Firmament Sword

At his current realm, he could only comprehend a corner of this mural. If he tried to force himself to comprehend and cultivate it, the consequences would surely be tragic!

It was like a child who could only eat five steamed buns but tried to force down fifty, or even a hundred. Besides bursting to death, there was no other possible outcome.

But as one grows older, their appetite increases. As a child, he could only eat five, but as an adult, that could increase to ten, twenty... or even more.

Xu Luo was in the same situation. His current realm only allowed him to comprehend a corner of the mural’s Cultivation Technique. To comprehend more, he would have to wait until his realm was higher, or until another opportunity arose.

Although this left Xu Luo with some regret, there was nothing he could do.

Xu Luo suppressed his regret. ’I’ll just come back and comprehend more when I get the chance in the future,’ he thought. ’One must know when to be content. My gains this time are already huge!’

Right now, he still had to find whatever was sealing and suppressing the Chaos Peach Tree. He needed to break the seal so the Chaos Peach Tree could leave this Small World.

The thought of one day owning a treasure tree filled Xu Luo’s heart with joy.

’But the mechanism sealing it... where could it be?’

As Xu Luo pondered, his gaze fell upon the throne at the highest point of the Divine Hall. He thought, ’Could it... be on that throne?’

’Even if it’s not, there’s no harm in taking a look, right?’ Xu Luo thought, his feet already carrying him toward the throne.

CRACK!

Just as Xu Luo’s footsteps neared the statues of the Ancient Ancestors, a crisp sound suddenly echoed through the silent hall, as sharp and out of place as a chick pecking its way out of an egg.

”Who’s there?” Startled, Xu Luo immediately stopped, his eyes shooting out a sharp glint as he scanned his surroundings.

CREAK!

The sound continued, like an old wooden door creaking in the wind.

This time, Xu Luo found the source of the sound. It was coming from the statue of an Ancient Ancestor closest to him!

Xu Luo stared, dumbfounded, at the seventy to eighty-meter-tall giant, which was holding a Ghost Head Saber and looked incredibly imposing. He muttered, ”You’ve got to be kidding me... the statue came to life?”

The statue, gargantuan from Xu Luo’s perspective, began to move slowly, turning its face toward him.

Its face, which already resembled that of a Furious Vajra, now looked incredibly lifelike. Its eyes shot a piercing gaze at Xu Luo on the ground as it spoke in a low, emotionless voice, ”The dignity of my king... shall not be desecrated. Trespassers... will die!”

As it spoke, the giant statue suddenly leaped up. Its heavy, colossal body was like a mountain as a huge foot came stomping directly down on Xu Luo!

”Hey, hey... let me explain! I didn’t mean to desecrate your king...” The corner of Xu Luo’s mouth twitched violently. He executed the Shaking Light Step and—WHOOSH—vanished from the spot.

The next moment, the Ancient Ancestor statue’s foot landed right where Xu Luo had been standing!

Even though it was a statue, and an incredibly heavy one at that, its speed... was astonishingly fast!

The entire Divine Hall shook as if struck by a violent earthquake!

Fortunately, the Divine Hall was sturdy enough not to collapse from such a violent tremor. Otherwise, Xu Luo would have had to find a corner to cry in.

”Sir Statue, can’t you just listen to my explanation? I really didn’t mean to offend you...” Xu Luo was shocked and speechless. Who would have thought that a statue that had stood in this Divine Hall for who knows how many millennia could actually come to life!

CLANG!

The massive Ghost Head Saber slammed into the ground in front of Xu Luo, sending up a shower of sparks. The entire Divine Hall of the Earth Palace trembled violently again.

The statue ignored his explanations completely, relentlessly attacking Xu Luo with incredible speed and agility.

Relying on his Shaking Light Step, Xu Luo dodged left and right, unwilling to clash head-on with this thing. It wasn’t that he was afraid; it just wasn’t worth it!

He still couldn’t tell if this statue was truly alive or just a Puppet. If he fought recklessly against one statue, what if he ended up activating all the others?

In this maze-like Earth Palace, Xu Luo had no desire to be chased around by a whole mob of terrifying statues.

”How about we stop and have a nice chat? You’ve been in this sunless place for who knows how many millennia. Don’t you get lonely?”

”Are you alive or dead?”

”Can’t you say something?”

”Hey, big guy, if you keep this up, I’m going to fight back!”

”I’m really gonna fight back, you know?”

”Fuck, you’re still hitting me! Is this ever going to end?”

Xu Luo’s figure became a Phantom, constantly dodging the statue’s attacks while verbally probing it.

But the statue, aside from its initial warning, remained silent, doing nothing but relentlessly attacking Xu Luo.

The statue’s moves were exquisite, its style grand and sweeping, like a living expert from ancient times. If you ignored its appearance, it was impossible to imagine such techniques could be executed by a statue.

Forced into a corner, Xu Luo had no choice but to fight back. But he remained cautious, trying to stay as far away from the other statues as possible, fearing he might activate them all.

At the same time, Xu Luo tested something: he wanted to see if the statue would chase him if he left the Divine Hall and returned to the corridor. The result was that the statue pursued him as if it held a deep-seated grudge, sticking right on his tail.

