Unsheathed

Outside the ancestral hall of the Huan Clan, everyone had finally fought their way out after an almighty struggle, and the disheveled old man was using a secret technique taught to him by Fort Master Huan, setting the bowls that contained the blood of the Huan Clan’s descendants onto the ground.

However, after waiting for a moment, he slumped to the ground with a look of despair on his face as he murmured to himself, “Why is this happening? It shouldn’t be like this…”

The Huan siblings were drenched in blood, and their faces were deathly pale, while the young Daoist priest said in a trembling voice, “Those demons have somehow already exhausted all of the spiritual energy in the two stone lions!”

Tao Xieyang sat down heavily onto the ground, while the old Daoist priest turned his gaze to the sea of clouds over at the training grounds, where streaks of swordlight were flashing incessantly.

A tiny spark of hope arose in his heart as he struggled to his feet, then said to the four young people with him, “Leave the Flying Eagle Fortress right away! You were the ones who protected me on the way here, and now, it’s time for me to return the favor. You must survive in order to continue the lineage of the Huan Clan. Do not hesitate. Leave this place right now, get as far away as you possibly can, and do not think about revenge!”

Tao Xieyang displayed no intention of getting up, and he turned to the woman from the Huan Clan as he said in a raspy voice, “Huan Shu, leave this place with Huan Chang. I’m going to stay here. I’ve traveled far and wide over the years, and I’m really starting to feel a little exhausted, so I’m not going with you.”

The young Daoist priest was just about to say something, but Tao Xieyang shook his head to cut him off.

“Don’t try to dissuade me, Huang Shang. I’ve already made up my mind.”

The old Daoist priest heaved a forlorn sigh, then sped away toward the northern gate of the Flying Eagle Fortress with his disciple and the Huan siblings.

Tao Xieyang sat on the ground with his legs crossed, facing the entrance of the ancestral hall as he began to wipe down his blade with his sleeve.

Tears were welling up in Huang Shang’s eyes as he rushed along behind his master, and he didn’t dare to turn around to look at Tao Xieyang.

All of a sudden, Huan Shu turned back to look at Tao Xieyang, and there were so many things that she wanted to say to him, but she was unable to muster up even a single word.

One’s most genuine emotions were often revealed during crises of life and death.

In the end, she was dragged away by her brother, while a wry smile appeared on Tao Xieyang’s face as he looked down at the reflection of Huan Shu’s face on the mirror-like surface of his trusty blade.

————

In the instant that Lu Tai’s bamboo fan was pierced through the heart of the ghost infant, an agonized howl instantly rang out from the hall of the main building. The old man in the tall hat appeared once again in the sea of black clouds outside the building, even as the two flying swords continued to wreak havoc, and he was furious.

He was so enraged that even the Five Mountain Hat on his head was trembling, while the surrounding sea of clouds was also churning violently.

“Useless trash! I should’ve never counted on you!” he roared in the direction of the main building.

The old man then reached out with one hand before clenching it into a tight fist.

Inside the hall, the man who was fighting the pair of flying swords with his horsetail whisk had already fallen under the old man’s control as a result of a secret technique, and his heart abruptly exploded without any warning, following which his soul and his body were separated, while all of the blood was also instantly drained from his body before forming an enormous ball of blood that began to barrel out of the room in a frenzy.

The explosion of a Sea Observation Tier cultivator’s sea of Qi released sufficient power to completely destroy the formation that had been taken over by Lu Tai, and all of the blood began to gush outward, attempting to flow toward the old man in the sea of clouds like a bird returning to its nest.

Lu Tai’s brows furrowed slightly as he withdrew Needle Tip and Wheat Awn so that they weren’t stained by this contaminated blood, and at the same time, he ceased his injection of spiritual energy into the formation. Hence, the blood was able to flow out of the hall before rising up to the old man in the sea of clouds, where it surged into the palm of the old man’s hand.

The old man’s eyes instantly began to glow with radiant crimson light, and he swept both sleeves through the air to release two bursts of bright red Qi, stirring up ferocious astral winds that forcibly dispersed First and Fifteenth.

The old man’s expression became twisted with fury as he looked down at the central mountain that was hovering above the ground, then roared, “Your struggles are completely futile!

“I only crushed you under the mountain millstone to extract your blood essence bit by bit as the ghost infant had only just been born and didn’t possess the appetite required to devour your whole, but now that you’ve completely foiled my plans, there’s no need for me to hold back any longer!”

