Firmament Sword

Meanwhile, Elder Rui, who had been sitting composedly at the head of the hall, moved with unbelievable speed the moment he heard the voice...

He dropped and rolled, prostrating himself fully on the floor. His voice choked with emotion as he cried out in grief, "Great Ancestor... is that you? Are you punishing this humble descendant?"

The change was so sudden that it was impossible to reconcile the high-and-mighty living fossil from moments ago with the man now groveling on the floor.

"What a disgrace!" The icy voice rang out, yet no one in the entire assembly hall could pinpoint its source.

But following Elder Rui's lead, the other senior figures—the living fossils who formed the bedrock of the Honglou Sect—all rose from their seats, knelt, and respectfully cried out, "Ancestor."

The Sect Leader and the others naturally knelt as well.

In the entire assembly hall, the only one still standing was Elder Li, who, having narrowly escaped death, had yet to fully recover his wits.

"Enough. All of you, rise. So, you do remember you have an ancestor?" The icy voice dripped with disdain. "Pang Rui, you've been using my name to run your scams for so many years, yet I, your Ancestor, have never once blamed you. Do you know why?"

Everyone in the hall kowtowed before rising, only to be stunned by these words. Their gazes, now fixed on Pang Rui, were filled with astonishment.

Running scams!

No one thought the Great Ancestor had misspoken. If the Great Ancestor himself said Pang Rui was running scams, then in all likelihood, those stories Pang Rui was always telling—about having served the Ancestor... being the Ancestor's favorite, and so on—were probably all lies.

Pang Rui shuddered and fell to his knees again, not daring to utter a word.

The icy voice spoke again, "It's because I, your Ancestor, believe that no matter what, you are all disciples of the sect I founded! Regardless of who takes the resources, they ultimately remain within my Honglou Sect! That is why, no matter what you claimed, I, your Ancestor, never held it against you. But today... you've gone too far! Daring to strike down a fellow sect member in this very hall? Pang Rui... what exactly was going through your mind?"

"Forgive me, Ancestor! Please, forgive me! This humble one was momentarily confused... just confused... From now on, I will obey the sect's rules and take the Sect Leader's commands as paramount..." Pang Rui trembled from head to toe. No one else could possibly know the terror he felt. Only he understood that the aura locked onto him would instantly sever his head from his body if he made the slightest wrong move.

"Hmph!" the icy voice snorted, then commanded, "Sect Leader, hear my decree!"

"He Chong, Sect Leader of the thirty-fourth generation, respectfully receives the Ancestor's decree!" The Sect Leader immediately knelt.

The icy voice from beyond held a hint of gratification. "Regarding the matter of Beidou's Eighth Star, no disciple of my Honglou Sect is to get involved! And in one hundred years, Li Ye shall be the Sect Leader of the Honglou Sect!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the Sect Leader declared in a loud voice, "He Chong, Sect Leader of the thirty-fourth generation, respectfully obeys the Ancestor's decree!"

WHOOSH!

The crimson bodice hanging in the air trembled lightly, then vanished, reappearing in the arms of Li Ye, who was waiting outside. From beginning to end... Li Ye had no idea that the treasure the Ancestor had bestowed upon him had ever left his side.

All he knew was that after the meeting of grand figures concluded, they filed out one by one, and the looks they cast in his direction were all surprisingly complex.

Many of the senior "living fossils" whom Li Ye had never even met before actively approached him, greeted him warmly, and then, one after another, produced various treasures to present to him as gifts.

There were Top-Grade Spirit Medicines, Top-Grade Refining Materials, and even some divine-grade components!

Someone even gave him a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact!

Li Ye was astonished. He looked up to see an emaciated old man looking at him with a fawning expression...

Deep within the man's eyes, he could see a mixture of ingratiation, fear, and a hint of resentment...

Li Ye found this very strange. Just then, his great-grandfather whispered from the side, "This is the Pang Family's old ancestor, Elder Rui. Boy, you're fortunate. You've gained Elder Rui's high regard. Hurry up and thank him, why don't you?"

The corner of Li Ye's mouth twitched. 'The Li Family and the Pang Family are supposed to be mortal enemies,' he thought. 'Why would he give me such a valuable treasure? Do the members of the Pang Family really like me that much? First, it was Pangtian Star giving me gifts, and now the Pang Family's old ancestor is doing the same...'

'Something's not right... Just a moment ago, that bastard Pang Xiaogou came over to sneer at me, telling me to just wait and see...'

'Could it be... this is what he wanted me to see?'

Li Ye cupped his fist in his hand and said earnestly, "This junior thanks Elder Rui!"

"No... no need for such formalities!" A blush crept onto Elder Rui's weathered, bark-like face. Though others might not have noticed, he felt it burning with shame. Not wanting to stay a moment longer, he turned to leave, tearing through the air as he departed from Honglou Ancient City entirely.

Many of the other living fossils followed Elder Rui's lead, also tearing through the air and departing.

Elder Li watched them leave with a worried expression, then turned to the Sect Leader and sighed. "They..."

The Sect Leader sighed. "This... is now a matter of their own personal conduct. It's beyond our control." Then, he turned to Li Ye, nodding in satisfaction. His voice became very gentle. "Li Ye, come with me. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Li Ye glanced at his great-grandfather, who smiled and nodded in encouragement. Only then did Li Ye assent and follow the Sect Leader, his heart filled with a nervous apprehension.

