Chapter 617: Who Can Match Ning Yao
In the early stages of every offensive and defensive battle at the Sword Qi Great Wall throughout history, Bai Lianshuang used two words to describe the scene with extreme precision: certain death.
Atop the city wall, sword immortals and sword cultivators simultaneously unleashed their flying swords. Swords filled the sky like a boundless canopy, while sword qi surged like a tidal wave, rushing southward. Every inch of ground it passed over was reduced to powder.
The yao swarming toward the Sword Qi Great Wall on the battlefield were mowed down like grass, falling in waves, one layer after another collapsing to the ground.
The Barren Wastes World had three moons suspended in the sky, but here atop the city wall, the moonlight was at its most abundant.
The wall was crowded with sword cultivators like clouds. Once the flying swords were released, the deep night was lit up as bright as day, enough to make the moonlight seem dim and colorless.
Countless densely packed yao surged forward like a mighty river flowing against the current, attempting to create a situation where they could swarm the wall like ants. But it was far too early for that.
They could only rely on an endless stream of lives to consume the spiritual energy of the sword cultivators, buying themselves a chance to approach the Sword Qi Great Wall. Every step the battlefield advanced northward came at a tremendous cost.
A specific group of great demons revealed their true forms. Under the leadership of the Flying Ascension realm great demon Chongguang, they shouldered mountain peaks that had been ripped from the land of the Barren Wastes World, carried them to the southern battlefield, and then hurled them with all their might at the Sword Qi Great Wall.
The great sword immortal Yue Qing, hailed as a candidate for the top ten peak sword immortals, wore two swords at his waist: one named "Eagle Suppressing the Five Sacred Peaks," and the other a standard-issue longsword from the sword workshop. Neither had been drawn from its sheath. Instead, he had already unleashed two natal flying swords. One of them, "Hundred-Fathom Spring," cascaded like a great waterfall, smashing the peaks that came whistling toward the city wall, sending them crashing to the ground. The earth trembled, crushing countless yao beneath. The other flying sword, "Cloud Lark," soared in the sky, its sword qi falling like a torrential rain onto the battlefield.
The sect master of the Taihui Sword Sect from Northern Ju Luzhou, Han Huaizi, did not aim his flying sword at the fodder yao dying on the battlefield. Instead, he coordinated with Yue Qing to knock down the peaks that were being hurled at the wall.
The chief retainer of the Yan family, an Immortal realm sword cultivator named Li Tuimi, also wielded two natal flying swords: "White Flood Dragon" and "Black Chi." Once unleashed, they transformed into two hundred-fathom flood dragons that writhed wildly across the land, slaughtering yao.
The Immortal realm sword cultivator Mi Hu wielded a natal flying sword named "Aoyu." It left the city wall and plunged directly into the earth, tearing ravines across the battlefield, tasked with slowing the yao's advance.
His younger brother, Mi Yu, unleashed his flying sword "Rosy Sky" and joined forces with his elder brother. Within those ravines, they generated sword qi in the form of dense, water-like rosy light, preventing the enemy's great demons from filling the ravines while simultaneously grinding to death all the yao that fell into them.
Then there was the sword immortal Yuan Qingshu from Southern Poseshaska Continent, who unleashed his flying sword "Frost and Snow." He reinforced the ravines created by the Mi brothers, his sword qi so abundant that the yao at the edges of the dozens of ravines, large and small, felt as if they were trapped in a bone-chilling snowy day. Deep snow piled up on the ground, and snowflakes and debris filled the air. Even the yao, whose true forms were renowned in the world for their toughness, found their feet corroded by the sword qi, flesh melting away until only white bones were exposed, their bodies bloodied and mangled.
The sword immortal Wu Chengpei, who had been stuck at the bottleneck of the Jade Purity realm for many years, sat cross-legged on the city wall. His natal flying sword, "Sweet Dew," was an extremely peculiar flying sword even by the standards of the Sword Qi Great Wall. The sword "Sweet Dew" had no fixed form. It landed in a battlefield filled with countless piled corpses and pools of blood. To everyone's surprise, Wu Chengpei closed his eyes, focused his mind, and instead of striking at the yao, began to calmly refine his sword.
The female sword immortal Zhou Cheng, though not high in realm, possessed a unique fortune. As the last surviving member of her lineage, during her long years of cultivation on the city wall, she had been able to absorb the sword intent of her ancestors from past generations, refining it into a natal flying sword. She eventually forged and nurtured a natal flying sword named "Seven Colors." Its sword light shimmered in seven hues, as if she wielded seven natal flying swords at once.
