Unsheathed

Atop the city wall, Qi Shou couldn’t help but turn around to look at his neighbor. Chen Ping’an had retrieved stacks of yellow paper talismans, making it appear like he was about to open a new shop. However, who was he going to sell these low-grade talismans to? Surely not to those vile beasts in the Savage World, right?

There was genuinely a huge number of talismans, with the same types stacked together in a pile. As such, there were a dozen or so small mountains of varying height, corresponding to at least one thousand talismans.

The yellow paper talismans were made from extremely ordinary materials that definitely weren’t worth much. Moreover, such items weren’t sold at the Sword Qi Great Wall, so Chen Ping’an had definitely brought this trash over from the Majestic World. These talismans weren’t even crafted using the most elementary yellow jade talisman paper for Lower Five Tier talisman cultivators, and they were genuinely the most ordinary yellow paper talismans casually sold by vendors in the markets.

If Chen Ping’an paired these talismans with a peach wood sword, he would have everything he needed to become one of those Daoist priests who lied and scammed people outside the mountains.

Chen Ping’an turned around to look at Qi Shou when he finished setting everything up.

Qi Shou had a very bad feeling about this.

There was a sincere look in Chen Ping’an’s eyes — like that of a father looking at his son — as he smiled and said, ”Don’t let slip this rare opportunity, Brother Qi. I’m the wandering merchant, Chen Haoren, and I’m like a completely different person from the wine shop’s second shopkeeper. My shop might appear small, but I’ve traveled around the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the Parasol Leaf Continent, and the Northern Complete Reed Continent for many years.

”I’m especially renowned for my decently-priced and high-quality talismans, and my reputation is as good as can be. In fact, I’ve received many golden plaques, and they’re all from extremely grateful customers who have purchased my talismans and reaped significant benefits as a result. They insisted on thanking me, and I wasn’t able to turn them down even if I wanted to.

”Are you interested, Brother Qi? You and I have fought alongside each other, so our relationship is stronger than that of friends, even if we aren’t necessarily friends. I can even give you a discount. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have immortal coins on you right now, and I’ll allow you to pay me back later without interest. I’m totally open to negotiations.”

Qi Shou pretended he couldn’t hear this.

However, he couldn’t stand Chen Ping’an’s endless rambling, especially the detailed descriptions of the ingenuities related to each of the dozen or so talismans. For example, even though the Celestial Lightning Talisman was only derived from an unorthodox lightning technique, its destructive power was immense and impressive.

Meanwhile, the Vast Flowing River Talisman was perfect for battlefields covered in seas of blood, while the Earth Pinch Talisman could create mountains from flat terrain, making it a brilliant choice for obstructing the advance of the demon army. Indeed, the Earth Pinch Talisman was a mystical talisman that could seemingly summon mountains from thin air.

Qi Shou couldn’t tolerate this anymore, so he chuckled coldly and said, ”I might be a measly Nascent Tier sword cultivator who’s nowhere near as mighty and impressive as the powerful second tier Second Shopkeeper, but I am ultimately a sword cultivator, after all. Why would I need your talismans? To burn yellow paper and pay my respects at the graves? There’s no such tradition at the Sword Qi Great Wall.”

Chen Ping’an grabbed a stack of talismans, and he was as patient as could be as he explained to ”Brother Qi” with a wide smile, ”This is a fated opportunity of the Great Dao that I paid for with countless pots of immortal wine. It was only after some great sword immortal became completely drunk that they accidentally revealed a few secrets and taught me these guidance talismans.

”So, what are these so-called guidance talismans? Well, they can guide living people through certain passes, and on the battlefield, they can naturally guide enemies onto the path of the afterlife. Are you truly not interested, Brother Qi? The battle hasn’t reached its true peak yet, so it’s quite uninteresting to just crush those vile beasts with your flying swords.

”This is analogous to me simply drinking wine at the wine shop. No matter how delicious the wine is, even if it’s the best wine at the Sword Qi Great Wall, it won’t taste perfect unless it’s paired with a plate of pickled vegetables and a bowl of yangchun noodles.”

Chen Ping’an used his other hand to grab another large stack of talismans, continuing, ”The origin of this talisman is even more impressive. It represents the trump card and livelihood of that great sword immortal, and it’s known as the Sword Qi Bridge Crossing Talisman. Your cultivation base is too low right now, Brother Qi, but I trust that your observation skills are very good. Take a look, just how complicated are these brush strokes? These talismans don’t look big, but they’re genuinely entire talisman formations.

