Chapter 35: Punishment by Array
What a barbaric battlefield where new and old thrones gathered.
What a formidable den of barbarian bandits.
That imposing sword light, slashing again and again, pursued the female Daoist Rou Ti all the way until it was beaten back by two old thrones. The sword light returned along its original path, all gathered into the tip of the sword held by the swordsman on the ground battlefield.
Three "Chen Ping'ans" appeared on the battlefield one after another.
The first, in a blue robe, the Hidden Official, borrowed an iron spear from Guo Jinxian, descended the mountain, entered the formation, and went to the battlefield, killing enemies like mowing grass.
The second, also dressed in a blue long gown and cloth shoes like a commoner, was clearly the trump card of the two throne-level great demons. He truly did kill the first Chen Ping'an... As a result, the third, in white robes carrying a sword, went to the battlefield first, killed Wang Zhi, then forced Rou Ti to flee in panic. During that, he also stabbed the second one to death with a single sword strike...
Even the martial artist Guo Jinxian was stunned dumb by this dizzying spectacle, let alone the immortal realm Ding Aoyou, who felt utterly bewildered.
Huang Mang laughed and said, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. And the slingshot is below."
The first Chen Ping'an to appear at the mountain peak, in a blue robe and cloth shoes, looked like a down-and-out scholar on a mountain outing.
If the Hidden Official had a lifelong fondness for jade hairpins and blue robes, even on the battlefield unwilling to wear armor like a military general, then the "blue robe" he wore was a magical robe of extremely high rank, which was normal. But the cloth shoes on Chen Ping'an's feet had always struck the young emperor as off. Later, through the old national preceptor's divine ability of observing mountains and rivers, Huang Mang paid attention to when the Hidden Official's "cloth shoes" would show wear and tear.
The divine general Ling Ye, an incarnation of national martial fortune, explained to reveal the heavenly secret, "The first one is a clone he created using that ancient mirror."
"Compared to the true body, it belongs to 'weak body, strong spirit.'"
"So the second one, which Wang Zhi and Shuo Ren 'summoned spirits to manifest,' was pierced through the heart with a single sword strike by the third Hidden Official, the true body. It also stirred and shattered the qi prefectures of several meridians, a targeted strike that seemed particularly effortless. In this world, those who have achieved success in cultivation, and the rare martial arts grandmasters, are always the ones most aware of their own flaws in the Dao and their own human weaknesses."
Speaking here, she said with worry, "This way, it's equivalent to leaking the secrets of the qi prefectures of his own human heaven and earth. We need to be careful not to let those great demons see it."
Huang Mang laughed, "Couldn't it be another kind of deceptive trick by the Hidden Official, laying out a suspicious array?"
Ling Ye thought for a moment and was speechless.
Ding Aoyou and Guo Jinxian exchanged a glance—one immortal, one martial artist—both speechless.
Luo Guoyu said, "It seems we need to be extra careful around that Barren Wilds Bestowed Minister."
Since both are famous, if the Hidden Official is so... cunning, then the Bestowed Minister must also be a deeply calculating person.
Gao Chu sighed softly. This was the treacherous and unpredictable real battlefield.
Guo Jinxian regretted that the sword light had not directly struck down the colorful-robed woman. It was a slight imperfection, but they really couldn't demand more from the Hidden Official.
Historically, there had never been a cultivator who lit a life-bound lamp and then achieved great success in turning around. Such an act inherently incurred invisible heavenly aversion. But between two evils, one chooses the lesser—life is always more important. The worries of tomorrow's path can be faced when they come. Besides, a turn of events might bring unexpected hope.
The sky tore open like three holes, three doors opening without warning.
At one doorway, Fei Fei wore a crown of heavenly communication and a crimson gauze robe. She frowned slightly and spoke with her mind: "Is it a special use of a life-bound flying sword? Or is that long sword the manifestation of that supreme existence?"
Unless Chen Ping'an had also secretly broken into the Fourteenth Realm, how could the power of a single sword light be exaggerated to such an unbelievable degree?
Although Shuo Ren held Yu Long in her arms and had no desire to fight, wanting only to withdraw from the battlefield, the fierce sword light that clung like a stubborn illness—both Fei Fei and Zhu Yan had personally assessed its weight. It was truly powerful.
