Firmament Sword

The Small World was bustling with activity following the arrival of a group of young human disciples, and the atmosphere grew even more tense with the appearance of the Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact. As Xu Luo traveled, he saw groups of sect disciples everywhere, all searching for the whereabouts of the Dragon Bell.

”What a bunch of idiots,” Master Tao scoffed at the sect disciples tracking the Dragon Bell. ”If a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact was that easy to obtain, it wouldn’t be considered so miraculous.”

”Do you have a way to get it?” Xu Luo asked.

”Those things are incredibly cunning, and they’re all sentient. Unless they choose to acknowledge a master, trying to obtain one... is harder than scaling the heavens!” For once, Master Tao wasn’t boasting, but speaking in earnest.

Xu Luo thought to himself, ’No wonder even a great power at Xushan’s level had to ask for my help. It seems obtaining a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact truly is no easy feat.’

As he mulled this over, Xu Luo couldn’t help but feel incredibly fortunate. The Seven Star Sword, it seemed, had accepted him without any resistance at all.

’Perhaps this has something to do with the Seven Star Souls inside me…’ Xu Luo mused, then headed in the direction the Dragon Bell had disappeared.

A promise was a promise. Since he had agreed to help Xushan, he would do his best to do so.

...

”Sister,” Ji Bingyu said, her brow furrowed slightly, ”do you think Xu Luo must have had some great fortuitous encounter? Otherwise, coming from the Mortal World, how could he possibly be stronger than us sect disciples?” She was growing increasingly curious about this peer of hers.

Lianyi gently shook her head. ”I don’t know. Perhaps he did have some kind of fortuitous encounter.”

Lianyi couldn’t help but feel a flicker of concern. If an innocent girl like Ji Bingyu was this curious about Xu Luo’s past, what about everyone else?

’They’ll be even more curious,’ she thought. ’They’ll wonder just what kind of fortuitous encounter a youth from the Mortal World like Xu Luo had to gain the strength he possesses today.’

Ji Bingyu was simply curious, her feelings untainted by envy or jealousy. But others... The same could not be said for them.

Especially on this trip into the Small World, Xu Luo had offended both Gu Xing, the genius disciple of the Shaking Light Sect, and Jiang Tianhai, the genius disciple of the Kaiyang Sect. The two young disciples themselves might not pose a much of a threat, but the sects backing them... If they decided to get serious, Xu Luo’s current strength was nowhere near enough to stand against them.

’I need to find a chance to remind Xu Luo,’ Lianyi thought. ’After we leave the Small World, he needs to keep a low profile and stop making enemies.’

...

Inside a vast Earth Palace in the Small World, Phoenix and a group of Merak Disciples were desperately holding on.

An immense Array had held the Merak Disciples trapped inside for a full day and night.

Phoenix had been born in a sect but raised in the Mortal World. She was a woman of peerless grace and resolute character. Though she had been tempered for years in the Mortal World, at her core, she was still the proud, genius young woman of her sect.

She had witnessed Xu Luo’s entire journey, watching with her own eyes as he grew from a weak, ridiculed boy into a young expert whom even the genius disciples of the great sects had to look up to.

Step by step, his progress was undeniable. Every time she saw him, she could sense his transformation.

’Everyone has their own destiny, their own opportunities. It’s not something you can envy or force.’

’But I don’t want to fall further and further behind him, until all I can do is watch his back as he disappears from sight!’

’Before, he joined Merak because Master wanted to shelter him. But now, it seems he’s the one sheltering Merak!’

’Merak may be a small sect, but we can’t grow forever under someone else’s protection!’

’Only through self-reliance can we walk the Great Dao!’

Phoenix had led a group of Merak Disciples away from the crowds, heading toward a desolate region. They encountered several dangers along the way, but the Merak Disciples banded together, fighting tooth and nail, and eventually discovered a mysterious Earth Palace.

But when they entered the Earth Palace, full of hope, their joy was cut short. An ancient Grand Array immediately sealed them inside.

This Grand Array wasn’t an offensive one, but an Illusion Array!

It was just like the Illusion Array at the Merak Mountain Gate; once inside, if you didn’t know how to break it, you could never leave. It was quite common for people to be trapped inside until they died.

And this Grand Array that had them trapped was thousands of times more powerful than the one at the Merak Mountain Gate.

What was worse, this Illusion Array could directly act upon a person’s Sea of Spiritual Consciousness, creating hallucinations. The truly terrifying part was that even if you knew it was an illusion, it was incredibly difficult to break free. Or perhaps... you became unwilling to break free.

Phoenix was an orphan. She had never known her parents. According to her master, Li Wenxi, her parents had died in the chaos of war. Li Wenxi had been passing by and rescued her when she was just an infant in swaddling clothes.

Because of this, Phoenix’s deepest, most cherished wish had always been to simply know what her parents looked like. She dared not hope for more; she just wanted to see their faces.

