Firmament Sword

Initially, Huo Wanzhang and the others thought Xu Luo would be out shortly. This place was hardly an ideal location for cultivation, let alone a hiding spot.

Not to mention there was a group of people hunting him. How audacious would Xu Luo have to be to hide in a place like this and refuse to come out?

But to their complete surprise... they ended up waiting for over ten days.

Several powerful experts of the Sword Saint Realm had laid an inescapable dragnet, eagerly waiting for Xu Luo to walk right into it... like fools waiting for a rabbit to deliver itself.

A day passed, then two... More than ten days went by... and there was still no sign of Xu Luo. It was... infuriating!

At first, Huo Wanzhang and his group managed to remain patient. They were, after all, elders whose cultivation had reached the Sword Saint Realm, so they hadn’t expected Xu Luo to emerge immediately.

But they never imagined that Xu Luo would be even more patient than them. Over ten days had passed without the slightest sign of movement.

”Could that little bastard have discovered us waiting out here? Is that why he’s too scared to come out?” Huo Wei said, frowning.

”That’s impossible! What realm are we in? He’s just a brat from the Transformation Realm. How could he possibly detect our presence?” said Huo Jinwu.

”Could the boy... be in seclusion, trying to achieve a breakthrough?” Huo Jinwen said, rubbing his round belly.

Huo Danqiong snorted coldly. ”That boy is as slippery as an eel. He probably figured we’d come back looking for him, so he decided to wait a few more days in here.”

”But it’s been over ten days... Why hasn’t he come out? Surely... you’re not suggesting we go down there and invite him?” Huo Wei said, frowning.

Huo Wanzhang took a deep breath and extended his Divine Sense to probe the area below. A moment later, he said in a low voice, ”He’s still there!”

”So can we assume the little brat... really is down there cultivating for a breakthrough?” said Huo Jinwen.

”That’s certainly a possibility.” Huo Wanzhang glanced at the Array they had set up and scratched his head in frustration.

’If I had known this was going to happen, why did I even bother setting up this Grand Array? I should have just charged down there and dragged the boy out myself.’

’I was just afraid he’d escape like last time. To ensure there were no mistakes, I set up the Grand Array and waited for Xu Luo to walk into our trap. But it seems I miscalculated...’

”Why don’t we... dismantle the Array?” Huo Wei suggested.

”I agree. There are five of us Sword Saints. If we’re prepared, how could a mere brat in the Transformation Realm possibly escape from us?” Huo Jinwu added.

”I agree as well. With the five of us watching him, even if that boy really is an eel, he won’t be slipping through our fingers!” said Huo Danqiong.

Huo Wanzhang hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. ”This God-Trapping Array was built with many of our finest materials. It would be a shame to destroy it. Let’s wait a little longer... We’ll give it three more days. If he still hasn’t come out by then, we go in!”

Since he had spoken, Huo Danqiong and the others had no choice but to obey, and they all fell silent.

In truth, Huo Wanzhang’s thoughts didn’t match his words... At least, a major reason for his hesitation was that Xu Luo’s Shaking Light Step... was simply too fast.

But he was unwilling to admit such a thing in front of his juniors. It would be too humiliating.

A group of Sword Saints, famous for years, were rendered helpless by a mere boy in the Transformation Realm, unable to even catch his shadow. If word of this spread, they would lose all face.

「…」

Breaking through from the Transformation Realm to the Divine Power Realm was much more difficult than one might imagine.

Even with the vast amount of Life Energy Xu Luo possessed, it still seemed stretched thin when faced with the enormous consumption required to break through his shackles.

For other Martial Artists, the breakthrough from the Transformation Realm to the Divine Power Realm was primarily a qualitative change in power. Upon ascending to the Divine Power Realm and becoming a Sword Saint, the True Essence within their bodies would solidify into a Golden Core.

Under the influence of the Golden Core, the power they released would carry a hint of mystical arts.

Thus, this realm came to be known as the Divine Power Realm.

For other Martial Artists, breaking through from the Transformation Realm to the Divine Power Realm simply required accumulating enough True Essence in their Dantian. They would then use this True Essence to shatter the shackles on their meridians. Once the meridians were clear, they would use the vast energy now circulating through their Dantian to continuously compress... and compress again.

Finally, all the True Essence within the Dantian would be compressed into that single Golden Core.

And thus, a new Sword Saint of the Divine Power Realm would be forged.

But Xu Luo had no desire to walk the same path as everyone else. In fact, every one of his breakthroughs had been fundamentally different.

He didn’t just pursue the pinnacle of physical power; he also wanted his Spiritual Power to reach the same level simultaneously.

Xu Luo’s Spiritual Power was already formidable. His Sea of Spiritual Consciousness was countless times larger than that of other Martial Artists at his level.

However, triggering a qualitative leap through sheer quantitative accumulation... was still not as easy as he had imagined.

