Firmament Sword

The group of men approached menacingly, moving at extreme speed. They emanated a monstrous killing intent and arrived before him in the blink of an eye.

Xu Luo slowly raised his head to look at the group below, a cold, mocking smile playing on his lips.

”Kill him!” The eyes of one group of men were bloodshot as they glared at Xu Luo. They were all from the Tianquan Sect.

Another group, clad in black and masked, were of indiscernible identity, but their gazes toward Xu Luo were also filled with a cold light.

”Kill!” The leader of these black-clad, masked men coldly spat out a single word.

Yet another group, also masked, had arrived as well, but they didn’t attack immediately. Instead, they chose to stand far off to the side, watching.

In fact, at that very moment, a lone figure stood atop a distant mountain peak. Had anyone seen him, they would have been astonished to discover it was none other than Xushan, the Sect Leader of the Jade Balance Sect!

Xushan’s expression was grave as he gazed at the distant scene. He recalled watching the bold young disciple from Merak cultivate earlier and muttered, ’To think that a small sect like Merak could produce such a young prodigy!’

Xushan had been in secluded cultivation nearby when he noticed Xu Luo. He had personally witnessed the entire process: the young man’s aura skyrocketing, only to be forcibly suppressed again.

Xushan had been utterly aghast. He had never seen anyone break through to the Transformation Realm only to forcibly suppress their cultivation level right after.

He had wanted to go over and speak with the young man, but before he could make a move, he saw several groups of people rushing toward Xu Luo simultaneously.

Xushan didn’t alert any of the parties. ’I want to see just how much combat power this young man truly has!’

The men from Tianquan didn’t care about being recognized. They were completely brazen, wearing their sect’s attire as they moved to kill Xu Luo.

The black-clad, masked men also seemed to harbor a deep hatred for Xu Luo. They closed in, their killing intent staggering.

One of the black-clad, masked men lunged at Xu Luo with his sword. The Sword Qi was like a crimson dragon, carrying a powerful killing aura that shredded the surrounding rocks and trees. It was incomparably fierce!

This sword strike even made Xushan, observing from the shadows, pause for a moment. Then, his expression turned grim.

’Blood Vajra Palm… turned into the Blood Vajra Sword Technique. Did they think no one would recognize it? A powerhouse from Dubhe, no less… What are they trying to accomplish?’

Xushan’s eyes glinted as he continued to watch, his gaze cold.

Over on the cliffside, Xu Luo’s eyebrow twitched, and a cold smirk touched his lips. He, too, recognized the origin of this sword strike.

’It seems that Elder from Dubhe really is impatient!’

Casting aside all distracting thoughts, Xu Luo didn’t retreat. Instead, he advanced, pouncing directly at the black-clad man who had just lunged at him. The power of his formidable physique was on full display as he moved with incredible speed!

The man in black paused, momentarily stunned, then sneered, ”You’re courting death!”

Xu Luo, wielding the Seven Star Sword, unleashed a potent killing aura that instantly shattered the masked man’s crimson Sword Qi.

His opponent, startled, tried to retreat.

”Too late!”

Using the Shaking Light Step and relying on his tyrannical physique, Xu Luo exploded forward with incredible velocity. Before the masked man could even react, Xu Luo sliced him—and his sword—cleanly in two!

Bright red blood sprayed into the air in a ghastly, beautiful arc. A metallic stench filled the air. The man, sliced in two, somehow didn’t die immediately. He let out a shrill scream as his body tumbled down the steep cliff face.

The coordinated assault on Xu Luo faltered for a moment!

”He only has the aura of a Sword Venerable! His Cultivation Technique is just powerful and his sword is sharp! Don’t be afraid! All of you, attack together and kill him!” one of the men from Tianquan roared, his eyes bloodshot.

The others snapped out of it. They recalled that Xu Luo’s aura was indeed only at the Sword Venerable Realm; he definitely hadn’t reached the Transformation Realm. If that was the case, they could still kill him right here and now!

”A bunch of idiots!” From the distant peak, Xushan scoffed. Then he muttered, ’Though, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would’ve made the same mistake…’

SHLICK!

A High-tier Sword Venerable from Tianquan was run through the chest by Xu Luo’s Seven Star Sword, dying instantly.

SMACK!

As Xu Luo pulled the Seven Star Sword from the corpse of the Tianquan expert, he swung the flat of the blade, slapping it against the cheek of an onrushing masked man with a sickeningly crisp sound.

The masked man was sent flying, the front of his black hood splattered with the blood of the Tianquan Sword Venerable.

CRUNCH!

Xu Luo balled his left hand into a fist and smashed it into the head of another masked man who got too close, causing the man’s head to explode.

Brain matter and blood flew everywhere!

The power of the Breaking Army Seven Kills had reached a new level!

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The men had only just neared Xu Luo before they suffered devastating casualties, far beyond what they had anticipated.

”The little bastard’s body is terrifyingly strong! It hurts like hell! My arm is broken!”

”Hiss—how is this kid so strong? I... I can’t breathe!”

”My arm... My arm is gone! Aaaah!”

