Firmament Sword

”Is your pleasure built upon the suffering of others?” Lan asked coldly, looking at the giant, flickering Dharma Aspect that stood between heaven and earth.

”You are not them. How do you know they are suffering?”

”They are living in perfect peace right now!”

”There is no war here, no slaughter!”

”The people live and work in peace and contentment, without any burdens!”

”This... this is a true utopia!”

”Besides... what right do you have to say that to me? Back then... it was you! You were the one who destroyed their hope of survival!”

”You destroyed this world!”

”You are the executioner who slaughtered every living being in this world!”

”What... what right do you have to accuse me... of building my happiness on the suffering of others?”

The Dharma Aspect continued to burn, powerless to stop the Celestial Blue Fire from consuming it. It roared madly, accusing Lan.

Lan’s expression turned grim.

Xu Luo, standing to the side, said, ”Don’t be deceived by him!”

Lan shook her head. ”His Spiritual Power is already very weak. All that’s left is this lingering obsession; it can’t affect me. In fact, he’s right. If I hadn’t tried to save that race back then, this world would never have collapsed.”

”Ultimately, it is because of me that the world became like this. I am responsible.”

”HAHAHAHAHA, I wasn’t wrong, was I? You are guilty! So, go to hell!” The Dharma Aspect, on the verge of complete annihilation, roared and then abruptly exploded with a BANG. The resulting shockwave instantly enveloped the entire ancient city!

BOOM!

The previously silent ancient city suddenly erupted in a deafening uproar.

Everyone on the streets looked up at the sky, their faces filled with terror. Their eyes were brimming with deep fear and despair.

Evidently, as the Dharma Aspect’s obsession vanished, the power that controlled them disappeared along with it. The hundreds of millions of souls in the ancient city... had awakened!

”This is bad!” Xu Luo cried out, immediately summoning the Soul Scripture Stele and setting it to suppress the area above the ancient city.

The Soul Scripture Stele radiated a gentle power, enveloping the entire ancient city.

Under the cover of this power, the terrified and despairing crowds on the streets grew slightly calmer. However, many still wore savage expressions, screeching and roaring, wanting to soar into the sky to attack Xu Luo and his companions.

Xu Luo said to Lan, ”Hurry and find the second half of the Soul Scripture! I’ll chant the scripture and deliver them from their suffering!”

Fear?

It was not fear!

None of them feared the city full of undead spirits.

It was compassion!

It was empathy!

It was the desire to truly free them from their sea of suffering!

To be released, and then to transcend!

After speaking, Xu Luo immediately sat cross-legged in the air and began chanting the Soul Scripture.

Immense Soul Power began to fall in waves, like rain, upon the ancient city.

As Xu Luo chanted, the savage expressions on countless faces began to soften into peace.

Many seemed to recall their past lives, remembering the tens of millions of years they had spent living in a fantasy.

There were tears on their faces.

Even those who had been screeching and roaring, wanting to rush into the sky to fight them to the death, all calmed down, their eyes filled with deep anguish.

”Release! Grant us release!”

”We want to be released!”

”We don’t want to live like this anymore!”

”Tens of millions of years! Living a life worse than death, what’s the difference between us and zombies?”

”Young man, I beg you... grant us release. We will all be grateful to you!”

In the city, people began to kneel on the ground, kowtowing toward Xu Luo, who chanted peacefully in the sky. Gradually... more and more people knelt, bowing in pious worship.

In the end, nearly everyone in the entire ancient city... was kneeling on the ground, their faces streamed with tears... weeping as they bowed in gratitude to Xu Luo.

From the young man’s chanting, they felt his sincerity. Their souls grew serene, and they felt an ethereal sense of transcendence, as if ascending to become immortals.

With a flicker, Lan vanished into thin air to search for the second half of the Soul Scripture.

Du Qingteng and Master Mao flanked Xu Luo on his left and right, standing guard.

Because within the city, a few terrifyingly powerful auras had remained hidden and motionless. They had not revealed themselves nor made a move, as if... they were waiting for something.

These auras were all incredibly strong, making both Du Qingteng and Master Mao feel uneasy.

Xu Luo also sensed those auras, but he sat there resolutely, without a second thought, to deliver the myriad souls from their suffering!

In one’s life, there are always some things that make you temporarily forget all fame and fortune, things you want to do with all your heart.

These myriad souls were not guilty. And even if they once were, these tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of years were more than enough to atone for all their sins.

Now... it was time for them to be released.

Xu Luo didn’t know what consequences his actions would bring, whether he would be stained by immense karma that would become a great obstacle in his future.

But he knew very well that if he didn’t do this, he would never be able to forgive himself!

He wouldn’t be able to live with himself!

Not to mention... this matter was a great burden on Lan’s heart.

If the hundreds of millions of souls in this ancient city could not be released, then Lan... would live in torment.

She isn’t human, but she is a living being!

