Firmament Sword

”Mom, I might be… in big trouble!” Xu Luo said with a smile, though he did a good job of hiding the trace of worry in his eyes.

”Hm?” Although Xu Luo had concealed the worry deep in his eyes, no one knows a son better than his mother. How could Luo Xinlan possibly fail to notice the shift in his mood?

”What happened?” Luo Xinlan looked at Xu Luo. ”Is it about those sects? I came from a sect myself, so you don’t really need to be afraid of them. The bigger the sect, the more internal factions it has. A major sect would never pour all its resources into dealing with a single person! Besides… we still have the Celestial Cauldron Sect and the Jade Balance Sect to help us.”

Xu Luo shook his head and said with a bitter smile, ”If it were about the sects, it would be much simpler to resolve. Even if Celestial Cauldron and Jade Balance didn’t help, I wouldn’t be afraid of them.”

”Then what is it?” Luo Xinlan asked, looking at her son in confusion.

”You’ve probably heard that recent rumor, haven’t you, Mom?” Xu Luo asked, looking at Luo Xinlan.

”A treasure in Cangqiong, he who obtains it shall ascend to immortality?” Luo Xinlan’s face showed a trace of disdain as she said, ”That’s complete nonsense! People in this world, especially those powerful Cultivators, are obsessed with achieving eternal life… but how is that possible? No one lives forever. Legends of immortals have been passed down for countless years, but who has ever actually seen one?”

Xu Luo looked at his mother and said, ”It doesn’t matter that you don’t believe it. The problem is, other people do! And now, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that I, your son… might be the ’treasure’ from that rumor!”

”What?” Luo Xinlan gasped softly, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked at Xu Luo. She suddenly remembered that her son’s rise to power seemed to have started… right after the failure of the Cangqiong Centennial Star Festival.

”Could it be… that this rumor is related to the stars?” Brilliantly sharp, Luo Xinlan immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

Xu Luo nodded. ”According to legend, in the Ancient Era, there were a total of eight Beidou Stars in the sky. One of them later fell to the mortal world. The ’treasure’ mentioned in the rumor… is Beidou’s Eighth Star. It’s said that whoever obtains it can achieve immortality. And I… began my rise right after the Star Festival failed and the seven stars fell. That’s no secret, so a lot of people are investigating me now.”

”How could that be? You’re my son, the flesh of my flesh! This is simply… absurd!” Luo Xinlan found this explanation hard to accept.

”I agree, but the problem is that other people might not see it that way,” Xu Luo said. ”People from outside our realm have already taken notice of me. Just a short while ago, I killed two people who came from an external land called the Ancient Race Continent…”

”This…” Luo Xinlan stared at her son in shock, her eyes filled with heartache. ”This must have been so hard on you,” she said softly.

”I’ll be fine,” Xu Luo said quietly. ”I’m just worried this matter will end up harming our family.”

”It’s alright, don’t worry,” Luo Xinlan said. ”Your father and I, as well as your brother and sister-in-law, will all be careful.”

Then, Luo Xinlan looked at Xu Luo. ”But if you leave, where could you possibly go? The world may be vast, but to truly powerful experts, that distance means nothing…”

Her background in a sect meant Luo Xinlan knew many secrets inaccessible to the common world. She was well aware that for a truly mighty being, distance was no obstacle.

Even if you were to hide, they possess powerful Inference Skills that could root you out.

”I don’t know either right now. But you don’t have to worry too much, Mom,” Xu Luo said, trying to comfort her. ”After all, this is just speculation. Those people won’t act rashly without proof. So, for the time being, I should be quite safe.”

He might have said that, but Luo Xinlan was not someone who knew nothing. In fact, she knew far more than most.

With this worry now weighing on her heart, her eagerness for her son’s marriage cooled.

”Truly, the tree wishes for calm, but the wind will not cease,” Luo Xinlan could only sigh, preparing to go and discuss the matter with her husband.

Xu Luo, however, felt a tinge of regret. ’I shouldn’t have told my mother about this; it just gives her more to worry about. But then again, if I hadn’t, and something did happen, my parents would be completely unprepared. Wouldn’t that be worse?’

’I’m still not strong enough!’ A bitter smile formed on Xu Luo’s lips. ’If I were powerful enough,’ he thought, ’I wouldn’t care who it was. If anyone tried to make a move on me, I’d just slap them into next week!’

’Shaking Light, can I still enter that mysterious starry sky to cultivate?’ Xu Luo asked in his mind.

”As you wish!” The ancient, unwavering voice of the Shaking Light Star Soul replied.

Moments later, Xu Luo sat cross-legged in his room, but his consciousness had already entered that terrifying, star-filled void…

…

These days, on the grasslands of the Northern Desert, everyone from the most ancient elders to three-year-old children knew the name Hong Niangzi.

The very name Hong Niangzi was said to be enough to stop a crying baby!

Hong Niangzi hadn’t been on the Northern Desert Grassland for long, but with her formidable strength and ruthless methods, she had quickly established a firm foothold in this territory of nomadic tribes.