Among the ten peak sword immortals, Nalan Shaowei and Lu Zhi did not unleash their swords. Instead, they led more than a dozen Upper Five Realm sword immortals who possessed extremely fast flying swords, patrolling the battlefield and specifically targeting those great demons hidden among the vast yao army. If any yao managed to approach the city wall, they also drew their swords to kill them, absolutely preventing the yao from easily advancing to the base of the wall.
On the city wall of the Sword Qi Great Wall, each sword cultivator had their own role.
The Upper Five Realm sword cultivators sent their flying swords to the very forefront of the tidal wave of sword qi, farthest from the wall, killing the most enemies and naturally consuming the most spiritual energy. It was also the most perilous.
The Earth Immortal sword cultivators at the Nascent Soul and Golden Core realms followed closely behind. These sword cultivators were not required to blindly seek distance in killing yao. Their task was simply to stabilize the formation of the river of sword qi that had left the city. If they had spare energy, they could look for opportunities to kill those yao cultivators wearing dharma robes or talisman armor, especially the formation masters secretly escorted by this group. Once a sign was detected, they had to kill the formation master on the spot at any cost.
All the Middle Five Realm sword cultivators below the Golden Core realm had to be even more careful when unleashing their swords. Their primary task was not to kill enemies at all, but to form a formation in front of the city wall, to prevent those yao specifically targeting them from damaging their natal flying swords.
These three groups of sword cultivators took turns rotating. Putting on a flashy show to scare people was useless anyway—scaring didn't kill anyone. Every sword cultivator on the Sword Qi Great Wall always pursued solid, tangible results with every strike.
After all, a great demon attacking a city was not a matter of a few days or months. It often lasted for years.
For the yao of the Barren Wastes World, three days and three nights of assaulting the city was really just an appetizer.
The only anomaly during this period was one of the fourteen great demons who had shown themselves. Bai Ying, who sat high upon the Bone Throne like a majestic overseer, stood up once and used his White Bone Contemplation divine ability. On the battlefield, where blood flowed for a thousand miles, thousands of skeletal remains of yao cultivators suddenly stood up. Yet for some unknown reason, they neither attacked nor retreated. They just stood there stiffly, allowing the sword qi to shatter them all, completely losing their last shred of utility.
Bai Ying sat back down on his throne and extended a hand, seemingly signaling to the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall to continue their attacks.
Bai Ying took an extra glance at the Jade Purity realm sword immortal Wu Chengpei, showing considerable interest in that natal flying sword named "Sweet Dew."
Bai Ying's gaze traveled to the farther reaches of the battlefield. If a being were reduced to skin and bones while simultaneously being bathed in Sweet Dew, which helped temper the soul, it could slightly benefit the Great Dao.
Aside from that, Bai Ying didn't find this kind of carnage worth a second glance.
Except for a few of his fellow throne-holders who traveled alone and didn't spread their lineages, all the other sect forces, including their vassals, had mobilized completely. At this moment on the Barren Wastes World, if someone could be like that great demon Daoist who had refined the lunar soul, looking down upon the land from among the three bright moons, they would see on the vast map first specks of mustard seeds, then thin lines slowly moving toward the Sword Qi Great Wall. Those were the endless streams of yao rushing to the battlefield.
Every thin line represented tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of yao. Most were puppets with undeveloped intelligence, controlled by cultivators. But there were also countless yao cultivators who had walked the path of cultivation and taken human form, as well as many local heroes, kingdoms built in imitation of the Haoran World, fierce beasts from deep mountains and great marshes, those occupying miasmic lands, those possessing auspicious geomantic sites, various mountain and river gods, vengeful spirits, and wronged souls. Without exception, every single one had to contribute at least half of their resources to attack the Sword Qi Great Wall.
If they couldn't breach the wall, then of course they were just throwing away their lives.
But to breach the wall, they had no choice but to throw away lives. As long as they could afford it and were willing to sacrifice more useless ants, the more they died, the more the seemingly insurmountable and indestructible Sword Qi Great Wall would lose its advantages of Heaven, Earth, and harmony. At the moment when all three were lost, that would be the moment when Chen Qingdu perished, his body and dao extinguished, his soul utterly scattered. The Sword Qi Great Wall formed its own vast heavenly realm. How Chen Qingdu maintained this advantage, and how the Barren Wastes World erased this disadvantage, was the crux of the offensive-defensive war. It could even be said to be the only thing that mattered.
