Firmament Sword

Ascending in broad daylight—from ancient times to the present, it had only ever existed in legends. When had anyone ever witnessed it in reality?

A vast aura of the Great Dao permeated the heavens and earth. The beam of light that was Huangfu Youran shot into the sky like a meteor, broke through the firmament, and vanished in a brilliant flash.

At that moment, everyone from the Kaiyang Sect knelt in mid-air, their faces filled with piety as they watched their ancestral figure ascend!

Huangfu Youran’s ascension was somewhat unexpected for Xu Luo as well, but after a moment of thought, he understood.

Huangfu Youran must have once stepped into the Saint Realm. He had only fallen to the Half-Saint Realm due to the decline of his vitality. After so many years, his understanding of the Saint Realm might not have been much less than that of the Elder Saint from the Huo Family of the Ancient Race.

He was a true genius with world-altering talent!

That was why, after being awakened by the sound of Xu Luo’s Great Dao, he was able to instantly comprehend its true meaning. On another level, he had entered the Dao!

In terms of his cultivation realm, Huangfu Youran was still a Half-Saint, but in terms of his state of mind, he had already broken through the Saint Realm and stepped into a higher level!

Given the relationship between Xu Luo and the Royal Family, he didn’t want to clash with an ancestor of the Royal Family.

But to let the Kaiyang Sect off just like that... was also impossible!

After all, the Kaiyang Sect’s situation was very different from the Dubhe Sect’s.

Xiang Wentian of the Dubhe Sect was too clever; he had made a timely retreat long ago to enter secluded cultivation. The new Sect Leader, moreover, was Lin Luoxue. Therefore, no matter how dissatisfied Xu Luo was with Dubhe, he couldn’t truly make a move against them.

As for the Kaiyang Sect... setting aside the fact that Shangguan Qing remained the Sect Leader, more importantly, he didn’t believe Xu Luo could actually do anything to them!

This was inextricably linked to the Kaiyang Sect’s profound heritage, but in the end, it was Shangguan Qing who, from the bottom of his heart, never really took Xu Luo seriously!

Even with Xu Luo having already arrived, Shangguan Qing remained defiant. He had set up such a formation with the clear intention of intimidating Xu Luo!

Unfortunately, no one had expected that their greatest support, the Half-Saint ancestor Huangfu Youran, would be awakened by the sound of Xu Luo’s Great Dao and ascend in broad daylight...

Now, with their most important trump card gone, Shangguan Qing’s expression turned extremely grim. His gaze toward Xu Luo became complicated.

”Xu Luo... the enmity between my Kaiyang Sect and you... it can’t all be blamed on us, can it?” Shangguan Qing said after a moment of contemplation.

”Oh?” Xu Luo glanced at Shangguan Qing with a ghost of a smile, sneering inwardly. ’It can’t all be blamed on you? From the feud with Jiang Tianhai in the Small World, to the Kaiyang Sect later refusing to help when lives were on the line... and after that, the various actions of the brothers Jiang Hanhai and Jiang Tianhai, and the Kaiyang Sect’s behavior after discovering that ore vein on Cangqiong...’

One incident after another was enough to make one’s teeth chatter with cold fury.

Not to mention, there was another matter he had learned of not long ago that filled Xu Luo’s heart with towering rage.

Now, Shangguan Qing was still unrepentant and trying to argue his case. Xu Luo gave a detached smile; he really had no desire to listen any further.

”Sect Master Shangguan, I acknowledge that you were once a great leader with a formidable reputation on the Central Plains Star Continent, and that you were once decent to Shishi. For those reasons, I don’t wish to kill you. I’ll give you a chance. Disband the Kaiyang Sect, dissipate your cultivation, and live as a common man... Your sect truly has no reason to exist anymore,” Xu Luo said lightly.

Shangguan Qing’s expression instantly turned hideous.

”You...” An elder beside Shangguan Qing roared in fury. ”You insolent whelp! The Kaiyang Sect has been passed down since ancient times and weathered countless storms! Who are you, you little bastard, to decide its fate? Today, I’ll teach you that there’s always someone stronger!”

As he spoke, the elder’s figure flashed. He charged out and summoned a golden bowl, which rapidly grew in the air. The bowl was engraved with numerous inscriptions, concealing countless arrays, and it radiated a sharp aura as it flew directly down toward Xu Luo.

”You overestimate yourself!” Xu Luo sneered, slashing out with the Beidou Sword in his hand.

A streak of Sword Qi transformed into a long rainbow, slashing directly at the enormous golden bowl...

CRACK!

The Sword Qi struck the golden bowl, which let out a crisp sound as it was cleaved in two!

The elder who had summoned the golden bowl cried out, spitting a mouthful of blood. A look of terror appeared in his eyes, and he turned to flee.

Xu Luo’s face was ice-cold. ’You attacked me, and now you think you can run?’

With a single sweep of the Beidou Sword in his hand, the elder’s head was separated from his body. Crimson blood shot into the sky!

That slash... was devastatingly sharp!

No one could even see the Sword Qi... A great expert of the Divine Power Realm had been decapitated just like that!

This was too terrifying!

The members of the Kaiyang Sect were all shocked and enraged. Shangguan Qing’s face was as grim as still water. When the elder beside him had attacked, he hadn’t stopped him, because deep down, he still didn’t believe that Xu Luo could have gained the power to crush them in just a few short years.

So, he had wanted someone to test the waters...

But that test... had cost the Kaiyang Sect a terrible price.

”Sect Master Shangguan... what else do you have to say?” Xu Luo stood firm in mid-air like a god, his vitality surging to the heavens as he pointed the Beidou Sword at Shangguan Qing from a distance.