Unfortunately, among the new and old thrones, there was no sword cultivator at the moment. No one could give a definite answer.
A female cultivator from the old Tuoyue Mountain, her hatred even stronger than Fei Fei's, said in a deep voice, "Later, I'll take the lead."
That mountain-moving ancestor who used the alias Yuan Shou but whose true name was Zhu Yan, hearing that Xin Zhuang was willing to do this, though her seniority was lower, she was very straightforward in doing things. The ancestor immediately shouted in praise.
He swung his long staff, making a whooshing sound, "No matter what tricks he pulls, today he falls into grandpa's hands. He'll be a soul under my staff."
That young Chen Ping'an carrying the true names of great demons was indeed a huge hidden danger for them, the thrones.
So regardless of whether it was new ascension or new Fourteenth Realm, that young Hidden Official was a common enemy on the path of the Dao.
For example, when Fei Fei was merging with the Dao earlier, she clearly saw a picture in the obscure.
The chaos of heaven and earth was hazy, only a single cliff face was closest to the truth and reality. It hung alone between the blue sky and yellow earth.
Fei Fei looked up and saw her true name as a demon, clearly carved on the cliff.
That kind of "being listed on the rolls" would terrify any Barren Wilds demon.
She had tried to destroy the entire cliff, to no avail. She had to settle for trying to erase her own true name, but still couldn't succeed.
If that ancient swordsman who defected from the Barren Wilds had delivered this sword, it would have been reasonable.
Because when he merged with the Dao, he had used a magnificent sword light that roamed freely across several worlds, as if telling all of humanity what his path of Dao-merging was.
But he had already dropped realms in that Heaven-Earth Passage. He should be recuperating somewhere now. There was no way he could have come to the Barren Wilds battlefield recently.
Could it be that he and Bai Jing, both ancient swordsmen, had both delivered swords during the Heaven-Earth Passage, both dropped realms, and after returning to the human world, became useless chicken ribs? Were they then seized by Chen Ping'an, who secretly devoured their true bodies?
Taking the opportunity to erase two "true names of great demons"?
But thinking again, Fei Fei felt this guess was too absurd.
After all, under the rule of the Confucian Temple in the Righteous World, with Chen Ping'an's methods and scheming, he might be capable of doing it, but he wouldn't dare and shouldn't do such a thing.
Chen Ping'an belonged to the type who "could do it but wouldn't do such things."
In the entire Righteous World, the only one capable of doing such things and daring to risk universal condemnation was probably that person from White Emperor City?
Zhu Yan shifted his gaze from the Hidden Official to the mountain peak that seemed like a small mound. He made a sound of surprise and said, "That worthless Liu Cha, why didn't he follow this watchdog here?"
Fei Fei, displeased, immediately flicked her sleeve, dispersing Zhu Yan's voice, and reminded him with her mind, "Don't let Liu Cha hear you."
Zhu Yan sneered, "Even if that worthless fellow hears, what can he do to me? Let him come and spar—it'll be like scratching grandpa's itch!"
Fei Fei shouted angrily, "Zhu Yan! If you keep running your mouth like this, I'll break the agreement immediately. Don't even think about mentioning that plan again!"
Zhu Yan had to shut up for now. Since the secret agreement concerned whether Yang Zhi could return to the Barren Wilds, he had to tolerate Fei Fei, this woman.
Sure enough, once you succeed in merging with the Dao, you become impressive. Back then, you wouldn't dare act so disrespectfully toward grandpa. Bai Ze is really biased!
This new master of Yeluo River, recently personally instructed by Bai Ze to break through the fog, had succeeded in merging with the Dao and entered the Fourteenth Realm.
The small group of great demons at the highest point of the Barren Wilds now had three generations.
Bai Ze led, Gui Ke guarded the Barren Wilds. In addition, Zhu Yan, Yang Zhi, and those awakened by Bai Ze like Li Gou and Guan Yi—they all belonged to the "ancient" generation with the longest Dao ages.
Then came the great demon Fei Fei, Guan Xiang. After that were the new thrones filling the positions like Bestowed Minister, Wang Zhi, and Shuo Ren.
Xin Zhuang was also looking at the mountain peak scene, trying to confirm if Liu Cha was hiding somewhere.
If Liu Cha had truly defected to the Fallen Mountain and was willing to be Chen Ping'an's vanguard, that would be quite troublesome.