”I won’t say too much, but just think about how much immortal ink is needed for a single talisman? How can Brother Qi call my talismans worthless simply because the talisman paper isn’t necessarily top-notch? Brother Qi, I didn’t take you for the type of person who judges a book by its cover. I’m very disappointed. Li Zhen was killed by me on the battlefield, but Brother Qi only lost to me by a sliver when we fought back then. There were many exchanges between us, so Brother Qi can also be regarded as a prodigy who’s slightly more powerful than Li Zhen. With this in mind, it won’t be difficult for Brother Qi to become the senior brother at Holding Moon Mountain...”

”That’s enough, Chen Ping’an!” Qi Shou exclaimed in anger. ”The battle is still ongoing, so please focus your attention on killing the enemies! Even if you dare to be careless and want to risk your life, please don’t drag others down with you!”

Chen Ping’an put down the two stacks of talisman, using the closed folding fan to lightly tap his heart. He looked at the battlefield to the south and said with a faint smile, ”Since Brother Qi currently doesn’t have any plans to buy my talismans, then so be it. Having the wares catch your eye is the most important consideration when making any purchases.

”Now, let me take a good look at Brother Qi impressively killing enemies. Some people in the main city have small criticisms about your methods, saying that you’re too cruel. If you ask me, however, your methods are as good as can be. Brother Qi has the aura of a noble young master, and being a haughty and selfish sword prodigy who looks down on everyone else and refuses to allow others at the same age to become stronger than you is only a very minor problem.

”However, you always transform into a genuine hero once you arrive on the battlefield. You’re able to tolerate Chen Ping’an, someone whom you yearn to kill but are unable to kill in the city. In fact, you can even overcome the slight displeasure in your mind to defend the city wall and kill enemies alongside me. Sword Cultivator Qi Shou truly possesses the graceful demeanor of a sword immortal...”

Qi Shou took a deep breath and asked, ”Will you keep spouting nonsense as long as I refuse to buy your crappy talismans?”

Chen Ping’an flicked open his folding fan and replied with a faint smile, ”No, of course not. I won’t say anything else. Please continue to unleash sword strikes in a calm and elegant manner, Brother Qi.”

Qi Shou retracted his gaze and continued to kill demons with his two flying swords, Flying Kite and Heartstring.

Compared to before the temporary pause, there was clearly a higher percentage of demon cultivators in human form on the battlefield. The demon army was no longer made up of just lowly demons that lacked intelligence, so lowly, in fact, that sword cultivators with a higher cultivation base wouldn’t even receive military merit for killing them.

In the earlier stages of the battle, the lowly demons that couldn’t even be regarded as legitimate cultivators had been forced to mindlessly charge forward, with their only function being to create mountains of corpses and fill in the deep trenches that the sword immortals had carved out with their blades. Blood and flesh seeped into the ground, affecting the favorable conditions and geographical advantage of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Qi Shou was completely uninterested in the talismans belonging to the Five Elements, but he did indeed have some slight interest in the Guidance Talisman and the Sword Qi Bridge Crossing Talisman, especially the latter. This was because wisps of sword qi flowed across the talisman, something that couldn’t be faked. There wasn’t much sword intent in the talismanic core, but it was very pure. Seeing this, Qi Shou was slightly more inclined to believe Chen Ping’an’s claim that a great sword immortal had secretly taught him how to craft these talismans.

However, it wasn’t difficult for Qi Shou to defend his section of the battlefield, and he had absolutely no interest in doing business with Chen Ping’an. Regardless of how fabulously Chen Ping’an pitched these talismans, the second shopkeeper was already infamous at the Sword Qi Great Wall for how he sold wine and hosted bets.

In fact, he had taken things so far that even other people who hosted bets were unable to make any money, something that had never happened before at the Sword Qi Great Wall. Thus, the more experienced the gambling addicts were, the more they would curse the second shopkeeper. Was Chen Ping’an not aware of this?

The sword cultivator responsible for replacing Liu Xianyang and Xie Songhua was an old Nascent Tier cultivator who had said very few words after arriving at his section of the city wall. He was none other than Cheng Quan, who had fallen from the Upper Five Tiers back down to the Nascent Tier.

He and Sword Immortal Zhao Geyi, with whom he had argued for half his life, liked to guard opposite sections of the city wall, one in the north and one in the south, and they would immediately spit at each other at the smallest of disagreements. The old Nascent Tier sword cultivator had talked a lot when facing off against Zhao Geyi in the past, but now that he was alone, he remained silent the entire time, most likely because he had no one to argue with.

In reality, Cheng Quan’s grandmaster had used his military merit to obtain a private residence left behind by a deceased sword immortal in the south of the city, and afterward, he had recorded this private residence under Cheng Quan’s name. This was because, apart from Cheng Quan, everyone else in his branch of the Cheng Clan had already died. Cheng Quan’s situation was quite similar to that of Sword Immortal Zhou Cheng.

