Firmament Sword

Xu Luo flew away from the Huo Family’s ancestral land. Before leaving the Ancient Race Continent, he did a few more things. Under the guise of Huo Feng, he spread a great deal of information.

”The Huo Family’s old ancestor has fallen!”

”He was killed by a Great Saint from the Central Plains Star Continent!”

”Don’t ever go provoke the Central Plains Star Continent! Even a Saint would die if they went!”

”The Huo Family’s old ancestor was originally going to appoint Huo Feng as the next Patriarch, but the current Patriarch was jealous of his talent and forced Huo Feng away!”

”The Huo Family is incredibly vulnerable right now. All those who hold a grudge against them... can start making their move!”

This massive amount of news spread across the entire Ancient Race Continent with unbelievable speed, leaving everyone who heard it so shocked they felt dizzy and couldn’t even believe it.

”The Huo Family’s Elder Saint, whose Inference Skill was nearing Divinity Transformation, has fallen? That... that’s impossible, right?”

”Is this real? The Huo Family has done countless outrageous things over the years. If not for that Saint holding down the fort, they would have been wiped out who knows how many times by now!”

”The news is very accurate. It was released by Huo Feng himself, the one who was forced out, as revenge against the Huo Family!”

”That’s right! Huo Feng’s mother, Bai Jie, a direct descendant of the Bai Family, personally confirmed it! And Bai Jie has already left the Huo Family and returned to her maternal Bai Family, vowing to get justice for her son!”

”Heavens, the Huo Family’s Elder Saint actually fell... Does the Central Plains Star Continent really have a Great Saint who surpasses the Saint Realm?”

”They must. Do you remember when ten of the Huo Family’s Divine Power Realm masters were sent reeling by a single word, ’Scram’? If it wasn’t someone of an extremely high realm... how could one word seriously injure ten Divine Power Realm masters?”

The entire Ancient Race Continent was in an uproar. The hype surrounding the world-shocking battle at the Endless Ocean was quickly overshadowed by the news of the Huo Family’s Elder Saint’s fall.

Beidou’s Eighth Star... No matter how mythical the legends made him out to be, in the eyes of the world, he was no match for a Saint.

Much less a Saint from the Huo Family being struck down and killed!

This news was extremely disadvantageous for the Huo Family. On the surface, no family immediately jumped out to declare they would move against them, but in the shadows... a dark undercurrent was already surging.

The Huo Family’s morale was shaken. Many of its younger members were even beginning to feel the immeasurable impact of their old ancestor’s fall!

Those who had once regarded the Huo Family with reverence and fear all changed their attitudes when they saw its members again...

The Huo Family Patriarch was filled with endless regret. He regretted not killing Huo Feng on the spot back in their ancestral land. Now, he was completely overwhelmed, struggling to deal with the consequences.

After creating this monumental mess for the Huo Family, Xu Luo departed gracefully, leaving them to deal with the headache themselves!

If the Huo Family of the Ancient Race was wiped out because of this, Xu Luo would even laugh out loud. If that happened, he wouldn’t have to worry about them invading the Central Plains Star Continent ten years from now.

The words the Huo Family Patriarch had spoken at the time were no empty threat. If he said he would perform a Blood Sacrifice of the Central Plains Star Continent to avenge their old ancestor, he would absolutely do it.

Ten years wasn’t a long time, especially for Cultivators who possessed long lifespans. It might be nothing more than the length of a single session of secluded cultivation.

But Xu Luo... he had to use these ten years to make himself as strong as possible so that when he faced the Huo Family in the future, he would have the power to fight back!

Although he felt immense pressure, Xu Luo’s mindset was calm.

He had even escaped the Saint’s Finger—a situation of certain death. He believed that when the time came ten years from now, he would surely find a way to resolve that predicament as well!

After crossing the Boundary Mountain, Xu Luo’s feet finally touched the soil of the Central Plains Star Continent. In that moment, his eyes... grew a little moist.

He had been away for several years!

He had traveled across the four continents of this world and had finally returned!

”This... this is my true home!” Xu Luo muttered to himself. Then, his gaze shifted to the distance, in the direction of the Cangqiong Empire.

”I am here...” A Divine Thought suddenly echoed in Xu Luo’s mind.

”You are... the Great Saint?” Xu Luo was slightly stunned but not overly surprised, as he had already witnessed that kind of earth-shattering power.

”Great Saint? Heh heh...” The Divine Thought was warm and full of goodwill. ”Come, child. I want to see you.”

Afterward, Xu Luo followed the Divine Thought’s guidance, heading east...

Then, Xu Luo was surprised to discover that the path he was taking... seemed to lead directly toward the Cangqiong Empire. Endless speculation rose in his heart. ’Could it be... that the Great Saint is hidden within the Cangqiong Empire?’

For the next few days, Xu Luo traveled continuously, journeying under the stars, day and night without rest.

Finally, he arrived at the true location the voice had guided him to and was instantly dumbfounded. Because... he had been here before!

This endless Great Marsh before him could be considered Xu Luo’s first place of great fortune!

Here, Xu Luo had obtained the Pill Scripture, the Mechanical Skill, and the Casting Skill. He had obtained the Blood Pill and the Beidou Sword, which he had once called the Seven Star Sword!

