Firmament Sword

Xu Luo and his group watched helplessly as hundreds of people rose into the air near the entrance, flailing their limbs as if desperately resisting.

But not a single one of them could break free!

A chill instantly rose from the depths of everyone’s hearts.

These hundreds of young powerhouses, the weakest of whom were at the Saint Realm, were sucked directly into the giant turtle’s mouth and swallowed alive!

”Holy shit!” Yu Tianjie was dumbfounded, unable to stop himself from cursing.

Lv Di’s mouth twitched. ”The people who came in... the weakest among them should be at the Saint Realm, right? And they were just... swallowed like that?”

After devouring several hundred people in one gulp, the giant turtle actually looked up at the sky, let out a loud belch, and grumbled, ”Only half full!”

Then, its enormous head lifted with surprising agility... and its gaze fell directly on Xu Luo’s group.

”...” The group was speechless.

’We were discovered even like this?’

’We’ve all concealed our auras. Not a single trace should have leaked out!’

Everyone still clung to a sliver of hope, thinking the giant turtle might not have actually noticed them.

But in the next moment, they all understood... the giant turtle really *had* discovered them!

And it opened its massive maw—like an abyss, like a black hole—and aimed it right at them.

Xu Luo glanced at the others, took a deep breath, and said, ”Divine Movement Talismans... Sound Transmission Stones!”

Everyone immediately understood Xu Luo’s meaning. At a time like this, if they didn’t run... they would really just be eaten!

’When that giant turtle said it wanted to devour a Celestial Venerable... it might not have been a lie!’

Everyone activated their Divine Movement Talismans at once. An earthy-yellow light erupted from each of them.

Then, they transformed into streaks of light and continued fleeing toward the northwest.

Xu Luo waited until everyone else had activated their Divine Movement Talismans before activating his own. By then, he could already feel a terrifying suction force pulling his body directly toward the giant turtle’s mouth.

The very air in the sky... seemed to have become incredibly thick and viscous!

Fortunately, the Divine Movement Talisman was reliable. Coupled with Xu Luo desperately channeling his own power to resist, he managed to escape. After flying for over a hundred miles, the pressure on his body suddenly lightened, and he turned into a streak of light, shooting off to the northwest.

Having failed to devour them, the giant turtle seemed a bit displeased and turned its enormous head in other directions.

At this point, everyone who had entered the ancient ruins couldn’t be bothered to hold back any trump cards. They all used their own Divine Techniques, fleeing for their lives in every direction.

The giant turtle swallowed a few dozen more people in a scattered fashion before finally realizing that everyone had vanished without a trace.

”Sigh!”

Letting out a regretful sigh, the giant turtle slowly sank back into the earth.

The survivors looked back, still shaken, at the direction that had now returned to peace. The expressions on their faces were grim.

Most of them had been separated from their companions. In a situation like that, no one could have remained calm.

Among those swallowed by the giant turtle were even young paragons at the Initial Tier Ultimate Venerable level!

These were people who could have left their names in the history of the Divine Domain!

Yet, in these unknown ancient ruins, they had died silently, without even causing a ripple.

This was simply too terrifying!

None of the people who entered here had ever been to a Divine Domain Forbidden Area before. They had naively thought that the forbidden areas probably weren’t a big deal, that they were just exaggerated tales told by their elders.

But now... if anyone dared to say such a thing, this group would probably beat them to death on the spot.

This was just one ancient ruin!

This wasn’t even one of the most terrifying forbidden areas in the Divine Domain!

Yet, a place like this was already so horrifying. What would a true Divine Domain Forbidden Area be like?

’The mere thought... is enough to send a shiver down my spine!’

At that very moment, from the spot where the giant turtle’s head had sunk into the ground, a shady, hunched-over old man emerged. He wore tattered clothes, and his small, bean-like eyes looked shifty and furtive.

He twisted his body back and forth as if he were itchy all over. His neck was long and he kept stretching it forward.

His movements looked exactly like those of an old turtle.

Essence overflowed from the shady old man’s body as he let out an occasional belch. He grumbled to himself, ”How satisfying. The quality of the food this time is much higher than the batch from a hundred thousand years ago. It’s a pity... a few cunning little morsels got away. Those little morsels looked quite delicious. What a shame they ran. It’s making Master Gui here go to the trouble of splitting off a spiritual body to catch them!”

”Heh heh, in this world, no food has ever escaped from Master Gui’s mouth!”

”But this world is so annoying. Taking human form... I get suppressed to the Initial Tier Ultimate Venerable. This feeling... is so damn unpleasant!”

”However... it’s more than enough to deal with these little morsels!”

As the shady old man spoke, he started running in the direction where Xu Luo’s group had disappeared. With every step, he crossed mountains thousands of feet high!

In the blink of an eye, he became a small black dot in the sky and gradually vanished.

When Xu Luo finally stopped, he was already thousands of miles away from where the giant turtle had appeared.

He stopped channeling power into his Divine Movement Talisman and scanned his surroundings warily. The uneasy feeling in his heart was still there, not having diminished in the slightest.

Even though he had fled such a great distance, Xu Luo didn’t feel safe at all. It was as if a great shadow constantly loomed over his heart.

Xu Luo took out his Sound Transmission Stone, wanting to contact the others first. But after a moment’s thought, he put it down. Until that uneasy feeling completely disappeared, Xu Luo didn’t want to contact them just yet.