”My sternum collapsed... I don’t want to die... I don’t want to die!”

For a moment, the mountainside was filled with endless, blood-curdling screams. The attackers had come to a terrifying realization.

Their target, Xu Luo, had only ever exuded the aura of a Sixth or Seventh Tier Sword Venerable, but his Cultivation Technique was terrifying! His weapon was unbelievably sharp, and his physical strength was far beyond anything they could have predicted.

It wasn’t that these men were inexperienced or had never seen a genius before, but they swore they had never encountered a monster like Xu Luo.

A mere Sixth or Seventh Tier Sword Venerable was slaughtering a group where the weakest among them was a Tier Seven Sword Venerable. He was beating them so badly they were crying for their mothers and fathers, terrified out of their minds. Was there any justice left in the world?

If they had known, they wouldn’t have dared to come even with a knife to their throats!

Xu Luo remained silent, his gaze focused primarily on the black-clad, masked men. Compared to the Tianquan Sect, whose hatred for him was out in the open, Xu Luo despised these skulking cowards even more.

’Aren’t they just a bunch of Martial Artists from Dubhe? What’s there to hide? The Sword Qi blasting from their swords is blood-red. Do they think everyone else is blind?’

Thus, Xu Luo felt nothing but revulsion for this group and had no qualms about being ruthless.

In less than fifteen minutes, only one of the dozen or so black-clad, masked men remained unscathed. This was only because he was particularly cunning, constantly skirting the edges of the fight. His strength also appeared to be at the peak of the Sword Venerable Realm.

As for the men from the Tianquan Sect, although Xu Luo hadn’t had the time to land killing blows on them, they were not faring well either.

With his true strength at the third or fourth tier of the Transformation Realm, a casual punch from him could break their bones. This was to say nothing of him using the Breaking Army Seven Kills!

Of the fifteen or sixteen men from Tianquan, only five or six were left standing with any fight left in them, and every single one of them stared at Xu Luo with terror in their eyes.

”Damn it all, this is impossible! What revenge? We’re just here to get ourselves killed!” A Tier Eight Sword Venerable from Tianquan finally broke under the pressure. On the verge of a mental collapse, he roared through his tears, turned, and sprinted madly down the mountain.

But he had only taken a few steps when one of the masked men from the group that had been watching on the sidelines—the one that hadn’t attacked—raised his blade. As the unsuspecting Tier Eight Sword Venerable from Tianquan ran past, the man swung and lopped his head right off!

The few remaining Tianquan Martial Artists were stunned. Only now did they realize this group wasn’t their allies, but had come to protect Xu Luo.

”You—what are you doing?!” A Tianquan Martial Artist leaped out of the fray, roaring at the man who had beheaded his companion.

”Heh. If he had returned, he would have leaked information and drawn more people here. Killing him prevents future trouble,” the man replied nonchalantly, as if discussing something utterly trivial.

”You... You still shouldn’t have killed him! Are you and that little bastard in this together?” the man demanded.

”Haha, what do you think?” The masked man smiled. He raised his hand, and a flash of light from his blade, like a rainbow piercing the sun, shot toward the Tianquan Martial Artist.

The Tianquan Martial Artist tried to dodge but realized with horror that the attack was too fast. He couldn’t evade it at all!

He could only watch helplessly as the incomparably sharp Sword Qi split his body in two!

SPLASH... Blood and viscera spilled across the ground. The man died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

By this point, Xu Luo had all but finished off the attackers from Tianquan and Dubhe. The few who weren’t dead had lost all ability to fight. They trembled on the steep cliff face, enduring their agony without daring to make a sound.

In their eyes, Xu Luo was now like a terrifying Demon King.

”Aiya, what a bunch of small fry! It would have been much better to let Master Mao handle them! Why did you have to do it yourself? Master Mao’s sharp claws are getting restless!”

No matter how Master Mao clamored and sent telepathic messages from his pocket, Xu Luo remained unmoved and refused to let him out.

Because the masked men who had just executed the Tianquan Martial Artists didn’t feel like allies.

In fact, among that very group, three individuals emanated a strange and immense pressure that put him on high alert.

His true strength had already reached the Transformation Realm, with combat power comparable to a third or fourth-tier Sword King. How could anyone who made him feel pressured and endangered be ordinary?

With the battle over, Xu Luo retreated, putting some distance between himself and the masked men who hadn’t participated. He watched them with a cool, clear gaze.

”You’ve got some real skill. That level of strength... is on par with the young geniuses from the major sects!” a middle-aged, grey-clad man praised, his voice raspy.

Xu Luo could clearly tell the man was deliberately making his voice hoarse to conceal his true identity. This middle-aged man was one of the three who had made him feel pressured!

Another person from the group, a man who looked to be in his thirties, leaped out as Xu Luo retreated. Holding a blade, he walked over to the survivors from both Tianquan and the black-clad group—those who had lost the ability to fight but were still alive—and killed them all, one by one.

’They’re silencing all the witnesses... more ruthless than I am!’ Xu Luo narrowed his eyes, watching them warily.