Firmament Sword

Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden, First Peak!

The beautiful young woman appeared in Yuwen ji’s living room.

”Brother!” the beautiful young woman called out crisply, then looked at Yuwen ji.

Yuwen ji glanced at her and said with a hint of reproach, ”You told them anyway, didn’t you?”

”If I hadn’t, they would have all been resentful. You’re usually so mild-mannered. Who could handle you suddenly becoming so forceful?” the beautiful young woman retorted, a bit chidingly.

”Eighth Sister, you of all people should know what the Nether Flower Seed... means to me.” Yuwen ji sighed, stood up, and clasped his hands behind his back. He paced around the room and said wistfully, ”For me, it’s an unresolved matter of the heart...”

The beautiful young woman lowered her head, her eyes slightly red. She said softly, ”Big Brother, how could I not know? It’s just... so many years have passed with no news of her. I’m afraid... even if this Nether Flower Seed reappears... it might not be as she said it would be back then...”

A bitter smile appeared on Yuwen ji’s face. ”But at the very least... it has stirred up my memories. So, just let me, the Grand Elder... be willful this one time!”

”If it helps you resolve this matter, then being willful once... is fine.” The beautiful young woman nodded, then asked, ”That young man, when do you plan to see him, Big Brother?”

”Tomorrow,” Yuwen ji said.

...

...

「Ninth Mountain.」

Xu Luo, who was meditating quietly in his room, suddenly heard a commotion outside.

”Get out of the way! What do you think you are? Are you blind? Can’t you see who’s here? How dare you block our path?” a somewhat shrill voice reached Xu Luo’s ears.

Judging from the voice, its owner wasn’t very old—perhaps sixteen or seventeen, his voice still breaking. But it was filled with arrogance and insolence.

Just then, another voice rang out, ”Why waste your breath on them? They’re just a few of the lowest-ranking Servants!”

Xu Luo’s brows furrowed slightly. He despised this kind of bullying from a position of power.

He stood up and walked out of his room, only to see that a group of people had already barged right in.

The same Li Yin from before was among them, standing respectfully beside a haughty-looking young man, his gaze toward Xu Luo filled with disdain.

”You... you’re the one who came with the token?” a boy of fifteen or sixteen asked coldly after looking Xu Luo up and down. His voice was somewhat shrill; it was the same boy who had been cursing out the Servants at the door just moments ago.

Xu Luo sized up the boy who spoke. He was dressed in a brocade robe and had refined features, making him quite handsome. However, his expression was full of disdain, and a sneer played on his lips.

”I am.” Xu Luo glanced at the boy, then at the crowd. ”Have you all come to welcome me?”

The group was momentarily stunned, then burst into roaring laughter.

”HAHAHA, that’s hilarious! I’ve never seen such an idiot!”

”Welcome... Hahaha, that’s right, we’re here to welcome you!”

”To be this self-righteous... I’ve really seen it all today!”

”This guy’s something else. Does he have no shame?”

The group was doubled over with laughter. Even Li Yin, the senior brother of the Outer Sect, couldn’t help but reveal a mocking smile as he stared coldly at Xu Luo.

Then, the boy in the brocade robe spoke up. ”I didn’t expect... some piece of trash like this to show up. I’ll be straight with you: if you know what’s good for you, get the hell out of here. Don’t embarrass yourself and drag down the standards of us Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden Inner Sect Disciples!”

The young man next to Li Yin also wore a disdainful smile. He looked at Xu Luo and said indifferently, ”The Heavenly Brilliance Disciples are all elites. Someone like you... is not worthy of staying here. Leave on your own.”

A woman who looked to be around twenty, with rather beautiful features but a very harsh demeanor, glanced at Xu Luo with contempt. ”You’re not bad-looking... but if all you have is looks, then that’s it. A word of advice: just leave.”

Looking at these people, Xu Luo suddenly smiled. He didn’t feel much anger, only amusement. This group reminded him of the so-called ’chosen’ he had encountered before.

Although their Cultivation Realms were far higher than those of the young people in the Lower Realm, their dispositions... were so very similar.

”Whether or not I can stay here probably isn’t for you to decide. If Grand Elder Yuwen thinks I’m not up to par, I’ll leave on my own accord; you won’t have to chase me out. But if Grand Elder Yuwen thinks I’m qualified, then in the future, you’ll have to call me Senior Brother.” Xu Luo looked at them calmly and said nonchalantly, ”So... is there really any point in you all coming here to cause a scene?”

”You want to be my Senior Brother?” The fifteen- or sixteen-year-old in the brocade robe looked astonished and contemptuous. He walked straight up to Xu Luo and sneered, ”Then let me test... what qualifications you have to be my Senior Brother!”

”Hey, Guo Yi, go easy on him! Don’t kill him!” said the beautiful but harsh woman.

”Yeah, take it easy. Killing him would make things serious,” said the young man next to Li Yin.

”Just teach him a lesson. He’s just an ignorant fool.”

”He doesn’t know his own limits. Teach him a lesson he won’t forget, but don’t kill him.”

