Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an found a secluded spot and quickly changed his face mask, adopting the appearance of a young boy.

He then secretly retrieved a standard sword from the sword market from his minimization treasure, after which he placed the broken sword on his back into the minimization treasure. He needed to return this to Pang Yuanji afterward.

He flew through the air on his sword again, but his aura instantly changed from that of an aging old man to that of a vigorous young boy. His expression was spirited, and his eyes were limpid.

Chen Ping’an had performed advanced refinement on First and Fifteenth, and he also had Pine Needle and Lightning Devourer, two replica swords from Hatred Sword Mountain. However, he wouldn’t use any of these blades unless he faced an emergency.

Both Sword Immortal and Golden Sweet Wine were celestial tools, and he had already given them to Ning Yao.

Thus, Chen Ping’an traveling on a sword and summoning his bonded flying sword, Account Book, to participate in the battle as a genuine sword cultivator was actually one of the best disguises.

The face mask fabricated by Zhu Lian was only secondary.

In any case, more disguises were always better.

Chen Ping’an’s heart stirred slightly, and he rapidly ascended to take a glance at the battlefield, after which he quickly descended and continued to fly just above the ground.

On the battlefield, thousands of sword cultivators charged through enemy formations and continued to push south, forcing the demon army to contract.

The most violent and deadly area of the battlefield was still around the golden river. The demon army further south rushed forward to attack the long river, and, seizing the gaps between the sword immortals’ attacks, they could often create a mountainous slope in an instant, forcefully pushing against the formless barrier around the golden river.

However, the relentless and surging waves of the golden river would slam into the demons and send blood and mangled flesh spraying into the surroundings, with each wave leaving countless skeletons in its wake. These skeletons would then be covered by the demons that rushed forward afterward, with the seemingly endless waves of demons continuing to erode the characters on the southern bank of the golden river.

The sword immortals had to rein in their attacks slightly, making sure they used their swords to clean the battlefield in front of them, lest the demon corpses accumulate and continue to eat away at the golden river.

The golden sagely characters, which were like small seal script characters, and the blooming golden lotus flowers in the long river continued to fade and vanish under the relentless assault from the demons. However, the sages from the Three Teachings continued to reinforce the long river from afar, preventing it from dissipating too quickly.

Several great demons had already arrived in this section of the battlefield, working together to attack the formation.

Demon cultivators who possessed bonded mystical abilities relating to moving mountains and shifting water continued to attack the golden river and the human sword immortals, either dropping mountains from the sky or summoning torrential downpours that carried strong yin energy and extreme impurities.

A great demon directly fractured the earth with its immortal technique, trenching away the soil. There were also demons with colossal bodies burrowing into the ground and tearing it apart, willing to face the attacks of the sword immortals head-on as they attempted to remove the earth from beneath the seemingly indestructible golden river. They wanted to turn this into a hovering entity with no support, thereby allowing the demon army in the south to rapidly connect with the demon army in the north.

The two sages sitting at either end of the great wall channeled their formidable mystical abilities at almost the exact same time. Not only did the power of the golden river grow considerably, thundering down the sides like waterfalls, but the roots of the golden lotuses also extended down with the river water, embedding themselves deeper into the earth. Dense lines of small golden characters hovered above the golden lotuses, with the contents being renowned poems and phrases that praised the qualities of lotus flowers.

A lotus flower near the feet of a female sword immortal was especially large and beautiful, shockingly measuring approximately three hundred meters in height. Its refreshing fragrance wafted far and wide, condensing into wisps of golden spiritual energy that eventually meshed together to form beads of water, which landed on the lotus leaf below with pleasant plops.

The lines of golden characters were like adorable little birds that swayed back and forth with the lotus flowers.

”Of the flowers on land and water, many are worthy of admiration...

”Lotuses grow in muddy ponds without being tainted; their beauty lies both inside and out. Free from excessive growth or entangled branches, they rise upright with elegance and purity.”[1]

The female sword immortal landed on the continuously growing lotus leaf, after which she stepped onto the golden lotus. The world instantly became clearer, with abundant spiritual energy hovering around her.

The sword strikes of the female sword immortal became increasingly fluid and elegant.

She was already breathtakingly beautiful to begin with, and she appeared even more stunning at this moment.

A male sword immortal neighboring her launched incredibly vicious sword strikes at the demons, displaying no hesitation at all as he ended their lives. He used his mind’s lake to ask the female sword immortal, ”Are you truly unwilling to become my sister-in-law?”