”You son of a bitch! Still not done, huh? Taste my Breaking Army Seven Kills!” Xu Luo roared. Wielding his Seven Star Sword, he unleashed a blast of Sword Qi infused with the power of Breaking Army Seven Kills’ Rage Sea Tide, slashing at the statue.

The vast power swept toward the statue like a tidal wave.

The statue raised its saber horizontally to block.

”CLANG!”

With a tremendous noise and a shower of sparks, Xu Luo was involuntarily thrown back several hundred meters, the blood and qi churning inside him.

He looked at the statue, and it was charging at him again as if nothing had happened.

The massive Ghost Head Saber did have a large nick in it from the Seven Star Sword, but the saber was so enormous that a single nick had no effect on it whatsoever...

Dark lines appeared on Xu Luo’s forehead. ’This is such a scam, isn’t it?’ he thought. ’How am I supposed to fight this?’

”Use the Jade Balance Demon Sound.”

Just then, a Divine Thought suddenly appeared in Xu Luo’s mind, coming from the Jade Balance Star Soul he had just recently awakened!

Xu Luo paused, thinking, ’If this were a living person, the Jade Balance Demon Sound would definitely work. But the problem is... this is a statue!’

In the moment he hesitated, the statue had already charged up to him, swinging its Ghost Head Saber down viciously.

If that strike landed, Xu Luo would definitely be turned into meat paste...

The saber was so large it displaced the air, creating a WHOOSHING sound.

Xu Luo executed the Shaking Light Step to evade the strike, then unleashed the Jade Balance Demon Sound, letting out a massive roar at the statue.

”BOOM—”

The powerful sound wave created a sonic boom in the air, instantly blasting the statue.

RUMBLE!

The moment the Jade Balance Demon Sound hit the incredibly agile statue, it stumbled and fell hard in the Divine Hall’s corridor, creating a world-shaking crash.

And then... it stopped moving.

The corner of Xu Luo’s mouth twitched as he stared at the massive statue sprawled out before him, at a loss for words.

”It actually worked... how bizarre!” Xu Luo muttered, cautiously approaching the statue. He was terrified it was just playing dead and would suddenly spring back to life as he got closer.

Fortunately, his worries were unfounded. Even when he walked right up to the statue, it didn’t show the slightest reaction.

That one blast of the Jade Balance Demon Sound had also drained more than half of Xu Luo’s Spiritual Power. If he did that one more time, his Spiritual Power would likely be completely depleted.

And just then, the excited voice of the Chaos Peach Tree echoed in Xu Luo’s mind: ”Aha! It’s these statues! If you disable all of them, my seal will be broken!”

”...” Recalling the dozens of statues he had seen earlier in the Divine Hall, Xu Luo was rendered speechless.

”It’s these damn things that sealed me, Master Tao! Take them all out, and Master Tao will be free!”

Dark lines appeared on Xu Luo’s forehead, and his expression soured. ’Master Tao my ass,’ he thought. ’Free my ass! Why do I suddenly have a feeling this guy is so unreliable?’

”What? You don’t believe Master Tao’s words?” The Chaos Peach Tree’s consciousness grew angry. ”Master Tao has existed for eons and once looked down upon the world with disdain! My word has always been my bond!”

”If your word is your bond, how did you end up sealed in this place?” Xu Luo retorted.

The Chaos Peach Tree was silent for a long moment, then roared in fury, ”Those damned bastards went back on their word! Master Tao naturally wanted to leave, but... they repaid my kindness with enmity! They sealed Master Tao away!”

Xu Luo couldn’t tell if the Peach Tree was telling the truth or not. He just felt that this guy was somewhat unreliable.

”Master Tao swears on my Lifebound Soul! If you can break Master Tao’s seal, Master Tao will stay by your side for a hundred years! The peaches on Master Tao’s body ripen once every hundred years! When they ripen next, I’ll let you pick the peaches, and then we’ll be even!”

”Pah! Are you playing me for a fool?” Xu Luo sneered, dusted off his hands, and hopped onto the statue’s body, sitting down. He continued with a cold laugh, ”I help you break the seal, and you only give me your peaches twice? Do you take me for an idiot?”

”Then what do you want?”

”Just one condition. I break your seal, and from now on, you’re my Peach Tree. You belong to me and me alone! Even after I die, you have to provide peaches for my descendants! Besides... you’re just a Peach Tree. Does it matter where you live? Does it matter who eats your peaches?” Xu Luo said.

”Bullshit! The peaches on Master Tao’s body are the absolute finest of the fine! Do you think the peaches Master Tao bears are some common trash? How can you be even worse than that bunch of bastard Behemoths?” The Chaos Peach Tree instantly flew into a rage upon hearing Xu Luo’s terms. ”If Master Tao agrees to your condition, what’s the difference between that and just staying here?”

”I can let you see the light of day again. I can spread your great name throughout the world, instead of you just waiting to die alone in this Small World,” Xu Luo said with a chuckle. ”You’re afraid of being lonely, aren’t you?”