Firmament Sword

A Grand Array was quickly set up around the hill.

Once it was finished, the five of them, including Huo Wanzhang, all found themselves breathing a sigh of relief—a feeling that greatly displeased them.

Never before had a Transformation Realm Martial Artist been able to push them this far. It was as if trapping a mere Transformation Realm Martial Artist was some great achievement.

Huo Wanzhang couldn’t help but spit on the ground. Disregarding his image, he plopped right down and grumbled, ”Now I’d like to see where you can run!”

”Hahaha, Uncle Wanzhang, there’s no escape for that kid this time!” Huo Wei roared with laughter.

Huo Jinwen and Huo Jinwu both chimed in with their agreement.

Huo Danqiong watched from the side with a frown, saying nothing.

Of course, none of them mentioned the fact that a mere Transformation Realm Martial Artist had pushed them, a group of mighty Sword Saints, into such a corner.

After a moment, Huo Danqiong frowned curiously. ”Could there be some kind of treasure in that cave? What is that kid doing in there?”

”Didn’t Uncle Wanzhang just say he felt a powerful energy fluctuation from in there? Perhaps the kid is hiding inside to cultivate,” Huo Wei theorized.

Huo Jinwen sneered. ”Death is at his doorstep, and he’s still thinking about cultivating. What a diligent young man!”

”Diligent indeed. But I wonder what kind of look he’ll have on his face when he comes out and sees this?” Huo Jinwu said with a hearty laugh.

A faint smile finally touched Huo Wanzhang’s lips as he said lightly, ”If this young man weren’t connected to that prophecy, I might even admire him a little...”

”Oh, right, Uncle Wanzhang, that prophecy... what exactly is it about?” Huo Wei asked with a curious expression. ”The one about ’A treasure in Cangqiong... obtain it and achieve immortality.’ I only know it’s related to Beidou’s Eighth Star. As for the specifics... can you enlighten us, Uncle Wanzhang, so we can broaden our horizons?”

Huo Danqiong, Huo Jinwen, and Huo Jinwu all looked at Huo Wanzhang, their faces filled with curiosity.

Huo Wanzhang pondered for a moment before saying, ”I’m in a good mood today, so I suppose there’s no harm in telling you...”

With that, Huo Wanzhang began to recount an ancient legend passed down from the Ancient Era.

”In Ancient Times, this world was completely different from how it is now. Back then, the world was not dominated by humans, but by other powerful beings.”

”Among them, the most powerful were the Four Cardinal Divine Beasts: the Cyan Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise. If we were to measure them by today’s standards, all four of those Divine Beasts would have reached the Quasi-Venerable Realm.”

”What!”

The four of them cried out in alarm, staring at Huo Wanzhang in utter shock, their hearts reeling from the revelation.

”Quasi-Venerable? In Ancient Times... there were truly beings who touched the threshold of the Venerable Realm?” Shock and disbelief were written all over Huo Danqiong’s aged face.

Huo Wanzhang nodded. ”That’s right. In fact, there was another theory at the time that the Four Divine Beasts had actually reached the Venerable Realm! It was only because they were always so elusive, with almost no one ever having seen them, that their power was estimated inaccurately.”

”Heavens... I always thought the Venerable Realm was just a legend. That the most powerful beings in this world were nothing more than Saints at the Peak Realm,” Huo Danqiong sighed.

Huo Wanzhang said, ”A Saint at the Peak Realm is indeed considered the most powerful person in the world today. It’s even questionable whether any Saints at the Peak Realm still exist in this era... that’s an unknown.”

”So what connection do the Four Cardinal Divine Beasts have with Beidou’s Eighth Star?” Huo Wei asked.

”It’s hard to say if there’s a direct connection. However, in Ancient Times, on the very day Beidou’s Eighth Star fell to the mortal realm, the Four Cardinal Divine Beasts also vanished completely from the world. And it was from that moment, the fall of Beidou’s Eighth Star, that humanity... began its rise!”

Huo Wanzhang continued, ”So, one theory is that the Four Cardinal Divine Beasts suppressed humanity’s destiny, preventing them from rising. Beidou’s Eighth Star, taking pity on all living beings, descended from the heavens to suppress the Four Cardinal Divine Beasts, thereby liberating humanity’s destiny...”

”There’s a story like that?” Huo Danqiong and the others were all dumbfounded.

Huo Wanzhang chuckled. ”Of course, no one knows if this legend is true or not. But one thing is certain: after descending to the mortal world, Beidou’s Eighth Star has never been able to return! Therefore, since that time, a saying began to spread: anyone who can obtain Beidou’s Eighth Star and refine it can take its place and become that very star!”

”Is that true?” Huo Danqiong and the others’ breath quickened. The news... was simply too staggering!

’A treasure in Cangqiong... obtain it and achieve immortality!’

So it wasn’t just a prophecy—it was based on a true story!

This revelation was simply too shocking!

”It’s true enough, but don’t get your hopes up. Without reaching the Saint Realm... who could possibly refine Beidou’s Eighth Star?” Huo Wanzhang said, pouring cold water on their excitement.

