Firmament Sword

Black Tortoise!

The name exploded in everyone’s minds!

That was it!

Only the Black Tortoise… and it *only* could be the Black Tortoise!

...could possess such world-shaking, terrifying power!

And could silently devour a Celestial Venerable!

A voice echoed from the void. ”Ugh… I ate too much. I’m stuffed.”

”...” Everyone was speechless. They felt this being lacked the dignity of a true powerhouse, but the fear in their hearts didn’t lessen in the slightest.

Aside from Du Qingteng and Master Mao, no one else knew that the Black Tortoise’s spirit body had caught up to Xu Luo only to leave again.

So, even though the Black Tortoise had devoured those two Celestial Venerables, Tang Xiao and the others didn’t feel the least bit lucky.

It felt as if they had just escaped a wolf’s den… only to fall into a tiger’s maw.

Xu Luo chuckled. ”Congratulations!”

”Congratulations for what?” the voice from the void asked. It sounded ethereal and illusory, and no one could pinpoint its source.

”For enjoying a hearty meal, of course!” Xu Luo replied, his expression completely at ease.

”Aren’t you afraid I’ll eat you? Don’t think I won’t just because you bear the marks of the Cyan Dragon and White Tiger!” The voice was icy, yet it held a strange undertone.

Xu Luo smiled. ”If you wanted to eat me, you would have done so already. Why would you have waited until now?”

”Hmph!” With a cold snort, a figure gradually materialized out of thin air.

It was the same shady-looking old man who had chased Xu Luo earlier. At this moment, however, he looked anything but shady. He carried the air of a sage, like a true Immortal.

The old man appeared before Xu Luo, his small eyes staring at him for a long moment before his brow furrowed. ”Your body… why does it have another aura?”

”Hmm?” Xu Luo looked at the old man, puzzled. ”If you have something to say, Your Excellency, please speak freely.”

The old man’s brow was slightly furrowed, his expression strange. He looked at Xu Luo and asked, ”Did you… meet someone else?”

Xu Luo’s heart skipped a beat. ’Since this old tortoise has been hiding in this Ancient Ruins World all this time, he’s probably heard the legends about Lan.’

’But I don’t know what this old tortoise is really thinking. He devours Celestial Venerables without batting an eye. What if… he sets his sights on Lan? That would be dangerous.’

’After all, Lan is in a weakened state right now, and who knows when she’ll recover.’

Xu Luo shook his head, feigning a look of confusion. ”I did run into a group of Undead, but as for people… I haven’t met any.”

This wasn’t really a lie, because Lan was a Fire Spirit. To be precise, she wasn’t human!

The old man looked Xu Luo up and down dubiously, then sighed. ”You don’t need to worry. Although Master Gui devours living creatures, I… never harm my own people.”

Xu Luo thought, ’As if I’d believe you! For all I know, your definition of ”my own people” is just yourself!’

The old man continued, ”Your body… has her aura on it, and that’s an aura Master Gui does not like! So, I was originally planning on leaving with you, but now… let’s just forget it!”

With that, the old man turned to leave, his figure rapidly disappearing into the void, giving Xu Luo no chance to reply.

Xu Luo’s mouth twitched, his expression baffled.

He had no idea what that strange old tortoise was trying to do.

Of course, Xu Luo had no way of knowing that once the old man was far away, his sagely expression instantly vanished, replaced by his original shady demeanor. He patted his chest, let out a loud burp, and then muttered to himself, still shaken, ”That scared the hell out of Master Gui… Damn it, that kid really is a monster!”

”He can even get close to *that one*… Before her, Master Gui couldn’t even withstand a single finger!”

”I was so lucky today! She probably couldn’t be bothered with me and didn’t show herself!”

”PHEW! PHEW!”

”There, there… no need to be scared!”

The shady old man stroked the few sparse whiskers on his chin, endlessly trying to calm himself down.

Back with Xu Luo, he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He immediately took out Spirit Medicines and distributed them to the group, then cupped his fists at Gao Ping. ”Thank you for lending a hand, Brother Gao!”

Gao Ping gave a wry smile. ”Luo the Celestial King truly lives up to his name. If I’d known you were arriving in time, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself!”

”Brother Gao, you’re being too modest. To step forward and act righteously in that situation is a massive favor in itself. On behalf of my junior brothers and sisters, I, Luo Tian, thank you!” Xu Luo bowed solemnly, making it clear he was thanking Gao Ping on behalf of Tang Xiao and the others.

Gao Ping had no choice but to return the bow. ”Compared to you saving my life, Brother Luo, what I did is not even worth mentioning!”

Tang Xiao and the others had recovered some of their strength by now. Looking at Gao Ping, they asked in surprise, ”Gao Ping… could you be from… the Eternal River?”

Gao Ping nodded.

Tang Xiao and the others were instantly shocked and looked at him with renewed respect. ”So you’re a Holy Land Inheritor! Thank you for helping us! We will engrave this great kindness in our hearts!”

Then, Tang Xiao and his friends looked over at Du Qingteng, whom they already recognized as another Holy Land Inheritor.

In the hearts of Tang Xiao and the others, their admiration for Luo Tian had ascended to outright worship.

’Our boss is friends with the inheritors of two major Holy Lands! If word of this gets out, it will shock countless people!’

Du Qingteng gave a helpless, wry smile. ”Alright, enough with those looks. Compared to your boss, Gao Ping and I… we’re really, ahem…”

Gao Ping glanced at Du Qingteng and couldn’t help but tease, ”I never thought I’d see the day you, Du Qingteng, would admire someone this much.”

