Unsheathed

Wei Jin, who was drinking, and Wei Jin, who wasn’t drinking, were two completely different people. Wei Jin, who was drinking a few sips, and Wei Jin, who was gulping down a few pots, were again two completely different people.

He was the first young sword immortal from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent to travel to the Sword Qi Great Wall in one thousand years, and he was actually very welcomed and popular here, especially among the women.

Young women wouldn’t necessarily admire Wei Jin, seeing that there were many sword immortals in their hometown to begin with. Even though Wei Jin was extremely young, with people saying that he had already become an Upper Five Tier sword immortal at forty years old, this wasn’t too rare or surprising at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Wei Jin was even less special when it came to the destructive ability of his flying sword, at least right now, given that he was only at the Unpolished Jade Tier. In terms of looks, men from the Qi Clan were renowned for being handsome, so Wei Jin couldn’t be regarded as the most outstanding in this regard either. The men in Chen Sanqiu’s clan were also quite handsome.

However, the slightly older women all took a liking to Wei Jin as if in tacit understanding, saying that Wei Jin drew their sympathy when he drank.

Wei Jin looked eternally anxious when he didn’t drink, but a warm smile would appear on his face after two or three cups of wine. His demeanor would further become lively and spirited after several pots of wine.

Thus, to the women who had seen Wei Jin drinking before, this young sword immortal from Wind Snow Temple’s Divine Platform truly appeared like an immortal who had walked out from the wind and snow.

Just what kind of woman was lingering in Wei Jin’s mind, so difficult for him to let go of?

The heartless A’Liang had left, but the lovestruck Wei Jin had now arrived. The heavens were quite fair to them.

As for Zuo You? They could forget about him. Just taking a few extra glances at him would make their eyes hurt, so why torture themselves for no reason? In any case, Zuo You didn’t like to stroll around the city either, and looking at him from afar made him appear hazy and distant. At the end of the day, he didn’t elicit as much emotion and care as Wei Jin, who often visited the city to drink, did he? Wei Jin wouldn’t suppress the alcohol when he became drunk, and he would instead remain inebriated as he shakily flew back to the city wall on his sword, cutting a despondent figure that drew sympathy and pity.

Squeezed at a table of a dozen or so people, Wei Jin became slightly drunk at Die Zhang’s wine shop today. Wei Jin had one good habit when he drank: he never became egotistical. If there were no free seats, he wouldn’t mind even if he had to sit on the same bench as two or three other people. Perhaps this was the charisma unique to those who had traveled extensively through the martial world.

Regarding this, Wei Jin indeed possessed the natural demeanor of someone from the martial world, an aura that couldn’t be matched by the local sword immortals, nor by the sword cultivators from the other continents.

Wei Jin had first met Chen Ping’an when the latter was still a young boy, and he hadn’t liked or disliked him to begin with. Now, however, he appreciated Chen Ping’an a little more.

However, Wei Jin couldn’t bring himself to not like He Xiaoliang.

The further apart they were, the more Wei Jin would drink. He tried to hide outside the mountains, and he tried to hide in the martial world, but he was still unable to forget her, no matter what.

In the beginning, he was at the Wind Snow Temple, and she was at the Divine Edict Sect.

Afterward, he was at the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and she was at the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

And now, he was in the godforsaken Savage World, and she was in the Majestic World.

However, she still lingered in Wei Jin’s wine cup, refusing to dissipate no matter how much wine he drank. Finishing one cup of wine and pouring himself another, her rippling figure would once again appear atop the wine.

Wei Jin raised his wine cup and asked in a loud voice, “Why is it difficult for those who dislike drinking to get drunk?”

He then downed the wine in a single gulp and lamented, “The person who invented wine is truly detestable. Absolutely reprehensible.”

Die Zhang had already grown accustomed to this.

Sword Immortal Wei Jin would often act like this when he drank, and even though he muttered to himself a lot, he would never truly go on a drunken rampage. Otherwise, how could a small wine shop like hers withstand the crazed behavior of a sword immortal?

There was no one calling out for Die Zhang to add wine at the moment, so she seized this rare opportunity to take a rest, sitting on the door threshold and heaving a soft sigh.

He was at it again.

Wei Jin stood still and poured cup after cup of wine, after which he looked around and started to toast the other customers, one after another. He addressed all of them by name, explaining why he was toasting them after they shared a drink. This naturally pertained to their feats in battle to the south of the city wall, for example, which of their sword strikes was truly magnificent. Wei Jin would occasionally ask some customers to drink as punishment as well, stating that they had shockingly failed to kill some demons that deserved death, only managing to severely wound them instead. This was unacceptable.

Wei Jin suddenly disappeared from the wine shop, shouting in anger, “How despicable!”

————

Guo Zhujiu walked unsteadily through a small alley.