At this point, Lu Tai had already arrived on the observation deck in the main building of the Flying Eagle Fortress, and he sped toward the old man in the sea of clouds atop his two flying swords as he chortled, “Our Peace and Tranquility Mountain has already been waiting for this day for a very long time!”

The old man immediately burst into deranged laughter. “Even if I have to die here, I’m going to take you two down with me!”

He continued to sweep a sleeve through the air incessantly as he spoke, keeping First, Fifteenth, Needle Tip, and Wheat Awn at bay, and at the same time, he clenched his other hand into a tight fist before throwing a vicious punch downward.

Lu Tai’s expression changed slightly, and a vibrant and colorful streamer suddenly rose up from the Ascending Sun Platform, working with the demon-binding chain that was wrapped around the mountain to lift it upward.

He absolutely couldn’t afford to allow this central mountain to take root on the ground alongside the other four mountains. Otherwise, if the five mountains were united, Chen Ping’an would be crushed into a pile of mincemeat even if he were a sixth tier martial artist, let alone a fourth tier one.

“Get up!” Lu Tai roared, and the mountain rose up a few feet.

“Two can play at that game!” the old man chortled as he rose to his feet, and he was certainly living up to his reputation as a cruel and vicious itinerant cultivator as he stowed away the cushion beneath him.

His lower body instantly began to wither away before disintegrating into dust, yet he paid no heed to his as he flew over to the central mountain. Upon setting foot onto the mountain summit, he pressed down with all his might, successfully forcing the mountain down onto the ground despite the restraints of the colorful belt and the golden demon-binding chain.

As the central mountain landed on the ground, the entire Flying Eagle Fortress began to tremble violently, and huge rifts were even appearing over the mountain range outside the fort.

The golden demon-binding chain slid down the mountain in a defeated fashion, while the old man chortled with glee and reached out to grab onto it.

With the five mountains unified, the formation was complete. Over at the Ascending Sun Platform, Lu Tai threw up a mouthful of blood as he stumbled back a few steps, and he had to grab onto the railing to steady himself as he commanded in a feeble voice, “Come back.”

The colorful belt around the central mountain had become completely devoid of luster, and it began to revert back to its original form before flying back toward the main building. The old man’s eyes immediately lit up as he reached out to grab onto the belt as well.

Having just obtained the demon-binding chain, he had now come into possession of what was undoubtedly another immortal treasure. Even though he had suffered extremely severe losses during this battle, he wasn’t going to be leaving without any compensation.

The old man sat down with his legs crossed once again, and the cushion reappeared beneath him.

At this point, the Five Mountain Hat on his head had almost been completely exhausted of spiritual energy.

Over at the sea of clouds, only the two flying swords wielded by the swordsman in the main building were still struggling against their bindings. As for the two miniature flying swords from before, the old man had been observing them this entire time, and he saw them fall into a pair of alleys in the distance after the central mountain had successfully crushed the golden-robed young boy.

They were most likely destroyed, which was quite a pity, but the old man was still feeling very elated, nonetheless, having just exacted his revenge.

He was no longer able to support the Five Mountains True Appearance Formation, and he had to strip that golden Dao robe from the boy before leaving the Flying Eagle Fortress as soon as possible in order to avoid being intercepted by cultivators of the Planchette Writing Sect or Peace and Tranquility Mountain. Otherwise, he would be forced to flee with his tail between his legs once again.

Even up to this point, there had still been no intervention from any Golden Core or Nascent Tier patriarchs from Peace and Tranquility Mountain, so it appeared that the two young cultivators had bitten off more than they could chew and allowed him the opportunity to slip away.

Having said that, these two young men were definitely among the most exceptional direct disciples of Peace and Tranquility Mountain. In fact, perhaps they were even prized disciples of the mountain master. Only that would explain why they had the courage to flaunt their collection of immortal treasures.

If it weren’t for the fact that he already had an irreversible vendetta against Peace and Tranquility Mountain, he would’ve most likely avoided this conflict.

All of a sudden, the five mountains rose up from the ground at the old man’s behest, then shrank down rapidly before returning to his Five Mountain Hat.

The old man continued to control the sea of clouds to oppose Needle Tip and Wheat Awn while lowering himself down toward the training grounds atop his cushion.

There was an eye-catching patch of gold on the ground, it resembled a golden garment that had fallen from a clothesline and was draped haphazardly over the ground.

Right as the old man was about to reach out for the Dao robe, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he thrust his palms into the air up ahead, launching both himself and his cushion up into the air. In the wake of the grueling battle that had just come to pass, the sea of black clouds had been reduced to less than a tenth of its original size, and it immediately surged toward the old man in a frenzy.

