Firmament Sword

Xu Luo buried the three members of the Huo Family’s branch together. There was no tombstone, no grave mound. Before long, their bones would completely decay and become fertilizer for this nameless mountain.

He didn’t linger, nor did he feel much sentiment. Xu Luo stood up and left directly.

Many things in life were like this. What you imagined and what actually happened were always two different things. Take Xu Luo, for example. He had previously thought about using these three men, letting them fight it out with the people from the Ancient Race Continent. If possible, he could even help stir up more hatred for the Huo Family. That would have been perfect.

But reality was like that, always unpredictable.

That was why even a Saint like the Huo Family’s ancestor, whose Inference Skill was godlike, couldn’t predict the world’s many changes.

”The only thing I can do now is help the Huo Family stir up a little more hatred...” Xu Luo muttered, his figure disappearing into the vast mountain range.

...

Li Ye turned around and looked coldly at the figures who had just appeared. ”Why is it you?” he asked, surprised.

”Why can’t it be us?” The speaker was a young man who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. He was handsome, also with golden hair, and bore a slight resemblance to Li Ye. His face still held a trace of childishness.

But the look he gave Li Ye was filled with malice, as if he utterly despised the person before him.

The others weren’t much older either; the eldest was only twenty-four or twenty-five. Without exception, they all had handsome faces and golden hair. Their gazes toward Li Ye were filled with jealousy.

”I never thought it would be you...” A flash of sorrow crossed Li Ye’s eyes as he spoke. ”I thought it would be people from another clan coming to kill me. I never imagined... it would be my own kin, my own brother among them! Li Hua... do you hate me that much?”

The seventeen-year-old, golden-haired young man sneered, ”You’re asking despite knowing the answer!”

”But I don’t understand!” Li Ye suddenly grew agitated, roaring at the young man, ”I’m your older brother! I’ve never done anything to hurt you! Not only that, you know damn well how good I’ve been to you!”

”You do know! You know perfectly well!” the young man yelled back, straining his neck. ”Li Ye, if it weren’t for you, I would be our parents’ only child! When we paid our respects at the Holy Land, the Ancestor would have bestowed a treasure upon me! He would have given me a Cultivation Technique! The one receiving the Ancestor’s second treasure today... would still be me! Without you... I would be the family’s one and only! It’s all your fault! It’s all because of you!”

”Shut your mouth!” Li Ye was completely enraged. He bellowed, ”How could I, Li Ye... have such a vile, ungrateful whelp for a brother? You’re only seventeen! Our parents are so gentle and kind—who taught you to be so vile?”

As he spoke, Li Ye’s gaze shifted to the men standing beside Li Hua. He gritted his teeth. ”You’ve planned this well, haven’t you? Pitting brother against brother so you can reap the benefits?”

”You misunderstand. We just couldn’t stand seeing Brother Li Hua being wronged and wanted to help him vent his frustrations. We’re not as sinister and cunning as you make us out to be.”

”That’s right. Brother Li Hua knows what kind of people we are. You don’t need to try and sow discord here!”

”Li Ye, there’s nothing more to say. Your strength is only at the Second Layer of the Divine Power Realm. You should know you’re no match for us. We don’t want to kill you. Just hand over the second treasure bestowed by the Ancestor. We don’t want it; just give it to Li Hua.”

”Yes, we’re curious about the treasure, but not that interested. Li Ye, hand it over. Stop going on and on about what a good brother you are. Giving the treasure to your brother is more convincing than saying it a thousand times!”

The group’s clamor made Li Ye so angry he could have spat blood. He stared intently at his younger brother. The seventeen-year-old’s face was etched with stubbornness as he stared back.

Clearly, he had taken their words to heart and was now waiting to see Li Ye’s reaction.

”Li Hua...” Li Ye laughed in fury. He looked at the young man before him. ”You’d rather believe outsiders than your own brother?”

”At least they won’t hurt me, suppress me, or compete with me for anything!” Li Hua shouted.

”Since birth, you weren’t raised by our parents; you grew up with your master. I didn’t see you for ten years, but in my heart, you have always been the person I’m closest to in this world! You’re even... more important to me than our parents! Because our parents... will one day grow old, but the bond between brothers... is truly for a lifetime!”

Tears welled in Li Ye’s eyes. ”I don’t know who taught you to be this way, or why you think I stole everything that should have been yours... But today, right here, I’m going to teach you a lesson!”

Li Ye’s words, spoken as if crying blood, finally moved Li Hua. The young man’s thoughts were relatively simple, and he intuitively felt that his brother might not be the person the others described.

But the things he had been indoctrinated with over many years had a terrifying influence, one that couldn’t be erased in a moment.