Whether sword immortals drew their swords or ants swarmed the wall, it was all about vying for this.
If the Barren Wastes World only ever used half of its full strength, the Sword Qi Great Wall would certainly not be able to hold.
Not only would the Sword Qi Great Wall fall, but the Haoran World would also suffer, with several continents affected. For example, Southern Poseshaska Continent, closest to the Inverted Mountain; Southwestern Fuyao Continent; and Southeastern Tongye Continent.
That was why, after a ten-thousand-year silence, the gray-robed old man, upon reappearing, made his first major move: he divided the Barren Wastes World into twenty territories. He commanded the fourteen great demons, without exception, to mobilize at least half of the forces from one of those territories and march on the Sword Qi Great Wall. Any who failed this minor task would have no need to continue living. Once the war began, they would be the first to ascend the city wall and test Chen Qingdu's swordsmanship. If they were unwilling, they could go stay at the bottom of the ancient well.
As for the twenty territories, if the cultivators overall weren't high enough in realm, then quantity would make up for it—even better. But one thing had to be done: every single Upper Five Realm yao, without exception, had to head north. Any who dared to avoid battle or hide would be killed outright. However, for those who had struggled to reach the Upper Five Realm, they should not be too harshly coerced. As long as they were willing to fight, they would receive generous rewards, not a bit less than promised, in addition to future spoils.
At the very start of the campaign, they would each receive a substantial gift. If these beings were to die at the Sword Qi Great Wall without ever seeing the Haoran World, then their descendants or direct disciples could be guaranteed a territory on the map of the Barren Wastes World, like a vassal king granted a fiefdom. The size of the territory would be determined by the fallen great demon's realm and battle achievements, and no one could encroach upon it for a thousand years. If they succeeded in breaching the Sword Qi Great Wall, not only would they be rewarded in their homeland, but any Upper Five Realm monster could also directly establish their own sect in that exceptionally fertile new world.
This pact, initiated by the Tuoyue Mountain and jointly signed by the fourteen great demons, had now spread throughout the Barren Wastes World.
Within each of the twenty territories, if the top-tier cultivators had sufficient realm but lacked dharma robes, armor, or treasures, the gray-robed old man put it bluntly: the fourteen great demons should contribute some effort. No hoarding family wealth anymore—whether from their own pockets or borrowed from others, give it away. Anyway, once they reached the Haoran World, according to the established strategy, they could loot as they pleased, by any means necessary. They were guaranteed to recoup at least double the loss. If that wasn't enough, they could come to him and the Tuoyue Mountain for compensation.
This attack on the city was well-organized, divided into eight stages.
This was merely the beginning of the first stage.
From now on, the sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall would encounter unexpected troubles. For example, the Barren Wastes World also had ten-realm pure martial artists. There were Mohist sword ships placed on mountain ferries. There might even be spectacular scenes where sword cultivators on and above the city wall dueled solely with swords, one against one. The Barren Wastes side would also gather a large group of military strategist cultivators, all uniformly clad in supreme armor treasures. Then, on the battlefield, a multitude of high mountains would suddenly appear—the Five Sacred Peaks from a dozen or so kingdoms, completely relocated. Countless cultivators would stand atop those mountains, raining down treasures like a storm. At present, the yao on their own side of the battlefield had to look up high at the city wall. But as time passed, the battlefield would rise higher and higher.
Ultimately, the Sword Qi Great Wall would become a true part of the Barren Wastes World's territory. As one side waned and the other waxed, fortunes would reverse. Then, when confronting the Haoran World again, the yao would be able to advance and retreat at will.
Bai Ying began to drink wine, having heard that the Haoran World had many celestial brews.
Weren't those proud sword immortals on the city wall so fond of pouring all their strength into killing yao? Let them have their fill of killing and gather their battle merits—they would choke to death on them.
In fact, ever since the Thirteen Conflicts began, the Barren Wastes World had already been laying its plans.
The three previous attacks on the city, all of which ended in the Barren Wastes World's miserable defeat and retreat, were merely drills for the Barren Wastes World.
The Sword Qi Great Wall seemed to rise in response to the times, nurturing a crop of young geniuses led by Ning Yao.
But wasn't the Barren Wastes World the same?