”Mi Yu is all show and no substance, and he always likes to utter those scholarly phrases I don’t understand. He couldn’t be more annoying if he tried,” Sword Immortal Zhou Cheng replied in an apathetic voice.

Mi Hu fell silent for a moment before asking, ”Then what about me?”

Zhou Cheng also paused for a moment before replying, ”You’re too ugly.”

Mi Hu, who had just become a great sword immortal not long ago, didn’t become angry upon hearing this. Instead, he laughed heartily and unleashed another sword strike in a graceful manner.

The dashing nature of sword immortals was more prominent during moments of life and death.

Chen Ping’an rapidly dashed toward a section of the battlefield in the south, traveling on his sword and making his way to the group of sword cultivators who were slicing through the demon army and venturing south the quickest.

Die Zhang and Dong Huafu were shattering the demon formations for this group of sword cultivators, so they would find it very difficult to slow down even if they wanted to.

The demon army also abandoned any thoughts of charging forward, especially since killing these human sword cultivators would earn them more military merit than climbing the city wall.

Moreover, the attacks of the defending sword cultivators would only become increasingly incisive and deadly as the demons approached the city wall, so mindlessly charging forward would only mean a quicker death. On the other hand, trying to surround and kill the sword cultivators on the battlefield would at least allow them to live for a while longer.

And thus, many encirclements of various sizes inadvertently appeared on the vast battlefield between the city wall and the golden river.

Chen Ping’an saw many familiar faces on the battlefield, some nearby and some far away.

Sword Immortal Tao Wen was on the front line furthest away from the city wall, battling hard with the other sword immortals to resolutely safeguard the golden river.

Nearby, there were Pu Yu and Ren Yi, whom he had encountered earlier, and also Nascent Tier Sword Cultivator Zhen Chun acting as a guardian sword cultivator, as well as many regular customers of the wine shop who had drunk vats of Bamboo Sea Small World Wine and eaten bowls upon bowls of yangchun noodles. Of course, there were also many gambling addicts who frequently lost money.

While making his way over to look for Ning Yao and the others, Chen Ping’an could only do his best to save some sword cultivators who were facing dire situations, allowing them to temporarily break free from the encircling demons.

According to the rules established by the lineage of the Hidden Official, sword cultivators of different cultivation bases should advance different distances as they pushed south and killed demons. After reaching the predetermined distance, or after killing a certain number of demons, sword cultivators would be allowed to retreat north and return to the foot of the Sword Qi Great Wall to rest and recuperate.

If the sword cultivators still had remaining strength, however, they could feel free to continue south. On the other hand, sword cultivators who suffered severe wounds or casualties could directly ascend the city wall and be replaced by those who were well-rested and prepared for battle. Those on the battlefield shouldn’t charge forward recklessly for the sake of earning military merit, nor should they think about sacrificing themselves to kill more demons.

Each section of the battlefield along the length of the great wall would have one group of sword cultivators atop the city wall and one group below. When they switched positions, the latter group needed to retreat without hesitation, or else they would risk causing significant issues. If the sword cultivators below the city wall continued to fight and refused to retreat, ending up with heavy casualties, the sword cultivators on the city wall would be forced to descend and enter the battlefield earlier to fill in the void.

Over time, repeated failures to properly switch positions would result in the offending section of the battlefield falling into complete disarray, eventually needing additional sword cultivators from other areas of the battlefield to deal with the fallout.

To put it simply, the lineage of the Hidden Official hoped that more sword cultivators could survive and thus continue to do battle. If that were the case, it would lead to a positive cycle of even more sword cultivators being able to survive and participate in the battle.

This was war, however, so it was inevitable that people would continue to die.

Life and death were like close neighbors on the battlefield.

They needed to exterminate all of the demons that had been trapped between the city wall and the golden river and were prevented from retreating, and they also needed to limit the casualties suffered by the Middle Five Tier cultivators fighting beyond the city wall.

An endless stream of demon armies continued to travel north to the battlefield, yet the Sword Qi Great Wall would lose a bit of its combat power with each sword cultivator that was killed. This was from the perspective of cold, hard numbers in the account books, but how should they account for the morale of the sword cultivators?

On the battlefield of death and destruction, the group of human sword cultivators closest to the golden river rapidly advanced forward like a formidable sword formation slicing through soft tofu. However, they suddenly ground to a halt at this moment, stopping their advance.

