Unsheathed

All of the swordsmen of the Hidden Official’s branch were top-tier cultivation prodigies, and the only reason why they were limited in their cultivation bases was that they were all still quite young.

Hence, they were all aware that one’s yin soul could leave their body, but this was certainly quite a rare sight in a third tier Qi refiner. Furthermore, it was even more remarkable that Chen Ping’an’s yin soul was able to leave his body for so long without being exposed as a yin soul, particularly in an environment as abundant with sword qi as the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Despite this, everyone in the Hidden Official’s branch barely even batted an eyelid. When it came to Chen Ping’an, they had already learned to expect the unexpected.

However, Lu Zhi was rather intrigued, and she asked through her mind’s lake, ”Chen Ping’an, when you were provoking Yang Zhi and Huang Luan just now, did you intend to allow them to kill you from the very beginning?”

Chen Ping’an was flipping through the pages of Book C, helping Wang Xinshui pick out twenty suitable earth immortal swordsmen, and as he did this, he replied through his mind’s lake, ”If an ordinary piece of bait attracts a large fish, even if the large fish is ultimately reeled in, would you expect the piece of bait to survive? You said it yourself: Yang Zhi is no fool. If I want to successfully lure her in and prevent her from escaping, then I can’t just rely on our sword immortals. A sacrifice must be made to ensure her demise.”

”But if your yin soul is destroyed, then the foundation of your Great Dao will be damaged,” Lu Zhi said with tightly furrowed brows. ”Why would you go so far?”

”The yin soul of a third tier cultivator in exchange for the lives of one or two Ascension Tier great demons; isn’t that a fantastic deal?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile.

Lu Zhi was unconvinced by this answer, and she requested in a direct and straightforward manner, ”I hope that you can be sincere and truthful with me.”

Chen Ping’an was silent for a moment, then explained, ”If our Hidden Official’s branch wants to establish itself as an authoritative force, then we can’t just rely on intangible battlefield contributions. The biggest problem with the Hidden Official’s branch is that we are all sheltered behind the front lines. We are all swordsmen, yet we play no direct role on the battlefield.

”When things are going smoothly, this is not a problem, but as soon as the Sword Qi Great Wall begins suffering losses, the Hidden Official’s branch will be sure to come under intense scrutiny and criticism. This is only to be expected. Hence, if I make an early sacrifice, then there will be less of an impact on the mental state of everyone in the Hidden Official’s branch in response to the criticism that will inevitably come.

”The more focused and unwavering the Hidden Official’s branch, the more decisive we’ll be in our plans and strategies, and over the long term, that will benefit the Sword Qi Great Wall immensely.”

”I can tell you’re telling the truth here, but I can also tell that you’re withholding something from me,” Lu Zhi said.

Chen Ping’an didn’t deny this.

”There are some things that I must keep to myself for now, so I can only ask you to suppress your curiosity. Right now, all you need to focus on is protecting the Hidden Official’s branch. There’s no need for you to think about anything else.”

”Ordering me around, are you, Lord Hidden Official?” Lu Zhi jibed, making a rare lighthearted remark.

”Your swordsmanship is far beyond anything I can even hope to fathom, Sword Immortal Lu Zhi,” Chen Ping’an lauded, doing his best to channel Pei Qian’s abilities in insincere flattery. ”If I don’t put on an authoritative front and try to order you around, then you’ll brush me off as nothing more than a joke.”

Lu Zhi merely smiled and offered no response.

Chen Ping’an was performing three tasks at once. On one hand, he was selecting earth immortals from Book C while communicating with Wang Xinshui through his mind’s lake to finalize the selections.

On the other hand, he was keeping a constant eye on the two picture scrolls laid out on the carriageway. That was one of his basic duties as the Hidden Official. Just because he had delegated the task to others didn’t mean that he could completely let go of the reins. At the same time, he had to carefully observe the other eleven swordsmen and listen to their conversations.

In the Majestic World, all eleven swordsmen would’ve been considered top-tier cultivation prodigies, and several of them had particularly outstanding strengths. For example, Xuan Can was essentially a walking map, and his attention and memory of the events unfolding in the two picture scrolls put even Chen Ping’an to shame.

He had an exceptional grasp on the geography of the battlefield, down to extremely fine details. For example, he would know if there were a crater somewhere on the battlefield, and he would also know how and when it had gotten there, as well as what impact it would have on the ongoing battle. The others could accomplish this as well if they put their mind to it, but it would require a great deal of conscious effort, whereas Xuan Can almost did this as a hobby, and it didn’t seem to feel like an additional burden to him at all.