But generation and such only indicated length of Dao age. In the Barren Wilds, what really mattered was strength of Dao power and killing ability.
Not long ago, the great demon Chu Sheng, who was skilled in observing celestial phenomena, had observed the shift of Liu Cha's fate star outside the sky. Together with Fei Ran, Fei Fei, and others, he gave a truth that was definitely not good news.
Chu Sheng was almost certain that the former high-ranking old throne had left the Merit Forest of the Central Earth Confucian Temple and gone to Treasure Bottle Continent, settling in the Fallen Mountain territory.
But Chu Sheng wasn't too nervous. The reason was that Liu Cha's temper made it absolutely impossible for him to return to the Barren Wilds and turn his spear.
From this, Chu Sheng inferred that when the Heaven-Earth Passage ended, although the young Hidden Official was lucky to survive, he must have been gravely injured.
Zhu Yan cursed loudly: Liu Cha, this worthless piece—if he can't be a Barren Wilds traitor, is he shameless enough to become a dog of the Righteous World?
According to this mountain-moving ancestor, a Fourteenth Realm, a pure sword cultivator, being beaten down in realm by a Flying Ascension Realm Confucian scholar—wasn't that the biggest joke in the world? If Liu Cha wasn't a waste, what was he?!
What Zhu Yan truly feared was not the already realm-dropped Liu Cha, but the "old acquaintance" who had slept for ten thousand years in the bright moonlight—a sword cultivator with a hole in his brain.
This sword cultivator, when he used to duel ancient Daoists, never gave a reason. He'd strike as soon as he saw them.
If he lost the duel, he'd run, and he could get away.
The problem was, every time he won a duel, he never stayed to feast on the spot. No matter how badly he was injured himself, he would leave behind a corpse.
In ancient times, he had pursued Yang Zhi. If not for Zhu Yan's intervention, Yang Zhi would have long since died and been destroyed.
And of course, there was that madwoman who, it was said, dared to cut the great demon Li Gou into countless pieces right in front of Bai Ze—the sword cultivator Bai Jing!
Just the fact that she could pursue and drive the swordsman ahead of her all the way to the vicinity of Fallen Treasure Beach's Bixiao Cave before stopping showed how troublesome Bai Jing really was.
Fortunately, both of them had gone to the Righteous World and had also dropped realms in the Heaven-Earth Passage.
Otherwise, having to work with them in the Barren Wilds—just thinking about it made Zhu Yan's head ache.
An old man with white hair and eyebrows, wearing a snow-white magical robe, sat cross-legged on an extremely wide green cushion, as if sitting on a mirror-like lake surface. The paperweights placed at the four corners of the cushion were shaped like mountains and peaks.
This was the great demon Guan Xiang, at the pinnacle of the Flying Ascension Realm. He was one of the very few in the Barren Wilds who could be called a strategic genius.
Yu Long was still wrapped in that scroll painting as a magical robe. Her face was pale. She had now sat down at the corner of the cushion and reached out to press a green paperweight, drawing the refined Dao essence stored within to repair her battered and broken Dao body.
Yu Long's attention was always on the Hidden Official.
During the last siege battle, she would have been a member of the Jia Shen account, fighting alongside talented sword cultivators like Zhou Qinggao, Liu Baijin, and others. But her grandfather didn't want her to take risks, so he confined her to the family. It was only after the Sword Qi Great Wall battle ended, when it was broken in two and became the most important "station" connecting the two worlds, that she could secretly leave her family, bringing a few close friends from her boudoir, and ride a carriage to "pay respects" to that famous young Hidden Official, Ning Yao's Dao companion.
Guan Xiang cupped his hands and said loudly to the female Daoist with a smile, "Here, I thank Shuo Ren for her assistance."
He didn't mind that Rou Ti had played a clever trick.
Seeing the situation was unfavorable, she withdrew decisively from the battlefield, refusing to entangle with the Hidden Official at all, confident that they would help.
Otherwise, with her true cultivation level, how could she be so disheveled?
She protected her granddaughter—that was absolutely true. He, Guan Xiang, had to acknowledge the favor.
Rou Ti stood near the cushion, performed a Daoist salute to this senior, and said with a bitter smile, "This vertical scroll of flowers and birds will be given to Yu Long as compensation for my inadequate protection as an elder."
