Firmament Sword

”Damned venomous drake!” Chu Tianlie cursed, suddenly accelerating.

The green gas corroded everything in its path… absolutely everything!

It even corroded the very air, leaving vast pockets of vacuum in its wake.

Missing its mark, the venomous drake let out an enraged hiss and chased after Chu Tianlie with incredible speed.

Chu Tianlie had studied the venomous drake’s habits for years. He smirked coldly. ’Once you’re trapped in the array, I’ll dash back to Fulong Cave, grab the treasure, and then return to finish you off at my leisure!’

With that thought, Chu Tianlie raced toward the location he had prepared beforehand.

The venomous drake gave chase relentlessly, speaking in a human voice, ”You dare provoke me in my own domain and expect to leave alive? I know exactly what you’re scheming, but I couldn’t care less! I will kill you today!”

Chu Tianlie remained silent, fleeing for his life.

...

Xu Luo spotted Hualong Mountain in the distance. Its peaks were magnificent and perilous, and the Spiritual Qi it exuded was overpowering. The mountain radiated a vast, mighty aura, tinged with a strange, mystical rhythm.

Xu Luo was secretly astonished. ’It truly lives up to its name as the Cultivation Dojo of the leader of the Four Ancient Divine Beasts. Even after all these years, you can still faintly sense the aura it left behind.’

But when he thought about what the Phecda Star Soul had told him, it all still felt a little unbelievable.

’The Four Ancient Divine Beasts... how could they possibly have anything to do with me?’

’Could I really be the... reincarnation of the so-called Beidou’s Eighth Star?’

Xu Luo chuckled. Such things were too difficult for him to comprehend. Since he hadn’t reached that level of power, he decided not to dwell on such ethereal matters.

Executing the Shaking Light Step, Xu Luo made a beeline for Hualong Mountain.

He heard a series of roars from far away, sounding as if an immensely powerful creature was furiously attacking something.

Xu Luo narrowed his eyes, gazing in the direction of the sound, but his view was obstructed by overlapping mountain ranges. He couldn’t see a thing.

’Forget it. Whatever that is, I’ll get the treasure first,’ Xu Luo thought. Following the Phecda Star Soul’s guidance, he began his ascent to the summit of Hualong Mountain.

Xu Luo first reached the summit of Hualong Mountain. Looking down, he had a view that made all other peaks seem small.

A vast sea of mist spread out below, with iridescent clouds appearing and vanishing in flashes of light.

What a paradise on earth!

Fulong Cave was situated just below the summit of Hualong Mountain, perched on a steep cliff face.

The cliff was almost perfectly vertical. Being on the far side of Hualong Mountain, no ordinary person would ever spot the cave.

Xu Luo stuck to the cliff face like a gecko and began to slide down from the top.

Skill breeds confidence. Any other Tier Nine Sword Venerable would never dare to slide down so directly. One false move and they would plummet into a bottomless abyss!

A Tier Nine Sword Venerable could fly, but in a gorge this deep and with such strong mountain winds, a single lapse in control would send them plummeting to their doom, smashed into a bloody pulp.

The sounds of a fierce battle, along with the roars of that terrifying creature, echoed from afar.

Xu Luo’s heart skipped a beat. ’It seems... someone else has found this place!’

’I need to hurry! If someone else gets here first, it’ll be tough for me to handle them at my current level.’ With this thought, Xu Luo picked up his pace.

Upon reaching Fulong Cave, Xu Luo leaped lightly into the entrance.

He looked around and discovered that this seemingly natural cave contained a whole new world.

The entrance was only a dozen meters high, but the space within... was immense!

A slope led downward from the entrance. After several hundred meters, the space suddenly opened up before him.

The cavern was over three hundred meters high!

It was also more than eight hundred meters wide and stretched over two thousand meters deep!

The ceiling of the cavern was inlaid with countless Treasure Pearls. They shimmered brilliantly, their combined radiance illuminating the entire cavern as brightly as day.

”As expected of a place where the Dragon Race cultivates... they really are extravagant!” Xu Luo exclaimed in awe.

Xu Luo looked up at the Treasure Pearls on the ceiling and could sense them emitting auras of different attributes. Each one was an incredibly rare treasure, the likes of which were seldom seen in the Mortal World!

”A Water-Repelling Pearl, an Earth-Avoiding Pearl, a Fire-Avoiding Pearl, a Wind-Stabilizing Pearl...” Xu Luo couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath. The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyelids trembled. He felt an overwhelming urge to pry all these pearls from the ceiling and take them with him!

Any one of them would be considered a priceless treasure out in the world!

Even to Cultivators, these were incredible treasures!

”Ignore those. Go get the real prize!” The Phecda Star Soul sent a timely Divine Thought, interrupting Xu Luo’s reverie.

Xu Luo immediately activated his Treasure Hunting Skill and ventured deeper into the cavern, one step at a time.

Moments later, Xu Luo was so stunned by the sight before him that his eyes were nearly blinded by the brilliant light.

’Is that a Spirit Stone Mountain? No... it’s a single Spirit Stone! A Spirit Stone as large as a hill!’ Xu Luo’s jaw hung open as he stared at the shimmering mound before him, which radiated intense Spiritual Qi.

”Mine! It’s all mine!” Xu Luo couldn’t help but roar with laughter.

