Unsheathed

Bai Xi and Mi Yu were both momentarily rooted to the spot.

However, Mi Yu was very quick to react, and he immediately sprang into action, while Bai Xi had been caught completely off guard.

With just a single slash of his sword, Mi Yu split Bai Xi’s body into two along with the latter’s golden core and nascent soul.

However, before he could finish the job, Chen Ping’an raised a hand to stop him, then used a secret technique that he had secured in a deal with Liu Zhimao to gather up the remnants of Bai Xi’s soul.

He grasped the wretched soul in his hand with a smile and said, ”Beg me to save you, and I’ll save you! Aren’t you glad you met someone as benevolent as me? How’re you going to thank me?”

The tortured soul was in excruciating agony, and it frantically howled in a trembling voice, ”Tell me what you want me to do, Lord Hidden Official! I’ll do anything you say!”

”I told you to display some sincerity, but you didn’t listen to me, and how did things end for you? Not well, right?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile. ”I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me all of the most scandalous secrets of the Mountain and Water Cave, and I’ll let you live. Your cultivation base was too high, so I had my reservations about allowing you to become the next leader of the Mountain and Water Cave, but now that your cultivation base is in shambles, you’ve become the perfect candidate for the task!”

Bai Xi’s soul didn’t dare to hide any more secrets, spilling everything that it knew about the Mountain and Water Cave and its patriarch’s secret operations.

After hearing everything that the soul had to say, Chen Ping’an casually closed his fingers around the extremely frail soul, instantly destroying it with his fist aura.

He then used his folding fan to cast away the ethereal remnants of the soul before turning to Mi Yu with a smile.

”Were you surprised?”

At this point, Mi Yu was already completely numb to Chen Ping’an’s surprises.

Chen Ping’an rose to his feet and tucked away his folding fan, then asked, ”How much longer is it going to take for Lu Zhi to kill that Ascension Tier great demon? Also, is it possible to find out the great demon’s true identity?”

An awkward look appeared on Mi Yu’s face.

Who was he supposed to ask these questions? Lu Zhi? She was definitely going to ignore him. Chen Chun’an? He didn’t have the courage.

”When are you going to stand up for yourself for once, Sword Immortal Mi?” Chen Ping’an sighed in exasperation.

Mi Yu could only look back at him with a pitiable expression.

He then inspected his surroundings and noticed something rather curious. Even if he was widely renowned as the least respected Upper Five Tiers sword immortal on the Sword Qi Great Wall, he was still a sword immortal, nevertheless.

Is that Lord Hidden Official’s bonded flying sword?

Chen Ping’an withdrew his bonded flying sword before making his way over to the window, while Mi Yu sheathed his sword and stood off to the side on guard duty.

Meanwhile, the battle between Lu Zhi and the Ascension Tier great demon was still raging.

In the Caged Sparrow small world, Bai Xi had just been slain, but everyone else on the Clay Pot was none the wiser.

From there, the Clay Pot continued on its journey back to the Mountain and Water Cave, but it was missing two of its original passengers: the Ascension Tier great demon posing as Bian Jing and the administrator, Bai Xi.

They were replaced on the ship by Lu Zhi and Shao Yunyan, but Chen Chun’an chose not to accompany them any further.

Lu Zhi had been given a Confucian jade pendant by Chen Chun’an, while Shao Yunyan was going to be responsible for helping Lu Zhi clean up the mess that was the Mountain and Water Cave.

It was a mess that was worth cleaning up because there were huge sums of immortal coins to be collected, and the Spring Banner Inn was entitled to ten percent of the profits.

However, at the moment, the entire Spring Banner Inn was currently technically the private property of the Hidden Official’s branch, so Shao Yunyan had no idea what purpose this ten percent cut was supposed to serve.

As for exactly what was to be done with the Mountain and Water Cave, Chen Ping’an had already broken everything down to Lu Zhi and Shao Yunyan step by step.

Lu Zhi barely even bothered to listen. Shao Yunyan could do the listening for her, and she had to go into a short stint of seclusion after arriving on the Circling Ascension Continent.

As for Xie Songhua, she would return to Jiang Gaotai’s Southern Winnowing Basket to travel back to the Pure White Continent.

Chen Ping’an and Mi Yu returned to Stalactite Mountain on a talismanic boat, and on the return journey, Chen Ping’an suddenly turned to take a glance at Mi Yu.

The latter had been sitting on the boat in a rather lackadaisical fashion, and he was immediately struck by a sense of unease in the face of Chen Ping’an’s gaze.

Am I going to have more errands assigned to me? Fine! Bring it on!

