Firmament Sword

After Lin Luoxue walked out of Dubhe Palace, her aura transformed. She was like a noble queen, reigning over the world and looking down on all creation.

The crowd gathered in the great plaza outside Dubhe Palace stared at their new Sect Leader, utterly stunned. They stood frozen, like a field of unthinking statues.

She was breathtakingly beautiful!

A peerless beauty of the Mortal World!

No… such beauty did not belong in this mundane, mortal realm.

She was clearly a goddess descended from the heavens!

Even during her inauguration as Sect Leader, Lin Luoxue had never adorned herself so exquisitely.

As she appeared before them in this attire, even many of the venerable elders, long past their prime, couldn't help but stare, lamenting that they were born in the wrong era.

As for the young disciples, their eyes burned with a fervent glow. They didn't dare to look directly at the noble goddess of their hearts, but their blood surged with passion.

This was their Sect Leader! This was… a goddess who belonged only to the Dubhe Sect!

On the silent grand plaza, someone coughed twice, the sound startlingly abrupt.

An elder with a ruddy complexion stepped out from the crowd. His surging vitality was a testament to the power contained within his body.

He was He Yun!

One of the most powerful Elders of the Dubhe Sect!

Although he had kept a low profile since Lin Luoxue became Sect Leader, he was still the most powerful Elder in the Dubhe Sect.

So when he stepped forward, many of those who had been captivated by Lin Luoxue's beauty felt a chill. They knew Elder He wasn't here to offer his congratulations.

Sure enough, the moment He Yun spoke, his voice dripped with skepticism as he launched a direct challenge. "Sect Leader, are you aware that there are rules governing how many times our Dubhe Ancient Bell is to be rung?"

'So impatient to jump out? He seems quite confident, doesn't he?'

A nearly imperceptible sneer touched the corners of Lin Luoxue's lips. She looked calmly at He Yun. "Elder He, are you questioning my understanding of the rules?"

Everyone in the plaza held their breath. Even the other influential figures who had been preparing to challenge Lin Luoxue watched with tense expressions. They had thought that even if He Yun intended to make a move, he would at least maintain a veneer of courtesy.

But they never expected his next words to send their minds reeling.

"That's right. I *am* questioning your understanding of the rules, Sect Leader!"

"I want to know why this bell rang nine times. Ever since the Dubhe Ancestor passed on, the bell has never been rung nine times out of respect for him. Even for a Sect Leader's inauguration, it is only rung eight times!"

"Today, this ancient bell rang nine times. I may be old, but I'm not senile yet!"

"My ears aren't deaf, my eyes aren't dim, and my mind is sharp. I heard it clearly: nine chimes!"

"This ancient bell can only be rung with the Sect Leader's authorization. So, I would like to ask..."

"Who... is worthy of having this bell rung nine times?"

The plaza fell deathly silent. The atmosphere was so oppressive that many of the younger disciples found it hard to breathe.

The breathtaking spectacle of Lin Luoxue's arrival was instantly shattered by He Yun's torrential accusations, vanishing like smoke.

Now, the incomparably beautiful Lin Luoxue, standing there so silently, seemed to many like a lone water lily in a turbulent river—fragile and powerless.

Without a powerful foundation, what good was peerless beauty?

Throughout history, one only hears of beauty that topples nations. What woman has ever conquered the world by her looks alone?

'The new Sect Leader... is in peril!' It was impossible to know how many people in the plaza were sighing this same thought in their hearts.

As for those whose fates were tied to Lin Luoxue, their faces turned ashen. They knew that after Elder He's public denunciation, even if Lin Luoxue managed to explain herself, her prestige in the Dubhe Sect would plummet.

From then on, only one voice would be heard in the entire Dubhe Sect—He Yun's.

"Elder He, you may be a senior with high standing, but is that any way to speak to the Sect Leader?" Nangong Yu Yan's gaze turned ice-cold as it landed on He Yun, her eyes radiating an immense spiritual pressure.

It was the overwhelming pressure of a master at the Ninth Layer of the Divine Power Realm!

When fate had bestowed its gifts, Xu Luo had not forgotten her.

"Hahaha! Right and wrong are judged by the people! What, you can commit the act, but I cannot speak of it?" A powerful aura suddenly erupted from He Yun, pushing back against Nangong Yu Yan's. Though he was at a disadvantage, he held his ground. "Have you run out of arguments that you must now resort to brute force? Come on! Right here, today, in front of the ten-thousand-year-old Dubhe Palace, I dare you to kill me!"

He Yun nearly coughed up blood under Nangong Yu Yan's pressure, but he held on, his face a mask of defiance. He roared, "If you brutally suppress me, He Yun, in front of all these people, who will you suppress tomorrow? And the day after that? Suppress, suppress, suppress! In the end, let's see who in the Dubhe Sect will still follow you! If you have the guts, then just kill us all!"