Even Die Zhang, who had been slaughtering demons with frenzied vigor, withdrew her blade and retreated dozens of meters. Her back was slightly bent as she stood beside Dong Huafu with the disproportionately large sword, Mountain Suppressing, in her hands, with the tip of the sword resting on the ground.

Meanwhile, their bonded flying swords continued to kill demons without pause.

The reason for this was very simple. They were advancing too quickly, so much so that they were flanked by demons on both sides.

Further behind them on the battlefield was Ning Yao, who was wearing the Dao robe, Golden Sweet Wine, and carrying a sword case on her back. Sword Immortal was sheathed inside the sword case, while Ning Yao held another sword in her hand.

Approximately sixty meters to either side of Ning Yao were Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo.

Fan Dache was standing even further behind the three of them.

They should have continued to advance a further eighty or so kilometers before starting to retreat and killing the many demons they had previously missed.

However, Ning Yao had said just then that something felt a little off.

As long as Die Zhang and Dong Huafu hadn’t gone insane, they would definitely become solemn and cautious upon hearing such a comment from Ning Yao.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo liked to use their normal swords, Scripture and Purple Lightning, as if they were flying swords.

In addition to their flying swords, these two normal swords also traveled along very neat paths. Scripture hovered at waist height as it rapidly carved out a large circle with a one-kilometer radius, with Chen Sanqiu as the center point. Elsewhere, Yan Zhuo’s Purple Lightning carved out a circle at head height, not interfering with Chen Sanqiu’s Scripture.

If a demon were lucky or used brute strength and immortal treasures to charge into these circles, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo wouldn’t need to worry at all. They could trust Ning Yao and Fan Dache to dispose of these demons. This was very simple and direct.

As for Shopkeeper Die Zhang, who always went all out with little consideration for her defenses, and Dong Huafu, who huffed and puffed as he loudly killed demons, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo couldn’t be bothered to protect them with their sword formations.

In any case, Ning Yao would naturally step forward to help if something unexpected happened to them.

Chen Sanqiu also had Cloud Pattern, but he had already lent this sword to Fan Dache.

These were all extremely high-grade swords that A’Liang had borrowed from the Great Li Empire’s replica White Jade Capital.

Only Righteous Aura had been taken away to the Majestic World by the Confucian sage whom Die Zhang liked.

”There seems to be a trap,” Ning Yao explained. ”I’ll distract the demons with the highest cultivation bases in a moment, and everyone else can rest assured and retreat.”

She spoke as calmly and casually as usual, but only Die Zhang, a fellow female sword cultivator, noticed some small clues.

Ning Yao was hiding some minor displeasure.

Die Zhang also felt slightly helpless. The young Hidden Official hadn’t appeared on the city wall for a very long time after all of the sword cultivators belonging to the lineage of the Hidden Official had relocated to the summer palace.

In fact, he hadn’t visited to drink a pot of celebratory wine even when Fan Dache had finally managed to advance to the Golden Core Tier after much difficulty. One had to realize that the first person whom Fan Dache had wanted to share the delightful news with wasn’t even his good friend, Chen Sanqiu, anymore.

Ning Yao looked around. There wasn’t anything amiss on the battlefield, and they were still surrounded by thick layers of demons as usual.

Ning Yao furrowed her brows, and she was just about to warn Fan Dache to retreat first, after which Die Zhang and Dong Huafu could hold the rear for him, lest he become isolated and surrounded by demons. As for herself, it wouldn’t be a big issue for her to retreat more slowly alongside Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo.

Chen Sanqiu had a Dao robe and life-saving talismans, while Yan Zhuo was naturally good at self-preservation. Perhaps these two friends were far inferior to Die Zhang and Dong Huafu when it came to their speed of killing demons, but they were able to strike a remarkably good balance between offensive and defensive capabilities.

Before Ning Yao could say anything using her mind’s lake, however, she was slightly astonished to see that Fan Dache had already stepped onto his sword and started to fly north in retreat.

Ning Yao felt slightly bewildered. Since when had Fan Dache become so clever?

Not only that, but Fan Dache was also approached by a young boy ”shakily” flying over on his sword, just barely managing to dodge the many attacks from the demons. The young boy grabbed Fan Dache’s shoulder and exclaimed, ”Off you go!” with a chuckle before pushing hard and throwing a powerful kick at the hilt of Cloud Pattern, sending Fan Dache and his sword hurtling even quicker toward the north, traveling more than three hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

The Golden Core Tier Fan Dache left the battlefield in a slightly disheveled manner. Even so, he showed no signs of hesitation as he flew north at an incredible speed, caring about nothing else but fleeing.