The young Li Zhen, who possessed a portion of the soul of the oldest criminal, Guan Zhao, was naturally one of them. If he died, he died. Even the old ancestor wouldn't grieve, let alone Bai Ying feel any regret.
It was worth noting that there was now a saying among the yao's "Hundred Young Sword Immortals," ranked purely by aptitude for the Great Dao and future achievements, not by temporary realm depth or combat strength. The only disciple of that bearded man, carrying a bamboo basket on his back, ranked only third among those hundred sword cultivators.
According to the Sword Qi Great Wall's custom, when the battle reached a stalemate or disadvantage, the sword immortals would leave the city wall together, dividing the battlefield, appearing at the very front line to staunchly block the yao's subsequent offensive.
Then it would be the turn of the Earth Immortal sword cultivators and geniuses like Ning Yao to leave the wall and engage in mutual slaughter on the battlefield, living and dying by their own skills and the will of Heaven.
At that point, the fragile Lower Five Realm sword cultivators would appear on the city wall. If a great demon successfully ascended the wall, even if intercepted by the exhausted sword immortals guarding the wall, it would still cause countless miserable casualties among those pitiful ants.
Flying swords continuously shot out from the city wall, countless streaks of sword light trailing like countless fireflies. During this time, sword cultivators would constantly recall their natal flying swords and retreat to the wall. These sword cultivators would then have to withdraw from the front line and go to the area near the northern wall to nourish their flying swords, swallow elixirs, breathe and refine, and accumulate spiritual energy again. At the same time, the next group of sword cultivators would quickly take their places, rotating on and off, wielding swords to block the enemy.
This was what made the Sword Qi Great Wall most troublesome for the Barren Wastes World.
Sword cultivators could simply take their positions on the wall and gradually wear down the numbers of the yao army.
Some great demons observing the battle had witnessed this scene and could not help but sigh with emotion: "Our race attacks the city like a colossal, bloated monstrosity. On the battlefield, we sit and wait to be exploited. How tragic and helpless. How futile."
Above the Sword Qi Great Wall, a furtive black-clothed youth appeared. After climbing onto the wall, he went to a temporary stall set up by the nearby robe workshop and sword workshop. The youth seemed extremely afraid of death. He collected a dharma robe and put it on over his clothes, then hung a standard-issue longsword from the sword workshop at his waist. Then he took off running. During this time, a mountain from the Barren Wastes World was shattered by a sword immortal. Debris flew everywhere. The Sword Qi Great Wall was extremely long, and even though most of the debris was pulverized by the sword immortals' strikes, some bits slipped through and fell onto the wall, making a great noise. The black-clothed youth stretched out his hands to protect several young Middle Five Realm sword cultivators who had been too slow to dodge a piece of rock the size of a house. Though the tall, ordinary-faced youth in black blocked the boulder, he coughed up blood. Before the young sword cultivators could even thank him, the youth wiped away the blood and continued stumbling along.
Finally, the youth found a group of familiar faces.
Before that, he had seen quite a few acquaintances he expected, such as the Golden Core bottleneck sword cultivator Pang Yuanji, and the girl Gao Youqing who refused to stay by her brother Gao Yehou's side and insisted on staying with Pang Yuanji to fight.
He also saw some unexpected, less familiar people standing beside the Ku Xia sword immortal, unleashing their natal flying swords: Lin Junbi, Zhu Mei, and Jin Zhenmeng.
The group of young genius sword cultivators from the Shaoyuan Dynasty in the Central Plains Shenzhou—Yan Lü and Jiang Guancheng—had already withdrawn from the Sword Qi Great Wall and passed through the Inverted Mountain on cross-continent ferryboats, reportedly touring Southern Poseshaska Continent.
The black-clothed youth was not surprised that the Ku Xia sword immortal stayed, but he found it quite astonishing that Lin Junbi and the other two not only remained, hiding deep inside the city to watch from afar, but actually had the courage to personally participate in this offensive-defensive battle.
Ning Yao, Diezhang, Chen Sanqiu, Dong Huafu, Yan Zhuo, and Fan Dache.
The six gathered together, each unleashing their swords to kill yao.
Diezhang carried the great sword "Zhen Yue" on her back. This was an amusing detail on the Sword Qi Great Wall, because one of the great sword immortal Yue Qing's natal flying swords was named "Eagle Suppressing the Five Sacred Peaks."
This had a similar effect to the sword immortal Wei Jin's sword "High Candle" from Baopingzhou, which coincidentally shared a name with Qi Shou's semi-immortal weapon.
