Firmament Sword

RUMBLE!

Two streaks of light crashed into each other for the eleventh time, unleashing a thunderous roar. The impact made the sky above the entire arena rumble as if struck by a bolt from the blue!

Nie Yunfeng felt the qi and blood in his body churn. He couldn’t help but shout, ”You truly live up to your reputation as the one with the strongest physique among the younger generation!”

”I’m not the one with the strongest physique!”

Xu Luo parried Nie Yunfeng’s long saber with his sword. ”I am the strongest of the younger generation!”

BOOM!

An uproar exploded from the surrounding stands!

Almost everyone was stunned by Xu Luo’s incredibly domineering declaration!

They could hardly believe that Luo Tian would dare say such a thing in front of millions of people.

Although such a sentiment was in the heart of every peerless prodigy, not even Jin Ming had ever dared to say it out loud.

’How does he dare?’ The same thought rose in countless people’s minds.

Yet, because of this one sentence, even more people became Xu Luo’s die-hard supporters!

Why?

Youth… needs passion!

The young need this kind of impulse!

If you’re all stuffy and lifeless, how can you even be called young?

Maturity… To hell with it!

This is how the young should be!

Xie Yurou had been sitting there quite calmly. Even as everyone around her stood up, their faces tense as they watched the situation on the stage, she remained perfectly composed.

’Nie Yunfeng is no match for Luo Tian. There’s nothing to get excited about.’

But when Xu Luo shouted his declaration, Xie Yurou was so shocked she shot up from her seat, her beautiful face filled with astonishment.

’Gods… How could he dare say something like that?’

Xie Yurou couldn’t believe her ears. She couldn’t believe such arrogant words would come from Luo Tian’s mouth.

From under her neat bangs, Qi Yue’s bright eyes stared at the figure on the stage. She murmured, ”Saying that… isn’t it a bit too much?”

But not Su Qianqian!

The young woman had been just like Xie Yurou, sitting there quietly like a lady. Even as her friends around her screamed and shouted as the battle unfolded, she remained unmoved.

When Xu Luo shouted, ”I’m not the one with the strongest physique, I am the strongest of the younger generation!” Su Qianqian leaped to her feet, overcome with excitement. She almost blurted out the words surging in her heart: ’That’s my Brother Xu Luo! That’s the Xu Luo I love!’

’You are the strongest of Celestial Brilliance’s younger generation! Compared to you… everyone else is trash!’

Su Qianqian thought to herself as she gazed at the figure on the stage.

Jiang Botao, who had been standing nearby watching the two fight, was stunned for a moment when he heard the declaration. Then, he couldn’t help but laugh, muttering, ”Good kid. Arrogant enough, domineering enough! He has the same style the Sect Leader had back in the day!”

In the Heavenly Brilliance Sect Master’s private box, a group of Elders stared dumbstruck at Xiahou Kaiyuan.

Xiahou Kaiyuan’s face was calm. He said lightly, ”Why are you all looking at me? You should be looking at the kid on the stage!”

”It’s not that… We were all just wondering how Yuwen Ji could have raised a disciple like this. This kid… no matter how you look at it, he seems more like your disciple, Sect Leader!”

”Ahem…” Xiahou Kaiyuan coughed twice, his expression impassive. ”He is not!”

The Elders nearly gave themselves internal injuries trying to hold back their reactions. They discovered, however, that the Sect Leader was even better at suppressing his feelings, feigning complete ignorance.

You see, when Xiahou Kaiyuan was young, he had once publicly said the exact same thing on the stage of the Annual Competition!

”I am the strongest of Celestial Brilliance’s younger generation!”

The same words, years later, spoken by another youth.

It was like a cycle repeating.

Xiahou Kaiyuan’s gaze flickered as he looked at the figure on the stage, thinking to himself, ’Indeed… this kid really should be my disciple!’

Nie Yunfeng was also stunned for a moment by Xu Luo’s domineering declaration. Then he sneered, ”Whether you’re the strongest isn’t for you to decide!”

”The Twelfth Tyrannical Saber... and the Thirteenth!”

BOOM!

BOOM!

Like two bolts of lightning, the final two strikes of the Thirteen Tyrannical Sabers, containing the combined power of the previous eleven, slashed toward Xu Luo with earth-shattering force!

The unstoppable momentum contained within them could pulverize anything in their path!

Even a great mountain would be cleaved in two by this strike!

”Seven-Star... Heaven-Slaying Technique!”

Xu Luo roared in his heart. The Beidou Sword left his hand, transforming into a streak of light that shot from the earth to the heavens!

The incredibly powerful barrier above the stage, one that even a Venerable couldn’t break, was directly pierced by this beam of light!

In that instant, countless senior figures were stunned. Many even rushed out of their private boxes to stand in the void, gazing at the miraculous scene.

”Impossible!”

”Even someone in the Venerable Realm can’t break the arena’s barrier!”

”There must be something wrong with the barrier!”

”What kind of sword strike is that?!”

”Heavens… That’s too astonishing!”

These cries of amazement, coming from a group of Celestial Brilliance’s senior figures and the current Elders with Real Power, were in a way even more shocking than the sword strike itself!

