Firmament Sword

The moment this ancient scripture appeared, Xu Luo felt his own blood and qi surge, and he couldn’t help but feel surprised.

’What scripture is this? Even the power it’s leaking is this strong?’ Xu Luo squinted, staring at the tattered ancient scripture hovering above Tang Xiao’s head.

”Beyond the Northwest Sea, in a corner of the Great Wilderness.”

An ancient voice, its tone strange and alien, emanated from the tattered scripture. It seemed to have traveled down the long river of history, all the way to the present day.

Following the voice, a boundless ocean instantly surged toward Xu Luo!

The roar of the tides shook the heavens!

Xu Luo could even smell the salty, briny air!

Everyone in the surrounding stands was dumbfounded. They all rose to their feet subconsciously, gaping in astonishment as if they had lost the ability to think.

”What on earth is that scripture?”

”How could Tang Xiao be this powerful?”

”I’ve never heard of Celestial Brilliance possessing such a terrifying ancient scripture!”

”Even the Soul Scripture... it shouldn’t have this kind of might, right?”

From being severely underestimated before the battle to now, no one dared to look down on Tang Xiao any longer.

With this level of strength, even if Jin Ming hadn’t been expelled from Celestial Brilliance, it would be hard to say who would win if they were to truly face off!

In the Sect Leader’s private box, Xiahou Kaiyuan watched the situation below with a solemn expression. After hearing the voice from the ancient scripture, he couldn’t hide his surprise. ”Tang Xiao can actually wield the Great Wilderness Scripture?” he said.

Jiang Botao’s face also showed a hint of surprise. ”It must have been a recent development. He probably hasn’t mastered much of it. He never told me... that little rascal. He was probably saving it all up to put on a show for me!”

”Excellent! Truly excellent!” Xiahou Kaiyuan’s eyes flashed, his face filled with gratification. ”The performance of Celestial Brilliance’s younger generation is truly delightful. They have already surpassed our generation!”

”The new generation always surpasses the old,” Jiang Botao said. ”They will eventually take our place and become the masters of this world!”

Just then, the situation on the arena platform changed once again!

Within the roiling, heaven-blotting ocean, a seemingly endless Great Wilderness appeared!

The wilderness was pitch-black and emanated an ancient aura. Every wisp of this aura carried a heaven-shaking pressure!

A single wisp of it could crush a great mountain!

Among the several elders maintaining the arena’s restrictive barrier, some had already begun to cough up blood. Dozens more figures rushed out to help them sustain the barrier.

Otherwise, the aura emanating from the ocean and wilderness—manifested from a single line of the ancient scripture—would have been enough to shatter the arena’s barrier!

Although the ancient diagram in the sky was suppressing the four grandstands, many people in the audience still felt their breathing grow constricted.

The aura from the ocean and the Great Wilderness was simply too terrifying!

Even the minuscule amount that leaked through the barrier was almost unbearable for them.

WENG!

An ancient sword flew out from a private box and hung high in the sky, radiating a piercing killing intent. It joined the ancient diagram in suppressing the four grandstands.

WENG!

A Fountain Pen flew out from another direction and wrote a word in the void: ”Seal.” The word grew larger and larger until it finally enveloped the entire super-arena.

Only then did the people in the stands let out a collective sigh of relief.

Their hearts were filled with both terror and excitement.

A single championship match in the Annual Competition had actually forced dozens of elders to maintain the arena’s barrier and several top-level figures to bring out their magical treasures to suppress the stands!

Just how terrifying was this battle?

It would be enough to be recorded in the annals of Celestial Brilliance!

The ocean was immeasurable, the Great Wilderness infinite!

This heaven-shaking pressure assaulted Xu Luo relentlessly.

Across from him, Tang Xiao’s face was flushed bright red. Clearly, wielding this ancient scripture at his current cultivation realm was no easy task.

”Senior Brother Luo, if you can’t hold on, say so early. Otherwise... I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop it!”

As Tang Xiao spoke, a trickle of fresh blood escaped the corner of his mouth. Evidently... he had forced those words out!

Xu Luo was somewhat moved. He replied, ”Just come at me with your full power!”

As he spoke, an ancient stele appeared above Xu Luo’s head as well!

The Soul Scripture Stele!

’I have to use the Soul Scripture Stele now. There’s no way to withstand the assault from Tang Xiao’s ancient scripture otherwise.’

Incredibly, this terrifying attack was born from just a single sentence from that ancient scripture!

The Soul Scripture Stele radiated an aura of liberation.

Liberation from all worldly suffering, liberation from the shackles of all living things!

As waves of this aura spread out, the monstrous, life-like waves of the Rage Sea Tide and the ink-black Great Wilderness—where every wisp of aura could crush a mountain—were instantly disintegrated!

”The Soul Scripture!”

”This aura... it’s the aura of the Soul Scripture!”

”My heavens... is this year’s Annual Competition filled with such prodigies?”

”One wields an unknown ancient scripture and can turn a single sentence into a world-shaking attack; the other has actually managed to subdue the Soul Scripture Stele... This is too incredible!”

”Tang Xiao’s ancient scripture... it’s not unknown. That’s the Great Wilderness Scripture! One of Celestial Brilliance’s most ancient scriptures!”