For once, Du Qingteng didn’t retort. Instead, he said, ”I have to admit, he’s just that good! Let me tell you… after you left, you missed a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle!”

Gao Ping paused, startled, and looked at Du Qingteng.

Du Qingteng flashed a smug smile. ”Buy me a drink sometime, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Gao Ping hesitated for a moment before nodding. ”Deal!”

Xu Luo walked over to Zhong Jiuyan. Looking at his severed arm, Xu Luo said in a somber voice, ”I’m sorry. I was late.”

Zhong Jiuyan chuckled. ”What are you saying, Boss? Just seeing you alive is a joyous occasion. It’s only an arm; it’ll grow back sooner or later!”

Yu Tianying and Lv Di also looked at Xu Luo. Their injuries were severe; even with Spirit Medicine, a quick recovery was impossible.

Gao Ping suggested from the side, ”Brother Luo, we’ve been through what we needed to and killed who we had to. We should be able to leave now!”

Xu Luo nodded. He had indeed obtained the Soul Scripture. Not only that, but he had also met Lan, his fated companion.

To call his gains ”bountiful” would be an understatement.

He then looked up at Tang Xiao and the others.

Tang Xiao said, ”We also obtained unimaginable benefits, but we were ambushed before we had time to cultivate. We really can leave now.”

”By the way,” Du Qingteng added, ”the killing of those two Celestial Venerable Ancestors from Blazing Flame Province will probably cause a huge stir. Should we wait a while before heading out?”

Having witnessed Lan’s power, Du Qingteng wanted to delay their departure until she had fully recovered. By then, even if those old monsters from Blazing Flame Province decided to go all out, they would be no match for her.

Xu Luo’s brow twitched. He understood Du Qingteng’s reasoning, but after glancing at the injuries of Yu Tianying and the others, he shook his head. ”Their injuries can’t wait. If we delay… they’ll only get worse. We must return to the sect for treatment immediately.”

Du Qingteng sighed. ”You’re right, their injuries can’t be delayed. It’s a shame, though. I was looking forward to the spectacle of slaughtering Celestial Venerables!”

Aside from Master Mao, no one understood what Du Qingteng meant.

But they were all wondering, ’What kind of trump card does Xu Luo have that would allow him to slaughter Celestial Venerables?’

In their eyes, while their boss’s combat power was terrifying—he could even kill Venerables above his rank—he would surely be no match for a High-tier Venerable, let alone someone at the Venerable Peak.

So why would Du Qingteng, a Holy Land Inheritor, talk about watching a spectacle of slaughtering Celestial Venerables?

’What else did our boss experience?’

But now was not the time for questions. If their boss wanted them to know, they would find out eventually. And… they would be the first to know!

Afterward, Xu Luo brought the severely injured Yu Tianying, Lv Di, Wang Tong, and Zhong Jiuyan into his Bronze Divine Hall World.

Of course, he placed them an immense distance away from Lan, making it impossible for them to meet.

Lan’s existence was, for now, a secret.

It wasn’t that he distrusted his fellow disciples, but the time was not yet right for a public reveal.

Although Du Qingteng knew the truth, he would never speak of it carelessly.

Gao Ping had his suspicions but didn’t ask any questions. As a Holy Land Inheritor, he possessed his own sense of pride and restraint.

’No matter how great another’s possessions are, they still belong to them!’

Even the Bronze Divine Hall World didn’t elicit much surprise from Gao Ping.

After all, this young man, who could make the giant Black Tortoise itself turn and flee, had already attained a higher standing in Gao Ping’s mind than he himself held.

...

The very instant the spirit bodies of the two Celestial Venerable Ancestors were devoured by the Black Tortoise, back in the outside world above the Grand Canyon, another violent commotion erupted from within the Blazing Flame Province’s camp.

Two more Celestial Venerable Ancestors violently coughed up mouthfuls of blood, their faces contorted with absolute fury!

This time, everyone from the Blazing Flame Province was utterly shaken.

If the last ancestor’s spirit body was killed because he lacked a Heaven-Deceiving Talisman, had his strength suppressed to the Initial Tier Ultimate Venerable, and had grown careless, then it could be considered an accident.

But the spirit bodies of the other two ancestors had both carried Heaven-Deceiving Talismans!

Granted, those Heaven-Deceiving Talismans were flawed and wouldn’t last long, but with two Celestial Venerable Ancestors working together, who in the entire Ancient Ruins World could possibly stand against them?

And yet… both of their spirit bodies had perished, one right after the other!

”Who… has such power? To be able to slay the spirit bodies of two ancestors in an instant? And not even a single sliver of their spirit bodies’ Primordial Spirits managed to escape?”

The people from Blazing Flame Province were in an uproar. The two ancestors themselves had suffered serious injuries. Having a spirit body killed and a sliver of one’s Primordial Spirit erased was an injury that would be fatal even for a Venerable!

Even a Celestial Venerable would find it hard to endure.

This time… they refused to believe it was the work of that disciple from Celestial Brilliance, no matter what!

This group of ancestor-level experts from Blazing Flame Province cast their suspicious gazes directly toward the Celestial Brilliance contingent!

’The only ones who could kill the spirit body of a Celestial Venerable Ancestor… would have to be great powers of the same level!’

”Just… who could it be?”

The faces of the old monsters from Blazing Flame Province were ghastly. At the same time, their hatred for the people of Celestial Brilliance grew bone-deep.

”No matter who did this, that young man from Celestial Brilliance must die!” the ancestor whose spirit body had been killed previously declared, his eyes flashing with a divine light as he spoke.