Li Hua looked at his older brother and asked, ”What lesson?”

”The lesson... is that the people around you don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart!” As Li Ye spoke, he flicked his hand, and a flash of crimson... appeared in the air!

”Hahaha, it really is a bodice!”

”Holy shit... It actually is! Li Hua, your brother’s insane! He really thinks that bodice is a treasure!”

”If I’d known, I wouldn’t have even bothered taking out my Magical Artifact...”

The young men around Li Hua, who had been furious at Li Ye’s words, couldn’t help but burst out laughing when they saw the crimson bodice.

The Ancestor’s bestowing of the treasure had alarmed the Sect Leader and a group of high-ranking Elders, who all went to observe. Who would have thought that Li Ye would produce a red bodice still carrying the lingering scent of a woman? The sight had made a whole crowd of people double over with laughter. The story had spread like wildfire through Honglou Ancient City, to the point that now almost everyone knew about it.

But the bestowing of the treasure itself was definitely real!

After all, the commotion at the time had been enormous. Never mind Honglou Ancient City; plenty of people from other places had likely witnessed the scene with their own eyes.

”Go ahead and laugh. In a moment, I’ll make you cry so hard you won’t know what hit you!” Li Ye’s gaze was icy. He chanted a Technique, and the crimson bodice in the sky suddenly swelled, expanding many times its normal size!

It became a crimson canopy about a hundred feet in diameter, completely covering the group below!

”Celestial Thunder... strike!”

Following Li Ye’s furious roar, a terrifying scene unfolded.

A dozen bolts of lightning suddenly erupted from the bodice-turned-canopy in the sky, then struck down at the young men below!

All the lightning bolts avoided the seventeen-year-old, who stood there dazed and confused, and struck everyone else.

The bolts instantly sent the group shrieking like ghosts and howling like wolves. These young men were no pushovers. The eldest among them had already reached the Peak of Second Level of Divine Power Realm. Of the other three, two were at the Peak of the First Level of Divine Power Realm, and one had just entered the Second Layer of the Divine Power Realm...

Even Li Ye’s own brother, the seventeen-year-old Li Hua, had already stepped into the Divine Power Realm!

He was a true prodigy of his generation!

And yet, this group of frighteningly powerful young men was now being struck by lightning under the hundred-foot-wide crimson canopy, screaming wretchedly!

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to escape; they simply couldn’t!

The area covered by the crimson canopy was like an invisible cage. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn’t get out!

Forget escaping—even their cultivation power was completely suppressed by an unknown pressure, rendering it useless.

If Li Ye wanted to kill them now, he could probably slaughter them all with a mere flick of his wrist!

At this point, Li Ye finally believed that the Ancestor hadn’t tricked him. Even though this red bodice... looked a little... you know... its power was no joke!

At the very least, Li Ye had never seen such a powerful Magical Artifact.

He was now absolutely confident that if he ran into that guy who stole his Heaven-Piercing Shuttle again, he could easily beat him so badly that his own mother wouldn’t recognize him!

The young men were struck by volley after volley of lightning until they collapsed weakly on the ground. If they weren’t all mighty experts of the Divine Power Realm with incredibly tough bodies, they would have long since been blasted to smithereens.

Most importantly, Li Ye hadn’t actually used a killing blow.

Once the young men had completely lost their ability to fight, Li Ye beckoned with his hand. The crimson canopy in the sky flew back into his grasp, reverting to the form of a bright red bodice.

Smelling the lingering fragrance on it, the corner of Li Ye’s mouth twitched. He put the bodice away and walked toward the only one still standing, the young man who was completely dumbfounded.

”Y-you, stay back! What are you doing?” Li Hua was like a frightened bird. Seeing his brother approach, his face paled in terror, and he began to shout.

”I’m your brother. What would I do to you? No matter how much you dislike me, I would never hurt you.” Li Ye sighed, walked up to Li Hua, and patted his shoulder.

Then, he looked at the figures on the ground, who had been zapped until they were nearly charred black.

Although they looked terrifying, Li Ye knew in his heart that they were all alive and not seriously injured.

The moment he had deployed the bodice, Li Ye had understood how to use it. He had only used a tenth of its power.

”Stop playing dead. All of you, get up. If anyone dares to play dead again, I’ll make sure they’re actually dead!” Li Ye said coldly.

The words had barely left his mouth when the young men on the ground began to groan. They scrambled to their feet, each one a wretched sight, their eyes filled with terror as they looked at Li Ye.

”Speak. Who sent you? And who taught Li Hua all that nonsense he was spouting? Tell me the truth, and I’ll let you go. But if you lie, don’t blame me for being ruthless...” As Li Ye spoke, he glanced at them and added, ”If you push me, I will actually kill you!”