Fatty Yan wore the sword "Purple Lightning" at his waist, grumbling and swearing, cursing the shameless yao for using underhanded tricks to ambush him, Lord Yan.
The charcoal-black Dong Huafu held his sword—one with an extremely feminine name, "Rouge"—across his knees. This descendant of the Dong family, who never paid for anything he bought, wasn't cursing the yao beasts. Instead, he was grumbling that Fatty Yan's sword strikes were too soft, drifting and wavering like Chen Sanqiu after a few drinks. Dong Huafu had always had a way with words that swept across a wide swath. Yan Zhuo retorted that his method of controlling his flying sword had unpredictable trajectories, not that he was being reckless. It was actually extremely sophisticated. Not only could the opponent not detect the path, but because even he himself couldn't figure it out, it was ultimately the most formidable.
Chen Sanqiu wore a white robe—a heirloom dharma robe from the Chen family of Taixiang Street. This graceful, elegant young master wore the sword "Cloud Pattern" at his waist, which had long since lost its original scabbard. It had once been the sword of his friend, Little Cricket. After Little Cricket died, Chen Sanqiu kept it. This time when he mounted the city wall, he brought an extra scabbard from the sword workshop, hiding the Cloud Pattern sword inside.
As for the "Cloud Pattern" that originally belonged to Chen Sanqiu, it was currently lent to his friend Fan Dache, who was stuck and unable to break through to the Golden Core realm.
Controlling a flying sword out of the city to kill yao was no easy task.
Among the yao, there were not only tough brutes with strong physiques and considerable combat power, but also many insidious methods specifically designed to break a sword cultivator's flying sword. There were also large numbers of suicide yao, whose bodies were inscribed with talismans that lured and trapped flying swords. Once the flying sword took the bait, they would unhesitatingly self-destruct their demon cores and shatter the sword. These yao, who would never have the word "suicide" written on their foreheads, would also deliberately get injured or feign a mistake, exposing one or two fatal flaws on the battlefield. Once the flying sword crashed into their talisman traps, the natal flying sword might never return.
In such circumstances, would a sword cultivator still dare to pour all their strength into killing yao? When striking, would they still possess that indomitable sword intent and spirit?
This itself was a matter that severely tested a sword cultivator's discernment and also tempered their dao heart.
Ning Yao, who carried a sword on her back and wore one at her waist, glanced at the black-clothed youth. She seemed a bit helpless, but said nothing to him. Since he had already come, could she drive him off the wall? Besides, even if she spoke, would he listen?
So Ning Yao turned back and continued to control her flying sword.
She naturally had more than one natal flying sword, but in less than twenty years, after three consecutive great battles, the yao had only ever seen one of Ning Yao's flying swords.
Chen Ping'an, now in the guise of a young man, looked for a few moments and quickly saw through the situation.
Fan Dache's sword strikes were too restrained; that wasn't the killing power one would expect from a sword cultivator at the Dragon Gate realm bottleneck.
It wasn't because Fan Dache lacked courage or was timid, but because of his awkward position. Killing enemies on the battlefield wasn't like sparring on the Ning Mansion or Yan Manor training grounds.
Fan Dache was too eager to keep up with Diezhang, Chen Sanqiu, and the others in their sword strikes. He wanted his natal flying sword to coordinate flawlessly with those of his friends. Over time, this led to a chain reaction: one mistake led to another, and eventually he needed Chen Sanqiu and the others to help him out.
Normally, looking out from the city wall, even an Earth Immortal sword cultivator straining their eyesight would see the distant battlefield as blurry. But now, as long as a Middle Five Realm sword cultivator concentrated on one spot, everything became crystal clear.
Chen Ping'an knew this was the work of the three sages—Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist. It was a kind of profound, mystical creation divine ability, helping the Sword Qi Great Wall create an innate advantage of Heaven and Earth's blessing.
Chen Ping'an approached Fan Dache, whose face was tense but couldn't hide the dim look in his eyes. Chen Ping'an didn't step onto the city wall, just poked his head out, peering toward the southern battlefield. Then, using condensed sound into a thread, he said with a light laugh: "It's not like you're joining forces to kill an Upper Five Realm great demon. You just focus on your own sword strikes. Ignore Dong Heitan and Fatty Yan and the rest. As long as their flying swords heavily injure a yao and it's not dead yet, you just fly your sword in and poke it. That's free battle merit, why not take it? These Golden Core realm great sword immortals wouldn't be shameless enough to steal credit from a Dragon Gate realm little sword cultivator like you, right? Where's the sense of friendship in that, huh?"
