Chapter 1111: The Hidden Officer is Invited

Chapter 1111: The Hidden Officer is Invited

After entering the main hall, Chen Ping'an, who had been roped into helping by Ning Yao on short notice, approached a chair but did not sit down. Instead, he reached out and gently pressed his hand against the armrest.

Cao Gun was just about to speak when Xuan Shen cut in ahead of him, offering a rough explanation of the situation to the Hidden Officer.

Song Gaoyuan couldn't help but laugh, suddenly feeling as if he were back at the Summer Retreat.

But they did have to admit one thing: now that the young Hidden Officer had arrived, they could relax a bit. After listening to the gist of it, Chen Ping'an smiled knowingly and said, "When you get right down to it, this whole matter is a messy account. You could say you've been wronged, but you could also say you haven't been. The one who struck Wang Jia with a sword earlier was a guest elder of my Falling Mountain. She overheard him and the emperor of the Jinpu Dynasty, after a few drinks, chatting about some less-than-pleasant topics. Her temper isn't exactly the best, and these days on Falling Mountain, no one takes the title of guest elder more seriously than she does. So she couldn't help herself and quietly sent a sword strike. That's how today's misunderstanding came about."

Cao Gun finally found his chance to speak and chuckled, "Look at the trouble this has caused. We've really put you, Hidden Officer, to extra trouble."

Xuan Shen, no matter how sycophantic he tried to be, couldn't bring himself to utter such a blindly flattering remark without regard for right or wrong. So he changed his approach and said, "We really should thank Senior Vacuity-Sovereign properly. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the chance to meet with the Hidden Officer."

Song Gaoyuan looked around the room, feeling a strange sense of deja vu as if revisiting an old haunt. Familiar faces surfaced in his mind one by one.

That Ascension Realm cultivator was still pinned to the wall, his back to everyone, his face and expression impossible to make out.

Ning Yao knew Chen Ping'an well.

Since he had spoken so much already, it meant they were far from the point of letting bygones be bygones. Otherwise, he would have long since told her to remove the twelve beams of sword qi that had pierced Wang Jia's natal qi sea.

Xie Songhua was deeply puzzled. She asked telepathically, "Has Ning Yao become this formidable? Is it because she's the number one under heaven now, which makes her exceptionally stronger?" She recalled that when they last parted ways, Ning Yao was still an Infant Soul realm sword cultivator. Later, news about Ascension City and the Prismatic Heaven spread among the mountain summits—Ning Yao had continuously broken through realms and eventually, as an Ascension Realm sword cultivator, rightfully became the acknowledged number one under heaven.

Song Pin pressed her index and middle fingers together, reached over her shoulder, and lightly touched the scabbard of the longsword "Soaring" that she wore on her back. "Hard to say," she replied.

In fact, she was the first sword cultivator to sense Ning Yao's presence, thanks to her sword, which was connected to the qi of Soaring Continent. The situation was subtle, like a mutual suppression.

Only Ascension Realm cultivators could be said to be either strong or weak. The so-called "weak Ascension" was best exemplified by Nan Guangzhao, who was first pummeled by the Slender Daoist at the Mandarin Duck Shoal of the Confucian Temple, and then beheaded by Executioner Hao Su right on his own doorstep.

And "strong Ascension" could be further divided into two types. Any sword cultivator who stepped into the Ascension Realm was inevitably a strong Ascension—there had been no exceptions for ten thousand years. The second type included those like Wei She of the Snowy Continent, who had far outstripped his contemporaries on the path of cultivation early on, or Zhao of the Heavenly Master Residence on Dragon Tiger Mountain, or Fire Dragon Master of the Prostrate Peak. This kind of Ascension Realm cultivator had a rather interesting and complimentary title: they were called candidates for the Fourteenth Realm.

Chen Chun'an, that pure Confucian scholar of the Southern Bodhi Continent who shouldered sun and moon, was also among them. Above Nan Guangzhao, but below the Dragon Tiger Heavenly Masters, were those like Du Mao and Xun Yuan of the Parasol Leaf Continent, or Wan Yanlaojing of the Golden Armor Continent—these were the more "ordinary" Ascension Realm qi masters. Not weak, but their strength was limited. There was still a clear gap between them and Fire Dragon Master and the like.

