Firmament Sword

As a great master at the Third Realm of Sword Saint, he was confident that his quarry couldn’t possibly slip away from under his very nose.

If this young man could escape even under these circumstances, then he would have lived all his years for nothing.

The others nodded as if it were a matter of course. Indeed, trying to escape from five great Sword Saint masters was simply a fool’s dream!

”However, to prevent this kid from changing direction and escaping, I suggest the five of us split up,” Huo Danqiong suggested, looking at the terrain below.

”Good idea,” Huo Wei said. ”This area is full of rolling mountain ranges. If the boy changes direction, it will be difficult for us to notice.”

”Then, let’s leave the Lightning Sculpture with Uncle Wanzhang... The four of us will pursue from four different directions. We’ll rendezvous every hundred li, then continue the chase based on the tracks he leaves behind!” said the gaunt old man, Huo Jinwu.

Huo Wanzhang thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. His target only had the cultivation of the Transformation Realm. Against a group of great Sword Saint masters like them, he didn’t stand a chance. Any one of the five could easily kill him!

”Remember, once you find him, don’t kill him. We need him alive. Then, send a message immediately!” Huo Wanzhang said.

The other four nodded in agreement, then flew off the Lightning Sculpture, descending into the mountain range below. They moved across the treetops, each pursuing from a different direction.

Huo Wanzhang remained on the Lightning Sculpture, continuing the chase directly. His eyes, countless times sharper than a hawk’s, surveyed the entire situation from the sky!

...

Xu Luo was still running at full speed in one direction, with no intention of changing course.

He couldn’t fathom just how powerful a great master of the Divine Power Realm was, but judging from the two bursts of Sword Qi from that old man, it was enough to strike terror into one’s heart.

Changing direction was pointless. The only real solution was to run at full speed and completely shake them off!

Previously, Xu Luo had been able to feel the wisp of aura his pursuer used to lock onto him. An ordinary person would likely not have been able to sense it. But not only did Xu Luo possess the Star Constitution, he also had five awakened Star Souls in his Dantian... His Spiritual Sense was countless times stronger than an ordinary person’s.

Just now, Xu Luo felt that aura locked onto him disappear. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the distance between them had widened.

But he didn’t feel relaxed at all. Instead, he pushed himself to run forward even more desperately.

He knew that if he slacked off at a time like this, his pursuers would surely find him again very quickly.

And then, there would truly be no escape.

For two hours, Xu Luo pushed his Shaking Light Step to its limits.

Three hours later, Xu Luo was still running at full speed!

Four hours... five hours... ten hours!

By the end, Xu Luo had even started to feel numb. The world before him began to blur. As for the sky... it had started to darken at the five-hour mark, and now it was long past midnight!

But his steps still hadn’t stopped!

This was the greatest crisis he had ever faced. Even though he hadn’t exchanged a single blow with his pursuers, Xu Luo knew with certainty that if they caught up to him, he would have no chance of escape!

They weren’t five experts at the Peak of Transformation Realm; they were five true great masters of the Divine Power Realm!

A few wishful thoughts had crossed Xu Luo’s mind—that perhaps apart from that terrifying, white-bearded old man, the other four weren’t Sword Saints. But as soon as he thought about their origins, such wishful thinking vanished in an instant.

’The group Huo Feng had brought with him were all so powerful. So, someone with the status of an Elder... would they really be a mere Transformation Realm Martial Artist?’

He ran until daylight broke the next day, when sunlight pierced through the dense jungle canopy, dappling his body with spots of light... He had been running for a full twelve hours!

During this time, he had barely stopped, running in a single breath until he was on the verge of collapse. In the end, if not for the five Star Souls continuously providing him with energy, Xu Luo would have never been able to last this long.

In that time, he had crossed two large lakes, over a dozen rivers, and two extremely high mountain ranges!

As he passed through the jungle, Xu Luo did his best to conceal his tracks. Even a master tracker would have difficulty finding the path he had taken.

Before him was a stretch of rolling hills with sparse vegetation. At a glance, they looked almost barren.

Xu Luo’s vision was blurry; he had no idea where he was. Looking around, he saw the same terrain stretching out in all directions.

The tallest of the hills were no more than a few hundred meters high.

”This kind of place... is definitely not a good hiding spot.” Xu Luo stopped, plopped down on a stone, and panted, muttering, ”They’ll probably... think so too, right?”

As he spoke, a faint smile appeared on his exhausted face.

Then, after covering his recent tracks, he leaped into the air and flew toward the edge of the hilly area. There stood a small hill, two or three hundred meters high, with sparse shrubs growing on it. Its red soil gave off a desolate feeling.

Beneath a patch of shrubs was a recessed cave. The entrance was small, only large enough for one person to squeeze through, but Xu Luo entered without hesitation.

He had just scanned the area with his Divine Sense and discovered that there was more to this cave than met the eye.

It was a naturally formed cave. The entrance was small, but the space inside was huge!

