Unsheathed

When Ning Yao had stepped forward and prepared to lead the charge against the demon army, the demons on the front lines had stopped and refused to advance. After Ning Yao sliced through the enemy formation and arrived near the golden river with her six companions, however, the demon armies on the two adjacent sections of the battlefield had increased the speed of their advance, doing their best to distance themselves from the deadly attacks of the female ”sword immortal.”

Ning Yao was like a military supervisor, watching over the demon armies at this moment and forcing them to fervently charge forward as if their lives depended on it.

Thus, after Fan Dache pulled ahead of the young couple on his flying sword, it mysteriously appeared as if a single Golden Core Tier cultivator were pursuing a colossal number of demons. This was a very strange scene.

After he returned to the city wall, Fan Dache felt like he should drink a pot of the most expensive Azure Divine Mountain Wine based on this matter alone. He had earned enough military merit, so he finally didn’t need to borrow any wine money from Chen Sanqiu.

Chen Ping’an glanced at the battlefield ahead and noticed the rear of the demon army growing increasingly dense as they rapidly charged forward. Moreover, the higher the cultivation base of the demons, the more distance they put between themselves and the three pursuers. Of course, the reality was that they simply wanted to stay as far away from Ning Yao as possible.

”The sword cultivators on the two adjacent battlefields will feel significantly increased pressure because of our actions,” Chen Ping’an said.

”Then we’ll strive to connect with the sword cultivators on the front lines as soon as possible. How exactly should we do this?” Ning Yao asked.

Chen Ping’an stepped onto the standard sword from the sword market, growing increasingly accustomed to flying just a small distance above the ground. He quickly rolled up his sleeves and replied, ”Let me take charge this time, and you can hold the rear. I’ll let you deal with the Golden Core Tier and Nascent Tier demons.”

”You’re not planning to summon your flying swords?” Ning Yao asked.

”I’ll only use my fists, and this will allow me to temper my martial arts cultivation,” Chen Ping’an replied.

He then added, ”Rest assured, I definitely can’t rival your speed of advance, but I won’t be slow compared to the other sections of the battlefield.”

Ning Yao nodded and replied, ”Then throw punches to your heart’s content.”

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath, shooting forward on his sword and catching up to Fan Dache before saying using his mind’s lake, ”Dache, you can stay in the middle to launch sword strikes, and I’ll be in charge of breaking open the formation at the front. You don’t need to worry about anything else that happens, and you simply need to advance with your sword. I might be unable to look out for you the entire time, but things should be largely fine with Ning Yao holding the rear.”

”Understood!” Fan Dache responded in a solemn voice.

In fact, Fan Dache already knew that he needed to be extra careful when Chen Ping’an didn’t start by saying, ”Hey, Dache...”

Chen Ping’an, who was wearing two Dao robes from the garment market, suddenly increased the speed of his sword, causing the wind to howl past him as he dashed forward.

He was still more than three hundred meters away from the rear of the demon army, yet he had already assumed a fist stance and stomped his foot, causing the sword beneath his feet to tilt downward under the immense force. He was legitimately sticking to the ground as he flew.

Behind him, Fan Dache felt like Chen Ping’an had instantly vanished from the spot even though he clearly hadn’t used an Inch Movement Talisman. It was as if his speed were already equivalent to an Inch Movement Talisman. Could it be that he had broken through again and become a Far Roaming Tier grandmaster just a year after advancing to the Vajra Body Tier?

Ning Yao chose to fly on her sword, and she explained to Fan Dache, ”He’s still at the Vajra Body Tier, and he hasn’t advanced to the Far Roaming Tier yet. He’s no longer wearing three Dao robes for the sake of defense, and he’s instead wearing them to suppress his fist intent and, to some degree, his sword qi as well. The three elements oppose each other, and this can also be regarded as a form of training. This is similar to low-level martial artists in the martial world tying bags of sand to their ankles.”

Why was Ning Yao willing to explain so much?

This was naturally because the matter pertained to Chen Ping’an.

Another reason was that Fan Dache was friends with both her and Chen Ping’an. Moreover, Chen Ping’an looked after Fan Dache the most, not only because of Fan Dache’s low cultivation base, but seemingly because Chen Ping’an could see many shadows of his past self in Fan Dache. Each shadow was small and incomplete, but combined together, it was only natural for Chen Ping’an to feel a special sense of closeness to Fan Dache.

