Unsheathed

Lin Junbi took a deep breath and asked, “Will you only relent after I draw my sword to fight?”

“I was only being polite just then, and I wanted you to draw your sword because I didn’t like the look of you,” Ning Yao replied. “Since you’ve admitted to being young and naive, I can suppress my cultivation base to fight against you. Yet, you still don’t dare to draw your sword, so what else needs to give for you to draw your sword? Change your opponent to Gao Youqing?”

After saying this, Ning Yao turned her head to look at the young woman who was standing between Gao Yehou and Pang Yuanji. The rims of her eyes were puffy and red, and Ning Yao said, “What are you crying about? You can go home and cry.”

In reality, there weren’t any tears on Gao Youqing’s face at this moment, yet she still hurriedly wiped her face in fright.

It was also at this moment that Bian Jing knew that things were going south, and he was just about to make a move. However, he hesitated for a split-second after seeing the look in Chen Ping’an’s eyes.

Lin Junbi felt as if he had been plunged into a glacial pit.

Flashes of sword light appeared around the street, and in the next instant, it was as if Lin Junbi were trapped in a large formation of flying swords.

Dozens of “bonded flying swords” that seemingly belonged to Upper Five Tier sword immortals and earth immortal sword cultivators surrounded Lin Junbi, with the purity of their sword intents and the concentration of killing intent as real as could be. Each flying sword hovering around him was pointing in a different direction, but without fail, they were all pointing at Lin Junbi’s most critical acupoints relating to his cultivation.

However, this wasn’t the most chilling aspect for Lin Junbi. What made him feel the most despair was the flying sword hovering three meters in front of him and pointing at his glabella.

Lin Junbi’s bonded flying sword was called Flood Dragon Slayer, and the flying sword hovering in front of him was none other than the Flood Dragon Slayer.

Lin Junbi’s bonded flying sword was naturally resting in his acupoint, and the flying sword hovering in front of him was naturally a replica. However, apart from Lin Junbi being unable to communicate with this flying sword, its aura, sword intent, and divine intent were shockingly identical to his bonded flying sword. In fact, Lin Junbi even questioned whether this replica flying sword, which shouldn’t have appeared in the world, would possess the same bonded mystical abilities as his Flood Dragon Slayer.

To say nothing of Lin Junbi being shocked, this was also a surprise for Chen Ping’an, who finally understood at this moment why Ning Yao had nonchalantly offered that response during their casual talk, “Cultivation bases are meaningless to me.”

However, it was a pity that Ning Yao never liked to discuss her cultivation with Chen Ping’an. Most of the time, she would patiently listen to Chen Ping’an talking about those trivial matters, at most reaching over to slap away his wandering hands.

Following his feeling of great despair, Lin Junbi was astonishingly forced to face even greater despair.

If it was already astounding enough for Ning Yao to release dozens of flying swords of varying strengths, even releasing a replica of Lin Junbi’s bonded flying sword, to surround and trap the young man, then it was even more unfathomable for her to summon several dozen more flying swords to link together and create a formation around herself, creating a genuine isolated small world using some unknown mystical ability. Ning Yao had indeed suppressed her cultivation base to the Sea Observation Tier, and she was standing amid the formation of flying swords just like that. However, could she still be regarded as a Sea Observation Tier cultivator?

To say nothing of Lin Junbi, would his senior brother, Bian Jing, who was at the peak stage of the Golden Core Tier, be able to shatter this isolated small world with his flying sword?

“Draw your sword,” Ning Yao instructed in a calm voice.

Lin Junbi was stunned, and he didn’t draw his sword as he asked in a quivering voice, “This is clearly a sword technique, so how is it so divine and profound?”

“Sword techniques stand atop all immortal techniques in the world — you don’t even know this?” Ning Yao asked. “You didn’t think that the sword immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall only know how to wield their long swords and flying swords on the battlefield, did you?”

She looked at the young man and shook her head, retracting the flying swords surrounding him as well as the isolated small world around her.

The dozens of flying swords around Lin Junbi disappeared in a flash.

“Don’t!” Bian Jing shouted in a soft voice. He strode forward, no longer caring about keeping his cultivation base concealed as he attempted to stop Lin Junbi from recklessly summoning his bonded flying sword.

Chen Ping’an had already noticed the young man’s sinister plans beforehand, but he still didn’t make a move, simply standing there with his hands inside his opposite sleeves and calmly letting Ning Yao deal with the situation.

Ning Yao was the strongest among the younger generation, so she had naturally participated in the most battles and earned the most military merit as well.

A small and exquisite sword formation appeared in front of Ning Yao, dazzling gold as it suppressed and captured the flying sword, Flood Dragon Slayer, that Lin Junbi had suddenly unleashed.