Hence, Chen Ping’an had instructed Xuan Can to keep real-time records of the state of the battlefield, and those records were something that the other swordsmen had to regularly consult.

Wang Xinshui had an astonishing level of intuition when it came to small-scale battles. Hence, whenever Chen Ping’an wasn’t overly busy with the tasks at hand, he always liked to observe Wang Xinshui, who often saw flaws in the way that the swordsmen of the Sword Qi Great Wall utilized their flying swords in battle, and it never failed to frustrate him when he saw the opposition use their immortal treasures to great effect on the picture scrolls.

All of these were just fleeting moments on the battlefield, yet in order to remember these details, he would often stare intently at the picture scrolls while rapidly taking notes in extremely messy handwriting. Occasionally, he would look a little dejected, and it seemed like he was wondering if all of the notes that he was taking would even come in useful at all.

After all, he was too far away from the battlefield, and it wasn’t like he could provide real-time instructions to all of the swordsmen of the Sword Qi Great Wall on how they could better optimize their offensive output. Hence, out of everyone in the Hidden Official’s branch, he was always the one who went through the most drastic emotional swings, often displaying the entire spectrum of human emotions in a span of mere moments. This, coupled with his habit of mumbling to himself, made him very amusing to watch.

Lin Junbi’s strategic acumen was so outstanding that it was almost like an innate ability of sorts. As long as he was given enough information to make informed decisions, he almost never made any mistakes.

Guo Zhujiu was always able to think of the worst-case scenario faster than everyone else, and the worst-case scenarios that she thought of were often even worse than what everyone else had considered.

”What I’m worried about is that the sword formations of the Savage World could simply advance using the simplest and most direct methods,” Dong Bude suddenly said. ”If they focus only on themselves, maximizing the power of their sword formations without considering anything else, then all of our plans and schemes will be thwarted. The biggest problem for us right now is that if we don’t gain an advantage, then we’ll be suffering a loss. What should we do in that scenario?”

”That is a problem that can be addressed,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile. ”We have to change our mindset and stop regarding the demons of the Savage World as puppets that lack intelligence and emotions. Instead, we must put ourselves in their shoes and see them as living beings with emotions and attachments. As long as one has emotions and shares bonds with those around them, their mental fortitude can be swayed.

”If they want to take a safe and solid approach and focus solely on maximizing the power of their sword formations without worrying about anything else, then there are three things that we can do to disrupt their strategy. Firstly, we can learn from Qi Shou and strive to kill our enemies in the most horrific and brutal ways possible. Secondly, there will be many enemies on the battlefield that simply won’t have much of an impact on the state of the battle, so we can choose whether we want to kill them or not.

”In those circumstances, just spare them, but make sure to inflict severe injuries upon them; the more painful, the better. Once they retreat behind the Savage World’s front lines, they will be extremely bitter and resentful at the pain that they have to endure, and they’ll be constantly poisoning the emotions and morale of those around them. Thirdly, find some people who excel in wars of words and, like Zhao Geyi and Cheng Quan, and have them hurl insults at the enemy while fighting on the battlefield.

”In particular, make sure to insult the enemy swordsmen and sword immortals. We have to get as many of our swordsmen hurling insults at the enemy as possible. If we can provoke them into abandoning the safe and steady approach, then we will have achieved our objective. Earlier, when I was fighting against Li Zhen, did you really think I was completely unbothered by his provocative remarks? Of course I was bothered. As a matter of fact, I wanted to skin him alive!

”However, I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted in a one-on-one battle, so I had to suppress those emotions, but the currently ongoing battle is different. Instead of just two combatants, there are tens of thousands of swordsmen on each side, and not everyone is going to be able to control their emotions.

”While we are doing our best to understand the thoughts and emotions of the sword immortals and swordsmen on our side, it’s important to remember that we also have to place ourselves in the shoes of our enemies to see the battlefield through their eyes. Once we’re able to do that, we’ll be able to predict many things before they happen, and that will give us an immense advantage, allowing us to set traps that the Savage World will have no choice but to step into.”

”That is indeed the case,” Lin Junbi agreed with an earnest nod. ”If we can turn this entire battlefield into something like a small world, then we’ll be able to gain advantages everywhere.”

”Think about this: if we can be fully aware of all of the thoughts of the demon tribe’s patriarch and the aspirations of all of the fourteen great demons, what kind of position would that place us in?” Chen Ping’an envisioned.

