Firmament Sword

"Is there any news about... this?" Xu Luo asked after Qi Yue had left.

Sun Xiaohong fed the last spoonful of medicine to Xu Luo and said quietly, "I heard this matter seems to be related to Jin Xian. Someone found a map on Wind's body, and it clearly marked where you live."

"After some investigation, the map was traced back to one of Jin Xian's attendants."

"Those lunatics from the Precepts Hall are experts at this sort of thing. Give them the slightest thread, and they'll follow it all the way to the source."

"Jin Xian..." A glint flashed in Xu Luo's eyes. He recalled the handsome young man who had come looking for trouble right after he arrived at the Medicine Garden, only to get a harsh lesson from him instead.

A chill spread through Xu Luo. 'It seems... the lesson I taught him back then wasn't enough,' he thought. 'It left behind this much trouble!'

'From now on... I must be more careful. I can never again leave an enemy any opening to exploit!' A glint flashed in Xu Luo's eyes before they returned to their usual calm. He looked at Sun Xiaohong.

"The funny thing is, that attendant of Jin Xian's has vanished into thin air. No one knows where he went."

"According to Jin Xian, the attendant must have fled to escape punishment. He's washed his hands of the whole affair, saying that while the two of you had some minor friction, there was no deep-seated hatred. He claims there's no reason he would do something like this."

"He says someone must have wanted to exploit the minor friction between you, bribed his attendant, and tried to frame him."

Sun Xiaohong said angrily, "He's lying! Jin Xian is narrow-minded and petty. He definitely held a grudge after you taught him that lesson!"

"What has the sect's reaction been?" Xu Luo asked calmly.

"Some of the older generation in the sect have stepped forward, saying one can't just casually frame a good person."

"Jin Xian's older brother, Jin Ming, also came forward to vouch for him. He said that while Jin Xian can be unruly at times, he would never do something like this!"

"Jin Ming also publicly said some... well, some not-so-pleasant things."

Sun Xiaohong hesitated, afraid that one wrong word might stoke his anger.

"Speak," Xu Luo said, his face calm.

"You must not get angry, Young Master," Sun Xiaohong said cautiously. Seeing no reaction from Xu Luo, she continued, "Jin Ming said that the map was found on Wind's body, and Wind died at your hands. There was no third person present at the time. So what exactly happened? What were the circumstances... No one knows!"

"Heh... heh heh." A cold laugh rumbled in Xu Luo's throat.

"What a fine 'one can't frame a good person.' And what a fine 'no one knows!'"

Xu Luo spoke calmly, then looked at Sun Xiaohong. "So this matter... will likely just be dropped, won't it?"

"On the surface, it seems that way for now. All the divisions of Celestial Brilliance have received a wanted poster for Jin Xian's attendant, but he was probably silenced long ago. It's just for show."

Sun Xiaohong sneered. "After all, they have to give face to those senior figures, and to Jin Ming. Although the Jin Family isn't one of Celestial Brilliance's Heritage Clans, on the outside, they're considered a major powerhouse in all of Xi Hezhou. So in the end, this whole thing will most likely be swept under the rug."

"Very well... Let's leave it at that for now." Xu Luo closed his eyes and lay back down. "You may go. I'm tired. No one is to enter without my permission!"

"Yes, Young Master. Please rest and recover well." Sun Xiaohong sighed, tucked the blanket in around Xu Luo, and then departed quietly.

After a long moment, Xu Luo's eyes snapped open. He took a deep breath and said coldly, "Jin Xian!"

Then, a massive number of Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones suddenly appeared on Xu Luo's bed, all taken from his storage space.

They were piled high all around him, their light shimmering with brilliant splendor.

Anyone walking in right now would surely be shocked.

He circulated Yin Power with his left hand and Yang Power with his right, frantically pushing the Shadow Shaking Heart Method to its limits. The pile of Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones began to shrink at a rate visible to the naked eye!

One hundred... Two hundred... Five hundred... A thousand!

Three thousand... Five thousand!

Ten thousand!

A full ten thousand Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones were completely absorbed by Xu Luo in less than four hours!

This speed of absorbing Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones alone would leave any of his peers in the dust!

With Xu Luo's Heart Method fully unleashed, his speed of energy absorption... was simply too fast!

Even an expert at the Initial Tier Ultimate Venerable realm would likely be no faster.

And at that moment, Xu Luo's Dantian was brimming with an unimaginably vast power!

This was... somewhat dangerous for him, as his injuries had not yet fully healed.

Recklessly absorbing such immense energy could easily aggravate his wounds, making his internal injuries even more severe.

But Xu Luo had no intention of waiting any longer!

He couldn't let the souls of Han Shuang, Wei Dong, and Ah Dui be unable to rest in peace!

