Unsheathed

Two people walked over side-by-side, cutting off Feng Qingbai’s path of retreat.

One person was Knife Sharpener Liu Zong who had opened a silk shop in the capital, and one person was Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan who acted as a ruler in the grasslands beyond the four nations.

Cheng Yuanshan held an iron spear in his hand and stared intently at Feng Qingbai.

Meanwhile, Knife Sharpener Liu Zong looked at Zhou Fei before taking a glance at Chen Ping’an who was standing further away. It was as if he were picking an opponent.

Feng Qingbai sighed and gripped his sword. He was feeling a massive headache right now, and this was because he would genuinely die here if his powerful backer failed to show up in a timely manner. Even if his backer didn’t come, he would be content as long as his good friend came.

Feng Qingbai’s eyes lit up, and an understanding smile spread across his face.

A man wearing a black robe and exuding an elegant aura walked over from the distance, a long saber hanging by his hip.

Feng Qingbai smiled and waved at him, saying, “Brother Tang, you’re finally here.”

The middle-aged man nodded in greeting.

Cheng Yuanshan immediately tensed up. Things had become slightly more challenging now.

The newcomer was Dragon General Tang Tieyi, a pillar member of Northern Jin Nation. He was the most powerful general in the world, yet he seldom led the charge during battles. People only knew that this general had come from a powerful clan and was extremely fond of using sabers. However, no one knew his skill with the saber, and no one knew the level of his cultivation.

Apart from his divine skill in leading troops, Tang Tieyi was mentioned even more regarding his interests in fashion. It was rumored that he had an eyebrow fetish, and he greatly enjoyed getting his wives and mistresses to draw all kinds of eyebrows. Once they adopted a new style and showed it off to the world, all of the noblewomen in the capital of Northern Jin Nation would immediately emulate this style.

“Old Liu, don’t let your guard down,” Cheng Yuanshan warned in a quiet voice. “Tang Tieyi’s saber techniques are extremely domineering, and he’s skilled at determining victory and defeat with a single slash and life and death with a second slash.”

“He wields a saber? I’m not interested in him,” Liu Zong replied absent-mindedly.

He pointed at Chen Ping’an who was standing further away and continued, “That boy is mine.”

Liu Zong paid no more heed to Cheng Yuanshan as he directly walked forward, even going as far as to ignore Feng Qingbai. He continued to advance, gently fixing his white hair with one hand and keeping his other hand hidden inside his sleeve.

With Liu Zong walking away, Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan was now made to face two powerful elites by himself.

However, Cheng Yuanshan made an unexpected move, raising his spear and moving to the side of the street for Tang Tieyi to pass. He gestured for the general to be at ease and meet up with Feng Qingbai, and he made it clear that he definitely wouldn’t block the two of them.

When Tang Tieyi walked past Cheng Yuanshan, he didn’t forget to turn around and ask with a smile, “You’re really not going to face two strikes from me? Just two strikes. It will be very quick.”

Cheng Yuanshan decided to close his eyes and rest his mind.

Feng Qingbai was slightly impressed by Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan’s calmness and composure.

Tang Tieyi walked toward Feng Qingbai and complained, “You said you would only come here to observe from the sidelines and fish for some benefits the last time we met. How have you suddenly become a key member of the battle so early on?”

Feng Qingbai laughed heartily and replied, “Risk and reward come hand in hand, isn’t that right?”

The two of them had become acquainted with each other in a prefectural city in Northern Jin Nation two years ago. Back then, Tang Tieyi had just finished commanding a battle and pushing the barbarians back to the grasslands. Due to fate and coincidence, the two of them had become friends straight away, and Feng Qingbai had even served under Tang Tieyi’s command for more than half a year, participating in one major battle as part of the reconnaissance team.

If Feng Qingbai hadn’t insisted on leaving to continue his journey around the world, Tang Tieyi would have asked the emperor of Northern Jin Nation to promote him to the position of general.

Feng Qingbai looked at the familiar face of his friend and asked in curiosity, “Why did you come?”

Tang Tieyi glanced back at Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan who was standing as still as a mountain before shooting a glare at Feng Qingbai and replying, “Yu Zhenyi has openly said that he wants your life. Even I’ve heard about this, so how are you still unaware of it? Just how many people want to kill you right now? Do you truly think Cheng Yuanshan is the only one?!”

Feng Qingbai pursed his lips and suppressed his smile.

There were naturally a lot of considerations behind all of this. In fact, this story was interesting enough for the two of them, brothers reuniting in a foreign land, to discuss over a few pots of fine wine.

Even though Tang Tieyi was native to the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Feng Qingbai had never come across someone so much to his liking even back in Parasol Leaf Continent. Tang Tieyi was carefree and exceptionally talented, and any adjective of praise could be used to describe this martial artist who was full of wisdom and strategy.

Writing essays was a small matter, and the cultivation world was only so-so.

On the other hand, the study of strategies was profound, and the art of war was the essence of martial arts.

This was Tang Tieyi’s opinion.

In fact, Tang Tieyi was probably the only person who held such an opinion in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.