The golden Dao robe was draped over a crater on the training grounds that was just large enough to fit a person, and the robe’s wearer sprang out of the ground as he yelled, “Lu Tai, lend me your National Treasury for a moment!”

Lu Tai wasn’t surprised at all to see this, and Needle Tip instantly appeared beneath Chen Ping’an’s feet at his behest.

Lu Tai had already realized that Chen Ping’an wasn’t dead back when First and Fifteenth fell out of the sky. Chen Ping’an had told him that they were bonded flying swords, but they didn’t belong to him, so there was no reason for them to fall out of the sky just because he had died. Hence, it was clear that he had instructed the two flying swords to put an act, while he also pretended to be dead.

After that, the demon-binding chain also began to play dead, and it took Lu Tai a great deal of self control not to laugh out loud.

Upon realizing Chen Ping’an’s ploy, Lu Tai also played along, intentionally losing control of the colorful belt and allowing it to be taken by the old man.

The old man was retreating at an incredible speed, but First and Fifteenth had already concealed themselves nearby, and they were even faster.

The two of them instantly pierced through the cushion beneath the old man, slowing him down slightly in the process, and Wheat Awn also appeared up above to intercept him.

At the same time, Lu Tai’s colorful belt and Chen Ping’an’s demon-binding chain suddenly sprang back to life, winding themselves around the old man’s arms like a pair of constricting pythons.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an rose up into the sky atop Needle Tip to pursue the old man and the sea of clouds.

Lu Tai’s colorful belt had stalled the central mountain momentarily, thereby preventing it from immediately crashing down upon Chen Ping’an. Taking advantage of that brief window of opportunity, Chen Ping’an had smashed a crater large enough to accommodate him into the ground with his fists, thereby avoiding the terrible fate of being crushed by the mountain.

However, the vast aura of the Five Mountains True Appearance Formation had still fallen upon him with tremendous force, essentially entombing him into the ground and breaking many of his ribs. If it weren’t for the extraordinary pain tolerance that he had built up from his training in the bamboo building, he would’ve only been able to look on helplessly as the old man fled the scene.

Prior to ascending into the air atop Needle Tip, Chen Ping’an had picked up Infatuation, which had been discarded earlier.

Not only had the colorful belt and the demon-binding chain wound themselves around the old man’s arms, they were also serving as a beacon of sorts, guiding the three flying swords to pierce through the cushion.

As a result, Chen Ping’an was able to catch up to the old man very quickly, then lashed out with his sword at the back of the old man’s head.

The old man lurched forward with all his might atop the sea of clouds, and he was only just barely able to evade the sword strike, but a large gash was still sliced into his head by the sword qi released by the sword.

Over at the Ascending Sun Platform, Lu Tai gritted his teeth, then sped through the air with his robes flapping around him, moving even faster than Needle Tip.

He circled around in mid-air, and shortly thereafter, he appeared in front of the old man to block his path of escape.

At this point, the old man had become very wary of the two young cultivators, and he didn’t dare to try and charge straight through Lu Tai, so he decided to go around him. However, as he did this, the sword of the golden-robed young boy abruptly pierced straight through his body.

Furthermore, the sword was very strange in that it was absorbing both his vitality and his spiritual energy.

The old man stopped cold in his tracks, as did the sea of clouds beneath the cushion.

He then looked down at the tip of the sword protruding out of his body with a bleak smile.

It wasn’t the four bonded flying swords that had taken his life.

Instead, what had helped this sword claim his life was the inch movement talisman that he had looked down on earlier.

Since when did these young rascals from cultivating sects become even more sly and cunning than itinerant cultivators like myself?

Chen Ping’an was about to jump on this opportunity to smash open the old man’s head with his fist, thereby ensuring beyond a doubt that he was killed. However, he was dissuaded from following through on this plan by a panicked yell from Lu Tai, telling him to get back in retreat as quickly as he could.

The old man adjusted the crooked Five Mountain Hat on his head, and instead of pulling Infatuation out of his body, he turned to Lu Tai with a sinister smile on his face.

His arms were still bound tightly by the pair of immortal treasures, which were severely limiting his spiritual energy circulation, while his cushion was severely ravaged, having had dozens of holes pierced through it by the three flying swords.

Even so, Lu Tai was still watching the old man with an apprehensive expression. He had intentionally proclaimed himself to be a cultivator of Peace and Tranquility Mountain in order to intimidate the old man into retreat, but it had achieved the complete opposite effect, and the old man had immediately attacked them like a rabid dog! While they had the upper hand now, Chen Ping’an had well and truly only survived by the skin of his teeth.