There were two simple reasons for this. He had heard that person after a long time. He had then asked just two things. ”Hey, Dache. Are you not going to flee yet? Do you want to offer your head on a silver platter?”

At the same time, an extremely familiar voice sounded in the minds’ lakes of all the sword cultivators, saying very quickly, ”Retreat in waves, and Ning Yao and I will hold the rear. Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo should stay in the central location to provide support, and Die Zhang and Dong Huafu will be responsible for following Fan Dache and opening up a path.

”A distance of three hundred meters between each group will suffice, and it’s important not to have this distance grow too great or shrink too much. There are a large number of enemies hiding and waiting to attack us, and I’ve only managed to identify two such locations so far. Be careful of the area ninety meters northeast of Die Zhang and the area approximately three hundred and sixty meters southwest of Fan Dache.

”All of these enemy sword cultivators are at least at the Golden Core Tier, and it’s extremely likely that a decent number of them are at the Nascent Tier. In fact, there might even be Unpolished Jade Tier sword immortals. So, remember to be careful, everyone.

”Be especially careful of the demon cultivators targeting Dache first, then turning around later to target the others instead. Hey, Dache, can you please fly in a more unpredictable manner? Or are you planning to continue dead straight and crash head-on into the hovering flying swords left along the path by the enemies?

”Sanqiu, Fatty Yan, prepare to use your trump cards and most powerful immortal treasures at any moment. The demons are hellbent on surrounding and killing you this time, and the sacrificial demons are all sword cultivators. They definitely won’t allow us to retreat too easily. Also, protect Fan Dache.”

This was the fussy rambling they expected of Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an set up this formation and assigned tasks as quickly as possible. There was no need to explain his other speculations.

There were definitely two to three sacrificial demon sword cultivators hiding extremely well and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Perhaps there was even an Unpolished Jade Tier demon sword immortal concealing themself even better, also willing to risk their life for the sake of unleashing a single sword strike, just like Sword Immortal Lie Ji.

The reason for this was incredibly simple. Apart from the Golden Core Tier Fan Dache, everyone else among this group of sword cultivators was on the kill list of the Savage World.

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

They were all top-notch prodigies among this bountiful generation of prodigies enjoyed by the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow, seemingly a little annoyed at that person’s endless rambling. In reality, however, her most beautiful brows in the world reflected the happiness, joy, and pride she was feeling at the moment.

Her raised brow was like a slight ripple in the lake created by the gentle spring breeze.

A tall and slender ”young boy” arrived beside Ning Yao on his flying sword.

They were no longer just the Sword Qi Great Wall’s Ning Yao and the Majestic World’s Chen Ping’an.

Right now, they were also sword cultivators fighting side by side on the battlefield.

Everything was most difficult in the beginning, but the young man beside her always liked to think about far too many things, so things would often become even more difficult than the most difficult beginnings.

However, there wouldn’t be any need to worry about him after he overcame the difficult beginnings.

For example, him liking her.

For example, practicing fist techniques.

And for example, becoming a sword cultivator and then becoming a great sword immortal.

”Your bonded flying swords?” Ning Yao asked using her mind’s lake.

”I have two,” Chen Ping’an replied with a faint smile.

Ning Yao didn’t say anything else.

See?

Chen Ping’an naturally didn’t know what Ning Yao was thinking, nor did he have the time or effort to speculate on her thoughts.

What he was most worried about was the sacrificial demons choosing to hold back and continuing to remain concealed.

Ning Yao and the others were fully responsible for this section of the battlefield, with no sword cultivator on the city wall waiting to switch positions with them. At the same time, they also needed to kill the most demons and advance the quickest, piercing through the enemy formation to eventually reach the golden river. Only then would their mission be successfully completed.

Once the strength of the two sides became equivalent, the Golden Core Tier Fan Dache would become the ideal target for the demons.

However, it wouldn’t be reasonable for them to have Fan Dache directly leave the battlefield and watch the battle from afar because of this.

No matter what, Chen Ping’an knew that his appearance had perhaps quashed a dangerous surprise, but it might very well bring an even greater surprise afterward.

This was just like the earlier situation with Xuan Can and Xu Ning’s two strategies. In reality, no one could say for sure which strategy would be better prior to implementing them in battle.

Moreover, Xu Ning’s strategy wouldn’t necessarily have led to a better outcome than Xuan Can’s strategy. However, Chen Ping’an hadn’t been willing to say something so heavy and demoralizing at the time; Chou Miao’s status prevented him from voicing such an opinion, and Lin Junbi hadn’t dared to utter this truth. The three of them had felt very helpless.