Before Yu Long could refuse, Guan Xiang had already agreed with a smile, though his words were filled with insincere pleasantries.
Then Guan Xiang, ostensibly scolding but actually praising his granddaughter, said, "Look at you, not knowing your place. You refused to light a life-bound lamp in the ancestral hall. Today you almost got killed in battle. Will you dare to be so arrogant in the future?"
Yu Long's eyes were resolute, still shaking her head, "I won't light the lamp!"
Guan Xiang was helpless. "See this granddaughter of mine? I can't teach her at all!"
Fei Fei was quite surprised that Yu Long hadn't lit a life-bound lamp. She looked at her with approval and laughed, "Great boldness."
Zhu Yan also said a rare good word, "The girl has promise."
For some reason, whenever Guan Xiang saw the young Hidden Official, this extremely long-aged throne-level great demon liked to repeat the same old tune, speaking heartfelt words. His voice boomed like thunder, echoing between heaven and earth.
"The Confucian Temple won't even toss a meat bone your way, and you can't get any scraps either. Hidden Official, with such great merit, what did you gain after the war ended? Not a thing, right? I feel distressed for you. And I fear that one day you might end up like a rabbit dead and a hound cooked. Hidden Official, listen to my advice—you should start planning your retreat."
Talking on and on, it was still a double-edged remark, both criticizing the Central Earth Confucian Temple's stinginess and ingratitude, and also insinuating the popular saying from the Sword Qi Great Wall: "From afar, it's A Liang; up close, it's the Hidden Official; look closely, and it turns out to be a dog." Wasn't it perfectly matching?
The Barren Wilds demons on the many boats in the sky burst into laughter.
The originally solemn and heavy atmosphere of killing thinned a bit.
The two successive "Hidden Officials" of the Sword Qi Great Wall, both Xiao Xun and Chen Ping'an, had won their reputations through hard fighting.
At the mountain peak, Ling Ye said, "Your Majesty, that's Guan Xiang."
Huang Mang nodded. "Find an opportunity."
The Barren Wilds great demons were divided into three types. The likes of Zhu Yan preferred to act alone, roaming the world by themselves, with at most a few allies at the peak.
Then there were those like Yang Zhi of the old Yeluo River. The Daoist temple she had carefully managed had always been one of the most important sources of elite water demons in the Barren Wilds. There was also Xianzan City's Xuan Pu, who had supplied the Barren Wilds with a large number of weapons and armor. In addition, there was Jincui City, which refined magical robes. Its city lord, Qing Jia, with the Dao name Yuan Hu, was a female immortal. And there was Emperor Ye Pu of the Cloud Pattern Dynasty, who had built his dynasty... They were all skilled at managing Daoist temples or founding dynasties.
The third type was the existence of Guan Xiang, who had prestige on the mountains, could win the hearts of the people, and was also good at using troops.
But the old Flying Ascension Realm Xuan Pu of Xianzan City had been beheaded. Jincui City, once a vassal of Yeluo River, had now become the "lower courtyard" of Gu Can's Fuyao Sect. The Barren Wilds female immortal Lian Pudi even had a new surname, "Zheng."
Guan Xiang's gaze wandered over the ground battlefield, guessing that the senior was probably hiding among them.
Because this campaign was personally formulated by Chu Sheng, from framework to details, from the original intention of the plan to the outcome of victory or defeat—Chu Sheng had carefully deduced it all for them.
The last time Chu Sheng appeared was near the end of the dangerous confrontation between Bai Ze and Chen Qingliu.
At that time, he had taken Xiao Xun to deal with Zheng Juzhong, but Xiao Xun suddenly turned against him, punching him in the chest, forcing him to flee injured.
After that, Chu Sheng disappeared without a trace.
Although it seemed ominous, there were still few thrones who believed that Chu Sheng, who had lived over ten thousand years, would fall here.
Even someone as fond of wanton killing and arrogant as Zhu Yan had to admit that Chu Sheng was the pure existence who gave the most to the Barren Wilds and had the highest hopes for the demon race.
So Zhu Yan was willing to show a bit of sincere respect only to Chu Sheng, not speaking so bluntly.