”After all that, Sword Immortal Shao has received a ten percent cut of the profits from the Mountain and Water Cave, Sword Immortal Xie has returned the favor that she owes me, Sword Immortal Lu has claimed the core of an Ascension Tier great demon, and your sword has just been personally refined by Senior Chen, while Bai Xi’s pocket treasure and minimization treasure are going to fall into the possession of the Hidden Official’s branch. It seems like I’m the only one who ended up with nothing from this trip,” Chen Ping’an remarked with a smile.

”You have played the most significant role of all in bringing about the downfall of that Ascension Tier great demon, Lord Hidden Official,” Mi Yu hurriedly said with a serious expression. ”Your unmatched wisdom—”

”With your pathetic skills in flattery, you wouldn’t even be worthy to become an unofficial disciple on my Downtrodden Mountain,” Chen Ping’an mused, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Mi Yu was utterly distraught.

This had never been his forte to begin with! His strong suit had always been dealing with beautiful women!

”If I ever do get the chance to become a disciple or guest elder on your mountain, you can count on me to attend to all of the celestial maidens visiting the mountain,” Mi Yu promised. ”If anything goes wrong there, you can hold me culpable!”

”Piss off!” Chen Ping’an scoffed. ”My mountain’s reputation is already in shambles; if I throw you into the mix as well, then it’ll be completely beyond saving!”

A pitiable look returned to Mi Yu’s face.

After some hesitation, Mi Yu asked, ”Why didn’t you accept that demon core when Lu Zhi tried to give it to you? She genuinely didn’t want it, and in terms of weight of contributions, you deserved it more than her anyway.”

Chen Ping’an sat down as he cast this gaze into the distance, then replied, ”I did accept it. I simply requested Lu Zhi to pass it onto a friend of mine on the Southern Whirl Continent.”

”Your generosity and incorruptible nature are truly commendable, Lord Hidden Official,” Mi Yu immediately praised. ”Your name should be used as a metaphor for generosity in all stories written in the Majestic World from this point onward.”

Mi Yu felt like he was really beginning to get the hang of this flattery thing. He still wouldn’t dare to compare himself against Chen Ping’an’s direct disciple, Guo Zhujiu, but he felt like he could certainly put up a fight against the likes of Gu Jianlong and Wang Xinshui.

Chen Ping’an continued to stare off into the distance in silence for some time, then suddenly said, ”I’m very glad that we were able to turn from strangers to friends, Mi Yu.”

Mi Yu was stunned into silence for a long while before finally nodding as he replied, ”I am very honored to have you, Lord Hidden Official.”

After arriving on Stalactite Mountain, Chen Ping’an first paid a visit to the Spring Banner Inn. Out of the four most prominent private estates on Stalactite Mountain, the most special thing about the Spring Banner Inn was that it had been completely refined.

From the very beginning of the construction process, Shao Yunyan had set up many formations and talismans, so the Spring Banner Inn had never actually taken root on Stalactite Mountain. In contrast, no such considerations had been made during the construction of the Ape Havoc Estate, and there was no way that the Plum Blossom Garden could possibly be refined.

Shao Yunyan gave the central formation treasure to Chen Ping’an, and after confirming some details, Chen Ping’an departed from the Spring Banner Inn with Mi Yu.

Yan Ming and Nalan Caihuan remained in the Spring Banner Inn, responsible for attending to the administrators of the intercontinental ships to come.

Mi Yu would also be staying behind, but as usual, he had to escort Chen Ping’an to the gate that connected the two large worlds.

Along the way, he asked in a curious manner, ”Why not go through the old gate that’s closer to the Spring Banner Inn? Both Senior Zhang Lu and the little Daoist priest stationed there are very interesting characters.”

Chen Ping’an merely nodded and didn’t offer any explanation.

That was just an errant question from Mi Yu anyway, so he wasn’t disappointed by the lack of response from Chen Ping’an.

After escorting Chen Ping’an to the gate, Mi Yu returned to the Spring Banner Inn. He was familiar with many of the female administrators and other female passengers on the ships, but unfortunately, none of them were meant to be.

Everyone looked up as Chen Ping’an returned to the main hall of the summer palace, and Guo Zhujiu asked, ”How many Ascension Tier great demons did you slay on this outing, Master?”

”Just one,” Chen Ping’an replied as he sat down on the doorstep, feeling a little weary.

”Wait, there actually was one?” Guo Zhujiu exclaimed. ”I don’t know what to say now, Master!”

Chou Miao turned to Chen Ping’an, and the latter confirmed with a smile, ”I’m being serious.”

