Firmament Sword

Chu Tianlie felt as if he were being torn apart by the wind. His whole body trembled violently, his lips quivering as he mumbled, ”This is impossible... It’s only been a short while. How could everything just be gone? It can’t be that someone was following me... Who could possibly trail me without being discovered? Impossible... How is it all gone?”

The muscles on Chu Tianlie’s face twitched violently. Suddenly...

”Who’s there! Get the hell out here!”

A roar like a clap of thunder echoed through the cave, booming out from its entrance!

Xu Luo, who was already far away, heard the sound from a distance. He paused for a fraction of a second, and then ran even faster!

”AAAAAH! Who the hell took my treasures?! Who was it?! Get out here! GET OUT HERE! AAAAAH!” Chu Tianlie had completely lost his mind. He flew straight out of the cave and began searching around the entirety of Hualong Mountain at an incredible speed.

He moved so fast his shadow was impossible to see.

”Eighty years... I spent eighty whole years... on this. Damn it all! Which bastard stole my Dragon Pearl and took my treasures? Who was it? Get the hell out here... *sob*!”

In the end, Chu Tianlie actually broke down, weeping bitter tears.

This mighty expert of the Divine Power Realm could no longer endure such a blow and fell into a complete breakdown.

The Poisonous Flood Dragon, trapped in the Qiankun Reversal Five Elements Array, had been struggling frantically. But when it suddenly heard Chu Tianlie’s crazed roars, it stopped moving. It let the blood flow freely from its wounds and listened for a moment. Then, the Poisonous Flood Dragon’s massive mouth split open in a wide grin as it roared with laughter. ”Hahahaha, serves you right! You despicable human! You exhausted all your schemes and spent eighty years on this, and what’s the result? Someone beat you to it, didn’t they? Hahahaha, this is fantastic! So satisfying!”

”Ugh... damn it, my treasures are gone too! AAAAAAAH!”

After laughing a few times, the Poisonous Flood Dragon realized something was wrong and couldn’t help but roar as well. However, compared to the loss of its treasures, the dragon, which hated Chu Tianlie to its very core, was more interested in seeing his look of despair.

”Come on, you damned human! Come over here and let me see that long face of yours, hahahaha!” The Poisonous Flood Dragon’s taunting voice passed through the Grand Array and echoed over Hualong Mountain.

A moment later, Chu Tianlie appeared outside the Grand Array. His eyes were chillingly cold as he stared at the trapped Poisonous Flood Dragon. ”Do you think... that as long as you don’t resist, I really can’t do anything to you?”

”Do what you want! If you have some trick, go ahead and use it!” The Poisonous Flood Dragon sneered, looking at Chu Tianlie from within the Grand Array. ”You’re just a despicable human. Whatever methods you have, feel free to use them on me!”

”I admit... I can’t do anything to you right now. But as long as you’re trapped here, I will find a way! You know, human ingenuity is limitless! If I can’t deal with you in a year, I’ll take ten. If ten years isn’t enough, I’ll take a hundred!” Chu Tianlie glared at the Poisonous Flood Dragon, his eyes filled with killing intent. ”Sooner or later, I will think of a way to utterly destroy you!”

”Bring it on. I’ll be waiting,” the Poisonous Flood Dragon sneered.

”When that time comes, I’ll pull out your tendons, drink your blood, eat your flesh, use your scales to make armor, and refine your bones into weapons!” Chu Tianlie said. ”See? I’ve planned it all out for you, haven’t I? Every part of you will be put to use. You should be proud!”

Chu Tianlie spoke with a smug look on his face. But to his surprise, the Poisonous Flood Dragon didn’t fly into a rage as he expected. Instead, it was remarkably calm.

The Poisonous Flood Dragon gave a mocking smile. ”Why don’t you wait until you can actually do it before you run your mouth? Since the day I was born, countless people have had designs on me. But in the end... every single human who targeted me has turned to shit, dust to dust. So, if you’re trying to provoke me this way... I can only say, you’re so naive!”

”You...” Now Chu Tianlie was truly enraged. He spat out a mouthful of blood and swayed, a venomous light shining in his eyes.

He had spent eighty years on a single task, and just as he was on the verge of success, someone had beaten him to it. What was even more hateful was that he couldn’t do a single thing to this Poisonous Flood Dragon either.

It was as if he had completely wasted eighty years of his life!

And in the end... he had only paved the way for someone else!

’Don’t let me find out who did this... or I’ll tear them to shreds!’ Chu Tianlie ground his teeth. Now, whenever he closed his eyes, the image of those chaotic footprints all over the ground would appear in his mind. The feeling was driving him mad.

’I’m truly enraged! I need to vent this fury... Starlight Sect, my apologies, but you’re just unlucky! You happened to be in the way when this old ancestor is in a foul mood, so it’ll have to be you!’

With that, Chu Tianlie turned and left without a second glance.

...

”Alright, can you tell me what’s going on now?” Xu Luo stopped on a mountain dozens of miles from the Starlight Sect. Although they were communicating via Divine Thought, he didn’t want to ask about such a heaven-shattering secret while on someone else’s territory.