Zhu Yan laughed coldly and sneered, "Wang Zhi is still too soft. He does things in a dawdling manner. Why didn't he go slaughter a few cities before sending out troops? Or bloodbath a few Daoist temples of sect rank? Or negotiate with a few of us—let him kill tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of soldiers. If this fellow could really merge with the Dao through this, the cost would still be bearable for us Barren Wilds."
Rou Ti shook her head and sighed, "It has to be this kind of confrontation between two armies, enmity with the Righteous World, for it to be Wang Zhi's Daoist temple."
Zhu Yan was momentarily speechless. He was silent for a long time. Shuo Ren's phrase "enmity with the Righteous World" did make Zhu Yan think a bit higher of Wang Zhi.
Rou Ti wrung her hands in regret. All efforts were wasted. Not only had they failed to kill the Hidden Official, but Wang Zhi had fallen into a fate of unknown life or death.
In that case, she, who had first decided to kill the Hidden Official, had implicated Wang Zhi and ruined the future of that Dao friend Dayi.
Guan Xiang sensed the female Daoist's Dao heart fluctuating and reminded her with a mental voice, smiling, "Shuo Ren, now that things have come to this, don't keep dwelling on it. It's not good for your Dao heart at all."
The female Daoist Rou Ti knew her own suffering.
The Dao heart—this thing—was the most mysterious and the hardest to... serve.
A drop of ink in a pool of clear water: ordinary people can of course ignore it, and the sight of the ink dropping into the pool is not clearly visible.
But for cultivators, once they are above the halfway point, they must understand the weight of the phrase "a tiny flaw in the Dao heart."
Guan Xiang sighed, "Dao friend Dayi is indeed a pity."
Even if Wang Zhi could escape death through some strange secret art, he would never be able to raise a sizable army in the future.
As a general, if you treat friend and foe alike, killing anyone at any time for your own Dao advancement—who would follow you?
Isn't that more terrifying than a foolish commander who doesn't know how to deploy troops? No wonder his Dao name was "Dayi." This guy's methods were truly wild.
Rou Ti certainly hoped that Wang Zhi could survive. If Wang Zhi could succeed in merging with the Dao, it could greatly affect the final trend of the two worlds.
The young Hidden Official's so-called "little Bai Ze" hit the nail on the head.
According to Chu Sheng's established strategy, every major battle in the Barren Wilds from now on would have Wang Zhi, with his hidden Dao name, serve as the main general or deputy commander.
The purpose was to allow Wang Zhi to steadily enter the Fourteenth Realm.
Fei Fei asked with her mind, "Shuo Ren, if Wang Zhi escapes this disaster, can he continue to command troops?"
Rou Ti answered truthfully, "He can, but it will inevitably cause low morale. The effect of Wang Zhi accumulating Dao power will definitely be greatly reduced. If we try to be clever—having Wang Zhi change his appearance and identity to hide in the battlefield—I believe the effect will only be worse."
Fei Fei understood. Wang Zhi, Dao name Dayi, was already a useless chicken rib.
Rou Ti quickly added, "The Barren Wilds with or without Wang Zhi is always different. If Dao friend Dayi can achieve results over the long term, his path of the Dao can still be promising."
Fei Fei dismissed it with a smile.
Looking from this mountain peak, in addition to the Barren Wilds demon army led by Wang Zhi and Rou Ti on the ground—now they had lost their central commander, one dead and one fled—there were also the three "doors" opened in the sky. Several throne-level great demons with majestic Dao aura and extremely conspicuous forms floated there, surrounded by countless demon soldiers clinging like ants on great mountains, shimmering with swords and shadows on Daoist temple ruins, and clouds of banners blotting out the sun. All were like extraordinary suspended boats carrying countless demon troops.
If you didn't look closely, just a rough glance gave a bit of the look of celestial officials dispatching heavenly troops in fantasy novels.
The academy noble Luo Guoyu felt heavy-hearted and asked, "Gao Chu, can you tell how those boats operate?"
Gao Chu quickly searched her mind memories and replied, "According to the Confucian Temple's secret records, they are all relics of the palace Daoist temples that Shuo Ren inherited from the old throne Huang Luan. Probably the female Daoist offered them to other thrones, who then privately refined them, carving a large number of talismans to turn them into boats. But why these boats can contract distances like cultivators—I don't know yet."
Luo Guoyu muttered to himself, "Fortunately, we saw these boats in advance."