Diezhang's flying sword surged forward with unyielding momentum, its sword intent as pure as her personality.
Dong Huafu habitually chased after Diezhang with his sword. These two were both tough guys who charged ahead without looking back. So Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo would each coordinate with Diezhang and Dong Huafu respectively. Besides that, they naturally had to kill enemies on their own. After fighting side by side three times, their coordination had become incredibly smooth, forming something akin to a small heavenly realm.
As for Ning Yao's invisible flying sword, it specialized in dealing with troublesome monsters. While Diezhang and the other four were carving through the formation and killing enemies, they were essentially sweeping and probing the yao on the battlefield. Ning Yao, one person with one sword, acted independently as the rear guard, ensuring the other four could strike without worry.
So Fan Dache seemed somewhat redundant, and he considered himself the most burdensome presence.
Earlier, when Fan Dache practiced swordsmanship at the Ning Mansion, he had trained many times with these friends in the mustard seed small world. He wasn't the kind of rookie sword cultivator who had never gone down the city wall to risk his life.
The only reason was that these friends were too outstanding. Opportunities on the battlefield were fleeting, and danger and surprises could appear in an instant.
Fan Dache couldn't keep up with Diezhang and the other four—not in his thought speed, nor in the speed of his flying sword.
When he heard that familiar voice, Fan Dache didn't turn his head to speak with Chen Ping'an, nor did he let his sword strikes be distracted.
That was how a sword cultivator accustomed to battlefield slaughter on the Sword Qi Great Wall operated.
Without any hesitation or embarrassment, Fan Dache did as Chen Ping'an suggested. Following the words of that Second Manager, he stopped trying to coordinate his strikes everywhere with Chen Sanqiu and the others to kill yao together. Instead, he waited for opportunities, delivering a flying sword strike to those yao that were on the verge of death. Chen Ping'an had long said that picking off heads on the battlefield was like picking up money—it all relied on real skill. If anyone dared to say he was shameless, Chen Ping'an would just spray them in the face with the best Bamboo Sea Grotto wine the Sword Qi Great Wall had to offer.
Chen Ping'an watched for a moment and continued to remind him: "Fan Dache, twelve zhang to the left of your flying sword, that severely injured yao is playing dead. Go, give it a sword strike."
A sharp sword strike pierced through the head of that yao lying prone on the ground.
Chen Ping'an swept his gaze across that part of the battlefield and continued: "Fan Dache, you can let your flying sword temporarily leave Diezhang's and the others' battlefield. No need to deliberately keep up. Go a little farther. For all the corpses, whether they're playing dead or not, give them an extra sword strike. Striking these sorts is safer, because they are the least likely to be suicide troops. Don't be too greedy. As long as you don't damage your flying sword's foundation, there will be plenty of battle merits, more than enough. Just think of the southern battlefield as a brand new training ground. If you want to catch up to Chen Sanqiu and the others, you need to observe and think more while striking. Eventually, you'll be able to predict their sword trajectories. Then you won't feel like you're getting in the way."
"Pull back the sword! It's a suicide unit. Let Fatty Yan provoke it first."
"See that? This beast clearly has some brains. It can't get an advantage over Chen Sanqiu and the rest, so it wants to use you as a soft target. At times like that, don't hesitate—just run. But its acting is poor. Which yao fleeing for its life in a panic has such steady hands and firm eyes? If its hands are steady, it often means it's ruthless. You have to be extra careful. Right now, your natal flying sword lacks resilience, and you're not at the Golden Core realm. You're not like Chen Sanqiu or Fatty Yan, wealthy young masters who can spend a fortune on their flying swords. So when you strike, don't blindly seek speed and accuracy. You're not that kind of person, so don't strike that kind of sword. You have to know yourself."
"Da Che ah, don't waste such a good name, won't you? At least have one moment of great enlightenment, will you? There's a half-dead Golden Core realm great demon lying there, waiting for you to deliver its final salvation with your sword. Its Golden Core has already been shattered by Diezhang. I told you not to blindly seek speed, but I didn't say to be slow when you should be fast. Look, Fatty Yan just stole the credit."