Everyone stared at him in a stunned silence.

”Of course, that’s not possible,” Chen Ping’an continued with a smile. ”There is always a limit to everyone’s capabilities, and knowing one’s limits is a commendable quality in itself.”

”With the information in the primary and secondary Book B, I can find some leads and go through the files of the Hidden Official’s branch to uncover more secrets about the Savage World,” Guo Zhujiu suddenly said. ”That should allow us to make some educated guesses on the wants and needs of some of the great demons. Rest assured, taking on this extra task isn’t going to get in the way of my existing duties, so you can count on me, Master...”

Guo Zhujiu’s voice instantly trailed off into silence as soon as the word ”master” slipped out of her mouth. She was really frustrated with herself for speaking without thinking and bringing shame to her master. While it was true that they were master and disciple, in this scenario, she had to follow the rules of the Hidden Official’s branch.

”I don’t mind if you call me master,” Chen Ping’an said. ”Just like I would prefer for everyone else to call me directly by my name, rather than awkwardly referring to me as Lord Hidden Official.”

Gu Jianlong was very relieved to hear this, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

”It seems that I was right, Brother Gu,” Chen Ping’an mused as he turned to Gu Jianlong with an amused smile. ”Judging from your reaction, you really did feel awkward referring to me as Lord Hidden Official, isn’t that right? The fact that you took the bait so easily shows that you still have much room for improvement in the way of mental cultivation. You may be a cultivation prodigy in the Majestic World, but if you’re going to wear your heart on your sleeve like this and be so easy to read, then I suggest you stay out of politics.”

Gu Jianlong’s relieved expression instantly turned to one of sullen dismay. It seemed that Chen Ping’an was intent on picking on him.

”While it may seem like we have it much easier than everyone else, issuing orders from behind the front lines, the reality is that our burden is one that no one should have to bear,” Chen Ping’an said. ”Not only is this true for outsiders like Xuan Can, but even native swordsmen like Dong Bude and Pang Yuanji also shouldn’t have to shoulder such a heavy burden. In our position, one single misstep could be all that it takes to crush our Dao Hearts. Pang Yuanji, if you were given the choice, would you rather be here, or would you rather take your chances out on the battlefield?”

”I would rather be out on the battlefield,” Pang Yuanji replied in a truthful manner.

Wang Xinshui was just about to speak when Chen Ping’an turned to him with a smile and asked, ”Do you disagree, Xinshui?”

”Not at all,” Wang Xinshui hurriedly said. ”I was just about to agree with Pang Yuanji.”

Wang Xinshui was truly a rather special case. He was the type of prodigious swordsman whose thoughts often outpaced his sword, and due to his lackluster cultivation base, he was often detrimental to his allies on the battlefield. That wasn’t to say that he came up with terrible ideas.

Instead, all of his suggestions were perfect, but he was unable to let his sword do the talking, and the same applied to his friends. Hence, while he was brilliant at telling others what they should do on the battlefield, his execution was always lacking whenever he set foot on the battlefield himself.

Fortunately, his lackluster execution had never resulted in any catastrophic outcomes, but even so, he still had very mixed feelings about going into battle. It wasn’t that he was afraid of dying in battle. Instead, it simply felt like the battlefield was a place where he didn’t belong, and he found himself in a constant state of frustration whenever he went into battle.

”Alright, that’s enough chit-chat.” Chen Ping’an chuckled. ”From now on, I may be leaving this place frequently to go elsewhere. If you resent me for that, make sure to hide it. Also, none of you will get a chance to go into battle outside the city, but I still have that option if I want to take it, so feel free to envy me.”

”I am in no position to advise you against taking risks, but I implore you to be careful, Lord Hidden Official,” Deng Liang said. ”Even if you’re going to step onto the battlefield outside the city, make sure to conceal yourself well. If we lose you, then we will be forced to elect a new leader on the fly, and that type of instability among our ranks is sure to cause problems.”

”I appreciate that you’re looking out for me, and I also appreciate how direct and straightforward you’re being with me,” Chen Ping’an said. ”This is how things should be in our Hidden Official’s branch. Everyone should feel free to speak their minds as long as it’s for the benefit of others, even if it can come off as confrontational and potentially even offensive.

”However, what I can say is that the people who are capable of killing me, such as Yang Zhi and Huang Luan, don’t dare to come after me for now, and as for the others, they can come and have a go at me if they think they have what it takes. For now, I’m going to pay Nalan Shaowei and Yan Ming a visit.”