Firmament Sword

"Senior Brother, did you know? That Chu Lin from yesterday, the one who slandered you and tried to assassinate you, he's entered the Black Wind Cave!"

In Xu Luo's courtyard, he was sitting and chatting with several Servants. The one speaking was a girl of seventeen or eighteen.

The girl wore coarse cloth garments, but her demeanor carried the air of a young lady from a prominent family. It was clear that before joining Celestial Brilliance, she had come from a distinguished background.

The girl seemed quite lively and spoke quickly and frankly. After the events of yesterday, her attitude and that of the other Servants toward Xu Luo had undergone a fundamental change.

Joining Celestial Brilliance and starting as a Servant—this was a time-honored rule of the sect.

Only a very small number of truly peerless prodigies could break this rule.

Take Guo Yi, who yesterday had cursed the Servants as lowly. He had actually started as a Servant himself. It was just that... after becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, he refused to ever think about that dark chapter of his past and was constantly trying to hypnotize himself: 'I was never a Servant. I've always been an Inner Sect Disciple!'

Xu Luo's arrival had initially made these Servants both envious and jealous. They had all heard about the Nether Flower Seed, so they all felt that he had simply lucked into a massive opportunity and received a promise from a distant Grand Elder.

'If it weren't for the Nether Flower Seed... he'd be even worse off than us Servants!'

Words like these had already spread among the Servants long before Xu Luo even came to Celestial Brilliance.

And with Xu Luo's arrival, such rumors became even more rampant among the Servants of the Medicine Garden, until... Xu Luo proved his strength with his actions.

First, it was Li Yin, the Senior Brother of the Outer Sect, who was humiliated before him. Next came the Inner Sect Disciple Guo Yi, whose handsome face was beaten into a pancake. And then there was the Inner Sect Disciple Chu Lin, who completely ruined his own reputation right in front of Xu Luo!

It could be said that even though he hadn't officially joined the Medicine Garden and no one even knew his name, Xu Luo had already become famous throughout the entire Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden!

People admire the strong and despise the weak.

These Servants, most of whom came from decent backgrounds themselves, were no different.

When Xu Luo demonstrated his power through his actions, the few Servants assigned to his courtyard all had their ambitions stirred!

"An Inner Sect Disciple!"

"No, a Direct Disciple of Grand Elder Yuwen ji!"

"That's the real Senior Brother Medicine Garden!"

'If you don't try to curry favor with someone of his status, who else is there?'

'Someone like Chu Lin?'

'Don't be ridiculous... Who would dare get close to someone who would grab you and use you as a shield in a moment of danger?'

This was why the earlier scene had occurred. The young girl's gaze toward Xu Luo was filled with worship and admiration as she immediately shared the news she had just received.

"The Black Wind Cave? Is it a prison?" Xu Luo asked.

"It's not a prison, but it's a hundred times more terrifying!" Seeing how amiable Xu Luo's attitude was, the girl's fear subsided considerably. She explained, "The Black Wind Cave is a cavern on the Seventh Mountain. It's bottomless, and all sorts of terrifying creatures live inside. Even the Elders don't dare to venture too deep. You could say that once you enter the Black Wind Cave, your life is basically halfway gone."

A young male Servant of about twenty standing nearby added, "Unless he stays right at the entrance of the Black Wind Cave and doesn't go any deeper. Otherwise, it's fraught with danger at every turn. Every step is perilous!"

"Exactly... So many people have died in the Black Wind Cave over the years. More than a decade ago, a Direct Disciple of the Sect Leader from the Main Peak came, drawn by its reputation, and... he never came back out!" the girl said.

"A place like that exists?" Xu Luo was suddenly intrigued by the Black Wind Cave.

Because the more dangerous a place is, the more likely it is for unimaginable treasures to appear. Even if there were no Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, a place like that was a perfect training ground.

"That's right. Chu Lin's reputation is in tatters throughout the Medicine Garden. How could he have the face to appear before everyone again? Entering the Black Wind Cave is basically a death sentence for him," a Servant in his forties said from the side.

At his age, even getting into the Outer Sect was extremely difficult. The Inner Sect... was practically impossible.

His only hope was to follow the right master, which would make his future much easier.

"I don't think so. Elder Qi has always been the most protective of his own. If this were any other Elder, they probably would have killed Chu Lin on the spot. But since Elder Qi didn't do that, then... perhaps he sent Chu Lin into the Black Wind Cave for two reasons: one, for training, and two, to probably lay low and avoid the current backlash!"

The girl offered her astute analysis, then looked at Xu Luo a little sheepishly. "This is all just my wild guess. It might not be right."

Xu Luo smiled. "That's probably the truth of it. Let's hope he can turn over a new leaf in there and become a new man."

To Xu Luo, both Chu Lin and that Guo Yi were nothing more than stumbling blocks on his path forward.

They were rather large ones, but kicking them aside... was no problem at all!

