Firmament Sword

BUZZ!

The small jade bottle vibrated as if a billion wild bees were flapping their wings at once, emitting a terrifying hum.

Then, an immense suction force erupted from it.

At that same moment, Du Qingteng’s Square Ancient Inkstone burst forth with an endless black light, anchoring him firmly to the ground below.

The ink-black giant, dozens of yards tall, viciously slashed down at the small jade bottle, creating a deafeningly crisp sound.

CLANG!

The red jade bottle shuddered violently, but then, with a WHOOSH, the ink-black giant was sucked inside!

”Hahaha! Thanks for the treasured ink! The batch you gave me last time... I just finished it! Hahahahaha!” Gao Ping, the man in black, roared with laughter. ”This ink’s value... is no less than that of the Dragon Beard Grass! Du Qingteng... you still haven’t learned your lesson, have you? Hahahahaha!”

But a strange smile appeared on Du Qingteng’s face. He pointed at Gao Ping and cursed, ”You idiot, you think I’m a moron like you? You think I’d fall for the same trick twice? You want my ink...? Hahahaha, just wait for that trashy bottle of yours to rot from the inside out!”

Gao Ping first snorted, dismissing Du Qingteng’s bravado as a bluff. But then, he swept the bottle with his Divine Sense and cried out in alarm. Without another word, he immediately began pouring the ink out of the red jade bottle.

He roared, ”Du, you bastard! How dare you ruin my treasure?”

”I already told you, you’re the idiot here, and now you’re blaming me? Hahahaha!” Du Qingteng laughed triumphantly.

What poured out of the jade bottle was not ink at all, but a dark green liquid. It emitted a foul, fishy stench that filled the air and was incredibly acrid.

When it splashed onto the ground, all the plants were instantly corroded away. Even some of the large boulders couldn’t withstand it and were completely dissolved by the dark green liquid.

Gao Ping was seething with uncontrollable rage, his heart filled with hatred for the damned bald man before him.

He carefully inspected the jade bottle in his hand for a long moment and found it severely damaged from the inside. It would be impossible to repair it anytime soon. Gao Ping gritted his teeth. ”Du Qingteng, you and I are now irreconcilable enemies!”

”Pah! As if we weren’t already!” Du Qingteng’s face was cold as ice. Then, his Square Ancient Inkstone flared with light once more and shot directly toward Gao Ping.

This was no time to play the hero. With his ultimate treasure damaged, he was surely no match for Du Qingteng if the fight continued.

Gao Ping gritted his teeth, turned, and fled!

”Don’t run! Don’t you want the Dragon Beard Grass anymore?” Du Qingteng shouted arrogantly from behind him.

Gao Ping didn’t answer, disappearing into the void in the blink of an eye.

Du Qingteng curled his lip and sneered, ”So self-righteous. Thinks he’s the smartest person in the world. Let’s see if you dare to suck things up randomly with that broken bottle of yours next time!”

With that, Du Qingteng walked toward the mountain peak where the Dragon Beard Grass grew, intending to collect it.

Finding a stalk of Dragon Beard Grass here was quite a stroke of luck. It was precious because when combined with several other Top-Grade Medicinal Materials and refined into an Elixir, it could greatly enhance a person’s Spiritual Power.

For experts at the Venerable Realm in particular, consuming an Elixir refined from Dragon Beard Grass could increase their chances of success at critical moments of enlightenment!

’While it might not be a top-tier medicinal herb, it’s still pretty good...’ Du Qingteng muttered, then suddenly froze. He stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before him, speechless for a long moment.

”You... you... you ate my Dragon Beard Grass?”

Du Qingteng stared at the spot where the Dragon Beard Grass had been growing. A large yellow cat was squatting there, brazenly munching on the plant. The corners of his mouth twitched violently as he roared, ”You actually... ate my... Dragon Beard Grass!”

”What do you mean, *your* Dragon Beard Grass? You humans are so strange.” Master Mao glanced disdainfully at Du Qingteng. ”Does it have your name written on it?”

”Or... is this land your territory?”

”Let me tell you, this entire ten-thousand-mile radius is my territory! This Dragon Beard Grass... was mine to begin with!”

”I’ve never seen anyone so shameless. *Your* Dragon Beard Grass... Tsk!” Master Mao curled his lip, utterly contemptuous of Du Qingteng.

”Damn cat, I’m going to kill you!” Du Qingteng exploded in a fit of rage, roaring as he charged straight at Master Mao.

The moment Master Mao saw the aura erupt from Du Qingteng, he yelped in fright, turned tail, and fled.

”You damn cat, get back here! I worked my ass off and wasted a treasure meant for ambushes just to drive off my opponent, and you sneak up and steal my Dragon Beard Grass while my back is turned! Stop right there!” Du Qingteng chased furiously after him.

”AHHHHHHH, HELP! SOMEONE’S TRYING TO MURDER A CAT!” Master Mao tore off at full speed, shouting, ”Where are the animal lovers?! Help me!”

”What the hell!” The corners of Du Qingteng’s mouth twitched uncontrollably as he cursed inwardly. ’Has this cat become a spirit beast?’

Just then, a voice suddenly called from the distant sky, ”Brother Du, please stay your hand. He’s a friend of mine.”

As the voice spoke, Xu Luo’s figure rushed over from the distance.

