man was not an evil person.

His pursuit of Su Qianqian was simply a matter of conflicting allegiances.