Firmament Sword

Although Xu An’s voice wasn’t loud, everyone present heard him perfectly clearly, and they all reacted differently.

Xu Ji and Luo Xinlan both had happy smiles on their faces, especially Luo Xinlan, whose gaze toward her grandson was filled with doting affection.

Xia Muyao shot Xu Su a fierce glare. Xu Su, looking completely innocent, widened his eyes as if to say, ’I didn’t teach him that!’

Huangfu Shishi, Lianyi, and Phoenix all blushed slightly and stood there, chuckling softly.

Xu Luo asked, ”Why do you ask?”

”They’re all so pretty! When Xu An grows up, I’m going to marry lots and lots of pretty big sisters like them!”

At the innocent words from little Xu An, everyone burst into laughter.

”You little brat! Is that something you should be thinking about at your age?” Xu Su scolded, his eyes wide.

”He’s just an innocent child. What does he know?” Luo Xinlan shot Xu Su a look and moved to take her grandson from Xu Luo’s arms.

But the little guy, still thinking about his gift, refused to leave Xu Luo’s embrace and shouted, ”Uncle Xu Luo still hasn’t given me my gift!”

Xu Luo laughed heartily and took out another item from his robes: a fiery red jade pendant engraved with inscriptions. It was completely translucent and radiated a powerful yang energy.

”This is a piece of fire jade containing a large amount of masculine, yang energy. I can see that young Xu An’s constitution is a bit weak, and wearing this jade regularly should be able to change that!” Xu Luo said.

Xia Muyao had always been worried about her son’s weak constitution. She never expected the problem to be solved by her younger brother-in-law and hurried over to thank him.

Xu Su, however, wore an expression that said this was only to be expected. In his eyes, there was little difference between his younger brother’s possessions and his own, so giving a couple of gifts was perfectly normal.

Just then, a hearty laugh echoed from far outside. ”Third Brother... You’re finally back! We’ve missed you like crazy!”

Following the voice, Little Fatty walked in from outside, accompanied by Sui Yan, Xu Jie, and Huangfu Chongzhi.

Any outsider would have been utterly astonished to see this. Sui Yan, Huangfu Chongzhi, and Xu Jie had all become legendary figures. It wasn’t just ordinary people; even the top nobles of the Cangqiong Empire found it incredibly difficult to get an audience with any one of them.

Yet now, they were gathered together, here at the Xu Family’s residence!

In the entire Cangqiong Empire, Xu Luo was likely the only one who could bring these three legendary figures together.

Although their Fourth Brother, Liu Feng, wasn’t as difficult to see, he too had rarely appeared in public recently.

”Haha, I’m back!” Thrilled to see them, Xu Luo went over and embraced his brothers in a tight hug.

Even Sui Yan, who had grown quiet and taciturn, broke into a happy smile on his usually stern face the moment he saw Xu Luo.

”Third Brother, you’re finally home!” Sui Yan said with a smile. ”If you hadn’t come back soon, we might have had to search the whole world for you!”

Xu Jie clapped Xu Luo forcefully on the shoulder and boomed, ”Not bad! You’ve gotten even tougher!”

Huangfu Chongzhi asked, ”Now that you’re back, you won’t be leaving again, right?”

All eyes fell on Xu Luo. Clearly, more than the happy surprise of his return, this was the question on everyone’s mind.

Xu Luo thought for a moment before replying, ”I won’t be leaving again for a while. But... there are still some unresolved matters on the Sect Continent. I’ll have to go back sooner or later.”

The group fell silent for a moment. Then, Little Fatty said, ”Third Brother just got back, why are we talking about such heavy stuff? Today, we drink until we drop to welcome him home!”

Afterward, the entire Xu Mansion became a hive of activity.

The return of the Second Young Master filled the entire Xu Mansion with laughter. A constant stream of prominent families from the Imperial Capital came to pay a visit, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary figure.

However, most of them were turned away at the gates and were unable to see Xu Luo as they had wished.

It wasn’t that Xu Luo was putting on airs. He was busy drinking and celebrating with his brothers—how could he possibly have the mind for anything else?

Xu Luo took out the Space Gourd filled with Jade Dew, a gift from his Eldest Brother, Song Chengfeng, and drank freely with everyone. Even the women joined in, and they all laughed and chatted happily, holding nothing back.

As they reminisced about the events of the past few years, everyone sighed with emotion.

Little Fatty, slightly tipsy, sighed emotionally. ”Who would have thought that a good-for-nothing fatty like me, born in the secular world, would one day become a mighty expert at the Ninth Layer of the Divine Power Realm! Whenever I think about those members of the super-sects we used to look up to, now tiptoeing so carefully around the Imperial Capital, I feel this genuine sense of pride! It’s so damn satisfying!”

Lan Xin gently chided from the side, ”No swearing!”

Little Fatty just laughed. ”It’s a reunion between brothers today! Nothing’s off-limits!”

”That’s right. I never expected to receive a share of that great fortune either...” Lan Xin said, looking at Xu Luo gratefully.

