Firmament Sword

With a near-demonic existence like Xu Luo around, it was hard for the members of the Martial Soul Squad to improve slowly even if they wanted to!

All sorts of Spirit Medicine were gathered in large quantities along the way, and Huangfu Chongzhi was always the busiest person every day.

The moment they stopped, the fire under his Pill Furnace would be lit long before the one for the cooking pot.

Then, everyone would gather around him, eagerly waiting for the various freshly refined Elixirs.

Huangfu Chongzhi’s Alchemy techniques were already quite good, and now, with an uninterrupted supply of vast amounts of Spirit Medicine, his skills were advancing by leaps and bounds.

It was believed that even the Alchemists from many great sects would drool if they saw the resources he now controlled.

He was simply too rich!

As for the rest of the squad, their feelings toward Xu Luo had gone from initial shock, to admiration, to extreme admiration... and had now turned into numbness.

His god-like ability to find Spirit Medicine was something no one would believe if they heard about it!

He could discover a Spirit Medicine guarded by a Spirit Beast from dozens of miles away. Moreover, no matter the Spirit Beast, they would all flee from a great distance the moment they encountered Xu Luo.

Even on the few occasions when Huangfu Haoran clearly pointed out that the Guardian Beast of a Spirit Medicine had surpassed the level of the black-striped giant tiger, likely a powerful Tier Five or Tier Six Spirit Beast, it still fled from afar.

No one knew why, although every time, Miaomiao would be bombarding Xu Luo’s ears, ”Master Mao! It’s because of Master Mao, ahhh!”

Unfortunately, no one else could hear it. Miaomiao had also grown accustomed to communicating only with Xu Luo, having long forgotten its ambition to become famous in the Human World.

”Why do the disciples of those great sects possess such incredible strength at such a young age? In my opinion, it must be because they have an ample supply of Spirit Medicine and a well-developed system of competition and rewards!” Li Hong said to the group, sitting unceremoniously on the ground with his back against a large tree.

”Now that we have the boss, we have a constant supply of all kinds of Spirit Medicine. I’m sure everyone has noticed their own progress in the last few days, right?”

Everyone nodded one after another.

Liang Ziyi sighed with emotion. ”I originally thought the greatest hope in my life was just to break through to the Great Sword Master Realm. Now, it seems the Great Sword Master Realm isn’t so far away. Maybe... maybe it’s not impossible to dream of reaching that true expert realm above the Great Sword Master!”

”If our Martial Soul Squad were a sect, then the boss would be our Sect Leader! With a Sect Leader like him, it’d be impossible for our sect not to become powerful, hahaha!” Ling Luoxi had completely emerged from the shadow of that day’s events by now.

Only now did he understand how foolish he had been. His petty, greedy thoughts were utterly shameful compared to what Xu Luo was now doing for everyone.

In truth, Ling Luoxi didn’t know the true origin of those four red Vermilion Fruits. Those four fruits, capable of causing the Shaking Light Star Soul to throb violently, were far superior to any of the Spirit Medicine Xu Luo had collected recently!

Don’t be fooled by the fact that some Spirit Medicines had Tier Five, Tier Six, or even higher-tiered Spirit Beasts as guardians. Those four red Vermilion Fruits were the world’s rarest Red Cherry Fruits!

Xu Luo only learned about them afterward, when he saw a description of this type of Vermilion Fruit in Huangfu Chongzhi’s notes.

This type of Vermilion Fruit had extremely harsh environmental requirements. If conditions were even slightly off, it wouldn’t bear fruit. It could be described as a miraculous item nurtured by the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Its value was comparable to the Seven-Colored Light!

It had the effect of regenerating flesh on white bones and bringing the dead back to life!

Ever since absorbing these four Red Cherry Fruits, the Shaking Light Star Soul’s luster had grown brighter and fuller. Moreover, it no longer had any desire to absorb the ordinary Spirit Medicine that Xu Luo collected!

Xu Luo had a feeling: the Shaking Light Star Soul... seemed to be getting full!

This was truly great news. When that time came, nothing would be competing with him for True Essence anymore. His rate of improvement would only get faster!

...

For the next half-month, the group traveled, collected Spirit Medicine, and performed Alchemy along the way.

Most importantly, everyone’s strength had increased dramatically!

Huangfu Chongzhi had reached the Peak Realm of a Tier Four Sword Master. It probably wouldn’t be long before he could break through to Tier Five.

Xu Jie had broken through directly from the Early-stage Second-tier Sword Master to Mid-stage Third-tier Sword Master.

Liu Feng reached Tier Two Sword Master Peak and declared he would catch up to his second brother, Xu Jie.

Sui Yan also reached the level of a Tier Two Sword Master Peak. Although he didn’t make any grand declarations, everyone noticed that lately, Sui Xiaoshi hadn’t even been studying his beloved Mechanical Skill much. He clearly wanted to go further on the path of a Martial Artist.

Li Hong also reached the level of a Tier Three Sword Master and was becoming more and more like a strategist. Within the Martial Soul Squad, his prestige was second only to Xu Luo and Huangfu Chongzhi.

Liang Ziyi was also approaching Tier Two Sword Master Peak. This carefree fellow was grinning so wide you could almost see his back teeth, frankly admitting he never thought he could improve so quickly.

Xiahou Xian, who was obsessed with the Martial Dao, was just a hair’s breadth away from breaking through to Tier Three Sword Master. He was only still at Tier Two Sword Master Peak because he was intentionally suppressing his advancement.

Liu San reached the Mid-stage Second-tier Sword Master. Compared to these freaks of nature, his talent was a notch lower, but he was working just as hard, not wanting to be left behind by his companions.

