Firmament Sword

Meanwhile, Xu Luo was also observing the family. When he mentioned that he had exactly two Spirit Fruits, not a single one of them showed any sign of disappointment. It was as if they hadn’t given his words a second thought.

This allowed Xu Luo to relax completely. ’This family... none of them are the greedy, insatiable type!’

’Otherwise, when they heard I only had two Spirit Fruits, they definitely would have been crestfallen and disappointed. That kind of emotion, even the slightest trace, wouldn’t have escaped my eyes!’

”So... Senior, just take me to the place of your seclusion. The sooner you break through, the sooner the Starlight Sect’s crisis will be resolved, won’t it?” A gentle smile appeared on Xu Luo’s face. This family reminded him of his own, a very heartwarming feeling.

”Alright!” The Starlight Sect’s old ancestor was not one to dither. He nodded and left with Xu Luo.

Watching the old ancestor and Xu Luo depart, Yang Qingchuan was still filled with emotion. He gazed at Xu Luo’s retreating back and sighed, ”What a fine young man. I just wonder if he could...”

Yang Ming said earnestly from the side, ”I think... Brother Luo is a man with a story. He probably won’t stay with our Starlight Sect forever.”

”Heh, I know. I was just thinking out loud.” Yang Qingchuan turned and looked lovingly at his two children, then sighed softly. ”You’ve both grown up... you can now read your father’s mind at a glance.”

”Dad...” Yang Dan walked over, snuggling gently against Yang Qingchuan, and asked, ”Brother Xu Luo will leave us one day, won’t he?”

”I don’t know either, but... I suppose so. He doesn’t belong here with us,” Yang Qingchuan said.

”How do you know he doesn’t belong here, Dad?” A flicker of disappointment crossed Yang Dan’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by an unprecedented motivation forming in the young girl’s heart.

’One day, I will become a true, peerless expert! When that time comes, no matter where Brother Xu Luo is, I’ll be able to find him!’ Yang Dan vowed in her heart.

Yang Qingchuan glanced at his daughter, sighing inwardly, but said nothing more.

...

The Blazing Fire Sect had always been closely monitoring the activities of the Starlight Sect. The successive eruption of two powerful auras finally caught their attention.

”Someone from the Starlight Sect actually broke through at a time like this? How is that possible? According to our intelligence, there shouldn’t be anyone there capable of breaking through to the Transformation Realm... and becoming a new king!”

A Sword King... in the Southern Celestial Divine Continent, they were also called Kings, representing someone who could rule over a region.

”It’s just two people who just broke through to the Transformation Realm. This won’t change the reality of their imminent demise,” another person said coldly from the side.

”Still, we should probably report this to the sect, right?”

”Fine. Otherwise, if the sect finds out, they’ll blame us for poor surveillance...”

Two figures stood on a distant mountain, looking in the direction of the Starlight Sect. Then, they quickly disappeared.

...

The Blazing Fire Sect was one of the most famous major sects in the entire Southern Celestial Divine Continent. With tens of thousands of disciples, it was a powerful force of this generation, a true behemoth.

Over the years, the Blazing Fire Sect had been constantly expanding its sphere of influence. Dozens of smaller sects had already been destroyed and annexed by them, either by force or through threats.

Now, the Blazing Fire Sect had finally set its sights on the Starlight Sect, a medium-sized sect with decent strength.

The weak are prey for the strong; this was the law of this world. Everyone in the Blazing Fire Sect, from top to bottom, saw nothing wrong with this, and they certainly didn’t think the Starlight Sect had any power to resist.

Besides an old ancestor at the Peak of Transformation Realm and their Sect Leader, Yang Qingchuan, the entire Starlight Sect had no other powerful combatants.

This was the consensus of the entire Blazing Fire Sect.

And their Blazing Fire Sect’s Supreme Elder, who was also their old ancestor, was a mighty Sword Saint of the Divine Power Realm!

This huge disparity in power made everyone in the Blazing Fire Sect, from top to bottom, full of confidence about taking down the Starlight Sect.

As a result, even the lowest-ranking servant of the Blazing Fire Sect walked with their head held high, full of swagger and arrogance in front of outsiders.

”The Starlight Sect had two people suddenly... break through to the Transformation Realm these past couple of days. That news is a bit surprising, isn’t it?” a man nearly fifty years old said, sitting and smiling at another middle-aged man.

Though his words suggested surprise, the older man’s expression was quite relaxed, as if he hadn’t given the matter a second thought.

The middle-aged man also said nonchalantly, ”Our inside sources in the Starlight Sect are too low-level; they don’t have access to all the secrets. These two who just broke through to the Transformation Realm must have been hidden by the Starlight Sect.”

”That must be it. But I don’t quite understand—if they were hidden... why choose to make their breakthroughs public?” the nearly-fifty-year-old man said indifferently. ”Are they trying to make a show of force against us?”

The middle-aged man said, ”As things stand, that’s the only explanation that makes sense. Perhaps... after failing to get help from the Cyan Leaf Sect, Yang Qingchuan is truly getting desperate, which is why he resorted to this poor tactic.”