Even Master Mao had obtained the essence blood of the Thundering Saint Beast here...

’How can it be here?’ Xu Luo’s expression was blank, his heart filled with astonishment.

Just then, a titanic RUMBLE came from beneath the massive swamp, and the entire land began to tremble.

First, a massive fissure split open on the far eastern edge of the Great Marsh. The chasm was bottomless and stretched for thousands of miles!

Then the south, the west... and the north!

In the four cardinal directions, enormous, unfathomable fissures cracked open, forming a square that encompassed the entire Great Marsh.

The rumbling continued, and finally... from the very center of the Great Marsh, the dome of an ancient structure slowly began to rise...

Xu Luo stared, dumbfounded. He remembered that when he, his brother, and Miaomiao had fallen in here all those years ago, they had entered... a different dimension. So where did this massive building now slowly rising from the ground come from?

As this behemoth continued to rise, all the water in the swamp flowed down from its dome, forming magnificent, cascading waterfalls!

Like a Star River falling from the nine heavens, the water vapor filled the air in a spectacular display!

Spanning thousands of miles in every direction, the ancient structure finally revealed itself completely before Xu Luo!

This... was an ancient Divine Hall!

The Divine Hall ascended, soaring into the clouds like a Sky City!

It was immeasurably vast, with no end in sight. The Divine Hall was cyan, and from the outside, it looked like a single, seamless whole. Despite its immense size, not a single joint could be found, as if the entire massive structure had been carved from a single piece of bronze!

The walls of the Divine Hall bore the endless marks of time, mottled with rust and imbued with a wondrous Dao rhythm.

Above the main gate facing Xu Luo, the sun, moon, and stars were carved. They were profound and archaic, exuding a sense of ancient, mysterious vicissitude.

The Great Marsh that had previously been here... was now almost completely gone!

”Come in, child.”

As the Divine Thought arrived, the two main gates of the Divine Hall, mottled with rust and unopened for ages unknown... slowly swung open.

Xu Luo slowly descended from the sky, landing before the Divine Hall’s entrance. He looked up, gazing at the two slowly opening gates. In comparison, he seemed so minuscule...

Compared to the sheer volume of the Divine Hall, Xu Luo felt like a speck of dust.

He didn’t hesitate and walked directly into the Divine Hall. The two doors shut immediately after he entered, but Xu Luo wasn’t worried at all.

Deep down, Xu Luo felt an inexplicable affinity for this massive, archaic Divine Hall. Besides, with the other party’s power, there was no need for such an elaborate scheme to plot against him.

Xu Luo began to survey the space inside the Divine Hall, only to discover that its interior held a world of its own!

The Divine Hall was already enormous on the outside, thousands of miles wide and thousands of miles high—already much larger than the territory of an average small nation.

But the scene before him now left Xu Luo utterly astonished.

Because this place was, fundamentally, a separate world!

Standing at the entrance and looking out, he saw a quiet, endless plain. A river flowed silently through it, and on the horizon, a red sun had already sunk halfway below it.

It cast a crimson glow across the entire sky!

A few lone wild geese danced in the twilight glow, and the great river reflected the sunset, turning it completely red!

Sunset clouds and a lone goose flying together; autumn waters merging with the vast sky!

A beautiful scene of the Mortal World was thus presented before Xu Luo’s eyes.

The distant horizon was endless. Xu Luo was certain that the world within was far larger than just a few thousand miles!

He had entered different dimensions, and he had entered Small Worlds.

But those other dimensions or Small Worlds had, for one reason or another, stopped growing. They were either squeezed by the main world and had no room for expansion, ultimately forming a special, isolated region that people would call a Small World.

A Small World also has its own set of Heaven and Earth Laws, and it will have a sun, moon, and stars... However, most of those celestial bodies are merely projections from the main world, not real.

But the space inside this Divine Hall, in Xu Luo’s eyes, was a flawless... a true world!

This place... was not a Small World!

The sun, moon, and stars in the sky were so real, so clear! They didn’t have that hazy, indistinct feeling unique to Small Worlds.

Between heaven and earth... the laws operated freely, without a single loophole or flaw to be found.

”What... what is this place?” Xu Luo asked subconsciously.

”This... is the core of the Ancient Sun Realm, the Bronze Divine Hall!” the Divine Thought slowly replied. Then, from beyond the horizon, a towering figure appeared. It seemed to prop up the heavens and stand upon the earth, and with every step it took, the ground quaked and the mountains shook as it slowly walked toward Xu Luo.

”The core of the Ancient Sun Realm, the Bronze Divine Hall?” Xu Luo mumbled, then looked toward the massive figure, which was cloaked in the evening glow like an ancient statue.

”Yes. This... was once a world that belonged only to you!”

”I have guarded you through countless reincarnations. You have grown!”

”And now... you have finally come home!”

The tall figure walked over step by step. The closer he got, the smaller he became, until... he stood before Xu Luo, looking just like a normal person.

He was an extremely kind-looking old man, smiling as he looked at Xu Luo.

For some reason, Xu Luo’s nose suddenly tingled, and he felt the urge... to cry.

The old man came to stand before Xu Luo, raised his hand, and first gently patted Xu Luo’s head. Then, facing Xu Luo... he slowly knelt down!