Lu Tai took a moment to compose himself, then declared, “We’re not actually cultivators of Peace and Tranquility Mountain.”

A wry smile appeared on the old man’s face as he replied, “I already figured that out just now. There’s no way that a pair of crafty rascals like yourselves could’ve come out of Peace and Tranquility Mountain.”

The surrounding sea of clouds gradually dissipated and returned to heaven and earth as he spoke.

————

Battles between immortals always took place in the heavens, but most unions and separations took place in the mortal world.

At this moment, there was a strange atmosphere in the hall of the Flying Eagle Fortress’s main building.

Fort Master Huan Yang had already regained his mobility, but he refused to look at the body of the woman on the chair next to him.

The old steward, He Ya, took a sympathetic glance at the fort mistress, and he opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it after receiving a cold glare from Huan Yang.

Huan Yang placed a hand down onto the armrest of his chair, then declared in a grim voice, “No one is to speak of what happened in this room today. If anyone dares to reveal what happened here to any outsiders, not only will they be punished according to our clan’s rules, everyone staying in the room with them will have their arms and legs broken before being banished from the Flying Eagle Fortress!”

Huan Yang was still refusing to look at the chair beside him as he gestured at the body of the woman and continued, “As far as all of you are concerned, she fell ill from overworking herself, and she wasn’t able to recover. Her memorial tablet is not to be placed in our Huan Clan’s ancestral hall, nor is she to be buried behind the mountain!”

Everyone in the hall remained completely silent, with no one daring to raise any objections.

He Ya was finally unable to remain silent any longer, and he stepped forward as he implored with a heartbroken expression, “Fort Master, I understand that the mistress made some mistakes, but please think about all of the contributions that she’s made to the clan over the years and allow her to be buried behind the mountain. I beg you to reconsider, Fort Master!”

The old steward erupted into sobs as he spoke, and Huan Yang slammed a hand down onto the armrest of his chair in a fit of fury, instantly destroying the entire chair.

After considering He Ya’s request momentarily with a dark look on his face, he harrumphed coldly, “We’ll discuss this matter another time.”

Huan Yang had always been a very kind and benevolent figure, yet at this moment, he was watching everyone like a starving hawk, and everyone hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

“It’s still yet to be seen whether our Flying Eagle Fortress will be able to survive this ordeal. For now, none of you are to leave this place. He Ya, if anyone tries to leave, kill them on the spot!”

After making this declaration, Huan Yang departed from the hall on his own, then made his way up to the Ascending Sun Platform.

From there, he cast his gaze into the distance, trying to see the outcome of the battle that was raging in that direction, but unfortunately, his eyesight was rather lackluster due to his mediocre martial arts cultivation base, so he was unable to see anything aside from the dissipating sea of clouds and flashes of sword light.

“If the ghost infant really is as powerful as they say, then it would be great if our Flying Eagle Fortress could control it,” he spat through gritted teeth.

————

The old Daoist priest successfully fled from the Flying Eagle Fortress with the young trio, and from there, they made their way deep into the mountain to the north. The journey was incredibly smooth, and they didn’t encounter any trouble aside from the occasional spirit or Yin entity that got in their way.

The old Daoist priest and the three young individuals were all stunned by this drastic turn in their fortunes, and all four of them were left at a slight loss for what to do.

All of a sudden, Huan Chang declared, “I have to go back!”

The old Daoist priest gave an internal nod of approval. While this was a rather naive sentiment, at the very least, it showed that he had the heart required to lead the Huan Clan on a future resurgence.

If he had focused solely on running for his life, then the old Daoist priest would’ve been unable to help but look down on him.

The inky-black sea of clouds had already dissipated, and while that wasn’t a definitive sign of whether the Flying Eagle Fortress had managed to weather the crisis, it was still a good sign, nonetheless.

The old Daoist priest cast his gaze toward the Flying Eagle Fortress, using a mystical ability to observe the energy there, and he discovered that the dense Yin energy in the fort had almost completely faded.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to go back. Right now, it seems like the tide is turning in our favor, but if you make a premature return, things could just as quickly go awry again,” the old Daoist priest cautioned.

Huan Chang grabbed onto the hilt of his blade, and veins bulged on the back of his hand as he spat through gritted teeth, “My parents are still in danger! If I do nothing but stand by and watch, then I’m not fit to be their son!”

The old Daoist priest’s approval for the young man grew even further upon seeing this, and he patiently explained, “Sacrifices for no just cause are not a show of true courage. Huan Chang, you have to be like your grandfather, the type of man who’ll only commit the heroic deed of cutting down the Daoist enforcer statue when retreat is no longer an option!