A kind living being.

The Soul Scripture Stele radiated a gentle aura of liberation. Xu Luo’s voice, like a great bell, enveloped the entire ancient city and resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

Gradually, his voice began to contain a mystical Dao rhythm, resonating with the laws of this world!

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

Every word... every sentence from Xu Luo triggered a resonance from the world itself.

”He... he actually stirred the heavens and the earth!” Du Qingteng stood to the side, shocked beyond measure.

He was practically scared stiff!

Even the Saint Masters of the three great Holy Lands, or the ancient ancestors with their profound foundations, could only dream of using a scripture to stir the heavens and the earth!

Cultivators themselves defy the heavens. How could the laws of the world... possibly resonate with a Cultivator?

Some powerful Cultivation Techniques could temporarily stir the heavens and earth, but what they connected with... was merely a wisp of the world’s aura!

But Xu Luo, before his eyes... what he was stirring... were the laws of the entire world!

Now, Du Qingteng could clearly see the looks of release on the faces of the hundreds of millions of souls in the city growing even more distinct. The malevolent energy in their chests had almost completely dissipated!

One by one, they knelt there, their savage expressions gone, replaced... by smiles from the bottom of their hearts!

”He did it! This is a miracle!” Du Qingteng’s heart surged with emotion, and he didn’t know how to vent it.

Just then, a figure suddenly shot out from the city. It lunged straight for Xu Luo in the sky, letting out a sharp screech, ”Demon! How dare you bewitch the masses with your demonic words! Surrender your life now!”

As it spoke, a streak of black light shot toward Xu Luo.

This black light was a flying dagger, black as ink, seemingly from the Netherworld itself, radiating an endless aura of death!

Du Qingteng roared, summoning a Flying Sword to shoot toward the black dagger.

BANG!

The Flying Sword shattered with a bang, but the black dagger continued toward Xu Luo without even pausing.

”So powerful!” Du Qingteng gasped. He immediately summoned the Square Ancient Inkstone, and from within it, the Celestial Blue Fire poured out, surging toward the black dagger.

As one of the world’s most supreme flames, the Celestial Blue Fire could incinerate any evil. The moment the flame touched the black dagger, a terrifying heatwave erupted.

”SCREEE!”

The ink-black dagger from the Netherworld actually let out a sharp cry as if it had Spiritual Wisdom, and then it exploded!

The resulting blast wave shattered the surrounding space!

Du Qingteng grunted, the light in his eyes flaring brighter as he smashed the Ancient Inkstone directly toward the charging figure.

”Die!”

Du Qingteng once again unleashed the Celestial Blue Fire!

The figure snorted coldly. ”Overestimating yourself!”

POW!

A single punch sent the Ancient Inkstone flying, and not a single speck of the Celestial Blue Fire within it touched the figure.

Du Qingteng spat out a mouthful of blood, but he didn’t back down an inch, roaring, ”You thing that can’t see the light of day! Don’t even think about hurting my brother!”

At that moment, Master Mao also charged forward, roaring as he swung his claws at the figure.

”Damn it! I hate cats!”

The figure roared, throwing a punch at Master Mao.

RUMBLE!

Master Mao went flying, clutching his paws and letting out a series of pained cries.

”A Celestial Venerable... at least a Celestial Venerable.” Du Qingteng spat out a bloody mouthful and murmured, ”Is this the power of a former Lord of the Continent?”

After a hundred million years, a mighty expert of the Celestial Venerable Realm had actually survived.

To be precise, it was an undead spirit of the Celestial Venerable Realm, unwilling to be delivered! It wanted to fight back!

In other words... they had grown accustomed to this form of immortality. After their Spiritual Wisdom was restored, they had no desire to be delivered; they wanted to continue living just as they were!

And so... Xu Luo, who wanted to deliver the entire city’s hundreds of millions of souls, had naturally become a thorn in their side!

Master Mao wasn’t too seriously injured. Although his opponent was incredibly formidable, his power was a far cry from what it was at his peak.

Du Qingteng and Master Mao protected Xu Luo, refusing to yield a single step.

The figure was an old man in his fifties. His face was devoid of color, pale as paper, with sunken eyes and bright red lips. He looked... like a corpse.

But the aura he exuded was so powerful it was almost suffocating.

Xu Luo continued to chant, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing happening around him.

He could not stop, nor did he dare to!

If he stopped, he could escape, but the hundreds of millions of souls in this ancient city would surely be plunged back into a boundless sea of suffering!

And it would be even more painful than the tens of millions of years before!

Because before, they had been living in past memories. Even though they were deceived, they had felt happy.

But now was different. They had recovered their memories and learned the truth of everything. If they were forced to live like this again, the malevolent energy they would produce... would be enough to shake the heavens and move the earth!

That would be a great sin!

Therefore... Xu Luo had no way to retreat, and he could not retreat!