Unsheathed

Bai Lianshuang nodded in response. She knew that she was at fault for raising such a proposal, so she wasn’t disgruntled by Nalan Yexing’s forceful demeanor.

“While it’s true that Chen Ping’an could spare himself a great deal of trouble by choosing to marry into any other clan on the Sword Qi Great Wall, the fact of the matter is that he’s chosen Young Mistress Ning, so he has to live with the consequences of that choice,” Nalan Yexing said. “He was able to convince us, so it’s up to him to convince others as well. If he can’t convince them through his words, then he’ll just have to do so with his fists!”

“I’m not asking you to help Chen Ping’an gain any form of unfair advantage,” Bai Lianshuang complained in a sheepish manner. “I just want you to go and keep an eye on him in case something happens. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it?”

A resigned look appeared on Nalan Yexing’s face as he sighed. “I made an agreement with Chen Ping’an not to tell you the truth, but clearly, I’m never going to hear the end of it from you if I don’t. The reason why I haven’t gone to keep an eye on things is that Chen Ping’an asked me not to. Otherwise, I’d already be there even without your nagging! You think I’m feeling any less anxious and worried than you are?”

“You’re telling me Young Master Chen asked you not to go?” Bai Lianshuang asked in a skeptical manner.

Nalan Yexing nodded in confirmation. “That’s right. You know that I wouldn’t dare to lie to you about something like this. His reasoning was very simple: If none of the seniors of the Ning Clan are present, then the Qi Clan would feel too ashamed to send any of their senior figures to back up Qi Shou. He told me that even if he loses his battle against Qi Shou, he won’t lose by much, at least not by enough to make Qi Shou feel like he actually won.

“If Qi Shou dares to break the rules and escalates what should be a sparring match into a battle of life and death, then Chen Ping’an would force the old ancestors behind Qi Shou to come out and clean up his mess. Once that happens, it’ll be apparent to everyone that the Qi Clan is at fault, and they’ll receive widespread condemnation from all directions.”

Bai Lianshuang fell into deep thought as she carefully mulled over what she had just been told.

“You and Young Mistress Ning are probably unaware of this, but Chen Ping’an actually came to speak to me twice in secret,” Nalan Yexing continued. “The first time, he questioned me extensively about Qi Shou, Pang Yuanji, and Gao Yehou, asking me about many things, including the names of their flying swords, their personalities, their habits in battle, and their Dao mentors.

“The second time, he asked me to spar with him while imitating their flying swords with my own, but he requested that I make my flying sword just a little faster than theirs. Of course, I accepted his request. After our sparring matches, he told me that if he were to go all-out, then at the very least, he would be able to force those three into battles of life and death as they wouldn’t be able to avoid suffering a defeat unless they also went all-out against him.”

A peculiar look appeared on Bai Lianshuang’s face upon hearing this.

“Are you still worried about Chen Ping’an now?” Nalan Yexing asked with a sly grin. “Should you not be feeling sympathy for Qi Shou, Pang Yuanji, and Gao Yehou instead? Unless your cultivation base is far superior, Chen Ping’an is just about the worst opponent you could possibly hope to face. You’ve sparred with him yourself, so I’m sure you’re aware of how much physical punishment he can shrug off like it’s nothing.

“Normally, Chen Ping’an is a very easygoing and well-mannered kid, but there’s another side to him as well. After our sparring matches, we had a drink together, and after a few drinks, he really started to loosen up a little. He took off his boots and sat cross-legged like me, and there was a gleam in his eyes and an air of confidence in his voice that I bet you can’t even imagine!”

A reminiscent look appeared on Nalan Yexing’s face as he spoke. It had been too long since the Ning Manor had a male owner, and things had become very drab and uninspired as a result.

“That’s Young Master Chen to you!” Bai Lianshuang snapped with a stern glare. “Who are you to be referring to Young Master Chen directly by name?!”

Nalan Yexing fell into a disgruntled silence. It felt like whenever he displayed any joy or excitement, the old hag was always sure to rain on his parade.

“Do you think Young Master Chen will be able to win three consecutive battles?” Bai Lianshuang asked in a concerned voice.

Nalan Yexing had already prepared a response to this exact question, and he replied, “Of course I want that to happen, but if he has to face one of Pang Yuanji, Qi Shou, or Gao Yehou for his third battle, then it’s most likely still going to be quite difficult for him. The likeliest opponent for his third battle will be Qi Shou, and as long as Qi Shou doesn’t get careless, I think it’ll be a very competitive battle indeed between the two.”

Right at this moment, both of them clearly sensed the almighty aura of an ancient sword sweeping over the street where Die Zhang’s shop was situated.

Immediately thereafter, the immortal sword that was sitting on the table in Chen Ping’an’s room flew out of the Ning Manor on its own.

The old woman immediately gave Nalan Yexing an agitated kick as she urged, “Hurry up and go take a look! That was clearly High Radiance’s aura just now!”

