Firmament Sword

”Does that woman really think I know nothing?” Wanghai said, his expression cold as ice. ”Her Xie Family and my Wang family have always been at odds within Celestial Brilliance. This time, I snatched the Nether Flower Seed she was dead set on getting. I can only imagine how much she must hate me for it!”

”You are absolutely right, Young Master. That’s why even if that mysterious person has no connection to her, she’d still help them. And what’s more…” a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties said after some thought, ”What if… what if our target this time… could she have sold us out, too?”

”Absolutely not!” Wanghai waved his hand dismissively, his face full of certainty. ”That is completely impossible!”

He glanced at the people around him. ”Unless one of you has betrayed me!”

”We would never dare!” The group fell to their knees, their faces filled with terror.

Wanghai nodded. ”I didn’t say any of you betrayed me. What are you all panicking for?”

”Young Master, our objective this time is indeed top secret. Besides us, no one else in the sect knows. Therefore, that woman Xie Yudie could never know our true reason for coming to Baihua City!” one of Wanghai’s men said.

”Alright, let’s put these matters aside for now. The most urgent task is our mission, and we must ensure there are no mistakes!” Wanghai took a deep breath, his eyes glinting with excitement as he spoke with arrogance. ”As long as I can obtain this inheritance, my power will soar! And when that happens… all of you will rise with me! The future glory of Celestial Brilliance… will be forged by us!”

”We are willing to die for you, Young Master!” the group roared in unison.

…

…

”This place is so gloomy and sinister. Can an inheritance really be found here?” Master Mao looked at the valley ahead, his face full of doubt, grimacing as he spoke with a frown.

Xiaojin, on the other hand, quite liked the environment. ”This place is rather suitable for the cultivation of us flood dragons.”

Xu Luo glanced at Xiaojin. ”If there’s anything in that inheritance suitable for your cultivation, it’s all yours.”

”Wow, that’s great!” Xiaojin’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Its original body had been torn to shreds by a Heaven-Sundering Sparrow. Rebuilding it would take many years. If it could obtain a suitable High-level Technique, the process would be shortened considerably.

”Are we just going to wait here?” Master Mao asked, unsure of how much information Xu Luo had.

”According to Xie Yudie, it’s somewhere in this area, but she doesn’t know the exact location,” Xu Luo replied casually. ”We’ll just have to try our luck.”

”I think… I could go in and scout ahead,” Xiaojin said. ”The environment inside is perfect for yin-attuned creatures like us flood dragons.”

”Are you sure you won’t be discovered?” Xu Luo asked.

”It shouldn’t be a problem!” Xiaojin had been following Xu Luo and Monkey for a while now. It had originally thought it was pretty capable, but it slowly realized it was far weaker than even Master Mao, which was a blow to its pride. ’Now that I finally have a chance to prove myself, how could I possibly pass it up?’

Then, Xiaojin transformed into an ordinary little snake and slithered toward the sinister, gloomy valley ahead.

”That fellow… is probably well-suited for this kind of work,” Master Mao said, watching Xiaojin depart. ”Anyone who can steal an egg from a Heaven-Sundering Sparrow’s nest is definitely not ordinary!”

Xu Luo smiled. Indeed, while Xiaojin’s combat power was a bit lacking, few creatures could compare to its skill in concealment.

Xiaojin was gone for a long time. Master Mao even began to wonder if the little guy had taken the opportunity to escape. A full ten to twelve hours passed before Xiaojin finally returned.

It looked a little shaken. As soon as it saw Xu Luo and Master Mao, it immediately said, ”I found it!”

”You really found it?” Master Mao seemed incredulous. The valley ahead wasn’t enormous, but it still spanned thousands of miles and stretched beyond sight. Moreover, the deeper one went, the heavier the uncomfortable, bone-chilling aura became.

In just that amount of time, could it really have found anything? Xu Luo also had his doubts.

Xiaojin explained, ”After I went in, I didn’t head in any other direction. I just kept slithering deeper. The farther in I went, the thicker the yin energy became. It would probably be unbearable for other creatures, but for us flood dragons, this environment is like being a fish in water…”

”Then, not far from the center, I found a group of people. They were trying to break an Array!”

Xiaojin continued, ”But that Array is terrifying. And inside it, there seems to be an extremely powerful creature. The aura it gave off made me tremble. I didn’t dare to stay long, so I hurried back to report.”

Master Mao glanced at Xu Luo. ”Shall we go over?”

Xu Luo nodded and said to Xiaojin, ”Lead the way.”

Then, with Xiaojin leading, Xu Luo and Master Mao began to venture deep into the valley.

