Chapter 1162 (1) The Fourth Flying Sword
**The sparring match between Chen Ping'an and Jiang She caused fist force, sword qi, and martial fortune to intertwine throughout heaven and earth. When Wu Shuangjiang entered the fray, there were further changes; over a hundred treasures shattered one after another as if they cost nothing, making a once spiritually barren ancient battlefield site so dense with qi that it became as thick as mercury and visible to the naked eye.
Cui Dongshan's ancient Shu marsh site, Jiang Shangzhen's willow shade path dojo, and several other hidden small worlds connected to them all suffered this chaotic, violent impact, revealing themselves one by one. The entire stacked formation began to shake like a small boat adrift in raging waves, like a bird flapping its wings in a great wind from the sky.
Jiang Shangzhen, who had to keep the formation going by constantly spending money, laughed and cursed, "Just watching the battle costs me a fortune—what the hell!"
Cui Dongshan looked serious, for once not chiming in. He flicked his sleeves, and from each flew a golden light, along with a white river of talismans that shot toward the boundary where the stacked formation met heaven and earth. The gold and white mended the cracks and flaws in the formation, flowing with light like mending a porcelain bowl with gold and silver.
Having gathered the three portions of martial fortune, Jiang She had recovered to the peak of the eleventh martial realm. Although his yin spirit had not yet returned, preventing his fourteenth realm from reaching perfection, when facing Wu Shuangjiang's endless techniques and magic, Jiang She still had plenty of strength. He carefully examined the "map" of the battlefield; neither the timing nor the terrain favored him. Yet this first ancestor of the military strategists showed no sign of fatigue. Instead, his aura swelled higher and higher. His golden armor shone brilliantly, illuminating the ancient battlefield site like a golden realm.
One had to admit that there were those born for battle, and Jiang She was born for the battlefield.
Wu Shuangjiang was clearly committed to paying any price, even damaging his own Dao foundation, to drag Jiang She down with him.
This battle was like two armies facing off, deploying troops, elite against elite. The losses on each side were clear, draining each other's military Dao power.
Anyway, the battlefield was inside Zheng Juzhong's belly. Any treasures shattered or spiritual power consumed would not go to waste—they would stay within his domain.
It was like a gambling table with the simplest rule: bet on who would have one more copper coin than the other. In the end, one side would lose everything, and the other would take it all.
Clearly, Wu Shuangjiang's dharma form in its colored armor was fading faster; the full moon aspect behind it had already dimmed.
Jiang She's dharma form's golden armor was covered in rust, like countless tear stains.
But every time Jiang She thrust his spear to break the formation, the golden armor clanged, and the rust fell away. The slightly thinner golden armor revealed the flawless gold beneath.
Jiang Shangzhen was deeply worried. He asked via heart voice, "If the yin spirit returns and Jiang She's fourteenth realm becomes complete, how can we fight?"
Cui Dongshan replied, "The three portions of martial fortune are a warning. Even if the yin spirit returns? Would Jiang She dare to accept it? Isn't he afraid of being tampered with again, drawing the three portions of martial fortune just suppressed, and having them turn the tables?"
That woman grandmaster, the yin spirit "Xie Shiji" at the peak of the divine realm, was still in the Barren Wastes.
On the other side, Zheng Juzhong had parted ways with Liu Xiang at Falling Mountain, warned Zhou Hu, and left Baoping Prefecture to find Xie Shiji directly.
Jiang Shangzhen asked doubtfully, "If the yin spirit has been separated for a long time and has its own complete life and memories, can it still willingly return?"
Cui Dongshan was also unsure. He said, "In principle, when the yin spirit meets the true body, the former becomes powerless and automatically recognizes its master, without any resistance. But Jiang She's yin spirit cannot be judged by common sense—after all, he is a divine-realm martial artist."
Jiang Shangzhen smiled bitterly. "We're not going to end up just watching from start to finish, are we?"
Before coming, Chen Ping'an had warned them via heart voice: if they entered the battlefield, they should be mentally prepared to become ghosts.
Because the Dao and life of both sides might be transformed into the vitality of heaven and earth.
Jiang Shangzhen had still come.
Cui Dongshan said, "Either Old Zheng is unreliable, and we are completely useless—then we become the 'cats and dogs' Jiang She mentioned who sit at the table to eat, and end up being used as Dao nourishment. Or Old Zheng withstands Jiang She's desperate struggle, and we two good-for-nothings prove useful at a critical moment—maybe we are the ones who decide the outcome."
