Firmament Sword

After a moment’s hesitation, the Monkey said bluntly, ”Brother, I’ve got to remind you, that big toad’s treasury isn’t so easy to clean out. That’s its accumulation over thousands of years; it’s filled with countless rare and exotic treasures.”

”If you’re really set on raiding its treasury, I’m afraid it’ll fight you to the death. It might even hunt you to the ends of the earth. You have to be mentally prepared for that.”

Xu Luo looked at the Monkey, whose eyes were glinting, and said, ”Don’t tell me, Brother Hui... you’ve never had the same idea?”

The Monkey looked conflicted and said with great hesitation, ”Damn it, of course I have! I’m just scared! Even though we could sneak in quietly and steal the treasures from the vault without a sound, there’s no guarantee we wouldn’t leave some trace behind. Once it finds out we’re the ones who stole its treasures, the consequences will definitely be severe!”

”Are you scared?” Xu Luo asked with a grin.

”Don’t you goad me. My Golden Monkey Race can’t stand being provoked. To be honest, I’ve been hesitating ever since I brought you here. That big warty toad... is just so damn annoying. Making it unhappy makes me happy!”

The Monkey continued, looking at Xu Luo, ”I’m just afraid I’ll drag you into this mess. You just arrived in the Divine Domain, and you’d be making such a terrifying enemy...”

”If we do this, can it be absolutely certain we were the ones who did it?” Xu Luo asked.

”That treasury is guarded by eight Quasi-Kings. Unless... we can kill all eight of them in one fell swoop to eliminate any future trouble, otherwise, if even one gets away, you and I... we’ll both be exposed!” the Monkey sighed. ”Besides, for powerful figures... evidence often doesn’t matter.”

Xu Luo raised an eyebrow and said, ”In that case, this matter does require some careful consideration.”

A faint trace of disappointment flashed through the Monkey’s eyes, but at the same time, he also breathed a sigh of relief. The warty toad’s power was too terrifying. It was like an insurmountable mountain, inspiring awe and fear in all who looked upon it.

Xu Luo continued, ”We have to figure out a way to take out all eight of those Quasi-Kings at once!”

”...” The Monkey was speechless. He thought Xu Luo had given up, but he never expected Xu Luo was actually pondering how to kill all eight of those Quasi-King experts at the same time.

”Those eight Quasi-Kings are no slouches, and they have a very powerful ability...” the Monkey said, looking at Xu Luo. ”If the eight of them join forces and form a powerful battle formation, they can even fight against a King at our level!”

”So... in other words, if one of these eight Quasi-King Realm beings is dead set on escaping, it would be very difficult for us to stop them, right?” Xu Luo asked.

The Monkey nodded and said, ”That’s right. There’s a Teleportation Array near the treasury. The moment they sense danger, one of the eight will definitely use the Teleportation Array to leave immediately to report to that warty toad.”

Xu Luo’s eyes glinted as he asked, ”How much do you know about these eight Quasi-King Realm beings? For example... what do they like? What do they hate?”

”What do they like... what do they hate?” The Monkey squinted, thought for a moment, and then said, ”I don’t know them particularly well, but I’ve heard that a few of the eight are extremely greedy. Because of that, they were apparently taught a harsh lesson by that warty toad.”

’Greedy...’ Xu Luo mused. He then took out the Beidou Sword. After channeling a stream of Divine Sense into it, the Beidou Sword instantly burst forth with a brilliant starlight, shimmering with an incomparable magnificence!

Even the Monkey stared, his eyes practically glazing over. He muttered, ”What a true treasure!” Immediately after, he came to his senses. He looked at Xu Luo and said, ”You’re going to use this sword... to lure them?”

Xu Luo nodded. He then sent a few words to the Monkey via voice transmission. At first, the Monkey listened with a frown, but gradually, his brow smoothed out, and his eyes, which flashed with electric light, grew brighter and brighter.

Finally, he couldn’t help but mutter, ”Humans really are a cunning bunch...”

...

...

The Infinite Saint Emperor’s treasury was unassuming from the outside. It was built beneath a verdant mountain, whose exterior was covered in lush vegetation.

Many towering trees grew on it, some reaching over a thousand feet high, their age impossible to guess.

At the foot of the mountain lay a pool, fed by a clear, cold mountain stream. The water was so frigid that a chilling mist constantly swirled above its surface, never dissipating.

The entrance to the treasury was right there at the foot of the mountain, next to the pool.

Two great snakes, one red and one black, each over a thousand feet long, were coiled lazily here.

The red one had scales that weren’t smooth; it looked more like crocodile hide. Its entire body was a dark red, the color of coagulated blood.

A single horn grew from the red snake’s head. The horn was grayish-white, looking somewhat out of place with the rest of its body.

The black snake had a triangular head, was jet-black all over, and had gleaming scales. Its eyes would occasionally flash with a cold glint.

On closer inspection, one could see five other powerful beings in the vicinity.

A beast resembling a common mongrel, not large in size, was about the same size as a dog from the mortal world. It was covered in drab gray fur and lay there with its tongue lolling out, showing no discernible unique features.