"Twenty-three zhang to the northeast, see that yao cultivator? It just lost a treasure and is hesitating. But it's being intimidated by the great demon overseer in the rear and can't just turn and retreat. That's not faked. Da Che ah, what are you stunned for? Cut it down. There you go—stolen by Diezhang again. Da Che ah, are you secretly in love with our Big Manager or what?"
"The one staring down Chen Sanqiu—it's probably a Nascent Soul great demon hiding its strength, at the very least at the Golden Core bottleneck. Its skin is tough, and its flesh is thick, but that treasure of its is too cumbersome. You can go help out. Remember to keep your flying sword as low as possible, and if you get a chance, aim for its crotch. Don't try the head, heart, or other vital spots. This beast clearly came for Chen Sanqiu and the others. This fight is going to drag on. Da Che ah, that crotch-stabbing strike had some sword immortal flair! Call it enough and run quickly. The great demon has its eyes on you now. Let Dong Heitan take it on."
An Upper Five Realm yao that had been responsible for monitoring and patrolling the battlefield seemed to sense something unusual in this area.
It was also a Jade Purity realm yao sword cultivator. A streak of sword light, as imposing as a rainbow, shot straight toward the city wall, aimed directly at Chen Ping'an, who was only poking his head out.
But the longsword at Ning Yao's back unsheathed itself, and with a single strike, it cleaved the sword light. The flying sword fell to the ground, smashing a deep, dust-filled pit below the city wall. Having failed in its strike, the yao sword cultivator controlled his flying sword, flickered and vanished, traveling erratically underground before circling back.
Ning Yao's longsword returned to its sheath of its own accord. She remained calm and continued to control her distant natal flying sword, hunting yao.
Among the group, only Ning Yao's natal flying sword had never returned to the city wall after three days and three nights.
On the battlefield, a golden phoenix from the Sword Qi Great Wall side flapped its wings and swept toward the southern battlefield, killing yao.
The sword immortal Gao Kui's natal flying sword was as large as a ferry boat, descending from the sky.
Zhou Cheng's natal flying sword, "Seven Colors," madly roamed the earth, splattering countless severed limbs and broken corpses wherever it passed.
Ning Lianyun, the head of the Ning clan, unleashed his natal flying sword. Above the battlefield, patches of cloud seas appeared out of thin air. Sword qi rained down like a torrential downpour, plummeting to the ground.
Within the vast army of the Barren Wastes World, a great demon also used its divine ability to summon a vast black cloud of crows, which swept toward the city wall. Many sword cultivators' flying swords that were too slow to evade were knocked askew. Some natal flying swords that entered the black cloud shattered directly, as if crushed by millstones into powder. The sword cultivators on the city wall turned into blood-soaked figures.
Ning Lianyun naturally wouldn't let the great demon succeed. Seeing the crow cloud disrupting the sword formation, he moved his mind slightly and commanded one of his cloud seas.
The crow black cloud collided with the cloud sea of the old sword immortal Ning Lianyun.
A young sword immortal from the Nalan family, who hadn't struck many times, reached out his hand and pushed. Above the great demon that had summoned the crow cloud, a crystalline white jade platform descended, plummeting straight toward the great demon's head.
The great demon didn't bother to resist. It fled backward. For several miles around the great demon's position in the yao army, the white jade platform smashed down, covering the ground. Blood spattered everywhere.
But that wasn't all. The great demon seemed to be locked onto by some strange divine ability of the sword immortal. No matter how it fled or changed course, a white jade platform imbued with boundless sword qi would come crashing down again and again. In an instant, countless innocent 'fish' were caught in the crossfire.
Eighteen white jade platforms descended in succession, ultimately trapping and suppressing the great demon, which had nowhere to run. The great demon had no choice but to reveal its true form and struggle to hold up the platform pressing down on it. When the constantly cracking white jade platform finally exploded completely, the great demon's true form was smashed deep into the ground. Half of its body's flesh and blood were worn away. The great demon glared fiercely at the sword immortal who had struck from the city wall, snorted, transformed back into human form, and chose to temporarily withdraw from the battlefield to recuperate.
The sword immortal on the city wall left the southern battlement and went to the north to rest with his eyes closed.
Another sword immortal came from north to south, taking that person's place, responsible for guarding one sector.
Whenever a great demon dared to act, the sword immortal on the wall had to respond with a sword strike in kind.
Furthermore, any great demon that had made a move on the battlefield, if it showed its face again within striking range, the great sword immortals had to proactively deliver a sword strike.