He Yun's speech rallied nearly all of Lin Luoxue's opponents, as well as some hot-blooded youths who couldn't discern right from wrong.

"That's right! Force can suppress and kill, but it can't win our willing submission!"

"You can use force to subdue our bodies, but you'll never subdue our hearts!"

"We won't submit to rule by force!"

"We won't submit!"

"We won't submit!"

Nangong Yu Yan's face paled. At a loss, she turned to look at Lin Luoxue, who stood beside her as tranquil as still water, the very image of a proud queen.

Lin Luoxue offered a faint smile. "It's alright. There's no need for that."

Nangong Yu Yan resentfully withdrew her aura. If she could, she would have just started a massacre. But she also understood that while authority in a great sect was built on strength, that strength was not merely a matter of martial might.

You could never kill your way to true authority.

"You all feel this ancient bell should not have rung nine times? You believe I have overstepped my authority, is that right?" Lin Luoxue's voice was soft, her tone mild, as she calmly surveyed the crowd in the plaza.

"And have you not?" Elder He retorted, letting out a long breath now that the pressure on him was gone.

"You truly have no sense of propriety." Lin Luoxue shook her head slightly, glancing at He Yun with a look of disappointment.

The disappointment in her eyes was so profound that anyone who saw it would be moved to sigh with her.

"I always believed an elder such as yourself would serve as a role model in the sect, guiding new disciples and helping them mature," Lin Luoxue said coolly. "But now, I am sorely disappointed. If all the young people of the Dubhe Sect were to become as undisciplined as you, I shudder to think of this sect's future!"

"Hmph! Why must you beat around the bush, Sect Leader?" He Yun's old face flushed red with anger. "Why won't you face my question directly?"

"I was just about to address that very issue," Lin Luoxue said, her expression as serene and unearthly as ever. "It was you who so impatiently interrupted me."

"I..." He Yun was fuming. He could only cup his hands in a stiff gesture and say through gritted teeth, "I was wrong. I am now all ears for the Sect Leader's explanation!"

'Insolent girl,' he thought. 'Let's see what kind of flowery explanation you can concoct! The moment you run out of excuses, I'll knock you right off that Sect Leader's throne!'

Lin Luoxue remained expressionless. "To answer that, we must go back to the founding of our Dubhe Sect..."

Many in the plaza were grinding their teeth in frustration. 'Why don't you start from ancient mythology while you're at it?' they thought.

Even Lin Luoxue's supporters were perplexed. 'This isn't like the Sect Leader at all! She's usually so direct. Why is she beating around the bush?'

Little did they know that Lin Luoxue was, in fact, a little disappointed. The reason was simple: too few people had taken the bait.

Lin Luoxue cursed inwardly. 'A bunch of cunning old foxes! I've deliberately shown so many weaknesses, and still you won't attack?'

"Then I am listening!" He Yun decided to go all in. If he couldn't completely crush Lin Luoxue's momentum today, it would mean he had lost.

"Does anyone know the origin of the name 'Dubhe Sect'?" Lin Luoxue asked. Seeing the thoughtful expressions on many faces, and the sudden change in complexion on a few others, a faint smile graced her lips.

Without giving them a chance to react, Lin Luoxue cupped her hands toward the sky. Her voice rang out, as crisp and clear as pearls scattering on a jade plate. "Our Dubhe Sect's founding Sect Leader achieved enlightenment by observing the Big Dipper, and his power was unfathomable! He later founded our sect, naming it Dubhe to express his profound reverence for the Big Dipper."

"Before he passed, the founding Sect Leader grasped the Great Dao and perceived the future. He left behind a final decree: one day, a reincarnated Star Monarch would arrive at our mountain gate, and when he did... he must be welcomed with the highest possible honor!"

"In this era, nine is considered the ultimate number. But in the distant past, nine... was not. The true ultimate number was eleven!"

Lin Luoxue finished with a radiant smile. "Therefore, the bell is still missing two chimes!"

The moment her words fell, the ancient bell of the Dubhe Sect tolled, its chimes simple and melodious.

DONG!

DONG!

Everyone in the grand plaza now knew who the visitor was. Almost to a person, they looked at He Yun with gazes full of pity.

Without understanding the full truth, driven by his own arrogance, he had fallen headfirst into a massive pit dug by a young woman... a young Sect Leader whose age was but a tiny fraction of his own.

'How ruthless!'

Once again, nearly everyone looked at Lin Luoxue, their eyes now filled with awe.

...

「At the mountain gate.」

The two young disciples guarding the gate still wore looks of shock on their youthful faces, but it was slowly turning to confusion.

Nine chimes—the highest, unprecedented honor. So why was there no further movement? Shouldn't a grand procession, befitting the Sect Leader herself, be descending the mountain to greet the guest?

Xu Luo, however, stood there unhurriedly, a handsome and graceful figure with a warm smile. 'The Little Witch of the past,' he mused, 'has finally grown up...'

Then, two more chimes rang out, slow and resonant.

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