Following the entrance, the winding tunnel extended all the way to the bottom of the hill, hundreds of meters long! Moreover, the inside of the cave wasn’t the soft, red earth from the outside, but a lava tube filled with stalactites!

Nature’s wonders had bestowed such a marvelous sight upon this place, but for Xu Luo, it was an absolutely perfect hiding spot!

”This is it!” A happy smile finally appeared on Xu Luo’s face. He not only needed to rest, but he also needed to comprehend the new things brought by the awakening of the Tianquan and Phecda Star Souls.

Most importantly, he needed a breakthrough!

Only by truly stepping into the realm of a Sword Saint would he have the right to fight against those hunting him.

With this thought, Xu Luo arrived at the deepest part of the cave. He was now deep beneath the hill, below the surface of the ground.

The cave wasn’t dark at all. The stalactites all emitted a faint glow, and together, they illuminated the cave brightly.

There were no miraculous Spirit Medicines growing inside this natural cave, which had formed countless years ago, but Xu Luo wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.

’To find such a hiding place while on the run is a blessing from the heavens. How could I dare hope for more?’

Xu Luo sat down cross-legged and began to communicate with the two newly awakened Star Souls, Tianquan and Phecda.

Just like with the previous three Star Souls, the moment he established communication, two new Cultivation Techniques instantly appeared in his mind.

When the Shaking Light Star Soul awakened back then, he had obtained four techniques: Breaking Army Seven Kills, Shaking Light Step, Shaking Light Burst, and the Shadow Shaking Heart Method. This consisted of one Body Technique, one Heart Method, and two offensive Cultivation Techniques. When the Kaiyang Star awakened, he didn’t gain any Cultivation Techniques, but it changed his constitution and widened his meridians—something almost unbelievable for a Martial Artist. When the Jade Balance Star awakened, Xu Luo gained a spiritual attack technique—the Jade Balance Demon Sound.

The power of the Jade Balance Demon Sound was self-evident; it could be considered one of Xu Luo’s most powerful trump cards.

When he stepped into the Fifth Layer of Transformation Realm, he gained the heaven-defying Dharma Heaven and Earth known as the Three-Star Dharma Aspect, which could break almost any other Dharma Aspect. It was truly a case of one law breaking ten thousand forms!

Any Cultivator in this world who managed to master even one of the aforementioned techniques would consider themselves the luckiest person alive.

Yet Xu Luo possessed them all!

So, Xu Luo had always felt that he truly was the luckiest person in the world.

However, after the Cultivation Techniques from the Tianquan and Phecda Star Souls entered his mind, Xu Luo took one look at the technique transmitted by the Tianquan Star Soul and was instantly stunned.

”In this world... how can such a Cultivation Technique exist? Is this... is this a Cultivation Technique? Or is it a Divine Technique?” Xu Luo muttered to himself.

”Time Reversal Skill, First Realm, Slow Flow of Time. Once cast, the flow of time in this world will slow down several times in the eyes of the Caster!”

”This is heaven-defying!” Xu Luo couldn’t help but exclaim in a low voice.

Such an ability was simply unheard of!

When two Martial Artists fought, the most fundamental things they competed on were speed, power, and skill!

And of these, speed was the most important!

In all of martial arts, only speed is unbeatable!

When power is equal, the faster one will inevitably have a huge advantage. This had also been Xu Luo’s greatest reliance over the years.

The speed of his Shaking Light Step was unparalleled. Even if his opponents were much stronger than him, their speed couldn’t match his. In battle, this gave him an inherent advantage!

Now, not only did he possess a peerless Body Technique like the Shaking Light Step, but he had also mastered a heaven-defying ability like the Time Reversal Skill. His combat power... wouldn’t just be a simple addition, but a multiplicative increase!

”Time Reversal Skill, Second Realm, Time Domain. Once cast, it will form an absolute domain around the Caster that belongs only to them. Within this domain, the Caster is a god!”

”HISS...” Xu Luo sucked in a sharp breath. The First Realm of the Time Reversal Skill was already heaven-defying enough. This Second Realm... was practically a Great Divine Technique!

Without time for further thought, Xu Luo eagerly looked into the Third Realm of the Time Reversal Skill. The moment he perceived it, his jaw dropped and his eyes flashed with brilliant light. The Third Realm of the Time Reversal Skill... was the truly heaven-defying one!

”Time Reversal Skill, Third Realm, Time Reversal! Once cast, time will flow backward! The duration of the reversal will increase according to the Caster’s realm!”

”Heavens... this...” Xu Luo’s eyes widened, and he nearly lost the ability to think.

’Reversing time... is this an ability a human can even possess?’

The surprise that the Tianquan Star Soul had brought him... was simply beyond words.

At the same time, Xu Luo couldn’t help but wonder, ’Could these Seven Star Souls truly be the souls of the seven shining stars of the Beidou constellation in the sky? Otherwise, how could they possibly grant such an array of heaven-defying abilities?’