Firmament Sword

At that moment, the figure roared down at the city, ”You ignorant beings, what good is seeking salvation? Reincarnation? Will that even still be you? Kill this man... and we can live like this forever! Forever! This is another kind of eternal life!”

Within the ancient city, those few powerful auras grew increasingly restless, like pupae in a cocoon... ready to break free at any moment!

Inside the ancient city, which had just been calmed by Xu Luo’s chanting, many faces now showed signs of struggle.

”That’s right... If we accept salvation, we’ll certainly find release. Our souls will be at peace, and we can be reincarnated, but... will that still be us?”

”We all live in the present. No one remembers their past life, and no one knows their next. How tragic is that?”

”A person only has one life! After death, everything is void. Even if you can be reincarnated, that’s not you anymore!”

”Wake up! So what if we’re undead? At least our bodies remain intact and our memories persist!”

”As undead, at least we can have eternal life!”

Within the ancient city, some began to incite dissent, influencing the thoughts of others.

Du Qingteng couldn’t help but roar, ”Fools! Do you think... you’ll be able to keep your memories and sanity if you continue like this? Sooner or later, you’ll be completely consumed by your ocean of resentment!”

”In the end... all you’ll have left are negative emotions!”

”Bloodlust, cruelty, hatred, resentment...”

”Think carefully for yourselves, what do we stand to gain from helping you like this?”

”We owe you nothing, and we ask for nothing in return!”

”The only ones who can truly save you... are yourselves!”

”When you reincarnate, your memories will disappear, but you will still be you! If you cultivate to the highest realm in your next life, you will one day recall your past! You will attain true, great liberation!”

”But look at you now, neither human nor ghost. Tell me... what does that make you?”

”Can you enjoy anything that humans can?”

Du Qingteng’s voice contained the resonance of the Dao. As a Holy Land Inheritor, how could he be without some tricks up his sleeve?

The figure in the sky sneered maliciously and charged at Du Qingteng. ”Poisoning their minds with lies! Die!”

”You ugly specter! You’re the one spreading lies!” Du Qingteng showed no weakness, charging at the figure once more as they clashed.

Master Mao also roared and charged forward again.

There was no turning back for any of them.

Their opponents had no path of retreat and were forced to fight.

The same was true for Du Qingteng, Xu Luo, and Master Mao!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of thunderous booms echoed through the sky. Du Qingteng’s body was sent flying backward, one arm shattered, as he violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

It was the same for Master Mao. He had transformed into a colossal Heaven-Swallowing Fox and unleashed his full power, but the gap between their strengths was simply too vast!

So vast that even risking their lives was futile!

If this continued, both Du Qingteng and Master Mao would eventually perish here!

But the undead, who was at the Celestial Venerable Realm, was still not satisfied. He roared down at the ancient city below, ”What are you waiting for? Attack!”

Among the extremely powerful auras in the city, two finally couldn’t hold back. They shot into the sky and lunged directly at Xu Luo.

Though they were undead, their intelligence and memories were intact. They knew that as long as they killed the one chanting the scripture, all their problems would be solved!

Du Qingteng and Master Mao’s eyes burned with fury and desperation. They wanted to help, but they were tied down by the Celestial Venerable undead.

”Blue Goddess... Help! If you don’t come soon, your brother is going to be killed!” Du Qingteng shouted at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, a massive hand engulfed in blue flames reached out from within the ancient city!

The two undead Celestial Venerables approaching Xu Luo let out cries of absolute terror. They tried to retreat, but the giant hand seized them, instantly turning them to ash!

Then, the blue hand reached for the Celestial Venerable Realm undead that had injured Du Qingteng.

The undead let out a defiant roar. ”No! You can’t kill me! I don’t want to die like this!”

BANG!

The blue hand extending from the ancient city seized this undead Celestial Venerable and crushed it to dust!

Amid the cold slaughter, Xu Luo’s chanting sounded all the more compassionate. The spiritual resonance contained within it grew even richer!

Throughout the entire world, only his voice remained. All living things... were enveloped by its sound.

The Soul Scripture Stele hovered above the ancient city, suppressing it and emitting boundless light.

At this moment, the entire world fell completely silent.

The restless undead experts in the ancient city had all been intimidated by the blue hand and no longer dared to appear in the sky.

In fact, the reason they hadn’t dared to appear earlier was precisely because they feared Lan.

Between the powerful deterrent and the salvation offered by the Soul Scripture, more and more powerful undead chose to give up.

A few defiant ones remained, but they could only roar from the dark corners, not daring to make a move.

Du Qingteng took out a bottle of elixirs and gave one to Master Mao. The two of them sat beside Xu Luo, circulating their energy to heal their wounds, their eyes filled with relief.

Du Qingteng swallowed an elixir, circulated his energy to dissolve it and spread its medicinal power throughout his body, then muttered, ”This is insane! All the crazy things I’ve done in my entire life combined don’t add up to what I’ve been through these past few days!”