“Even for cultivators living in seclusion like myself, all of us are in admiration of his heroism. In order to be a hero, courage and discretion are required in equal measure. Only a fool would throw their life away for nothing.”

Huan Chang nodded in response with a sullen expression.

Ultimately, he was not the type of stubborn person who couldn’t see the light of reason. If he weren’t sufficiently understanding and tolerant, then he would’ve already banished Tao Xieyang long ago.

Huan Shu gently tugged on his sleeve with a concerned expression, and he turned to her with a smile as he reassured, “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

The old Daoist priest was very happy to see this.

He saw a great deal of hope for the future in this young man.

Meanwhile, Huang Shang asked, “Master, will those two outsiders really be able to kill that devilish fiend?”

A wry smile appeared on the old Daoist priest’s face as he sighed, “There’s a very good chance that we’re dealing with a Golden Core Tier devilish cultivator here, given that they were able to set up such an enormous formation and reverse the fortunes of the land in such a huge area.

“My master was considered to be a prodigious cultivator, yet even in his prime, he wouldn’t have been able to match that mountain-moving feat. It would already be extremely fortunate if those two young men can somehow chase that fiend away, but killing him would be entirely impossible.”

After fleeing from the Flying Eagle Fortress, the old Daoist priest was feeling a bit more relaxed, and with that came a wave of exhaustion that left him feeling a little shaky on his feet.

He had truly overexerted himself both mentally and physically during that battle, and he leaned against a tree for support as he continued, “Unless a powerful cultivator from Planchette Writing Sect receives word of this and arrives on the scene, it’ll be very difficult to stop that devilish cultivator from getting away.”

Huan Shu bit down onto her own lower lip, and there was a myriad of emotions swirling in her heart.

Her parents were still in grave peril, and an idiot was willing to sacrifice himself outside the ancestral hall.

Even if she and her brother could survive this ordeal, the future was still very murky, and she had no idea where they were supposed to go.

Huang Shang was also looking quite dejected.

He had cultivated with impeccable diligence for several years, and he had thought that he had attained sufficient power to make a difference in the world, yet he had almost lost his life in just the Flying Eagle Fortress.

After taking a deep breath, the old Daoist priest broke the gloomy silence as he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, if that fiend dares to make a return, then he’ll surely attract the attention of Planchette Writing Sect, so he won’t dare to wreak any further havoc over the next century.

“There are two powerful immortals in Planchette Writing Sect who are a couple, and if they feel that their authority is being challenged, then either one of them could come and slay that fiend with ease!”

————

Outside the ancestral hall, Tao Xieyang remained seated with a concerned expression.

He wasn’t worried about what was happening to the Flying Eagle Fortress. Instead, he was worried that the patriarch of the clan who had left him here as a young boy would suffer excessively severe losses from this battle, thereby preventing him from being able to rise to the pinnacle of Deep Fragrance Nation.

He had watched Huan Shu grow up from a little girl into a fine young woman, and he truly loved her with all his heart.

He wanted to claim her, as well as his rightful spot at the pinnacle of Deep Fragrance Nation, and perhaps he would even get the opportunity to scale to the summit of the cultivation world in the future.

On the few occasions where he had been able to meet the patriarch in secret while under the guise of running errands for the Huan Clan, the patriarch had told him that if he liked something, then he should grab it firmly. If he couldn’t do that, then he should just forget about that thing, or destroy it outright.

Tao Xieyang regarded this as sagely advice.

With no one around, Tao Xieyang took a moment to compose himself as he contemplated how to proceed from here. In the end, he found the useless stone lion to be a real eyesore, so he hacked it into pieces with his blade, sending it crumbling to the ground.

After venting his frustration, he immediately realized that this was a mistake. If the patriarch’s plan were to fail, and he was forced to return to fall back and recuperate, then he could very easily notice the remnants of the stone lion and deduce that Tao Xieyang had taken out his frustrations on it.

Upon making this realization, Tao Xieyang hurriedly made his way over to the remnants of the stone lion, then injected his True Qi into his blade before hacking the fallen stone lion into bits.

After that, he began to make his way toward the main building of the Flying Eagle Fortress, and on the way there, he thrust his palm into his own chest, causing him to throw up a mouthful of blood.

The cultivation world was a perilous place where any misstep could result in catastrophic consequences.

The human heart was the most unpredictable thing under the heavens, and to remain pure and steadfast was an exceedingly difficult feat.