Firmament Sword

”When you’re out there, you have to be extra careful. That composure of yours is just for show. More often than not, you’re more hot-blooded and impulsive than anyone. So, try not to meddle in other people’s business. Even if someone provokes you, do your best not to get into a conflict. Don’t make me worry, okay?”

Su Qianqian stood before Xu Luo, straightening his clothes and speaking softly, like a young wife sending her husband off on a journey.

”Don’t worry, I know,” Xu Luo replied with a smile.

”I heard all the young talents from Xi Hezhou will be participating this time, along with those young experts from Blazing Flame Province. I know you’re competitive, but at a time like this, it’s more important to be patient and keep a low profile. Of course, if it comes to it, you can always just deal with them behind their backs.” A trace of worry flickered in Su Qianqian’s eyes, and she didn’t want Xu Luo to see how concerned she was.

’But...how could she possibly not be worried at all?’

”Don’t worry about me. You, on the other hand, need to take care of yourself here at Celestial Brilliance. Don’t make me worry about you either,” Xu Luo said.

Su Qianqian smiled sweetly. ”You can rest assured about that. In the Scripture Pavilion, I’m like a little princess. My senior sisters all take good care of me, and Master dotes on me, too. So, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be right here, waiting for your return!”

The two of them stayed together for the whole afternoon. As evening approached, Su Qianqian said softly, ”I should go now. I won’t see you off when you leave tomorrow. I’m afraid it will upset me.”

”You couldn’t see us off even if you wanted to. We’ll probably be leaving in secret,” Xu Luo said.

Su Qianqian nodded. ”What about Xie Yurou... shouldn’t you say something to her?”

Xu Luo sighed softly. ”I’d rather not.”

”It’s best you tell her. She might already know and is just waiting for you to say something,” Su Qianqian said softly. ”Yu Rou is a good girl, too. Don’t let her down.”

Xu Luo felt a headache coming on. He nodded and saw Su Qianqian off.

Before long, the sound of voices came from outside, and Xie Yurou, accompanied by Sun Xiaohong, barged right in.

After escorting Xie Yurou inside, Sun Xiaohong turned and left.

After Xu Luo left, she too would have to report to an elder. She had been accepted as a Direct Disciple by that elder, which meant this would be her last night staying by Xu Luo’s side as a Maid.

When Xie Yurou saw Xu Luo, her eyes misted over. ”If I hadn’t come, you wouldn’t have said anything to me, would you?” she asked.

”I’m just going out on a mission. It’s not like I’m never coming back. Why are you so serious?” Xu Luo smiled, led Xie Yurou into the room, and personally brewed her a cup of tea.

”Hmph! Don’t think I don’t know. And don’t you forget, my own aunt is leading this team!” Xie Yurou looked at Xu Luo with some annoyance. ”Am I just an outsider to you? Is that why you wouldn’t even tell me something like this?”

Xu Luo sighed inwardly and fell silent.

Seeing Xu Luo’s silence, Xie Yurou stopped acting petty and said softly, ”I’m just worried about you. This mission is no small matter. Don’t think that just because you’re powerful, things can’t go wrong... accidents can happen. Actually, if it weren’t for Qianqian, I definitely wouldn’t have agreed to let you go!”

”I begged my aunt for a long time, but she wouldn’t agree. Only at the end did she tell me how dangerous this mission is,” Xie Yurou said softly. ”But that just made me more worried. I waited at home for you to come say goodbye, but you never came, so I had to swallow my pride and come here myself.”

”Yu Rou, don’t say that. I just didn’t know how to tell you, especially since I promised to accompany you to Baihua City,” Xu Luo said.

”Do you really think I’m that unreasonable?” Xie Yurou rolled her eyes at Xu Luo. ”I understand that this is a top-secret sect mission! As for Baihua City, you can take me after you come back!”

With that, Xie Yurou walked forward and boldly gave Xu Luo a light kiss on the cheek. Her exquisite face flushed red, and she turned and ran off, leaving a single sentence behind.

”Remember, you promised me you’d take me to Baihua City!”

She vanished, leaving only the echo of her words.

Xu Luo touched his slightly damp cheek and shook his head with a smile.

...

...

”This is Qingchuan Ancient City, and it’s our first stop. Once we’re fully restocked on supplies, we’ll head straight for the border of Blazing Flame Province!”

Inside a massive warship, Jiang Botao looked at the group and said in a deep voice, ”We’ll rest here for a bit. You can also go into the ancient city to unwind and relax. We’ll gather outside the city the morning after tomorrow. After that, we will officially begin our journey!”

”Also, there will likely be many young experts from Xi Hezhou in Qingchuan Ancient City. Their goal is the same as ours. In a place like this, do your best to avoid any conflicts with them. It’s not that we’re afraid of them, but it would be a hassle.”

”Save your energy for when we enter the ancient ruins!”

”That’s all I have to say. Do any of you have any questions?” Jiang Botao scanned the crowd.

All nine young people shook their heads. Hearing they could stay in Qingchuan Ancient City for two nights, their faces all lit up with excitement.