Master Mao mumbled from the side, ”Yeah, slapping a Celestial Venerable, killing a Celestial Venerable, fighting an ancient undead Celestial Venerable... any one of those is enough for you to brag about for a lifetime!”

Du Qingteng glanced at the solemn, dignified Xu Luo beside him and gave a bitter smile. ”Compared to him... what does any of that amount to? What’s there to brag about?”

Master Mao looked at Du Qingteng with some surprise. ”You’re comparing yourself to him? Xiaodu, it’s not that I’m looking down on you. I’m telling you this in all seriousness...”

”Go on,” Du Qingteng said, glancing at Master Mao. His curiosity about Xu Luo had never been stronger, so he didn’t even mind the damn cat calling him Xiaodu.

”Even though you’re from a Holy Land with an incredibly powerful background, compared to him, you’re really nothing!”

”Any one of the things this guy has done in the past... is beyond your imagination!”

”Back when he was just a Sword Master...”

As Master Mao recounted the tale with vivid detail, the extraordinary story of a young man born in the mortal world unfolded before Du Qingteng’s eyes like a scroll painting.

His experiences were as vast and magnificent as an epic!

Listening to it, Du Qingteng’s heart surged with emotion. He even began to wonder, ’Is what this damn cat is saying... actually true?’

Sword Master, Great Sword Master, Sword Venerable, Sword Saint... These realms, which were somewhat vague even in his memory, had all shone with unimaginable brilliance in the life of the young man beside him.

He found it hard to imagine that such a powerful, peerless prodigy had once been a frail boy who couldn’t even cultivate...

And it was even harder to imagine how he had managed to grow up in a place so lacking in resources and depleted of Spiritual Qi.

’What was I doing when I was a Sword Venerable or a Sword Saint? I was probably just sparring with my fellow disciples every day, right?’

’Back then, I was always daydreaming... When would I reach the Great Saint Realm? When would I advance to become a supreme expert?’

Because in Du Qingteng’s eyes, only by reaching that level could one be considered a true powerhouse.

Even now... he still believed that!

But compared to the man beside him, Du Qingteng suddenly felt that he had been incredibly naive!

His experiences in the Ancient Ruins World, which he had thought were as grand and magnificent as an epic—enough to shake the world if told—were probably just trivial, insignificant matters in the other man’s eyes.

After thinking for a long time, Du Qingteng finally spoke, looking at Master Mao. ”You damn cat, what are your intentions, comparing me to the boss? You’re not just humiliating me, you’re humiliating the boss!”

Master Mao stared at Du Qingteng in shock for a long moment before saying with newfound respect, ”Xiaodu, I have to admit, your shamelessness is truly a force to be reckoned with!”

Amid their banter, Xu Luo finished chanting the first half of the Soul Scripture—the Liberation Chapter. A compassionate and peaceful aura filled the world, and in the ancient city below, almost everyone wore a tranquil expression.

They all bowed to Xu Luo in gratitude. They had found true liberation!

Some of the ordinary people among them dissolved directly into a rain of light, dissipating into the world!

These were the ones who had truly let go of all attachments and were heading for reincarnation!

The first half of the Soul Scripture was enough to grant them salvation.

There were many others, however, who had reached considerable cultivation realms. Although their souls had found release, the first half of the Soul Scripture alone was not enough for them to truly transcend.

They needed the second half of the Soul Scripture for their salvation.

But Lan... still had not returned.

Xu Luo’s entire being radiated an inexplicable majesty, completely different from his usual self.

Du Qingteng didn’t even dare to joke with him anymore!

This was an aura Du Qingteng had only ever seen on the Saint Masters of the three great Holy Lands!

He was secretly alarmed, thinking to himself, ’Could it be... that receiving the worship of countless beings can make one’s aura this powerful?’

The Soul Scripture Stele still suppressed the ancient city, emitting its compassionate aura.

But in the city... where the most powerful auras resided, they began to grow restless again now that Xu Luo had stopped chanting!

They were too far gone!

Their attachments were too deep, their resentment too heavy. Even an ancient scripture of salvation like the Soul Scripture would have difficulty truly delivering them.

They had been quiet during the chanting, partly because of the Soul Scripture’s immense power, and partly because they were intimidated by Lan’s strength.

However, the moment the chanting stopped, that frenzied feeling struck them again, making these powerful beings want to burst out and slaughter everything in sight!

”Those few... they’re simply beyond salvation.” Du Qingteng could see this clearly and spoke softly, sighing.

Xu Luo nodded gently, his eyes filled with deep compassion. ”If I had the second half, I would be willing to try again.”

”The scripture is here. Catch, brother!” Lan’s voice came from the ancient city as an ancient stele slowly rose... The stele radiated a boundless, brilliant light.

Its light intertwined with the other stele engraved with the Soul Scripture, and the two... shone in mutual splendor!