”The Cyan Leaf Sect... heh. Do they even have the guts to stand against us?” the nearly-fifty-year-old man sneered scathingly. ”I think Yang Qingchuan has lost his mind! Does he really believe a mere two Transformation Realm cultivators can frighten us? Or is he trying to imply they have many more... Martial Artists like them? That’s absolutely hilarious!”

The middle-aged man laughed as well. ”We might as well treat it as a joke. It’s nothing more than a dying struggle. Even a worm squirms before it dies, let alone a man.”

”That’s true. I just don’t know when our old ancestor will be back. To be honest, I’m a little worried the Starlight Sect might lash out in desperation. That old fellow of theirs is still formidable. Even though he couldn’t break into the Divine Power Realm, his cultivation is not to be underestimated.”

”Lash out in desperation? They don’t have the guts! That old fellow from the Starlight Sect is probably desperately trying to break through right now, right? Heh, little does he know, the more you force it, the harder it is to break through!” the middle-aged man said. ”Besides... how would outsiders know our old ancestor’s whereabouts?”

”I suppose I was worrying too much,” the nearly-fifty-year-old man said.

...

「Hualong Mountain, Fulong Cave.」

It was located at the edge of the Blazing Fire Sect’s sphere of influence. Further on lay the territory of other major sects.

But the place was deserted all year round.

A legend about the origin of Hualong Mountain had always circulated in the Southern Celestial Divine Continent, a story that could be traced back to the Ancient Era!

In the Ancient Era, the world was not ruled by humans, but by other powerful beings, with the Four Ancient Divine Beasts revered above all!

These Four Ancient Divine Beasts were the Cyan Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise.

Among them, the Cyan Dragon was said to have been born in the Southern Domain, which is today’s Southern Celestial Divine Continent. The sacred ground where it cultivated was right on this very Hualong Mountain!

Therefore, this majestic and beautiful mountain had always held a very special meaning in the entire Southern Celestial Divine Continent, to the point of being considered its holy mountain!

Every year, many Martial Artists even made special journeys from faraway places just to come to Hualong Mountain to pay homage.

There was another very important point... everyone knew the habits of the Dragon Race, so naturally, some people hoped to come here to try their luck and see if they could obtain treasures left behind by the Cyan Dragon.

However, at some unknown point in time, a terrifying creature suddenly appeared in Fulong Cave on Hualong Mountain!

Although it had not reached the level of a Holy Beast, the origin of this creature was truly frightening!

It was a giant Flood Dragon. Some said the bloodline of the Divine Beast, the Cyan Dragon, flowed through its veins. Though unawakened, it already possessed a terrifying power unimaginable to ordinary people!

Others claimed this giant Flood Dragon was formed from one of the Cyan Dragon’s bones that contained its blood essence, which was why the creature carried the Cyan Dragon’s oppressive might!

And still others said the giant Flood Dragon actually had no connection to the Cyan Dragon at all. It had simply, by a stroke of luck, obtained a portion of the Cyan Dragon’s treasure, which allowed it to cultivate to its current terrifying level.

Regardless of the theory, two things remained constant: the connection to the Cyan Dragon and the terrifying nature of the giant Flood Dragon itself! Beyond that, there was one thing that concerned everyone: the Cyan Dragon’s treasure!

As the sacred ground where the Cyan Dragon cultivated before its rise to power, it had undoubtedly undergone heaven-and-earth-altering changes over countless eons. The world was a different place compared to the Ancient Era.

But people still firmly believed that the Cyan Dragon’s treasure could be found here on Hualong Mountain. Even if they couldn’t find the treasure itself, finding some of the things the Cyan Dragon had used... that would also be a massive gain!

But ever since this giant Flood Dragon appeared on Hualong Mountain and took up residence in Fulong Cave, all who came here never returned!

In the past, some great experts, confident in their immense power, had tried to force their way into Fulong Cave, only to suffer a terrible defeat at the hands of the giant Flood Dragon.

After word of this got out, the number of visitors to Hualong Mountain gradually dwindled. Now, almost no one dared to entertain any ideas about the place.

Because the Cyan Dragon’s treasure was merely a legend that no one had ever found, there was no guarantee of reward for coming. On top of that, one had to face the terrifying giant Flood Dragon. Anyone could do the math—the risk simply wasn’t worth the potential reward.

But for Chu Tianlie, there was a reason he absolutely had to come to Hualong Mountain!

He had once obtained an extremely precious ancient tome that recorded detailed information about the Cyan Dragon’s sacred cultivation ground. Later, by observing the various changes that occurred after the giant Flood Dragon occupied Fulong Cave and cross-referencing them with the ancient text, Chu Tianlie came to a conclusion. He was finally certain that within Fulong Cave on Hualong Mountain... there had to be a treasure left behind by the Cyan Dragon!

Not only that, through continuous observation over the years and by searching through various ancient tomes, Chu Tianlie made another earth-shattering discovery!

Within Fulong Cave... he could determine with near certainty... there was a Dragon Pearl left behind by the Cyan Dragon!

As long as he could obtain this pearl and refine it, his future breakthrough from the Divine Power Realm to the Saint Realm... would be completely unobstructed!

The reason that giant Flood Dragon had been entrenched here for countless years... it must be after this very Dragon Pearl!

’A Saint!’

’Such a temptation... who in the entire world could possibly resist it?’