Gao Chu nodded with a smile, "In the next battle, we won't be caught off guard."
Two secular dynasties heavily infiltrated by immortal forces, when their national strengths were similar, often fought "clear battles."
Usually, any large-scale troop movement from either side would be fully observed by the immortals hiding in the clouds. Even using a large number of immortal boats for rapid troop deployment left traces—it could be tracked. Moreover, no boat could be faster than a sword cultivator's flying sword for sending messages. No matter how well hidden, it was hard to escape the eyes of a country's five sacred mountain gods, border landscape gods, and town gods.
Ding Aoyou couldn't hide his shock. These demon beasts could actually deploy troops like this? How did they manage it?
In recent years, within the Confucian Temple itself, when it came to "troop deployment," a large number of architectural geniuses had been gathered. They had studied extremely carefully whether they could build some kind of boat—one that could be "carried along" by a great cultivator using their divine ability of a sleeve universe, for example. Or they used the famous Liuxia Boat as a template and draft, but of course, the cost had to be lower, otherwise mass production was impossible...
But the great cultivators skilled in architecture and boat construction, along with Mohist mechanism masters, and seniors proficient in talismans advising on the side—whether from family traditions or unpassed-down sect secrets—they held nothing back. But no matter how much mental energy they exhausted calculating, the results of their deductions all showed that building this kind of "large boat" was impossible.
In the end, the Confucian Temple chose three types of boats, including the mountain boats jointly created by the Great Li dynasty and the Mohist school.
Being too far from the sky, and Luo Guoyu being only an Earth Immortal, he couldn't explore more details.
Luo Guoyu asked, "National Preceptor Ding, can you use a technique to copy the images near those boats?"
Ding Aoyou wiped his sweat and said, "I've already tried. Near those doors, Dao aura is abundant, the scene is chaotic, and the great demons intentionally obscured it. It's really hard to detect precisely."
The female divine general, an incarnation of the military fortune of the Chenguan dynasty, reminded, "Your Majesty, the situation is grim. Our forces and the enemy's are vastly outmatched. The peak combat power is also one-sided. We can only try to find opportunities to buy time."
Huang Mang nodded. "Just drag it out."
Ding Aoyou laughed heartily, "Fine. Saves me from wasting my efforts."
The old voice chimed in again, "Why not say it saves you from seeing disciples and grand-disciples wailing at the funeral?"
Ding Aoyou chuckled, "Then I'll save that too."
If not for the Hidden Official stirring things up, becoming the only variable on the battlefield, the Righteous World would only have suffered more. One careless mistake would have meant total annihilation—and a meaningless defeat at that.
Luo Guoyu said with his mind, "Gao Chu, later you follow Huang Mang to withdraw from the battlefield."
Gao Chu said nothing, only shook her head.
Luo Guoyu continued, "I will issue a military order requiring you to leave this place."
Gao Chu's eyes suddenly reddened. "Luo Guoyu, don't insult me!"
Luo Guoyu said calmly, "You should know very well that I am not insulting you, not treating you as someone who retreats in the face of battle. Rather, I know that if Gao Chu dies here today, we in the Righteous World will have to die more on the battlefield in the future. I know that. You should know it even better."
Gao Chu was skilled in refined thinking. She could turn what she visualized in her mind into reality.
"Armchair strategy" had always been a derogatory term, but for Gao Chu, it was her unique talent.
No wonder the military temple of the Central Earth had always wanted Gao Chu to go there to deepen this skill, not needing to rush to the battlefield.
But this kind of life-bound divine ability had a very high threshold for practice and was full of taboos when used. The price Gao Chu paid was linked to the scale of her "mustering troops."
She was only at the Golden Core realm now, after all, with limited Dao power. But when she became Nascent Soul, Upper Five Realms... Gao Chu's importance on the battlefield would only grow. She might even become the decisive factor in a brutal war.
When two worlds clash head-on, the Barren Wilds needed more Yu Longs.
The Righteous World similarly needed people like Gao Chu—"unreasonable moves on the chessboard."
Gao Chu couldn't refute the noble's reasoning. Her expression was gloomy, and her heart felt empty.
Luo Guoyu smiled slightly, "In war, people always die. Today it could be Luo Guoyu of Hengqu Academy. One day, it could be Gao Chu, who becomes an academy noble. But at least you can't die today. You must die later. Preferably, you don't have to die at all."