Xu Luo didn’t have much of a reaction. He had long since seen all the splendors of the mortal world. His fellow disciples, however, even if they had gone out on missions before, had usually gone to desolate mountain ranges. They had rarely come to such a bustling, worldly place.

Thus, they were all very eager to see what the prosperity of this mortal world was really like.

The four ancestor-level figures did not appear. They were all in their rooms on the warship, cultivating in seclusion. They would not show themselves unless it was a critical moment.

Xie Wanrou and the Old Golden Monkey, however, were present. Having advanced to Celestial Venerable, Xie Wanrou’s status in Celestial Brilliance had become even more distinguished. Even Jiang Botao was very polite when speaking to her.

The Old Golden Monkey spent most of his time cultivating alone, or he would call Xu Luo over to drink with him.

This made everyone else marvel. The Golden Monkey Race had always been proud and aloof, rarely giving humans the time of day. They had no idea how Xu Luo had managed to get into the Old Golden Monkey’s good graces.

After finishing his instructions, Jiang Botao glanced at Xie Wanrou and asked, ”Junior Sister Wanrou, is there anything you’d like to add?”

Xie Wanrou smiled slightly and said, ”Go on, go have some fun in the city. If you really run into some blind fools, don’t tarnish the name of Celestial Brilliance. Beat them until their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them, just don’t kill them.”

Jiang Botao shook his head with a wry smile, thinking, ’This young lady is as mischievous as ever!’

The nine young people were also slightly taken aback, but smiles appeared on their faces. Clearly, compared to the overbearing and serious Elder Jiang Botao, Xie Wanrou’s style was more to their liking.

The warship landed tens of miles outside the city. The group filed out one after another, while Xie Wanrou, the Old Golden Monkey, Jiang Botao, and the others remained on the ship.

As for the four great ancestor-level figures, the nine young people hadn’t seen them at all from the very beginning.

After leaving the warship, the group of young people started to get excited.

Tang Xiao sidled up to Xu Luo and asked, ”Senior Brother Captain, I heard that you ascended from the Lower Realm?”

Although this matter wasn’t exactly top-secret in Celestial Brilliance, it wasn’t something just anyone would know.

Thus, everyone else turned to look at Xu Luo, their curiosity piqued.

If not for the annual competition, these young Heavenly Brilliance Disciples spent most of their time in secluded cultivation and rarely paid attention to outside matters.

Xu Luo nodded. ”That’s right.”

There was nothing to hide about something like this. He had been forced to use an alias due to a combination of factors, but Xu Luo had never thought of hiding the fact that he had ascended from the Lower Realm.

Tang Xiao asked, ”So what kind of world is the Lower Realm? Can you tell us about it and broaden our horizons?”

Ming Youyue pouted from the side and said, ”The Lower Realm... it’s just the legendary mortal plane. It’s probably similar to any ordinary city in the Divine Domain. What’s there to be so amazed about?”

This Eldest Miss Ming was still more like a child. She wanted to show off in front of Xu Luo, but she was a little shy and didn’t quite know how.

So her words always came out sounding strange, even giving the impression she was deliberately contradicting Luo Tian.

”I’ve heard people say that the laws of the world in the Lower Realm are incomplete. A Divine Power Realm Martial Artist can shatter a huge mountain with a single punch!” Yu Tianying said in a low voice from the side.

”Huh? How is that possible? A Divine Power Realm Martial Artist... can shatter a mountain with one punch?” Everyone was astonished and turned to look at Xu Luo.

”That’s right. The laws of that world are indeed lacking, so much so that once you reach the Saint Realm, the world can no longer contain you. The will of the entire world will push any Saint out, which is where the concept of ascending to the Divine Domain comes from,” Xu Luo explained.

”Heavens... once you reach the Saint Realm, you’re rejected by the will of the entire world?” Ming Youyue exclaimed. ”If people like us went down there, couldn’t we destroy that world with a single thought?”

Shao Zheng glanced at Ming Youyue and said, ”Honestly, Sister Ming, do you think a world’s will is just for decoration? Why don’t you try destroying one? I’m afraid before you could even form the thought, the world would have already annihilated you!”

Ming Youyue rolled her eyes. ”Little kids shouldn’t interrupt!”

Shao Zheng pouted, not bothering to argue with this woman who was sometimes naive and other times a Little Witch.

Because he was the youngest, everyone in the group liked to tease him, which left Shao Zheng feeling very helpless. He really wanted to roar, ’Master Shao is a master of the Ten Extremes Pill Array! Piss me off, and I’ll trap all of you!’

Unfortunately, he probably couldn’t trap any of these people with his Ten Extremes Pill Array, so the thought remained just a thought.

At this point, Xu Luo said, ”Although that world has all sorts of flaws, it is my home. Besides, there’s another advantage to it. While you’re in the Divine Power Realm, you can comprehend the kind of power that only those in the Venerable Realm can wield!”

Everyone thought about it and realized it made sense. After all, here in the Divine Domain, forget about Great Saints—even a Venerable couldn’t experience the feeling of being rejected by the will of a world.

Chatting and laughing along the way, the group soon arrived at a large, ancient city.

The towering city walls and ancient gatehouse came into view. Upon the gatehouse, two massive characters were inscribed:

Qingchuan!