Firmament Sword

The nights in the Southern Mountain Range were serene. A warm breeze rustled gently through the trees, and the mountain air was pleasant and temperate.

A bonfire crackled merrily, a large pot resting over the flames. The water inside had reached a rolling boil, and several large chunks of meat tumbled about, releasing an incredibly rich aroma.

The firelight flickered across Xu Luo’s young, handsome face, casting it in shifting light and shadow.

The giant eagle crouched nearby. Xu Luo had already applied medicine to its wounds, and it was now staring intently at the meat in the pot.

”Hey, big eagle, don’t you guys eat your meat raw? Why are you staring at what’s in my pot?” Xu Luo grumbled, glancing sideways at the massive bird.

”Who’d eat raw meat when they can have it cooked?” the giant eagle retorted, its voice crisp and clear, as if stating the obvious.

”...” Xu Luo was speechless. He glanced at the giant eagle, which was crouched there like a small mountain. ”But there’s not even enough meat in this pot to get stuck in your teeth!”

”That’s fine. You can just keep cooking for me,” the giant eagle said.

”I’m supposed to be the master here, aren’t I?” Xu Luo grumbled.

The giant eagle snorted. ”If you hadn’t helped me get my revenge, I wouldn’t eat this even if you begged me!”

”Oh, so picky!” Xu Luo rolled his eyes. He took a common Long Sword, speared a large chunk of meat from the pot, and flung it toward the giant eagle with a wicked grin. ”Eat up!”

’Hope you burn your beak!’

To his surprise, the giant eagle opened its beak, caught the chunk of tiger meat, and placed it on the fork of a nearby towering, ancient tree. ”I’ll let it cool down first,” it said. ”It’s too hot!”

”Damn!” Xu Luo muttered. ”It’s gotten too smart for its own good!”

The giant eagle looked smug. ’You’ll have to be cleverer than that to play mind games with me!’

”So, little sister eagle, since you have a chick, you must have a mate, right? How come I haven’t seen him around?” Xu Luo asked casually.

”What do you mean, ’little sister eagle’? I’m far, far older than you. By your human standards, you should call me Sister Ying!” the female eagle retorted, annoyed. She fell silent for a moment, a touch of sorrow in her light tone. ”My mate… was killed by people from the Temple.”

”Uh… Sister Ying. Alright, Sister Ying it is. At least you’ve got more dignity than Miaomiao. You didn’t make me call you Grandma Ying…” Xu Luo muttered.

”Who’s Miaomiao?” the giant eagle asked, puzzled. ”Is that a cat?”

”RAAAWR! It’s Master Mao! Master Mao has arrived! Kid, you’re so ungrateful! Master Mao risked life and limb to lure your enemies away, and what do I find? You’re here, stuffing your face with a feast, and badmouthing me behind my back! Tell me, how is that fair?”

With that roar, Master Mao appeared before Xu Luo.

The black giant eagle tensed instantly. Its sharp eyes locked onto Miaomiao, and its steel-like feathers bristled.

Ever since absorbing the Thunder Beast’s blood essence, Miaomiao had been evolving at a rapid pace. While its raw power hadn’t seen a massive jump, its aura now clearly surpassed that of a typical Spirit Beast and was beginning to approach the higher realm of a Holy Beast.

As a fellow Spirit Beast, Sister Ying instantly sensed the threat.

”Hey, big eagle, no need to be so tense. I’m not going to eat you!” Master Mao sat brazenly in front of Xu Luo. The size difference between the cat and the black giant eagle was like that of a mouse to an elephant, yet here was the mouse casually declaring it wouldn’t eat the elephant. The scene was utterly absurd.

But the black giant eagle wasn’t laughing. It genuinely felt an immense threat emanating from Miaomiao.

Xu Luo shot Miaomiao a look and sneered, ”Risked life and limb to lure my enemies away? Don’t think I didn’t see you snatch the Inner Core from that old man’s Spirit Beast!”

”Did I? I don’t seem to recall.” Master Mao would deny it to his dying breath. He had already swallowed the Inner Core, and Xu Luo couldn’t do a thing about it if the cat refused to confess.

Besides, even if he hadn’t swallowed the white tiger’s Inner Core, Xu Luo wouldn’t have tried to take it.

Xu Luo rolled his eyes, then turned to the black giant eagle. ”Don’t worry, he’s with us. His name is Miaomiao. He won’t hurt you!”

”That’s Master Mao to you!” Miaomiao corrected, rolling his eyes. He looked at the behemoth of a black eagle, his gaze filled with disdain.

The black giant eagle gave Miaomiao a puzzled look, wondering why a Spirit Beast with such an obviously noble bloodline would stick by this human’s side.

’Could he be like me? Subdued by this human through some trickery?’ the black giant eagle wondered, glancing at Xu Luo.

If Miaomiao knew what she was thinking, he’d laugh his head off.

’Master Mao, subdued? I took pity on this weak little human, so I decided to stick around and help him out a bit!’

Having been chased by that old man with the topknot for the better part of the day, Master Mao was exhausted. The moment he saw the meat cooking in the pot, his blue eyes turned green. He transformed into a ravenous wolf and began to gorge himself.

