Firmament Sword

"You... Why are you kneeling? Please, get up!" Xu Luo reached for the elder's arm, only to find that even with the strength to move moons and stars, he couldn't budge him.

"This bow is deserved," the elder said with a faint smile. He bowed respectfully to Xu Luo before slowly rising to his feet. "Long ago, if not for your protection, the Ancient Emperor Tribe would have vanished into the river of time. It is thanks to you that the Ancient Emperor Tribe... has survived to this day."

"The bloodline of the Ancient Emperor Tribe... is my family's bloodline?" Xu Luo asked, a sudden thought occurring to him.

"That's right. Your brother, your father, your grandfather, and all their ancestors share the bloodline of the Ancient Emperor Tribe," the old man said, looking at Xu Luo with a kind smile.

"Then... what about me?" Xu Luo asked.

"You are the brightest... and yet most unassuming star in the sky. The moment you shine, the entire heavens and earth, including all the suns, will pale in comparison!"

The elder continued, looking at Xu Luo, "Even though you and your brother were born of the same mother, you are still you. The bloodline of the Ancient Emperor Tribe could not merge with yours. That is why, from a young age, you were different from your brother."

Hearing this, Xu Luo suddenly felt that something was a little strange.

"You need not be confused. This is the power of destiny. You are tied to the Ancient Emperor Tribe by fate. You once swore an oath to protect this bloodline, and in the end... you succeeded," the elder said.

Xu Luo let out a soft sigh and sat down on the ground.

The elder sat down beside him. Gazing at the red sun about to dip below the horizon, he said softly, "This world is the Ancient Sun Realm. You created it. To be precise, this Bronze Divine Hall is one of your artifacts..."

Xu Luo's lip twitched. He glanced across the endless world and thought, 'Some artifact!'

"This world is vast, and its laws are complete. In fact, this world is far more durable than the one outside! Even at my peak, I couldn't have caused it any harm. Yet the world outside... at my peak, I could have destroyed it with a single thought."

"In ages past, you descended upon the outside world to battle the Kunpeng, who sought to destroy it. After that fight, the Kunpeng vanished, and you... injured by the Power of Laws of that outside world, began an endless cycle of reincarnation."

"Of course, that was how it seemed back then. But seeing you today, I understand that you did it intentionally. Perhaps... it was the only way to truly make your soul whole."

The elder slowly recounted many things: secrets from the Ancient Times, tales of all kinds of powerful creatures, the scene of the heavens and earth changing when Beidou's Eighth Star descended, and the history of the rise and fall of the most glorious clan of that era, the Ancient Emperor Tribe...

Finally, the elder looked at Xu Luo. "You promised to protect the Ancient Emperor Tribe. And I... as the last of the Ancient Emperor Tribe from the Ancient Times, have watched over you through countless reincarnations."

"So..." Xu Luo sighed softly.

"So, by comparison, it is the Ancient Emperor Tribe that is in your debt. My watching over you is a trivial matter," the elder said with a humble smile.

"Why... didn't you tell me sooner?" Xu Luo asked. "For instance, the last time I was here... when I saw the Thundering Saint Beast."

The elder smiled faintly. "The time was not right. You had not yet matured enough. It wasn't appropriate for you to know these things."

"The Saint on the Ancient Race Continent... you're the one who injured him, aren't you?" Xu Luo asked.

The elder nodded and sighed. "I'm not what I once was. In my prime, I could have suppressed a being of that realm with a single finger."

"I was almost killed by his finger," Xu Luo said, the memory of Huo Tongtian's final Saint's Finger still sending a chill through him.

"You carry the reverse scale of the White Flood Dragon Saint Beast. You were in peril, but not in true danger." The elder's gaze was profound, as if worlds were being born and extinguished within his eyes.

"You know everything that's happened to me over the years, don't you?" Xu Luo asked.

The elder smiled. "I had Young Master Feng protect you during your youth and the White Flood Dragon give you a reverse scale to ward off disaster. From now on, there should be no creature in this world capable of harming you."

"That ageless Young Master Feng... he was in the Imperial Capital all those years to protect me?" Xu Luo was stunned. This was something he had never considered.

"Heh, even when you went to the Sect Continent and laid that world-shaking killing formation, Young Master Feng was watching over you from the shadows. He... is likely one of the last remaining Great Saints in this world," the elder said with a smile.

"A Great Saint... is that a being beyond a Saint?" Xu Luo asked.

"A Great Saint is beyond a Saint and can step into the Divine Domain. They are still a few levels below a Supreme..." the elder explained. "Young Master Feng... he may also be leaving this world soon for the Divine Domain. Perhaps you will see him again one day, when you enter the Divine Domain yourself."

"The Divine Domain... What kind of place is it? Why don't you go there?" Xu Luo looked at the elder. "I heard the Saint from the Huo Family say before he died that you only have ten years left..."

