Unsheathed

After visiting the Daoist Saber Room, Chen Ping’an and Jin Su went to their last destination for the day, the Sword Reverence Pagoda. By following this order, they could cut their time on the road to a minimum and not walk any extra distance today.

At the Daoist Saber Room, the wall was absolutely crammed with bounties. Among these bounties, Chen Ping’an had found three familiar names — Cui Chan, Xu Ruo, and Song Changjing.

Cui Chan’s name appeared the most, with six bounties asking for his head. Moreover, the posters were from four different continents. From this, it was abundantly clear just how unpopular the former first disciple of the Scholarly Sage was in Majestic World.

As for the Mohist cultivator Xu Ruo and the Great Li Empire’s Song Changjing, both had a single bounty for their head. However, the reasons for these two bounties were very strange. The poster asking for Xu Ruo’s head was a woman who had signed her name as “Extraordinary Lake’s Green Water Primordial Lord Liu Rouxi.” Her words were filled with a sense of hatred as well as a sense of affection.

Meanwhile, the person putting a bounty on Song Changjing had signed off as “Golden Armor Continent’s Han Wanzhan.” Perhaps this person had too much money but nowhere to spend it, as his reason for posting this bounty was that he felt like the small Eastern Treasured Vial Continent wasn’t worthy of having a superior martial arts grandmaster at the End Tier.

When Chen Ping’an and Jin Su turned around to leave, they walked past a group of three people on the opposite side of the street.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but take another glance at them. This was because that woman was genuinely far too tall. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, her figure was shapely, and there was a scabbardless sword hanging by her waist. It looked like a newly forged sword and it glowed in the sun with a snow-white glint as the tall woman walked forward.

In fact, it wasn’t just Chen Ping’an who was taking an extra glance at this woman. Almost without exception, everyone on the street was checking out this strange woman.

A handsome man was walking beside her, and the tall woman occasionally nodded as he continued to speak quietly. However, she seldom said anything.

There was a middle-aged subordinate behind them, and he was filled with an extremely strong killing intent that was very difficult to conceal. Perhaps he was a pure martial artist under the seventh tier and without a Vajra Body yet, so he was unable to conceal his powerful aura. If he was above the seventh tier but still possessed such an aura, however, then that would truly be quite terrifying. Of the myriad sword cultivators in Majestic World, Middle Earth Divine Continent’s Zuo You was the most extreme example of this.

Even after walking far away, Jin Su still couldn’t help but turn back to glance at the tall woman. The young girl seemed reluctant to see the tall woman disappear. Even though the tall woman hadn’t said anything and she wasn’t wearing exquisite clothes — and, in fact, she wasn’t a stunning beauty either — Jin Su still felt very envious of this woman. This couldn’t be explained clearly.

Some people were indeed unique in this sense. A single glance at them, and one could remember them for many years. However, there were also some people who were the complete opposite. No matter how many years one looked at them, these people would still fail to find a spot in one’s mind.

Chen Ping’an didn’t pay much attention to this, and it wasn’t long before he pushed the woman out of his mind. He took small sips of wine as he recalled the stone arch bridge in his hometown. Of course, thinking of this eventually led him to think about that golden bridge in the sky as well. That was a bridge that spanned endlessly through the sea of clouds.

The tall woman never measured anyone with her eyes as she walked.

She walked all the way to the spirit wall in the Daoist Saber Room, where she looked up and rapidly browsed through the bounties on the wall. She was largely uninterested and unwilling to take an extra glance. After a while, her gaze stopped on a bounty placed on the top-leftmost corner of the wall. Her eyes lit up.

She had traveled south to Stalactite Mountain on the Mirage Ship owned by her empire. The ship had traveled from the north of Middle Earth Divine Continent and flown over the Extraordinary Lake, one of the five famous lakes. It had passed Tassel Mountain, the tallest mountain in the world, and it had also journeyed through Southern Whirl Continent.

However, the woman had stayed inside her room the entire time, reading an ancient book from some fallen empire. She had never showed her face, yet her lack of activity made her want to do something now. After tempering her sword in Stalactite Mountain, she wanted to find something to do when returning north.

She reached out and grabbed a bounty from the wall before turning to the front door of the Daoist Saber Room and announcing in an indifferent voice, “I’ll be accepting this bounty.”

The handsome man had been following the tall woman’s gaze just then, and he had been muttering something under his breath the entire time. Upon seeing her gaze settle on that certain bounty, he had quietly prayed, “Don’t grab that one, don’t grab that one, you can grab anything apart from that one…”

However, his prayers had gone unheard, and the tall woman had grabbed exactly that bounty. That was an old bounty that had been stuck on the wall for heaven knew how many years.

