Firmament Sword

It felt like walking through a time tunnel. He couldn’t see anyone else, only distorted, multicolored rays of light that stretched into the infinite distance.

All kinds of strange energies swirled around him. Occasionally, a gust of fierce wind would blow past, leaving a stinging, burning sensation on his face.

Xu Luo was shocked. He muttered, ”Whose ancient ruins are these? To think you have to pass through such a magical tunnel to reach them.”

Then, Xu Luo felt a slight change in the atmosphere around him. He had a feeling that he was... just about to enter the ancient ruins!

BUZZ!

A jarring, buzzing noise made Xu Luo think for a moment that he’d come to the wrong place. Then, his vision cleared, and he saw a massive swarm of black beetles completely blocking the entrance to the ruins, so dense they blotted out the sky.

The others who had entered with him were also staring in horror at the sky-blotting swarm of beetles, completely taken aback.

”Holy crap... What are these things?” Tang Xiao stared at the swarm in terror. ”The seniors never mentioned anything about this!”

”Suppress your auras. Not a sound,” Xu Luo whispered.

None of them were fools. They immediately suppressed their auras and pressed themselves against the cliff face by the entrance, not daring to disturb the swarms of insects, which radiated a terrifying presence.

A single black beetle was hardly terrifying, but a swarm this large—a dense, oppressive black mass that looked like a storm cloud—would make anyone’s blood run cold.

Just then, the next group of people began to surge in. Some of the less cautious individuals charged forward the moment they arrived.

”He’s a goner...” Tang Xiao covered his eyes with both hands, but his fingers were spread far apart, his sly eyes staring unblinkingly at the unlucky fool who had just charged out.

BUZZ!

The swarm of black beetles instantly grew agitated, letting out a terrifying drone as they dove straight for the unlucky fool.

”AHH!”

The fool who had charged out let loose a blood-curdling scream.

The aura of his Saint Realm cultivation erupted, blasting away all the beetles that got close to him.

Brown fluid splattered everywhere—it was the beetles’ blood.

A foul stench spread with it.

Instead of retreating, the remaining black beetles seemed to have been provoked, continuing their fearless charge at the man.

The man frantically attacked the incoming insects, letting out agonized howls. His aura crushed countless black beetles, but even more... simply swarmed over and submerged him.

The people who had just come in were all dumbfounded. They stood there, stunned, watching helplessly as the man who had rushed into the swarm was engulfed by the cloud-like army of black beetles.

BUZZ!

In a mere instant, the swarm of black beetles abruptly scattered...

In the next moment, everyone saw what was left in that spot: a skeleton... picked perfectly clean, without a single shred of flesh or blood!

”Run!” someone shrieked in terror, turning to flee deeper into the ruins.

BUZZ!

The army of black beetles descended upon them in an instant.

And then...

After another blood-curdling scream, there was another ghastly white skeleton!

”Gods... Is this fucking hell?”

”Suppress your aura! Hurry, suppress your aura! Once you suppress your aura, the swarm can’t find us!”

Someone shouted loudly.

However, some people were still scared out of their wits. Completely deaf to the warnings, they just kept blindly rushing deeper into the ruins.

This legion of black beetles was like the Grim Reaper’s scythe, frantically harvesting lives.

In less time than it takes for an incense stick to burn, they had killed seven or eight people!

Finally, a heaven-shaking roar echoed from the depths of the ruins. Only then did the black beetles cease their assault. With a final drone, they flew high into the sky like a fast-moving storm cloud, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Many of the survivors couldn’t stop themselves from collapsing to the ground.

Just then, more people were streaming in from the entrance. Seeing a large crowd gathered there, they were all curious about what had happened.

Then they saw the ghastly white skeletons and were rendered speechless.

Some who had just lived through that nightmare were already starting to have second thoughts.

”This isn’t a place for us. It’s too terrifying. I’m going back!”

”It’s nice to have dreams, but reality is cruel. This is no place for a person to be!”

”If the entrance is this terrifying, what could be deeper inside?”

”I’m done. I’m going back!”

Many people muttered fearfully, no longer wanting to remain here.

Xu Luo and his group exchanged a look, then immediately headed northwest as Xie Wanrou had instructed.

A few people noticed them leaving but didn’t pay much mind. Only a small handful exchanged a look before following in the direction Xu Luo’s group had taken.

These ancient ruins were clearly not a friendly place. They had greeted everyone with a show of force right at the entrance. That terrifying legion of black beetles might have seemed like a swarm of unremarkable insects, yet seven or eight people had already died by their attack.

Even after they had walked a good distance, Ming Youyue was still shaken. ”What exactly are these ruins?” she asked. ”I get the feeling... this is more like a Small World!”

The sky overhead was thick with dark clouds, hiding the sun, but the ground beneath their feet was no different from the world outside.