'They're all just flowers raised in a greenhouse. They have combat power in name only, with no experience, and more importantly, no courage to fight!'

'People like that... are unfit for great responsibility!'

After witnessing some of the Medicine Garden Disciples, Xu Luo had come to this conclusion about most of them.

However, Xu Luo was also aware that the primary focus of Medicine Garden Disciples was Alchemy. Combat... was not their strong suit.

You could tell from how the Medicine Garden placed last in the annual competition every year; when it came to combat prowess, the Medicine Garden was trash.

'Don't tell me... am I, the future Senior Brother Medicine Garden, going to have to be the one to win back some face for them in the annual competition?' Xu Luo muttered to himself. 'Come to think of it, that's a real possibility.'

After all... no matter how much they focused on Alchemy, the higher-ups of the Medicine Garden probably didn't want their disciples to be dead last every single year.

Xu Luo also really wanted to meet the true chosen ones of Celestial Brilliance! He wanted to see... just how strong those people were!

"Um... Senior Brother, can... can we ask you for a favor?" The girl looked at Xu Luo, a little embarrassed, and stammered.

"What is it?" Xu Luo glanced at the girl.

"After you formally become a disciple, Senior Brother, could you... request for us to be assigned to your side? We... we all want to follow you," the girl said, mustering her courage.

The other Servants all looked at the girl with gratitude. After all, she could have just said she wanted to follow Xu Luo herself; there was no need to mention them.

"You can do that?" Xu Luo was genuinely unaware of this and a little surprised.

"Of course you can! Every Inner Sect Disciple has a group of Outer Disciples who pledge allegiance to them, and many Servants to attend to them." The girl looked at Xu Luo, her face full of anticipation. "Senior Brother, you're new here, you'll need people to serve you. If you wouldn't mind us, we are willing to stay by your side!"

"Yes, Senior Brother, we are all willing to follow you!" the Servants said, looking at Xu Luo with sincere expressions.

"If that's possible, I'll mention it later." Xu Luo nodded, not giving a definite answer, because he truly didn't know if it was allowed.

If it was possible, he was willing to give these Servants a helping hand. He also needed some trusted confidants by his side. After all, throughout the entire Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden, the number of people who liked him... was probably not very high.

Only these Servants with no clear path forward would be willing to bet on him.

Xu Luo gave a self-deprecating laugh in his heart, then said, "But whether it works out or not... I really can't guarantee it."

Although he hadn't given a definite 'yes', the Servants were already ecstatic. They didn't feel at all that Xu Luo was putting on airs; on the contrary, they felt his response was perfectly reasonable and even better than they had imagined!

Because if Xu Luo really became a Grand Elder's Direct Disciple, then despite how many Inner Sect Disciples hated him now, the moment it became a reality, there would be Inner Sect Disciples flocking to pledge their allegiance!

Senior Brother Medicine Garden!

What a glorious status!

In the future, he would leave a magnificent mark on the history of Celestial Brilliance!

Because even the current Chief Grand Elder, Yuwen ji, had once walked the path of the Senior Brother Medicine Garden!

Therefore, as long as Xu Luo could be accepted as a disciple by Yuwen ji, countless people would want to curry favor with him and suck up to him. At that point, who would even spare a glance for a few lowly Servants like them?

Looking for followers? There would be countless Outer Disciples waiting in line!

Even some Inner Sect Disciples would probably be willing to do it!

Thus, Xu Luo's nod was almost tantamount to changing the destiny of these few Servants!

The Servants stood up and one by one performed a grand salute to Xu Luo, so insistently that he couldn't refuse. And their form of address changed directly to "Master"!

After several corrections from Xu Luo, they finally settled on calling him "Young Master."

...

...

High in the sky, a streak of silver-white light came speeding in this direction.

The girl named Zhu Zhu suddenly cried out in alarm, "Heavens... That's the Grand Elder's warship!"

The other Servants also started to panic, because they too recognized the origin of the silver warship.

First Peak, Yuwen ji!

That was Yuwen ji's personal vessel!

It wasn't just them; nearly everyone on the Ninth Mountain was going crazy. How many years had it been since the Chief Grand Elder last came here?

No one could remember clearly. Many disciples who had been on the Ninth Mountain for decades had never even seen the Chief Grand Elder!

They had only heard in stories that the one and only silver warship in the entire Medicine Garden was the Grand Elder's private vessel!

The silver warship's speed was incredible. Xu Luo squinted as he watched it, thinking to himself, 'My Shaking Light Step is probably not much faster than this warship. If I were to flee, and this silver warship gave chase, it would be very difficult for me to shake it off! After all, flying on my own... consumes stamina. But this silver warship, presumably as long as it has Immortal Spirit Stones... can fly on indefinitely!'

'What a fantastic item. I have to get one for myself in the future!' Xu Luo thought to himself.

At that moment, the silver warship had already arrived in the sky above the mountain peak where Xu Luo lived. The cabin door opened, and a towering figure slowly emerged from within.

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