From a distance, Pang Xiaogou witnessed everything. A venomous look flashed in his eyes as he muttered inwardly, 'What went wrong? How could the Great Ancestor let that damn bastard go?'

Later, as more people emerged from the hall, word of what had happened inside gradually, if incompletely, began to spread.

No one spoke of how Pang Rui had been disgraced; after all, he was one of the sect's foundational pillars, a living fossil, and it wouldn't do to gossip about him. However, the news that Li Ye was to be the next Sect Leader spread like wildfire.

When Pang Xiaogou heard the news, his face went ashen, as if his own parents had died. Utterly devastated, he departed from Honglou Ancient City and vanished in an unknown direction.

...

Su Qianqian finished her meditation, rose, and walked to the window, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

When it happened, she had no idea what was going on. She had been watching the magnificent and vast spectacle in the sky when a pillar of light suddenly enveloped her. Then, an ocean of boundless energy began pouring into her body.

This allowed Su Qianqian, who had been stuck at a bottleneck, to instantly shatter it. She then proceeded to break through one level after another, her power rising to a point that she herself found unbelievable.

The Divine Power Realm... Ninth Layer Peak!

"This... was it him?" Su Qianqian murmured to herself. It was difficult for her not to connect this incident to Xu Luo.

From the moment she had decided to enter the Ancient Race's Su Family to avenge her own, Su Qianqian had resolved to forget everything about the Central Plains Star Continent—everything except her hatred.

She just never expected the current Patriarch of the Ancient Race's Su Family to be so audacious. To obtain the supreme treasure she possessed, the Heart of the Fire Dragon, he had unhesitatingly executed the very people responsible for massacring the Su Family of the Central Plains Star Continent, and then he had her change her name to Su Celestial Maiden.

As the name suggested, a Celestial Maiden... a favored daughter of the heavens! She, Su Qianqian, had become number one among the Su Family's younger generation.

Su Qianqian was very intelligent; she certainly didn't believe the Patriarch was some righteous man who despised evil. But she had no way to retreat. From the moment she'd set foot on the Ancient Race Continent, she, Su Qianqian, had lost all chance of turning back.

The Su Family Celestial Maiden was, by definition, a member of the Ancient Race's Su Family. The Heart of the Fire Dragon, the very thing that had led to the annihilation of her family on the Central Plains Star Continent, was now fused with her.

The Patriarch acted nonchalant and magnanimous, even congratulating her on becoming the most talented disciple the Su Family had seen in all of history.

But Su Qianqian knew the truth. The Patriarch was treating her... as a flowerpot. As fertilizer.

The moment the Heart of the Fire Dragon fully merged with her body would be the day she was sacrificed. But she had no regrets. All her loved ones were gone; her sole purpose in life had been to get revenge.

Now that her vengeance was complete, she had nothing left to tie her to this world.

Even if that day truly came, she would accept it without complaint.

She just never thought that here, on the Ancient Race Continent, she would hear that familiar name again, causing ripples to stir in the dead lake of her heart.

Growing up, her entire world had been her family. Aside from her clansmen, her one and only friend had been Xu Luo.

After learning that Xu Luo was Beidou's Eighth Star, Su Qianqian made a decision: no matter what, she had to help him. She would do everything in her power to help him!

Even though... her own power might be insignificant, and she herself was walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss, she would forge ahead without a second thought.

That was why she acted with such impunity, completely disregarding everyone else. The other members of the Su Family didn't dare provoke her, terrified that annoying her would bring down the Patriarch's thunderous wrath.

"I just never expected... he'd give me such a wonderful surprise again. Xu Luo, you truly are my lucky star!" Su Qianqian pursed her lips and smiled gently, a smile that could topple kingdoms.

...

Above the Endless Ocean that lay between the Sect Continent and the Southern Celestial Divine Continent, seven colossal stars had suddenly appeared in recent days, hanging high in the heavens.

These seven great stars... were utterly massive!

Each star was a million zhang in size, and their rotation... stirred the Endless Ocean into a constant, furious frenzy. Towering waves rolled and roared, surging endlessly day and night in a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

The seven stars hung in a revolving ring high in the sky, in constant motion. No one knew what was happening, but the seven great stars were visible from nearly any corner of the four continents.

Every night, these seven great stars would rise, emitting a dazzling radiance that illuminated the Endless Ocean below as brightly as if it were day.

And so, seven desolate, ancient stars had appeared in the world.

Xu Luo sat cross-legged upon a small island, serving as the very eye of the array.

This... was the Beidou Soul Star Array!

Xu Luo had laid this Grand Array to entrap and kill anyone who dared to come after him.

He wasn't worried they wouldn't come. Even knowing it was a trap, countless people would still flock to it like moths to a flame.

During this time, Li Ye had also been rushing about, secretly taking care of certain matters. A few days prior, he had suddenly received a message from Xu Luo.

Xu Luo had asked him to do three things.

First, secretly spread the word that Beidou's Eighth Star would be cultivating on the Endless Ocean, protected by seven great stars. At that time, whoever could break through the Array formed by the seven stars and kill Xu Luo... would receive the true Beidou legacy!

Second, use his own status to spread the story that Beidou's Eighth Star wasn't actually that powerful. Claim that someone else had killed Pangtian Star, and that it was the result of an internal struggle within the Honglou Sect.

Third: Stay away!

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