Firmament Sword

Wanghai would never forget that voice, even in death. It was the voice of the person he had been desperately trying to forget all this time!

The person who had been closest to him since childhood!

His most loyal follower!

His junior brother... who had been willing to die for him!

To the people in the surrounding stands, Wanghai's strange behavior must have been a result of the battle—a consequence of being unable to accept the blow of defeat.

Many even looked doubtfully at Xu Luo on the stage, wondering if he had secretly used some kind of offensive Elixir. The fear in their hearts toward the Medicine Garden deepened.

On the stage, however, Xu Luo knew better than anyone that he was not the cause of Wanghai's abnormal state. Something else must be affecting him.

This left Xu Luo feeling a little puzzled, but also somewhat regretful. Wanghai was indeed a good opponent for him at his current stage, someone who could sharpen his skills, but he had been affected by an external factor.

The Referee on the stage, however, paid no mind to such things and announced loudly, "In the Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition's round of 500 into 250, the winner is... Luo Tian... of the Medicine Garden!"

BOOM!

A tsunami of cheers instantly erupted from the stands, the sound waves rolling like a tide.

This battle, where Xu Luo had faced his enemy head-on and defeated the powerful Wanghai, elevated his prestige within Celestial Brilliance to a new level!

Only a few people frowned in secret, feeling that Xu Luo's rise was simply too fast—so fast it was unbelievable and difficult to accept.

Jin Ming, completely shrouded in a black robe, felt even more frustrated. 'Originally, all this glory, all this honor, should have been his.'

In the past few annual competitions, only his appearance had garnered such attention and cheers. Now, sitting here watching someone else receive it, his heart was a mess of complex emotions.

At the same time, he secretly made a decision. If he really encountered Luo Tian in the upcoming matches, he had to defeat him!

He had to let him know who the true top dog of Celestial Brilliance's younger generation was!

'I've figured you out now. I know what you're good at. Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles!' Jin Ming thought, his gaze turning icy as he glanced at the tall figure on the stage. Then, he activated the token in his hand, transformed into a ray of light, and left.

In a private box above, Wanghai's great-grandfather, Wang Daoming, had a grim expression, his brows tightly furrowed. He could hardly believe the reality before his eyes.

His most beloved great-grandson, upon whom he had poured countless efforts, had actually been defeated just like that...

And defeated by a disciple of the Medicine Garden, which had been weak for so many years!

'There must have been an external factor influencing him!' Wang Daoming's sharp gaze swept over the eastern stands again, but in the vast sea of people, he was destined to see nothing.

After the Referee announced the results, Xu Luo didn't linger and teleported away immediately.

In the stands, which could hold over a million people, streaks of light flashed continuously as most of the audience began to depart.

In the eastern stands, the corner of the black-robed person's mouth curled into a cold sneer from beneath his cloak. He, too, activated the token in his hand, transforming into a ray of light and teleporting away.

Wanghai remained standing below the stage, muttering to himself, "This is impossible... Absolutely impossible. He's dead... I saw him die with my own eyes. An illusion, this must be an illusion! It's a mental attack... Yes, it must be a mental attack! Luo Tian did this... It's a new kind of Elixir!"

Some of the Heavenly Brilliance Disciples in the stands who were leaving late looked at the devastated Wanghai and couldn't help but sigh.

"If you can't afford to lose... then you shouldn't have challenged him!"

"Exactly. Victory and defeat are common in a warrior's life. If you lose, just find a way to win it back. Acting like this will only get you ridiculed."

"He has only himself to blame... Why challenge Senior Brother Medicine Garden for no reason?"

"Heh, probably wanted to get famous..."

Wanghai turned a deaf ear to the discussions in the stands. His eyes were still blank, and deep within them lingered a profound fear.

This was a truth he could not bear!

Therefore, he refused to believe it!

Over on the other side, Elder Wang Daoming stepped out of the private box and instantly appeared beside Wanghai.

Wanghai, whose power was infinitely close to the Great Saint Realm, was completely oblivious to the person who had suddenly appeared beside him. As if totally unaware, he continued to mutter, "Impossible... It must be an illusion. I saw him die right in front of me with my own eyes..."

"Wake up!" Wang Daoming barked. His voice, imbued with potent spiritual energy, shocked Wanghai back to his senses.

Wanghai looked blankly at his great-grandfather, then at the few remaining Heavenly Brilliance Disciples in the stands, and asked in surprise, "Great-grandfather, I... What happened to me? Why am I here?"

Wang Daoming gave his favored great-grandson a cold look and said, "What happened... you don't know yourself?"

"I... I was no match for that Luo Tian." In front of his great-grandfather, Wanghai didn't dare to lie and could only speak the truth. "His Cultivation Technique and power are very strange, as if they perfectly counter mine. But... someone in the stands was interfering with me, making it impossible for me to focus."

"Tell me the truth." With his vast experience, how could Wang Daoming not see that his great-grandson was hiding something from him?

Wanghai looked at Wang Daoming with some fear and said, "It's... not convenient to talk here."

"Then we'll find a convenient place to talk!" Wang Daoming said, grabbing the distraught Wanghai and leaving at once.