Therefore, after his physical body broke through to the Divine Power Realm and the Golden Core formed in his Dantian, Xu Luo immediately entered that mysterious, starry expanse. He needed to subject his spirit to the same cruel trials, allowing his entire being to perfectly ascend into the Divine Power Realm.

Perfectionism flowed in Xu Luo’s very blood.

Had he been like any other Martial Artist, Xu Luo would have completed his breakthrough long before Huo Wanzhang and his group ever found him.

But right now, Xu Luo was in that mysterious, starry expanse, subjecting himself to a brutal trial.

He traveled along an ancient Star Path, fighting his way from one star to the next. He faced countless opponents—some appeared to be ancient humans, while others were unknown, tyrannical creatures.

Every one of them was incredibly powerful, capable of shattering mountains and splitting the earth with a single gesture. Xu Luo even encountered a cyclops whose face was a blank slate, save for a single vertical eye in the center of its brow.

Upon meeting Xu Luo, the giant first displayed its world-shaking, mountain-uprooting strength. Its immense power was so great that Xu Luo could barely defend against it, and he had to fight for his life just to reach a stalemate.

Then, the vertical eye on the giant’s face opened, and a terrifying scene unfolded.

Xu Luo dodged with the Shaking Light Step just as a beam of light shot from the giant’s vertical eye, striking a massive mountain peak. The mountain, which stood over ten thousand meters tall, was instantly obliterated!

Not even dust remained.

Xu Luo was so shocked he nearly fell from the sky. Then, another beam of light shot from the giant’s eye, striking the void itself and shattering it to pieces.

Xu Luo didn’t know if such creatures had ever truly existed in the world, nor could he imagine what realm of power they had attained.

’I only know one thing,’ he thought. ’If I want to surpass those who came before me, if I want to break through, if I want to truly take control of my own destiny instead of being hunted down like this, I have no choice but to become stronger. I must become stronger!’

He then threw his life into the fight against the giant, unleashing his Time Reversal Skill. At his current level, he could only use its First Layer: the Slow Flow of Time.

In Xu Luo’s eyes, the giant’s movements suddenly slowed. Then, using the Shaking Light Step and wielding the Seven Star Sword, he thrust his blade straight into the giant’s eye.

The giant let out an earth-shattering howl that shattered the surrounding mountains and rivers before it collapsed with a deafening crash.

Along the way, Xu Luo experienced so much. He saw countless Ancient Ancestors, and at times, he even suspected he had traveled back in time... back to the terrifying yet glorious Ancient Era.

Xu Luo walked this path for fifty years.

Outside, five Star Souls guarded his physical body, so Xu Luo had no worries about his safety.

By the end, Xu Luo felt he had pushed the First Layer of Divine Power Realm to its absolute limit. He had perfectly mastered every aspect attainable within the first layer of the Sword Saint Realm.

At last, Xu Luo came to a stop on an unknown, ancient planet.

On a bitterly cold mountaintop, Xu Luo saw an ordinary little tree, growing strong and defying the harsh frost.

The small tree was unremarkable, with no fluctuations of Spiritual Qi, and it certainly wasn’t some rare species. Yet, Xu Luo was moved by the sight.

Aside from this small tree, there were no other living things on the entire mountain.

Yet he sensed no loneliness from it. Instead, the thriving little tree gave off a feeling of vigorous, upward-reaching life.

This life aura wasn’t vast, but it was incredibly pure.

Looking at the small tree, a smile spread across Xu Luo’s weary face. He then sat down beneath it.

And there he sat... for many more years.

By the time the small tree had grown into a large one, Xu Luo... had become like a statue. The Wind and Bingxue on the mountain had almost completely buried him.

The mountain remained, the small tree had become a great tree, and Xu Luo... over the course of a hundred years, he, like the mountain, had not changed. He had nearly merged as one with the mountain, with the sky...

It was as if he had always been a part of the mountain.

In this desolate, lonely world, there was one man and one tree, listening to the Wind sing and the snow speak.

The world was silent and still, so very desolate. Only the tree continued to grow, taller and larger.

A century later, Xu Luo slowly opened his eyes. There was no trace of worldly weariness in them. Instead, like the small tree of long ago, their color was intoxicatingly pure.

This was the place where he had meditated on the Dao for years. The once-ordinary tree seemed to have gained a spirit of its own, for it had grown many extra branches and leaves above his head, shielding him from the Wind and Bingxue.

Xu Luo stood up, an innocent, baby-like smile on his face. The Bingxue on his body vanished in an instant. He patted the tree, which had now grown tall and large, and said with a smile, ”Little tree, thank you!”

RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

The branches swayed gently, as if the tree understood his words.

”Goodbye!”

”If this sky is real, then one day, I will come back to see you. I hope you’ll have grown even taller by then!”

”And if this sky is false, then one day, I will come back and make it real!”

With that said, Xu Luo turned and left without a backward glance.