Firmament Sword

”What? You’re going to use a Forbidden Skill, make yourself ten years younger, and then enter those ruins?” Fang Jing was shocked, and also moved. He knew his younger brother had always looked down on his worthless son, yet now he was going to use a Forbidden Skill and enter the ruins just to avenge his nephew.

”It’s fine. There are advantages to using it now. I’m currently at Tier Four of the Transformation Realm. At my current age, I might be considered a genius, but compared to those younger prodigies, I’m still a step behind. If I were ten years younger, I highly doubt I would lose to them,” the man in black said, full of confidence.

”But if you do this, you’ll lose a life-saving Secret Skill. For Ark’s sake… Is it really worth it?” They were brothers, after all, connected by blood. His son was already dead, and Fang Jing didn’t want to lose a brother as well.

”I’m at the peak of Tier Four of the Transformation Realm. I was already hesitating on whether to enter those ruins and try my luck, and Ark’s death made up my mind for me. You only get so many chances to risk it all in life. If I manage to gain something from the ruins this time, I can break through to Tier Five. At that point, I’ll be able to cultivate Dharma Heaven and Earth,” the man in black said.

”Dharma Heaven and Earth? You already have the corresponding Cultivation Technique?” Fang Jing was astonished. He suddenly realized that he had never truly understood his younger brother.

The man in black nodded. ”That’s right. Back then, inside those same ruins, I obtained a Forbidden Skill and a Cultivation Technique for Dharma Heaven and Earth. Only by cultivating Dharma Heaven and Earth can one truly step through the gates of the powerful!”

”Since that’s the case, I won’t stop you. I’ll leave the matter of Ark in your hands,” Fang Jing said in a heavy voice, his eyes moist with fresh tear tracks. Ark’s death had been too great a blow, and his heart seethed with hatred for Xu Luo.

”His Cultivation Technique may be strange and his power immense, but in the end, that kid is just a fledgling whose wings haven’t fully grown. Killing him will be a trivial matter,” the man in black said.

Just then, a voice came from outside. ”Sect Leader, I’ve returned.”

”Come in,” Fang Jing said in a deep voice.

The door curtain was lifted, and a man in his thirties walked in. He had an ordinary face and an equally plain aura—the kind of person who would disappear in a crowd.

When Fang Jing saw him, his gloomy expression softened considerably. He asked, ”How did it go?”

The young man said, ”Sect Leader, I went to secretly investigate the mountain. It seems a fierce battle took place there, but all traces were wiped clean. I couldn’t find a single clue.”

”How could that be? Could that little bastard have done all this by himself?” Fang Jing frowned in disbelief.

The man in black also narrowed his eyes. ”It seems someone is indeed helping him from the shadows. Perhaps… someone from the Celestial Cauldron Sect. Ling Fengwu, the Sect Leader of the Celestial Cauldron Sect, recently found her daughter who was lost for many years. That daughter once lived in the secular world and seems to have a good relationship with Xu Luo. If people from the Celestial Cauldron Sect hadn’t been getting in my way, I would have found an opportunity to kill him long ago!”

”The Celestial Cauldron Sect…” Fang Jing muttered in anguish. ”Damn them all!”

”Don’t worry. Once he enters the ruins, no one will be able to save him!” the man in black said.

...

Elder Yu was in a foul mood. He didn’t know what had gone wrong, but not a single one of the men he had sent out had returned. He sent others to investigate, but aside from discovering that a fierce battle had taken place on the mountaintop, they found no other traces.

The men he had dispatched were all High-tier Sword Venerables. He refused to believe that so many experts couldn’t kill a single youth from the secular world.

’Don’t tell me that little bastard actually found some treasure in those ruins in the Great Marsh, and his strength soared as a result?’ Elder Yu muttered to himself, then gritted his teeth. ’Damn that little bastard! The destruction of the Stony Sect must be his doing. And he killed so many of my disciples… I will absolutely not let you get away with this!’

The Dubhe Sect was enormous, and the power held by one of its Elders was not much less than that of a Sect Leader from a smaller sect like Tianquan or Merak.

The Stony Sect, which had abducted Xu Su back then, claimed to be a subsidiary of the Dubhe Sect. In reality, however, they were affiliated with a single Elder of Dubhe!

In fact, Guo Ying was a Dubhe Sect disciple from Elder Yu’s own faction. If Elder Yu hadn’t personally given the order, how could Guo Ying’s master have possibly married his own disciple off to an old man like the Stony Sect Master?

Elders in major sects possessed a great deal of autonomy. As a general rule, the Sect Leader would not readily interfere in their affairs.

Therefore, Elder Yu hadn’t originally been worried about word of his actions getting out. Even if the Sect Leader found out, he wouldn’t have cared about such trivial matters.

But things were different now. While the deaths of a few of his disciples during their training could be brushed aside with excuses, the deaths of over a dozen Sword Venerables from his faction… that was unquestionably a major incident!

For now, all the major figures were focused on the Ancient Ruins and had no energy to spare for other matters. But once word of this got out… Elder Yu didn’t dare to imagine the consequences.

’I have to find a way to make sure that kid never leaves those ruins alive!’ Elder Yu muttered to himself, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

...

