Unsheathed

Chapter 617 (2): Who’s Worthy of Ning Yao

A furtive young boy in black appeared atop the Sword Qi Great Wall, and after ascending the city wall, the young boy appeared extremely fearful of death as he collected a Dao robe and a sword from the stalls temporarily set up by the garment market and the sword market. He put on the Dao robe and tied the standard sword to his waist, after which he sprinted along the city wall.

As the young boy in black ran, he came across mountains of the Savage World being blasted apart by sword immortals, causing shattered rocks to shoot through the air. Other sword immortals slashed down to pulverize the large rocks, but there were some that still slipped through the defenses and crashed into the city wall with thunderous booms.

The young boy in black extended his hands to block a gigantic house-sized rock for several youthful Middle Five Tier sword cultivators who were unable to dodge in time. However, despite blocking the large rock, the slender young boy with an unremarkable appearance couldn’t help but vomit several mouthfuls of blood. Even so, he quickly wiped his mouth and shakily sprinted away before the young Middle Five Tier sword cultivators even had the chance to thank him.

After sprinting for a while, the young boy finally managed to find some familiar faces.

He saw many people whom he expected to be here, such as Pang Yuanji, who was at the peak stage of the Golden Core Tier, as well as Gao Youqing, who wasn’t with her older brother Gao Yehou and was instead sticking close to Pang Yuanji.

He also saw some unexpected and not-too-familiar faces, such as Lin Junbi, Zhu Mei, and Jin Zhenmeng, who had summoned their bonded flying swords and were standing beside Sword Immortal Ku Xia.

Of the young sword prodigies who had come from the Middle Earth Divine Continent’s Shaoyuan Empire, Yan Lü and Jiang Guancheng had already left the Sword Qi Great Wall and boarded an intercontinental ship at Stalactite Mountain, apparently making their way to the Southern Whirl Continent.

The young boy in black wasn’t surprised about Sword Immortal Ku Xia staying behind, but he was extremely astonished to see Lin Junbi and the others not only staying behind, but actually having the courage to participate in the battle rather than hiding in the city to watch from afar.

Elsewhere, there were six people gathered together and launching sword strikes to kill the attacking demons.

Ning Yao, Die Zhang, Chen Sanqiu, Dong Huafu, Yan Zhuo, and Fan Dache.

Die Zhang was carrying the huge sword, Mountain Suppressing, on her back, and this was quite amusing to those at the Sword Qi Great Wall. This was because Great Sword Immortal Yue Qing had a bonded flying sword named Mighty Guardian of the Five Mountains.

This was similar to how the sword of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s Sword Immortal Wei Jin coincidentally shared the same name as Qi Shou’s pseudo-celestial sword, High Radiance.

Fatty Yan was wielding his sword, Purple Lightning, and furiously cursing the demons for being shameless, accusing them of using underhanded methods to target him.

Elaborate Makeup, Dong Huafu’s sword, which had an extremely feminine name, was resting horizontally across his knees. The descendant of the Dong Clan, who never needed to spend money to buy things, wasn’t cursing the vile beasts from the demon tribe right now, and he was instead scolding Fatty Yan for unleashing such weak and floppy attacks. His sword was limply flailing around like Chen Sanqiu when he became drunk. Dong Huafu always liked to offend several people at once when he leveled criticisms.

Yan Zhuo replied that he was deliberately making his flying sword move in this elusive manner. His flying sword wasn’t moving haphazardly, and it was actually moving in a very profound way. Not only would the demons fail to predict the movement of his flying sword, but even he couldn’t fathom Purple Lightning’s next move. This was what made it so effective and powerful.

Chen Sanqiu was dressed in white, and this was a Dao robe passed down by the ancestors of Taixiang Street’s Chen Clan. Cloud Pattern, the sword of the elegant young master, had lost its original scabbard a long time ago, and it was once a sword that had belonged to his friend, Little Ququ. Chen Sanqiu had become the owner of this sword following Little Ququ’s death, and before ascending the city wall this time, he had brought an additional scabbard from the sword market to sheathe Cloud Pattern.

As for Chen Sanqiu’s original sword, he had temporarily lent it to Fan Dache, his friend who was unable to advance to the Golden Core Tier no matter what.

Controlling their flying swords to travel beyond the city wall and kill demons was no easy task.