Jiang Shangzhen held his long sword. "Cui Dongshan, hearing this, we brothers sound both pitiful and tragic."
Cui Dongshan said with firm eyes, "So if we get out alive, you need to earn more money, and I need to cultivate hard."
Don't let such things happen again, where we can only watch from the sidelines, feeling like we're gathering mold.
The full moon aspect behind Wu Shuangjiang, symbolizing his Dao foundation, began to crack, gradually becoming a crescent moon.
Jiang She stabbed his spear into the neck of Wu Shuangjiang's dharma form, suddenly increasing the force, lifting it high, the spear tip piercing slightly through the head.
The moon wheel finally could not hold and completely dispersed. Wu Shuangjiang's dharma form in colored armor turned gray instantly.
It was horrifying. Jiang Shangzhen's Dao heart trembled—a battle between fourteenth-realm cultivators was so breathtaking.
Jiang She twisted his wrist, shook the spear, and flung the "corpse" away.
Jiang She turned his head to look elsewhere, but not at Zheng Juzheng. Instead, he looked at a brand-new dharma form of Wu Shuangjiang that had appeared out of nowhere.
If the earlier armored dharma form was clearly related to the military Dao, then this one looked somewhat... delicate.
"Wu Shuangjiang" had a handsome face, hair loose, wearing a white robe with wide sleeves, barefoot and suspended in the air. The colorful ribbons wrapped around his arms fluttered in the void.
Jiang She frowned slightly. This bastard was so troublesome. Could it be that Wu Shuangjiang's fourteenth realm truly followed two merging paths simultaneously?
The black-and-white rainbow lights coiled around the dharma form's arms were the Dao manifestations of Jiang She's yin and yang spirits respectively.
Jiang She's eyes burned with intensity. Good. If the opponent was weak, it would be boring. Such a strong foe, with endless techniques and countless treasures, was perfect to shatter them all. Even if he had multiple Dao lives, he would kill them all.
Jiang Shangzhen asked softly, "With such a heavy price, how much of Jiang She's Dao power has Wu Shuangjiang forced him to lose?"
Cui Dongshan said, "Probably less than thirty percent, but at least twenty percent."
Jiang Shangzhen was speechless. He tapped his forehead with the sword blade.
And during those ten thousand years of punishment at the "peak," Jiang She hadn't been idle—he had refined a star into his lifebound object.
Cui Dongshan suddenly looked up. What a bastard! Jiang She wasn't giving Wu Shuangjiang any chance to exchange Dao power anymore?!
Was Jiang She trying to take back the terrain advantage and completely break this world that he had called a "proto-Dao-path"?
First, all the military temples in the various nations of the Righteous Qi showed anomalies, shocking the courts of the nine prefectures. Edicts flew like snowflakes to the Central Earth Confucian Temple and the Military Ancestral Court to inquire about the reason. Next, the celestial observatory qi refiners across the mortal world were about to have their Dao hearts shattered. This celestial phenomenon—the star shifting its trajectory—could it mean another great calamity was about to befall the world?
One Zheng Juzhong used the technique of "sleeve holding heaven and earth" to take Xie Shiji to that star beyond the sky, occupying it and slowing its descent.
Another Zheng Juzhong, who had forcibly dragged the entire Night Voyager ship to the ruins of the Golden Jade City in the Barren Wastes, pointed seven times at the night sky.
Inside his own belly, Zheng Juzhong raised his arm. Seven-colored light appeared, white clouds rose, and a miniature city vaguely formed.
A solitary city among colorful clouds.
Zheng Juzhong had finally made his move.
In his hand was a White Emperor City that had been refined, dismantled, and reshaped.
Zheng Juzhong casually tossed this object toward Jiang She.
Jiang She seemed, for the first time, to show a hint of hesitation, but in the end, he said nothing.
Zheng Juzhong glanced at Chen Ping'an. Chen Ping'an's face was expressionless.
Zheng Juzhong smiled and nodded. Last time at the Sword Qi Great Wall, he gave up on killing Lu Chen. That was acceptable.
But if he let Jiang She go this time, then he might really consider Jiang She's suggestion.
Jiang Shangzhen barely dared to breathe.
Cui Dongshan's expression was unusually grave.
This was the number one demonic cultivator who had come here with Wu Shuangjiang.
From start to finish, Zheng Juzhong had hardly spoken and had made no moves.
Until this moment, Zheng Juzhong smiled and said, "Either I don't come. Since I have come, it means Jiang She's outcome is already decided."
I am not reasoning with you.