Master Mao ducked directly behind Xu Luo, peeking his head out to look at Du Qingteng. He said to Xu Luo, ”How can you be friends with someone like this? This guy is so thick-skinned, completely shameless!”

”...” Du Qingteng was speechless. He glared furiously at Master Mao, then looked at Xu Luo. ”Is this your cat?”

”What do you mean, *his* cat? I am an independent and free being!” Master Mao flashed his claws at Du Qingteng and then went back to munching on the rest of the Dragon Beard Grass.

Du Qingteng’s eyelids twitched erratically. He suppressed the urge to kick the cat to death and said to Xu Luo, ”What are you doing here? Did you get separated from your fellow sect members?”

”Yes, that giant turtle was too terrifying. We all had to flee for our lives,” Xu Luo said.

Afterward, the two found a place to sit down and chat.

Bringing up the giant turtle, Du Qingteng was full of grievances. ”I’ve seen many giant beasts, but never one that huge. It was simply incredible!”

”Did you come in by yourself, Brother Du?” Xu Luo asked, looking at Du Qingteng and noticing his arrogant young servant was gone.

Du Qingteng smiled faintly. ”That attendant... I sent him away.”

Xu Luo nodded and didn’t press the matter.

Du Qingteng looked at Xu Luo. ”So... what are your plans now?”

Xu Luo said, ”I’m looking for something, but I have no leads. I have, however, found quite a few Spirit Medicines...”

Previously, Xu Luo had used his Treasure Hunting Skill to gather all the Spirit Medicine in the area into the world within his Bronze Divine Hall.

If this region had an owner, they would surely weep upon their return, because wherever Xu Luo had searched, almost no Spirit Medicine was left.

The Treasure Hunting Skill was certainly powerful, but it couldn’t help Xu Luo find the one thing he wanted most.

”This ancient ruin was likely its own separate world back in the Ancient Times. It must have collapsed and turned into what we see now,” Du Qingteng said. ”I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I also came in here to find something.”

Xu Luo glanced up at Du Qingteng. ”We couldn’t be looking for the same thing, could we?”

Du Qingteng shook his head. ”What I’m looking for is a type of flame.”

”A flame?” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at him with confusion.

”That’s right. The Cultivation Technique I practice is actually a fire-attribute technique. I’ve hit a bottleneck and must find that specific flame to break through.” Du Qingteng sighed, sounding frustrated. ”And I don’t have a single clue where to find it!”

”Don’t give up. Times like these are when you need to try even harder,” Xu Luo said.

”You’re right. How about we travel together?” Du Qingteng suggested.

Xu Luo nodded. It was often like this. Friends... you don’t necessarily need to know them for years. Many of the most loyal, ride-or-die friendships are forged from a single meeting.

The two of them journeyed deeper to the northwest. Master Mao followed alongside, bickering with Du Qingteng from time to time, so it wasn’t a lonely trip.

Relying on his Treasure Hunting Skill, Xu Luo found all sorts of Spirit Medicine along the way, leaving Du Qingteng wide-eyed with amazement. He repeatedly called Xu Luo a monster.

Many of the Spirit Medicines weren’t even growing on the surface, but none could escape Xu Luo’s search.

The most incredible instance was a treasured herb that had already grown into the shape of a dragon. It was in the belly of a mountain, a full thousand meters deep from the surface!

Xu Luo literally carved his way into the mountain and retrieved it.

The treasured herb had gained near Spirit Communication and tried to escape, erupting with a boundless, precious light, but Xu Luo suppressed it on the spot with his Soul Scripture Stele.

Du Qingteng was nearly stupefied watching from the side. He saw Xu Luo put away the dragon-shaped treasured herb and couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh. ”Any sect that makes an enemy of you... is truly in for some bad luck. You just have to walk a lap around their territory, and they’ll have practically no treasures left!”

Xu Luo smiled. His estimation of Du Qingteng rose even higher.

This person seemed aloof, arrogant, domineering, and insufferably proud. But after getting to know him, Xu Luo discovered that deep down, Du Qingteng was actually a very kind person who was straightforward and reasonable.

It seemed contradictory, but the man before him was exactly such a paradoxical fellow.

He was magnanimous and kind to people he knew, but incredibly domineering and arrogant toward strangers.

Du Qingteng’s own explanation for this was: ”I am the inheritor of Weiyu Mountain. If I act humbly toward everyone, then... the prestige of Weiyu Mountain will plummet!”

”Is it that serious?” Xu Luo asked.

”Even more serious than you think!” Du Qingteng said with a bitter smile. As a Holy Land Inheritor, if he couldn’t project such an imposing aura, he would be ridiculed.

”Don’t just see me as domineering and arrogant, seemingly conceited beyond measure. The truth is, many people... respond to exactly that kind of attitude!” Du Qingteng said.

”Well, I don’t...” Xu Luo said.

Du Qingteng rolled his eyes. ”You’re an exception!”

The two of them traveled northwest for two or three days, crossing an endless expanse of towering mountain ranges. There wasn’t a soul in sight, let alone any ruined ancient sites.

One afternoon, as the two were walking, they suddenly heard a cacophony of noise from not far ahead.

It sounded like a large group of people. They exchanged a look and then, in perfect sync, shot off in that direction!