Firmament Sword

”Big Brother, are you sure the ruins you found... are really in a place like this?” Xu Luo frowned, looking at the seemingly endless marshland before him.

Xu Su nodded seriously. ”That’s right. Think about it. Only a place like this could preserve such a massive ancient site to this day, right? Otherwise, it would’ve been discovered long ago. How else could it have remained for us to explore?”

Perched on Xu Luo’s shoulder, Master Mao nodded gravely. He shot Xu Luo a sideways glance and lectured, ”Your brother makes perfect sense. Unlike you, who’s always spouting nonsense!”

”Shut up!” Xu Luo rolled his eyes, not bothering to engage with Master Mao, who never missed an opportunity to take a jab at him.

Master Mao’s existence was no longer a secret to Xu Luo’s band of brothers, so of course, he hadn’t hidden it from his own brother. However, Xu Luo had never revealed Master Mao’s true identity.

After all, the truth was too shocking. As a descendant of an Ancient Sacred Beast, his existence would undoubtedly stir up a bloody storm if a major sect found out about him!

Under the protection of Xu Jie and his men, Guo Ying and a group of women left Xu Luo’s fiefdom and headed for the Imperial Capital.

Huangfu Chongzhi, however, remained in Xu Luo’s fiefdom. While the others could return to face the great clans pressuring the Imperial Capital, Huangfu Chongzhi alone could not.

His identity was too sensitive and unique. As a Prince, even with his awkward status, no one could deny that the blood of the Royal Family flowed through his veins!

Huangfu Chongzhi also harbored a thought he’d never shared with anyone. Li Yueru’s departure without a word that day had dealt him a heavy blow. He refused to believe that the girl, who seemed so cold on the surface but was actually kind-hearted, could be so cruel. He felt that one day, Yueru would still come back to find him.

With Huangfu Chongzhi holding down the fort in his fiefdom, Xu Luo had nothing to worry about and set off with his brother, Xu Su, on the path to explore the Ancient Ruins.

This Great Marsh before them was vast and desolate, dotted with sparse trees. Floating islands of all sizes were scattered across the swamp.

Occasionally, giant water birds would take flight in the distance, but most of the Spirit Beast-type creatures hid themselves away, having caught Master Mao’s scent from afar.

”How did you guys find this place?” Xu Luo found it a bit strange. His brother wasn’t an Adventurer; he was a true soldier. Logically, they would have no reason to come to a Great Marsh like this.

”Discovering the ruins here was actually a coincidence. This place is located between Cangqiong and Da Han, but because it’s a vast marsh, it’s basically unwanted territory. Of course, from a territorial standpoint, we’d still prefer to claim this Great Marsh for our country.”

”So, at the time, I dispatched a few trusted subordinates to survey the area and draw a detailed map, just to have a record in case we needed it in the future.” Xu Su continued with a smile, ”Who would’ve thought those guys would run into a strange beast—a giant Water Snake, tens of meters long, with a single blood-red horn on its head. They wanted to hunt it, so they tracked it all the way into the depths of the Great Marsh. Then, in the blink of an eye, the creature vanished...”

”It went into the ruins?” Xu Luo asked.

Xu Su nodded. ”Later, they discovered a massive complex of buildings just a few meters underwater. They didn’t dare go in, so they returned to report to me. Around that time, I was at a bottleneck in my training as a Tier Three Sword Venerable. I had a feeling they might have found some ancient ruins, so I decided to go have a look...”

”And Father agreed?” Xu Luo was surprised. Given their father’s temperament, he shouldn’t have allowed his brother to stray from his duties like that.

Xu Su laughed. ”You think of Father as too old-fashioned. Just think, if Father was willing to personally return to the Imperial Capital to petition His Majesty just to make you the Hundred-Year Star Sacrifice Drummer, he would naturally agree to let me explore these ruins.”

Xu Luo thought about it and smiled. He had rarely been by his father’s side since he was a child, as Xu Ji was stationed at the front lines year-round. But fatherly love... Xu Luo had never lacked for that. It was just that his father had always been very strict with his brother, which made him subconsciously feel that his father doted on him more.

”Later, I led a group of men to that place. Unexpectedly, we encountered a terrifying Spirit Beast. It was incredibly powerful—it could instantly freeze everything within a radius of several hundred meters. A few of my subordinates were frozen into blocks of ice and then shattered into pieces. At that moment, I had no choice but to jump into the water before I was frozen solid...”

”An Ice Spirit Beast? Your luck really sucks!” Master Mao interjected from the side. ”An Ice Spirit Beast capable of instantly freezing an area several hundred meters wide should be an adult Tier Eight Spirit Beast. Even I would keep my distance if I ran into one. Of course... it wouldn’t dare to so easily provoke the great Master Mao’s dignity!”