Gao Chu was silent.
Chen Ping'an, having shrunk the earth and spanned mountains, carrying his sword, arrived at the place where a large banner once stood. He casually cut through the layers of prohibitions of the ancient Thunder Department branch temple ruins, pulled out the iron spear from the formation, wiped off the residual Dao techniques on it, then vigorously shook his sleeve and threw it far toward the mountain peak, returning it to its owner.
The iron spear broke through the air, with the sound of wind and thunder.
The "new Hidden Official," as if usurping the nest and turning from guest to host, stood in the heart of the demon army where the general's tent should have been. Nearby demons hurriedly moved away, retreating in a rush.
Zhu Yan cursed, "Such a rebellious scoundrel!" He lifted his long staff and swung it at the iron spear flying like an arrow.
A sword light rose again, shattering the energy unleashed by the staff.
Zhu Yan failed in his attack and didn't rush down to fight the boy.
This ancestor of the mountain-moving kind glanced at Xin Zhuang across the door, saw she was still secretly setting up formations, and withdrew his staff.
At the mountain peak, Guo Jinxian quickly reached out to catch the iron spear. As it approached the mountain, the spear's speed had already slowed considerably. When Guo Jinxian's five fingers grasped the spear shaft, his figure still staggered back several steps. The Far Wandering Realm martial artist suddenly flushed red, let out a muffled shout, and finally stopped. He was shocked inside—such great force, the spear almost slipped from his hand.
As Guo Jinxian caught the spear, a warm, mellow voice sounded, speaking two sentences.
The first sentence: "Returning the spear with interest to General Guo."
Clearly, the female Daoist had tried to destroy the iron spear, but failing halfway, she had instead upgraded its rank through refinement.
Guo Jinxian laughed heartily. The Hidden Official really did act efficiently!
The second sentence: "This junior thanks True Immortal Ding of Aiai Island for the life-saving act."
Ding Aoyou's heart stirred. He stroked his beard and laughed, "The Hidden Official doesn't need me to save his life."
Luo Guoyu smiled and reminded, "It seems the Hidden Official can't hear what National Preceptor Ding said."
Ding Aoyou just laughed to himself. Those of the same path understand each other without many words.
The young emperor sighed inwardly. The young Hidden Official's achievements today couldn't be explained simply as "lucky" or "having a hard fate."
No wonder Ding Aoyou was so delighted. Wasn't the term "True Immortal" the greatest recognition among Dao friends on the mountain?
And "Aiai Island"—wasn't that an even deeper knot in Ding Aoyou's heart?
One sentence was worth a thousand words face-to-face.
In earlier years, the Righteous World's Daoist temples were like officialdom, with all kinds of celebrations appearing endlessly. Hollow flattery and polite greetings between each other—it was all just social niceties, no one took it seriously.
But who would think that the young Hidden Official, still deep in enemy territory, was just saying polite words to Ding Aoyou?
Emperor Ye Pu of the Cloud Pattern Dynasty had also followed the new throne Xin Zhuang to this place.
By his side stood the female national preceptor Bai Ren, a very young Ultimate Realm martial artist with a sword at her waist.
Hundreds of thousands of the dynasty's elite soldiers had poured out, all on the hovering boats behind them.
Earlier, a wave of sword cultivators had passed through the capital, their behavior so low and shameless that it was even more outrageous than the likes of Zhu Yan, who were accustomed to plundering.
They had looted the entire Jade Edition City clean—the imperial family, the public treasury, private secret collections—nothing was spared.
Thieves never go empty-handed!
The twelve flying swords and coral sword racks that Ye Pu regarded as national treasures had all been swept away by the leader.
Bai Ren whispered, "Your Majesty, I want to leave the formation and fight that Chen villain."
To make a name in the Barren Wilds, this was the moment.
Even if it meant death, she was willing.
Ye Pu directly reminded her with his mind, "You haven't reached the Divine Arrival level yet. Why humiliate yourself?"
Probably feeling this was too harsh, he added, "How many are there who have deep hatred for the Hidden Official besides us? What's the hurry?"
Bai Ren's face was agitated, but she still suppressed her inner hatred and did not draw her blade to go down.