Chou Miao cupped his fist in a salute, but didn’t say anything.

The first batch of three cultivators sent to the top of the city walls consisted of Chou Miao, Dong Bude, and Deng Liang, and they had already returned.

Mi Yu was still at the Spring Banner Inn, so at the moment, Pang Yuanji and Lin Junbi were the only ones there.

”I’m going to slack off a little and take a rest; just keep doing what you were doing before I came back,” Chen Ping’an said.

Everyone returned to their duties, and even Guo Zhujiu suppressed the urge to go and chat with her master.

At the moment, several factions had taken shape in the Hidden Official’s branch.

Lin Junbi and Pang Yuanji got along with one another very nicely. In the wake of Xiao Xun’s betrayal, Pang Yuanji no longer harbored any lofty pride or ambitions. Aside from performing duties, he would occasionally play some games of Go against Lin Junbi to learn from the latter.

Pang Yuanji was a very fast learner, while Lin Junbi was growing and developing at a rapid pace outside of the Go board. Everyone else in the Hidden Official’s branch could see his improvement, and while they didn’t say anything, they certainly acknowledged it.

Song Gaoyuan was on decent terms with Luo Zhenyi, Xu Ning, and Chang Taiqing.

Deng Liang liked to occasionally strike up a conversation with Dong Bude, and even a blind man could see what his intentions were. However, it was also abundantly clear that Dong Bude didn’t have feelings for him.

Chen Ping’an had once jokingly told Deng Liang in private that he was good friends with Chen Sanqiu, and that if Deng Liang continued to make advances on Dong Bude, then he would drag Chen Sanqiu into the Hidden Official’s branch.

However, Deng Liang wasn’t fazed at all, declaring that he was a Nascent Tier sword cultivator, while Chen Sanqiu was only at the Golden Core Tier bottleneck, so as long as Chen Ping’an didn’t play favorites, he could easily deal with Chen Sanqiu.

He then also added that even if they were talking about drinking wine instead of cultivation base, Chen Sanqiu still wouldn’t be a match for him.

Gu Jianlong, Wang Xinshui, Cao Gun, and Xuan Can were like the four guardians of the Hidden Official’s branch. They always formed a united front in everything that they did, and they liked to follow Guo Zhujiu as their leader.

The four of them were the most shameless of the bunch, and perhaps that was why they were closest with Chen Ping’an.

However, even the four of them didn’t dare to say anything on this occasion as slaying a hidden Ascension Tier great demon was too monumental a contribution to the Sword Qi Great Wall for them to even fathom.

Lin Junbi and Xuan Can were both very accomplished Go players, and they often played games together.

Chen Ping’an always liked to give Xuan Can advice, and it seemed that Xuan Can never learned his lesson. Every single time, he would heed Chen Ping’an’s advice, and every single time, he would suffer a catastrophic defeat.

Whenever this happened, Guo Zhujiu would blame Xuan Can for not being able to keep up with her master’s brilliant mind, denouncing him for wasting her master’s sagely advice.

Gu Jianlong and Wang Xinshui didn’t know the first thing about Go, but they were very loud, and one of them would cheer for Xuan Can, while the other would try to distract Lin Junbi with constant chatter.

Pang Yuanji would often find a quiet place in the summer palace to sit in silence on his own.

Chou Miao had taken it upon himself to instruct all of his young juniors in swordsmanship. As long as they were willing to ask, he was happy to impart his wisdom.

Dong Bude occasionally chatted with Luo Zhenyi, treating her like a friend. In the beginning, Luo Zhenyi always wore a cold expression in everything she did, but her demeanor had since softened thanks to Dong Bude’s displays of friendship.

As for Guo Zhujiu, she didn’t seem to be tied to any one faction. She asked Sword Immortal Chou Miao for guidance in her swordsmanship; she chatted about random topics with Pang Yuanji; she forcibly injected herself into conversations between Dong Bude and Luo Zhenyi, and of course, whenever she did this, it always concluded with her having her head slammed repeatedly into either a table or a wall.

Chen Ping’an was happy to see all of this.

No one could be constantly wound tight like a drawn bow. Relaxation in moderation was the key to long-term sustainability.

Everyone in the Hidden Official’s branch had their own duties to perform, and an orderly system had already taken shape, with everyone maximizing their strengths and covering one another’s weaknesses.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t be happier with everyone’s performance, but as the Hidden Official, he still had to put on a stern and scathing facade at times to keep everyone in check.

When it came to being facetious and delivering stinging backhanded compliments, Chen Ping’an was a true master. Prior to meeting Chen Ping’an, Gu Jianlong thought that he had mastered this art, but he now knew that he had much to learn.