Nalan Yexing’s expression remained unchanged, but internally, he was also growing quite concerned. If this were a normal sparring match as opposed to a battle of life and death, then why was there a clash between a celestial sword and a pseudo-celestial sword taking place?

With that in mind, Nalan Yexing was just about to break his agreement with Chen Ping’an, but all of a sudden, the script was flipped, and Bai Lianshuang suddenly became the composed one as she said, “Forget it. We should have faith in Young Master Chen. I’m sure he already anticipated this.”

“You really don’t want me to go take a look?” Nalan Yexing asked.

What he was implying by raising this question was that if something were to go wrong, then Bai Lianshuang would be to blame for telling him not to go, thereby clearing him of all responsibility.

“Yes, I’m certain!” Bai Lianshuang confirmed with a nod.

Nalan Yexing took a glance at her.

“What do you think you’re looking at, you old dog?!” she immediately snapped.

Nalan Yexing knew that she was not in a good mood at the moment, so he tolerated her outburst.

In any case, he had already grown accustomed to this after tolerating her for so many years.

A short while later, a Golden Core Tier swordsman flew into the Ning Manor in a hurry, then descended onto the sparring platform, and after extending respectful salutes to his two seniors, he reported, “Chen Ping’an has already won three battles, and his opponents were Ren Yi, Pu Yu, and Qi Shou.”

The Golden Core Tier swordsman was Cui Wei, and despite his youthful appearance, he was already close to a hundred years of age. He was technically an unofficial disciple of Nalan Yexing’s. This was something that Nalan Yexing had never taken seriously, but Cui Wei had always served Nalan Yexing with diligence and loyalty.

In the wake of the massive calamity that befell the Ning Residence, he had also been implicated, and as a result, life had become very difficult for him over the past dozen or so years, but his loyalty to Nalan Yexing and the Ning Clan never wavered.

Bai Lianshuang immediately erupted into loud cheers, while Nalan Yexing asked, “Has Chen Ping’an sustained any severe injuries? Why have you come back instead when I asked you to keep an eye on him?”

“It looks like there’s going to be a fourth battle,” Cui Wei replied with an excited smile. “I came back to report the situation, but I can’t stay for long. Otherwise, I’m going to miss the battle.”

Nalan Yexing grabbed onto Cui Wei’s shoulder before the latter could depart, then demanded, “Tell us what happened in those three battles!”

“Can I report back to you later, Master?” Cui Wei implored with a wry smile. “The fourth battle is going to be against Pang Yuanji, and Chen Ping’an was the one who challenged him. It would be a huge shame to miss it! While on my way back to the Ning Manor, I spotted two sword immortal seniors from the Northern Complete Reed Continent flying onto the scene.”

“What happened with High Radiance?” Nalan Yexing asked. “Both of us sensed its aura just now.”

“It looked like High Radiance was going to decide the outcome of the battle, but it was instantly outshone as soon as Chen Ping’an’s flying sword appeared,” Cui Wei replied with a wide smile. “Hence, even though Qi Shou drew his sword, he conceded on the spot and sheathed his sword again before flying away.”

“What did you just say? Young Master Chen has to fight Pang Yuanji right after fighting Qi Shou?!” Bai Lianshuang exclaimed, the elation on her face quickly turning to alarm.

In contrast, Nalan Yexing appeared very much at ease as he smiled and reassured, “We have nothing to worry about.”

“Go and keep an eye on things!” Bai Lianshuang ordered.

“There’s no need for that,” Nalan Yexing refused with a shake of his head. “The fact that Chen Ping’an was able to defeat Qi Shou shows that he knows what he’s doing, and Pang Yuanji is really the one we should be feeling concerned for.”

He had to display the composure befitting a senior figure in the presence of his unofficial disciple, but at the same time, he was already prepared to flee should Bai Lianshuang lash out at him in fury at his refusal to comply with her demands.

“Please go back and continue to keep an eye on things, Cui Wei,” Bai Lianshuang requested. “If you feel like things are starting to go south, send a flying sword letter back to the Ning Manor right away!”

Cui Wei immediately departed atop his flying sword.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall, sparring matches that took place between sword immortals were spectacular occasions that were not to be missed, but Cui Wei didn’t feel like the battles between Chen Ping’an and Qi Shou and Chen Ping’an and Pang Yuanji were any less spectacular.

Clearly, this was a popular opinion. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many sword immortals of the Upper Five Tiers spectating the battles.

Furthermore, there were still more sword immortals flocking to the scene, and by Cui Wei’s estimates, the final number of sword immortals to gather on that street was likely going to reach double figures!

Back when Cao Ci was challenged when he first arrived on the Sword Qi Great Wall, barely any sword immortals had turned up to watch his battles.

Of course, this was partially due to the fact that Cao Ci’s cultivation base had still been rather lackluster at the time, and he had also defeated his opponents very quickly, but the point still stood. If one were to set aside all of those caveats and look solely at the number of spectating sword immortals on the scene, Chen Ping’an was likely fast approaching a historic record.

