Firmament Sword

The woman was momentarily stunned. Then, jolted with excitement, she looked at Xu Luo in astonishment and said, ”Sir… please… please wait a moment. I’ll go get our Chief Shopkeeper right away!”

After waiting for so many days, the staff inside the Celestial Brilliance Bank were, in fact, all very curious. Who on earth was that mysterious person!

It was just that after so many days of this commotion, they had grown a bit numb, some even starting to get annoyed.

If it weren’t for all the people in black robes showing up to muddle the waters every day, they might have even started to think the mysterious person wouldn’t dare to appear!

After all, so many people were looking for him out there, and none of their factions were to be trifled with.

They never expected that he would actually show his face, first thing in the morning.

Soon, the Chief Shopkeeper of the Celestial Brilliance Bank appeared in the VIP room. He first took the Sound Transmission Stone, his expression tense, and personally verified it.

Since Celestial Brilliance dared to use this as a token, they naturally had their own unique methods of verification.

Before long, the Chief Shopkeeper of the Celestial Brilliance Bank said with a broad smile, ”It’s authentic. Honored guest, please wait a moment. We’ll have everything ready for you right away!”

Fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones… even a Celestial Brilliance Bank couldn’t gather that amount on such short notice. However, they could create a Purple Crystal Card that could be used to withdraw fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones!

Creating this kind of card took time and required the personal approval of many people. Otherwise, if someone used such a thing to commit fraud, their losses would be catastrophic!

This was precisely why they had made Xu Luo wait for ten days.

A moment later, the Chief Shopkeeper of the Celestial Brilliance Bank personally brought the card over. Then, in front of Xu Luo, he used one of the bank’s machines to verify its authenticity.

The bank’s Chief Shopkeeper, smiling broadly, respectfully presented the card and placed it in Xu Luo’s hand.

Then he said, ”Fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones… no bank branch would have such a large reserve. Generally speaking, a normal branch is already considered well-stocked if it has a reserve of one million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones.”

”Our Celestial Brilliance banks typically only have a reserve of two to three million. Therefore, whenever you wish to make a withdrawal, please try to contact the bank in advance to give us time to prepare.”

”Of course, please rest assured. We at the Celestial Brilliance Bank will never, under any circumstances, sell our customers’ information!”

”The news of your visit today will absolutely not leave this building once you walk out that door!”

As the Chief Shopkeeper spoke, he glanced at the woman behind the bank counter and said in a low voice, ”This matter… must be kept secret for at least a year. Within that year, you are not to speak of it to anyone. Do you understand?”

A flash of panic crossed the woman’s face, vanishing as quickly as it came. She nodded hurriedly. ”Please rest assured, Chief Shopkeeper. And you as well, honored guest. I will not breathe a single word of this!”

The Chief Shopkeeper grunted in acknowledgment and then said to Xu Luo, ”If you keep your Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones here without touching them, they can also generate a considerable amount of interest. With such a massive fortune, the annual interest alone… would be enough to make anyone green with envy.”

Xu Luo said, ”If I wanted to withdraw it all, does that mean no single bank branch could produce this amount on the spot? Including this one?”

Xu Luo continued, ”You made me wait all these days, and it turns out it was just for a Purple Crystal Card. Does that mean if I go to another bank to withdraw funds in the future, it’s highly likely that word will leak? In that case… I might as well withdraw it all at once!”

”With a fortune this large, you could only withdraw it directly by going to the largest city in Xi Hezhou—the main city of Celestial Brilliance, Bright Heaven City—and visiting one of our banks there.”

The Chief Shopkeeper gave a wry smile. ”To be honest with you, my current reserve of Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones here is only three million…”

”But on one point, you can rest assured. As the oldest Supreme Great Sect in Xi Hezhou, Celestial Brilliance’s reputation is absolutely trustworthy! We would never do anything to tarnish our own name.”

”From this day forward, the card in your hand is a symbol of your wealth. Anywhere you go, you will be able to directly enjoy the highest level of VIP treatment!”

As he spoke, the Chief Shopkeeper took out a Jade Butterfly. It was exquisitely carved, every detail perfect, clearly the work of a master craftsman.

The Chief Shopkeeper handed the Jade Butterfly to Xu Luo and said, ”With this Jade Butterfly, you can directly enter the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden. Someone will be there to receive you.”

Xu Luo took it and glanced at it, discovering that into the Jade Butterfly’s two eyes, each no bigger than a grain of millet, were carved two small words: Celestial Brilliance!

”It’s a token,” the Chief Shopkeeper said with a smile.

Xu Luo nodded. Without another word, he put away the Jade Butterfly, gave a slight smile, and turned to leave.

”Chief Shopkeeper… about Senior Brother Wanghai…” the woman at the counter said, looking hesitantly at the Chief Shopkeeper after Xu Luo had left.

A flash of anger sparked in the Chief Shopkeeper’s eyes. He looked coldly at the woman behind the counter and said, ”Remember, you are an Outer Disciple of Celestial Brilliance! Not Wanghai’s follower!”

”Wanghai may be an Inner Sect Disciple of Celestial Brilliance and an Elder’s Direct Disciple with limitless future prospects, but that’s *his* future… not yours!”

”Remember your place!”

”Yes…” the beautiful woman behind the counter said, her face full of grievance as she lowered her head.