I am not even making threats.
I am simply stating a fact.
Jiang She found himself in a white jade square inside White Emperor City. On the ground was engraved a celestial map of the Big Dipper plus two auxiliary stars.
And there was a sword-bearer, Chen Ping'an, in the new Heavenly Court.
He hadn't even summoned his new lifebound flying sword.
Chen Ping'an stood still, but the Big Dipper array on the ground began to rotate on its own, placing Jiang She on one of the auxiliary stars.
Suppressed by the entire White Emperor City and inexplicably trapped in a Big Dipper array, Jiang She tried to move his feet but could not lift them, as if bound by a binding spell on a mortal. Jiang She was not flustered; he calmly observed the situation and laughed. "So this is the backup plan you and Zheng Juzhong have been plotting? Then I still say: you are not the fourteenth-realm Fire Dragon True Lord, so you cannot successfully fire a kiln, unless he temporarily lends you his Dao technique. But clearly he has not. And you are not the Three Mountains Nine Marquis, lacking the proper refinement—this is just playing tricks."
Earlier, Jiang She had asked Chen Ping'an if he dared to engage in a straightforward martial duel.
At that time, Chen Ping'an had only joked, but as he spoke, a rough white porcelain bowl appeared in his hand, suspended in the air. Inside the translucent bowl, he used a drop of his lifebound blood to manifest seven tiny characters: "Jiang She," "Prime Essence," "Military," "Martial."
He had forged an imitation of the lifebound porcelain of Military First Ancestor Jiang She.
Chen Ping'an flicked his sleeve. The Big Dipper inside White Emperor City now displayed these seven characters.
Jiang She laughed in spite of himself. "You kid actually listen to advice."
It turned out that Chen Ping'an, who was known as the "half of the world," had indeed set up a Purple Forbidden Array opposite the Big Dipper array, standing in the center.
Or, more precisely, the Big Dipper array was itself part of the Purple Forbidden Array.
At the same time, the Big Dipper chart kept rotating. Jiang She, unable to move, was forced to step onto each of those stars in turn.
Jiang She squinted, feeling a prickling sensation on his back. His mind shook violently.
It seemed this military first ancestor had sensed some targeted fate.
In today's battle, the old and new contended for the Dao. They entered the room and turned weapons against the master, dividing the military fortune.
What they were doing was killing Jiang She together: Wu Shuangjiang would usurp his position, Chen Ping'an would seize his name, and Zheng Juzhong would obtain his substance.
Chen Ping'an said calmly, "Jiang She, receive the sword."
The Big Dipper array, its handle pointed straight at Jiang She.
----
Wu Shuangjiang looked up at the sky and murmured to himself, "The celestial observatory qi refiners of the mortal world—their Dao hearts are truly about to shatter one by one."
First, the star shifted, and now the Big Dipper, connected by a golden line like a thread. Undoubtedly, that was sword light.
How would the historians of the various nations record this?
Cui Dongshan was the first to guess the truth, but he still couldn't believe it. He repeated in a daze, "How is it possible, how is it possible?"
Wu Shuangjiang smiled. "I actually don't know about this either. You'll have to ask Mr. Zheng."
Zheng Juzhong merely said, "I went to the Dragon Elephant Sword Sect and found Lu Zhi."
Cui Dongshan asked, "And then?"
Zheng Juzhong said, "Then your master attracted the Big Dipper from beyond the sky and delivered a sword strike to Jiang She, who had returned to the mortal world."
Cui Dongshan fell backward to the ground, but quickly jumped up with a carp-like move. "Chief Zhou, we have work to do!"
Zheng Juzhong said, "No rush."
Earlier, when he brought Zheng Qingjia to the Dragon Elephant Sword Sect, Zheng Juzhong privately met with Lu Zhi for a secret discussion.
He cut straight to the point: "I've come here to make two requests on behalf of two people."
"Of course, you can refuse both."
"Before that, I need to discuss something with you. After we talk and I get my answer, Lu Zhi will need to forget the content of this conversation."
Hearing this, Lu Zhi did not hesitate. She nodded. "Speak."
Zheng Juzhong said slowly, "One is to request, on behalf of Cui Chan, that Lu Zhi go to the Azure Frontier world, receive a Dao register at the White Jade Capital, and refine swords there. In the future, when Chen Ping'an asks for a sword duel at the White Jade Capital, she will need to convince Hao Su to rebel against the White Jade Capital together."
Lu Zhi was furious. She almost blurted out, "Is that embroidery tiger out of his mind?!"