’What if that terrifying existence in the shadows were to suddenly appear now? Wouldn’t contacting them just be leading it right to them?’

Xu Luo shook his head slightly and sighed. Then, he entered the Bronze Divine Hall and let Master Mao out.

Master Mao hadn’t appeared for a long time. He was living quite happily in the world within the Bronze Divine Hall, almost becoming a mountain king, leading a group of underlings around and idling about.

After being let out by Xu Luo, Master Mao glanced around and exclaimed in surprise, ”AAAAAHHHH, holy hell, Xu Luo... what is this place? Why do I feel danger everywhere?”

Xu Luo glanced at Master Mao, a hint of pleasant surprise in his voice. ”You actually broke through to the Great Saint Realm?”

Master Mao rolled his eyes and sneered, ”Are you the only one allowed to break through while I have to stagnate? Don’t forget, I am a true Holy Beast! Do you understand what a Holy Beast is?”

”Alright, enough boasting. I have a question for you.” Xu Luo’s expression turned serious.

”Go ahead. I know everything from the heavens above to the earth below, spanning a million years of history. There’s nothing I don’t know!” Master Mao shamelessly boasted.

”Have you ever seen a giant turtle hundreds of miles wide?” Xu Luo asked.

”...” Master Mao stared, sizing Xu Luo up and down for a long moment before finally saying, ”Are you kidding me?”

”Do I look like I’m kidding?” Xu Luo glanced at Master Mao.

Master Mao paced back and forth on the ground, muttering with narrowed eyes, ”A giant turtle... a giant turtle... Xu Luo, did you see this giant turtle’s entire body?”

”Are you kidding? How could I have seen its whole body? That thing opened its mouth and swallowed hundreds of young powerhouses, including some at the Great Saint Realm. You think I’d dare to stick around and observe it carefully?” Xu Luo said.

Master Mao didn’t get angry at Xu Luo’s words. Instead, he continued pacing. Suddenly, he looked up at Xu Luo and said, ”You think this big guy... could possibly be the Black Tortoise?”

”The Black Tortoise? You mean the Black Tortoise, one of the four great Divine Beasts that roamed the Lower Realm during the Ancient Times?” Xu Luo looked at Master Mao incredulously. ”That’s impossible, right?”

”What’s so impossible? Back in the Lower Realm, didn’t the Cyan Dragon say that only remnant souls of it and the White Tiger remained in this world, but the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise... were missing? How do you know they didn’t enter the Divine Domain?” Master Mao shot Xu Luo a scornful look.

Xu Luo had never considered this possibility before. After Master Mao’s reminder, he suddenly felt that this incredibly arrogant turtle, the one that claimed it wanted to devour a Celestial Venerable, really could be the Black Tortoise, one of the four great Divine Beasts from the Ancient Times.

It was just that the Cyan Dragon and the White Tiger had never told him the details about the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise.

Therefore, even if this great turtle... really was that Black Tortoise, Xu Luo still wouldn’t dare try to get friendly with it.

’What if it just says, ”I don’t know them that well”...’

’...and then swallows me whole? Wouldn’t that be an utterly pointless death?’

Master Mao didn’t have any good ideas about this either, so he just continued onward with Xu Luo.

Just then, Xu Luo’s Sound Transmission Stone buzzed. It seemed the others had found a safe place.

Xu Luo took out the Sound Transmission Stone, and Tang Xiao’s voice came through: ”Boss, we’re all together now and safe for the time being, but we’re trapped inside an ancient hall.”

”This place is really strange. We were originally going to wait for you, but as soon as we entered, we were trapped. We can’t get out... but for now, the Sound Transmission Stone can still send messages.”

”But Boss, you don’t need to rush. Even though we can’t leave for now, this place is pretty interesting. You have to answer questions, and depending on your answers, you get teleported to different places. After defeating some enemies, you get corresponding rewards.”

”I already got a Demon Blood Stone, how awesome is that! The rewards here are really tempting. Boss, don’t be too jealous, okay? When you get here, just wait for us outside!”

”The terrain here is...”

After listening, Xu Luo finally felt relieved. Tang Xiao and the others had found a fortuitous encounter of their own.

And from the sound of it, it didn’t seem too dangerous.

Just as Xu Luo relaxed and was about to leave, his brow suddenly twitched. He said coldly, ”Who’s there? Show yourself!”

Master Mao was far more direct than Xu Luo. He transformed into a streak of yellow light and shot toward a point in the empty space.

He swung his paw, lashing out with a claw!

BOOM!

With a deafening crash, Master Mao roared, ”AAAAHHHH, you bastard!”

”A Heaven-Swallowing Fox?” a surprised cry came from the air. Then, an extremely shady-looking old man ambled out, his small, bean-like eyes fixed on Master Mao.

Both Xu Luo and Master Mao were startled. A Heaven-Swallowing Fox... many people in the Lower Realm knew of them, but almost no one had ever actually seen one.

This was because the Heaven-Swallowing Fox looked very similar to a cat. Most people who saw one would mistake it for a bobcat.

But in the Divine Domain, Xu Luo had never even heard of a creature like the Heaven-Swallowing Fox!

So... how did this shady old man manage to see through Master Mao’s true form with a single glance?