Indeed, Xin Zhuang from Tuoyue Mountain hated the Hidden Official even more than they did.
The formation master Xin Zhuang, while urgently setting up her formation with a technique to deceive heaven and cross the sea, was also carefully on guard against one person.
Zheng Juzhong.
It was said that recently, Zheng Juzhong had been wandering in the southern regions of the Barren Wilds, for an unknown purpose.
Two demon cultivators, both Upper Five Realms and extremely skilled in concealment and escape techniques, had been ordered by Fei Ran and the other thrones—reluctantly—to probe. In the end, they themselves had disappeared.
Whether they were detected and killed by Zheng Juzhong, or whether they simply didn't dare to provoke him and deliberately took detours, going halfway and then hiding their own heavenly secrets to find a secret realm to hide... Fei Fei and the others couldn't investigate further.
At a peak meeting, Zhu Yan flew into a rage over this, blaming Fei Fei for not being thorough—why didn't they make those two worthless fellows swear deadly oaths before leaving, and hand over a couple of leverage points related to their Dao foundations?
Bai Ze then told the furious Zhu Yan to personally determine Zheng Juzhong's whereabouts and find out his intentions in roaming the Barren Wilds. The mountain-moving ancestor shut up in anger.
Fortunately, they didn't have to keep guessing. Soon, through his Dao companion Gui Ke, Fei Ran got a definite message.
Zheng Juzhong would follow the same choice as the senior Zhi Ci of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains in the past—not taking sides between the Righteous World and the Barren Wilds.
But if anyone felt that his wandering in the Barren Wilds broke the rules or offended their eyes, they could certainly come and trouble him.
One wave not yet settled, another rises.
The female Daoist Rou Ti suddenly burst with joy. Wang Zhi was indeed not dead!
That "Chen Ping'an" jointly summoned by Wang Zhi and Rou Ti to manifest on the battlefield as a god descending.
Earlier, he had been pierced by that sword light and fell to the ground. Now he had stood up again. "He" had a pair of golden eyes, gently turning his neck. The hole in his chest pierced by the long sword had already sealed itself. Inside, there were no internal organs, but countless floating golden threads writhing wildly. He looked like a god of profane temples woven from golden threads.
He looked at the "true Chen Ping'an" not far away and said hoarsely, "Chen, you've delayed my Dao-merging twice."
He looked up at the Barren Wilds friends in the sky and laughed to himself, "Hah, an irreconcilable enmity—that's about it."
He gently shook his shoulders, manifesting a golden magical robe. Then he twisted on his toes, and his "cloth shoes" shattered completely.
Finally, he transformed into Wang Zhi's appearance, but retained all the power of this "counterfeit golden body"—martial power and cultivator power alike.
The large banner that had been cut into several pieces and crashed to the ground on the battlefield now reformed into a golden halberd, which Wang Zhi gripped in his hand.
Wang Zhi's expression suddenly changed drastically. "One realm?!"
Where were Chen Ping'an's life-bound flying swords? Had they been destroyed in that Heaven-Earth Passage? Had he been forced onto a completely martial path?
Could it be that he and Rou Ti had calculated so carefully, only to copy such a shoddy product?
On the opposite side.
Chen Ping'an was silent. He just smiled slightly, raised his arm, holding the sword horizontally in front of him. With his left hand, he formed two fingers together and gently tapped the tip of the sword.
The sword tip trembled slightly. The sword light rippled like autumn water, as if the entire world were shaking with it.
Surrounded by a den of bandits, he simply killed bandits.
Punishment by array—it was only natural.
Figures floated down and landed on the railing of the mountain peak, lined up in a row. Twelve in total.
They were the Great Li Earthly Branches.
The only female martial artist stepped out alone. Zhou Haijing wore two swords at her waist, clad in colorful armor, holding a long spear, her form rising upward.
Then came Cao Ci, leaning against the railing—truly graceful.
Then two young women—one with her hair in a bun, the martial artist Pei Qian; the other, a girl with delicate features, squatting on the railing, the sword cultivator Guo Zhujiu.
Beyond them, at the edge of the battlefield between the mountain peak and the suspended doors, three spectators appeared on the ground, seemingly neutral for now.
Zheng Dan, the gatekeeper of White Emperor City. The woman in a green dress who had appeared in the Great Li capital. And in the center, Zheng Juzhong.