Later, in Wanghai's room, he no longer dared to hide anything and recounted how he had killed his closest junior brother to monopolize an inheritance.

When Wang Daoming heard that Wanghai had personally stabbed his junior brother to death with a sword, he couldn't help but chuckle darkly. "Good boy. Ruthless and vicious. You're someone destined for great things!"

Hearing this, Wanghai was slightly stunned. He hadn't expected his great-grandfather to actually take his side. A hint of smugness appeared on his face.

SLAP!

Wang Daoming viciously slapped Wanghai across the face, wiping that smug look right off.

"You beast!" Wang Daoming's chest heaved, his eyes practically spitting fire as he glared at Wanghai. "You think you did the right thing? That it's something to be proud of, is that it?"

Wanghai's face stung. He looked at Wang Daoming with a wronged expression. Although he said nothing, his eyes clearly conveyed, 'You were just praising me for being destined for great things, so why did you turn around and hit me?'

"Being ruthless and decisive is indeed a necessary quality for someone who wants to achieve great things, but what was this? This was being faithless and disloyal!" Wang Daoming looked at Wanghai with disappointment. "I've doted on you since you were little. You're talented, intelligent, and willing to work hard... These are all your strengths."

"When you grew up and developed ambition, I was even happier!" Wang Daoming looked at Wanghai. "Because a person without ambition can never achieve anything great!"

"I allowed you not to take any of the Elders as your master, and I searched everywhere for all sorts of secret maps for you, so that you could obtain ancient inheritances and grow stronger through your trials!"

"At the same time, a group of people followed you. They listened to you, believed in you, and were ready to sacrifice their lives for you at any moment... In truth, they... are your most precious treasure!"

"Personal strength is important, of course, but the loyalty of your subordinates is the most important thing of all!" Wang Daoming looked at Wanghai. "If no one believes in you, no one is loyal to you, and no one follows you, what's the use even if you cultivate to the level of a supreme being?"

Wanghai stood there, his limbs numb, his heart in turmoil. In the end, he could only bow his head and admit his mistake. "Great-grandfather... I was wrong."

"You were indeed wrong!" Wang Daoming sighed. "I never imagined you had such a disposition—so utterly faithless and disloyal! If I had known earlier... I would not have invested so much in you. What can a person who doesn't even have the heart to tolerate others possibly achieve?"

Wanghai dropped to his knees with a THUD, tears streaming down his face. "Great-grandfather, your child knows he was wrong! I beg for your forgiveness!"

"I heard before that you challenged Senior Brother Medicine Garden, Luo Tian, because you failed to win an offensive Talisman from one of his friends, and so you ended up hating Luo Tian as well. How could you be so foolish!" Wang Daoming looked at Wanghai with an expression of 'hating iron for not becoming steel'. "Aren't you just exposing all of your shortcomings and weaknesses for him to see? It's like blatantly telling him: 'I'm narrow-minded, don't mess with me... I'll get my revenge.'"

Wanghai broke out in a cold sweat as he listened, kneeling there without daring to speak.

"So, instead of asking for my forgiveness, you should think carefully about how you're going to act from now on!" Wang Daoming said earnestly, looking at Wanghai. "Everyone has negative emotions. Only those who can suppress them... and overcome them will succeed!"

"Your child thanks you for your teachings, Great-grandfather! I will definitely change my ways in the future!" Wanghai said through choked sobs and tears.

"Alright. As long as you can change, I will continue to support you as I always have." Wang Daoming sighed, then asked, "You just said that the junior brother you killed sent you a voice transmission, saying he had returned?"

Wanghai's body trembled slightly. At the mention of his junior brother, images from the past would always flash through his mind—his little junior brother by his side, so loyal, so carefree and simple...

Taking a deep breath, Wanghai knew that what was past was past. He nodded and said, "That's right. I'm too familiar with his voice. I even felt a sense of familiarity when he was just watching me from under that black robe, to say nothing of his voice."

Wang Daoming sighed, utterly disappointed by his great-grandson's act of killing someone so close to him.

But no matter how disappointed he was, Wanghai was still his great-grandson, still the successor he had been grooming all this time!

"Forget it. You don't need to worry about this matter; I'll investigate. Be more careful yourself these next few days. If you're in any danger, immediately use the Life-saving Talisman I gave you." With that, Wang Daoming stood up, gave Wanghai a deep look, and said, "Calm your mind and think carefully about what you should do from now on. Don't disappoint me again!"

Without waiting for Wanghai to reply, Wang Daoming's figure vanished into thin air, and he was gone.

A long time passed before Wanghai finally rose from the floor. His eyes were filled with venomous resentment as he muttered, "To achieve great things... one must be ruthless. What I did back then... wasn't wrong. Junior brother, it's like I said: if you were in my shoes, you would have made the same choice! I have too much to bear, my burden is too heavy, so... please forgive me. I really... didn't mean to kill you."

"If your spirit lingers in the heavens, then rest in peace!"

"Forgive you? What a joke! How can I rest in peace... without killing you?" a cold voice suddenly echoed throughout Wanghai's room.

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