Firmament Sword

"It doesn't even see the stars as anything special?" Xu Luo was somewhat surprised.

What were stars? They were unimaginably massive planets!

Other living beings, no matter how powerful, still had to live on planets. A planet was the foundation for all life, so its power was self-evident.

Yet, according to Shaking Light, there were beings who didn't even pay planets any mind. Xu Luo found this difficult to accept.

"That's perfectly normal. Ordinary creatures naturally need a planet as their foundation to live on. They are like fish in the water. No matter how strong a fish becomes, even if it can briefly leap from the surface to see the wider world, it can never truly leave the water."

"But those creatures born from the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi are products of the Era of Opening the Heavens. They can ignore such rules! If that fish in the water were to one day transform into a dragon, it could naturally leap from the surface, soar into the sky, and live in complete freedom."

"The Kunpeng is one such being. It was born from the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, sharing the same origin as this world. In its eyes, the sun, moon, and stars are nothing special. If angered, it could even cut them down from the sky with ease!"

Shaking Light said softly, "Back then, the Kunpeng had not yet fully matured. It fed on humans—the most spiritual of all beings—to constantly strengthen itself. However, this act was a violation of the Celestial Dao. It was far too cruel. More importantly, if it had been allowed to continue, sooner or later, when it could no longer draw energy from humanity, it would have chosen to devour planets!"

Xu Luo was speechless, his face a mask of shock. At his current level, he truly couldn't imagine what kind of creature could possess the power to devour a planet.

"For this reason, I descended to the Mortal World?" Xu Luo asked.

"Yes." Shaking Light's voice was filled with deep emotion. "Your self-sacrifice brought tranquility to the starry sky..."

"But you said the Kunpeng didn't die," Xu Luo said.

"It was born from one of the first wisps of Spiritual Qi in the world. After hibernating for countless years, it finally gained Spiritual Wisdom and became the Kunpeng. Its life force is so tenacious it's difficult to imagine. Of course it wouldn't be so easy to kill," Shaking Light explained.

"Then... is it still in this world now?" Xu Luo had a very strange feeling, as if he were listening to an ancient myth, but he himself was the protagonist.

"It's in the Divine Domain." Shaking Light sighed softly. "Back then, we all thought it was dead. But in fact, when you descended into the Mortal World, it split off a wisp of its Divine Thought and slipped into the Divine Domain, completely undetected. Then, it lay dormant for countless more years... and eventually, it awakened."

"And now?" Xu Luo asked.

"It is still in the Divine Domain, but it has become extremely powerful! The moment we discovered it had awakened, each of us split off a wisp of our own Divine Thought and entered your body." Shaking Light finally revealed the truth behind the seven falling stars!

Xu Luo's eyebrow twitched as he stood there, feeling lost. It seemed all the things he had been so focused on had become pale and insignificant in the face of this revelation. 'The Ancient Race Continent, the Huo Family... they're all just fish in the water. And the Kunpeng... it was once a creature in the water called Kun. Then, it leaped out and became the Peng!'

"Our purpose was to find you and help you grow strong quickly. In truth, all the Cultivation Techniques you've learned are not even one-ten-thousandth as profound as the ones you mastered back then! Among the Beidou Eight Stars, your... name was Fu." As Shaking Light spoke this name, Xu Luo could clearly feel the Seven Star Souls in his Dantian—and even the unawakened Dubhe Star Soul—tremble gently, radiating waves of warmth. It was an incredibly intimate sensation that filled his heart with a comforting heat.

"'The star Fu...'" Xu Luo murmured. The name made his heart tremble, and a complex mix of emotions washed over him.

"The Kunpeng was grievously wounded by you and the Beidou Sword. Even though a wisp of its Divine Thought escaped to the Divine Domain, recovering to its peak state will not be easy. However... we don't have much time to waste. You must awaken your true soul in even less time!" Shaking Light said with gravity.

"I understand." Xu Luo nodded. Even without this business with the Kunpeng, he wanted to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Then, he suddenly thought of a question. "By the way, this rumor about being able to achieve immortality by refining me... is that a lie spread by the Kunpeng, or is it the truth?"

"'I'm surprised you thought of that so quickly...'" Shaking Light chuckled. "'That's right. That is indeed something the Kunpeng said back then. And it isn't a lie—it's the truth!'"

Xu Luo's brow twitched. 'So I really have become some kind of treasure,' he thought wryly. 'It's just that until I'm strong enough, the road ahead is destined to be a turbulent one.'

"The Six-Star Gates are now open. Once you've settled the matter at hand, you can go inside to temper yourself. I believe you can rapidly increase your strength in those places!" With that, Shaking Light said no more.

Xu Luo also remained silent for a long time. The sheer volume of information he had learned today was overwhelming, and it was difficult for him to fully process it all at once.

