Firmament Sword

”Qianqian, you have to understand. Even without you, those people wouldn’t necessarily have been able to do anything to Xu Luo. I’ve never met him, but I’ve long heard of him. Not only is his rate of improvement unbelievably fast, but he’s also extremely cunning…” Su Qingyi said, looking at Su Qianqian with a pained expression. ”So there was no need for you to do that!”

”No need? Are you naive, or just pretending not to know? Do you think those old bastards in the family will really let me go?” A deeply mocking smile appeared on Su Qianqian’s face. ”Just because they can’t do anything now doesn’t mean they won’t be able to later. The Heart of the Fire Dragon is that important. To them… it’s even more shocking than the legend of Beidou’s Eighth Star. Do you really think… they’ll just let me keep the Heart of the Fire Dragon?”

”Sigh…” Su Qingyi heaved a heavy sigh. After a long silence, he said softly, ”In any case, I won’t let that day come! If it comes to that, I’ll take you… and we’ll run far away! I don’t believe that in this vast world, there’s no place for us!”

”Su Qingyi, you’re a good man, but you… are not the one I love! So… you really don’t need to… waste so much effort on me.” Su Qianqian said coldly, ”This has nothing… to do with you!”

”I’m willing!” Su Qingyi said resolutely. ”You have your stubbornness and persistence, and I… have mine!”

Su Qianqian sighed. ”Why must you be like this?”

Su Qingyi lowered his gaze, turned, and walked out. When he reached the door, he said faintly, ”No matter what, I… will always be on your side!”

Silence reigned behind him. Su Qingyi stood there for a moment, then sighed softly and left, closing the door behind him.

…...

Originally, Xu Luo hadn’t intended to cause such a huge commotion. He had completely underestimated the fervor of the people of the Ancient Race Continent for Beidou’s Eighth Star.

Xu Luo laughed self-deprecatingly. ’So, it’s not just the Huo Family that’s hell-bent on capturing and refining me. It turns out pretty much everyone on the entire Ancient Race Continent wants to get their hands on me... Heh. To think that I, Xu Luo, would one day become a coveted treasure! How interesting!’

Tianya City was just one of the paths to the Sect Continent. There were many other such paths!

In Tianya City alone, hundreds of experts from all over the Ancient Race Continent had already gathered. The other locations were surely seeing a similar scene.

To others, this bustling scene caused by a single person might have seemed like a grand festival. But to Xu Luo, it was simply a brazen, collective act of evil.

People die for wealth, and birds die for food—there was nothing inherently wrong with that. But Xu Luo was a living, breathing person!

A human being of flesh and blood, with all sorts of emotions!

To refine a living human being for one’s own selfish desires—this was something only a true demon could do.

But now, on the Ancient Race Continent, it had become a common goal for everyone, like a nationwide frenzy.

Morality… virtue… honor… At this moment, all such things had been completely lost from these people’s minds.

They were blind to it!

Xu Luo stayed in Tianya City for two days. Every time he went out, he could hear people excitedly discussing how to find and refine Beidou’s Eighth Star.

Even some Martial Artists at the Transformation Realm had come to join the excitement, eagerly discussing what methods could be used to get their hands on Beidou’s Eighth Star.

At this very moment, a similar scene was unfolding in another major city leading to the Sect Continent—Wood City.

This was the largest city in the entire Southern region of the Ancient Race Continent. Over a thousand experts from the Ancient Race Continent had gathered here from all over, preparing to head to the Sect Continent.

「In an ordinary tavern.」

”Speaking of which, has anyone thought of going after his family?” a man who looked to be in his late thirties, with a plain face, a slight paunch, and small, shifty eyes, said. ”If we control his family, he’ll have no choice but to show himself. I heard that Beidou’s Eighth Star… has many beautiful female companions. If we capture them all, and he still doesn’t show his face, heheh…”

The laugh was filled with evil. The others at the table also shared a knowing smile.

A woman in her late twenties spat. ”You’re all talk. If you’ve got the guts, then go capture the family of Beidou’s Eighth Star yourself!”

”Miss, you might not know this,” a man in his forties said to the young woman with a grin, eager to show off his knowledge. ”The Huo Family once sent ten great experts of the Fifth Layer of the Divine Power Realm into the Central Plains Star Continent to find Beidou’s Eighth Star. But they ended up alarming an Elder Saint of the Central Plains Star Continent. With a single, furious roar of the word ’Scram!’, he sent those ten experts, all at or above the Fifth Layer of the Divine Power Realm, fleeing in utter humiliation. So, it’s not that we’re not capable. We just really don’t dare to provoke that Elder Saint!”