Not only that, but the dozens of flying swords that had just disappeared from around Lin Junbi suddenly reappeared and shot forward like arrows, instantly piercing through dozens of his acupoints before stopping and flipping around, with their tips pointing outward and their hilts pointing at the young man. Among them, the replica Flood Dragon Slayer flashed across Lin Junbi’s glabella before hovering three meters behind the young man, with a drop of blood gathering on the tip of the flying sword.

Lin Junbi was bloodied and on the verge of collapsing.

He stared intently at Ning Yao, who had seemingly become a sword immortal already.

He was destined to lose, and it would serve him well to admit defeat, yet two specks of golden light suddenly shone brightly in the depths of his eyes.

These were surprisingly two bonded flying swords that had been hidden and nurtured in his eyes for many years. In other words, Lin Junbi was just like Qi Shou, also possessing three bonded flying swords.

However, the dozens of flying swords that had lightly wounded Lin Junbi before stopping and turning around immediately drew numerous colorful arcs through the air as they surged forth and gathered in front of his eyes.

Lin Junbi remained unmoving. However, his yin soul left his body and took several steps sideways, holding a sword and preparing to launch an attack on Ning Yao.

Ning Yao also remained unmoving, with her yin soul floating out of her body and appearing like an immortal. It held a pseudo-celestial tool that had already been refined into a bonded item, and it didn’t spare so much as a single glance at Lin Junbi’s yin soul as it pushed the tip of its sword against the young man’s head.

“Restraining myself from killing you is more difficult than casually killing you and being done with it, so you need to cherish your life,” Ning Yao said slowly.

Only at this moment did Lin Junbi understand why the imperial preceptor had stated that there still existed a huge gulf between fellow prodigies.

Lin Junbi was drenched in blood, with his eyes dull and his heart ashen.

Bian Jing purposely slowed down in order to express his sincerity, and he strode to Lin Junbi’s side and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder, saying in a solemn voice, “It’s inevitable that you win some and you lose some when playing Go!”

A small glimmer of light returned to Lin Junbi’s eyes.

A spectating sword immortal smiled and said, “This wasn’t satisfying enough. Little Ning still withheld more than half of her strength even after suppressing her cultivation base.”

Standing beside him, his good friend remarked, “It’s good enough already. Perhaps we would have performed even worse when we were the same age as that stupid young man.”

“Maybe that’s due to enjoying too much wine from Chen Ping’an’s wine shop,” Sword Immortal Tao Wen suddenly suggested.

Many sword immortals nodded in agreement.

An elderly Immortal Tier sword immortal smiled and said, “Little Ning, your replica of my flying sword was a bit lacking and missing some essence. Say, are you looking down on my bonded flying sword?”

Another elderly sword immortal who was spectating the three trials from his own residence on Taixiang Street snickered and said, “Your crappy flying sword was lacking to begin with, only protecting its tip and failing to protect its hilt every time it’s used in battle. What’s the point of creating a good replica?”

Liu Tiefu wiped the rims of his eyes, feeling extremely emotional as he watched on. This was as expected of Miss Ning, the young woman whom he only dared to secretly admire from a distance. She was far too powerful.

Still standing with his hands inside his opposite sleeves, Chen Ping’an said frankly to Lin Junbi, “Victory and defeat are only a small matter in your eyes, and the notion of face is only slightly more important. In any case, was it really a loss for you to face Ning Yao’s sword strike? So, you can give up your act and happily take the benefits; you can go home and celebrate in secret. Otherwise, I genuinely won’t hold back against you anymore.”

Chen Ping’an then smiled at Bian Jing and said, “You’re worrying about him for nothing.”

Lin Junbi paid no heed to Chen Ping’an’s words, retracting his yin soul and his flying sword before cupping his fists and saying, “Thank you for your guidance, Senior Ning. Junbi will remember this lesson for life.”

Ning Yao retracted her yin soul and replied, “Whatever you want. In any case, I definitely won’t remember you.”

She then turned her gaze to Yan Lü and Liu Tiefu, furrowing her brows and asking, “Still enjoying the show?”

Liu Tiefu immediately jumped up. Good heavens, Miss Ning had actually taken a glance at him! He was feeling tense, truly quite tense!

Meanwhile, Yan Lü felt the second trial would be pointless and uninteresting, whether it went ahead or not. Winning wouldn’t bring any satisfaction, and losing would only bring humiliation. The two sides most likely wouldn’t go all out in the subsequent trials, nor would anyone have much interest in watching them.