If a great demon had nerve, wasn't afraid to die, and stood close, then great sword immortals like Yue Qing, Ning Lianyun, Han Huaizi, Li Tuimi—all those not among the ten but at the Immortal realm—would either strike alone or together. If after striking, they failed to severely wound the demon, then everyone's battle merits would be reduced by a set amount.
That was the rule of the Sword Qi Great Wall, an iron law personally established by the old great sword immortal.
Aside from that, the yao army led by Jade Purity realm great demons could act freely without being specifically targeted by the great sword immortals on the wall. However many sword cultivators the Sword Qi Great Wall lost, they would accept it.
Every sword cultivator, in addition to pouring all their strength into killing yao and defending against the enemy, should first learn to protect themselves in the midst of one slaughter after another.
A dead sword immortal was dead.
A living sword cultivator, even if not yet an Earth Immortal, held infinite possibilities.
If not for this, from where would the valiant sword immortals come? Would they all rely on the cautious protection of their ancestral sword immortals, hiding and striking from shadows?
Thus, Chen Qingdu's words to Ning Yao—"In my heart, no one cannot die!"—was a cruel truth that the old great sword immortal had never concealed from any junior for ten thousand years.
Brutal warfare and dangerous slaughter were everywhere.
And at both ends of the city wall, as well as high above the Sword Qi Great Wall, where the three sages of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism were stationed, there was an even more silent, yet equally critical hidden battlefield.
The old Taoist sage, seated at the highest point of the firmament, repeatedly waved his horsetail whisk, white as snow, dispelling clouds and mist. He looked like a famous recluse sitting alone on a mountain peak, brushing away dust and clearing away heat, exuding an eternal elegance.
The monk seated on a meditation cushion silently chanted sutras. Golden lotuses blossomed everywhere, continuously rising into the air, forming a golden river with floating lotus lanterns.
The Confucian sage sat upright, opening a sacred book. Golden characters flew out from the book one by one. When the sacred book was completely read and left blank, the sage would open the next one.
Chen Ping'an had already left the battlefield near Fan Dache and had appeared near Pang Yuanji, where he had remotely unleashed his two flying swords, "Cough Thunder" and "Pine Needle," to set up some diversionary tactics. He took what he could and stopped. He also showed up near Gao Yehou and Situ Weiran, lending a little help. Where sword immortals sat guard, he did not linger. But for the regular customers of his own tavern, those Middle Five Realm sword cultivators who had drunk with him, Chen Ping'an would pause briefly. Not only did he use his two imitation swords, but he also used his flying swords "First Day" and "Fifteenth Night" to kill enemies cleanly and decisively. However, he absolutely never stayed in one place too long, nor did he strike in a straight line. He would repeatedly return to battlefields where he had previously struck, then travel hundreds of miles away. If he could save a sword cultivator's natal flying sword, he would. If he could conveniently kill a yao, he would. He never overextended himself, nor did he covet glory.
Not only that, but sometimes he appeared as a wooden-faced black-clothed youth, and at other times as a withered old man.
When Chen Ping'an hesitated, weighing the woman's face membrane in his hand, wondering whether to put it on, a sword immortal responsible for protecting the formation couldn't stand it anymore and transmitted his voice with a laughing curse: "You, this 'Second Realm Grand Cultivator,' have some shame, will you?"
This sword immortal was on very good terms with Yue Qing and Mi Hu. Back when Zuo You challenged Yue Qing with his sword, he was one of the sword immortals who left the city to break up the fight.
Chen Ping'an raised his middle finger at that sword immortal, then gritted his teeth and decisively covered his face with the membrane. He leaped onto the city wall and walked with a swaying gait that truly resembled a woman's graceful steps.
Then he helped a group of young sword cultivators, furtively and sneakily delivering sword strikes. The distant sword immortal was first stunned, then burst into laughter. He had a newfound respect for this Confucian disciple of the Wen Sheng lineage, toward whom he had previously held a poor impression.
After laughing, the sword immortal looked at the young man's back, his uniform robe faintly stained with seeping blood. The sword immortal composed himself and continued to protect the formations for the many flying swords that had left the city wall.
Facing south, the sword immortal carefully observed every detail of the battlefield. Meanwhile, deep in his heart, a thought arose: perhaps only a young man like this could be Zuo You's junior brother, could make the old great sword immortal place such heavy bets on him.
Only he could be worthy of Ning Yao.