The grandmaster-tier subordinate behind them had a wide smile. He was completely unsurprised, and he had anticipated this outcome from the very beginning.

There was a sullen expression on the handsome man’s face as he asked, “Imperial Preceptor, are we truly going to travel to White Emperor City to stir trouble? The paramount demonic cultivator near our place is only a few ranking spots below White Emperor City’s city lord, isn’t he? He’s also one of the ten most powerful demonic cultivators in Majestic World, so why don’t you look for him?

“That will be a quick and easy task, and I might have just finished preparing a pot of wine for you when you return. Of course, this demonic cultivator has already gone into seclusion due to his fear of you. News has even spread of his desire to relocate his sect.”

The tall woman smiled and cut the handsome man off, saying, “I was only able to advance my cultivation base thanks to that person’s immense help. I forgot to tell you, Your Majesty, but I’ve already killed him.”

The man faltered for a moment before saying in pity, “Imperial Preceptor, why didn’t you persuade him to surrender? If we gained such a powerful helper…”

The tall woman smiled again, replying, “I did try to persuade him. However, he put forward one condition, and that was for me to become his mistress. I thought about it for a bit, and I eventually decided that it would be easier to kill him than to act as his maidservant and serve tea.”

The handsome man sighed in a forlorn manner. However, he quickly came to his senses, and he beat his chest and stomped his feet as he exclaimed, “Imperial Preceptor, tell it to me straight! Did he say these words before or after the fight?”

The tall woman felt slightly guilty, and she patted the handsome man’s shoulder as she smiled and said, “Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Your Majesty.”

At that time, she hadn’t accepted the demonic cultivator’s apology as he had kneeled on the ground and kowtowed while begging for mercy. After leaving the corpse-strewn demonic sect in the mountains, she had ridden through small mountain paths on a galloping horse with the head of the demonic cultivator still impaled on the tip of her spear.

She had initially planned to bring it back to the palace to show the emperor. He was always thinking and talking about this paramount demonic cultivator, after all, so she could finally show him what this demonic cultivator looked like.

However, upon realizing that the emperor would most likely grumble about her not taking into consideration the bigger picture, she had flicked her wrist and tossed the head away. Afterward, she had acted as if nothing had happened at all.

Because of this, she felt slightly guilty and apologetic toward the emperor beside her.

After all, this was an emperor who needed to ask for her opinion on everything, whether that be establishing or abolishing his empress, deciding on a crown prince, choosing a location for his tomb, and so on. It was very difficult to find such an emperor in Majestic World.

She needed to cherish this.

The handsome man became a bit numb from pain, and he said in a listless manner, “Then I’ll get someone to deliver a message to the capital straight away. I’ll tell them to bring that suit of armor over for you. The city lord of White Emperor City is far too strong, so you can’t be careless.”

However, the tall woman suddenly shook her head and said with a fervent look in her eyes, “If I engage in an intense life-and-death battle with the city lord from White Emperor City, then wearing that suit of armor or not won’t make any difference at all. There’s no need to do something unnecessary, Your Majesty.”

“I’ve begged you many times already, but I’ll beg you one more time now,” the man said in a solemn voice. “Don’t fight to the death, and just fight until a victor is decided, okay? After your battle, you can view the iridescent clouds with the city lord, play a few games of Go with him, and take a stroll by the river…”

The tall woman glanced at her emperor and chuckled, “Your Majesty, perhaps you’re wishing for the city lord of White Emperor City to join our empire one day?”

The handsome man raised his thumb and shamelessly said, “As expected, you always have the most comprehensive plans and understanding!”

“In my life, I’ll only marry the Martial Dao and no one else,” the tall woman stated calmly.

The handsome man sighed and didn’t say anything else.

When the tall woman grabbed the bounty from the wall, no one from the Daoist Saber Room came forward to greet her and interact with her. Meanwhile, all of the Qi refiners crowding around the spirit wall scattered like frightened birds and beasts.

The newest ranking list for the top ten cultivators was compiled by Middle Earth Divine Continent, and the cultivators on the list were all individuals from the mountain peaks who had appeared in the world and displayed their power sometime during the past hundred years. Otherwise, they would be excluded from the list.

The previous list had consisted entirely of Qi refiners at the Upper Five Tiers, for example, Heavenly Masters from Mount Longhu. Now, however, they only occupied nine of the ten spots.

This was the first time in the history of Majestic World that a pure martial artist had made it onto the list.

Not only that, but this pure martial artist was a female martial goddess, and she had charged into the top five in a single go.

In the fourth spot was none other than the city lord of White Emperor City.

The tall woman turned around and said to the subordinate behind them, “You can travel to Eastern Treasured Vial Continent in my stead. If those people stubbornly refuse to hand that sword scabbard over, then just let it be. You don’t need to force them against their will.”

