Firmament Sword

”GET OUT! GO TO HELL! AHHHHHH!” the young man roared, the Chaos Qi in his body on the verge of igniting.

The Suffering Ascetic’s expression was sorrowful, and the Buddhist light around him was dense. Even he could not remain here any longer, or he would be swept into ashes by the surging, scorching Chaos Qi.

He pressed his palms together and chanted a Buddhist mantra. Then, with a casual slash of one hand across the young man’s belly... a gash suddenly appeared on the abdomen of the giant-sized youth!

Relative to the young man’s giant form, the wound was small, but it was large enough for the Suffering Ascetic to get out.

The Suffering Ascetic strode out calmly. Once outside, his entire body began to glow, shimmering with a golden light like a blazing sun!

”Amitabha!”

The Suffering Ascetic recited the mantra, and two beams of light filled with mysterious symbols shot from his eyes. They landed on the young man’s sliced-open abdomen, and the wound healed at a visible rate.

”From this day forward, you are my father. If fate allows, we will meet again!” As the Suffering Ascetic spoke, the Buddhist light around him flared. A divine halo rose from behind him, circling his head and radiating a dazzling brilliance!

”I’ll kill you!” The young man was driven mad with rage. He instantly shrank back to his original size and, wielding a green bamboo staff, desperately attacked the Suffering Ascetic.

”I have achieved perfection and will now take my leave. If you do not wish to see me, then we shall never meet again.” The Suffering Ascetic waved his hand gently. A massive hand, seemingly made of water, materialized in the void and lightly caught the youth’s bamboo staff, which was countless times heavier than a mountain. A slight smile touched his lips.

Then, with a single step, he strode out of the Grand Array and appeared outside.

He first glanced in the direction where Song Chengfeng and Chu Xiaoya were hiding and said faintly, ”Lay down your butcher’s knife and become a Buddha on the spot. You two are kind-hearted by nature, so why create more needless slaughter?”

Over there, the corners of Song Chengfeng’s mouth twitched violently. Although they couldn’t see everything happening inside the Array clearly, they could hear it.

Now, seeing the Suffering Ascetic step out of the Grand Array with a single stride, they instantly grew tense. They watched the old monk, a halo behind his head and his body bathed in Buddhist light, with utmost vigilance.

”I mean you no harm.” The Suffering Ascetic smiled faintly, the sorrowful expression completely gone from his face.

The Suffering Ascetic then looked toward Xu Luo on the small island. He sighed softly and shook his head slightly, but said nothing. He took a step that seemed slow but instantly vanished into the void.

”Just who... who in the world was that?” Xu Luo stared in shock at the spot where the Suffering Ascetic had disappeared. ’At this point, I even began to wonder what the man’s purpose had been in coming here today.’

’That look he just gave me was so complex, as if it contained a wealth of information. Even though he didn’t speak, I have a feeling he had a lot he wanted to say to me.’

”He probably wasn’t here for the young brother.” High up in the sky, Song Chengfeng said to Chu Xiaoya beside him, ”That man’s power is unfathomable. He’s at least in the Saint Realm!”

Chu Xiaoya nodded. ”He was standing right in front of me, but I couldn’t sense his presence at all...”

”Western Buddhism is full of extraordinary people. Fortunately, he bore no ill will toward the young brother. Otherwise, the boy would have been in real danger!” Song Chengfeng said with a sigh.

”Now only that other man is left in the Array. I wonder what will happen. I hope there are no accidents!” A trace of worry appeared on Chu Xiaoya’s stunningly beautiful face. ”That man seems very powerful too! Although not as strong as the old monk, he’s definitely not weak. He was even able to devour others inside the Array.”

Worry also creased Song Chengfeng’s brow. He said, ”That man probably isn’t from the Ancient Race Continent. I’ve never seen him before, and his power is truly terrifying. But the young brother should be able to handle him. This Array... I’ve never seen or even heard of anything like it in my life!”

Chu Xiaoya said, ”You’re right. It’s such a terrifying Grand Array. It trapped and killed so many people at once. After this battle, I believe there won’t be many people left in this world who can threaten the young brother.”

Song Chengfeng nodded and said, ”The two of us can also watch over him from the shadows. If anyone tries to harm him, we’ll eliminate them!”

Chu Xiaoya smiled. ”A Demon King and a Demon Saint... what a pair of good brothers!”

Just then, the young man’s voice echoed from within the Array. ”Xu Luo, let’s call a truce. You can’t refine me to death, and you can’t keep me locked up in here forever. I know you are the eye of the Array. As long as you don’t move, this Array will keep running, but do you really want to be stuck in this stalemate with me indefinitely?”

”And what if I do?” Xu Luo’s voice drifted out faintly. ”I can just cultivate here slowly until I’m strong enough to suppress you. Then I’ll deal with you!”

”Suppress me? Dream on!” the young man sneered, then said viciously, ”Let me out, and I promise I won’t cause you any trouble for ten years. That damn... I need to go kill that bald-headed bastard! My hatred for him is so much deeper than my hatred for you right now!”

Xu Luo asked coldly, ”You hate me? On what grounds?”

Xu Luo asked this question with righteous indignation!

Throughout his life, from birth until now, it wasn’t that he had never killed. But it was always on the battlefield, or when others were trying to kill him. Xu Luo had never proactively provoked anyone, much less harbored thoughts of scheming against or harming others.

So, he couldn’t understand. What reason did this man have to hate him?

