Firmament Sword

The sun, moon, and stars hung high in the heavens. Below them stretched a vast, boundless land where streams of Chaos Qi flew in all directions like shooting stars. If one happened to graze a great star, that star would be instantly annihilated!

If a great swathe of Chaos Qi swept through, an entire Star River would be extinguished.

"What kind of world is this!" Xu Luo couldn't help but marvel.

Then, all sorts of powerful beings began to form from wisps of Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth. There… Xu Luo saw many creatures he had only ever heard of in legends. He even saw a… truly gargantuan… Kunpeng!

'A Kunpeng… formed from a single wisp of Spiritual Qi, impossibly powerful!' Xu Luo murmured to himself. Next, he witnessed the four great Divine Beasts of antiquity taking shape at the dawn of time.

Only, he did not see himself… for reasons he did not understand.

By now, there were many things he no longer needed others to tell him. Xu Luo had already reached a clear understanding on his own.

All Seven Star Souls had awakened, giving rise to powerful phenomena that connected heaven and earth. In that instant, he "saw" so much!

And understood so much!

According to Dubhe, he had already begun to awaken!

'But… even if I've awakened the memories belonging to Beidou's Eighth Star, I… am still me!'

'I am who I am. I am Xu Luo!'

This thought seemed to have become a fixation, something even Xu Luo himself found puzzling.

Because whether he was Beidou's Eighth Star—the Auxiliary—or Xu Luo, the son of a worldly General, they were all, in truth, himself!

In this world, people might resist many things, but almost no one resists who they are…

Deep within Xu Luo's heart, this fixation was so strong that he would never… ever give it up!

With a light sigh, Xu Luo stood up. At this moment, the Celestial Extinction Array was gone, as was the Source of Creation. This place had been reduced to nothing more than the depths beneath an ordinary mountain ridge.

To Xu Luo, however, this place held a very special meaning.

"I awakened here, and you could say I attained my path here. Therefore… from now on, this place shall be called Eight-Star Ridge!"

As Xu Luo spoke, the entire mountain suddenly emanated an indescribable divine charm. Flowers, grass, and trees instantly sprouted from cracks in the stone, blooming and bearing fruit in the blink of an eye, transforming into trees that towered to the heavens!

A mountain ridge that was once completely bare had transformed its appearance entirely on account of Xu Luo's words!

From this day forward, Old Baldy Ridge was no more. In its place, Eight-Star Ridge now stood tall upon the Sect Continent, destined to become a Divine Mountain in the distant future!

The transformation was so complete that when Honglou Sect's Elder Pangtian Star hurried back from afar, he couldn't even find the place at first!

If not for getting close enough to see two brilliant pillars of light shining like beacons, he might have truly been unable to locate it.

When Pangtian Star saw the two figures enveloped in the pillars of light, he was overcome with rage.

"In my entire life… this is the first time I've ever placed such importance on a child of another family, only to find he's an ungrateful wolf! I must have been blind, my mind muddled, to ever trust a heartless beast like you!"

Thick killing intent shot from Pangtian Star's eyes as he stared at the two pillars of light. At his realm, he could naturally see at a glance the powerful energy contained within them. Even he couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. "I calculated a thousand times, a million times, but I never calculated that that waste, Li Kai'an… would actually fall to a bunch of little insects like you. Utterly useless!"

With Pangtian Star's cultivation realm, it was obvious that the two pillars of light were related to the recent celestial phenomena. He could guess that these two individuals must have a deep connection with Xu Luo, and were the type to be blessed by a fortuitous encounter.

"If nothing goes wrong, this opportunity will allow you to ascend all the way to the Divine Power Realm Peak. Perhaps… you might even step into the Saint Realm! But… running into me is your misfortune! How could I possibly give you that chance?" As Pangtian Star spoke, a savage grin spread across his face, and he swatted a palm toward one of the pillars of light.

"Die!"

BOOM!

Following Pangtian Star's cold voice, a tremendous roar suddenly echoed!

A shockwave erupted from the pillar of light.

A contemptuous smile curled Pangtian Star's lips. "The feeling of nipping a genius in the bud… is simply the best!"

BOOM!

The shockwave surged back toward Pangtian Star, crashing down on him like a colossal ocean wave whipped up by a gale!

Pangtian Star's smile froze on his face. A look of utter disbelief flashed in his eyes as he stared at the scene before him, and in the next instant, his body vanished from its original spot.

Even with his cultivation at the Ninth Layer of Divine Power Realm, he still failed to evade it completely. The rebounded force blasted half of his body, leaving it numb, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Pangtian Star stared at the two pillars of light, his eyes filled with horror. He knew better than anyone the power behind his own strike—enough to shatter a great mountain with a single palm. And yet, these two pillars of light hadn't budged in the slightest!

What's more, the force that rebounded had even left him slightly injured…

"This… How is this possible? This can't be real!" Pangtian Star muttered to himself, his expression conflicted as he stared at the two pillars of light. He wanted to give up, but he couldn't bring himself to.