Because any one of them was a true magnate, the kind of person whose stomp could make all of Celestial Brilliance tremble!

And now… these magnates had all rushed out because of this one sword strike, losing their composure in the process.

How could that not be terrifying?

A flash of unwillingness crossed Nie Yunfeng’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by… grim resolve.

”Originally… I didn’t want to bring this out just yet. I never expected you to force my hand…”

Nie Yunfeng let out a long roar. His entire body… shot into the air as a massive saber… rose up from behind him.

This saber was different from the one in Nie Yunfeng’s hand. Its hilt alone… was tens of yards long, and the blade above it was even more immense.

This was… a Dharma Crescent Saber!

”Is that his Dharma Aspect?”

”Against such a world-shaking sword strike… is a Dharma Aspect even useful?”

”Nie Yunfeng is strong enough, to still be thinking of counterattacking in a situation like this?”

”This Dharma Aspect seems a bit unusual…”

Murmurs of discussion rose from the stands.

BOOM!

Xu Luo’s Seven-Star Heaven-Slaying Technique came crashing down!

Nie Yunfeng roared, grabbing the hilt of the Dharma Crescent Saber behind him. He swung it, unleashing a dauntless aura.

It gave off a deeply disproportionate feeling, like an ant trying to fight while carrying a massive tree!

But everyone held their breath.

Nie Yunfeng roared, ”The Fourteenth… Tyrannical Saber!”

This strike could split mountains and rivers!

This strike was world-shocking!

This strike was boundlessly tyrannical!

No one had expected that Nie Yunfeng, known as the Sword God, could actually execute the Fourteen Tyrannical Sabers instead of the original thirteen!

RUMBLE!

The Fourteen Tyrannical Sabers clashed with the Seven-Star Heaven-Slaying Technique!

The entire stage erupted in a light as brilliant as the scorching sun.

Right then, countless senior figures and top-tier experts of Celestial Brilliance flew out, rushing toward the stage together!

Because the barrier around the stage… could no longer withstand the force and was about to shatter!

And once the stage’s barrier shattered, the terrifying power on the stage… would blast into the surrounding stands.

An unknown number of spectators would die a horrible death!

This duel between them had completely surpassed everyone’s expectations.

From high above, one could clearly see a wave of energy above the enormous stage rapidly contract, and then… violently explode!

The stage’s barrier, which was difficult for even a Venerable to break, proved fragile as glass under this force and shattered with a deafening crash!

Several hundred senior figures and top-tier experts, including Sect Leader Xiahou Kaiyuan, each unleashed a domain. At the exact moment the barrier shattered, they released their domains to replace it, isolating the terrifying power within the stage!

PFFT!

PFFT!

On the spot, no fewer than ten senior figures at the Venerable Realm spat out blood, their eyes filled with utter horror.

As for Jiang Botao, who was right there on the stage, he cursed his bad luck, released his own domain to protect himself, and did his best to redirect the massive, berserk power toward the heavens!

Over there, Sect Leader Xiahou Kaiyuan proved himself to be a true martial brother to Jiang Botao. Their minds were practically in sync. The moment Jiang Botao guided the power toward the sky, Xiahou Kaiyuan… made his move.

A seemingly gentle force pulled at the rampaging power, directing it straight into the high heavens above the stage.

RUMBLE!

After a world-shaking explosion, a great hole devoid of natural laws was forcefully blasted into the heavens high above the stage!

Not a distortion, not a fissure, but forcefully blasted open into a massive hole!

This was the Divine Domain!

Not the Lower Realm with its flawed laws!

The laws of the Divine Domain were perfectly complete. Even a battle between Venerables… could almost never tear the void apart like this.

And yet, two Heavenly Brilliance Disciples in the Great Saint Realm had managed to do it.

”Monsters,” Xiahou Kaiyuan couldn’t help but mutter.

Then, everyone’s gaze fell upon the stage.

The Heavenly Brilliance Disciples in the stands, who hadn’t understood what was happening, now looked at the sky filled with senior figures, Elders, and top-tier experts—even the Sect Leader was there. It seemed they were beginning to understand.

Their faces turned pale. How could they not understand? Just now, all of them had collectively taken a stroll right past the Ghost Gate!

Xie Yurou, Su Qianqian, and the others, however, were all looking toward the stage with immense concern. They were more worried about Xu Luo’s current condition!

As the light and dust gradually dissipated, nearly everyone was stunned by the scene before them.

The once incomparably sturdy stage… was gone.

In its place was a bottomless pit!

Chilling air billowed up from the pit. A figure stood suspended in the air in the center of the great hole.

It was Xu Luo!

He was holding another person’s hand. That person was the unconscious Nie Yunfeng.

Jiang Botao walked over from the distance, treading on the air. His mouth was twitching violently, his eyes filled with amazement.

”Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition, Round of 32. First match: Nie Yunfeng versus Luo Tian. Luo Tian is the victor!” After speaking, Jiang Botao grinned at Xu Luo and said, ”For destroying the Annual Competition’s stage… kid, you’re going to have to pay for it!”

With that, this Grand Elder of Celestial Brilliance, a man of high position and great power, gave Xu Luo a mischievous chuckle and walked away.