After Ning Yao retracted her yin soul and weapons, many sword immortals stepped on their swords and left, flying far into the distance. Moreover, these lofty immortals looked to be quite amused and happy as they left.

Lin Junbi appeared shaken and unsteady as he turned around to leave.

Ning Yao’s flying swords hadn’t wounded his foundation, and he simply appeared very disheveled and miserable on the outside.

Just like Chen Ping’an had said, Lin Junbi’s Dao Heart wasn’t damaged too much because Ning Yao had proved that her Sword Dao was indeed far too superior. Even so, Lin Junbi was naturally impacted, and there would definitely be a shadow hanging over his sword heart for several years to come, appearing like a formless mountain that suppressed his mind’s lake.

However, Lin Junbi was confident that he could blow away this shadow and push away the mountain. In fact, what repulsed him most was Chen Ping’an’s comments after the battle, which left him feeling incredibly pent-up and frustrated!

Bian Jing walked to Lin Junbi’s side.

Lin Junbi was as pale as a sheet, but he still smiled and said in a soft voice, “I’m okay. I can accept a loss.”

Bian Jing turned around to look at the extremely punchable young man in azure, having a slightly strange feeling as he did so. The punchable aura of Chen Ping’an was slightly different from that of Cao Ci.

Cao Ci’s martial art skills were magnificent and profound, and engaging in close-quarter combat with him was like gazing up at a towering mountain. Thus, even if Cao Ci didn’t speak, he would still be seemingly saying to his opponents, “You truly can’t defeat me, so I suggest that you don’t even try.”

Meanwhile, it was seemingly as if there was a message scrawled on Chen Ping’an’s forehead, reading, “You can definitely defeat me, so why don’t you give it a try?”

Bian Jing couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. Had he come across a like-minded person who was his senior?

Following Lin Junbi and Bian Jing’s departure, Jiang Guancheng and the others left as well.

Lin Junbi didn’t forget to nod at a certain Golden Core Tier sword cultivator, with the latter also nodding in acknowledgment.

Zhu Mei was still unwilling to leave, but only five or six others stayed behind to accompany her.

There were still two trials to be completed, after all.

Zhu Mei felt slightly strange at this moment. Ning Yao was formidably powerful, and after seeing her launch a sword strike just one time, an overwhelming sense of admiration spontaneously arose in Zhu Mei’s heart. However, why was Ning Yao attracted to that young man standing beside her? Just how scatter-brained was Celestial Maiden Ning when it came to romantic relationships?

Chen Ping’an and Ning Yao walked over to Yan Zhuo and the others.

Following Ning Yao’s arrival, no one on the two sides of the street dared to cheer or boo anymore.

It was no wonder that a certain saying was so popular throughout the Sword Qi Great Wall: What to do if Ning Yao unleashes a sword strike? Being one cultivation base higher won’t help at all.

This made Chen Ping’an feel both very happy and also very aggrieved. Why was he the only one who was unpopular? This was despite the fact that many bastards called him a brother as they drank with him or squatted on the side of the street and ate pickled vegetables with him.

Die Zhang was extremely buoyant as she whispered with Ning Yao.

Chen Ping’an rubbed his chin, turning to Fan Dache and saying, “Hey, Dache…”

“What’s the matter now?” Fan Dache asked in a slightly tense voice.

“What do you think about me as a person?” Chen Ping’an asked in a sincere voice.

Fan Dache shot a careful glance at Ning Yao before nodding vigorously and replying, “I think you’re a very good person!”

Chen Ping’an humbly sought advice, asking, “Is there anything I need to work on improving? I very much like to hear other people directly and honestly pointing out my shortcomings.”

“There’s no shortcoming to point out!” Fan Dache said resolutely, shaking his head.

Ning Yao smiled faintly and nodded in agreement.

Fan Dache almost shed tears upon seeing this. As it turned out, Miss Ning would have truly held it against him if he hadn’t called Chen Ping’an a good person. Miss Ning wasn’t this kind of person before!

Meanwhile, on Ink Stick Street, Yan Lü and Liu Tiefu began the second battle.

There were many more exchanges in this battle compared to the swift battle between the Sea Observation Tier Lin Junbi and Gao Youqing, with the two of them unleashing all kinds of techniques.

Chen Ping’an watched very carefully.

“Is there any need to watch this battle so attentively?” Chen Sanqiu asked in puzzlement.

Chen Ping’an nodded in response, carefully observing the complex movements of the two flying swords as he replied with a smile, “Apart from my friends, I first and foremost view everyone else as a formidable enemy.”

Fan Dache hesitated for a while before asking in an uncertain voice, “Do I also count as a friend?”

Chen Ping’an subconsciously retracted his gaze and looked at Fan Dache, replying, “Of course.”