In every battle, Hong Niangzi would wear bright red clothes, wield a long spear, and charge at the very front. No one could withstand her assault.

It was because of this attire that people called her Hong Niangzi.

And Hong Niangzi was none other than Mo Yun!

The day Mo Yun left before her wedding, her heart was nearly shattered. If not for the child in her womb, she might have even considered suicide.

On one hand, she felt she had wronged Xu Jie, the man who respected and loved her; on the other, she was plagued by guilt toward her homeland. In the end, this led her to run away.

After leaving, Mo Yun journeyed north. As she passed through Xu Luo’s fiefdom, she contacted her loyal subordinates. She was worried that Xu Luo and his family would take their anger out on them, so she secretly took them all with her.

From there, she followed Da Han’s Northern Border, heading northwest until she finally reached the grasslands of the Northern Desert.

On the endless grasslands, Mo Yun felt her spirits lift.

After a period of quiet waiting, Mo Yun gave birth to a son. The little boy was sturdy and strong, looking very much like her, but also like his father, Xu Jie.

Having a child rekindled Mo Yun’s hope for life. Coupled with the intense hostility from surrounding tribes toward her group that had appeared so suddenly on the plains, Mo Yun finally resolved to establish a firm foothold there.

Thus, the legend of Hong Niangzi began.

Mo Yun had once believed that this was how the rest of her life would be, that nothing would ever change.

She could never return to her homeland. Nor would she ever go back to Cangqiong.

As for the man who often appeared in her dreams, she could only offer him silent blessings in her heart. She was sure that in a few years, Xu Jie’s family would arrange for him to marry a much better wife!

’A well-read and sensible noble lady from a great house—that is the kind of woman truly worthy of Xu Jie.’

But when that rugged-faced man appeared before her, covered in the dust of his long journey, Mo Yun’s heart… melted in an instant.

”How did you know I was here?”

These were the first words Mo Yun spoke upon seeing Xu Jie. She forcefully suppressed the thrill in her heart, trying her best to put on a cold expression.

”In this world, there’s nothing I’ve set my mind to that I haven’t accomplished,” Xu Jie replied in a low voice, then looked at her and asked, ”Why did you leave?”

”You came all this way just to ask me that?” Mo Yun suddenly flashed a sarcastic smile.

”No. I came to be with you. Mo Yun, I love you!”

When Xu Jie, this rugged man, uttered those words, Mo Yun felt as if her heart had been struck. She had to admit that in that single moment, she fell completely in love with him—for a lifetime.

…

Atop a large horse as white as snow, with not a single stray-colored hair, Mo Yun was dressed in black and held an infant in her arms. ”I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault,” she said, looking apologetically at the rugged man beside her, who rode a powerful black steed. ”If I hadn’t been so willful, you wouldn’t have left home, and you wouldn’t have…”

”Don’t blame yourself,” Xu Jie said, his face etched with sorrow and his eyes rimmed with red. ”This… wasn’t anyone’s fault. Under the circumstances, if I had stayed in the Imperial Capital, I’d likely be dead by now too.”

”We were both… wrong. Disloyal and unfilial,” Mo Yun, clad in black, said heavily. ”I hope your mother… can forgive us. For our child’s sake…”

”Don’t dwell on it. Right now, I just want to get back as fast as possible, for my father…” As he spoke, Xu Jie couldn’t help but tilt his head back and let out a long sigh, a storm of repressed emotions churning in his chest with no outlet.

”By the way,” Mo Yun began softly, ”I know this is a bad time to bring this up, but I have to ask… Liu Ruyu… your wife… what are you planning to do about her?”

Xu Jie stiffened for a moment, then shook his head with a bitter smile. ”I don’t know either…”

”After all we’ve been through, I’ve come to accept things as they are,” Mo Yun said gently. ”I don’t mind. As long as she is willing, I can endure anything. I’ll even… just be your concubine…”

”Don’t say such things!” Xu Jie cut her off, his expression resolute. ”In my heart, there is, and always will be, only one wife! As for Miss Liu, I am the one who wronged her in the first place. When we get back, she can beat me or punish me however she sees fit. If possible, I will grant her her freedom!”

Mo Yun secretly shook her head. ’You silly man,’ she thought to herself. ’You still don’t understand what something like this means to a woman. Once she has passed through the gates of the Xu Family, do you really think leaving is so easy?’

Just then, a scout from up ahead galloped back to report, ”General, we’ve spotted Da Han Empire cavalry! There are about eight thousand of them!”

”Oh? Have they spotted us too?” Mo Yun raised an eyebrow, a murderous glint flashing in her eyes.

”Yes. They’re closing in on us,” the scout replied.

Mo Yun tilted her head to look at Xu Jie, a question in her eyes.

Xu Jie’s voice was grim. ”My father’s death had nothing to do with them, but for them to stumble upon us now… there’s nothing more to be said. Kill them! Let this serve as a tribute to my father’s spirit in the heavens!”

A faint smile touched the corners of Mo Yun’s lips. She unslung her long spear, pointed it to the sky, and roared, ”Kill!”