There were also individuals with not just tough physiques but also impressive combat power among the demon tribe, and there were also many demons who had mastered underhanded skills to specifically target the flying swords of sword cultivators. In addition, a large number of sacrificial demons would carve talismans onto their bodies for the sake of capturing the flying swords of the sword cultivators, and they would immediately self-destruct their demon cores without hesitation once they managed to capture a flying sword, blasting the swords into pieces.

These sacrificial demons most certainly wouldn’t make their sacrificial intents known, and they would even take things a step further by purposely getting injured or deliberately exposing their weak points by ”accident.” Upon crashing into the talismanic traps carved on their bodies, it was entirely possible that the bonded flying swords of the sword cultivators would be completely destroyed.

This being the case, did the sword cultivators still dare to unleash the full power of their swords to attack the demons? Would their attacks still possess the same indomitable sword intent as before?

This was a huge test for the observation skills of the sword cultivators, and it was also something that would greatly temper their Dao Hearts.

Ning Yao, who was carrying a sword on her back and a sword by her waist, took a quick glance at the young boy in black. She felt slightly exasperated, but she didn’t say anything to him. He had already made his way here, so what could she possibly do? Shoo him away from the city wall? Even if she did, would he listen to her?

And so, Ning Yao turned around and continued to wield her flying swords.

Ning Yao naturally possessed more than just a single bonded flying sword, but during the three large-scale battles over the course of less than twenty years, the demon tribe had only ever witnessed one of her flying swords.

Chen Ping’an, who had changed his appearance to that of a young boy, took a few glances at the six friends and noticed a few things.

Fan Dache was too restrained when he launched sword strikes, rendering him unable to deliver the destructive power expected of a sword cultivator at the peak stage of the Dragon Gate Tier.

It wasn’t that Fan Dache lacked the disposition or courage, but rather, he was stuck in a relatively awkward situation. Killing enemies on the battlefield was different from sparring with others on the training ground in the Ning Residence and the Yan Residence.

Fan Dache was too concerned with catching up to the sword strikes of Die Zhang, Chen Sanqiu, and the others, hoping that he could cooperate seamlessly with the bonded flying swords of his friends. As time went on, this became a negative cycle where Die Zhang made mistake after mistake, eventually needing the help of Chen Sanqiu and the others.

Standing on the city wall and gazing afar, the battlefield in the distance would have appeared hazy and unclear to even earth immortal sword cultivators in the beginning. Now, however, even Middle Five Tier sword cultivators could focus their gaze and see everything clearly.

Chen Ping’an knew that this was thanks to the three sages belonging to the Confucian Sect, the Buddhist Sect, and the Daoist Sect. This was an extremely profound mystical power that helped the Sword Qi Great Wall gain an innate advantage over its opponents.

Chen Ping’an arrived next to Fan Dache, who had a stern expression but couldn’t conceal the despondence in his eyes. He didn’t walk onto the parapet, and he only stuck his head over to look at the battlefield to the south. He then compressed his voice into a thread, chuckling softly and saying, ”You’re not working together with other people to kill an Upper Five Tier great demon, so just focus on launching your own sword attacks. You can ignore Dong Huafu, Fatty Yan, and the others.

”If their flying swords severely wound some demons but are unable to kill them in time, then you can control your flying sword to stealthily shoot over and land the killing strike. It would be a waste to ignore this free military merit. After all, would those great sword immortals at the Golden Core Tier have the face to fight for military merit with a minor Dragon Gate Tier sword cultivator like you? They need to show some loyalty as your friends, no?”

Die Zhang’s flying sword surged forward with resolve, with its sword intent as pure as its owner.

Dong Huafu habitually launched his flying sword to follow Die Zhang’s, and both were ruthless fighters who would go all out with little regard for their own defenses. Thus, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo would cooperate with Die Zhang and Dong Huafu to make up for this shortcoming.

In addition to this, they would naturally launch their own attacks to kill the demons as well. They had already fought three battles together, so their cooperation was smooth and seamless, so much so that they could form an atmosphere similar to an isolated small world.

Meanwhile, Ning Yao’s formless flying sword was responsible for targeting the more troublesome demons. While sweeping forward and killing the demons, the flying swords of Die Zhang and the others were actually gauging the enemies’ strength as well. In this sense, Ning Yao was guarding the rear and ensuring that her four companions could launch attacks without worry.

This made Fan Dache appear a little extra. In fact, Fan Dache also viewed himself as a huge burden on everyone else.

Fan Dache had trained extensively with his friends at the Ning Residence’s training ground, and he wasn’t an inexperienced sword cultivator who had never descended the city wall to battle to the death with the demons either.