Xiaotian also reached the advanced stage of a Tier Two Sword Master, just a little shy of the peak. This somewhat arrogant guy eyed the status of his brothers every day, gritting his teeth and wanting to catch up.

Xu Lingtian, the shy and bashful youth, successfully entered the ranks of a Tier Two Sword Master. Although his level wasn’t as high as the others, for him, this was already an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

The most surprising one was Ling Luoxi. He had shot up from the strength of a Tier One Sword Master all the way to Tier Three Sword Master!

As for the speed of his breakthrough, probably only Xu Luo knew the full story. Huangfu Chongzhi knew the gist of it, while everyone else was both surprised and envious.

Although the power of the four Red Cherry Fruits was absorbed by Xu Luo’s Shaking Light Star Soul, they had still altered Ling Luoxi’s constitution to some extent when he swallowed them!

If it didn’t have such an effect, how could it possibly be a treasure on par with the Seven-Colored Light?

Ling Luoxi himself didn’t know why he was breaking through so fast. After thinking it over, he could only attribute it to the incredible power of Huangfu Chongzhi’s Elixirs.

For someone at Xu Luo’s realm, the Elixirs refined by Huangfu Chongzhi were useful, but their effects were no longer that significant.

It wasn’t that the Spirit Medicine was lacking, but that the Pill Formulas Huangfu Chongzhi had mastered could only produce Elixirs with special effects for those below the Great Sword Master Realm.

For Great Sword Masters and above, one needed better Pill Formulas and a higher level of Alchemy, which was still a difficult task for the current Huangfu Chongzhi.

Xu Luo wasn’t in a hurry either. His realm had stabilized at Mid-stage First-tier Great Sword Master. Recently, he had been spending more time practicing the Breaking Army Seven Kills.

Having reached the Great Sword Master Realm, he could now unleash the fourth of the Breaking Army Seven Kills—Great Mountain Collapse!

Although the True Essence consumption was enormous, the power of this killing move was astonishing!

Each of the seven killing moves in the Breaking Army Seven Kills was more ferocious than the last, and each consumed more True Essence than the one before it.

A killing move like Great Mountain Collapse was no exaggeration.

When Xu Luo stood before a massive boulder over ten feet tall, he let out a roar and slammed his fist into it. The incredibly hard rock instantly shattered!

Even Xu Luo himself was left dumbfounded by this scene!

What was even more shocking was that the boulder had shattered with incredible uniformity. Each piece was roughly the same size, as if they had been meticulously chiseled out by a stonemason!

Master Mao, who was also somewhat stunned, refrained from mocking Xu Luo’s move for being too weak for the first time. Instead, he gave an unprecedented compliment: ”Human, that move of yours looks pretty domineering! You’re starting to have some of Master Mao’s style, ahhh!”

”Did I really do that?” Staring at the ground covered in plate-sized stone fragments, Xu Luo was stunned for a long while before muttering.

”Master Mao just gave you one compliment, human. Could you not immediately reveal your arrogant and ignorant side? Master Mao isn’t trying to put you down, but when your strength becomes even greater, a single strike from you could absolutely shatter this boulder into uniform, fist-sized pieces! And when your strength reaches Master Mao’s level... you could even smash this boulder into dust with a single punch! Dust, ahhh!”

”Right now, I’d rather smash *you* into dust with a single punch!” Xu Luo rolled his eyes. ’This guy can’t go a day without bickering with me. He finally manages to say something nice, and he has to follow it up with an insult in the shortest time possible.’

”Hmph, you want to fight Master Mao? Human, give up on that thought! You may be improving, but so is Master Mao, ahhhhh!” Uncle Meow Meow was dismissive of Xu Luo’s provocation.

Xu Luo couldn’t be bothered with Miaomiao and prepared to head back to rejoin his brothers. Recently, they had been cultivating desperately every night, and Xu Luo used this time to go out and practice alone.

”Huh? Wait! Why does Master Mao sense a familiar aura? It’s rushing over here at high speed!” Miaomiao’s voice suddenly sounded in Xu Luo’s ear.

”Hm? Someone’s here?” Xu Luo spread out his Spiritual Sense but detected nothing. Clearly, his Spiritual Sense was far inferior to Miaomiao’s.

”Yeah, yeah, such a familiar feeling. Master Mao seems to... ahhh, Master Mao remembers now! Isn’t that the broke human? Why is he here? And it seems like he’s heading straight for you, kid!”

”Broke human?”

”That’s right! The broke human from that time you had Master Mao go steal... ah, no, go *get* something, and Master Mao only came back with a bronze statue! Xu Luo... let Master Mao go kill him!” Miaomiao was full of resentment at the mention of Wei Yun. It felt that this pauper was a great humiliation in its career as a master thief.

”Wait, how did he find this place? How could he know my travel route?” A cold light shot from Xu Luo’s eyes.

’This mission was personally assigned by General Yuwen Shentong, then relayed to me by Instructor Zhou.’

’The number of people who know about this mission shouldn’t be more than you can count on one hand!’

’Why would Wei Yun, who’s supposed to be at True Martial Academy, appear in the Southern region? And why would he come here specifically looking for me?’

’Could there be a traitor around Instructor Zhou? Did he come all this way just for me?’

Xu Luo’s gaze grew colder and colder as a powerful killing intent emanated from his body. He cursed inwardly, ’Wei Yun... no matter how you tracked me here, you must be after me. I haven’t even settled the score with you for last time, yet you pursue me so relentlessly.’

’You’ve even chased me into another country to kill me. If I don’t leave you here today, you will be an endless source of trouble in the future!’

’Since you’ve pushed me this far... then bring it on!’

BOOM!

The instant the masked Wei Yun landed in front of Xu Luo, before he could even utter a single word, Xu Luo had already blasted a Great Mountain Collapse fist at him!