Firmament Sword

In the lead was a young man who looked to be in his thirties. He wore dark gold robes covered in all sorts of mysterious inscriptions, with powerful energy rippling across the surface.

It was clearly a treasured garment!

The young man was handsome, his gaze profound, as if his eyes held the sun, moon, and stars. He looked at Xu Luo, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You're Luo Tian?"

Xu Luo frowned slightly but didn't say a word.

The young man was surrounded by a retinue. One of them, a younger man of about twenty-five or twenty-six standing beside him, snapped coldly, "The Young Master is speaking to you. Are you mute?"

"Where did this dog come from? Can't its master keep it on a leash, letting it bark all over the place?" Xu Luo's expression darkened. He slammed his wine cup onto the table with a sharp CRACK, looked at the young man, and said, "Get out!"

"You're courting death!" The young man beside the leader flew into a rage. He took a step forward, about to attack Xu Luo.

An icy glint flashed in Xie Yurou's eyes as she bellowed, "Stop!"

With that, she turned to the leader and said coldly, "Huyan Qingshan, what do you think you're doing?"

"Miss Xie, don't you forget that you are my Young Master's fiancée!" the younger man shot a glance at Xie Yurou and said icily. "And now you're here with another man. What is the meaning of this?"

"Bullshit!" Xie Yurou erupted in fury. Like an angry kitten, she shot to her feet and glared at the young man, cursing, "Since when was I his fiancée? Watch your mouth, or I'll cut out your tongue!"

"Sit down," Xu Luo said flatly, without even glancing at Xie Yurou. "There's a man here. What business do you have stepping forward?"

The moment he spoke, the private room fell deathly silent.

Everyone stared at Xu Luo as if he were some kind of monster.

'How dare he be so arrogant in front of Young Master Huyan? Does he not know who he is?'

'What gives him the right to talk to Xie Yurou like that? Who does he think he is?'

'He really has a death wish. Does he think making a small name for himself in Celestial Brilliance means he can stand on equal footing with these young masters and noble ladies from powerful families?'

Xie Yurou was stunned for a moment. She stared at Xu Luo, her mouth slightly agape as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing and obediently sat back down.

"A young lady shouldn't be so vulgar," Xu Luo said, glancing at her with a stern expression.

"Yes, I know I was wrong." Xie Yurou was mischievous and incredibly clever. She instantly understood what Xu Luo was doing and played along perfectly. The act was seamless!

They say women are natural-born actresses, and it's absolutely true.

In everyone's eyes, the Xie Yurou of this moment was a docile, obedient woman. Where was the slightest hint of the Little Witch?

Young Master Huyan's face was livid. Staring at Xu Luo, he forced the words out through clenched teeth, "Luo Tian… are you sure you want to get involved in this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Xu Luo said leisurely, leaning back in his chair.

"Don't mistake kindness for weakness!" The young man beside Huyan Qingshan, who also seemed to hold a high status, stared coldly at Xu Luo. "Don't think that just because you have a little fame, you can do whatever you want in Celestial Brilliance. The waters here run far deeper than someone like you could ever imagine!"

"If you know what's good for you, crawl out of here right now. If our Young Master is in a good mood, he might not hold this against you!"

"Honestly… has the Ancient Dao Pavilion fallen so low that any riff-raff can just waltz in?"

The young man wore a look of cold arrogance, staring down at Xu Luo.

"So… Young Master Huyan, is it?" Xu Luo didn't even glance at the lackey. He picked up his wine cup and toyed with it, a faint smirk on his face. "A moment ago, I told you to get out. You seem to… not have heard. Fine… I'm in a good mood today because the food at the Ancient Dao Pavilion is excellent and I've had a wonderful meal. So, I'll give you an opportunity."

"I won't even make you crawl. Just get lost, before I change my mind," Xu Luo said nonchalantly.

"You're courting death…" The young man beside Huyan Qingshan raised his hand and swung a slap straight at Xu Luo's face.

The slap contained immense power. It was strong enough to shatter a giant boulder!

This was more than just a humiliation. If Xu Luo lacked the strength to defend himself, this slap… could have killed him!

SMACK!

The young man's palm was still a foot from Xu Luo's face when Xu Luo caught it.

CRACK!

Xu Luo squeezed hard…

…and the sound of shattering bone echoed through the room.

Immediately after, the young man let out a bloodcurdling scream. "My wrist… It hurts! It hurts so much!"

WHACK!

Xu Luo backhanded him across the face, cutting his scream short.

"Annoying."

Xu Luo said flatly, releasing the young man's wrist. He then glanced at Xie Yurou, his eyes filled with a trace of displeasure.

Clearly, Xie Yurou bringing him here today had been no accident.

It was too much of a coincidence.

They had just arrived and had barely started eating when the other party rushed over, finding their private room without any obstruction.

Coupled with the commotion Xie Yurou had stirred up in the city earlier, Xu Luo became even more certain. 'She knew this was coming!'

When Xie Yurou met his gaze, her eyes revealed a hint of apology mixed with a pleading look.