And this newly ascended cultivator of Soaring Continent, with the Taoist name "Vacuity-Sovereign," was naturally of the same "generation" as Nan Guangzhao.

Chen Ping'an actually knew more inside information than Xie Songhua and the others. Nan Guangzhao's Ascension Realm wasn't as feeble as they imagined. In his duel with the Slender Daoist, he would have lost, but if it came to a life-or-death struggle, Nan Guangzhao wouldn't have lost so badly. Moreover, Hao Su had meticulously prepared a series of killing moves specifically for Nan Guangzhao. For an experienced Ascension Realm cultivator to be beheaded while guarding his own home turf was indeed puzzling. This cemented Nan Guangzhao's reputation as a "weak Ascension," but dead men can't argue.

As for killing power, a high-ranked Ascension Realm sword cultivator could defeat an Ascension Realm qi master, but actually killing one was very difficult.

Chen Ping'an tucked his hands into his sleeves, leaned over the armrest, and smiled. "Daoist Vacuity-Sovereign, no need to hide your abilities any longer. You're working hard to pretend, and we're working hard to pretend not to know. Since we're all smart people, let's not treat each other as fools."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jia seemed to weigh the pros and cons for a moment. He then used some unknown divine ability to make his body ethereal. Despite having his true body, yin soul, yang soul, and outer incarnation all pinned by sword qi, he still managed to conjure an additional physical form and turn around to face the dozen or so sword cultivators.

This man had the appearance of a middle-aged scholar, wearing a golden crown adorned with over two thousand precious pearls. Dozens of jade trees stood atop the crown, each crowned with a miniature golden crow.

Wang Jia said calmly, "Since the misunderstanding has been clarified, why not stop here?"

Born from the streets, he never engaged in honest work, gathered friends and comrades from a young age, and had the bold spirit of a chivalrous hero with lofty ambitions. Legend had it that when Wang Jia was born, a passing diviner saw the royal qi filling his thatched hut and told his parents that the child would surely become a noble, bearing the aspect of a half-dynasty emperor.

Chen Ping'an asked with a smile, "If I don't stop, what can you do?"

Wang Jia laughed. "You don't dare kill me, so what's the point of keeping me detained like this?"

Chen Ping'an, instead of answering directly, slowly said, "Earlier, I heard from my guest elder that Daoist Vacuity-Sovereign had predicted I would become the Grand Li state preceptor, and even swore that the day I took on that role would mark the beginning of Grand Li's decline. He claimed I have a soft heart behind a fierce exterior, that I can handle mountain qi masters with ease but wouldn't dare start a full-scale war with any nation south of the Great River, nor provoke border conflicts lightly, because I can't stand to see mortals die and corpses pile up. From the moment I left the Sword Qi Great Wall, I'd drag the Grand Li iron cavalry down with me and turn them into useless soldiers."

"I did say that."

Wang Jia admitted it openly, nodding. "Since the Hidden Officer dares to acknowledge that it was his own guest elder who struck with the sword, and I was just an observer from afar who said a few words, why wouldn't I dare admit it?"

Song Pin frowned. Pu He asked telepathically, "Is this really how it is?"

These out-of-town sword cultivators who had crawled out of piles of corpses were long accustomed to mobilizing troops and deploying battle formations from the Summer Retreat. They had never really considered such matters.

Siteng Jiyu's face darkened. "Damn it. If we keep talking like this, it seems like we won't get a chance to kill him."

Chen Ping'an suddenly stood up straight, clapped his hands, and laughed. "Daoist Vacuity-Sovereign, you truly understand me! This matter has troubled my Dao heart for a long time."

Wang Jia was taken aback, clearly not expecting this reaction. But he recovered quickly and looked out of the hall, speaking as if to himself. "My Soaring Continent—its glorious landscapes, its sacred sites, its places of splendor—all reduced to ashes."

"Back then, I was a Celestial Being realm qi master who had to avoid a destined tribulation of war if I hoped to achieve Ascension. So I couldn't pull off the most magnificent feat in the world, nor could I emulate Old Real Man Yu's transcontinental rescue. The reason? I simply couldn't bear to die for nothing, just to earn a fleeting reputation that would be forgotten after a hundred years!"