”Keep boasting,” Xu Luo sneered.

”Master Mao is a Tier Nine Spirit Beast! I have a tier-suppression advantage, and my bloodline is infinitely more noble than its! What the hell do you know?!”

Xu Su laughed from the side. This Spirit Beast accompanying his younger brother was just too funny. The bickering between the man and the cat had been endless on their journey, and he had grown accustomed to Master Mao’s pride and constant boasting.

”The moment I jumped into the water, it froze into hard ice. Fortunately, I had the power of a Sword Venerable. After breaking through the ice, I continued swimming downward and found the entrance to the ruins. But that Ice Spirit Beast chased me down as well...” Xu Su recalled the situation with a wry smile.

”Those ruins are likely the well-preserved remains of an extremely ancient sect. I kept running with the Ice Spirit Beast in pursuit. Eventually, I reached a sealed door with no way forward, and the Ice Spirit Beast... was getting closer and closer.”

”I turned around, ready to fight it to the death. But who would have thought that at that very moment, a blinding red light shot out from the door and struck the Ice Spirit Beast. The imperious creature let out a miserable shriek, turned, and fled.”

”I was stunned, unsure if I should retreat or stay. Then, before I could even react, another light shot out from the door and enveloped me...”

Even though his brother was standing before him, safe and sound, Xu Luo still felt a pang of lingering fear as he looked at Xu Su nervously.

Xu Su said, ”At that moment, all I felt was a warmth spreading through my body. I also had the feeling that the ball of light was alive, as if... as if it were watching me!”

”What happened then?” Xu Luo asked with great interest.

”Afterward, the light gradually faded, and then... this pattern... appeared on my hand.” As he spoke, Xu Su held out his right hand to Xu Luo. An ancient totem slowly materialized on his once-unmarked palm.

”What is that?” Xu Luo asked in astonishment.

”It’s the key to the ruins,” Xu Su said, and the pattern on his palm slowly faded away.

Xu Luo was amazed. ”A key? How do you know? Have you already been inside?”

Xu Su shook his head. ”I haven’t. But before the light vanished, a message echoed in my mind... ’The glory of the Ancient Emperor Tribe, a lost civilization, awaits you to unlock it. The key is now in your hand... On the day it sees the light again, the seven stars will converge!’”

As Xu Su spoke, he gave his younger brother a meaningful look. On the day of the Centennial Star Festival, the seven stars had fallen from the sky. His brother, the Drummer, had inexplicably fainted, and when he awoke, he had changed dramatically. Xu Su had always felt that his brother’s rise was inextricably linked to the Beidou.

”I... don’t really understand,” Xu Luo said, shaking his head slightly.

Xu Su said, ”The only part I understood was that the pattern on my palm is the key to the ruins. I wanted to go inside right then, but that’s when Guo Ying and a group from the Stony Sect found the place.”

”The day you were captured by the Stony Sect... was it because of Guo Ying?” Xu Luo asked, raising an eyebrow at Xu Su.

Xu Su explained, ”The people from the Stony Sect had accidentally obtained an ancient map. They followed it to this Great Marsh on two separate occasions, but both times they encountered powerful Spirit Beasts and suffered heavy losses...”

At this, Xu Su smiled. ”If it weren’t for that, it probably wouldn’t have been so easy for you to take down the Stony Sect!”

Xu Luo nodded. Although he was confident in his own strength, he was also well aware that his power was nothing in the face of those formidable sects.

”Afterward, the Stony Sect had no other choice but to ask Dubhe for help. But they didn’t tell the whole truth, so Dubhe only sent Guo Ying. The major sects aren’t stupid; they sent Guo Ying over just to find out what was really going on.” Xu Su then sighed. ”It’s just that Guo Ying was too naive, and that Sect Leader of the Stony Sect was too cunning. I don’t know what methods he used, but he somehow convinced Guo Ying’s master to have her marry him.”

”What other methods could there be? It’s all about benefits.” Xu Luo sneered, thinking of the faction of the Supreme Elder and Grand Elder of Merak. ’Most of these sects are all the same.’

”At that time, Guo Ying led a group from the Stony Sect and found me here. When they spotted me, all of them—except for Guo Ying—immediately attacked. I was outnumbered, injured, and captured. If Guo Ying hadn’t intervened, I probably would have suffered a lot more.”

Xu Su added with a soft sigh, ”So, you can’t blame her for what happened.”

Xu Luo grinned. ”I never said I blamed her. Why are you so nervous? Anyway, you two are head over heels for each other now. You should be thinking about how you’re going to explain this to Sister Mu Yao.”

Xu Su said sternly, ”Enough nonsense. Let’s go explore the ruins!”