Xu Luo sighed internally. 'No matter what, the Xie Sisters helped me back in Baihua City. I'll help her this one time and consider the favor repaid.'

With that thought, Xu Luo's gaze sharpened. He looked at Huyan Qingshan, whose expression had become utterly savage, and snapped, "Are you still not getting out? What kind of place is the Ancient Dao Pavilion? How can any riff-raff just waltz in?"

Xu Luo threw the words of Huyan Qingshan's lackey right back at them.

The men with Huyan Qingshan were instantly enraged. They all glared at Xu Luo as if they wanted to devour him alive.

Just then, a placating voice drifted in from outside. "Oh, my… esteemed Young Masters, please, calm down, calm down!"

As the voice got closer, a portly, red-faced old man squeezed his way into the room. It was a mystery how he managed to slip through the jam-packed doorway, but he appeared between Xu Luo and Huyan Qingshan, bowing repeatedly with a fawning smile.

"It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" As soon as the portly old man entered, he shot Xu Luo a meaningful look, as if trying to signal something. Then he turned to Huyan Qingshan. "Young Master Huyan, you came all this way… why didn't you send word ahead? This humble one could have prepared for your arrival."

"Oh, by the way, your favorite Deep-Sea Thousand-Year Squid and Blue Crystal Abalone just came in. How about this humble one goes and prepares them for you, Young Master?"

The portly old man seemed quite familiar with Young Master Huyan and was clearly trying to mediate the conflict.

But his influence was clearly insufficient. Young Master Huyan's livid, savage face was devoid of any smile. Without even glancing at the old man, he stared daggers at Xu Luo and gritted out, "What you just said… say it again!"

"Are you a fucking idiot? Are you stupid? Getting cursed out once wasn't enough, you want to hear it a second time?" Xu Luo looked at Huyan Qingshan as if he were a moron. 'This Young Master Huyan must have a powerful background,' he thought. 'He's probably the son of some influential Grand Elder in Celestial Brilliance. How else could he be so brazen?'

'According to Xie Yurou, only Inner Sect Disciples can enter the Ancient Dao Pavilion. The very fact he's here proves his status is not to be underestimated.'

'He's someone even Xie Yurou, with her status in Celestial Brilliance, can't handle. So much so that she resorted to using me as a shield…'

'And he can make the Shopkeeper of the Ancient Dao Pavilion grovel like this. I don't need anyone to spell it out for me; I can guess his identity.'

'But honestly, the more someone is like this, the less I fear them.'

'I may have grown up in the mortal world, but that world has its own nobles, its own self-important young masters and ladies. Their behavior is virtually identical to this Young Master Huyan.'

'High and mighty, looking down on everyone. As long as they have the upper hand, their arrogance and tyranny are beyond belief.'

'But once that shell is cracked and they lose the source of their pride, these people… they immediately shrivel up into sniveling worms.'

'I've seen plenty of people like that.'

"Hmph. Very good." Huyan Qingshan seemed to squeeze the two words from between his teeth, each one laced with a bone-chilling frost. His gaze toward Xu Luo was now that of a man looking at a corpse.

"Shopkeeper Zhao, you should leave. As for this matter… just pretend you never saw anything," Huyan Qingshan said indifferently, glancing at the pleading, portly old man blocking his path.

"Oh, please… esteemed sirs, give this humble one a break. Can we please not cause trouble in the Ancient Dao Pavilion?" the old man pleaded, his face a mask of misery.

The young man whose wrist had been crushed by Xu Luo had already taken an Elixir to temporarily stop the pain, but his face was ashen, completely drained of color.

Hearing the shopkeeper's plea, the young man gritted his teeth. "This is none of your business, old man! Scram!"

The others chimed in, telling the portly old man to get lost.

The portly old man remained standing there, his fawning smile fixed in place. He continued to plead, "Esteemed Young Masters, you're putting this humble one in a difficult position. We are all Heavenly Brilliance Disciples. We'll all cross paths again, so why must things get so ugly? I know none of you are afraid, but if this incident blows up, it won't do anyone any good! Don't you agree, sirs?"

"Screw that! Get the hell out of here!" the young man with the crushed wrist roared. He reached out with his good hand to grab the old man's clothes and toss him out.

His wrist had been crushed for no reason, and he was filled with a simmering rage that had nowhere to go. Without thinking, his only thought was to get this meddlesome old fool out of the way so he could teach Luo Tian a brutal lesson.

Anything less than shattering every bone in his body wouldn't be enough to avenge his own broken wrist!

"Let's talk this over… no need for violence!" As the old man spoke, his hand shot out like lightning and seized the young man's wrist. "Young man… we were all young once. It's normal to be hot-blooded and impulsive, but you must know your limits!"

"You…" The young man never imagined that Shopkeeper Zhao, who was always so subservient and smiling, was actually a hidden master. The fact that he'd grabbed his wrist and was now lecturing him only made him more furious. He snarled through clenched teeth, "Let go!"

The portly old man smiled. "I see you're far too hot-headed, young man. With so much hostility, you're bound to get hurt. Why don't I help you cool down a little…"

With that, he squeezed…

CRACK!

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