"So what if I feared death and avoided battle, secluded myself to escape tribulation? What can you do to me? To put it bluntly, Jing Hao of the Liuxia Continent, an Ascension Realm cultivator, and even the Celestial Being named Chang?—aren't they all just 'Wang Jias of Soaring Continent'?"

"Now that I've emerged from my seclusion and tribulation, I am an Ascension. Kill me? You, Hidden Officer Chen Ping'an, don't think you're the lone Executioner Hao Su who can come and go as he pleases. Can you bear to abandon that Falling Mountain? Can you bear to abandon the Green Duckweed Sword Sect? Can you bear to let the incense of your literary lineage fade away and fail to continue it? You don't dare kill me. Does Ning Yao dare? Hah, the number one under the Prismatic Heaven—a terrifying title, an enviable realm. If I'm not mistaken, Ning Yao has already reached the Fourteenth Realm, hasn't she? And yet, here in Soaring Continent, you'll clash with Song Pin's sword 'Soaring Continent.' Just wait, Ning Yao, and see how many more times you can come wielding your sword to the Grand Mortal World, and how many days you can linger here."

Pu He let out a sound of surprise. This guy was so shamelessly unrepentant, no wonder he managed to break into the Ascension Realm. As for himself, he must be lacking in Dao cultivation, which was why he had dropped instead of risen, falling all the way to Infant Soul.

Song Pin suddenly said, "The debt for killing Wang Jia counts on me. If the Confucian Temple pursues the matter afterward, I can take full responsibility. The reason is simple: he is an Ascension Realm cultivator who wants to become the top immortal master of the continent, and I need to draw and refine continental qi through my sword Soaring. This is a life-and-death struggle over the Great Dao. As for metaphysical fate and such, I don't care. I can't control it anyway. Hidden Officer and Ning Yao, you'll have to bear that yourselves."

Xie Songhua added, "Count me in. I'll help Song Pin share the burden. But I'm not going to drink tea at the Merit Forest, so Ning Yao must agree to one thing: send me to the Prismatic Heaven to lie low."

Wang Jia shook his head and laughed angrily. "Are you two women out of your minds? What exactly do you gain by insisting on killing me?"

Yu Yue said calmly, "We sword cultivators don't engage in battles of anger. If we did, why would we need to cross the Inverted Mountain?"

Pu He gave a thumbs-up. "You old fellow, you've never done anything impressive in your life, but that one sentence was truly righteous. I admire you. From now on, if I can't help insulting you, you're allowed to talk back."

Wang Jia pulled a scroll with a white jade roller from his sleeve. It hovered in front of him and slowly unfurled, revealing a painting of an immortal mountain in green and blue landscapes. The mountain path in the painting wound sinuously, and visitors seeking immortality, no bigger than sesame seeds, moved in an endless stream. Wang Jia pressed his index and middle fingers together, plucked up those tiny figures one by one like picking peanuts, and put them into his mouth, chewing slowly. This greatly replenished his Dao cultivation, and the qi injuries sustained from Ning Yao's sword gradually healed. His complexion restored to its former radiance, Wang Jia smiled and said, "I know you're not bluffing—you'd really do it. But you miscalculated one thing. Do you think this young Hidden Officer would allow you to pay such a heavy price? If he did, he wouldn't be Chen Ping'an."

Song Pin didn't bother with more nonsense. Her sword "Soaring" was about to leave its sheath, but Chen Ping'an withdrew his hand from his sleeve and pressed downward twice, instantly forcing the longsword back into its scabbard.

Wang Jia let out a belch and put away the immortal mountain painting, which had a long and notable history. "Think back carefully on today's 'misunderstanding.' From the moment I left my residence and came to this hall, what wrong have I actually done? Simply because Chen Ping'an heard a few unpleasant remarks, at most aggravated by a bit of foul mood exposed by Cao Gun and the others, would Chen Ping'an dare to arbitrarily kill a native Ascension Realm cultivator of the Grand Mortal World? If he did, he wouldn't be the closed-door disciple of the Wen Sheng lineage."