The Chief Shopkeeper felt his words had been a bit harsh. After a moment, he sighed softly. ”You’re very beautiful, and you’re clever. I can understand wanting to work hard and get ahead.”

”But you also need to understand one thing. When it comes to those from the Celestial Brilliance Inner Sect—forget about an Elder’s Direct Disciple, even a regular Inner Sect Disciple… they are not people that someone ordinary can aspire to be with!”

”So, you must not delude yourself into thinking he will ever fulfill the promises he made to you.”

”Chief Shopkeeper… h-how did you know about that?” The beautiful woman behind the counter lifted her head, looking timidly at the Chief Shopkeeper, who rarely made an appearance on normal days.

”When you’ve seen enough of this sort of thing, you naturally come to know.” The Chief Shopkeeper sighed. ”It wasn’t easy for you all to get here. Before this, you were all Servants. Only after coming here did you gain the status of Outer Disciples… You must learn to cherish it.”

”For people like you… the greatest taboo is colluding with Inner Sect Disciples. Don’t forget… the place you work is a Celestial Brilliance Bank, the economic lifeblood of Celestial Brilliance!”

”Chief Shopkeeper… I… I was wrong!” The woman finally understood. Now she was truly afraid, her face filled with terror.

”It’s good that you realize your mistake.” The Chief Shopkeeper sighed. ”It’s better than remaining obstinately blind to the truth. The reason I’m telling you all this today is that you were honest with me and mentioned Wanghai’s name directly.”

”If you had continued as you have for the past few days, secretly trying to pull something… then your life might have had a very different outcome.”

The beautiful woman now finally understood that her petty schemes had long been seen through by the Chief Shopkeeper. Looking back, her naivety was almost laughable.

”From now on, remember that Celestial Brilliance is at your back! Not some individual disciple.”

The Chief Shopkeeper gave the beautiful girl a meaningful look and then said, ”The Celestial Brilliance Bank was able to become the largest bank in Xi Hezhou not because of Celestial Brilliance’s might, but because of its integrity!”

”Chief Shopkeeper, I know I was wrong!” The girl, now fully awakened to her error, gave the Chief Shopkeeper a serious bow.

The Chief Shopkeeper nodded, his heart already filled with displeasure toward Wanghai.

’You, Wanghai… it’s true you’re an Elder’s Direct Disciple, but back when *I* was an Elder’s Direct Disciple, your grandfather hadn’t even been born!’

The Chief Shopkeeper sneered inwardly. ’He thinks he’s so clever for currying favor with the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden while also striking a blow against the rival who competed with him for the attack Talismans. In reality, it’s childish to the extreme!’

’A single Nether Flower Seed can indeed win favor with the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden, but by doing this… where do you leave your own faction?’

’That’s right, a seed… it sounds like it should belong to the Medicine Garden. But this seed… it represents an unimaginable, heaven-shaking fortune!’

’I refuse to believe that when word of this gets back to the sect, your own master’s faction will have no reaction at all!’

’Currying favor with one while offending another—if that’s not childish, what is?’

’Someone competed with you at an auction, so you immediately want revenge? And your target is someone who just completed a transaction with Celestial Brilliance? With that kind of narrow-mindedness… what great things could you possibly accomplish?’

’Luckily, this person has some skill and came up with this tactic of mixing truth and falsehood, confusing many people. If he were some weakling and something had actually happened to him, how would that make others view Celestial Brilliance?’

The Chief Shopkeeper of Celestial Brilliance turned and walked out the door. He immediately called an attendant to his side, whispered a few instructions, and the attendant turned and left.

Although it seemed many factions had been run ragged these past few days, unable to find the true owner of the Nether Flower Seed, some truly powerful factions knew all along that the real person had yet to appear!

Before, the Chief Shopkeeper had turned a blind eye, not bothering to interfere. But now that the real person had shown up, he could no longer sit idly by. He had awakened the female Outer Disciple of the Celestial Brilliance Outer Sect to her folly and, at the same time, ordered his subordinate to give a small warning to the people around Wanghai.

The Chief Shopkeeper gave a cold smile and muttered, ”In this Celestial Brilliance Bank in Baihua City, *I’m* the one in charge!”

…

…

Xu Luo swaggered out the door. Soon after, other figures in black robes entered the VIP room of the Celestial Brilliance Bank behind him.

But after leaving, Xu Luo still felt several pairs of eyes lock onto him immediately.

Xu Luo sneered inwardly, then boarded a horse-drawn carriage. The carriage, fast and steady, departed from the Celestial Brilliance Bank and galloped straight for the city outskirts.

After leaving the city, Xu Luo could clearly sense several figures following him from the shadows. From the auras they exuded, he could tell that these people were all in the Saint Realm.

’They still haven’t given up!’ Xu Luo sighed inwardly. ’It seems this fortune really has attracted too much attention.’

’But… what’s the use of just following me like this?’

Although Xu Luo couldn’t see them, he knew very well that since Xie Yudie dared to make these arrangements, she must have been prepared.

While he didn’t have immense trust in Xie Yudie, there was one thing Xu Luo was sure of: before she got her hands on the Nether Flower Seed, Xie Yudie wouldn’t do anything to harm him.

Besides, based on Xu Luo’s experience, Xie Yudie didn’t seem like the type to backstab someone. His impression of her was actually quite good.