Ning Yao didn’t understand the specifics of this, but she was confident that Chen Ping’an would explain everything to her once he had spare time. Or when the Hidden Official finally found some time in his busy schedule.

”When Chen Ping’an started learning fist techniques in his hometown, he also tied bags of stones to his ankles to train. Afterward, he used True Qi Eight Tael Talismans when he embarked on the first distant journey in his life,” Ning Yao continued. ”He’s already grown accustomed to this, and even he’s unaware of what will happen when he launches a punch with his full strength. And since he’s not aware of just how powerful and quick his punch is, how can his opponents possibly be aware?”

Ning Yao slashed down with her sword as she spoke because she had detected a Golden Core Tier demon cultivator glancing at her from another section of the battlefield in the distance. Sword Immortal ripped through the earth like a sharp blade through tofu, instantly slicing the offending demon cultivator into two halves. The lifeless corpse thudded to the ground, with the exploding golden core killing countless demon soldiers in the surroundings.

Ning Yao was involuntarily reminded of a small matter.

Back when Chen Ping’an was still a young boy, he had carried a locust wood sword case with two swords on his back and arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall, visiting her for the first time. He had liked to look for things to talk about even when there was nothing to talk about, so he had told her many stories about things that had taken place in the mortal streets and shops. For example, carpenters flicking chalk lines. The old and experienced carpentry masters were all very precise when drawing chalk lines.

Ning Yao uncharacteristically took another glance at her handiwork. The dead-straight gash in the ground was much like a precise chalk line.

Fan Dache didn’t know how to respond.

He felt unimaginable pressure as he stood beside Ning Yao.

Chen Sanqiu had once told Fan Dache in private that things would still be relatively okay if he and their other friends were one cultivation base below Ning Yao. However, they would truly be made to question life if they were at the same cultivation base as her. Were they truly sword cultivators as well? Their cultivation bases weren’t fake, were they?

However, Chen Sanqiu had been smiling widely and drinking wine in a leisurely manner while grumbling about this.

The second shopkeeper had once said that wine was the best fishing rod in the world, able to catch the words in the depths of the drunkards’ hearts and pull them to the surface. The Bamboo Sea Small World Wine from his wine shop was naturally even better at doing this.

After becoming friends with Ning Yao, even prodigies like Chen Sanqiu would feel a great deal of pressure. At the same time, however, they would also drink in satisfaction.

Fan Dache carefully surveyed the battlefield, which was actually empty and seemingly free from danger. However, he still paid close attention to the ground, worried that there were sly demon cultivators hiding underground and waiting to jump out to attack him with a sword or some immortal treasure.

These were common occurrences on the battlefield, after all.

Once, Fan Dache had personally witnessed a talented sword cultivator his age fly on their sword, only to have a mountain-moving demon cultivator hiding underground predict their route. The demon cultivator had burst out from the ground and grabbed the sword cultivator’s feet, directly ripping them into two halves.

The most frightening enemies on the battlefield often weren’t the powerful demon cultivators with high cultivation bases and impressive combat power. People could generally keep their distance from these demons unless they were trapped and had nowhere to go. Instead, the most terrifying demons were those cultivators who didn’t seek military merit and only sought to temper their cultivation.

The attacks of these demon cultivators were cunning and vicious, and they were extremely adept at disguise and concealment. They always sought to kill with a single blow, and to kill without drawing attention to themselves. If their attacks failed, they would resolutely run away. These demon cultivators took to the battlefield like fish in water, allowing them to survive for a long time. They would secretly roam the battlefield, and the military merit they slowly accumulated would actually become extremely substantial.

It was said that the youngest Upper Five Tier sword immortal in the Savage World, Great Demon Shou Chen, had slowly risen to his lofty height through employing these cunning and vicious techniques.

What was truly scary was that even after becoming an Upper Five Tier sword immortal, Shou Chen still liked to conceal his powerful aura and suppress his might as a sword immortal, wandering around the battlefield as an elusive Golden Core Tier demon cultivator and waiting for the right opportunities to attack.

It was because of this that A’Liang had personally searched for Shou Chen during one of the battles in the past, unleashing a sword strike from a distance after eventually uncovering his whereabouts. However, Shou Chen was also a sword immortal, and he had possessed a defensive talisman from his esteemed master at the time, so he had ultimately managed to flee from the battlefield alive.

Fan Dache suddenly faltered for a brief moment.