”A few pieces of trash, daring to mention themselves in the same breath as a Saint. Aren’t you afraid of becoming a total laughingstock?” A sarcastic voice came from a nearby table. Although filled with scorn, the voice was calm and resonant.

The speaker was a young man who looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in green robes. He sat there quietly. His features were ordinary, but he seemed to possess a wondrous, mystical charm that made people feel an inexplicable urge to get closer to him. And yet, the moment one turned away, his face would be impossible to recall.

Beside him sat a woman wearing a veil. Her figure was graceful. Her wrist, where it showed, was as pale as a lotus root. Her slender hands were as translucent as jade, seemingly a work of nature’s perfection, inspiring an urge to lift her veil and see her true face.

The group, who had been laughing happily, flew into a rage upon hearing the green-robed man’s words. The man in his late thirties shot to his feet, stared coldly at the green-robed man, and said, ”What’s that supposed to mean? Are you looking for trouble?”

The woman in her late twenties glanced at the veiled woman, a sneer on her face. ”Bitches are always so pretentious,” she scoffed. ”Wearing a veil… you’re probably too ugly to be seen, right?”

The veiled woman sat there calmly, as if she hadn’t heard a thing. The young man beside her, however, had a flash of chilling coldness in his eyes. He turned to her and said apologetically, ”Xiaoya, I’m sorry… I think I might have to break my rule about not killing women.”

”If she likes to talk, just let her. Why bother with her? Aren’t you afraid of dirtying your hands by killing someone like that?” the veiled woman said faintly.

”Hahahaha! Aren’t you afraid the wind will cut your tongue for telling such tall tales? Plenty of people have wanted to kill me. But to this day, am I not still alive and well?” the woman in her late twenties let out a coquettish laugh, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Someone in the crowd who recognized the woman quickly warned his companion, ”Don’t stare. That woman is bad news!”

”Huh? What’s her story?”

”Ever heard of the Red Spider?”

”*Gasp*… So she’s…”

”Now you know. That man and woman are in for it.”

The tavern buzzed with discussion. After learning the true identity of the woman in her late twenties, everyone’s gazes became cautious, no longer as brazen as before.

Red Spider’s fame had skyrocketed on the Ancient Race Continent in recent years. She was a rising star, but her power was immense. She was especially skilled with a certain poison; even great experts far stronger than her found it impossible to guard against.

Within a few years, many important figures had died at Red Spider’s hands. Just as they feared the Huo Family, many people were deeply wary of Red Spider and didn’t dare to cause trouble with her.

Many people never expected to run into the infamous Red Spider in a place like this. It seemed this woman also had a strong interest in Beidou’s Eighth Star!

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have appeared here.

”That’s because you’ve never met me,” the green-robed man said faintly. He took a sip of wine, gently set down his cup, raised his head, and glanced at Red Spider.

A smile appeared on Red Spider’s beautiful face. She shot the green-robed man a seductive look, then glanced triumphantly at the veiled woman.

The veiled woman sighed softly and muttered, ’To be so utterly clueless about who you’re messing with… I really don’t know how she managed to make such a big name for herself. Has the Ancient Race Continent really fallen so far that any random person can become famous?’

Before Red Spider and her companions could react, two beams of light shot out from the green-robed man’s eyes. Within the light, there seemed to exist two separate worlds!

They shot directly toward Red Spider, pressing down on her!

At that moment, Red Spider was completely captivated by the worlds in the light. A joyful glint flashed in her eyes, as if she had discovered something delightful within those worlds.

THUD!

Red Spider toppled backward, landing with a dull thud. Then, blood started pouring from her seven orifices, and she was dead.

BOOM!

The entire tavern exploded in an uproar. Gasps of shock filled the tavern. Everyone shot to their feet, many with looks of terror on their faces as they stared at the green-robed man. Someone roared in a low voice, ”The Demon King… he’s the Demon King!”

”Which Demon King?” someone asked.

”On the Ancient Race Continent… what other Demon King is there who can kill with a single look?” The speaker’s voice trembled as he turned to leave, seemingly unwilling to stay a second longer.

However, as the man was walking forward, he found his body seemed to have stopped moving. Then, he saw a pair of legs stepping forward… yes, only a pair of legs!

It all happened in a flash.

”AHH!” The man let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell heavily to the ground. He wasn’t dead yet and continued to shriek in agony.

”You were just insulting my brother,” the green-robed man said faintly. He then looked at the man in his late thirties who had been sitting with Red Spider. ”Trash like you dares to target my family? All of you can just die!”

As he spoke, ripples invisible to the naked eye began to spread out from his body.

Everyone in the tavern was enveloped by these ripples. One after another, people were decapitated. The floor became a river of blood, and the pungent smell of gore filled the air.

The green-robed man continued to kill, calmly explaining his reason for killing each person…