An emaciated young boy had already run into the alley earlier, with his footsteps frantic as he seemingly hid from someone. He continued to glance back, appearing slightly hesitant when he saw Guo Zhujiu. He slowed down a little, subconsciously shuffling closer to the wall.

Here at the Sword Qi Great Wall, rich people would only become richer with time, eventually being able to form their own clan. And once their clan produced a sword immortal, they would then become a powerful clan. Of course, this was given that they didn’t die. The impoverished residents of the city could easily tell whether or not a person was a descendant of a powerful clan from just their clothes alone.

The young boy clearly felt like Guo Zhujiu was from a powerful clan, and his assessment was indeed correct. The Guo Clan was indeed a first-rate clan of the Sword Qi Great Wall, with its status just below that of the top-notch clans.

Offending descendants from these powerful clans would often lead to miserable outcomes, with the descendants seldom needing to take advantage of their background or backers. If they were sword cultivators, they could generally draw their swords and deal with the problems themselves.

Guo Zhujiu slowed down and skipped a few times, and she saw four other children running into the alley behind the young boy. They were holding sticks and clubs, noisy and making a scene as they walked over.

The young boy saw that Guo Zhujiu didn’t appear like a sword cultivator, and she was most likely from a wealthy family on those large streets, only coming here to wander around because she was bored.

This caused him to feel slightly anxious, and he frantically waved his hand at Guo Zhujiu, gesturing for her to make haste and leave the small alley.

Guo Zhujiu scratched her head and ground to a halt, after which she turned around and sprinted away.

She was good at running away, and she also enjoyed doing so.

It was a shame that the young boy was delayed by Guo Zhujiu’s presence, and he was caught by the four stick-wielding children behind him in no time. A stick haphazardly whooshed at the emaciated young boy’s head, and he just managed to dodge it by the skin of his teeth. However, another stick cracked down from above, forcing him to block with his hand. He retreated as he defended himself, taking a blow to the arm that caused him to turn pale with pain. This was quickly followed by a kick to the chest from a brawny young boy.

The emaciated young boy retreated several steps, with blood seeping from the corners of his mouth as he placed one hand against the wall to steady himself. He tilted his head to the side, dodging another attack before turning around and furiously sprinting away.

Guo Zhujiu poked her head out from the corner of the alley, feeling like she needed to uphold justice and act in a righteous manner. Otherwise, it looked like someone was going to die today.

No one at the Sword Qi Great Wall would care about normal fights and skirmishes, even if someone was crippled as a result. However, someone getting beaten to death was very uncommon. Guo Zhujiu had heard from seniors in her clan that those who fought the most ferociously weren’t sword immortals, but actually the hot-blooded and impulsive youths in the streets and alleys. This was the case right now, and Guo Zhujiu couldn’t turn a blind eye to this. She was now learning fist techniques and had essentially become a member of the martial world, so she decided to step forward and re-enter the small alley.

The emaciated young boy was struck by another flying kick, and Guo Zhujiu placed a steadying hand on his shoulder as he stumbled back.

The young boy’s expression was indifferent as he suddenly twisted his body and flicked his wrist, thrusting backward as a short blade slid out from his sleeve.

Guo Zhujiu nimbly raised her elbow, directly snapping the young boy’s blade-wielding arm.

The young boy instantly clenched his other hand into a fist and unleashed a punch, surprisingly releasing a powerful fist aura that rumbled like thunder.

The other children, who had overwhelmed and beaten the emaciated young boy just then, immediately pressed their backs against the alley wall, their faces becoming pale with fright.

Guo Zhujiu appeared just as calm and indifferent as the emaciated young assassin, and she also responded with a punch of her own, striking the young assassin’s fist and causing his bones to shatter. His arms fell limply to his sides, and Guo Zhujiu turned her body slightly before charging forward and driving her shoulder into his chest, killing him instantly. The young assassin’s corpse collapsed backward, yet a glimmering streak of light rapidly shot past his head, viciously racing toward Guo Zhujiu’s glabella. This was surprisingly the bonded flying sword of a sword cultivator.

Guo Zhujiu turned her head slightly, but the deadly flying sword still left a deep and bloody gash in her forehead, so deep that her skull could be seen.

Looking further down the alley, however, the brawny young boy who had launched the surprise attack had a bead of blood gradually forming on his forehead, with a small hole running through his entire head. His lifeless body slowly slumped down against the alley wall.

Guo Zhujiu furrowed her brows as she reached up to touch her forehead.

Wei Jin, who was standing at the entrance of the small alley, breathed a sigh of relief as he quietly put away his bonded flying sword. The sword immortal from the Wind Snow Temple didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. As it turned out, his concern and his hasty travel to this small alley were completely unnecessary.

