Firmament Sword

The Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition was in full swing.

This year, the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden was the talk of the town. Not only did they have a Senior Brother with immense combat power, but the Medicine Garden disciples, who could only ever place last in previous years, had suddenly emerged as a force to be reckoned with. Like a dark horse, they were leaving everyone else in the dust at the Annual Competition!

Countless Celestial Brilliance People were left dumbfounded.

The battles to narrow the field from five hundred to two hundred and fifty were nearing their end. Aside from a few challenge matches scheduled for last, the regular matches were all finished.

Of the three hundred and seventy-five Medicine Garden disciples who made it into the top one thousand, there were three hundred and seventy-four besides Xu Luo. In the ranking matches to go from five hundred to two hundred and fifty, another one hundred and seven Medicine Garden disciples successfully broke into the top two hundred and fifty!

The result was utterly shocking and unbelievable.

”Is this really the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden?”

”We’re not hallucinating, are we?”

”The Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden, which could only ever place last in previous years, has shown incredible might this year, making all of Celestial Brilliance take notice!”

”It’s unbelievable that the historically weak Medicine Garden could achieve such results.”

”The Medicine Garden has exploded this year, staging a magnificent comeback!”

”This change is inextricably linked to the Medicine Garden’s Senior Brother, Luo Tian!”

”Luo Tian has changed the Medicine Garden’s status in Celestial Brilliance!”

”Luo Tian is the one who made the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden what it is today!”

All kinds of talk circulated throughout Celestial Brilliance, and almost everyone was astonished by the massive transformation of the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden.

Those Heavenly Brilliance Disciples who thought they had a clear understanding of the Medicine Garden disciples’ attack Elixirs soon discovered something new. In every battle, this group of Medicine Garden disciples would produce a brand new... completely different type of attack Elixir!

For example, the last Bursting Pill might have been fire-aspected, but the next one they used might be metal-aspected!

The last poison Elixir was a Soft Bone Pill, but the next time... it was a Skeletal Relaxation Pill!

In short... once the Medicine Garden disciples opened their minds, they were terrifying in a way that was anything but ordinary. Their various attack Elixirs were dazzling and impossible to defend against!

All the Heavenly Brilliance Disciples who thought they could suppress their opponents with sheer strength and deny them the chance to use their attack Elixirs suffered huge losses.

Even many famous and talented disciples were defeated and forced to retreat dismally under the Medicine Garden disciples’ fierce onslaught.

Out of three hundred and seventy-four people, one hundred and seven successfully advanced. And that was only because some of the Medicine Garden disciples... ran into their own people!

Otherwise, that number would have been even higher!

Qi Yue, Zhu Gang, and the others all successfully entered the list of the top two hundred and fifty.

In previous Annual Competitions, they might have occasionally made it into the top two hundred and fifty, but that was mainly down to luck. If they were lucky, they’d get in. If they weren’t, they might have struggled to even make the top thousand.

Take Qi Yue, for example. For three consecutive years, she ran into Wu Sisi during the round to go from one thousand to five hundred and lost all three times.

But this year was completely different. Now, when Heavenly Brilliance Disciples encountered Medicine Garden disciples, they no longer felt the excitement they used to in past competitions. Instead, every one of them was treading on thin ice. Even if their combat power was much higher than their Medicine Garden opponent’s, they didn’t dare to go all out and attack recklessly.

Because they never knew when an inconspicuous... yet astonishingly destructive Elixir might suddenly appear.

It was finally time for the battle between Xu Luo and Wanghai.

This time, the upper echelons of Celestial Brilliance directly opened a super-arena that could hold a million people!

In previous years, this arena was almost never used until the very end. This year, because of Xu Luo... they had already made several exceptions, and if things continued this way, they would likely make more.

Before long, the spectator stands surrounding the arena were completely filled.

Everyone was discussing excitedly, craning their necks in anticipation.

”Watching Senior Brother Medicine Garden fight has become a great pleasure for many Heavenly Brilliance Disciples now!”

When these words reached Jin Ming’s ears, the Senior Brother Tianhuang fell silent for a long time.

Although his own battles in the one-thousand-to-five-hundred and five-hundred-to-two-hundred-fifty rounds had also drawn a lot of attention and used a sizable arena, the scale was completely incomparable to Xu Luo’s.

At the time, Jin Ming hadn’t thought much of it. But when that sentence... reached his ears, the great Senior Brother of Celestial Brilliance fell silent.

’If this continues... it won’t be long before all the Heavenly Brilliance Disciples, including the upper echelons, will only know of Luo Tian and not Jin Ming.’

’His influence... is growing larger and larger, to an unbelievable degree!’

’On what grounds? What contribution has he... made to Celestial Brilliance? Why is everyone paying so much attention to him?’

’He’s just a preening clown! Utterly insignificant. I could crush him... with a single finger!’

’For a clown like him, someone I never even took seriously, to dare to shit on my head... This is intolerable!’

’In the past... among the entire younger generation of Celestial Brilliance, there was no one I considered my equal. That An Yu fellow... claiming he could contend with me was a complete joke. I could slap him to death with one hand!’

’Originally, I was planning to find a chance... to subdue this Luo Tian and make him my subordinate. But I never expected that he would quietly build his influence to such a degree...’