"How plainly must I put it for you to understand one truth? Wang Jia of the Soaring Continent Ascension Realm—though he has contributed nothing to Soaring Continent—has also committed no wrong against the Grand Mortal world."

"To be honest, I admire you sword cultivators, but I don't think you have any remarkable qualities beyond your killing power."

"Let's speak frankly. Since we've come this far, shall I reveal one more thing to you? I am also a sword cultivator. And I will never set foot on the Sword Qi Great Wall."

Ning Yao turned to look at Chen Ping'an.

For some reason, Chen Ping'an seemed lost in thought.

So she didn't strike.

Even though Wang Jia had exposed his own secret and admitted to being a sword cultivator.

But Ning Yao had already killed a Fourteenth Realm candidate ghost. Killing a newly ascended sword cultivator would be even simpler.

No matter if you were a candidate for the Fourteenth Realm, there was still a chasm between you and the true Fourteenth Realm, even if only half a step away.

Unless you had personally stood in that realm yourself, you couldn't comprehend its mystery and wonder. Just consider the matter of vision: ordinary mortals look up at the moon and see a blurry orb. Qi masters can faintly make out the mountain ranges within the moon. At the Land Deity realm, on a clear day, with straining eyes, they might occasionally glimpse the outlines of palaces. Once you reach the Upper Five Realms, with a bit of concentration and focused gaze, the moon appears unchanging—no phases of waxing and waning. When you achieve Ascension and glance upward, the enormous, suspended moon seems close enough to touch, with the ancient palaces and undulating mountains on its surface visible in every detail.

But once you synchronize with the Dao and become a Fourteenth Realm cultivator, a unique path appears in the heavens and earth just for you.

The Dream Interpreter can see billions of human dreams. One whose Dao involves marriage can perceive countless red threads hanging in the air.

Chen Ping'an's eyes sparkled. He suddenly asked via telepathy, "Daoist Vacuity-Sovereign, are you familiar with Tian Wan of the Gourd Continent, Lou Miao of the Northern Julu Continent, and Han Yushu of the Parasol Leaf Continent? Have you ever done business together?"

Wang Jia didn't even bother to respond. What kind of nonsense was this?

Chen Ping'an chuckled. "Daoist Vacuity-Sovereign, if you say you're a sword cultivator, does that make it so? Is there such an easy thing in the world?"

"If I had met you sooner, why would I have had to suffer so much in the prison of the Sword Qi Great Wall before becoming a sword cultivator?"

Wang Jia was about to speak.

Chen Ping'an waved his hand. "Aiming for something, bluffing, deceiving—who can't do that? Brother Soulmate, I'm an old hand at the game. When it comes to worldly experience, even the young ones like Song Gaoyuan combined can't match me."

Ning Yao, who seemed to have been resting with her eyes closed, lowered her gaze and quickly rolled her eyes.

Cao Gun and Xuan Shen exchanged a glance. How did Song Gaoyuan, that brat, deserve to have his name appear before "the young ones"?

But the newly coined nickname "Brother Soulmate" did sound quite pleasant. If Wang Xinshui were here, he would have said fairly, "The Hidden Officer strikes—it's clear he's got it!"

"Generally speaking, when it comes to judging intentions and actions, both in the mountains and among mortals, if we also involve merits and faults, it seems that since ancient times, no one has ever truly sorted out this messy account. But when I was traveling the martial world alone, I once heard a somewhat勉强 (strained) principle: don't ask whether past deeds were meritorious or sinful; just look at whether the present is righteous or evil."

After a moment of silence, Chen Ping'an unconsciously reached out and tapped the armrest lightly. After thinking for a while, he shifted his gaze slightly toward Siteng Jiyu and Pu He, and asked with a smile, "After hearing all of Daoist Vacuity-Sovereign's sincere words, you might still be angry, but if you put yourselves in his shoes, doesn't it seem reasonable? At worst, he's just a petty villain, not a heinous criminal?"

Siteng Jiyu nodded. That logic made sense, but even if they didn't kill Wang Jia today, the disciples and descendants of this Vacuity-Sovereign should watch their steps when they go down the mountain to travel in the future.

Pu He rubbed his palms together and said, "I can understand, but I'm also itching to fight."