If it hadn’t appeared in such a strange place, it would surely be mistaken for an ordinary mutt.

A small, emerald-green bird, with feathers like carved jade shimmering with light. It was only palm-sized, perched on a branch, dozing off. Its body swayed from time to time, making one wonder if it would fall off the branch at any moment.

A White Fox lay beside the mongrel-like beast. On closer inspection, it actually had three tails!

The White Fox’s fur was long, lustrous, and incredibly smooth. Lying next to the mongrel, it created a strange illusion for any observer. The thought would involuntarily pop into their head: a toad and a swan!

The drab gray mongrel was the toad, and this White Fox was the proud, beautiful swan!

Beneath a towering ancient tree, a chimpanzee squatted. Its body was a mass of powerful muscle, its eyes like lightning. It occasionally groomed its fur.

Occasionally, it would glance at the beautiful White Fox, its eyes flashing with a fervent heat. It was clear that it coveted the White Fox.

In addition to these, there was also a small child sitting by the edge of the pool. He was bare-bottomed, wearing only a red belly-covering. His two small, tender feet were dangling in the pool, kicking at the icy water, letting out continuous peals of cheerful laughter.

A scene like this, if it appeared in a place where humans gathered, might just barely be considered normal. But here, it was far too bizarre.

A hundred times more bizarre than the presence of the mongrel!

Anyone who didn’t know better and stumbled in here by accident would surely think they had wandered into a den of monsters.

But any being familiar with this place would never set foot in this area lightly. Because these seven terrifying beings all possessed the power of the Quasi-King Realm.

What was even more terrifying was the Great God behind them—the Infinite Saint Emperor!

The one that no one could truly afford to provoke was, in fact, that Golden Toad.

In the far distance, Xu Luo and the Monkey stood together. Xu Luo frowned slightly and said, ”No matter how many times I count, I only see seven.”

”The red and black snakes, the gray mongrel, the White Fox, the little green bird, the big chimpanzee, and that bizarre little child... That’s only seven!” Xu Luo said.

The Monkey didn’t answer Xu Luo right away. His eyes, flashing with electric light, stared at the small child by the pool for a long time. Then he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air and muttered, ”I can’t believe it... that thing actually broke through to the King level! Our operation today... is in trouble!”

”That little child... what is its true form? I can’t tell!” Xu Luo asked the Monkey via voice transmission.

”A Mountain Spirit!” the Monkey said, his expression grave. ”When I came here to scout a few years ago, it hadn’t broken through to the King level yet. I never thought it would have broken through by now!”

”A Mountain Spirit?” This was the first time Xu Luo had ever heard of such a thing.

”Right. Mortals in the common world call them Mountain Gods! They’re actually beings born from the Essence of Heaven and Earth that have developed their own consciousness. These things are terrifying. Once they reach the King level, they become extremely difficult to deal with! Because their true form is the Essence of Heaven and Earth, they are... very hard to kill.”

The Monkey said hatefully, ”That warty toad must be raising it as food for itself! If we could get our hands on it, our own power would improve by leaps and bounds!”

The corner of Xu Luo’s mouth twitched slightly. He murmured, ”It’s still in human form. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.”

The Monkey sneered. ”Squeamish! This thing’s true form might just be a rock, or even a clump of dirt. It only takes on a human form after it has achieved a certain level of cultivation. Besides, Mountain Spirits are all incredibly fierce and greedy. If you don’t believe me, you’ll find out in a bit.”

”Right, why are there only seven? Weren’t there supposed to be eight?” Xu Luo asked.

The Monkey said, ”The last one is in the water. It’s a fish.”

”A fish?” Xu Luo found it hard to imagine what kind of powerful fish could live in a pool that was clearly not very deep.

”Don’t underestimate that fish,” the Monkey said gravely. ”It’s probably the most difficult one to deal with among the eight Quasi-Kings. Its speed is incredible, it can fly through the sky, and it’s covered in deadly poison. Except for the Mountain Spirit, which isn’t afraid of poison, the other six don’t dare to provoke that fish.”

Xu Luo nodded, now having a general understanding of the eight Quasi-Kings. He took a slow, deep breath and sent a voice transmission to the Monkey: ”And now... it’s time for my performance!”

”Good luck!” the Monkey grinned, showing his teeth. ”Be careful of that Mountain Spirit. Damn... it actually broke through... That was completely unexpected.”

Xu Luo executed the Shaking Light Step, his figure flickered and abruptly vanished into the jungle.

The Monkey watched the direction Xu Luo had disappeared in and grumbled, ”How is that guy even more familiar with the jungle than I am? He was born to be a thief...”

Nearing the pool, Xu Luo revealed himself. He walked toward the pool, casually stepping on the soft, dead branches on the ground.

Suddenly, the two snakes raised their heads, flicking their crimson tongues. Their cold eyes fixed on Xu Luo.

The small emerald bird landed on the red snake’s head, its gaze also turning in his direction.