Of course, his criticisms had to be valid. Otherwise, those remarks would only come across as unconstructive insults that left a foul taste in everyone’s mouths.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Chen Ping’an, and he tossed the minimization treasure and pocket treasure that he had obtained from the Clay Pot to Guo Zhujiu.

”I managed to capture some unexpected spoils,” he explained with a smile.

He then gave everyone a detailed recount of his trip, but made sure to cut out the parts that had to be kept secret. For example, he had to withhold all of the secrets pertaining to the Mountain and Water Cave, and he also refrained from telling her how he had learned to open the pocket treasure and minimization treasure, even though he had killed their owner.

Guo Zhujiu’s eyes were glowing as she cleared out some space on her desk, then immediately got to work, logging all of the immortal treasures and immortal coins in the pocket treasure and the minimization treasure.

”Tell us the truth, Lord Hidden Official; you have a bonded item that specializes in collecting treasures, don’t you?” Dong Bude jibed.

Earlier, he had returned to the summer palace with over 110 immortal treasures from the Spring Banner Inn, and now, he had just returned with two even more impressive treasures that contained vast hoards of wealth.

”They’re lucky that my master is a good person who doesn’t take things too far.” Guo Zhujiu harrumphed without even raising her head. ”Otherwise, if he used the abilities of his bonded item in full force, then he could gather all of the wealth from the Southern Whirl Continent and the Middle Earth Divine Continent after paying them a visit tomorrow!”

”I don’t know about gathering wealth, but I did get a worthless snowball for you,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile. ”Once you’re done with what you’re doing, we can make a few little snowmen.”

Chen Ping’an pulled out the large snowball from his minimization treasure as he spoke.

The snowball would likely melt within minutes anywhere else on the Sword Qi Great Wall, but in the summer palace, all he would have to do was place it under some shade, and it should be preserved just fine for quite a few days.

”You brought another present for me, Master?!” Guo Zhujiu exclaimed, looking completely overjoyed. ”Thank heavens my senior sister isn’t here to see this!”

”Make sure to be careful with your senior sister.” Chen Ping’an chuckled with an affectionate expression. ”She really likes to hold grudges, and even I’m not allowed to see that little account book of hers.”

Guo Zhujiu sat in her chair as she waggled her shoulders from side to side, something that she had picked up from her senior sister. She was really happy today, so much so that she was at a loss for words, and she only wished that she had her little gong with her.

Chen Ping’an sat down on the doorstep with his back facing everyone, making a little snowman out of the snowball that he had brought back, something that was only possible in the cool weather of the summer palace, given that the rest of the Sword Qi Great Wall was at the height of summer.

”Don’t hold anything against Lin Junbi,” Chen Ping’an suddenly said. ”He has nothing to do with Bian Jing’s association with that Ascension Tier great demon. Bian Jing plotted extensively to become Lin Junbi’s senior brother, and he had some very lofty ambitions.”

”We were all waiting for you to say that, Lord Hidden Official,” Chou Miao said with a smile.

Sure enough, many people were looking very relieved.

”Come look at the little snowman I made,” Chen Ping’an called out as he beckoned to Guo Zhujiu, who immediately sprang to her feet, hoisted her little bamboo bookcase onto her back, then swaggered out the door.

After sitting down on the doorstep, she was silent for a long while before asking in a timid voice, ”Who’s this meant to be, Master? It’s supposed to be my senior sister, right?”

The little snowman had a disproportionately large head with two lopsided bamboo leaves sticking out of it. On top of that, it was standing on one leg, and it was carrying a thin bamboo branch in one hand. It looked rather stupid and wasn’t visually appealing at all.

”You can have it,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile. ”Put it on your desk.”

Guo Zhujiu’s brows instantly became tightly furrowed in contemplation.

She took a glance at Dong Bude, who made a threatening hand gesture, and she could only reluctantly carry the little snowman back to her desk.

She obediently placed the snowman on her desk as her master instructed, but made sure that it was facing Dong Bude, while its back was facing her.

Chen Ping’an stood up from the doorstep, and he was thinking of the two girls that had been taken to the Pure White Continent by Xie Songhua.

In the future, when Wei Jin, Shao Yunyan, and the other outsider sword immortals returned to their home continents, they would also be taking young prodigies from the Sword Qi Great Wall back with them, much like dandelion seeds drifting to faraway lands.

He hoped that all of these children from the Sword Qi Great Wall would turn out to be like him and Liu Xianyang after leaving the Jewel Small World. In fact, it would please him to no end if they could all surpass him and lead even better lives than he.