Nearby, the Cyan Dragon's Spirit and the remnant wisp of the White Tiger's Divine Thought had also stopped their conversation. The two once-despotic Ancient Divine Beasts seemed to be discussing something via telepathy.

Finally, the Cyan Dragon seemed to have persuaded the White Tiger. The two approached Xu Luo. The Cyan Dragon looked at him and said, "Lord Star Monarch, the White Tiger is willing to serve you temporarily. He only asks that when you enter the Divine Domain in the future, you will help him..."

'If not for what Shaking Light had told me, I probably wouldn't have had any doubts,' Xu Luo thought. 'But now... I'm suddenly suspicious. Both of these Ancient Divine Beasts were once the Kunpeng's subordinates, and they're so desperate to enter the Divine Domain...'

'And the Kunpeng happens to be in the Divine Domain right now!'

'Could there be a connection between the two?'

Xu Luo's gaze swept over the Cyan Dragon's ferocious head, then moved to the White Tiger's composed face. He asked softly, "Can I... truly trust you completely?"

The White Tiger flinched slightly, then bowed. "Lord Star Monarch, you may have misunderstood. In truth, there is a great feud between us and the Kunpeng!"

"Oh?" Xu Luo glanced at the Cyan Dragon but said nothing.

The Cyan Dragon's ancient face flushed with embarrassment. "It's a shameful affair from long ago. I didn't want to speak of it, but since Lord Star Monarch wishes to know, I will tell you."

"'Actually... the fall of us Four Divine Beasts wasn't caused by the creatures of this world. Well, let me put it this way: what I told you before, Lord Star Monarch, was not a lie, but I did conceal some things...'"

"'The reason we were besieged and ultimately fell was because we were already incredibly weak at the time. Otherwise, the creatures of this world would have been completely incapable of harming us in the slightest!'"

"'We were weak because, before its great battle with you, Lord Star Monarch, the Kunpeng extracted our Power of Origin. It drained nearly all of it from the four of us... Ahem. At the time, we were partly coerced... and partly willing.'"

"'From our perspective back then, you, Lord Star Monarch, were a god who had descended upon the Mortal World. We believed that after you dealt with Lord Kunpeng, you would surely not spare us either, so...'"

"'We later understood the truth, but unfortunately... it was too late. We wanted to repent, but the chance was gone. Upon seeing you again, Lord Star Monarch, I felt deeply ashamed for not revealing the entire truth of what happened... I hope you can forgive me.'"

After hearing the Cyan Dragon's explanation, Xu Luo finally began to understand why the once-illustrious Four Divine Beasts had fallen.

So, before they were besieged, their Power of Origin had already been extracted, leaving them utterly weakened...

The White Tiger added from the side, "We all later realized that we had been deceived by the Kunpeng. It told us a god was descending from the heavens to slay powerful creatures like us, and that the Four Divine Beasts... were at the top of its kill list!"

"'As some of the most powerful experts in this world, we were naturally unwilling to be killed just like that. Coupled with the fact that we were powerless to resist the Kunpeng, a terrible mistake... was made.' The White Tiger sighed. 'Therefore, falling to our current state is a fate of our own making. If you are displeased, Lord Star Monarch, I... will not insist. You may leave and simply let this White Tiger perish.'"

"That's not what we agreed to!" the Cyan Dragon suddenly roared at the White Tiger in anger.

The White Tiger's expression darkened. "So many years have passed. This world itself has changed. Can't you let go of your obsession? Even if you met the Kunpeng and asked it yourself... what would that change?"

"'At the very least, it would give me closure! We were completely loyal to it back then. Although we advised it against feeding on humans, we never had the slightest thought of harming it. Why... why did it do what it did in the end!' The Cyan Dragon's head looked savage, its eyes shooting beams of furious light."

"You expect a creature born from a wisp of Spiritual Qi from the Era of Opening the Heavens... to care about your feelings?" Xu Luo suddenly interjected.

The Cyan Dragon flinched, then lowered its head as if in deep thought. After a long moment, it gave a desolate smile. "You are absolutely right, Lord Star Monarch. In its eyes, creatures like us... are no different from the Ancient Ancestors."

The White Tiger nodded. "I saw that clearly long ago. You were the one who could never let it go."

"'It's not that I can't let it go, I'm just not resigned to it!' the Cyan Dragon roared in a low voice. 'By what right does the Kunpeng get to do whatever it pleases? It was born from a wisp of Spiritual Qi from the Era of Opening the Heavens, but are our origins so common? We came from that era, too!'"

"Because it is stronger than us," the White Tiger said with a bitter smile.

"'I want revenge!' Two blinding rays of light, like twin crimson suns, shot from the Cyan Dragon's eyes."

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