Fan Dache mustered his courage and asked, “You view me as a friend, but I’m still less of a friend than Sanqiu and the others, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t need to explicitly look at me when speaking with me.”

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but falter upon hearing this. He didn’t deny Fan Dache’s accusation; instead, he smiled and remarked, “Say, you’re a grown man, so why are you so sensitive?”

Apart from Ning Yao, everyone else chuckled and looked at Chen Ping’an.

Fan Dache quietly shuffled to the side, a forced smile on his face as he lightly elbowed Chen Sanqiu and said, “A pot of wine that costs five snowflake coins. I understand.”

“You don’t understand shit,” Chen Sanqiu replied with a huff.

“Dache, you can visit the Ning Residence more often with Sanqiu in the future,” Chen Ping’an suddenly said. “We’ll enter the training ground one after another to spar with you, and if you actually manage to break through, then remember to visit the wine shop for a drink and give me a yell. We’ll treat that pot of wine, which costs five snowflake coins a pot, as a celebration gift.”

Fan Dache faltered and fell silent. Chen Sanqiu stepped on his heel, and only then did the latter return to his senses, nodding in response and saying okay.

Sure enough, Yan Lü won the second trial by a small margin, just as Chen Ping’an had expected.

Liu Tiefu wasn’t embarrassed too much in his defeat.

Boos rang out on the two sides of Ink Stick Street, but the relatively shameless Liu Tiefu cracked a grin and cupped his fists, thanking the sword immortals for coming here to watch his battle.

Situ Weiran was responsible for conducting the third trial.

Her opponent was a Golden Core Tier sword cultivator called Jin Zhenmeng, someone who had just advanced to the level of earth immortal not long ago. He was in his thirties and an extremely renowned prodigy in the Shaoyuan Empire. However, he was completely overshadowed by the talents of Lin Junbi and Yan Lü, and the backgrounds of Zhu Mei and Jiang Guancheng, in this southward journey to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Jin Zhenmeng wasn’t the type of competitive sword cultivator who liked to stand out and achieve victory either, so he didn’t feel much displeasure even though he was abundantly aware that Lin Junbi was treating him as the only “forfeited Go stone” in the three trials. He was able to battle against a genuine prodigy the same age as him from the Sword Qi Great Wall, so there was nothing for him to feel disappointed about.

Traveling south to Stalactite Mountain with the young prodigies and staying in the Plum Blossom Garden, after which they traveled to the Sword Qi Great Wall and settled down in Sword Immortal Sun’s residence, Jin Zhenmeng listened to and obeyed Lin Junbi’s instructions the entire time. He had his own plans, but these all pertained to the sword.

Thus, even though the outcome of this trial was a foregone conclusion, it felt most like a proper sword duel out of the three trials.

Situ Weiran didn’t seek speed with her sword strikes, instead treating this trial as a form of training.

And thus, Jin Zhenmeng sheathed his sword and conceded defeat fifteen minutes later, with the proud and haughty Situ Weiran also having a rare smile tug at the corners of her lips. She retracted her sword and also cupped her fists in respect.

Disregarding everything else and focusing on the three trials alone, Lin Junbi and the outsider sword cultivators had actually achieved an overwhelming victory. After all the other disruptions, however, Lin Junbi and his companions obviously wouldn’t regard this as a victory, not in the least.

The spectating sword cultivators dispersed following the conclusion of the three trials.

Many people directly visited Die Zhang’s wine shop for a drink, and they found the free dish today — the additional battle between Ning Yao and Lin Junbi — incredibly thrilling, especially compared to the extremely salty pickled vegetables. It was much more delicious. However, there was also a free bowl of yangchun noodles now, so they would put up with the second shopkeeper for the moment.

Ning Yao didn’t go to the wine shop, saying that she needed to return home to cultivate. However, she reminded Chen Ping’an not to drink too much, seeing that he was still wounded.

“What’s the matter with you?” Yan Zhuo asked.

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied using his mind’s lake, “I’ve been refining my bonded item these past few days, but I’ve come across a small hiccup.”

Yan Zhuo didn’t ask anything else.

Chen Sanqiu didn’t say anything either.

A peculiar phenomenon had seemingly appeared at the Ning Residence before, one that even ordinary sword immortals couldn’t detect. However, it had surprisingly caught the attention of Old Ancestor Chen Xi, and Chen Sanqiu had felt extremely baffled about his old ancestor’s sudden appearance during his sword training. Chen Xi had smiled and said to Chen Sanqiu, “I surmise that it’s about time for the old monk who’s been nodding off on the city wall for many years to open his eyes and take a look.”