The others chimed in as well.

The boy in the brocade robe, Guo Yi, laughed loudly and said, ”Don’t worry, I won’t kill him!”

Xu Luo just stood there, calmly watching the boy in the brocade robe.

Guo Yi walked up to Xu Luo. Being quite a bit shorter, he had to look up at him. A mocking smile spread across his lips as he said, ”Don’t say I’m bullying you. I’ll give you three moves! If you can make me move even once in those three moves, I’ll admit defeat!”

”You want to fight me?” Xu Luo looked at Guo Yi, then shook his head. ”I don’t fight children. If I won, people would just say I was bullying you.”

”You’re courting death!” The thing the boy in the brocade robe, Guo Yi, feared most was being called a child. In truth, he wasn’t that young; he was just short, had a baby face, and his voice sounded like that of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old.

People who met him for the first time were usually deceived by his appearance, thinking he was a boy of sixteen or seventeen, but he was actually twenty-eight or twenty-nine.

A cold glint flashed in Guo Yi’s eyes. His figure blurred into motion as he sent a palm strike toward Xu Luo’s shoulder.

WHOOSH!

A whistling sound of displaced air echoed through the room.

As an Inner Sect Disciple of the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden, he was clearly no pushover. Guo Yi’s strength was formidable—he was at the Mid-stage Saint Realm. If this palm strike landed true, Xu Luo’s arm would be crippled!

A cold glint flashed in Xu Luo’s eyes. He hadn’t expected his opponent to be so vicious. There was no grievance between them, yet he attacked with such a heavy hand.

As the thought crossed his mind, Xu Luo circulated his Yin Yang Power throughout his body, activated his Yin-Yang Technique, and raised a hand to meet Guo Yi’s incoming palm.

BANG!

With a dull thud, Guo Yi grunted, stumbling back more than a dozen steps. His organs churned and blood rushed up his throat. He forcefully suppressed the mouthful of blood he was about to spit out, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Because Xu Luo was standing in the same spot, completely motionless!

”I can give you three moves. If you can make me move, you win,” Xu Luo said, throwing Guo Yi’s own words right back at him.

Everyone present was practically stunned. They stared at Xu Luo in disbelief. While Guo Yi’s strength wasn’t the absolute strongest among the Inner Sect, he definitely ranked among the top few.

And yet, before this young man whom they had all dismissed, he had been beaten to the point of nearly vomiting blood in a single move!

Strictly speaking... the other guy hadn’t even really attacked. He had just passively raised a hand to block!

”Damn... is this guy a humanoid beast?” Li Yin’s mouth twitched, and he couldn’t help but shrink back a little.

A wave of regret suddenly washed over him. ’I probably... shouldn’t have gotten involved in this,’ he thought.

Guo Yi, however, was driven nearly mad with rage by Xu Luo’s words. With a furious roar, he lunged at Xu Luo. While in mid-air, he suddenly flicked his hand, and several streaks of light, like shooting stars, shot directly toward the vital points on Xu Luo’s body!

Four flying daggers... each the size of a palm, gleaming with a cold, blue light. They were obviously coated in poison!

One aimed for his glabella, one for his throat, one for his heart, and the last one... for his groin!

Poisoned hidden weapons, aimed at vital points... these were tactics reserved for mortal enemies. And yet Guo Yi... used them without hesitation against someone who might very well become his fellow disciple!

The moment he attacked, the few people who had come with him grew tense. They wanted to shout for him to stop... but it was already too late!

They could only pray that this newcomer wouldn’t get hit. The daggers were coated with a rare poison that was fatal upon drawing blood—a guaranteed death sentence!

If he really died...

In that instant, many of them already regretted coming.

As for the Outer Sect’s senior brother, Li Yin, he was regretting it so much his guts were turning green. He kept backing away, not even considering whether his actions would offend the powerful backer beside him.

In truth, he had no reason to be afraid, because the young man next to him was also frowning deeply and starting to back away.

The beautiful but harsh woman probably hadn’t expected Guo Yi to actually have killing intent, either. Her face turned pale, and she muttered, ”You have to dodge it!”

This group... although they were incredibly annoyed by the newcomer and found him completely disagreeable, none of them had ever thought of killing him.

Who would have thought that Guo Yi, in his shame and anger, would actually try to kill him? For a moment, the entire courtyard... fell silent.

Time seemed to freeze, preserving the expressions on everyone’s faces in that single instant.

The disciples’ horror and regret, Guo Yi’s savage, twisted expression, and... Xu Luo’s calm!

But within Xu Luo’s calm gaze, there was a hint of simmering anger.

’Trying to kill me?’ Xu Luo’s figure suddenly moved—or perhaps it didn’t move at all.

In the eyes of most, Xu Luo seemed scared stiff, standing there, unmoving.

Only a few whose Cultivation Realms were high enough could barely perceive an afterimage, a sign that Xu Luo seemed to have moved.

And then, the four flying daggers shooting toward Xu Luo... vanished.