Feng Qingbai decided to deliberately mystify things, smiling and saying, “As long as Brother Tang doesn’t covet my head…”

Before he could even finish speaking, however…

A sheet of snow-white saber aura instantly filled the sky and blotted out his vision.

Feng Qingbai felt nothing but confusion in the last moment of his life.

The otherworldly immortal was immediately cleaved into two, with the two halves of his corpse crashing toward the walls on the opposite sides of the street.

Tang Tieyi slowly sheathed his saber.

This saber was none other than Refiner, the demonic saber that had gone missing for many years.

It was one of the four greatest fated opportunities in the world, equal in standing with the silver-colored lotus flower hat on Ding Ying’s head, the azure dress in the capital of Southern Garden Nation, and the Golden Arhat Body in White River Temple.

There was neither joy nor sadness on Tang Tieyi’s face as he murmured to himself, “I only just learned of the fact that you entered the ranks of the Upper Ten Elites when I was traveling here a moment ago. You were ranked tenth, the last on the list. Not only that, but I surprisingly made it onto the list as well, ranked ninth.

“Feng Qingbai, you probably thought that you could survive until the end because you had a private and honest conversation with Yu Zhenyi before. Your belief was indeed correct, and I indeed hurried over here to save you. However, you shouldn’t have ranked tenth, and I shouldn’t have ranked ninth. Us two brothers shouldn’t have entered the list of Upper Ten Elites together.”

Tang Tieyi sighed softly and remarked, “Otherworldly immortals can also die, huh…”

He retrieved the sword from the ground and tied it to his hip. Whether intentional or not, Tang Tieyi showed a weak point at this moment.

Almost not a single top-notch elite in the world had witnessed Tang Tieyi’s saber skills before. This was because those who had witnessed it had all died by his saber.

Twenty years ago, the emperor of Northern Jin Nation had almost been assassinated by martial artists from the cultivation world. Afterward, he had become slightly deranged and secretly captured dozens of first-rate and second-rate elites from the cultivation world, offering them to the Dragon General for him to train his saber skills. This severely weakened the cultivation world of Northern Jin Nation, with too few elites from the younger generation to inherit the skills and power of the previous generation.

Elsewhere, Lu Fang had remained on Bird’s Eye View Peak the entire time and hadn’t involved himself in any worldly matters. As for the Mirror Heart Hall, this force was focused on infiltrating the imperial court of other nations, making it abundantly clear that their ambition was to have influence over officials and territories instead of the cultivation world. The Mirror Heart Hall never interfered with conflicts and revenge killings in the cultivation world of Northern Jin Nation.

Tang Tieyi commanded more than one hundred thousand of the most elite soldiers in Northern Jin Nation, and during his spare time, he liked to draw eyebrows for his beautiful wives and mistresses. His life was as carefree and unfettered as could be.

Exactly like Cheng Yuanshan had said just then, Tang Tieyi had only mastered two saber strikes after all this time. One strike was all-conquering, and one strike was a swift counterattack.

Because of this, first-rate elites weaker than Tang Tieyi would face certain death if they were to fight against him. Meanwhile, grandmasters only slightly stronger than Tang Tieyi would also face grave danger against him.

However, it was a shame that Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan didn’t charge forward and recklessly take advantage of Tang Tieyi’s weak point. Instead, the old man silently fell back in retreat.

It wasn’t the case that he was too weak to fight against the Dragon General from Northern Jin Nation. Quite the contrary, in fact, as Cheng Yuanshan believed that he possessed a greater chance at victory. However, he would definitely suffer significant wounds after facing the two saber strikes from Tang Tieyi. At that time, it was very likely that someone else would charge over to collect his head.

The mantis stalks the cicada, and the oriole follows behind. Hidden in the shadows, a slingshot takes aim.[1]

Tang Tieyi suddenly looked down, only to see the engraved patterns on the scabbard of his saber, Refiner, flowing and churning like mercury. There was a faint five-colored glow, and this soft glow flowed up the hilt of his saber before traveling across his palm and spreading across his shoulders and neck.

Tang Tieyi didn’t remove his hand from the hilt of his saber. When the five-colored glow comprehensively fused into his skin, tendons, and bones, Tang Tieyi felt like Refiner, which he had obtained by coincidence not long ago, had finally become one with him.

Standing in the distance, Zhou Fei clicked his tongue in wonder and remarked, “Tsk, what good fortune. To kill an otherworldly immortal and then to have his immortal treasure recognize him as master afterward, this person is like a tiger given new wings. His rank will definitely climb further up.”

Zhou Fei turned around and educated his son Zhou Shi and the girl Ya’er with a smile, saying, “Did you see that? That’s how a person should behave, only attacking at the last moment and reaping all of the rewards. And that’s why the earlier one jumps out, the more miserable a death one will suffer.

“Just look at Ding Ying and Yu Zhenyi. Have those two old bastards shown themselves and become involved in the conflict yet? No, they haven’t. Mhm, there’s also that old witch, Tong Qingqing, from the Mirror Heart Hall. She’s the best hidden out of everyone, and no one knows where she is.