”Of course, my Lord Star Monarch. This little dragon is the Cyan Dragon, known in the Ancient Era as the head of the Four Great Divine Beasts. In that era, the Human Race had not yet risen. Life was incredibly difficult, and it was a time when all manner of beasts and creatures ran rampant...”

”The four of us Divine Beasts—the Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—were very famous, but we were not the most powerful beings of that era. In fact, there were even stronger Venerable Beasts that existed in this world.”

”In the North Netherworld there is a fish, its name is Kun. The Kun is so huge, I know not how many thousand li it measures. It changes into a bird, its name is Peng. The back of the Peng measures I know not how many thousand li. When it rises up and flies, its wings are like clouds all over the sky... The Kunpeng spreads its wings, soaring ninety thousand li straight up!”

”The Kunpeng... was a true Divine Beast of the Venerable Realm. At that time, the Kunpeng was the strongest, but it had a taste for human flesh. Often, with a single gulp, it would devour millions, even tens of millions, of the Human Race alive!”

”Although we were known as the Four Great Divine Beasts, we were still far inferior to the Kunpeng. Thus, he suppressed us and forced us to become his subordinates.”

”Perhaps the Kunpeng’s cannibalism finally angered the heavens, or perhaps there were other reasons this little dragon is unaware of. On that day, all sorts of strange phenomena appeared in the sky. At the same time, the aura of the Great Dao became extremely chaotic, making cultivation impossible.”

”Afterward, a shooting star streaked across the sky and descended upon the world. From that day on, the Kunpeng was never seen again. Later, all living beings discovered that the Beidou Star, which originally had eight stars, was missing one... And so, rumors spread that the Kunpeng’s actions had enraged the heavens, which sent down divine punishment. The Beidou Eighth Star Monarch himself descended to destroy the Kunpeng...”

Xu Luo was speechless for a long time after hearing this. These ancient legends were like myths, so incredible that he found them difficult to believe, yet he had no choice but to accept them.

”The Kunpeng... I heard it was born a Divine Spirit,” Xu Luo sighed softly. He had naturally heard the legends of the Kunpeng, but they had never mentioned anything about Beidou’s Eighth Star.

The legends only said that in the Ancient Era, there was a true Divine Object. As a fish, it was called Kun; as a bird, it was called Peng. It could soar ninety thousand li straight up and swallow the sun, moon, and stars!

But that was just a legend, after all. Hearing the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit recount it in such detail now left Xu Luo feeling surprised... and even bewildered.

’I... am Beidou’s Eighth Star? And I descended to the mortal world back then to slay the Kunpeng?’ Xu Luo felt completely lost.

”Then... how did you all end up like this?” Xu Luo asked.

”This... is rather embarrassing. Back when we were following the Kunpeng, we were, uh, forced... *cough cough*... and we also did some... well, some not-so-good things.” The Cyan Dragon’s Spirit stammered, finally revealing the truth.

Back then, the Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise were all incredibly powerful. Their strength wasn’t at the rumored Quasi-Venerable level... they were true Venerables!

As for the Kunpeng... it was a terrifying creature that had already reached the Venerable Peak!

In fact, according to the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit’s speculation, the Kunpeng might have already broken through the Venerable Realm and entered another, unbelievable realm by the time it disappeared!

However, this was only the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit’s guess; it wasn’t necessarily true.

Before the Kunpeng disappeared, the Four Great Divine Beasts—the Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—had relied on its fearsome reputation. While they hadn’t committed too many evil deeds, they had still offended many powerful beings of that era.

With the Kunpeng around, no one dared to trouble the Four Great Divine Beasts. But after it vanished, the powerful beings of that chaotic, heroic Ancient Era finally turned their attention to them.

After many years of preparation, led by several other powerful beings at the Venerable level, a vast number of formidable creatures followed suit and began to hunt down the Four Great Divine Beasts!

That epic battle directly led to the mass death of countless creatures from the Ancient Era. The world underwent a drastic change, the Four Great Divine Beasts fell one after another, and subsequently, the Ancient Era came to an end. The Human Race then began to take the world stage.

”So... you guys weren’t exactly good guys back in that era, huh?” Xu Luo teased the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit after hearing the story.

”It was an era where the strong preyed on the weak. The powerful creatures were at the top of the food chain, the true kings! Speaking of which, we Four Great Divine Beasts actually made many contributions to the Human Race. We protected humans and even tried to persuade Lord Kunpeng...” the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit said, sounding a bit wronged. ”And that’s precisely why those beings from the Ancient Primordial Era hated us...”

”Is that really how it was?” Xu Luo was a little incredulous.

”It’s true! Otherwise, why would you humans revere us Four Great Divine Beasts as Divine Spirits of the Ancient Era? Why would you consider us auspicious beasts?” the Cyan Dragon’s Spirit explained.

”Alright, regardless, all of that is in the past. You said I could resurrect you. What do I need to do?” Xu Luo asked.

”The Eighth Star Monarch is truly the most benevolent of Divine Spirits...” The Cyan Dragon’s Spirit first flattered Xu Luo before continuing, ”As long as the Eighth Star Monarch can step into the Divine Domain again and reclaim your title, there will naturally be countless ways to resurrect us!”

”The Divine Domain?” The unfamiliar term made Xu Luo raise an eyebrow.