The mountain forests were lush and green, filled with all manner of towering, ancient trees.

Birds and beasts could be faintly seen moving about within, their occasional roars echoing through the woods.

Zhong Jiuyan suddenly spoke up. ”Hold on...”

Everyone turned to look at him, confused.

Zhong Jiuyan narrowed his eyes. ”Something about the ground beneath our feet... it doesn’t feel right,” he said.

As he spoke, the others immediately extended their Divine Sense. And then... in that same instant, the color drained from all of their faces.

Wherever their Divine Sense passed, they could perceive a colossal living creature... right beneath their feet!

The shocking part was that the creature’s size... seemed to be almost unimaginably vast!

”Aren’t... aren’t we... walking on a huge mountain?” Shao Zheng’s lips twitched violently, a flicker of terror in his eyes.

”Don’t move,” Xu Luo said in a low voice.

Just then, the ground beneath their feet suddenly... gave a slight tremor. Soon, the trembling spread and became a continuous shudder.

Then, in the distance, hundreds of miles away, there was a sudden... earth-shaking, mountain-trembling rumble.

An impossibly massive head... slowly rose into the air!

”Oh my god...” Everyone was stupefied, clapping their hands over their mouths, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Then... a rumbling sound began to rise from beneath their very feet.

Next, they felt themselves being lifted higher and higher!

Huge boulders on the ”mountain” began to roll down, and a low, continuous rumbling echoed throughout a radius of a thousand miles.

The massive head, hundreds of miles away, let out a roar toward the sky.

ROAR!

The dark clouds that had covered the sky abruptly shattered and dispersed.

Then, the giant head spoke in a human tongue, roaring, ”Dammit! Master Gui finally wakes up from a nice long nap, and it’s an overcast day? Are you looking to die?”

With the giant turtle’s roar, a ray of sunlight pierced through and shone down.

The scene... left everyone completely and utterly stupefied.

Xu Luo and his group looked at the ”mountain” beneath their feet... their mouths twitching uncontrollably.

So, they were actually standing on the back of a giant turtle a thousand miles wide, as tiny and insignificant... as specks of dust.

”All of you, scatter for me!”

The giant turtle roared at the sky once more.

And just like that, across the thousand-mile sky, cluster after cluster of dark clouds exploded, and areas where it had been pouring rain were instantly bathed in sunlight!

Xu Luo’s group wasn’t the only one to witness this. Far too many others also saw the giant turtle awaken from its deep slumber.

Their reactions... were even more pathetic than Xu Luo’s group. Some had nearly fallen into the chasm created when the giant turtle rose to its feet.

Now, every one of them was staring blankly at the giant turtle, completely at a loss.

”How many years has it been... Has fresh meat finally wandered in? Hehehe, this time... I can finally eat my fill!”

”A pity this damned place suppresses cultivation realms so severely. Otherwise, if a few Celestial Venerables came for me to munch on, now that would be a feast!”

”Oh well, even a mosquito’s leg is still meat! I’ll go block the entrance first!”

”Hm? More food is coming in? Then I’ll wait a moment!”

The giant turtle’s voice was like thunder, spreading across the thousand-mile area. Everyone who had entered these ruins heard it, and all of them were scared witless.

”He’s sad he can’t eat a Celestial Venerable... This... this old bastard of a turtle... just what realm is it at?!”

”Damn it, we came here to find treasure, not to be someone’s dinner!”

”This godforsaken place isn’t for people to enter! It’s a giant trap!”

At that moment, many could no longer suppress their fear and began sprinting wildly back toward the entrance.

If the legion of black beetles had merely made some people consider retreating, now, far more wanted to leave this place.

Being fearless didn’t mean they were willing to die. This was clearly a suicide mission. Only a complete moron would choose to stay here now!

Even Tang Xiao, Yu Tianying, and the others looked to Xu Luo, their faces pale.

Xu Luo frowned slightly. He was struck by a strong, ominous feeling—an immense sense of crisis!

It left him feeling extremely uneasy, as if something terrifying was about to happen.

He sent a mental message to the others, ”Get your Divine Movement Talismans ready... I have a bad feeling about this!”

The others all nodded in understanding.

Xu Luo wasn’t the only one with this ominous feeling. They all felt it too!

They all took out their Divine Movement Talismans, ready to flee the instant things went south.

Just then, a furious roar echoed from the far distance.

”Damn it, the entrance is sealed! We can’t get out!”

”Damn it! This godforsaken place... how do we get out?”

”I want to leave!”

”I don’t want to stay in here anymore!”

Just then, Xu Luo’s group felt the ground beneath them suddenly spin around. Then... they saw the giant turtle’s massive head turn to face the direction of the entrance. It opened its abyss-like maw and, facing that direction... took a deep, powerful breath!