“However, she seriously confuses me to hell. What kind of otherworldly immortal comes here to temper their mind and cultivation, yet ends up hiding and fleeing as if their life is in grave danger all the time? Even Ding Ying has failed to find her during these past few years. She’s the undisputed number one in the world when it comes to seeking fortune and avoiding calamity.”

Zhou Shi could only listen on with a wry smile.

With such a strange and eccentric father, it was a great miracle that he hadn’t transformed into a madman yet.

His father, Zhou Fei, had committed so many dirty acts in order to help that Uncle Lu overcome his internal demons. In reality, Zhou Shi could tell that his father had never had any interest in women or even power.

When he was still a young child, he had personally witnessed Uncle Lu charging into Spring Tide Palace and running his sword through his father’s heart. However, his father had remained unmoving, allowing Uncle Lu to do as he pleased.

At the time, there had also been a woman standing between the two of them, one who had resolutely stepped forward to protect his father even if it meant death.

She was none other than the woman whom Uncle Lu had respected the most.

However, as if he weren’t wounded at all, his father had casually pushed aside the woman who was deeply in love with him before slowly walking forward and allowing Uncle Lu’s sword to push out from his back inch by inch. His father’s gaze had been entirely focused on Lu Fang, and he had only stopped walking forward when he was almost face-to-face with the person holding the sword. He had then smiled and asked, “Lu Fang, are you awake yet?”

Zhou Shi heaved a soft sigh.

Was this the so-called immortal cultivation from his father’s home world? It was far too strange and uncanny.

Now wearing an azure dress, Ya’er also remained completely silent.

Her master, the leader of the demonic force and Ding Ying’s sole disciple, had been severely wounded by someone last year. After returning to the sect, he had failed to find any effective treatment and could only watch on helplessly as his body had decayed and his vital energy had drained rapidly.

However, the final words of this person whom Ya’er had viewed as a powerful and greatly ambitious individual had been extremely strange—Those with paramount virtue won’t feel heat when entering flames and won’t drown when entering water.[2] Then what about immortals? I’ve also witnessed the answer now.

As a disciple of the demonic force, Ya’er didn’t feel much prejudice or resentment toward those otherworldly immortals with mysterious backgrounds. In fact, she didn’t yearn to ascend like those people in the legends. She felt nostalgia toward the mortal world and her hometown, and she simply wanted to compete with Fan Wan’er who could rival her in terms of beauty, talent, and ambition.

She wanted to help the second prince onto the throne, after which she would fight to unite the four nations. At that time, she could then become the empress of Southern Garden Nation and shower the world with her benevolence, or she could inherit the status of Ding Ying and Yu Zhenyi and become the newest ruler of the cultivation world. She would be happy with either option.

However, the Reverence Pagoda and that person who acted as the heavens of this world had insisted on choosing Southern Garden Nation’s Bull Mountain as the location for ascension this time. Not only that, but she had experienced terrible luck and been found by her grandmaster, Ding Ying. In the end, she had been reduced to nothing more than Ding Ying’s pawn.

There was grief and pain in her heart, and she couldn’t help but glance up at the alley in the direction where that residence was located.

Oh, Grandmaster, why are you still not coming over?

Meanwhile, Tang Tieyi had already left the scene. This was because he didn’t have any confidence that he could defeat Zhou Fei. Even though his saber, Refiner, had recognized him as its master, his intuition still told him that he would face certain death if he were to do battle with Zhou Fei.

This was similar to how those pitiful grandmasters had been reduced to mere whetstones for his saber in the past.

Thus, Tang Tieyi had walked over to challenge Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan after cleaving Feng Qingbai in half.

However, he had been frustrated to discover that Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan had already slipped away at some unknown time. After concealing his aura, the Arm Sage would be like a fish in water in the capital of Southern Garden Nation.

There was anger and bitterness in Tang Tieyi’s mind. If they were in the capital of Northern Jin Nation, then Cheng Yuanshan would have no option but to wait for death.

Tang Tieyi had the authority to command the imperial guard and wantonly hunt any grandmaster in the capital.

Of course, Tang Tieyi didn’t have any thoughts about killing Ding Ying or Yu Zhenyi. He didn’t dare to have any such thoughts either.

Almost every step of his secret journey from Northern Jin Nation to Southern Garden Nation was within the calculations and expectations of Yu Zhenyi. In fact, it was entirely possible that Yu Zhenyi’s schemes and expectations stretched even further back, all the way until the time when Tang Tieyi had first obtained the demonic saber.

Tang Tieyi didn’t long for ascension amid iridescent clouds, nor did he dream of entering the so-called hometown of immortals. This world was more than enough for him to unleash his deadly skills!

1. The first sentence, the mantis stalks the cicada, and the oriole follows behind (螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后), is an idiom warning against focusing on a narrow goal and failing to see the potentially greater dangers. The second sentence from the author adds an extra layer to this. ☜

2. This is a saying from Zhuangzi, with the full text explaining how a virtuous person won’t be harmed because they can wisely determine whether something is safe or dangerous. ☜