If it was just about following the Hidden Officer across the world to challenge the White Jade Capital, Lu Zhi wouldn't hesitate much. But becoming a Daoist with a register, defecting from the White Jade Capital, and colluding with Executioner Hao Su—what did Cui Chan take her for? Did he only know such underhanded schemes?
Zheng Juzhong smiled. "Troubled? There's even more difficult things to come."
Lu Zhi said, "Anyway, the first thing is absolutely out of the question. For the second thing, I'm listening."
Zheng Juzhong said, "Chen Ping'an wants to ask you for something. Note: ask, not borrow."
Lu Zhi was confused.
Zheng Juzhong was relentless. "Chen Ping'an needs the flying sword 'Big Dipper' to deal with some strong enemies on the Dao path. As for who exactly, it's not yet clear."
Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. "No problem."
Zheng Juzhong was not surprised, but he reminded her again, "Think carefully. There's no going back. Frankly, this involves too much. As the intermediary, I cannot allow you to regret it. To be honest, I don't want the world to lose a clear-sighted, upright Lu Zhi and gain a sorrowful, hesitant resentful woman who spends her days lamenting that there is no cure for regret."
Stripping away a lifebound flying sword, the "Big Dipper," had both advantages and disadvantages for Lu Zhi. The advantage was that she would reach the Ascension Realm faster. But reaching Ascension was already within her grasp, so this benefit was negligible. The disadvantage was that her future Dao achievements would be much lower.
After all, whether she could merge with the Dao, and the strength within the fourteenth realm after merging, varied greatly. So giving away this sword would harm her far more than benefit.
Lu Zhi's gaze was clear. Her tone remained calm. "Mr. Zheng need not say more. Lu Zhi also need not think further."
Zheng Juzhong said, "Sword cultivators are truly pure."
Lu Zhi asked, "I have a question."
"Ask."
"Was this instigated by his senior brother Cui Chan, or was it Chen Ping'an's own idea?"
"The latter."
Hearing this, Lu Zhi's eyes sparkled. This was the Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall!
If he had only acted on his senior brother's suggestion, she would have been disappointed.
Lu Zhi asked, "Should I strip the flying sword now?"
Zheng Juzhong shook his head. "Lu Chen might come here. Wait until he sees you."
So the matter of Lu Zhi stripping the sword and Chen Ping'an taking it would have to wait.
After all, the young Hidden Officer's original intention was to prepare for the future sword duel at the White Jade Capital or to prevent attacks from fourteenth-realm cultivators like Wu Zhou.
That was why Zheng Juzhong had said to Lu Chen that Jiang She would take the blame for the White Jade Capital.
At the Dragon Elephant Sword Sect, Lu Chen had said two things to Lu Zhi, with hidden meanings.
"Has City Lord Zheng been here?"
"I need to see the young Hidden Officer in person before making a decision."
Returning from the sea, along the mountain path, Lu Zhi accepted an opening disciple and was in a good mood.
Cheng Sancai asked via heart voice, "Master, Old Gu said you have a lifebound flying sword that's extremely powerful."
Lu Zhi smiled. "Before, I never had the chance to use it to kill demons and write inscriptions, so even I don't know how powerful this flying sword really is or how great its killing power."
Cheng Sancai asked, "And now?"
Lu Zhi said, "Even less clear."
Cheng Sancai was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Lu Zhi said, "I've already given it away."
Cheng Sancai was shocked. "A lifebound flying sword can be given away? And you were willing to part with it?!"
Lu Zhi smiled. "It depends on who it is."
Cheng Sancai's expression was complicated, with a hint of fear. "I understand. It's him."
Outside "White Emperor City," Wu Shuangjiang asked curiously, "Even though Xiao Mo had stripped his flying sword and given it to Chai Wu, and Chen Ping'an could observe the Dao a bit from that, and later he observed the lotus root blessed land where the first batch of sword cultivators were born, that also helped. But Lu Zhi's flying sword is special after all. If Chen Ping'an gets it, can he actually refine it successfully?"
If it were against an Ascension Realm cultivator, or even some newly emerged fourteenth-realm after heavy rain, Wu Shuangjiang wouldn't ask this.
But the opponent was Jiang She.
Even if Chen Ping'an was completely in charge of White Emperor City, which essentially meant Zheng Juzhong temporarily lent him his Dao technique, and then he delivered the sword from beyond the sky, the question was: Could he really kill Jiang She with a sword array?
The Big Dipper decrees death!
