Firmament Sword

Lin Luoxue desperately wanted to go over and explain things to Xu Luo, but Nangong Yu Yan at her side whispered, ”Don’t go.”

”Why not?” Lin Luoxue looked at Nangong Yu Yan, surprised. ”He’s my friend!”

Nangong Yu Yan whispered, ”If you go over now, it will only alert his enemies. It’s pointless. It would be better to wait until the Ancient Ruins open. Then, we can just help him from the shadows!”

Lin Luoxue heard her out and felt she had a point, but she was still worried. ”But if we do that, won’t he misunderstand us...?”

Nangong Yu Yan shook her head gently. ”Don’t worry. He’s not that kind of person.”

Lin Luoxue nodded, glancing toward Xu Luo again. She murmured, ”That rascal... he certainly has a way with women!”

Nangong Yu Yan nodded in firm agreement. Then, the two of them slipped away quietly.

Huangfu Shishi was also in the crowd. Though she desperately wanted to go and greet Xu Luo, she felt that Master Mao’s earlier advice made a lot of sense. Forcibly suppressing the longing and impulse in her heart, she shot a fierce glare at the young man from Dubhe and muttered, ”What a piece of work.”

Jiang Tianhai, standing to the side, saw the expression on Huangfu Shishi’s face. When he looked at Xu Luo, his eyes filled with a cold, sinister light.

As Xu Luo’s identity gradually came to light, the fact that he was from the secular world became common knowledge. Huangfu Shishi also hailed from the Secular Royal Family. Judging by her attitude, Jiang Tianhai guessed the two might know each other. But even if they didn’t, he was intensely jealous of Xu Luo. ’Why do you get to be surrounded by so many peerlessly beautiful women? Why does Junior Sister have to have a good impression of you?’

The human mind is the most difficult thing to fathom, the most complex of all. Huangfu Shishi would never have imagined that her few glances toward Xu Luo had already earned him Jiang Tianhai’s resentment.

”Let’s go for a walk,” Phoenix said softly, looking at Xu Luo. She felt a pang of regret. Because of her, not only had a huge storm been stirred up, but so many people had also been dragged into it.

Xu Luo smiled at Phoenix and said, ”Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

A warmth spread through Phoenix’s heart. She nodded gently, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Ji Bingyu, standing to the side, blinked her sparkling eyes. Her gaze darted between Xu Luo’s and Phoenix’s faces, then flicked over to Lianyi, a thoughtful expression appearing on her own.

The market was bustling with a rich variety of goods. There were ancient Spirit Medicines, all sorts of strange metals, and even the sinews, bones, and hides of Spirit Beasts for sale.

As Xu Luo and his companions walked and browsed, he suddenly felt the Jade Balance Star Soul in his Dantian stir, emitting a faint glow as if it were yearning for something.

Xu Luo’s heart skipped a beat. ’Back then, the Shaking Light Star Soul gave me a sign that led me to the Seven-Colored Light. Now the Jade Balance Star Soul is giving me a sign... could it be another treasure?’

Following the guidance of his Jade Balance Star Soul, Xu Luo slowly approached one of the stalls.

The stall owner was an old man, well over seventy years old. The wrinkles on his face were like a network of ravines, his hair was nearly all gone, and he wore a tattered black robe. He sat there with his eyes half-closed, looking as if he were about to doze off at any moment.

On his stall lay a few tattered, dark objects that looked like some kind of metal.

At that moment, both the Shaking Light Star Soul and the Kaiyang Star Soul in Xu Luo’s Dantian suddenly began to radiate an intense light.

Simultaneously, Xu Luo felt the seven stars on the Seven Star Sword within his ring light up as well!

’What’s going on?’ Xu Luo was inwardly astonished, but his expression remained impassive. He walked up to the old man’s stall, crouched down, and began examining the dark metal chunks.

By now, all three of his awakened Star Souls in his Dantian were stirring restlessly, as if they had come to life.

The Seven Star Sword in his ring also seemed to want to break free, and it throbbed uncontrollably!

Noticing someone had come to his stall, the old man didn’t even open his eyes, simply stating in a listless voice, ”Celestial Star Iron. One thousand Spirit Stones a piece.”

”What? Sir, isn’t that a bit of a rip-off?” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow, pointing at the dark, shoddy-looking pieces of metal on the stall. ”You dare ask for a thousand Spirit Stones a piece for this stuff?”

Ji Bingyu also crouched down, picked up a piece, and weighed it in her hand. ”It’s so light,” she said. ”It feels more like charcoal...”

The old man finally opened his eyes, his face full of displeasure. ”If you’re not buying, then put it down. No one’s forcing you. Youngsters these days have no eye for things. This is top-grade Celestial Star Iron!”

A roar of laughter erupted from the surrounding crowd. After all, a group with several stunningly beautiful young women was already eye-catching. Add to that Xu Luo, who had become infamous for killing Ark, the Young Master of Tianquan, and it was impossible for them not to draw attention. Many people had already been watching them for a while.

Now, hearing the old man’s boast, they couldn’t help but laugh.

A middle-aged man at the next stall laughed and said, ”Old man, you’ve got some nerve. You don’t even know what that stuff is, yet you dare to ask such a high price.”

With that, he turned to Xu Luo and Ji Bingyu. ”Young friends, come take a look at my wares! I’m not a swindler like him!”