Hadn’t the second shopkeeper acted the same way? Not only that, but he could even be regarded as a grandmaster of this tactic. ℴ

However, it was a pity that he had become the Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Otherwise, if the second shopkeeper didn’t act as Fan Dache’s guardian sword cultivator, he could freely roam around the various sections of the battlefield and enjoy rapid growth that rivaled Great Demon Shou Chen, also enjoying the bountiful military merit that came along with it. Chen Ping’an had finally become a sword cultivator, and he was also a pure martial artist to begin with, and he possessed an exceptional ability to exert fine control over the battlefield, as well as a powerful ability to accurately assess the combat power of friends and foes alike.

Ning Yao’s sword-immortal-esque demeanor was naturally stunning and captivating, stirring a sense of deep longing in the hearts of many people.

However, Ning Yao was just Ning Yao, and this wouldn’t change no matter how much they respected, feared, and admired her. Casting one’s gaze over the Sword Qi Great Wall, not a single person in the younger generation could emulate Ning Yao.

On the other hand, even Fan Dache could emulate the second shopkeeper’s manner of facing enemies. One simply needed to concentrate, observe with their eyes, listen more, and remember more of Chen Ping’an’s actions. That way, one could emulate his tactics and advance one’s own cultivation, giving one a slightly greater chance of victory on the battlefield. This would often be enough for sword cultivators to quash some unexpected surprises before they could take root.

After jumping off his sword, Chen Ping’an actively rushed into the demon army ahead, becoming surrounded by layer upon layer of demons.

He confidently assumed a fist stance, following which a vast and majestic fist intent flowed outward like a river, much in the same way that Ning Yao’s sword intent had formed an isolated small world.

Those who accidentally approached, or those who dared to charge over, would need to face his fist intent first.

A demon cultivator as large as a pavilion used two bonded items to enhance its defensive mystical ability, taking advantage of its innately powerful physique to wreak havoc across the battlefield.

However, it was directly brushed away by Chen Ping’an’s fist, with the young man directly cleaving the demon cultivator into two as if he were a sword. The violently spurting blood was then dispersed and pushed back by his fist intent.

It was better to stab an enemy once than to hit them one thousand times.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an only threw a single punch at his enemy.

He had charged the enemy army by himself, and he was surrounded on all sides by demons.

Even so, he still aimed to kill an enemy with each punch, crushing their foundations and rupturing their souls.

It looked like Chen Ping’an was saving his energy with each punch, but in reality, each and every attack was filled with power and unyielding momentum. In fact, his fist intent was so pure that even the sword qi in the surroundings was surprisingly showing signs of moving aside.

A burly demon cultivator measuring six meters in height was unable to dodge in time, so it instead raised its gigantic hammer and violently smashed down.

Perhaps they could only wait for death against the fabled prodigy, Ning Yao, but they at least had the will to put up a fight against the ”young boy” in front of them, who didn’t have flying swords and only had his incredible fist techniques.

Chen Ping’an reached forward and blocked the furious hammer strike, shifting his feet an inch as he stood in the shadows of the towering demon cultivator, allowing him to transfer the immense force into the ground. Even so, the remaining force from the thundering strike still caused him to sink knee-deep into the ground.

Chen Ping’an could have dodged this attack, yet he purposely chose to face it head-on, even faltering slightly in the process of transferring the force to the ground. This was in order to deceive the concealed demon cultivators into thinking that there was an opportunity to attack.

A Militarian demon cultivator dressed in a suit of talismanic armor fervently charged over with twin sabers, vehemently slashing down at Chen Ping’an.

Another Golden Core Tier demon cultivator extended a hand beyond his sleeve, releasing two golden talismans that were illustrated with the true appearances of the Five Mountains and winding rivers, respectively. He then forcefully raised his palm.

Within a radius of dozens of meters, the ground beneath Chen Ping’an’s feet was frozen and restricted by the immortal technique of the Golden Core Tier demon cultivator.

The golden talisman illustrated with the true appearances of the Five Mountains then manifested five fist-sized mountains of various colors, with four of the mountains hovering beside the young boy’s body. Only the Central Mountain hurtled toward the young boy’s head.

With his right hand still holding the gigantic hammer, Chen Ping’an raised his left hand and directly grabbed the pitch-black Dao saber that was dripping with an ink-like aura of filth. The pure fist intent in his palm ground against the pitch-black saber, sending sparks spraying into the surroundings.