”Legend says no one can comprehend the Great Wilderness Scripture. The consequences of forcing it are even more tragic than trying to comprehend the Soul Scripture!”

”Geniuses! Two peerless geniuses!”

”These are two peerless prodigies!”

Everyone in the stands was already dumbstruck. The ones making these comments were all the elders from the various private boxes!

At this moment, none of them could remain seated. They stepped out of their private boxes, their eyes filled with shock as they stared at the scene on the arena platform below.

”You even broke through that?” The usually roguish Tang Xiao finally grew serious. He didn’t even bother to wipe away the trace of blood on his lips as he looked at Xu Luo, his eyes filled with admiration.

He said loudly, ”Watch this next attack!”

RUSTLE!

The tattered ancient scripture hovering above his head flipped open on its own.

Then, that ancient voice with its strange tone rang out once more!

”There is a mountain not whole, called Buzhou Fuzi, and it is guarded by two yellow beasts.”

BOOM!

In the sky, a massive mountain suddenly appeared, as if it had been split in two. It was broken in the middle, and two ferocious-looking, giant yellow beasts crouched atop each half, letting out heaven-shaking roars.

ROAR!

RUMBLE!

The vast clouds in the sky were forcibly roared into dissipation!

They turned into a torrential downpour that fell from the sky!

The two enormous yellow beasts leaped down from both sides of the fractured mountain peak simultaneously, attacking Xu Luo!

Meanwhile, the two mountain halves advanced slowly, seeking to crush Xu Luo!

The Beidou Sword instantly appeared in Xu Luo’s hand. He executed the Seven-Star Heaven-Slaying Technique in a flash, sending two streaks of Long Rainbow Sword Qi glittering with starlight to slash at the two yellow beasts at an incredible speed.

PFFT!

PFFT!

The two yellow beasts were instantly sliced in half!

Two rays of brilliant light flew out from the fractured mountain and entered the bodies of the yellow beasts.

AWOOO!

The two bisected beasts instantly reformed, as if they hadn’t been harmed at all, and charged toward Xu Luo once more, full of life and vigor!

Xu Luo was startled. He looked toward the mountain that seemed to have been split down the middle and thought, ’The problem is the mountain. If I don’t deal with this fractured mountain, these two terrifying beasts will probably never die!’

With this in mind, Xu Luo executed the Shaking Light Step, his figure rising into the air. He shot between the two yellow beasts, heading straight for the fractured mountain!

The two yellow beasts roared in anger and turned to give chase.

At this moment, the Soul Scripture Stele above Xu Luo’s head abruptly magnified and, with a BOOM, directly broke through the barrier above the arena.

The dozens of elders maintaining the arena’s barrier all spat out a mouthful of blood in unison.

The few ultimate treasures hanging high in the sky all erupted with intense light, attempting to suppress the Soul Scripture Stele.

But at this moment, the ancient stele was like an enraged tiger—unstoppable!

BANG!

The ancient diagram was blasted away.

CLANG!

The ancient sword was sent flying.

BAM!

The Fountain Pen clashed fiercely against the Soul Scripture Stele before retreating.

The ancient stele’s aura was no longer one of liberation, but a domineering air of ”I alone am supreme in all of heaven and earth”!

It pressed down directly toward the fractured mountain!

RUMBLE!

The fractured mountain instantly collapsed. The two yellow beasts chasing Xu Luo let out a mournful cry as their bodies suddenly transformed into two streaks of yellow light and flew back into the tattered ancient scripture above Tang Xiao’s head.

With a cry, Tang Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying as he nearly collapsed to the ground.

Xu Luo’s face was also pale, and his internal organs churned violently. He forcibly suppressed the urge to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Tang Xiao’s face was deathly pale. He looked at Xu Luo and said with great effort, ”Senior Brother Luo... formidable... I can still use two more moves, but... but forget it. I’m not... your opponent.”

Xu Luo recalled the Soul Scripture Stele and sheathed the Beidou Sword. As he slowly descended from the sky, he shook his head slightly. ”Your offensive techniques are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Truly powerful!”

Tang Xiao conceded, but the surrounding audience remained in a daze, completely unable to recover from the shock of what they had just witnessed.

The elders who had been maintaining the arena’s barrier, however, all let out a long sigh of relief. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with thankfulness.

”If those two little guys had fought for much longer, I’m afraid these old bones of ours would have been done for!” one elder said, a lingering fear in his voice.

The other elders nodded in agreement. They felt no jealousy at being outshone by two youths. At their age and realm, the thing that brought them the most joy was seeing that there were worthy successors!

The stronger the young people were, the brighter Celestial Brilliance’s future would be, and the happier they were.

In the private boxes, the great figures who had brought out their ultimate treasures all recalled them, sighing in relief as well.

Jiang Botao’s face showed no sign of disappointment. Instead, it was full of delight. He said, ”Good lad! Given time and a higher realm, he will surely be able to unleash even greater power from the Great Wilderness Scripture!”

Xiahou Kaiyuan nodded and said, ”This is truly an unexpected and pleasant surprise. I originally thought that ancient scripture would continue to gather dust. It seems now that Celestial Brilliance... has worthy successors!”

On the arena platform, the Referee—an elder of extremely high seniority in Celestial Brilliance who had been hiding far away—walked forward with a broad smile and announced loudly, ”The winner of the Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition’s championship match is... Luo Tian!”