The only reason he appeared extra was that his friends were far too outstanding. The opportunities and openings on the battlefield were fleeting, and potential dangers and surprises would also appear in the blink of an eye.

Fan Dache couldn’t keep up with Die Zhang and the others, regardless of whether it was his thoughts or the speed of his flying sword.

He didn’t turn around to reply after hearing Chen Ping’an’s voice, nor was he distracted from launching his sword attacks.

This was a sword cultivator at the Sword Qi Great Wall, someone who was accustomed to battle and death.

Fan Dache didn’t hesitate or feel embarrassed, and he heeded Chen Ping’an’s advice to launch his sword attacks. He no longer forced himself to cooperate with each and every one of his companions’ attacks to kill the demons, and he instead seized the right opportunities to deliver the fatal blows against those demons that were already teetering on the brink of death.

Chen Ping’an had said before that delivering these relatively easy fatal blows on the battlefield was the same as picking up money on the streets — this was a true test of skill. If anyone dared to call Chen Ping’an shameless, then Chen Ping’an would use the best Bamboo Sea Small World Wine at the Sword Qi Great Wall to spit in their face.

Chen Ping’an observed the battle for a moment before continuing to say in a reminder, ”Fan Dache, there’s a severely wounded demon playing dead thirty-six meters to the left of your flying sword. Go on, send it to the afterlife.”

A vicious sword strike pierced through the head of the demon lying on the ground.

Chen Ping’an swept his gaze across the battlefield and continued, ”Fan Dache, you can temporarily move your flying sword away from the region controlled by Die Zhang and the others. You don’t need to deliberately follow them, and you can send your flying sword slightly further away to deal an additional blow to all of the demon corpses in the surroundings, regardless of whether they’re playing dead or not. It’s relatively safe to attack these demons as they have the smallest chance of being those sacrificial demons that have talismans carved on their bodies.

”Don’t get greedy or try to seek perfection — there’s always military merit for you to collect as long as you don’t damage the foundation of your flying sword. Just treat the battlefield to the south like a brand new training ground. If you want to catch up to Chen Sanqiu and the others, then remember to look more and think more between your sword strikes. If you do, then there will eventually come a day when you can successfully predict the paths of their swords, and you’ll no longer feel like you’re lagging behind and holding them back.

”Stop your sword! That’s a sacrificial demon! Let Fatty Yan toy around with it first.

”Do you see that? This beast clearly has some brains, and it wants to pick on you, the weakest link in the chain, after failing to have its way with Chen Sanqiu and the others. You should run away without hesitation when this happens. It’s a pity that the acting skills of this demon are not quite up to scratch. What kind of desperately fleeing demon has such a resolute gaze and such steady hands?

”Steady hands often point to a ruthless heart, so you need to be even more careful against opponents like this. Your current bonded flying sword isn’t sturdy enough, nor are you a Golden Core Tier cultivator. You’re not a wealthy young master like Chen Sanqiu or Fatty Yan either, and you haven’t poured exorbitant amounts of money into your flying sword.

“That being the case, you should definitely avoid striving for only speed and accuracy when you launch sword strikes. You’re not that type of person, so you shouldn’t launch that type of sword strike. You need to accept this.

”Say, Dache, you shouldn’t waste such a good name. Can you please attain profound enlightenment for once? That Golden Core Tier great demon is clearly on the verge of death already, with its golden core having been shattered by Die Zhang, and it’s simply lying there and waiting for you to put it out of its misery. I told you to avoid striving for only speed and accuracy, but I didn’t tell you to strive for slowness when you should use speed, did I? And now look, Fatty Yan has snatched away the military merit.

”Sixty-nine meters to the northeast of your flying sword — do you see that demon? It’s hesitating after having just lost an immortal treasure, but it can’t turn around and retreat due to the imposing might of the great demon military supervisor in the rear. This reaction can’t be faked. Dache, what are you standing there in a daze for? Hack that demon to death! Tsk, and now it’s been snatched away by Die Zhang. Say, Dache, do you actually have a secret crush on our shopkeeper?

”The demon battling against Chen Sanqiu is presumably a Nascent Tier great demon that’s concealing its strength. At the very least, it’s a Golden Core Tier demon. It has thick skin and flesh, but its immortal treasure is far too heavy and cumbersome. You can assist Chen Sanqiu, but remember to keep your flying sword as close to the ground as possible. If you’re able to, then find an opportunity to stab it between the legs. Don’t try to aim for critical locations such as its head or heart.