On the middle-aged man’s stall, several gleaming pieces of metal were prominently displayed.

Just then, a soft gasp of amazement rippled through the crowd of onlookers.

”Heavens, that metal shimmering with silver light... that’s Mithril, isn’t it!”

”And that stuff that looks like gold is refined gold!”

”And that white one, is that Colorless Iron?”

”This man is loaded!”

Refined gold, Mithril, Colorless Iron... these were all top-tier materials for forging weapons. Adding just a little refined gold and Mithril to a sword would drastically improve its quality. If a suitable amount of Colorless Iron were also included, the weapon’s sharpness would be beyond imagination!

In the hands of an Artifact Refining Master, they could be used to forge a truly supreme treasure!

The middle-aged man was quite pleased with himself. He boomed, ”That’s right! These are treasures I spent ten years trekking over mountains and through great marshes to find. If you want them, you’d better act fast. This is all I have, and when they’re gone, they’re gone!”

He then shot another smug glance at the old man. ”A good weapon can even double your combat strength! These are all genuine treasures, unlike the junk some desperate people are peddling...”

The saying ”two of a trade can never agree” is absolutely true. There was a reason this middle-aged man was so keen on belittling the old man next to him.

When the old man had first arrived, he’d looked at the precious metals displayed on the middle-aged man’s stall with utter disdain, remarking that he had some nerve trying to sell a pile of scrap.

And then, the old man had proceeded to lay out his own pile of dark, nondescript, utterly shoddy-looking metal.

This had infuriated the middle-aged man. ’If you had actually pulled out a pile of higher-quality refined gold and mithril, I could have accepted it,’ he thought. ’But you bring out this pile of garbage and still have the audacity to mock me?’

The old man was completely unmoved by the middle-aged man’s taunts. Instead, he hurried Xu Luo along, ”Are you buying or not? If you’re not, get out of here. Don’t disturb my sleep!”

The crowd erupted. They’d never seen anyone do business like this. Were you here to sell things or to take a nap?

The middle-aged man also sneered from the side, ”It’s been three days now. Are these two young friends the first people to take a serious look at your ’treasures’?”

The middle-aged man deliberately emphasized the word ”treasures,” drawing another round of laughter from the crowd. By now, many people had become interested in the precious metals on his stall, so he no longer had time to bother with the old man, and began energetically hawking his own wares.

Xu Luo turned the feather-light, charcoal-like piece of metal over and over in his hands. The three Star Souls in his Dantian were stirring restlessly, radiating a powerful sense of craving.

If Xu Luo hadn’t been actively suppressing it, the Seven Star Sword in his ring might have already leaped out on its own!

This was the first time Xu Luo had discovered the Seven Star Sword possessed such a strong spiritual awareness.

”How about a discount?” The moment Xu Luo spoke, many people were stunned.

The stall’s old owner, and even Ji Bingyu at Xu Luo’s side, stared at him in astonishment. She couldn’t sense anything special about these strange pieces of metal. They had not a hint of spiritual energy, nor did they emit any fluctuations. Their most notable feature was how light they were... a piece could look quite large, but when you picked it up, you could barely feel any weight.

If they didn’t make a CLINK when tapped, you’d think they were just charred lumps of wood, not metal at all.

Lianyi whispered from the side, ”Xiaoluo, don’t let him trick you...”

Phoenix added, ”I can’t see anything special about it either.”

Master Mao’s mocking voice echoed in Xu Luo’s mind from his pocket. ”Kid, do you think every strange thing you find is some kind of treasure? HAHAHA, this old man is preying on arrogant fools exactly like you-ou-ou-ou!”

Many in the crowd were also pointing at Xu Luo, clearly unable to understand why he was so interested in a pile of junk.

Xu Luo remained unmoved. If not for the blatant signals from his three Star Souls and the Seven Star Sword, he wouldn’t have given these unknown metals a second glance. But now... he chose to trust the Star Souls in his Dantian and the Seven Star Sword in his ring.

The old stall owner gave Xu Luo a surprised look and grumbled, ”I’m telling you now, once you buy it, there are no returns or exchanges!”

”Of course,” Xu Luo said, thinking, ’Even if you wanted it back, I wouldn’t let you have it!’

’How could something coveted by three Star Souls and the Seven Star Sword all at once be junk? Even if it is junk, I’ll take my chances!’

With that thought, Xu Luo declared, ”One thousand Spirit Stones. All these pieces are mine!”

The crowd erupted once more. One thousand Spirit Stones was no small sum. Even for a genius with a high status in her sect like Ji Bingyu, it was a considerable fortune.

They never expected Xu Luo would actually buy it, and for such an exorbitant price.

”Xiaoluo, think about it,” Lianyi urged from the side.

”Don’t be reckless!” Phoenix added.

”He’s lost his mind!” Master Mao declared.

And everyone in the crowd was looking at Xu Luo as if he were a complete idiot.

But what was even more shocking was the old stall owner’s reaction. After hearing Xu Luo’s offer, the old man rolled his eyes and said, ”Are you crazy? You think you can buy all my treasures for a mere one thousand Spirit Stones? Dream on!”

The surrounding crowd nearly fainted. They felt like they were about to cough up blood. This world was just too insane.

The middle-aged man at the neighboring stall looked at Xu Luo with pity. ”Young man, while it’s true that one man’s trash is another’s treasure, you still have to know what you’re picking up...”