After being trapped in the Illusion Array, Phoenix had at first been focused on how to break it. But after a short while, the scene before her eyes shifted, and she suddenly found herself in a tranquil, ancient city.

The city’s streets teemed with life, and the people’s faces were all filled with joyful smiles.

Ancient, charming buildings lined both sides of the street in neat rows.

”Where is this?”

Phoenix stood bewildered on the city street, unsure of where she was or how she had suddenly appeared here.

’That’s right, I remember now. I’m trapped in the Illusion Array. That means... everything I’m seeing must be an illusion!’

Phoenix whispered to herself, a flash of disdain in her beautiful eyes. ”Just an illusion,” she murmured. ”And it thinks it can trap me?”

As she spoke, she prepared to bite the tip of her tongue and spit out a spray of blood essence to shatter the illusion.

It was a Secret Technique of her sect. Powerful Martial Artists could use their own blood essence to shatter any and all illusions.

This was only a minor art, however; it could shatter an illusion, but breaking the Illusion Array itself would require other methods.

Just then, Phoenix felt a faint tremor from the ground beneath her. A moment later, the shaking grew increasingly violent.

The people on the city streets looked confused at first, but their expressions quickly turned to horror, and they began to scatter and flee.

”Bandits?” Phoenix raised an eyebrow, a faint sense of unease stirring deep within her.

She couldn’t pinpoint the source of this feeling, but she felt as if everything happening before her was somehow deeply connected to her.

RUMBLE!

A thunderous pounding of hooves reached her ears. Phoenix looked up to see a dark horde of several hundred Black Armored Knights charging down the long street. They brandished long sabers that glinted coldly in the sun, and a murderous aura washed over her.

”My lord, the bandits are here! What should we do?” a sudden, alarmed cry reached Phoenix’s ears.

Though it was a cry of alarm, the voice was gentle.

From the sound of the voice alone, one could tell that its owner was a kind and gentle woman.

Something shattered deep within Phoenix’s heart, and an overwhelming wave of sorrow suddenly washed over her.

”Mother...” Phoenix let out a mournful cry, surprised at herself. Why did her instincts immediately tell her that this voice belonged to her mother?

Mustering her courage, Phoenix looked toward the source of the voice. There, in the doorway of a shop, an exquisitely beautiful young woman leaned against a refined, middle-aged man, a baby cradled in her arms.

The baby was as fair and perfect as carved jade, its dark eyes like two brilliant black gems.

”Ah!” Phoenix couldn’t help but let out a shocked gasp, because the young woman... she looked so much like her!

The refined, middle-aged man frowned, shielding his wife behind him. ”Don’t be afraid,” he said in a low voice. ”I’m here.”

”This is so sudden... Who are they?” the young woman asked, her voice trembling. Her face was a mask of terror as she watched the Black Armored Knights on the street, who were swinging their long sabers and cutting down innocent people who failed to escape in time.

”Maybe they’re bandits, or maybe... soldiers from an enemy nation,” the refined man sighed softly. ”Let’s get inside and hide. Perhaps they’re only after money...”

The beautiful young woman nodded obediently and followed the man into the shop, clutching the baby.

Phoenix’s heart leaped into her throat. She was unbearably tense and couldn’t help but scream, ”Don’t go in there! Run! They’re demons! They kill everyone they see!”

But it was as if they couldn’t hear her at all. They disappeared into the shop to hide.

Then, Phoenix watched in horror as the Black Armored Knights began to slaughter the innocent people of the ancient city. Everywhere they went, rivers of blood flowed in their wake.

These men were like a pack of inhuman, cold-blooded butchers, killing everyone they saw—man, woman, or child. They didn’t even spare the shops lining the streets.

Waves of Sword Qi flew in all directions, felling entire buildings in a few strikes. Those not crushed by the collapsing structures were cruelly beheaded as they tried to flee.

In an instant, the peaceful, tranquil city had become a living hell!

The stench of blood rose to the heavens, shrouding the sky above the city in a faint, red mist.

”No!” Phoenix let out a furious roar as she saw the Black Armored Knights charge toward the shop where the couple was hiding. She lunged forward.

However, just as she had feared, she was completely powerless to change the scene playing out before her.

What she was seeing was like a phantasm, an image from the past. She was merely an outside observer, completely unable to change a single thing.

Before the Black Armored Knights could even attack the shop, the refined man rushed out, his eyes bloodshot with fury, and furiously cursed the inhuman knights.

Phoenix could tell with a single glance that the refined man had not the slightest fluctuation of True Essence about him.

He... was just an ordinary man!

Phoenix could only watch, paralyzed, as a Black Armored Knight with a savage grin on his face swung his saber and cut off the man’s head...

”NO!” Phoenix shrieked, unable to stop herself from spitting out a mouthful of blood.