Firmament Sword

The walls of the entire Earth Palace were covered in murals depicting the Ancient Era. Xu Luo learned a great deal from them, gaining a wealth of information about that time.

The murals showed colossal black beasts as large as mountain ranges, with three heads and bodies covered in fearsome, ferocious scales. They also depicted great golden birds soaring through the sky, their wings blotting out the sun like a brilliant golden cloud.

There were azure dragons, so immense they snaked straight up into the heavens, and fiery red Phoenixes that seemed to be wreathed in a sea of flames.

There were also majestic purple kirin whose claws were larger than entire mountain ranges, riding upon the clouds and mist.

And all sorts of other ancient, exotic beasts Xu Luo couldn’t name, each one of them colossal.

If he hadn’t seen the giant black tiger and the great golden bird with his own eyes, it would be difficult to believe that the behemoths in these murals were real creatures that had once lived in this world.

”Time is cruel. How many powerful beings has it erased?” Xu Luo murmured, gazing at the murals.

The Earth Palace was enormous, a labyrinth of high-ceilinged corridors. Ancient murals adorned the walls on both sides.

Though countless millennia had passed, the murals remained as vivid and brightly colored as if they had been painted just yesterday.

Large Spirit Stones embedded in the walls cast a soft light, shrouding the murals in a mysterious glow.

Some of the creatures depicted were bizarre and incredibly ferocious. Even through the murals, they exuded an imposing, world-defying aura, as if they could leap from the walls at any moment.

These creatures put Xu Luo under immense pressure; it felt as if even looking at them for too long was a form of desecration.

’If all these creatures really existed in this world, then life for the Ancient Ancestors... must have been anything but easy,’ Xu Luo thought, resisting the aura emanating from the terrifying beasts in the murals.

The murals also depicted many Ancient Ancestors. Their bodies were massive, vastly different in size from modern humans. Though their features were similar, they looked like two distinct races.

One mural showed an extremely tall and sturdy giant. He was bare-chested, his bronze skin gleaming with power. A huge black tiger skin was wrapped around his waist, and he held a black iron rod, arms outstretched as he roared at the sky.

The giant’s foot rested on a dead behemoth, a beast so large that the nearby mountain peaks looked tiny in comparison.

Next to this image was another mural of the Ancient Ancestors.

It depicted another giant, also clad in animal hide. He held a bow as black as ink, made from some unknown material, aimed at the sky as if about to loose an arrow.

High above, a Phoenix wreathed in flames spread its wings, obscuring the sun. An arrow was embedded in its body. The Phoenix’s eyes blazed with fury, but it appeared to be plummeting from the sky.

Xu Luo couldn’t help but gasp. ”Could it be? In that era, were there really warriors capable of shooting down a Phoenix with a bow?”

’Thinking about it... it’s entirely possible. How else could an Earth Palace of this scale have been built?’

”What a brilliant and glorious era. It truly makes one yearn for it,” Xu Luo sighed softly.

Xu Luo continued on his way, examining the murals, when his gaze was suddenly captivated by an ancient Star Map.

Painted on the wall of the high corridor was an ancient Star Map. It depicted a vast, starry sky against the backdrop of a profound and boundless dark universe.

This ancient Star Map was rendered so realistically that it looked like the actual night sky, and a grand, vast aura washed over him.

It even radiated a trace of Star Power!

Xu Luo’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to the center of the Star Map... to the location of the Big Dipper.

Unlike the immense pressure he felt from the depictions of the Ancient Ancestors and giant beasts, looking at this ancient Star Map gave Xu Luo a sudden sense of intimacy. The feeling was hard to describe, like a long-lost wanderer returning home after many years—a bittersweet mix of apprehension and familiarity that filled him with complex emotions.

The seven Beidou Stars in the map seemed to have traveled from antiquity, enduring endless ages, like seven kings ruling from the center of the cosmos.

However, as Xu Luo’s gaze swept over the stars forming the handle of the Big Dipper, his eyes filled with utter astonishment.

Right next to the Kaiyang Star... there was... another star!

Its light was somewhat dim, and at first glance, it looked like any other ordinary star in the endless cosmos. But this star... was connected to the Big Dipper... it was the Eighth Star!

For some reason, the moment Xu Luo saw that star, an incredibly complex emotion surged from deep within him.

There was joy and sorrow, a tremor in the depths of his soul, and above all, an indescribable feeling.

Xu Luo didn’t know where this feeling came from. He gazed at the star, and it felt as if the star was gazing back at him.

His thoughts instantly pierced through the vast, endless river of time, and an immense image suddenly appeared in his mind.

A vast, starry sky!

Stars glittered in the heavens, great stars suspended in the sky. Next to the Big Dipper’s Kaiyang Star, a large, slightly dimmer star flickered in and out of view, elusive and unpredictable.