Even so, Huo Danqiong and the others still felt an inexplicable excitement.

Huo Danqiong asked, ”Uncle Wanzhang, does that mean this Xu Luo... is the reincarnation of Beidou’s Eighth Star?”

Huo Wanzhang shook his head. ”We can’t be certain. No one knows what form Beidou’s Eighth Star took after it descended to the mortal world. But one thing is certain—and this is something the Supreme Elder painstakingly divined—Beidou’s Eighth Star has begun to awaken! If we wait until it’s fully awakened, trying to obtain and refine it... will likely be impossible.”

”So, we must capture him before he has fully matured?” Huo Danqiong asked.

Huo Wanzhang nodded. ”Exactly!”

”But how did this whole affair get connected to a mortal youth? Is it... just because his rise coincided with the failure of the Star Festival?” Huo Wei asked.

”Although the Cangqiong Empire is just a secular nation, its origins are anything but simple. According to the Supreme Elder’s calculations, the Cangqiong Empire is under the protection of the Big Dipper. Their Star Festival, held once every hundred years, is proof of this.”

”A few years ago, the Supreme Elder emerged from seclusion and performed a divination. He said that Beidou’s Eighth Star had begun to awaken. Furthermore, the divination pointed to the Cangqiong Empire on the Central Plains Star Continent... and that period of time, as we later verified, was precisely when the Cangqiong Empire’s Star Festival failed!”

”So, according to the Supreme Elder’s calculations, Beidou’s Eighth Star must be in Cangqiong!” Huo Wanzhang said. ”From that moment on, we began sending people into the Central Plains Star Continent to investigate. Originally, no one would have paid any attention to a boy from the mortal world...”

”Then how did the investigation eventually lead to Xu Luo?” Huo Wei asked.

”In truth, our focus had always been solely on the sects of the Central Plains Star Continent. This included the Su Family, who had also caught wind of the news. They entered the Central Plains Star Continent under the pretext of reclaiming an ancestral artifact and wiped out their own family’s branch there... but in reality, their true goal was also Beidou’s Eighth Star!”

Huo Wanzhang sneered. ”Unfortunately for them, they only learned that Beidou’s Eighth Star was in Cangqiong. They didn’t have a Saint as skilled in divination as our Supreme Elder... As a result, the Su Family’s expedition returned empty-handed.”

”Later, this mortal boy, Xu Luo, made a huge name for himself in the Sect Realm of the Central Plains Star Continent, which finally drew our attention. We discovered he was a young man with no status or backing. Many on the Central Plains Star Continent suspected Xu Luo had an Ancient Race background or some other mysterious origin, but according to our investigation, Xu Luo has no background whatsoever!”

”That raised a question: how could a mortal boy, with no powerful support, achieve so much at such a young age?”

”And then, we discovered something very interesting...”

Huo Wanzhang said, ”We discovered... that during this last Star Festival in Cangqiong, this boy... was the Drummer!”

”The Drummer? Isn’t that just a ceremonial title? What’s so special about that?” Huo Wei asked.

Huo Wanzhang explained, ”The position of Drummer has historically been one that only a member of the Cangqiong Royal Family is qualified to hold. While it wasn’t a major issue for Xu Luo, a non-royal, to become the Drummer, the truly strange thing is what happened when he struck the drum... the stars of the Big Dipper all fell!”

”To be precise, it was the Souls of the Big Dipper that fell!”

Huo Wanzhang said faintly, ”This isn’t my claim; it’s what the Supreme Elder said. The old man coughed up a great deal of blood to make that divination! He said the Souls of the Big Dipper descending to the mortal realm wasn’t a fall, but a journey to bring Beidou’s Eighth Star home!”

”This...” A speechless expression appeared on the faces of Huo Danqiong and the others. Huo Danqiong asked, ”Stars... have souls?”

”If they don’t, then where did Beidou’s Eighth Star go all those years ago?” Huo Wanzhang replied faintly.

Everyone’s bodies trembled as they all seemed to understand something.

”You all know of Xu Luo’s various exploits after that. Whether or not this young man is Beidou’s Eighth Star, I can’t say for sure. But one thing is an indisputable fact: he shares some kind of mysterious connection with the Big Dipper!” Huo Wanzhang declared.

Huo Jinwu said, ”Who cares if he is or not? When he comes out, we’ll just grab him, take him back to the Ancient Race, and hand him over to the Supreme Elder. He’ll know at a glance!”

”Exactly! If he really is the one, then our Huo Family of the Ancient Race... couldn’t we produce a True God?” Huo Wei said, his face flush with excitement. ”By then, our Huo Family would be the undisputed number one family of the Ancient Race... No, the number one family in the entire world!”

”A True God... It’s something to aspire to,” Huo Jinwen sighed, rubbing his round belly.

”In that case, this boy truly is shrouded in mystery. It’s making me rather eager to capture and interrogate him thoroughly,” the old woman, Huo Danqiong, said with a gleeful, unnatural flush on her aged face.

It had been many years since anything had so thoroughly captured the attention of these powerful figures of the Sword Saint Realm.