Jin Ming was dressed in a black robe, his entire body shrouded in a wide cloak. No one knew that this strange, black-robed figure was the Senior Brother of Celestial Brilliance.

He watched the arena below with a calm gaze, but inside, his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

This was something that had never happened in all of Jin Ming’s past years!

Moreover, Jin Ming knew very well himself that once a person developed a Heart Demon, it would have a huge impact on them if not eliminated in time.

’My Heart Demon is Luo Tian! Therefore...’

’Luo Tian... must die!’

Wu Sisi sat in the stands, her pretty face showing no expression. Her eyes were a little vacant, her thoughts unknown, until that figure appeared on the arena. Only then did Wu Sisi’s eyes suddenly light up!

Su Qianqian also sat in the stands, quietly watching the figure appear on the arena. Then, as he appeared, a deafening, tsunami-like roar of cheers erupted in her ears.

”Luo Tian!”

”Senior Brother Medicine Garden!”

”You can do it!”

Mixed in with the cheers were the screams of countless people.

Wu Sisi was somewhat moved, Qi Yue wore a proud expression, Su Qianqian’s face was full of smiles, An Yu and the other talented Heavenly Brilliance Disciples looked solemn, and Jin Ming, shrouded from head to toe in his black robe...

...had an ashen expression!

Xu Luo listened to the cheers coming from all around, a slight smile on his face. He waved in all directions, thanking those who supported him.

His response, however, only made the people in the stands even more frantic.

”Luo Tian... I love you!”

”I’m an Inner Sect Disciple... How about I become your woman?”

”Senior Brother Medicine Garden, I want to be your woman!”

In the frantic stands, many screaming women appeared, as if they had lost their minds.

Xu Luo flinched, quite taken aback. He thought to himself, ’You’re all proud Heavenly Brilliance Disciples! You’re all peerless prodigies! Can’t you be a little more low-key? Is this something you should be shouting in public?’

At that moment, a flash of light appeared on the arena, revealing Wanghai’s tall figure.

Looking at Xu Luo, Wanghai let out a few sinister chuckles, then gave a fake smile and cupped his fist. ”Inner Sect Disciple Wanghai, here to test the skills of the Senior Brother Medicine Garden.”

Xu Luo cupped his fist in return, extended one hand, and made a gesture of invitation.

Wanghai didn’t waste any more words. A Long Sword glittering with cold light suddenly appeared in his hand. He said flatly, ”I am a Sword Cultivator. I will be using a weapon.”

”Be my guest,” Xu Luo replied.

Wanghai took a deep breath. Just as he was about to attack Xu Luo directly, he suddenly felt something and turned his head to look at the eastern stands.

The octagonal stands held over a hundred thousand people on each side. Finding one person among them should have been like finding a needle in a haystack, yet Wanghai’s gaze immediately fell upon a person in a black robe and cloak sitting in the eastern stands.

A chill suddenly rose from the depths of Wanghai’s heart, and even he found it inexplicable.

Among the million people in the stands, there were at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, dressed like this. Not everyone wanted others to know their identity.

This was true even for an internal event like the Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition!

For example, it was perfectly understandable that some proud prodigies would want to scout out their opponents’ secrets, but they wouldn’t want others to know they were doing it. Therefore, they would all hide their identities.

’This person... why do they look so familiar?’ Wanghai was alarmed and uncertain, because he could feel that the other person was looking at him right now!

In truth, with the person shrouded in a black robe and cloak, it was impossible to make out their body shape or any distinguishing features. But Wanghai just had a feeling that they looked very familiar.

His mind... was suddenly in a bit of a mess.

Wanghai felt as if he had forgotten something, but no matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out what it was he had missed.

Finally, he simply took a deep breath, suppressed the matter for now, and decided to focus all his energy on dealing with the Luo Tian before him.

SWISH!

Wanghai flicked the Long Sword in his hand, sending a streak of light stabbing directly toward the spot between Xu Luo’s eyebrows.

Xu Luo used the Shaking Light Step to dodge Wanghai’s strike, then channeled his Yin Yang Power to execute Breaking Army Seven Kills and engage Wanghai in battle.

The two of them barely tested each other before they both brought out their true abilities.

The aura erupting from Wanghai’s body was infinitely close to the Great Saint Realm. Every move he executed was earth-shattering.

Xu Luo adeptly used his Yin Yang Power, fighting Wanghai head-on!

Xu Luo, however, felt a wave of emotion. He remembered when he had snatched the Yin-Yang Technique inheritance from Wanghai. Back then, he was far from being Wanghai’s match; the aura erupting from his opponent’s body alone was enough to suppress him!

But now, he could already fight him on equal footing.

Perhaps Wanghai still had trump cards he hadn’t played, but then again... so did he.

The Bronze Divine Hall, the Soul Scripture Stele, the Beidou Sword... any one of these would be enough to suppress Wanghai!

But Xu Luo also knew very well that trump cards were called trump cards for a reason; they couldn’t be revealed easily. Besides, he really wanted to have a proper fight with an opponent who was infinitely close to the Great Saint Realm.

He wanted to use this opponent to temper himself and raise his combat power to the next level!