Firmament Sword

This was the opponent who had stopped Xie Yurou from advancing into the top thirty-two.

Many rumors about Miao Jianfei circulated within Celestial Brilliance. He was said to be upright, taciturn, and aloof... and not very popular.

He never seemed to befriend anyone, and his relationships with even his fellow disciples were distant.

"You're asking about who? Senior Brother Miao? Uh... it's hard to say. Let's just say we're all a little scared of him."

"He's too upright. He's uncompromisingly honest and can't stand hypocrisy, which is why he's always offending people."

"Within the sect, taking everything so seriously does you no favors. But that's just who he is, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Senior Brother Miao is very strong, but he's not much of a people person..."

This was the assessment from some of Miao Jianfei's fellow disciples. Though they offered no harsh criticisms, one could sense they didn't exactly approve of his way of life.

Xie Yurou sat in her chair, holding a teacup in both hands. She gently blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface, looked at Xu Luo, and said, "Those comments don't really matter. A true expert isn't swayed by the opinions of others. What you need to be careful of is Miao Jianfei's second sword!"

"A second sword?" Xu Luo looked at Xie Yurou, puzzled.

Xie Yurou said, "Miao Jianfei's Swordsmanship is masterful. What most people don't know is that his true power... lies in his second sword!"

"A Flying Sword!"

"He and his master, Elder Bifang, obtained it from an ancient ruin years ago. It's a Spiritual Artifact!"

Xu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly. "A Spiritual Artifact?"

"That's right, a Spiritual Artifact, not a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact!" Xie Yurou looked at Xu Luo seriously. "Spiritual Artifacts are much more powerful than Spirit-Connected Magical Artifacts!"

"With a Spirit-Connected Magical Artifact, the artifact comes first, then the spirit. The spirit is born because of the artifact."

"But with a Spiritual Artifact, the spirit comes first, then the artifact... An item only becomes a Spiritual Artifact because a spirit has made it so!"

As she spoke, Xie Yurou looked at Xu Luo, a little embarrassed. "This is just what I heard from the family elders when I was little. I don't really understand the full meaning myself."

"I just know that Spiritual Artifacts are a higher class than Spirit-Connected Magical Artifacts. In all of Celestial Brilliance, only a few of the older generation possess them. Among the younger generation... not many have one. Jin Ming might, but I've never seen him use it."

Xu Luo nodded. "I understand. I'll be careful, don't worry."

"Mhm, I believe in you. I know you can defeat him!" Xie Yurou said softly, her bright eyes fixed on Xu Luo.

Having now advanced to the High Tier Great Saint Realm, Xu Luo was quite confident about this battle.

However, a sudden incident forced the Celestial Brilliance annual competition to be temporarily suspended once again!

The expedition searching for the latter half of the Soul Scripture had suddenly returned. They had suffered a terrible attack and were almost completely wiped out!

Out of a team of over a hundred, only a dozen or so people had escaped with their lives!

And in the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden, Xu Luo... finally met Monkey's uncle, a golden monkey with an incredibly commanding presence.

Xu Luo saw no sign of any restrictive spell on Uncle Monkey's head. As for the peerless Celestial Brilliance genius who had supposedly tricked him back then... she was now grievously injured and on the verge of death from protecting him.

Upon their return, the group came straight to the Celestial Brilliance Medicine Garden to treat the wounded.

When Xu Luo saw the Old Golden Monkey, its eyes were slightly red-rimmed. The fur on its head was half gold, half white.

Xu Luo had heard that Uncle Monkey's fur used to be entirely golden; it had turned white overnight because of this one battle...

Through Uncle Monkey's own account, Xu Luo finally understood the truth behind the so-called grudge between the Old Golden Monkey and Celestial Brilliance.

It turned out Monkey had gotten it all spectacularly wrong!

The so-called peerless genius of Celestial Brilliance who had supposedly tricked Uncle Monkey was, in fact, a woman!

And this woman and Monkey's uncle... were actually dao companions!

They were husband and wife!

After learning the truth, Xu Luo was utterly speechless. He told the Old Golden Monkey about Monkey and his grudge against Celestial Brilliance.

A faint smile touched the Old Golden Monkey's weathered face. "I did it willingly. Otherwise, who in this whole world... could put a binding spell on my head? That's my wife!"

"..." Xu Luo stared at the old monkey, at a complete loss for words.

The Old Golden Monkey said, "Back then, her sect looked down on me. They thought that because I wasn't human, I was no match for her. So she came up with this plan to make it look like I'd been tricked and had no choice but to stay with them... All that talk about binding spells was just a baseless rumor."

"Did you know your nephew was looking for you?" Xu Luo asked.

"I've seen him. I explained the whole story to him, and he returned to the Vast Mountains. He mentioned you, actually. Said that if I ever saw you in Celestial Brilliance, I should say hello for him."

"I'm relieved as long as he's alright." Xu Luo could finally breathe easy.

Monkey was the first friend he had made after entering the Divine Domain. Though he wasn't human, his character was far better than that of many people. He was a friend worth having.

Just then, Yuwen Ji emerged from the room, his expression grave.

Forgetting Xu Luo, the Old Golden Monkey looked at Yuwen Ji and asked, "Master... Wanrou... how is she?"