Not only was the young girl able to deal with this sudden assassination attempt herself, albeit facing a very close brush with death, but a smiling and hunch-backed old man had also appeared on the other end of the small alley.

Wei Jin nodded in respectful acknowledgment, and the old man also smiled and returned the gesture.

Wei Jin returned to the wine shop, continuing to drink wine.

The old man strode forward and arrived beside Guo Zhujiu in a single step, saying with a smile, “Not bad, Little Lü Duan.”

He was none other than Nalan Yexing, the old servant of the Ning Residence.

Chen Ping’an had said before that as long as Guo Zhujiu met him or visited the Ning Residence, then he would need to trouble Grandpa Nalan with protecting the young girl until she safely returned home to the Guo Residence.

“Of course,” Guo Zhujiu replied with a smug expression. “I can’t beat Big Sister Ning and Big Sister Dong, but a few measly scoundrels like them?”

The young girl walked forward several steps and looked at the emaciated young boy who had died suddenly, yet still maintained a calm and composed expression, and grumbled, “Don’t you know that I just started to learn a peerless fist technique? Hmm?!”

Nalan Yexing reached up and tapped his forehead. This was giving him a headache.

When it came to meticulously planned assassination attempts targeting the descendants of large clans, people didn’t need to dream about finding clues and traces to uncover the main culprit. This wouldn’t be possible.

Just how big had the commotion at Mirage Market been back then? The foundation of Ning Yao’s Great Dao was almost damaged, and Bai Lianshuang had also suffered a decline in her cultivation base. Because of this, even Chen Qingdu, who resided on the city wall and seldom paid any heed to the matters of the Sword Qi Great Wall, was enraged, personally issuing a command and directly summoning the clan leader of the Chen Clan, wounding him with a single sword strike.

The wounded clan leader had then hurriedly returned to the city, going all out and placing the entire city under martial law, searching each and every house for clues. Mirage Market had naturally been turned upside down in a thorough search as well, but what was the final outcome? No clues were found, and the investigation eventually went nowhere. Moreover, this hadn’t been caused by people hindering the investigation on purpose — no one had dared to do this — but rather, they had genuinely failed to find a single clue or trace.

As for the stupefied and petrified youths dragged into this mess, their identities and backgrounds would still be investigated as part of the process. Nothing would come of this, and it would simply be a means to appease the Guo Clan. Of course, the Guo Clan would definitely wield their power and use their relationships to perform a thorough investigation.

Afterward, the relationship between the Ning Clan and the Guo Clan would face some difficulties.

Theoretically speaking, Little Lü Duan should have been able to run around the Sword Qi Great Wall to her heart’s content. The reason for this was very simple: the Lord Hidden Official had once viewed her as a disciple.

Thus, the Guo Clan hadn’t explicitly arranged any sword cultivator guards for her these past few years. There hadn’t been any need to.

Because of this, there was a lot to ruminate over regarding the ripple effects of this assassination attempt, as well as the level of the assassins. It felt like the people behind this attempt were okay with Little Lü Duan being killed or not, so they hadn’t used any of their critical Go pieces.

Guo Zhujiu frowned in worry, appearing defeated and listless as she groaned, “I’m done for. I won’t be able to leave home for a long time.”

However, her eyes immediately lit up as she turned to Nalan Yexing and suggested, “Why don’t we destroy the corpses and wipe away the evidence, Grandpa Nalan? We can pretend that this never happened, right?”

Nalan Yexing smiled and replied, “You’re kidding yourself. How are you going to hide the deep gash on your forehead? Perhaps you tripped over and fell while walking again? In any case, Sword Immortal Guo should be made aware of such a major incident, so I’ve already sent a messenger flying sword to your clan. Which is to say, you can prepare to get scolded.”

Guo Zhujiu sighed in grief and lamented, “Grandpa Nalan, you have to make sure to deliver this message to my master. Tell Master that I can’t learn fist techniques from him for a while.”

Nalan Yexing smiled and asked, “When did he ever acknowledge you as a disciple?”

Guo Zhujiu grinned and replied, “It’s simply a matter of Master performing some calculations on his fingers.”

Nalan Yexing pointed at the young girl’s forehead.

“‘Tis but a scratch!” Guo Zhujiu remarked with a scoff.

She then shivered before putting on a sullen expression and exclaiming, “Ouch! It hurts!”

A tall and slender middle-aged sword immortal arrived in the small alley in a flash, standing beside Guo Zhujiu and bending down. He lowered his head and placed a finger on her head, gently pushing it around to gauge his daughter’s injuries. He breathed a sigh of relief, determining that the remnant sword qi in the gash wouldn’t cause any serious issues. After standing up, he smiled and asked, “Are you still going to recklessly run around now?”

Guo Zhujiu put up one hand.

“Grounded for five years?” Sword Immortal Guo Jia asked with a chuckle.