Chen Ping'an then looked at Cao Gun and the other two. "So this setup was very well-crafted, the heat was just right, because it was specifically designed for smart people."

"What Wang Jia wanted was an effect that is irrational but still reasonable."

"Without sword immortals like Xie Songhua and Song Pin present, Wang Jia probably wouldn't have gone through this trouble. You're smart, but your Golden Core realm is what it is—your sword techniques aren't high enough yet."

Hearing this, Cao Gun asked, "Is Wang Jia deliberately seeking death?"

Xuan Shen wondered, "Even if we fell into his trap and, in a fit of anger, struck together to kill a Celestial Being, that would be easy enough. But killing an Ascension Realm cultivator? Still seems very difficult."

Song Gaoyuan said, "Of course it's very difficult, but not entirely impossible. If Xie Songhua delivers the first strike, Song Pin's Soaring follows up, plus Pu He and the others, at least there's a glimmer of hope."

Chen Ping'an nodded. "Exactly. That's what Wang Jia wanted—that tiny possibility. That way, he could keep building up until you were willing to go all out. If Ning Yao hadn't shown up, he would have had even more provocation tactics, step by step, seemingly retreating but actually leading you by the nose. Then he might accidentally injure one or two Golden Core sword cultivators inside, and especially if the fight spilled over and harmed those children elsewhere, it would have become a fight to the death. That's when Wang Jia's goal would finally be achieved."

"He isn't a sword cultivator at all. He said that because he saw the situation going wrong, and he figured that the Hidden Officer of the Summer Retreat, the one who had accomplished an unprecedented feat, truly lived up to his reputation—broad-minded, generous, with the ancient style of letting spittle dry on its own. Unlike some young fellows with little experience and no track record..."

Ning Yao coughed at this point.

She was reminding someone that this was a rare reunion after a long separation.

Chen Ping'an had no choice but to stop using a certain innate ability that he didn't easily employ. There was no helping it—seeing Cao Gun and the others made him feel as if he were back in the Summer Retreat. He couldn't help it; it had become second nature.

"In short, Wang Jia deliberately tried to provoke me, Ning Yao, and all of you. It's possible—I'm just saying it's possible—that he isn't even a true Ascension Realm cultivator, just a fake realm that can fool people."

"Am I right, Brother Soulmate?"

Wang Jia shook his head and sneered. "Nonsense! Rubbish! Chen, do you want me to summon my natal flying sword?"

Cao Gun chuckled. "Brother Soulmate, don't get so worked up. If you're a sword cultivator, so be it. Every single person in this room is a sword cultivator."

Xuan Zen undercut him. "Cao Gun, your accent is ruining you. Your insults aren't fierce at all."

Song Gaoyuan laughed. "That wasn't an insult—he was just following the Hidden Officer's example. Unfortunately, his talent and skill aren't enough. He missed the mark by a couple of Rice Door Gods."

Ning Yao rubbed her forehead. She should never have stopped Chen Ping'an.

Although she also held the title of Hidden Officer at Ascension City, she had never set foot in the Summer Retreat where Chen Ping'an presided. She had heard about the atmosphere there, but seeing and hearing it in person was entirely different.

Chen Ping'an walked around the chair, crossed his hands in his sleeves, and began to pace. He muttered to himself, "I once went to the Yin-Yang clan Lu's estate on the Central Earth Continent. We hit it off immediately and had a wonderful conversation. Since I was there, I decided to take the opportunity to ask Lu Shen a rather key question—yes, that Lu family head with the Taoist name 'Tianbian.' I asked him whether the sudden emergence of this mineral vein in Soaring Continent was a posthumous scheme left behind by the Desert Wilderness Wenhai. Daoist Lu is much more upright than Brother Soulmate—he told me everything he knew without reserve. He even closed his doors to calculate a hexagram specifically for this matter, at great cost to his mind. Of course, it might also have been because I was accompanied by two Ascension Realm sword cultivators as attendants at the time, and I was in a hurry to travel. Anyway, when Daoist Lu came out of seclusion, he was mentally depleted. He said that due to the chaos of the heavens caused by Bai Ye's single-handed duel with the Eight Throne Kings, and the fragmented landforms of the continent making for many variables, coupled with numerous unexpected branches, he lost a century of cultivation and still only deduced a rather vague truth. Even if it was indeed Wenhai of the Desert Wilderness who personally planted this hidden seed at Quanjiao Mountain... it bore no malicious intent. As for whether it is auspicious or ominous, he had no conclusion for now. That's too vague—it's the same as saying nothing. A partial fact can hardly claim to be the truth."