Xu Luo smiled and said, ”You, my friends and family, are the only ones I can really look after.”

Phoenix giggled from the side. ”I’m not so sure about that. I heard that a certain Saintess who had already lost her standing received a heaven-defying fortune and became the Sect Leader of her sect overnight. And not just that... she’s the first female Sect Leader in the sect’s history, their youngest ever Sect Leader, and also their number one expert...”

Huangfu Shishi chimed in, ”That’s right! She broke quite a few records!”

The corner of Xu Luo’s mouth twitched. Of course he knew who they were talking about: Lin Luoxue of Dubhe!

Technically speaking, there had been significant animosity between him and Dubhe in the past. However, as Xu Luo grew stronger, he no longer paid those old grudges any mind.

As for Lin Luoxue, she had never tried to harm him. On the contrary, she had always been quietly speaking up for him behind the scenes.

Even at the very end, when that ore vein was discovered, Lin Luoxue had chosen to face accusations of inaction rather than oppose him.

Remembering the quirky, mischievous girl he had met in that small town all those years ago, Xu Luo couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion.

Guo Ying spoke up from the side, ”Luoxue is actually a very good person. After she became Sect Leader, she implemented major reforms at Dubhe. The relationship between Dubhe and us has improved a lot since then.”

”That’s right. And some young lady named Xu Qing also received a share of this fortune. I wonder just how many female confidantes a certain someone has that we don’t know about?” Phoenix, who’d had a few more drinks, said with a sly smile, her pretty face flushed as she gazed at Xu Luo.

Xu Luo coughed a few times to hide his awkwardness, then raised his cup. ”Everyone, drink! Haha, let’s drink!”

The Sect Realm on the Central Plains Star Continent was now vastly different from the past.

Moving from past seclusion to present-day worldly engagement, the major sects had started to face the world’s changes with a more positive attitude. They themselves had also undergone significant transformations. A generation of elders with archaic and rigid mindsets had retired, replaced by fresh blood who now led the sects.

There might still be discord among these sects, but their attitude toward the secularly-entrenched Xu Family was surprisingly uniform. It could be described in a single word: Respect!

On the Central Plains Star Continent, the Xu Family represented a new and rising power, one that had shattered the continent’s original balance with irresistible force.

It had only taken a few years for those original super-sects to go from initial rejection to their current state of submission.

After all, before Xu Luo had left the Central Plains Star Continent, many of those super-sects had been filled with malice toward him and the Xu Family.

The Xu Family itself deserved credit for this, but it would have been impossible without the staunch support of Xu Luo and his band of sworn brothers.

Thus, the ”Xu Family” of today didn’t refer to the Xu Family alone. Rather, it referred to the massive power bloc formed by the five sworn brothers and the families backing each of them.

Thinking of the prodigies from the major sects who were once his rivals, all of whom he had left far in his dust in just a few short years, Xu Luo was filled with emotion. It felt as if a lifetime had passed.

In that moment, his mental state actually improved once more.

This was the nature of using one’s Heart as Proof of Dao—at any time, in any place, one’s heart could achieve a new level of completeness.

”By the way, Third Brother, have you ever heard of the Divine Domain?” Little Fatty suddenly asked, looking at Xu Luo.

Huangfu Chongzhi and Xu Jie, sitting at the same table, both revealed strange expressions.

”The Divine Domain? I’ve heard of it. What about it?” Xu Luo asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Little Fatty.

Little Fatty set down his wine cup and sighed softly. ”A while ago, we suddenly got some news about our sister-in-law...”

”Sister-in-law?” Xu Luo frowned slightly, his eyes instinctively flicking toward Huangfu Chongzhi.

Huangfu Chongzhi gave a bitter smile. ”Everyone’s so happy today. Why bring that up...”

”If I remember correctly, the Little Emperor should be five or six years old by now, right?” Xu Luo asked softly. He still remembered when Li Yueru had secretly sent the child to his fiefdom, and how Huangfu Chongzhi had waited there anxiously for so long.

Huangfu Chongzhi nodded and said, ”He’s six now!”

”Time really flies,” Xu Luo remarked, then asked, ”So what exactly happened?”

Little Fatty chimed in, ”Let me explain. It was a while back, not long after that celestial phenomenon occurred and we all received that incredible lucky chance. We had just beaten those people from the Ancient Race Continent so badly they fled back to the Ancient Race with their tails between their legs. The crisis in the Imperial Capital was over, and Fifth Brother had shut down the City Defense Array for maintenance.”

Sui Yan nodded and added, ”Unexpectedly, a few people showed up right at that time. They must have slipped in during the interval when the Grand Array was shut down.”

Little Fatty continued, ”As soon as those people entered the city, they went straight for the Imperial Palace...”

Xu Luo’s eyebrows shot up. ”They were after the Little Emperor?”

”Exactly. They wanted to kill our nephew,” Little Fatty said with a cold sneer. ”Too bad for them, they never expected that even though we’re in the secular world, we aren’t the ants they thought we were. There were four of them. We killed three on the spot and captured one alive. Under interrogation, we learned something completely unexpected.”