”This demon is clearly targeting Chen Sanqiu and the others, so this battle is bound to last a long time. Oh my, Dache, your crotch strike truly embodied the demeanor of a sword immortal. Alright, hurry up and run away — don’t bite off more than you can chew. The great demon is looking at you now. Have Dong Huafu block its path.”

An Upper Five Tier demon that was responsible for patrolling and supervising the battlefield seemingly noticed something peculiar in one area of the battlefield.

This demon was an Unpolished Jade Tier sword cultivator, and it directly unleashed a fearsome arc of sword light at the city wall, which raced toward the head sticking above the parapet.

However, the sword on Ning Yao’s back automatically left its scabbard, striking down the sword light and causing the flying sword of the demon to create a huge crater at the foot of the city wall, throwing up a large plume of dust. After failing to strike its target, the demon sword cultivator dashed away on its flying sword and burrowed into the ground, moving around randomly before eventually making its way back to the rear of the demon army.

Ning Yao’s sword returned to its scabbard, and her expression was calm and composed as she continued to manipulate her flying sword in the distance, hunting down and killing the attacking demons.

Of the six friends, only Ning Yao’s bonded flying sword hadn’t returned to the city wall a single time in three days and three nights.

A golden phoenix spread its wings and swooped down from the city wall, soaring toward the battlefield to the north and killing the demons in its path.

Sword Immortal Gao Kui’s bonded flying sword was shockingly as large as an intercontinental ship as it descended from the sky.

Zhou Cheng’s bonded flying sword, Seven Radiance, furiously raced along the ground, leaving a mangled mess of broken limbs and bodies in its wake.

Seas of clouds materialized high above the battlefield after Ning Lianyun, the clan leader of the Ning Clan, summoned his bonded flying sword, and a ferocious downpour of sword qi instantly rained down on the ground below.

Great demons from the Savage World also channeled their mystical powers, riding on vast swathes of dark clouds as they rushed toward the city wall. Some sword cultivators were unable to react in time, and many of the bonded flying swords that were engulfed by the dark clouds directly shattered into pieces as if they were being crushed by a millstone. This resulted in the affected sword cultivators becoming bloody and wounded on the city wall.

Ning Lianyun naturally wouldn’t allow the great demon to succeed in breaching the sword formation with its dark clouds, so he immediately manipulated one of the several seas of clouds with his mind.

The vast swathe of dark clouds crashed into Ning Lianyun’s sea of clouds.

A young sword immortal from the Nalan Clan, who seldom launched any attacks, extended a hand and made a pushing motion. A white jade platform, sparkling and crystal-clear, appeared directly above the great demon’s head before crashing down.

The great demon didn’t try to block the attack, instead choosing to shoot back and flee. The white jade platform crashed into the large army of demons belonging to the great demon, instantly flattening demons and creating a sea of blood within a radius of several kilometers.

Not only that, but the great demon was seemingly being targeted by some strange mystical ability of the sword immortal, with white jade platforms that possessed boundless sword qi continuing to plummet down toward him no matter how he fled and changed directions. Countless demons were brutally crushed as a result.

Eighteen white jade platforms descended one after another, eventually managing to suppress the great demon that had nowhere left to run. The great demon was forced to assume its true form to fight back against the white jade platform bearing down on its head, and it was ultimately pushed all the way into the ground as the fracturing white jade platform finally gave way and exploded apart.

Half of the great demon’s body was bloody and mangled, and it shot a vicious glare at the sword immortal who had attacked it before once again assuming its human form, humphing coldly as it chose to temporarily leave the battlefield to nurture its wounds.

The sword immortal departed from the city wall in the south, making his way to the north to rest his mind.

Another sword immortal traveled in the opposite direction, filling in for the sword immortal who had just left. They were responsible for overseeing an area of the battlefield.

If a great demon dared to make a move, then a sword immortal on the city wall would definitely send their flying sword over to engage the great demon.

Moreover, if a great demon that had previously launched an attack reappeared on the battlefield, then any great sword immortal in the vicinity would need to step forward and unleash a sword strike at the demon.

Some daring great demons that didn’t fear death would stand closer to the city wall, resulting in them being attacked by Yue Qing, Ning Lianyun, Han Huaizi, Li Tuimi, or other great sword immortals who were at the Immortal Tier but weren’t members of the top ten pinnacle sword immortals. Regardless of whether it was one great sword immortal who launched an attack or several great sword immortals who launched attacks together, they would all lose a certain amount of military merit if their attacks failed to severely wound these great demons.