"My duty is to protect you. Besides... this outer world is where my roots are. Like a great tree, no matter how tall or vast it grows—even if it becomes a universe, a World Tree... it still has its roots," the elder said. "And my roots are here."

"My life force was already on the verge of complete exhaustion. That Saint was right. I do indeed only have ten years of life left..."

"Is there no way to extend it?" Xu Luo felt a pang of sadness.

"Why would I want to? My mission... is complete. I've long wished to go to the Netherworld and find my former kinsmen."

The elder still wore a smile as he spoke. He seemed to be smiling always, as if nothing in this world could ever wipe it from his face. Even in death, he would keep smiling.

"The Divine Domain is vast and boundless. Even its most powerful Domain Lords cannot set foot in its core region. Legend has it... that place is the Land of the Buried Immortals. It holds a great taboo. Anyone who enters is doomed to die."

"Long ago, an ancestor of the Ancient Emperor Tribe entered the Divine Domain, hoping to explore that region. He never came back. Later, the Second Ancestor sent a message back, warning our descendants that if they enter the Divine Domain, they must never enter those forbidden lands, and especially not the Land of the Buried Immortals at its very center. To do so is certain death."

"The Land of the Buried Immortals?" Xu Luo muttered. Deep within his soul, he felt a faint tremor upon hearing those four words.

"Whether immortals truly exist, no one knows, but everyone wants to find out," the elder said with a chuckle. "Frankly, it doesn't matter to me whether they exist or not. As long as I can live a happy life, that's enough."

The elder's words seemed simple, but they held a profound philosophy on life.

As the foremost of all living beings, humans possess rich thoughts, emotions, and all manner of aspirations. But at their core, the goal is the same: simply to live happily.

The definition of happiness may vary, but the desire to live for one's own happiness is a wish shared by all.

"You once told me that the Kunpeng... was merely the manifestation of a powerful Divine Thought. You were searching for the source of that Divine Thought. It seems... in the world outside, there are several sources of great creation that you were all seeking." The elder seemed to recall something and suddenly said to Xu Luo, "So, although the Kunpeng vanished from this world, I believe it was likely just one Divine Thought from that person. That incredible existence should still be out there. You must be wary of him!"

Xu Luo nodded in silence.

The elder stood up. "I am truly happy to see you one last time. The people of the Ancient Emperor Tribe do not cry at birth. We enter this world with a smile. And in the same way, we face death with a smile."

"But... don't you still have ten years?" Xu Luo looked at the elder nervously. Though their time together had been brief, he didn't want this smiling man to leave him now.

"I will use those ten years to make you stronger. It may be a bit hasty, but time... it waits for no one." The elder sighed, still smiling, and touched a finger to the point between Xu Luo's brows.

BOOM!

A vast power erupted in Xu Luo's Sea of Spiritual Consciousness, and he instantly fell unconscious.

Then, a strange scene unfolded.

The elder's body dissolved into motes of light, appearing so pure and dazzlingly brilliant in the twilight world that it was intoxicating.

Then, these points of light slowly flowed into the center of Xu Luo's forehead.

The world seemed to become hollow in an instant. A mournful pulse emanated through the heavens and earth, as if bidding farewell to the last Great Saint of the Ancient Emperor Tribe.

When Xu Luo awoke, he found himself lying on a patch of grass. He sat up instinctively as a wave of damp air washed over him.

A breeze stirred, parting the tall grass to reveal a vast marshland before him.

'This is... the Great Marsh? Wasn't this place destroyed when the Bronze Divine Hall appeared? Am I... dreaming? Am I hallucinating?'

A look of disbelief spread across Xu Luo's face.

"This is impossible!"

'At my current level, how could I possibly be unable to tell dreams from reality?'

Then, Xu Luo recalled the elder's touch just before he lost consciousness.

Both were a Saint's Finger, but Huo Tongtian's had been filled with boundless killing intent. This elder's touch... held infinite vitality!

'Did I... break through?' Xu Luo suddenly felt his body brimming with an unimaginable power and instantly understood a great deal.

Then, he saw it. Right beside his hand lay the palm-sized... Bronze Divine Hall!

"This is... the Divine Hall?" Xu Luo mumbled. With a single thought, his figure vanished.

The next moment, he stood within that familiar world. But the face that was always smiling was gone. A wave of sadness and a tangle of emotions washed over Xu Luo.

He understood everything now. The Elder Saint had exchanged his last ten years of life for a vast surge of power and bestowed it all upon him.

Xu Luo slowly knelt and bowed deeply to the world around him.

"This is my world, but it is... also yours!"

"One day, the bloodline of the Ancient Emperor Tribe will take root here, sprout, and flourish. They are not just the bloodline of the Ancient Emperor Tribe, they are... my family!"

"This place... will be their sanctuary!"

Throughout the heavens and earth, the laws chimed in unison as a new rule was embedded into the fabric of the world.

Faintly, as if from a great distance, the Elder Saint's voice seemed to echo in Xu Luo's ears: "Be happy..."

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