When it came to the plans of humans and heavens, humans would inevitably feel insignificant and powerless regardless of how much they schemed and calculated.

This was Chen Ping’an’s biggest takeaway after assuming the role of Hidden Official.

They continued to do battle as they retreated.

Die Zhang and Dong Huafu did their best to protect Fan Dache as he retreated from the battlefield, while Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo wouldn’t need to worry about their backs with Ning Yao and Chen Ping’an guarding the rear. They could put their main focus on killing demons.

Ning Yao didn’t summon her flying sword, and she only wielded the sword in her hand. Even so, she still exuded brilliance, making it feel as if she epitomized the fundamental essence and simplicity of sword techniques.

One sword strike after another, Ning Yao’s attacks became ruthlessly quick compared to her initial state of calm and casualness. Sword qi swept through the battlefield, instantly transforming swathes of demons into limp corpses.

Indeed, Ning Yao’s attacks were so overwhelming that Chen Ping’an suddenly had no enemies to dispose of as he retreated beside her, giving him more time and effort to scour the battlefield for any traces of concealed sacrificial demons.

Chen Ping’an soon managed to find another Golden Core Tier demon sword cultivator in addition to the two sacrificial demon sword cultivators he had discovered earlier, and this was because the demon sword cultivator had managed to evade Ning Yao’s sweeping sword qi slightly quicker than the other demons. However, the demon had purposely and imperceptibly faltered a little, even going as far as to take some minor hits for the sake of concealing its true power. It allowed the sword qi to slice a huge chunk of flesh from its shoulder.

Ning Yao pursued speed as she attacked, so there were times when her attacks would appear completely aimless. It was clear that she was doing this on purpose, creating more opportunities for Chen Ping’an to analyze in detail the reactions of the demons.

Initially, the group had charged forward the quickest and drawn closest to the long golden river, and Ning Yao and her companions gradually fell back and surprisingly ended up being the closest to the city wall.

Chen Sanqiu and the others had no qualms about this.

After all, no one would fight them for the demons in this section of the battlefield.

No one felt like they would be slower than the sword cultivators in other sections of the battlefield as they sliced through the enemy formation.

This was because they had Ning Yao, and they now had Chen Ping’an as well.

Everyone felt like it was only natural and right for them to achieve outstanding results on the battlefield.

Fan Dache wanted to say something after temporarily retreating from the dangerous area with many concealed sacrificial demons, but he couldn’t help but hesitate.

”It’s alright. Don’t feel like this is embarrassing,” Chen Sanqiu said in a quiet voice.

Die Zhang and the others also felt like Fan Dache was planning to return to the city wall first.

However, Fan Dache surprisingly said, ”My cultivation base is the lowest, and my abilities are the weakest, so let me become the bait. Unknown dangers are the most troublesome, so rather than causing everyone to feel worried and become distracted, it’s better that we actively defeat this trap head-on.”

Chen Ping’an was slightly taken aback.

Fan Dache looked at Chen Ping’an and asked, ”What do you say, Guardian Sword Cultivator?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment before smiling and nodding in response, saying, ”Very well.”

He then glanced at the battlefield before them. Something extremely uncanny was taking place, with the demon army gathering along a line approximately three hundred meters away from the group of young sword cultivators. They refused to charge forward no matter what.

”I’ll guard the rear, and everyone else can attack to their heart’s content,” Chen Ping’an said.

He then looked at Ning Yao, who nodded and replied, ”Okay.”

The sword in Ning Yao’s hand returned to the sword case on her back, after which Sword Immortal left its scabbard and landed in her grip. ”I’ll break open the formation.”

Die Zhang and Dong Huafu exchanged a glance, after which they smiled and said, ”Okay.”

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo were further brimming with eager anticipation.

The reason for this was very simple. How did Fan Dache feel when he was able to fight side by side with his companions?

Chen Sanqiu and the others felt the same way when they were able to fight side by side with Ning Yao.

This was because Ning Yao had always been adjusting her movements and attacks to look after her friends, these fellow ”prodigies.” She had already restrained herself for a very long time.

In the end, Ning Yao added, ”The enemy formation will collapse very quickly, so make sure none of you fall behind.”

1. These are phrases from the prose On Love of the Lotus (爱莲说) by Zhou Dunyi, a Chinese cosmologist, philosopher, and writer during the Song dynasty. ☜