"Thanks to the dual light of being the Hidden Officer and the closed-door disciple of the Wen Sheng lineage, I have free access to the archives of the Summer Retreat and the Merit Forest of the Confucian Temple. Additionally, thanks to another Daoist friend surnamed Lu, I dare say I have a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of the Ascension Realm than even actual Ascension Realm cultivators themselves."

Chen Ping'an paused for a moment, then turned to look at the fake sword cultivator and pseudo-Ascension stuck to the wall. "Wang Jia, you were hoping that a sword immortal would deliver the killing blow to help you escape tribulation through dissolution of your physical body, and truly achieve Ascension."

Wang Jia was silent.

Words were useless now.

This blue-robed visitor from afar far surpassed Cao Gun and the others in both realm and insight, as well as in cunning and calculation.

"That far-sighted Wenhai of the Desert Wilderness—this mineral vein in Soaring Continent served only two possible purposes for him. One was to strike north of the Great River in the Gourd Continent, allowing the Desert Wilderness monsters to advance on two fronts, killing toward the Northern Julu and Liuxia Continents respectively. The former would be a tough nut to crack, but the latter was a paper tiger, far easier than Soaring Continent and Golden Armor Continent. This jade mine with its massive reserves could then be moved by beasts like Zhu Yan to the Golden Armor Continent, either as rewards to be divided among the western-line Desert Wilderness war camps, or used to build a bridge across the sea—either way, it served a purpose."

"Second, he was scheming against my master, who is synchronized with three continents. But what he truly wanted to scheme against was me, Chen Ping'an, and Ning Yao of the Prismatic Heaven."

"Since he wanted to hide his intention from the heavens, he needed to kill with a borrowed knife. And for a borrowed knife, he needed a good blade. Hiding an Ascension Realm great demon in Soaring Continent that must personally enter the game and come to this tiny corner of Quanjiao Mountain would be too conspicuous, unlikely to escape the Confucian Temple's inspection or the Yin-Yang clan's divination. A native Celestial Being realm cultivator, afraid of battle and cowardly, was just perfect."

"Before I met you, I had indeed considered over a dozen different scenarios. But no matter how I simulated and calculated on the chessboard, even adding in the secret information sent back to Falling Mountain by Lu Zhi, Xie Gou, Liu Xu, and the others, I couldn't see how you could succeed. But the moment I saw you, I suddenly figured it out."

"You intended to use dissolution of the body to break your tribulation of war. At the very moment when you escape tribulation and achieve Ascension, the mine's formation would be activated. Only with an Ascension Realm qi master recklessly destroying himself could half a continent's land be shattered and sunk."

Cao Gun and the others were fine—they had seen great spectacles at the Summer Retreat.

But the Earth Immortal sword cultivators in the room who had never been to the Sword Qi Great Wall felt chills running down their spines.

Wang Jia said bitterly, "If you want to accuse someone, you'll always find an excuse."

Chen Ping'an sneered. "Do you know what the biggest problem is with smart people? Whether they're moderately clever and can fool idiots, or brilliantly learned and can fool all the clever ones? It's that we want something from everything we do. We refuse to come away empty-handed."

Wang Jia sighed. "Chen Ping'an, no matter how much you talk..."

"Forget it! Believe it or not, I need to make one thing crystal clear to you. There are no such complicated schemes. I admit I am not a sword cultivator, and I do need an external force to force dissolution and pass the last of my three tribulations—the tribulation of continent-wide ashes, the destruction of my sect, and dissolution through battle. The arrival of Xie Songhua and Song Pin did make me overjoyed. I even deliberately summoned the emperor of the Jinpu Dynasty, all of it deliberate. Even if I hadn't been struck by that Falling Mountain guest elder, I would have found another way to provoke conflict with Cao Gun and the others."