“If only Master Ning and Mistress Yao were still around,” Bai Lianshuang sighed, prompting Nalan Yexing to heave a forlorn sigh of his own.

She then gently dabbed at the tears that had welled up in her eyes as she smiled and self-reprimanded, “I shouldn’t be so greedy. Things are already great as they are now.”

***

There were two thatched cottages sitting atop the Sword Qi Great Wall, one large and one small, both in close proximity to one another.

A fair-skinned young man emerged from the smaller of the two thatched cottages, then cast his gaze toward the city in the north as he smiled and asked, “Are you really not going to take a look, Senior Zuo? Even Lord Hidden Official has gone to join in on the fun.”

Seated with his legs crossed atop the city wall was a man with a sword sitting on his lap. His eyes were closed, and there were streaks of extremely formidable sword qi constantly swirling around him. Thankfully, the fair-skinned young man standing beside him was none other than Sword Immortal Wei Jin of the Wind Snow Temple. Otherwise, a lesser man would’ve already been torn to shreds, standing so close to his side.

Wei Jin was considered to be the top prodigy of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent to have come after Li Tuanjing and before Ma Kuxuan. It was a ubiquitous opinion that Li Tuanjing’s aptitude was not actually inferior to Wei Jin’s. Unfortunately, his romantic troubles robbed him of any chance of becoming the first-ever Immortal Tier swordsman in the history of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Hence, on an overall basis, he was still inferior to Wei Jin.

As for Ma Kuxuan, it was widely believed in the cultivation world of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent that his aptitude was slightly inferior to both Li Tuanjing and Wei Jin, but he was blessed with tremendous fortune at every turn, so perhaps he would ultimately ascend to even greater heights than Wei Jin. Of course, there was no point in comparing his potential future achievements to Li Tuanjing, seeing as the latter had already passed away.

Zuo You’s eyes remained closed as he scoffed in a cold voice, “There’s nothing worth seeing. It’s just a string of meaningless sparring matches.”

Wei Jin was familiar with Zuo You’s personality, so he knew that he could be more frank and direct with him, and he smiled as he jibed, “This really isn’t the attitude that a senior brother should have with his junior brother.”

“I’ve never acknowledged him as my junior brother,” Zuo You replied with a shake of his head. “According to Daoist traditions, a master-and-disciple relationship can only be officially established once one has offered up incense and kowtowed in an official master-and-disciple ceremony. Hence, he’s technically not my junior brother anyway.”

Wei Jin didn’t speak any further on the subject.

Zuo You had always been a man of few words, and for him, it seemed like uttering even a single sentence was a much more arduous task than having to face an enemy in battle.

Zuo You had come from the Middle Earth Divine Continent, while Wei Jin came from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Zuo You had already been out of the public eye for over a century, drifting over the vast sea in a seemingly aimless manner the entire time, so there was really no connection between the two, aside from the fact that both of them were acquainted with A’Liang and Chen Ping’an.

Zuo You was quite fond of Wei Jin for both the latter’s swordsmanship and personality, so Wei Jin was one of the very few swordsmen on the Sword Qi Great Wall that Zuo You was willing to speak to.

In contrast with Zuo You, who had already reigned supreme at the top of this world for a long time, Wei Jin had only recently advanced to the Unpolished Jade Tier, so he was very earnest and sincere when he referred to Zuo You as his senior.

Every swordsman had a sword immortal that they admired the most in their heart.

For example, Wei Jin’s master from the Wind Snow Temple’s Divine Platform had always admired Li Tuanjing for his ability to single-handedly keep Sun Scorch Mountain in check. Wei Jin’s master was never able to reach a particularly lofty cultivation base, but even so, he had Wei Jin’s lifelong respect, and back when he was alive, his biggest wish was to be able to receive guidance from Li Tuanjing in his swordsmanship.

Even if Li Tuanjing only spoke a single word to him on the subject, he would be content. Unfortunately, he always felt embarrassed by his own lowly cultivation base, so he was never able to muster up the courage to fulfill this lifelong wish. After Wei Jin emerged as a sword immortal from his stint of seclusion following his chance encounter with A’Liang, he intended to travel to the Wind Snow Temple to fulfill his master’s wish in his stead, but by then, Li Tuanjing had already passed away.

This had always been a running theme in Wei Jin’s life. Things that he didn’t wish for would often come to him in abundance, whereas things that he sorely desired always seemed to pass him by, forever just out of reach.

Thankfully, he had gained a new sense of perspective after coming to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Not only was this place home to the old great sword immortal, who had already presided over the Sword Qi Great Wall for tens of thousand of years, there were also many fellow sword immortals who had come here from the Northern Complete Reed Continent, as well as Senior Zuo You, whose swordsmanship seemed to have been miles ahead of anyone else in the Majestic World.