"Her injuries are severe!" Yuwen Ji sighed and said to the Old Golden Monkey, "Her Dantian has been wounded, and many of her meridians are severed. Even if we can heal her, I'm afraid... she will find it very difficult to cultivate in the future. She'll become an ordinary person."

"But her life isn't in danger?" The Old Golden Monkey wasn't as dejected as one might expect; on the contrary, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Her life... is not in danger for the time being," Yuwen Ji replied.

"That's good enough!" said the Old Golden Monkey. "She's been so tired these past few years... If she can just be an ordinary person from now on, that's not so bad!"

Yuwen Ji looked at the Old Golden Monkey. "It's wonderful that you can think that way! Everyone back then was wrong about you. Wanrou's feelings for you weren't misplaced!"

The Old Golden Monkey said proudly, "Of course! I'm one of a kind! None of you have her good taste!"

Just then, a crisp female voice came from inside the room, "You get in here and stop bragging!"

The Old Golden Monkey immediately flinched, gave Yuwen Ji a sheepish grin, and bounded inside.

Only Xu Luo and his master, Yuwen Ji, remained outside.

Xu Luo had previously heard from others that this Nun Wanrou was hailed as the most talented disciple Celestial Brilliance had seen in a hundred generations!

'A hundred generations of Celestial Brilliance!'

'What an astonishing honor!'

Someone like Jin Ming wasn't even worthy of carrying Nun Wanrou's shoes!

And now, a peerless genius of such exceptional talent was injured to this degree, possibly unable to ever cultivate again and destined to become an ordinary person.

In other words, in the eyes of a Cultivator, such an injury... was as good as being crippled!

Xu Luo couldn't help but admire the fortitude of Nun Wanrou and the old monkey. An ordinary person suffering such a blow would probably wish for death, yet they could still banter playfully as if nothing were wrong...

It wasn't entirely as if nothing were wrong, of course. The old monkey's fur, turned white in a single night, was proof of that.

But at least in front of his beloved, the old monkey acted completely normal.

Such strength of character and depth of emotion were truly moving.

"Master, what kind of danger did they actually encounter? For someone as powerful as Nun Wanrou to be so severely injured..." Xu Luo asked.

"They ran into an old monster from the Blazing Flame Province, a truly great power. The fact that they escaped with their lives is a small miracle in itself." Yuwen Ji sighed wistfully, then glanced at Xu Luo, looking as if he wanted to say more but was holding back.

"Master, if you have something to say, please speak freely." Xu Luo gave Yuwen Ji a curious look.

"Wanrou's injuries are severe. Saving her life is no problem, but as for her recovery... the elixirs currently in the Medicine Garden are powerless to help. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Xu Luo looked at Yuwen Ji, then it dawned on him. "The Heaven-Defying Life-Seizing Creation Pill?"

Yuwen Ji nodded with a wry smile. "Only a pill like that could allow her to recover completely. But... to ask you to just contribute it would be extremely unfair, so..."

"About that..." Xu Luo hesitated for a moment. It wasn't that he was being selfish, wanting to keep it for himself; rather, he had been saving this Elixir for a time when his own family might face a life-or-death crisis.

Xu Luo was no saint; it was impossible for him to be completely without selfish thoughts.

However, with Celestial Brilliance's most talented disciple, Nun Wanrou, so grievously injured, if taking this Elixir could restore her, it would be tremendous news for the entire sect!

"Never mind... I'll think of another way." Yuwen Ji didn't look particularly disappointed. He had been conflicted about even bringing it up. To be honest, he didn't want his own disciple to feel wronged.

The only reason he had mentioned it was because Xiahou Kaiyuan had secretly instructed him to, though he had also been told not to pressure Xu Luo.

At that moment, the Old Golden Monkey walked out of the room. He had clearly overheard their conversation.

The Old Golden Monkey looked at Yuwen Ji and said, "Wanrou says she can't accept something from a junior. This injury is severe, but that doesn't mean there aren't other solutions."

With that, the Old Golden Monkey smiled at Xu Luo. "You don't need to feel conflicted. That Elixir... its best use is on someone at death's door."

Xu Luo suddenly smiled. "This Elixir was made to save people. Saving a dying person is a rescue, but so is saving someone with damaged meridians. If Nun Wanrou loses her power, I doubt she'll be very happy from now on."

Xu Luo looked up at the Old Golden Monkey. "Uncle Monkey, your fur turned white overnight. Can you truly say you don't want Nun Wanrou to make a full recovery?"

A sharp glint flashed in the Old Golden Monkey's eyes. He stared at Xu Luo and said in a low voice, "What do you want?"

Xu Luo smiled. "I want Uncle Monkey to take me to those ancient ruins. I want the latter half of the Soul Scripture!"

"That's impossible!" The speaker was a woman. A graceful figure slowly pushed open the door and stepped out.

Xu Luo looked up to see a peerless beauty standing before him. Strangely, there was something familiar about her features.

"So you're Xu Luo? The one that little lass Yu Rou has her eye on?" the woman said, looking at him. "My name is Xie Wanrou. I'm Xie Yurou's aunt."

"Ah..." Xu Luo was truly stunned. He had only just learned this Nun's name was Wanrou, but he had never expected this connection.

"Going to those ancient ruins is suicide. So, even if it means I never recover, I cannot stand by and watch you go to your death for the sake of that Elixir," Xie Wanrou said calmly, her gaze fixed on Xu Luo.

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