”Do you hate me simply because you came to refine me but ended up trapped by me instead?” Xu Luo asked faintly, looking up at the Grand Array in the Cangqiong above.

”Eh?” The young man in the Golden Battle Garment let out a small sound of surprise. ”You don’t recognize me?”

”I didn’t before, but now... I have a guess. You’re a clone of the Kunpeng?” Xu Luo asked.

The young man smiled faintly. ”Correct. I am a clone of the Kunpeng. Now you should understand why I hate you, right? But right now, I hate that old bald head even more. He dared to humiliate me! I must go and kill him! Don’t worry, I’m a man of my word. If I say I won’t touch you for ten years, I absolutely won’t. As for this Grand Array, with your current power, you can only set it up this one time, and you can’t maintain it for very long. If you agree, you’ll have ten years to improve yourself. If you don’t, and you insist on fighting me to the death... it’s just a sliver of a spiritual body. It’s no great loss to discard it. You should think it over carefully!”

The young man was powerful and overbearing, not at all afraid that Xu Luo would refuse. After speaking, he sat cross-legged in the void and began to absorb and refine the powerful experts he had just devoured!

”He really is... unbelievably arrogant!”

Outside the Grand Array, Song Chengfeng and Chu Xiaoya were dumbfounded. The conversation between the young man and Xu Luo hadn’t been transmitted telepathically, so they heard it clearly. Only now did they realize the young man’s origins were truly extraordinary.

”A clone of the most powerful Supreme Divine Beast from ancient times, the Kunpeng... No wonder,” Song Chengfeng muttered.

”I heard that Beidou’s Eighth Star descended to the Mortal World precisely to eliminate the Kunpeng, which was plaguing it. They really are... mortal enemies. I just never expected the Kunpeng to still be alive in the Mortal World. Otherwise, where would this clone have come from?” Chu Xiaoya said with an astonished expression.

”Alive, he should be. Just not necessarily in the Mortal World,” Song Chengfeng said meaningfully, glancing up at the endless Cangqiong above.

”Ah, it looks like the Celestial Tribulation is coming! We need to leave, quickly!” Chu Xiaoya said, looking at the huge, terrifying vortex that had formed in the Cangqiong. It was swirling with thunder and lightning.

”I just don’t know if the young brother will be alright,” Song Chengfeng said, frowning slightly.

The reason the Celestial Tribulation had not yet descended was because the battle—one that broke the rules of heaven and earth—had temporarily stopped. However, the monstrous, terrifying aura still remained, so while the tribulation hadn’t fallen, it also hadn’t dispersed.

”If our little brother doesn’t fight again, the Celestial Tribulation should slowly dissipate, right?” Chu Xiaoya said, a little worried.

Xu Luo hesitated. ’My current strength is definitely not a match for the young man in the Golden Battle Garment. If possible, I naturally want to kill him right here and now. Even if he really is a spiritual body of the Kunpeng, as long as he is destroyed, the Kunpeng itself can do nothing about it!’

Besides, Xu Luo didn’t believe the man’s last statement at all: ’It’s just a sliver of a spiritual body. It’s no great loss to discard it.’

Xu Luo didn’t believe it!

’Even for a god, creating a spiritual body with its own independent personality and such immense power would be no easy feat. If the spiritual body were destroyed, it would surely have a huge impact on the original!’

’But as I am now... I really don’t have the power to destroy him! If I really wanted to, the Seven Star Souls would certainly have to pay an unimaginable price.’

’Even if I’m not the Eighth Star! I still owe those Seven Star Souls far too much. I don’t want anything to happen to them.’

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Xu Luo was about to nod in agreement when he suddenly saw the seven great stars in the Cangqiong above, radiant with starlight, abruptly launch an attack!

The seven great stars pierced the starry curtain, entering directly into the Grand Array. They began to burn furiously, like seven blazing suns!

Dubhe’s icy voice transmitted from within the Array, ”To be able to destroy a spiritual body of the Kunpeng, even death is worth it!”

”That’s right. I’ve wanted to do this for a million years!” Jade Balance’s cool voice followed.

”Even though you aren’t the real Kunpeng, how could we bear to miss an opportunity to kill you!” came Shaking Light’s ancient and desolate voice.

Following that, Kaiyang, Tianquan, Phecda, and Merak all spoke up, vowing to annihilate this spiritual body of the Kunpeng!

The voices of the Seven Star Souls were all incredibly calm. It didn’t sound like they were going to their deaths at all, but rather like they were making casual conversation.

But below, Xu Luo, the eye of the Array, felt his heart clench. He roared, ”Don’t!”

The young man in the Golden Battle Garment grew tense as well. He bellowed, ”Do you Beidou want to be completely wiped out by me?”

”You’d have to be able to send a message back first!” Dubhe said coldly. Then, the seven completely ignited stars charged directly at the young man, carrying with them a tragic, heroic momentum of no return!

”No!” Tears streamed down Xu Luo’s face. True tragedy needs no grand speeches; the sight of them unhesitatingly burning themselves to charge the enemy was enough to make one’s very soul tremble.

In the Cangqiong above, the swirling Celestial Tribulation, at that very instant, crashed down upon the Grand Array!

Far in the distance, Song Chengfeng and Chu Xiaoya were aghast. They had no choice but to instantly tear open the void and flee. If they remained, death was certain!

Song Chengfeng let out a long sigh, and Chu Xiaoya’s face was streaked with tears.