The plants growing in the valley were very different from those elsewhere. Most were a deep green, some even an inky green… almost black, and they all emanated an intensely cold aura.

If Xu Luo and Master Mao hadn’t both been powerful enough to reach the Saint Realm, the aura from these plants alone would likely have been enough to kill them.

In other words, any creature below the Saint Realm that entered this valley would probably die before they even saw anything.

And the deeper they went, the more pronounced this feeling became. Eventually, even Master Mao was grimacing and letting out a low growl from his throat. ”Aaaargh… What the hell is this place? How can the yin energy be this dense? Could this be the legendary Ghost City?”

At that moment, Xu Luo’s gaze suddenly pierced through a hazy cloud of vapor ahead. A divine light flashed in his eyes, as if it had struck something.

SQUEAK…

From within the hazy cloud of vapor, a sound like a mouse’s squeak rang out.

Immediately after, with a BANG, a sound came from within, and the cloud of vapor exploded, revealing the scene inside.

There was nothing there.

But both Master Mao and Xiaojin had clearly heard the sound. Puzzled, they looked at Xu Luo.

Xu Luo said, ”It was an invisible Spirit Body, staring at us with malicious intent.”

”And then?” Master Mao asked.

Although Xiaojin liked the environment here, it couldn’t see everything. Hearing this, it couldn’t help but grow tense.

”I shattered it,” Xu Luo said in a low voice.

This place gave him a very ominous feeling, as if countless pairs of eyes were watching them from the gloomy, dark surroundings.

But when he looked closely, he saw nothing. When he spread his Divine Sense, he found nothing either.

Even with Xu Luo’s powerful Divine Sense, it was difficult to cover a large distance here.

The creature in the hazy mist just now had directed its malice toward Xu Luo, which was the only reason he had been able to sense and kill it.

”This place… seems full of danger. What kind of person would leave their inheritance in a place like this?” Master Mao seemed to be having second thoughts, muttering on the side.

”We’re already here. Let’s check it out before we decide,” Xu Luo said.

There were too many unknown things in the Divine Domain. Forget them; even the top experts in the Divine Domain wouldn’t dare claim to fully understand it.

This wasn’t even considered a forbidden land, just a place within the sphere of human influence, yet it was already so formidable. ’What would it be like if we were in one of the truly famous forbidden lands?’

As Xu Luo thought this, his feet didn’t stop moving. He continued deeper.

As they neared the location Xiaojin had mentioned, Xu Luo heard a series of thunderous booms from afar, accompanied by the roars of some unknown beast.

Xu Luo stopped, took a few steps back, and the sound instantly vanished. He took a few steps forward, and the sound returned.

Xu Luo narrowed his eyes and muttered, ”This place… is really strange!”

”Yeah, there’s no seal or barrier, but it can contain sound within a certain area and prevent it from traveling.” Master Mao marveled at his side. ”This technique… it’s simply brilliant!”

Just then, the sounds of fierce battle once again came from the direction of the noise, and with them, the voices of people.

”Everyone, one more push! Break this Array, then lure this big guy over there, and we’ll be more than halfway to success!”

”For the Young Master! For our future! Let’s give it our all!”

”This damned Array is so tough! It must be millions of years old… To think it’s still running this well. The inheritance inside must be incredible!”

”We’ve used up such an astonishing amount of divine materials. The Young Master spent an unimaginable fortune and prepared countless resources for this, so much so that we even failed to outbid that damn guy for the attack Talisman… Wasn’t it all for today?”

Then, Wanghai’s voice carried over. ”Alright, everyone focus. Although we’re quite confident now, we can’t let our guard down. Sigh… if only we had that attack Talisman, I believe our chances would be even greater!”

”Yeah, with that attack Talisman, we’d be much more confident when we face that big guy in a bit!”

”Speaking of which, that just makes me hate the person who stole the Young Master’s attack Talisman even more!”

”Don’t worry. Sooner or later, that person or someone close to them will show up at the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden. When that time comes, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to deal with him!”

BOOM!

BOOM!

Along with the faintly audible voices, a continuous series of rumbles echoed out.

Xu Luo stood there with his arms crossed, silently watching in that direction. His face was unreadable, but a hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes.

’They’ve spent a massive fortune and used countless divine materials just to break an ancient Array… so there must be something unimaginable behind it!’

’You want to deal with me later?’ Xu Luo sneered inwardly, continuing to watch in silence.

”The Array is broken!” Finally, following a man’s loud roar, a series of earth-shattering booms erupted from deep within the valley, immediately followed by a terrifying beast’s howl.

”Be careful—”

”AH!”

The man who had just excitedly shouted that the Array was broken suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream that was cut off halfway.