The brothers, Li Ye and Li Hua, enveloped in the light, seemed completely unaffected. They remained entirely focused on their cultivation, determined to seize this hard-won, heaven-sent opportunity.

Pangtian Star considered for a moment, then descended from the sky. The moment he drew near the two pillars of light, he felt a massive repulsive force preventing him from advancing.

Pangtian Star snorted coldly and circulated his True Essence, intending to force his way through.

HUMMM!

The two pillars of light hummed in unison, then each fired a ray of light that shot out like a sharp arrow!

They shot toward Pangtian Star!

Pangtian Star's face was a mask of horror. He was prepared this time and instantly executed a footwork technique, but he still only barely managed to evade the attack. He dared not advance another step.

Pangtian Star was actually broken out in a cold sweat!

For someone like him, this was simply inconceivable!

With Pangtian Star's level of cultivation, his physical body was incredibly pure; he might not shed a single drop of sweat in hundreds of years.

"I refuse to believe… that I can't do anything about you two! I don't believe you can ascend directly to the Ninth Layer of Divine Power Realm!"

"And even if you do reach the Ninth Layer of Divine Power Realm, the two of you are still no match for me!"

"I'll wait right here! I'd like to see what you two little bastards… will have to protect yourselves once these pillars of light disappear!"

Pangtian Star glared at the hazy figures within the pillars of light, his rage uncontrollable. Gritting his teeth, he decided he was no longer in a hurry to find Beidou's Eighth Star. He simply sat down and watched them with a cold stare.

The stars appearing in broad daylight, the Seven-Star Pearl, the five-colored light that shot to the heavens—others might still be guessing what these phenomena meant. But Pangtian Star had already deduced that Li Kai'an was, in all likelihood, already dead! Beidou's Eighth Star… was right here at Old Baldy Ridge, and had probably already obtained the treasure from within the uncrackable Array beneath it!

That was what had caused… all of these heaven-shaking phenomena.

Which meant that, right now, Beidou's Eighth Star was very likely here as well!

It was only because his confidence had been shaken by the two pillars of light that Pangtian Star now hesitated to act rashly.

And so, he waited!

Be it Beidou's Eighth Star or the duo of Li Ye and Li Hua, he had no intention of letting a single one of them go!

Deep beneath Old Baldy Ridge, Xu Luo stood and unfurled his Divine Sense, sweeping it about casually… Instantly, a torrential, incalculable amount of information flooded into his Sea of Spiritual Consciousness.

But Xu Luo felt no discomfort whatsoever. His Sea of Spiritual Consciousness had already grown to the size of a planet, so… no amount of information was more than a drop in the ocean to him, hardly worth mentioning.

His Divine Sense swept over Pangtian Star, who surprisingly didn't react at all!

Xu Luo also sensed Li Ye and Li Hua, located just at the entrance to the cavern beneath Old Baldy Ridge.

A slight smile touched Xu Luo's lips. The fortuitous opportunity that had descended upon the Li Family brothers was, naturally, his doing. The same was true for the opportunities granted to all of his other friends and family; it was all his work.

Xu Luo had also used that moment of opportunity to "see" his friends and family, and to witness the battle raging outside the Cangqiong Imperial Capital…

But that moment passed too quickly, in the span of a lightning flash. Xu Luo didn't even have time to send them a single thought.

'I'm still too weak,' he thought with a sense of helplessness. 'If I had truly recovered the power I once possessed as Beidou's Eighth Star, forget just sending them a thought—even instantly appearing before them by traversing the void… would be nothing at all.'

But knowing his family was safe lifted his spirits considerably.

As for the people laying siege to the Cangqiong Imperial Capital City, Xu Luo committed their faces to memory. One day, he would definitely settle the score with them!

For now… the biggest problem was that furious old man waiting outside.

Although Xu Luo didn't know who the man was, he could tell from that single strike that he was undoubtedly a top-tier expert!

'At least, with my current realm, it would be very difficult to defeat him.'

"Dubhe… is there any way to defeat that old man who's loitering outside and refuses to leave?" Xu Luo asked.

"With your current realm… it's utterly impossible!" Dubhe replied bluntly.

"Then what should I do? I can't just hide in here forever, can I? Not to mention, my two friends are out there." By this point, Xu Luo already considered the Li Family brothers to be his friends.

Dubhe said coolly, "Although you are not his opponent, you can temporarily borrow our Power of the Seven Stars to fight him. However, because we are all incomplete, you will only have three chances to do this. You need to think carefully about whether you want to use one now."

"And if I borrow your power, can I definitely defeat him?" Xu Luo asked.

Dubhe paused for a moment before saying, "That… will still depend on you!"

'Depends on me… That's as good as no answer at all!'

But Xu Luo was not the timid type to begin with. Now that he had a chance to borrow the Power of the Seven Stars, he was determined to give it a try.

Without any hesitation, he strode out of the underground tunnel and up to the entrance. Looking at Pangtian Star, who was seated cross-legged not far away, Xu Luo pointed and declared, "You old fiend, blocking my door! Come, let us fight!"

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