These were the ironclad rules and regulations of the Sword Qi Great Wall personally established by the old great sword immortal.

Apart from this, the armies of demons commanded by the Unpolished Jade Tier demons could attack as they pleased. They wouldn’t be especially targeted by the great sword immortals on the city wall, and the Sword Qi Great Wall would accept the losses no matter how many sword cultivators were killed as a result.

Apart from attacking with their full strength to kill demons, the sword cultivators first needed to learn how to protect themselves in these battles of life and death.

A dead sword immortal was nothing more than just that — dead and useless.

Meanwhile, a living sword cultivator represented countless possibilities even if they were yet to become an earth immortal.

Otherwise, where would the battle-hardened sword immortals come from? Did it make sense for the sword cultivators to hide and cower as they attacked, relying heavily on the careful protection of their sword immortal seniors?

This was the reason behind Chen Qingdu’s comment to Ning Yao. In his mind, no one was above death!

This was a cruel truth that the old great sword immortal had never kept hidden from any of the younger generations over the past ten thousand years.

Deadly battles and perilous conflicts were everywhere at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

On the two ends of the city wall, and high above in the sky, the sages of the Confucian Sect, the Buddhist Sect, and the Daoist Sect oversaw their respective regions and engaged in extremely subtle but even more critical battles.

The elderly sage of the Daoist Sect oversaw the zenith of the sky, and he waved the snow-white horsetail whisk in his hand again and again, shooing away the smoke and clouds. He looked like a renowned scholar sitting alone atop the mountains and fanning away the summer heat, with his stories passed down through the generations.

The monk sitting on the straw mat silently recited a sutra, causing countless golden lotuses to bloom on the ground and continuously rise into the air, forming a long golden river of floating lotus lights.

The Confucian sage sat upright and opened a sagely scripture, with the golden characters in the book hovering out one after another. The book became blank after the Confucian sage finished reading it, and he promptly moved on to the next sagely scripture.

Chen Ping’an had already left Fan Dache’s side. When passing Pang Yuanji, he had summoned Lightning Devourer and Pine Needle and had them assist with setting up an illusion technique, only providing the necessary amount of help and not overcommitting. He also appeared beside Gao Yehou and Situ Weiran and provided them with some minor help.

He didn’t linger in the areas guarded by sword immortals, but he would stop briefly when he came across those Middle Five Tier sword cultivators who were customers of the wine shop. Not only would he summon the two replica flying swords, but he would even summon First and Fifteenth to swiftly dispose of some enemies. However, he definitely wouldn’t stay at a single location for any extended period of time, nor would he continue to advance in a predictable manner.

Chen Ping’an would occasionally make his way back to areas where he had previously launched sword strikes, then advance several hundred kilometers in a single breath. He would rescue the bonded flying swords of the sword cultivators if he were able to, and he would unleash an attack to kill some demons if the opportunity arose. He definitely wouldn’t stretch himself, and he most certainly wouldn’t act rashly for the sake of military merit.

Not only that, but his appearance would also shift between that of an expressionless young boy in black or an emaciated old man.

Right now, Chen Ping’an was looking at the female face mask in his hand and weighing up whether or not he should adopt this disguise. At this moment, a sword immortal responsible for guarding the formation truly couldn’t hold back anymore, and they used their mind’s lake to chuckle and scold, ”Can a mighty second tier cultivator like you please know some shame?”

This sword immortal had an extremely good relationship with Yue Qing and Mi Hu, and when Zuo You had challenged Yue Qing to a sword duel before, he had been one of the sword immortals who had left the city to break up the fight.

Chen Ping’an raised his middle finger at the sword immortal, after which he gritted his teeth and resolutely slapped on the face mask. He leaped onto the parapet, and he surprisingly adopted the lithe and shapely gait of a woman.

He then secretly summoned his flying swords to help a group of young sword cultivators. The sword immortal in the distance was dumbfounded, but he immediately broke into hearty laughter. He was extremely impressed by this scholar from the Scholarly lineage, whom he had previously had a poor impression of.

After laughing for a while, the sword immortal composed himself as he looked at the young man who had blood slowly seeping through his Dao robe from the garment market. He continued to provide protection for the many flying swords soaring beyond the city wall.

The sword immortal faced south and carefully observed every single detail on the battlefield. At the same time, a thought rose in the depths of his heart. Perhaps only a young man like this could become Zuo You’s junior brother and attract a huge gamble from the old great sword immortal.

Perhaps only a young man like this was worthy of Ning Yao.