Damn it! With Chen Ping'an's glib tongue, even if he didn't get killed by Ning Yao's sword or chopped up by Xie Songhua and the others, he would definitely be eating prison food in the Merit Forest by tomorrow!

He had to admit: if he weren't himself, and had just been listening from the sidelines, he might have believed some of it.

Chen Ping'an had such a dirty heart!

No wonder he became the last Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall. He had underestimated him.

Wang Jia was truly scared now. If he didn't show more sincerity, ten to one, he wouldn't survive this tribulation—he would be dead and gone.

He noticed that Chen Ping'an was looking at him with pity.

Then Chen Ping'an asked a strange question. "Jade Pu? Wang Jia—maybe Wang Jia knows he is Wang Jia. But when the Celestial Being is the Jade Pu, is it truly the same?"

Wang Jia was shocked to his core, as if he had just realized the most terrifying possibility. His eyes were full of supplication, as if he were silently begging: Hidden Officer, save me!

Chen Ping'an had already summoned his natal flying sword "Caged Sparrow" long ago. Every step from the hall entrance across the threshold, even every time he touched the armrest and tapped lightly, he had been activating his five-element natal objects.

Among the Quanjiao Mountain's mixed bag of registered cultivators and wild qi masters, along with the ordinary mortals who had come to try their luck at small trades, the former were all thrown out of the mountain, and the latter were all relocated and moved away. The two groups were deposited in a location far from Quanjiao Mountain, either falling like dumplings into a pot to land on the ground, or suddenly changing positions in midair.

During that time, some Earth Immortals who tried to resist and refused to move had a flying sword pressed to their foreheads—and then they understood. Not daring to trouble the sword immortal to escort them out, they hastily fled on their own. After all, a harsh warning and a few reminders rang in every cultivator's lake of consciousness: "Who dares to compete with me for money and territory? Are you tired of living?! A battle between Ascension Realm cultivators is no place for you to fish in troubled waters!"

"Gather on that mountaintop. Don't forget to bring the mortals with you, using flying boats if you have them. Don't let your feet touch the ground. Run as far as you can. If any mortal is left behind, I'll come back and kill an Earth Immortal to make up for that life. If Earth Immortal, Golden Core, and Infant Soul heads aren't enough, I'll make up the numbers with Middle Five Realm cultivators."

Cao Gun and the others, along with Xie Songhua and the rest—all the sword cultivators, inside and outside the hall—had already left the Quanjiao Mountain area in an instant.

They helped the qi masters and mortals get as far away from Quanjiao Mountain as possible.

Only Chen Ping'an, Ning Yao, and the Vacuity-Sovereign, still stuck at the Celestial Being bottleneck, remained in the hall.

Chen Ping'an said, "To be precise, you are undergoing a corpse dissolution and acting as a death warrior."

"In this conspiracy, there was also an indispensable key link: a great demon must have existed that could guess the careful 'unintentional' intentions and cooperate cleverly."

"The moment I walked in, I said we are all smart people. Why bother hiding and exerting ourselves needlessly?"

"Am I right, esteemed creator of artifacts of the A-Zi Account Lane? Or should I say, Brother Shou Chen, who shares my reputation?"

"How did you two end up flirting and hooking up? You might as well become Dao partners. Don't worry—I'll make sure to bring a red envelope for the wedding gift when I visit the Desert Wilderness again next time."

Wang Jia involuntarily twitched his lips, and an old man's hearty voice came out: "Indeed, as expected of the 'Southern Shou Chen, Northern Hidden Officer.' Even with such careful scheming between Shou Chen the Sword Immortal and myself, we still cannot harm the Hidden Officer in the slightest. Truly, only the Hidden Officer can bring down the Hidden Officer."

Another warm, mellow voice came from Wang Jia's mouth: "See? I told you we shouldn't have aimed for too much. It's better to take whatever we can get."

Someone else chimed in: "Hidden Officer, I'm here too. This is a rare opportunity—let's chat a bit more?"

"Brother Chen, I have a Dao partner now. So we don't need to exchange wedding gifts back and forth, do we?"

Chen Ping'an ignored all this noisy "reminiscing." He tucked his hands into his sleeves and smiled. "Since everyone has gathered so well, I suppose Xiao Xun is nearby?"

