Firmament Sword

"Of course I have to save her!" Xu Luo said, his voice ringing with conviction. "Qianqian is my friend, and she's your friend too. If I just stood by and let her die, you'd all look down on me!"

Huangfu Shishi had intended to tease Xu Luo, but she hadn't expected him to sound so self-righteous and noble.

Besides... he did have a point. Even though she knew deep down that wasn't the whole story, she found she had no grounds to argue.

"Hmph!" Huangfu Shishi rolled her eyes and gave a cold snort. Deciding not to bother with Xu Luo, she turned to Chu Xiaoya and started whispering with her.

Chu Xiaoya was breathtakingly beautiful and came from a prominent family. Her legendary experiences and worldliness were beyond compare to Huangfu Shishi and the others. As such, she had won everyone's affection not long after arriving at the Xu Family estate. She had grown especially close with Lianyi, Huangfu Shishi, and Phoenix, becoming like sisters.

Song Chengfeng shot Xu Luo a look and pursed his lips, as if to say, 'See? This is what happens when you have too many women!'

Xu Luo just shrugged, showing he didn't mind.

The two brothers continued drinking. After chattering for a while, the women apparently got bored with the dinner table, as they abandoned the two men and ran off.

From the sounds of it, Chu Xiaoya was very interested in the legendary activity known as... shopping. The women were all going out together.

Only after they were gone did Song Chengfeng speak, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Shopping... Is that really fun? Buying a pile of who-knows-what, bringing it home, and then grinning at it like an idiot?"

"Hahaha..." Xu Luo roared with laughter. "You can take that up with my sister-in-law."

"I wouldn't dare..." Song Chengfeng sighed. "She used to be as gentle as water, but now she's as fierce as a tiger! Little brother, I'm not trying to scare you, but you've already got three at home, and there might be more in the future. Your days ahead... you've got your work cut out for you!"

"As long as they all have something to keep them busy, they shouldn't come bother me, right?" Xu Luo said, sounding a little unsure.

Song Chengfeng grinned, mocking him. "In your dreams!"

Xu Luo's face darkened. He felt his big brother was full of schadenfreude, practically hoping he'd end up surrounded by a pack of tigresses.

The two brothers shared a few more drinks. Suddenly, Song Chengfeng set down his cup and looked at Xu Luo. "I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Back to the Ancient Race?" Xu Luo looked at Song Chengfeng, confused.

"No, I'm going to leave this world," Song Chengfeng said softly. "Once you set foot on the path of cultivation, you're not in control of your own destiny. You always want to see the view from higher up."

"And sister-in-law?" Xu Luo asked.

"She's coming with me, of course!" Song Chengfeng smiled. "You don't have to worry about that. I'd give up anything in this world before I'd give up on her."

"That's good." Xu Luo was genuinely happy for his brother and sister-in-law. They had weathered so many hardships to finally be together. Now, no force in the world could tear them apart.

"No need to be sad. Your big brother is just taking the first step. I imagine you'll head over there sooner or later, too! I'll go first and scout the path for you," Song Chengfeng said with a smile.

Xu Luo nodded. "When will you leave?"

"Sometime in the next few months, I think." Song Chengfeng sighed softly. "We still have some things to take care of with the Ancient Race. And then there was you. This last battle showed me that we don't need to worry about you anymore. There's nothing in this world that can stand in your way now."

"Before you go, we have to get drunk together one last time," Xu Luo said softly. "Because this goodbye... it might be forever."

"It probably won't be forever with you. But for many others... it will be." Song Chengfeng's tone also grew heavy.

This was, after all, the world where they had been raised. Though its laws were imperfect and the world itself seemed fragile compared to their power...

...it was still their home.

No matter where they went, the one thing they could never, and would never, forget was home.

「Three days later.」

Song Chengfeng and Chu Xiaoya gracefully departed.

「Three months later.」

News came from the Boundary Mountain battlefield: Sui Yan... had achieved a breakthrough!

It was a major breakthrough, in fact. Afterward, the world could no longer contain him, and he shattered the void to ascend directly.

When Little Fatty returned to deliver the news, he was a mess of tears and laughter in front of Xu Luo, his emotions so turbulent he could barely control himself.

"I used to hear about Great Power Powerhouses ascending to the Divine Domain, and I never felt a thing because it always seemed so far away..." Little Fatty said through his tears. "But then... I saw my own brother, the one I grew up with, just... right in front of me, fly higher and higher, and then... tear open the void and leave... and my heart just started to ache so badly!"

"I know I should be happy for him, that this was always his goal, but it just hurts so much. Third Brother... can you understand what I'm feeling?" Little Fatty sobbed. "I feel like... this is goodbye forever. WAHHH... I'm so dumb and useless, how could I ever have a chance to enter the Divine Domain?!"

Xu Luo gave a wry smile. Seeing Lan Xin standing by, at a complete loss, he shot her a look to signal he would handle it.