Cheng Quan’s sword strikes were extremely direct, and mountain peaks that were seemingly carved from blue jade would materialize in the sky wherever his flying sword, Water Mountain, passed. These mountains would then plummet to the ground, crushing the demons into puddles of blood and flesh. If some demon cultivators were fortunate enough to survive or dodge Cheng Quan’s attacks, then he would simply use his flying sword to summon a few more mountain peaks.

If these mountains were shattered by the immortal treasures of powerful demon cultivators, they would transform into limpid waters that instantly froze upon hitting the battlefield, obstructing the demon cultivators and preventing them from dodging the next round of mountain peaks that slammed down from the sky.

Compared to his two neighbors — Chen Ping’an, who was using four flying swords, and Qi Shou, who was brutally torturing his victims to death — Cheng Quan’s battlefield appeared straightforward and no-nonsense.

This wasn’t all, and the biggest eye-opener for Chen Ping’an was how the souls of many weaker demons were involuntarily dragged into the limpid waters of the shattering mountains, where they would eventually freeze and crumble together.

In reality, Cheng Quan had another bonded flying sword called Stone Rubbing, which appeared very mediocre on the surface. Apart from this, he also had a bonded item that had reached advanced refinement, and though its name was unknown, it looked much like a miniature landscape, with stones representing mountains and puddles representing rivers.

Many years ago, Cheng Quan’s esteemed master had been one of the sword immortals leading teams into the Savage World to hunt, and while doing so, he would perform basic refinement on rivers and mountains and bring them back to the Sword Qi Great Wall. He would then give these to his disciple to perform standard refinement.

When Cheng Quan unleashed the small mountains and narrow rivers from his miniature landscape, pairing them with the mystical ability of his flying sword, Stone Rubbing, a peculiar phenomenon would appear on the battlefield. Roaring rivers would descend, and majestic mountains would rise, with the rivers becoming even more thunderous and the mountains towering even higher once they came under the influence of Stone Rubbing’s sword intent.

It was because of this that Great Demon Zhong Guang had kept a close eye on Cheng Quan during the war that had followed the wager of the thirteen battles, even going as far as to launch a sneak attack on Cheng Quan and causing him to suffer a drop in cultivation base.

Even though the Unpolished Jade Tier Cheng Quan hadn’t necessarily appeared outstanding in the eyes of the other sword immortals, he was able to cause immense damage and death to the army of the Savage World on the battlefield, similar to Unpolished Jade Tier Wu Chengpei, who wielded a flying sword called Sweet Dew.

Chen Ping’an turned around and looked over, causing Cheng Quan to immediately say, ”Shut up. I don’t have any money for you to scam.”

”Alrighty then,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

Qi Shou didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Both he and Cheng Quan were Nascent Tier sword cultivators, so why was Chen Ping’an so easygoing with Cheng Quan?

Not only that, but Qi Shou discovered that Chen Ping’an didn’t develop a grudge after being bluntly rejected, and he even tossed a pot of Azure Divine Mountain Wine, which was worth five snowflake coins, toward the old man in the distance.

Cheng Quan cracked open the clay seal and smelled the wine, after which he said in disdain, ”Can this be called wine? It’s nowhere near potent enough. Only ladies like Zhao Geyi like to drink this.”

Even though he said this, he definitely wouldn’t waste the wine.

Chen Ping’an unexpectedly tossed over another pot of wine that the wine shop had just started selling, and Cheng Quan gave it a sniff before nodding and saying, ”Now this is what I call wine. No wonder business is going well at your wine shop. I would also purchase this wine if you opened your wine shop on the city wall.”

”I don’t accept credit,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile.

Cheng Quan shot a sideways glance at the young man and asked, ”I heard you were felled by the punch of a young girl at the entrance of the Ning Residence?”

Chen Ping’an lightly tapped his hand with his folding fan and replied, ”To tell you the truth, Senior Cheng, putting on a strong facade in front of opponents is a great skill of mine. People actually enjoy a very strong chance of victory against me, no matter who they are. For example, Brother Qi over here.”

The battle continued to rage on, and Chen Ping’an’s control over his four flying swords became increasingly relaxed and natural. His flying swords were lightning-quick as they sliced through the battlefield.

Sure enough, his greatest skill was controlling flying swords, where he didn’t need to be constrained by the many principles, allowing his mind to become purer. Principles were good, and they could also suppress people when used in great numbers, but one’s flying swords would naturally become ever-so-slightly slower as a result. Moreover, this extremely minor difference would result in huge differences on the battlefield.