Sure enough, Xiao Xun's laughter echoed from afar: "Little girl Ning, I'm doing pretty well over here now. Third seat throne. Should I conveniently kill a useless Ascension Realm cultivator who's just here to watch the fun? Consider it my wedding gift to you two!"

Ning Yao didn't respond.

"Wang Jia's" eyes regained clarity, seemingly returning to his true self. He looked at the blue-robed figure and shook his head slightly, as if saying, "Forget it. You don't need to save me anymore."

It turned out that Chen Ping'an had asked Ning Yao via telepathy to secretly deliver a tiny sword strike. He then used his flying sword "Wellhead Moon" to open a path, while simultaneously using "Caged Sparrow" to carve out an isolated miniature world. In this way, he had found Wang Jia's true center of consciousness, learned about certain parts of this cultivator's past in the shortest possible time, and attempted to save the real Wang Jia. He employed a series of talismans to suppress the small-scale heaven and earth of the human body, all in rapid succession.

Since Ning Yao was present and had already reached the Fourteenth Realm, Shou Chen, as the main planner, decided not to go through the motions. He directly pulled Wang Jia's true body, along with his yin soul, yang soul, and entire spirit, into a shattering explosion. The more insidious part was that Shou Chen had sword qi coiled in an inconspicuous qi mansion within Wang Jia's soul. Even if Chen Ping'an could borrow a few large talismans to reverse a small section of the long river of time, it would only make the seemingly restored Wang Jia suffer even more.

The vision of Wang Jia's true body shattering was like a tree blooming and then withering.

Before Ning Yao delivered her sword strike, his lips moved slightly, and his eyes showed an expression of release and relief. He murmured a few words to the blue-robed figure.

Ning Yao sheathed her sword and hesitated for a moment before asking, "What did he say to you at the end?"

Chen Ping'an replied, "Two sentences. One was: 'It has nothing to do with you. Don't feel guilty.'"

Ning Yao waited a moment. "And the other?"

Chen Ping'an sighed helplessly and gave the answer: eight characters.

Ning Yao nodded.

Chen Ping'an was silent for a long time. Then, remembering something, he raised his hand and vigorously rubbed his face. "Actually, I guessed most of it. But Shou Chen and Guan Xiang weren't very clever—they fell for the bluff. The most critical clue that made me certain Wang Jia was a puppet on strings—do you know what it was?"

Ning Yao shook her head. "Can't guess."

Chen Ping'an said, "You wanted to strike at 'Wang Jia,' so there must have been a reason."

Ning Yao said, "What kind of reason is that?"

Chen Ping'an walked to the hall entrance, stepped over the threshold, sat down on the steps outside, took out the vermilion gourd, shook the wine flask, and said with a soft laugh, "I'm very curious. How did you manage to hold back?"

Ning Yao sat down beside him. "Aren't you supposed to be good at guessing other people's thoughts? And didn't you have a catchphrase: 'You guess?'"

Chen Ping'an tilted his head back and took a drink, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and squinted as he smiled. "With you around, I don't feel like using my brain."

Ning Yao asked, "Do you still remember when I reached the Fourteenth Realm and came over here—that first avatar you created—what was its meaning?"

Chen Ping'an said, "Under the alias Chen Jiu, at the Bamboo Branch Sect's Cutting Jade Mountain, not far from the Zhengyang Mountain. Among the five poisons of greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt—it was pride."

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow. It wasn't anger?!

She had thought it was a method of suppressing anger.

That was why she had held back when she showed up here.

Since she guessed wrong, and it was just a fluke, Ning Yao would pretend it never happened.

Chen Ping'an, with the corner of his eye, took in the beloved woman's adorable expression. Even if she guessed wrong, she was still right.

He gently shook the wine gourd.

Chen Ping'an always felt that every wine gourd in the world seemed to have two contradictory words written on it.

Bold drinking.

Stop drinking.

Chen Ping'an raised his head and took a big gulp of wine. If you wanted to stop drinking, it was simple: just finish the wine in the gourd.

In the mortal world, it was late spring—grass growing, orioles flying.

Someone had just hoped that the blue-robed sword immortal would do something.

"Please, Hidden Officer, deliver a great blow to the Desert Wilderness!"