Chapter 628: What If
Huang Luan's proposal that the two sides join forces to tour the Sword Qi Great Wall was indeed highly enticing.
The sword formations of the Sword Qi Great Wall were so tightly interwoven that there was hardly a sword immortal idle.
Standing on the railing, Yang Zhi had even already removed her concealment technique, revealing the kingly bearing of an imperial crown and a dragon robe.
However, Yang Zhi did not immediately make a move. Gazing into the distance at the young man on the city wall, she asked Huang Luan, "The sword immortals on the city wall are changing their sword formations irregularly, yet with clear structure. Could this be the work of that man? On what basis? Isn't he just an outsider roaming the Sword Qi Great Wall? Since when did the Wen Sheng lineage in the Haoran World gain such prestige? It's said that Lu Zhi has never had a good impression of scholars."
Earlier, when Chen Ping'an fought against Li Zhen, the direct disciple of the Great Ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain, the peak great demons of the Barren Wilderness World had been leisurely watching from the sidelines, naturally taking note of everything. But at that time, ancient beings like Yang Zhi still didn't believe that such a slightly larger ant could have any ability to influence the war's course. In this collision between a world and the Sword Qi Great Wall, even Upper Five Realm sword cultivators could not be considered indispensable. Previously, three sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall had died as they pleased, merely stirring up a few ripples.
There was once a great demon who had attacked the city wall, returned heavily wounded, and ultimately vanished into the surging river of time. Before dying, he spoke heartfelt words: besides Chen Qingdu, nothing on the Sword Qi Great Wall was worth mentioning. Besides that gray-robed old man who stood tall as the sky in the Barren Wilderness World, nothing there was worth mentioning either.
Sword immortals and great demons, in this matter, truly had no right to laugh at each other.
Knowing that Yang Zhi had lost the intention to strike, Huang Luan nodded with a smile. "This kid keeps seeking death. I wonder how long he can keep jumping around."
Huang Luan watched Chen Ping'an standing beside Lu Zhi. "It seems this kid holds quite a grudge against me. Most likely, he blames me for sending a 'greeting gift' when he was fighting Li Zhen one-on-one, and now he's venting his anger on me over the severe injury of that 'senior brother' Zuo You. Such courtesy, yet instead of being grateful, he doesn't know his place. I should properly greet him."
Huang Luan's mind stirred slightly. In the celestial city, an ancient temple with red walls and green tiles, curling with incense smoke, suddenly vanished, along with a solitary mountain whose peak bore a stone tablet inscribed with "Ancestor of Autumn Thoughts." On the mountain were only withered trees, white grass, red leaves, and yellow flowers, the hilltop filled with a sense of desolation and killing intent.
The temple went to the city wall where Lu Zhi and Chen Ping'an stood, while the solitary mountain headed toward the two thatched huts.
The ancient temple was split in half by a single sword strike from Lu Zhi, slamming heavily into the city wall beneath their feet, reducing it to dust.
The sword immortal Wei Jin from the Wind Snow Temple appeared beside the stone tablet atop the solitary mountain. The next moment, countless swords lights burst forth from every gap among the grass, trees, and stones of the mountain, then silently dissipated into nothing.
This man, who after Li Tuanjing of the Wind Thunder Valley was considered the greatest talent in cultivation in the Bottle Gourd Continent, had only been a Jade Realm sword cultivator when he first arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall. In just a few short years, living in a small thatched hut, having participated in only one offensive-defensive battle, and practicing swordsmanship alongside the eldest sword immortal and Zuo You, he now showed signs of nearing a breakthrough to the Immortal Realm.
Yang Zhi gave Huang Luan a brief greeting before departing. Before leaving, she took a few extra glances at the young man, committing his image to memory.
Unexpectedly, instead of knowing when to stop, the young man folded his folding fan and made a throat-slitting gesture. His movements were slow, making them extremely conspicuous.
Huang Luan suppressed a laugh. Quite interesting. Yang Zhi was the former master of Yeluo River and a peak Flying Ascension Realm cultivator. If she acted impulsively and insisted on butting heads with Chen Ping'an, she would inevitably mobilize a large force, which Huang Luan would certainly be happy to see. Whatever losses she incurred would be from her vassal forces, but the war merits would be credited to Huang Luan. Even a mosquito's leg is meat. Moreover, once they reached the Haoran World, they would each carve out territory. Whoever had more elite troops and stronger forces would be able to gain a foothold faster. It was a matter of seeking favorable terrain through human strength and ultimately capturing the right timing. This was by no means a trivial matter.