'I will have my revenge!'

'I will make everyone involved in this... receive the punishment they deserve, rather than letting it be... swept under the rug!'

Outside, the sky was growing dark. Xu Luo sat cross-legged on his bed, cultivating quietly.

As the last sliver of light was devoured by the night, Xu Luo got off the bed, dressed himself, took a deep breath, and quietly opened the door.

The courtyard was silent, but with his powerful Divine Sense, Xu Luo could clearly perceive numerous experts hidden in the shadows around him.

Xu Luo knew these were guards left behind by Yuwen Ji, who feared another assassination attempt.

Many were even senior figures from the Medicine Garden, called upon to protect the New Medicine King—the Medicine Garden's new spiritual leader!

Xu Luo executed the Shaking Light Step, his figure instantly vanishing into the vast darkness.

No one noticed his departure. Thanks to his instructions to Sun Xiaohong, no one would come to disturb him now.

Therefore, the time between now and dawn was his to use.

Jin Xian's residence was well hidden, but Xu Luo had secretly located it long ago, right after Jin Ming had provoked him.

He hadn't acted on it because he hadn't wanted to turn a minor conflict into a deep-seated feud.

But now... he had no choice.

To a privileged young master like Jin Xian, this action was probably nothing. Human lives were worthless in his eyes, especially the lives of attendants.

But in Xu Luo's eyes, the lives of those attendants were far more precious than the likes of Jin Xian! They were people he cared about!

'You touched my people and think you can get away with it? In your dreams!'

In the dead of night, Xu Luo's figure moved with incredible agility. Each leap covered thousands, even tens of thousands, of *zhang*!

That speed... was even faster than a warship!

In the blink of an eye, Xu Luo had left First Mountain and Jiulong Ridge far behind, heading straight for Jin Xian's residence.

In a secluded valley, a few buildings nestled among the trees were now brightly lit.

Jin Xian's face was grim, a somber light flickering in his eyes as he loudly berated a group of people.

"Hurry up! Have you all forgotten how to eat? You bunch of idiots! If someone broke in right now, I wouldn't even need them to lift a finger—I'd throw every last one of you into the Wanzhang Abyss on the back of the mountain!"

"Get a move on!"

Jin Xian's voice was ice-cold as he directed the men to set up a Defensive Grand Array around the buildings.

Jin Ming stood beside him, his expression solemn, not saying a word. This Defensive Array was something Jin Ming had just brought over.

Although he was furious about what his brother had done, Jin Ming knew that his brother had done it for him.

His intentions were good, even if the result was a disaster. At a time like this, Jin Ming couldn't bring himself to be overly critical.

Although he didn't know Xu Luo's temperament very well, Jin Ming knew one thing for sure: this time... his brother had gotten into far too much trouble.

Hiring an assassin to kill a fellow sect member was already a major taboo, let alone an assassin who had made his name by killing a Senior Deacon of the Celestial Brilliance Sect!

For the Celestial Brilliance Sect, this was an enormous humiliation!

That man was surely at the top of the Celestial Brilliance Sect's kill list!

The worst part was, the death of that Celestial Brilliance Senior Deacon years ago had nothing to do with the Jin brothers!

But now, many people were looking suspiciously at Jin Xian, and even at Jin Ming. The two of them couldn't explain their way out of this even if they had a hundred mouths!

Fortunately, there was still no evidence to suggest that the Jin brothers had any connection to the assassin, Wind.

Not even those lunatics from the Precepts Hall could find any evidence linking Wind to the Jin brothers.

The Jin brothers could breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

Fearing that Xu Luo would retaliate, Jin Ming had given his brother a Defensive Array he had obtained from a set of Ancient Ruins, just in case.

"Brother, did I cause you a lot of trouble this time?" Jin Xian asked quietly, a hint of resentment in his eyes.

"What's the point of saying that now? I'm your brother. No matter what, I won't stand by and watch you fall into danger," Jin Ming said calmly, though a muscle in his cheek twitched.

The price he was paying for his brother this time was immense.

His status as a successor, which had once been a near certainty, was now in jeopardy. This incident had caused many senior figures and the Elders currently in power to develop a serious distrust of him.

Even his own Master... Heavenly Brilliance Sect Master Xiahou Kaiyuan... seemed to be having second thoughts about his once-favored disciple.

This was the most severe crisis of trust Jin Ming had ever faced since joining the Celestial Brilliance Sect.

"It's all my fault... I underestimated that bastard!" Jin Xian said through gritted teeth. "If I'd been willing to spend a little more money and hire all Four Great Assassins at once, he'd be dead for sure. This time... he just got lucky!"

"Don't ever say that again. Remember, this matter has nothing to do with you," Jin Ming said calmly, his gaze fixed forward, his face an emotionless mask.

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