“Five hours. Actually, just make that five days,” Guo Zhujiu replied in a timid voice.

The smile disappeared from Guo Jia’s face.

Seeing that things were going south, Guo Zhujiu hurriedly put down four fingers, only keeping her thumb raised as she shouted, “One year!”

Guo Jia glanced at his daughter’s wound and said in exasperation, “Hurry up and come home with me. Your mother’s worried to death. As for whether you’ll be grounded for one year or several years, trying to bargain with me won’t mean anything. You can cry and throw a tantrum in front of your mother.”

In the end, Guo Jia and Nalan Yexing exchanged a glance, not needing to say anything to achieve mutual understanding.

Afterward, guest elders from the Guo Clan, as well as sword cultivators who specialized in dealing with these matters, quickly arrived at the crime scene and adeptly carried out their tasks.

————

Nalan Yexing didn’t return to the Ning Residence straight away, and he instead made his way to the Sword Qi Great Wall first.

Even if he went back to the Ning Residence, Bai Lianshuang wasn’t good at dealing with these matters, so she would only feel helpless, worried, and angry upon hearing his recount.

It would definitely be beneficial to discuss this incident with Young Mistress, especially given that she was already the one making all of the major decisions these past few years. However, now that Chen Ping’an was staying at the Ning Residence, Nalan Yexing didn’t want Young Mistress to focus too much of her effort on these dirty matters. Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an was least afraid of troublesome matters and most prone to overthinking things, and in any case, Young Mistress would definitely support Chen Ping’an’s decisions.

Nalan Yexing concealed his aura and stealthily made his way to the city wall. He observed the commotion over there. Was this any way to practice sword techniques and fist techniques?

Yet, Chen Ping’an did the same thing again and again, continuing to use the Deity Drumming Technique and also controlling four flying swords in total, two genuine and two replicas. He tried his best to find gaps in Zuo You’s sword qi, seemingly striving to advance even a single step.

He once again needed to use the flesh-regenerating spirit pills of the Ning Residence.

Thankfully, Bai Lianshuang couldn’t blame Nalan Yexing for Chen Ping’an’s wounds this time.

Sword qi was gathered in a radius of thirty paces around Zuo You, but a wisp would occasionally dash out and hover beside one of Chen Ping’an’s critical acupoints for a brief moment, after which it would quickly dissipate.

Nalan Yexing couldn’t help but sigh with emotion and remark, “We’re all humans, so can he possibly possess so much sword qi? Moreover, he’s almost tempered all of this sword qi into sword intent.”

Zuo You paid no heed to the old man, retracting his sword qi to within ten paces before saying to Chen Ping’an, “We’ll call it a day here. Your punches are acceptable, but your sword strikes are rigid and slow. Today was just for you to familiarize yourself, and the next time you attend training is when we’ll officially begin. Also, you essentially died ninety-six times today, so you can aim to die less next time.”

Zuo You sighed. “Is it really this difficult to be a readily-available senior brother?”

Chen Ping’an remained silent and nodded in response.

Zuo You had the gall to ask him whether it was difficult or not?

Was Senior Brother Zuo You not aware of just how heavy and abundant his sword qi was?

Apart from his fists and arms, it appeared as if Chen Ping’an was completely fine at this moment, with no damage to his acupoints as a Qi refiner. In reality, however, this wasn’t the case at all. Every time a wisp of sword qi stopped beside Chen Ping’an, it looked like the sword qi wouldn’t make contact with his critical acupoints, but in actual fact, the deadly sword intent would seep into his body and bones, causing absolute chaos in his acupoints. That Chen Ping’an was able to speak without a quivering voice at this moment was already a reflection of his impressive pain tolerance.

Chen Ping’an covered dozens of meters in a few steps, arriving beside Nalan Yexing and asking in a quiet voice, “Did Guo Zhujiu get hurt?”

“I kept an eye on her the entire time, and I purposely didn’t interfere and let the young girl deal with the trouble herself,” Nalan Yexing replied. “Her wounds are light, and Guo Jia personally rushed over and didn’t say too much, as is typical of him. However, the troublesome matters that are sure to follow…”

Chen Ping’an put two fingers together and lightly swiped downward, seemingly severing a long thread with a sword as he shook his head and replied, “These matters aren’t troublesome anymore. Rather, they can actually be regarded as beneficial matters for the Ning Residence and the Guo Clan. I’m one hundred percent going to take Guo Zhujiu as my disciple now.”

Chen Ping’an summoned a talismanic boat and returned to the city with Nalan Yexing.

“Grandpa Nalan, are you able to charge within striking range of my senior brother?” Chen Ping’an asked in curiosity.

“Of course I can!” Nalan Yexing replied with a chuckle. “And then I’ll die right away.”