Xu Luo stared blankly at the ancient Star Map on the wall, his heart a tangle of inexpressible emotions.

After a long while, Xu Luo finally shook his head lightly, raised a hand to rub his forehead, and murmured, full of doubt, ”The Big Dipper... only has seven stars. This ancient Star Map is so strange. Why would it have an Eighth Star? Could the ancients have been careless and drawn an extra one by mistake?”

Then, he couldn’t help but ask his Shaking Light Star Soul, ”Shaking Light, what’s the deal with this star?”

Silence reigned in his Dantian. The Shaking Light Star gave him no answer.

”Heh...” Xu Luo chuckled, then shook his head, trying to banish the complex emotions from his heart. ”Maybe the ancients were just being playful, adding something for flair.”

With that, Xu Luo strode forward, but deep inside, the complex feeling remained, not diminishing in the slightest.

’One more star, one less star... what does it have to do with me, anyway?’

Xu Luo’s voice echoed in the massive corridor of the Earth Palace. The ancient Star Map on the wall remained silent, having mutely witnessed the passing of countless ages.

’Maybe... in the distant Ancient Era, Beidou really did have an Eighth Star... Who knows? Perhaps it once existed, only to be extinguished later.’

The slender figure walked farther and farther, eventually disappearing at the end of the Earth Palace corridor.

Xu Luo’s mind was a whirl of emotions. He had so many questions, but no one to answer them. The silence from his Shaking Light Star Soul only deepened his confusion. But now was not the time for curiosity. At the end of the corridor, Xu Luo saw an immense Divine Hall!

This had to be the central area of the Earth Palace. The Divine Hall was colossal, standing over a thousand meters tall and spanning several miles.

Statues of the Ancient Ancestors lined both sides of the Divine Hall. Among them, Xu Luo recognized the Ancient Warriors he had seen in the murals.

Each statue was so lifelike that their facial expressions—joy, anger, sorrow, and delight—were clearly visible.

They stood like deities, guarding this ancient Divine Hall that had weathered endless eons.

At the far end of the Divine Hall, on the highest point, rested an immense golden throne.

The seat was empty.

’I wonder what kind of person could sit there,’ Xu Luo thought, his heart swelling with emotion as he gazed at the throne. He felt as if he had been transported back to the glorious Ancient Era, picturing a majestic giant leader seated on that throne, receiving the worship of his people.

The walls of the Divine Hall were also covered in murals. However, these depicted neither creatures nor ancient giants, but rather a series of mysterious and intricate patterns. An incredibly profound aura emanated from their complex designs.

It was as if they held a kind of wondrous, dao-like resonance.

Xu Luo had only glanced at them for a moment when he felt his heart being tugged by a mysterious, strange power. It began to pound, THUMP-THUMP, faster and faster, as if it were about to leap out of his throat.

Xu Luo hastily averted his gaze, his heart filled with terror.

”What in the world are these drawings? Why are they so bizarre?”

Then, Xu Luo felt the power within his body begin to circulate on its own, following the paths of the patterns he had just seen. In an instant, his blood... began to boil!

An incomparably powerful force erupted from Xu Luo’s Dantian.

BOOM!

Waves of formidable, immense power burst uncontrollably from Xu Luo’s body, radiating out into the Divine Hall.

”This is a Cultivation Technique!” Xu Luo cried out in alarm.

The Shadow Shaking Heart Method activated on its own, guiding the powerful energy as it coursed through his body.

Xu Luo could feel his power strengthening at a rapid pace, a speed so incredible it was almost frightening.

The power was so great he could barely control it; he felt as if his body might burst apart at any moment.

Suddenly, his Kaiyang Star Soul flared to life, emitting a gentle power that instantly suppressed the rampant energy within him.

Then, the Shaking Light Star Soul ceased its automatic operation. The tyrannical, vast power grew docile and gradually fell calm.

”Truly incredible!” Xu Luo exclaimed softly. He could feel the power in his body; it was a world of difference from before. Unwittingly, his cultivation realm had even risen by a minor step!

He now stood on the second minor step of the Transformation Realm!

Xu Luo released the aura from his body, and a happy smile touched the corners of his lips.

The aura of a Tier Eight Sword Venerable!

As he looked again at the mysterious and complex patterns on the walls, Xu Luo’s eyes filled with shock, which was quickly followed by ecstasy.

He had gained so much from just looking at one corner. If he could fully comprehend all the patterns on the walls, what kind of improvement would he see?

In that moment, Xu Luo nearly forgot all about the Chaos Peach Tree, that peerless Divine Medicine. He was completely focused on comprehending all the patterns on the walls of the Divine Hall.

A moment later, Xu Luo spat out a mouthful of blood. With a resentful look, he grumbled, ”Greed really gets you nowhere...”