Lan Xin ducked her head and tiptoed away. She was always a formidable person, and Little Fatty usually deferred to her, but when it came to important matters, Lan Xin knew how to act appropriately and when to step back.

She had never seen Little Fatty display such raw emotion, and her own heart felt a pang of sorrow.

The day Xu Luo and the others had left the Boundary Mountain battlefield, Little Fatty and a few others had stayed behind to stand guard for Sui Yan.

Given the circumstances at the time, the entire Boundary Mountain battlefield should have been completely safe. Absolutely no one would dare set foot in that warzone, which was still overflowing with a bloody aura and rampant resentment.

Xu Luo patted Little Fatty's shoulder. "I didn't expect his realm to take such a monumental leap either. Did he leave any message before he ascended?"

"The moment Fifth Brother opened his eyes, all the bloody light in the sky vanished. He was just sitting there, but I got this feeling... as if the world itself couldn't contain him anymore. I knew something was wrong right then..."

Little Fatty wiped his red eyes. "And just as I thought, that guy—Fifth Brother, who never calls me Fourth Brother—opened his mouth and said, 'Fourth Brother, my breakthrough was too great. I can't control this power anymore. If I don't ascend to the Divine Domain right now, the laws of this world will come to suppress me...'"

"I was completely stunned. I mean, Fifth Brother's realm was high before, almost at the Half-Saint level, but he couldn't have just surpassed the Saint realm all at once... So I told him to suppress it, and that bastard... he basically called me an idiot..."

Although Xu Luo also felt a pang of sadness, he couldn't help but laugh. Little Fatty, this clown, had been arguing with Fifth Brother since they were kids. Of course, it was always Little Fatty arguing with Sui Yan, while Sui Yan would, at most, grant him a single word in reply: "Idiot!"

"And you're laughing... The moment I heard that word, I just couldn't f*cking help but start crying." Little Fatty sniffled hard. "I asked if he had any last words, and he told me, 'Go tell Third Brother, I've heard him say the Divine Domain is boundless and vast, just enormous. Even if I ascend, I'll be like a drop in the ocean, and it'll be hard for us to meet again. I'll use the shortest time possible to make a name for myself in the Divine Domain. I won't be silent like I was before. When the day comes that the name "Mechanical Celestial Master" is known throughout the Divine Domain, that will be me! And if someone already has that name, then I'll be the "Mechanical Celestial King"! In any case, I'll do everything I can to make my name known throughout the Divine Domain in the shortest time possible!'"

"Was that all?" Xu Luo felt a little sad himself as he listened.

He hadn't expected that before Song Chengfeng and his wife had even departed, one of his own sworn brothers would be the first to leave... and in such an unexpected manner.

It wasn't a final goodbye in death, but it was close enough.

From now on, they were separated as if by heaven and earth. Sui Yan had made it sound easy, but in reality, the Divine Domain was immense! The four continents of the Lower Realm were vast and boundless, yet they wouldn't even count as a forgotten nook in the Divine Domain!

In a Divine Domain that large, how could it possibly be easy to make one's name known in every inhabited corner?

Little Fatty added, "His last request... was for me to take care of his mother."

He finished, looking pitifully at Xu Luo. "Third Brother, do you think that bastard Fifth Brother was telling me... that I should never expect to see him again in this lifetime?"

"Is that all the ambition you have?" Xu Luo couldn't help but laugh. "They have epiphanies and their realms advance quickly because they focus all their energy on what they're most talented at."

"Then what about me... My only talent is my nose. What good is that?!" Little Fatty grumbled.

"Maybe one day you'll discover its true power. For example, if you could catch a scent from ten thousand miles away and immediately identify what it is and where it came from..." Xu Luo said with a laugh. "If you can do that, you'll pretty much... be able to achieve the Dao through your nose! Hahaha!"

Little Fatty rolled his eyes, not taking Xu Luo's words to heart in the slightest. He never would have imagined that many years later, he would actually rely on this very skill to achieve the Dao and ascend to the Divine Domain.

Huangfu Chongzhi and Xu Jie arrived soon after. They were all shocked, surprised, and saddened by Suiyan's ascension.

"I never thought that out of the five of us brothers, the first to leave this world and ascend to the Divine Domain wouldn't be Third Brother, but Fifth Brother," Xu Jie said after downing a bowl of wine in one go. "I'm getting close, too."

"What?" The others looked at Xu Jie in surprise.

Xu Jie said, "I have a wife and son here, I don't want to leave. But lately, whenever I forge weapons, I find myself easily entering that state of profound emptiness. I can casually forge a kitchen knife and the damn thing will develop a spirit..."

"..." Xu Luo and the others were rendered speechless, their faces darkening.

Xu Jie said helplessly, "But I don't want to go! I'm not like Fifth Brother. I have my mother, my wife, and my son here. How can I leave with peace of mind?"

"I've been feeling the same way recently, especially after the battle at Boundary Mountain. The feeling is very strong," Huangfu Chongzhi said quietly, taking a sip of wine. "But unlike you, I'm eager to step into the Divine Domain right away."

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