The middle-aged subordinate nodded in understanding.

————

Before entering the Sword Reverence Pagoda, both Chen Ping’an and Jin Su had their own individual thoughts and plans. Chen Ping’an wanted to see whether the sword of that man with a bamboo hat was displayed in the Sword Reverence Pagoda. If it was, then what would its name be? Just how many great demons at the Upper Five Tiers had it slain? Meanwhile, Jin Su wanted to pay homage to the swords of those female sword immortals.

They both had their own plans, so they decided to split up and each go their own way.

The Sword Reverence Pagoda was split into two floors, with the replica swords displayed on the second floor not open to visitors. However, the first floor stretched for quite a long way, and this was because of how the replica swords were organized.

They were displayed in rooms categorized by millennia, and each room would display the replica swords of those who had slain great demons during that thousand-year period. Thus, each room had a different number of swords. However, not a single room was empty, with the only difference being how many or how very many swords there were.

Chen Ping’an walked through the rooms and looked at the swords, remembering all of their ancient names. In the end, he came to a conclusion. The second floor most likely had a secret display of the picture scrolls and replica swords of those who had engraved characters on the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The displays in the Sword Reverence Pagoda were extremely well put together, with each replica sword placed on a unique sword stand. Not only that, but there were also picture scrolls of sword immortals hanging behind them, each measuring half a person tall. These were lifelike portraits of their owners. In reality, it wasn’t exactly accurate to call these picture scrolls. This was because they were formed from white mist that provided an incredible level of detail. It was as if the sword immortals were still alive.

Even though there was a larger number of replica swords from male sword immortals, Chen Ping’an still looked through the displays faster than Jin Su. However, they coincidentally came across each other in the last room. In an even greater coincidence, they stood next to each other at almost the exact same moment. One looked at the male sword immortal’s sword, Dogwood Cherry, and his expression changed slightly. The other gazed at the female sword immortal’s sword, Restful Bamboo Grove, and a complicated look appeared in her eyes.

Most importantly, neither the male sword immortal nor the female sword immortal had a picture scroll.

Someone suddenly pushed Chen Ping’an aside, cursing loudly as they did so. Even though Chen Ping’an didn’t understand which continent this person’s official dialect was from, he could easily tell that this person was very angry. The person spat at the sword stands and replica swords, and he was clearly irritated at Chen Ping’an as well, especially since the young boy was standing there without moving.

He continued to rattle on in a dialect that Chen Ping’an didn’t understand at all. After a while, the person also seemed to realize that the young boy with the sword case couldn’t understand him. He huffed and left in anger.

“Let’s go,” Jin Su said with a sigh.

While standing outside the bamboo building in Downtrodden Mountain, Chen Ping’an had heard Wei Bo talk about these past events. To say nothing of the current battle situation where the demon tribe was attacking the Sword Qi Great Wall, those events of the past had truly been epic. There had been several tense battles to decide the ownership of the Sword Qi Great Wall, and the demon tribe had eventually returned many damaged flying swords to the humans.

However, a male sword immortal and a female sword immortal had perished during those thirteen battles. It was incredibly tragic. Both were meritorious and supremely powerful sword immortals, yet they had actually been killed in battle by great demons in front of everyone else!

Both, killed in battle!

Chen Ping’an looked at the name of the male sword immortal before turning his head to glance at the name of the female sword immortal.

“Chen Ping’an, you’re not leaving yet?” Jin Su asked with a puzzled expression.

“Mhm, you can return to the inn. I want to look through the Sword Reverence Pagoda again. This place is open all day,” Chen Ping’an replied.

“Do you remember the way back?” Jin Su asked.

Chen Ping’an didn’t look up, and he replied with a nod, “Yes, I remember.”

Jin Su found this slightly strange, but she simply dismissed it as the young boy who always carried the sword case on his back being unwilling to leave because he was overly eager and interested in the sword immortals from that world.

She exited the room, and as she walked past the previous rooms, it was as if time were flowing in reverse for thousands upon thousands of years.

There were many visitors from other nations and continents in the Sword Reverence Pagoda, and most of them were polite and respectful as they admired the replica swords. Even though the young boy with the sword case remained standing in front of Dogwood Cherry the entire time, most people didn’t complain or say anything.

However, there were also people who had very bad tempers like the person from before. Facing Dogwood Cherry and Restful Bamboo Grove, two swords that had slain eleven great demons at the Upper Five Tiers before, these people either sneered in disdain or spoke in ridicule. Indeed, some of them directly spat at the sword stands or replica swords.

Chen Ping’an didn’t understand what they were saying.