The time had finally come to enter the mysterious space within the Ancient Ruins!

Almost everyone had gathered at the site, located within the Celestial Break Mountain Range. A vast, seemingly endless sea of people brought a deafening clamor to the mountain range, which had lain quiet for too many years.

From the outside, the ruins themselves didn’t look like much. Most had been buried by the endless passage of time. The original palace structures had long since been reduced to scorched earth, now covered by lush vegetation.

All kinds of towering ancient trees scraped the clouds. Green vines, like great dragons, coiled their way up the ancient trunks, their length impossible to measure.

The landscape was dotted with jagged, strange rocks. A few Spirit Beasts kept their distance, standing far off and watching the sea of humans with confusion.

Xushan stood with a group of other Sect Leaders. Pointing to a cliff several thousand meters high and wreathed in mist, he said, ”The mysterious space lies behind that cliff. There’s a mechanism on it that requires all of us to activate together!”

The Dubhe Sect Leader, Xiang Wentian, looked to be in his forties, with a burly beard and a tall, powerful frame. His eyes shone with spirit as he stared at the cliff, a flicker in his gaze. ”The ancients were truly incredible,” he said. ”To think they could make an Illusion Realm seem so real!”

The Celestial Cauldron Sect Leader, Ling Fengwu, nodded slightly. ”Indeed. In the Ancient Era, a place like this was probably the seat of a major power. There might be a supreme treasure within the ruins.”

Shangguan Qing, the Sect Leader of the Kaiyang Sect, was a man who looked to be only thirty-five or thirty-six. Tall and straight, with sharp brows and bright eyes, he was dressed in green robes. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked at the cliff and smiled. ”Sect Leader Xu is truly impressive to have discovered such a place.”

Gu Jianfeng, the Sect Leader of the Shaking Light Sect, added, ”I hope all the young ones who go inside can return safely.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. It was true that these ruins might contain a world-altering treasure, but it was also a fact that they held immense dangers. Otherwise, why would the Jade Balance Sect have made such a discovery public?

”Life and death are matters of fate. It all comes down to who has better luck and who is stronger! To gain anything, one must be willing to pay the price,” Xushan said, then raised a hand and struck a spot on the cliff face.

An incomparably tyrannical wave of power surged from his palm, viciously slamming into the rock of the cliff.

Against an ordinary cliff, Xushan’s palm strike would have been enough to blast away huge chunks of rock.

Yet at this moment, Xushan’s palm, which contained immense power, vanished without a sound, like a clay ox sinking into the sea. It failed to cause even the slightest stir!

If the few people beside him hadn’t all felt the sheer power of his strike at the moment he unleashed it, they would never have believed their eyes.

The others all struck at the same time, sending powerful waves of energy toward the exact spot Xushan’s palm had hit.

BZZZZ!

A buzzing sound suddenly filled the air, like a million bees taking flight all at once.

Afterward, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently, and a Light Gate blazed into existence at the center of the cliff face!

”The passage is open, but it will only last for the time it takes an incense stick to burn! All you young people who wish to enter, now’s your chance!” Xushan shouted. ”You can stay inside for a maximum of seven days. At this exact hour, seven days from now, we will open this space again. Do not forget the time, or you’ll risk being trapped inside forever!”

A crowd of young people, already impatient and well aware of the rules, didn’t hesitate. The moment the Light Gate flashed open, dozens of figures transformed into streaks of light and shot toward it!

”The one at the very front is Gu Xing of the Shaking Light Sect! He’s so fast! Just like a shooting star!”

”Right behind him is Liu Wushang of the Willow Leaf Sect! Huh? Wait a minute, isn’t he older than twenty-five? How does he dare go in? Does he have a death wish?”

”That third one to charge in, isn’t that Xiaohai, the genius disciple from the Black Water Sect? He’s incredibly fast!”

”Ji Bingyu went in too! The one beside her is Lianyi, the daughter of the Celestial Cauldron Sect Leader. The Celestial Cauldron Twin Beauties! They really live up to their reputation!”

”Jiang Tianhai of the Kaiyang Sect isn’t about to be outdone! He’s brought a whole group of his fellow disciples with him, all centered around him. Looks like the Kaiyang Sect is planning to rely on teamwork to explore the ruins…”

Those who were unable to enter watched with envious eyes, chattering amongst themselves below.

The most surprising person, however, was Liu Wushang of the Willow Leaf Sect. He was clearly over twenty-five, yet he had rushed in without the slightest hesitation.

The Shaking Light Sect’s Leader, Gu Jianfeng, chuckled. ”It seems the Willow Leaf Sect is quite extraordinary!”

The Dubhe Sect Leader, Xiang Wentian, nodded. ”Indeed. They must have some method to deceive the heavens. Otherwise, to enter like that would be suicide.”

The Kaiyang Sect Leader, Shangguan Qing, gave a faint smile. ”Such methods, while unusual, come with many drawbacks. While it suppresses their age, their strength is certain to be affected.”

Xushan said nothing. His gaze had originally been on Xu Luo, who was with the group from the Merak Sect, but he unintentionally caught sight of a young man dressed in black, mixed in with the crowd, who calmly stepped into the Light Gate.