Ever since Phecda and Tianquan had awakened simultaneously, his mastery of the Time Reversal Skill had given Xu Luo an unprecedented craving for Spirit Stones.

It couldn’t be helped. He was just too poor!

Each use of the Time Reversal Skill consumed a massive amount of Spiritual Power, far more than he could replenish simply through his own cultivation.

And for that, he needed Spirit Stones.

Five of his Seven Star Souls were already awakened, but the last two, the Dubhe and Merak Star Souls, had yet to show any signs of stirring.

Who knew how many Spirit Stones it would take to awaken those two Star Souls?

All Xu Luo knew was that awakening Phecda and Tianquan had completely drained a massive Spirit Stone Vein that could have been mined for centuries!

Thus, Xu Luo didn’t even dare to imagine how many Spirit Stones would be required to awaken the final two Star Souls.

With a wave of his hand, Xu Luo collected the Spirit Stone Mountain into his Storage Ring and then looked to one side.

Over there were more than a dozen large chests, each taller than a man. They were stacked together, forming a wall in front of Xu Luo that was impossible to ignore.

Xu Luo casually opened one of the chests. Instantly, a brilliant light erupted from within.

Gemstones!

The entire chest was filled with gemstones of every color!

And these weren’t ordinary gemstones, which had no value beyond ornamentation. The gems in this chest all possessed various elemental attributes!

Earth, Water, Fire, Wind... every kind of attribute was represented!

Each gem was the size of a fist, perfectly translucent, and without a single impurity.

These gems were the physical manifestation of elements condensed to their absolute limit—a gift from the heavens, nature’s most perfect masterpieces!

Compared to these gems, the Treasure Pearls embedded in the ceiling were leagues behind in value! There was simply no comparison!

If these gems were used in Artifact Refining, one could undoubtedly forge peerless weapons!

But who in this world would be so extravagant as to use such gems for Artifact Refining? If word got out, they’d be cursed into oblivion!

This went beyond simple wastefulness; it was a sacrilegious squandering of natural treasures!

In Xu Luo’s eyes, however, aside from keeping a few to deal with harsh environments, the rest could all be used for Artifact Refining.

There were simply too many of them!

With another wave of his hand, all the chests... vanished before his eyes, disappearing into his ring.

Looking deeper into the cavern, he saw an ancient painting hanging on the wall at the very end. It depicted a magnificent, great Cyan Dragon with prominent horns!

It coiled its way up into the highest heavens.

The background of the ancient painting was a starry sky, dotted with shimmering points of light.

Xu Luo’s gaze fell upon the Beidou Star in that painted sky...

”One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... eight!”

Just as he’d thought, in the ancient painting, the Beidou Star... was made of eight stars!

A tremor went through Xu Luo’s heart, a sensation that seemed to emanate from the depths of his soul. It calmed the excitement he felt from his massive haul.

As he stared at the eight Beidou Stars in the painting, an inexplicable sadness washed over him.

In front of the ancient painting stood a table. Its original color was long gone, as if eroded by endless ages. Its surface was pitted and uneven, and on closer inspection, the craftsmanship seemed quite crude.

’This table... is made of Divine Wood!’ A Divine Thought from the Phecda Star Soul suddenly echoed in his mind.

Xu Luo instinctively used his Treasure Hunting Skill. As expected, the table glowed with a brilliant light within his Sea of Spiritual Consciousness!

Resting atop the table was a single pearl. It was only the size of a human eye and as black as ink, with no trace of an aura leaking from it. An ordinary person would have paid it no mind.

At least, compared to the gems Xu Luo had just found in the chests, this pearl was utterly unremarkable.

But to Xu Luo, with his Treasure Hunting Skill active, the pearl erupted with a world-shakingly powerful aura!

The aura was so oppressive that Xu Luo could barely stay on his feet.

As a Tier Nine Sword Venerable, he was completely unable to resist the sheer presence emanating from the pearl.

At that moment, the Merak Star Soul within Xu Luo’s Dantian violently erupted with a scorching aura, which transformed into a beam of light and shot straight toward the black pearl.

Simultaneously, all five of his awakened Star Souls released their own powerful auras, enveloping Xu Luo’s body.

Xu Luo could even sense a wave of anger in the auras radiating from his Star Souls.

’Could it be... just because the pearl’s aura was pressing down on me?’

Xu Luo wasn’t sure, but after the Merak Star Soul shot out that scorching beam of light, the aura of the black pearl on the table—which had been visible to his Treasure Hunting Skill—instantly receded.

The speed was unbelievable.

Then, the black pearl abruptly transformed into a streak of black light and shot into Xu Luo’s Dantian.

Xu Luo didn’t even have a chance to react.

Performing an Inner Vision of the Dantian, he found that the black pearl had already settled there, positioned just beneath his Seven-Star Soul...

It exuded a gentle, warm aura, bobbing up and down with the energy in his Dantian.

”Wh-what’s going on?” Xu Luo was utterly speechless.

Then, a Divine Thought came from the black pearl: ”I am the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit. My apologies for my recent offense. Please, Lord Eighth Star Monarch, do not hold it against this humble dragon...”

’Cyan Dragon’s Spirit? Eighth Star Monarch?’ Xu Luo was dumbfounded. ’What in the world is going on?’