However, he could sense their fury, ridicule, indifference, mockery, gloating, amusement, and so on…

Chen Ping’an didn’t like this kind of feeling. It reminded him of his experience on Osmanthus Island back then.

It was as if only hostility remained in the world.

One time, Chen Ping’an was knocked over by a tall and burly man. The man strode forward and was just about to destroy the sword stand with a single punch. However, a middle-aged Daoist nun with a fish tail hat suddenly appeared in front of him, warning with a smile, “Damaging the collection of the Sword Reverence Pagoda is strictly prohibited. Violators will be responsible for the consequences.”

The burly man huffed and retracted his fist, asking, “Then can I spit at it? Will that break the rules of Stalactite Mountain?”

The Daoist nun smiled and remained silent.

The burly man understood her implied response, and he spat a mouthful of thick phlegm at the sword stand before turning around to leave.

Some people nearby clapped and cheered, and this made the burly man feel an increasing sense of heroism. He felt as if he had done something to everybody’s satisfaction.

Chen Ping’an still couldn’t understand their words.

He silently walked to a corner of the room, squatting down and drinking wine. Only when there were few guests in the room would he quickly stand up and walk over to wipe away the spit on Dogwood Cherry and Restful Bamboo Grove, as well as their sword stands. After cleaning them, he would return to the corner of the room to drink.

After a while, some people mistook the young boy with the sword case for being an errand boy in the Sword Reverence Pagoda. He was seemingly responsible for looking after this room and preventing the replica swords of those two sinners of the Sword Qi Great Wall from being destroyed.

Chen Ping’an stayed in this room of the Sword Reverence Pagoda all the way until night. There were fewer and fewer visitors, so he also stood up fewer and fewer times.

Late at night, it had already been an entire hour since the last visitor had come to the room.

Only then did Chen Ping’an leave the Sword Reverence Pagoda. He sat on the steps outside and held the Sword Nurturing Gourd in his hand. However, he didn’t drink anymore, and his lips were tightly pursed.

The surname of the male sword immortal was Ning.

The surname of the female sword immortal was Yao.

Once upon a time, a young girl had introduced herself to Chen Ping’an as such, “Hello, my name is Ning Yao. My name comes from my father and mother’s surnames, which are Ning and Yao, respectively.”

While fighting against the Mountain-moving Ape from Sun Scorch Mountain, the young girl’s words had clearly indicated that her parents were still healthy and alive. Moreover, during her entire stay in Jewel Small World, she had never acted like someone who had lost her parents. Thus, even when Wei Bo stood in Downtrodden Mountain and mentioned the death of a couple at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Ping’an never linked this tragedy with the young girl.

However, looking back now, there had already been many clues and hints.

She didn’t like talking about the character “badass” on the Sword Qi Great Wall.

She said that her partner had to be the strongest sword immortal in the world. Not “one of the strongest,” but “the strongest.”

She had traveled around Majestic World by her lone self since a very young age, looking for someone to forge a good sword for her.

Chen Ping’an sat on the steps and wrapped his arms around his knees.

Resting in the sword case on his back were Subduing Demons and Eliminating Fiends, two swords that he had named.

Inside his Sword Nurturing Gourd were two more flying swords, First and Fifteenth.

There was also a pair of straw sandals on his feet.

Chen Ping’an sat with his back facing the Sword Reverence Pagoda, inside which Dogwood Cherry and Restful Bamboo Grove were still standing side-by-side in the innermost display room.

Chen Ping’an sat on the steps and stared blankly into space for a long time, his eyes completely expressionless. However, he suddenly came to his senses and discovered a young girl standing not far in front of him.

The young girl furrowed her brows slightly and directly said, “Chen Ping’an, why was the letter delivered to my home written by Ruan Xiu and not you? What’s going on with you?!”

It was as if Chen Ping’an had been struck by lightning, and his reply was completely unrelated to the question. “Long time no see, Ning Yao.”

Ning Yao sighed as she looked at Chen Ping’an’s silly expression. She felt slightly exasperated, and she sat down beside him before huffing, “Long time no see? Just how long has it been?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment, and he scratched his head.

For some reason, he felt like it had already been a very long time.

He had walked hundreds upon thousands of kilometers.

He had thrown over one million punches.

Ning Yao looked at the young boy who was sitting upright, and she glanced at the sword case on his back. She suddenly chuckled and couldn’t help but say, “Chen Ping’an, you’re a…”

However, Ning Yao was mystified to discover that the young fool, who was always fearless about everything, was sweating profusely in fear before she could even finish her sentence.[1]

1. Referencing a previous chapter where Chen Ping’an is told that a relationship will be impossible if a girl says, “You’re a good person”. ☜