Chen Ping’an twisted his wrist and dragged the Militarian demon cultivator, who was unwilling to release his Dao saber, forward to block the miniature mountain manifested by the golden talisman.

The hammer-wielding demon cultivator was unable to push his weapon a single inch lower after successfully completing his role of drawing over the concealed demons. This being the case, he temporarily withdrew his weapon and raised an arm, wanting to hammer his fist down on the young boy.

The Militarian demon cultivator saw that things were going south, but he neither wanted to be struck by the miniature Central Mountain, nor did he want to be thumped by the towering demon cultivator’s attack. Thus, he resolutely let go of his Dao saber and launched a kick at the young boy’s chest, borrowing the reaction force to fall back in retreat.

Chen Ping’an had been using Zhu Lian’s monkey fist stance the entire time, yet he suddenly shifted to Zhong Qiu’s Mountain Peak fist stance at this moment, causing his slightly relaxed and hunch-backed body to immediately straighten. His fist intent also changed, becoming increasingly abundant and directly shattering the surrounding restrictions.

His punch slammed into the miniature Central Mountain, unleashing ferocious ripples of fist intent that burst outward. At the same time, the miniature mountain exploded apart and transformed into rays of golden light that shot into the surroundings.

Chen Ping’an’s left hand was still tightly wrapped around the blade of the Dao saber, and he dodged the towering demon cultivator’s swinging arm as he slid backward.

He then retracted his left hand slightly and unclenched his right fist, treating it like a saber as he slashed down and brutally split the Dao saber into two. The Militarian demon cultivator had initially wanted to self-destruct his offensive bonded item, causing it to explode, yet he had now lost his bonded item for nothing, even vomiting a mouthful of blood essence from his heart. The demon cultivator took a glance at the young boy, who was still trapped by four miniature mountains, before directly flying far away from this region of the battlefield.

Even though the four mountains manifested by the golden talisman were small, they still possessed the lofty and majestic auras of towering mountains as they hovered in the air.

Both the young boy in black and the burly demon cultivator wielding a gigantic hammer were trapped inside the formation, which was unable to reach its full power due to the destruction of the Central Mountain.

Fortunately, the other golden talisman had already transformed into a water flood dragon measuring more than ten meters in length, completing the formation of immovable mountains and flowing water.

The burly demon cultivator that was trapped alongside Chen Ping’an no longer held back. Those who didn’t fear death on the battlefield would often face certain death, while those who feared death on the battlefield would often die even sooner.

The burly demon unleashed his fury inside the formation where a water flood dragon was preparing to hunt down its prey, directly charging at the young boy whose fists were unreasonably powerful. He was going to kill this young boy even if it meant death!

In the end, the burly demon’s chest was crushed by a single punch from Chen Ping’an. Before this, the relentless attacks from the water flood dragon had already caused the body of the burly demon to become bloody and mangled, something that the Golden Core Tier demon cultivator most likely hadn’t envisioned beforehand. This had somehow become a battle between the two powerful demons.

After Chen Ping’an killed the burly demon with a brutal punch, he leaped high up and grabbed the lifeless head of his victim, directly thrusting it at the water flood dragon. The burly demon had chosen to self-combust his golden core in death, and this resulted in his body and soul being annihilated along with the water flood dragon.

The Golden Core Tier demon cultivator focused his gaze on Chen Ping’an, only to see him remove his tattered Dao robe and reveal another standard Dao robe from the garment market underneath.

Chen Ping’an’s face mask was also in ruins, so he peeled it off and placed it inside his sleeve. In fact, even the gigantic hammer vanished from the battlefield, drawn into his minimization treasure.

The Golden Core Tier demon cultivator didn’t hesitate any longer, abandoning the four miniature mountains summoned by his golden talisman and channeling a unique mystical ability to transform into several wisps of smoke, burrowing into the ground and fleeing in multiple different directions.

Chen Ping’an didn’t explicitly pursue the Golden Core Tier demon cultivator.

His fist aura grew even more powerful after losing the suppression of one Dao robe, and he pushed the four wavering mountains into the distance, after which he sprinted forward and launched four distant punches. Four bursts of golden light exploded apart, instantly killing and wounding close to one hundred demons.

Having peeled off his face mask, some unknown demon finally exclaimed, ”Hidden Official!”

The demon army had initially been attempting to enter a formation to face its enemy under the command of their military supervisors, yet they instantly dispersed and fled upon hearing this.