Even though Chen Ping'an, as the Hidden Officer, had witnessed life and death on the Sword Qi Great Wall battlefield.
Even though Chen Ping'an led the sword cultivators to open the Tuo Yue Mountain and personally killed a great demon.
Wu Shuangjiang still felt it wasn't enough—far from enough.
Zheng Juzhong said, "During the closed-door cultivation at the Fu Yao Lu dojo, Chen Ping'an once chatted with Yu Xuan at the top of the Gathering Spirit Peak. The content involved several levels of his seclusion's purpose. Yu Xuan asked if there was a sixth level. Chen Ping'an didn't tell the truth at that time. In fact, not only was there a sixth level, but there was also a seventh hidden intention: to truly refine the flying sword 'Big Dipper'." (Note: Chapter 1077 "Home, Other Home, Wine Home, Heart Home")
Wu Shuangjiang suddenly understood. He sighed emotionally, "How many versions of himself did Chen Ping'an have to kill? How many 'Chen Ping'an's' had to die to successfully refine that flying sword? I'm extremely curious."
Zheng Juzhong did not give an answer.
During that closed-door cultivation, Chen Ping'an faced his "inner demon."
Corpses piled up like mountains, hanging upside down.
Millions of "Chen Ping'an" skeletons fell like heavy snow.
Inside White Emperor City, the place was covered with invisible threads piercing through Jiang She's dharma form.
Wu Shuangjiang no longer held back. He offered the remaining hundreds of thousands of talismans, laying out a green Dao trajectory to clear the path.
From the human world's perspective, the dimmest star "Tianquan" suddenly blazed brilliantly. The sword light pierced through the boundless void of the Righteous Qi.
The sword light came from beyond the sky to the mortal world.
One sword opened the heavy night.
Jiang She could not avoid it. Seeing the beam of light arrive in the world, he took a deep breath, assumed a martial fist stance, and threw a punch toward the heavens.
His dharma form broke through the White Emperor City's barrier, standing like a giant on a platform. A vast fist force collided with the sword light and shattered.
From the brightest star "Yuheng," the second sword was delivered. Light burst from "Tianshu" right after, sword after sword.
In an instant, Jiang She was submerged in that sword light.
His dharma form's knees began to bend, its back hunched. Cracks appeared on the golden armor, and finally, it burst apart like porcelain.
The massive dharma form's accumulated Dao power, along with the true body's flesh and blood, dissipated. The first ancestor of the military strategists would never kneel. Jiang She would never prostrate himself before anyone.
The characters "Jiang She" and "Prime Essence" shattered one by one. Jiang She straightened his back, standing tall, gaunt and skeletal.
Starting from the two auxiliary stars, two sword beams converged into one line. The sword light fell straight into White Emperor City.
In the human world, Jiang She was killed by the sword.
In the sky, the tall, female-faced sword-bearer transformed—her face changed to that of Chen Ping'an, though her pure golden eyes remained.
In the Barren Wastes' Ten Thousand Mountains, the Zhici ascended, filling the vacancy left by the three patriarchs when they shed their teachings.
A flying platform not connected to the earth, with the handsome Daoist Zhici, his wide sleeves fluttering, began to ascend to heaven.
In the westernmost part of the new Heavenly Court, the Buddha took off his kasaya and threw it. The old Heavenly Court ruins, whose jurisdiction was infinite, were lifted by a golden lotus flower of "infinite measure."
The lotus's golden light overflowed, creating a golden halo that surrounded the entire new Heavenly Court.
In the south, the Supreme Sage raised his arm, like a scholar dipping his finger to turn a page. In the Confucian Temple of the Central Earth Shenzhou in the Righteous Qi world, a book suddenly appeared. For ten thousand years, all the text from printed books across many worlds, as well as the words recited aloud, began to fly out of the book's pages, forming a bridge of text between heaven and the human world.
This string of characters traced an arc within the golden halo.
In the east, a youth-faced Daoist stood up from his cushion, reached out an arm, and gently shook his robe. His five fingers formed a fist, and in his palm appeared a speck of pure white light. In an instant, the Dao gave birth to one. This point of light extended into a slender sword beam, followed instantly by a second beam that was absolutely symmetrical, a third, hundreds, thousands, billions—a nearly infinite number...
In the other hand of the young Daoist, the same magnificent scene appeared, except all the beams were pitch black.
A black mass like ink and a white sphere formed a Yin-Yang diagram.
The Dao created Yin and Yang.
In a chaos like the beginning of heaven and earth, Zhou Mi saw an opening sword beam heading toward him.