”Xu Luo... must you... truly force us to a dead end?” Shangguan Qing’s face was ashen, his eyes flashing with unwillingness. He said, ”Within this Kaiyang Sect... there are still many ancestors of your Cangqiong Royal Family. Huangfu Shishi is already your fiancée, so these ancestors of the Huangfu Family are naturally your elders too, Xu Luo. Aren’t you afraid of what this will do to your reputation?”

”Ancestors of the Royal Family? Hahaha! Ancestors who are nowhere to be seen when their descendants are in trouble—is there really any difference between having them and not?” Xu Luo smiled faintly and said, ”Sect Master Shangguan, there’s no need to say more. I’ll ask you one last time: will the Kaiyang Sect disband or not!”

”Sect Leader... let’s fight him!”

”Yes, Sect Leader! No matter how strong he is, can he really kill every single one of us?”

”He’s gone too far, Sect Leader! Go and ask out those ancestors from the Huangfu Family! Let them see how arrogant and domineering this son-in-law of their descendant is!”

”Sect Leader... we can’t endure this any longer! Not only does he want to destroy our sect, he won’t even spare you!”

A group of powerful experts from the Divine Power Realm were unwilling to accept this. If the Kaiyang Sect were to disband, they would become rootless duckweed. From then on, though the world was vast, they would have no place to call home.

They never stopped to think, however, what decision they would make if their positions were reversed. Disband the sect? They probably wouldn’t even consider it. If it were them, they most likely would have just drawn their swords and slaughtered the entire sect!

A direct suppression with overwhelming martial power!

With that kind of power, what need is there for pointless talk?

But alas, they wouldn’t think that way. They would only feel that Xu Luo had gone too far.

Shangguan Qing’s expression was stormy. Xu Luo’s methods when killing that expert at the Fourth Layer of the Divine Power Realm had been too ruthless. Compounded by Huangfu Youran’s departure, Shangguan Qing had almost completely lost his confidence.

”Sect Leader... don’t hesitate! Give the order!” an elder shouted, his eyes bloodshot.

He had been the closest to the man Xu Luo had just cut down. They were sworn brothers. The death of his good friend was a massive blow to him, and his heart was now completely filled with rage, having long since lost all composure.

Shangguan Qing looked at Xu Luo and gritted his teeth. ”Must you really force us to a dead end?”

Xu Luo sighed, said no more, and charged forward with his sword drawn!

’A dead end? This is a dead end!’

The Beidou Sword transformed into a beam of light, piercing through the head of the elder who had just been vowing to avenge his friend, killing him in a single blow!

After that, Xu Luo began a slaughter in all directions, crushing his enemies as easily as breaking dry weeds!

Shangguan Qing now had no path of retreat. Roaring in fury, he began to awaken the sect’s true hidden powers.

In a few moments, a large number of figures flew out from all corners of the Kaiyang Sect. Wave after wave of powerful auras converged on the area.

Xu Luo transformed into a God of Slaughter and began a massacre!

Since words were now useless, and since the other side refused to accept his terms, there was nothing left to say. If he hadn’t been strong enough, if his family and friends hadn’t been strong enough, they would have been annihilated by the Kaiyang Sect several times over by now.

This outcome wasn’t the only possible path. Xu Luo had given them a chance, but unfortunately, Shangguan Qing had chosen not to take it. He didn’t want to bow his head; he wanted to be unyielding...

’Then I’ll give you the chance to be unyielding!’

RUMBLE!

Above the Kaiyang Sect, massive rumbles sounded one after another. Figures continuously arrived, only to continuously fall from the sky.

No one could stop Xu Luo.

Shangguan Qing roared in grief and fury, ”Xu Luo... is the grudge between my Kaiyang Sect and you truly so deep? Will you not stop until you’ve hunted us all down and killed us?”

”Sect Master Shangguan, if the Xu Family wasn’t strong enough, if I, Xu Luo, wasn’t tough enough to survive, would I... even have the chance to stand here and speak with you now? My family, my friends... they would have long since turned to a handful of yellow earth. Would you... have given them a chance to live?”

Xu Luo’s voice was icy. ”Don’t think that just because you acted in the shadows those few times... that just because I wasn’t on the Central Plains Star Continent and you left no traces, no one would know. You know best what you’ve done!”

Shangguan Qing argued, ”Even if we had such thoughts, in the end, no great mistake was made! Let’s stop here... The Kaiyang Sect will bow its head and admit defeat. How about it?”

”You were never in a position to win!” Xu Luo said coldly. ”Besides... if you had truly made a great mistake, the situation today would be very different! This crowd of elders charging to their deaths—you were the one who called them out! I didn’t charge in to kill them!”

Though Xu Luo was speaking, his hands didn’t pause in the slightest. None of those who rushed him could get close. The Beidou Sword radiated sharp Sword Qi, crisscrossing the firmament and sweeping through the world!

People constantly fell from the void, with severed limbs and endless, tragic screams.

At this moment, Shangguan Qing felt a hatred so intense he could have eaten Xu Luo alive, but he knew that the Kaiyang Sect’s fall today was certain!

”Stop!” Following Shangguan Qing’s great shout, all the figures attacking Xu Luo came to a halt.

These people had long been scared witless by Xu Luo. They had been charging forward on their last shred of courage. Now that they were stopped, they all turned pale, their eyes filled with fear.

At this point, even if Shangguan Qing ordered them to charge again, they likely wouldn’t have the courage.

”The Kaiyang Sect... from this day forward... is disbanded!”

Shangguan Qing seemed to use every last ounce of his strength to utter those words. ”From now on... in this world, there is no more Kaiyang Sect... this sect is no more!”

After speaking, Shangguan Qing’s eyes turned crimson. With a cry, he spat out a mouthful of blood and stared at Xu Luo. ”Is that enough?”