Xu Luo’s mouth twitched. Wordlessly, he stood up with a pained expression and went back to carving more meat from the white tiger’s carcass, wondering how long it would take to fill these two bottomless pits.

”By the way, little sister eagle, what’s this Temple you mentioned earlier?” Xu Luo suddenly recalled.

”It’s Sister Ying!” the eagle corrected. ”The Temple… It’s a powerful and terrifying human sect. A year ago, my mate and I stumbled upon a group of people from the Temple. They wanted to subdue us and make us their Mountain Guardian Spirit Beasts. My mate was powerful, proud, and extremely intelligent. Naturally, he refused. For us Spirit Beasts, we would never mix with humans unless there were truly exceptional circumstances.”

As she spoke, the giant eagle glanced at Xu Luo. ”You helped me avenge my chick. I agreed to be your mount. This is merely a transaction. It does not mean I am your pet.”

Looking at the proud eagle, Xu Luo simply smiled and said nothing.

”Those people called themselves emissaries of the Temple. They said that if we didn’t submit, they would go on a killing spree.” The giant eagle’s voice filled with sorrow. ”My mate fought them to cover my escape… and I fled. If I hadn’t already been with child, I would have fought by his side. We would have died together…”

”Humans are always so vile and self-righteous,” Master Mao grumbled, chewing on a piece of tiger meat.

”It’s nothing, really. The Spirit Beast Realm is the same. The weak either submit to the strong or die,” the giant eagle said glumly.

Xu Luo looked at her. ”Haven’t you thought about revenge?”

”Of course I have. But more than anything, I wanted to raise my chick, to watch him grow… I just never imagined…” Her voice trailed off, thick with grief. ”That’s why. That’s why I was willing to become your mount, just to kill that damn tiger!”

”Well, you’ve gotten your revenge. It’s in your stomach now,” Xu Luo said.

”But I’m not happy,” the giant eagle said. ”I want to take revenge on the people from the Temple, but I know that’s nearly impossible. You saw how powerful that old man was today. In the group we encountered, there were two just like him!”

”*Hiss…*”

Xu Luo couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath, his mouth twitching fiercely.

’So many top-tier experts in the Southern region? Just as I thought. You never realize how powerful these sects are until you run into them.’

’Thinking back, sects like Phoenix’s Merak Sect, Ark’s Tianquan Sect, and even the Stony Sect I destroyed… in the eyes of a truly major sect, they’re probably nothing!’

’The Dubhe Sect, on the other hand, must have a formidable foundation. After all, even one of their traveling Elders possessed the power of a peak Sword Venerable.’

Lost in thought, Xu Luo said casually, ”If I get the chance, I should go check out that Temple.”

”You’re human. If you go, they probably won’t do anything to you. They might even see your talent and try to recruit you as a disciple,” Master Mao said from the side. ”But to powerful sects, a Spirit Beast is no different from a watchdog to a commoner… It’s a harsh comparison, and a hard pill for a proud Spirit Beast to swallow, but it’s the truth.”

The giant eagle nodded in solemn agreement.

”You’re my good partner,” Xu Luo said with a smile, then looked at the giant eagle. ”And so are you!”

The giant eagle remained silent, but a flicker of warmth softened its sharp eyes.

She sensed it too—this human seemed different from the others she had encountered.

At the very least, the fact that this High-tier Spirit Beast who called himself Master Mao was willing to stay by his side spoke volumes.

”By the way, did you find out anything about that sect?” Xu Luo asked Master Mao.

”When Master Mao is on the case, success is guaranteed,” Master Mao said smugly. ”Based on your description, they told me that sect isn’t in the Southern Mountain Range. It’s on a distant island. Normally, you’d need a boat to get there, but now…”

Master Mao glanced at the giant eagle. ”With this big bird around, it won’t be a problem at all!”

The giant eagle turned its head away. ”Call me Sister Ying!”

”RAWR! You haven’t even called me Master Mao! Why should I have to call you Sister Ying?” Master Mao roared.

”Don’t call me that, and I won’t give you a ride!” The giant eagle, realizing Master Mao meant no harm, had grown bolder. Her crisp voice held a hint of mischief.

”Hmph! Fine, don’t give me a ride! Master Mao can just hide in his pocket!” Master Mao shot Xu Luo a smug look and declared loudly.

The giant eagle was left speechless. In truth, she could also shrink down to the size of a normal eagle, but she was accustomed to living in her true form and was thus helpless against Master Mao’s shameless tactics.

”Alright, you two, if you’re full, let’s get going!” Xu Luo stood up, his gaze intense. ”If that old man with the topknot finds us, we’ll all be in deep trouble!”

”You’re just impatient to go bring your mother home, aren’t you?” Master Mao said, looking at Xu Luo with disdain.

Xu Luo coughed. ”Regardless, we need to leave. This mountain range is dangerous. Not just because of the old man with the topknot, but also because of the experts from the Temple. Miaomiao, watch out, or they’ll catch you and make you guard their gate!”