However, Huang Luan was not foolish enough to fan the flames with words, as it would only backfire, make Yang Zhi more clear-headed, and also earn her resentment.
The Barren Wilderness World had no rules, which was comfortable, but occasionally it brought trouble.
Yang Zhi smiled. "Huang Luan, if you can capture this kid and eventually hand him over to me, in addition to compensating you for your costs, I will give you a sect of the 'Zong' character level in the Haoran World, plus the capital city of a major dynasty. How about it?"
Huang Luan shook his head. "Before Chen Ping'an showed up today, I would definitely have agreed to this deal. But now? The price is too low."
Yang Zhi's face darkened.
Huang Luan didn't even glance at this female monarch of the Barren Wilderness World.
Yang Zhi flew away on the wind, leaving behind only one sentence echoing near the railing where Huang Luan sat: "Don't regret it. Remember, from now on, if you dare to set foot in the capital city of any dynasty under the mountains, you will be my enemy."
What Huang Luan had rejected was not just Chen Ping'an, but also the hint of an alliance that Yang Zhi had revealed.
Huang Luan paid no attention to Yang Zhi's threat.
The torrent of magical treasures, formed by tens of thousands of demonic cultivators, remained as massive as ever.
But compared to the orderly waterfall of sword qi, the former appeared somewhat chaotic.
Almost all the sword immortals had begun to abandon the pursuit of exhilaration and individual lethality, no longer fighting with unrestricted vigor. Instead, every sword strike now seemed filled with calculated pragmatism: how to break through formations while protecting their own Middle Five Realm sword cultivators, how to coordinate with sword immortals positioned far away to jointly destroy certain key treasures, and how to withdraw from the formation while secretly sending flying swords to the flanks of the torrent to sever the heads of certain Earth Immortal demonic cultivators.
Huang Luan felt some pain, but not too much. Those who truly needed to worry and address this urgent problem were the sixty military tents in their own camp.
Regarding the actions of the fourteen of them, the gray-robed old man had privately established a small rule: if bored, they could take a stroll near the city wall, but it was best not to go all out, especially with natal divine abilities and trump cards—save those for the Haoran World.
The standard longsword from the sword workshop in Lu Zhi's hand could not withstand the impact of her sword intent against the entire temple. After she withdrew her sword, it instantly shattered and disappeared. Standing with Chen Ping'an on the city wall, she turned her head to look at the young man shaking his folding fan. "Does the Lord Hidden Official want to die so badly, or do you no longer plan to leave the city and fight in the battles ahead? I am following the eldest sword immortal's orders to guard the formation here, protecting all the sword cultivators of the Hidden Office lineage, not Chen Ping'an personally. Think carefully and don't act on impulse."
There was nothing to say about the nature of the great demons of the Barren Wilderness World. Earlier, whether Chen Ping'an killed Li Zhen or later Zuo You alone challenged all the demons with his sword, those beasts didn't really care, because the Barren Wilderness World never bothered with right and wrong. But when it came to personal grudges, the higher the realm of the beast, the more clearly they remembered. So Chen Ping'an's actions had directly forged a mortal enmity with two great demons.
Chen Ping'an tapped his head lightly with the folding fan. That female great demon had actually held back and not made a move. A pity.
Otherwise, Lu Zhi would only have needed to delay the great demon Yang Zhi for a moment, and three sword immortals—Yue Qing, Yuan Qingshu, and Wu Chengpei—who had already been notified by the "Hidden Official's" flying sword message, would each employ their techniques and divine abilities to cut off her retreat. As for who would then kill the great demon, it wouldn't be a single great sword immortal, but a vast crowd of sword immortals. Before the demon approached the city wall, Chen Ping'an had instructed Guo Zhujiu and Wang Xinshui that once any great demon neared the city wall, they were to immediately send flying sword messages to all native sword immortals to surround and kill it.
At present, although the Sword Qi Great Wall's sword immortals appeared to be performing their duties individually, interlocking seamlessly to create the favorable situation where the sword qi waterfall overwhelmed the torrent of treasures, once the Hidden Office's flying sword messages went out, dozens of sword immortals would instantly have to turn their sword tips around. Even if it damaged the sword formation, all sword immortals had to obey the order.
Chen Ping'an smiled. "When you have too many lice, you stop itching; when you owe too many debts, you stop worrying. You get used to it. If either Huang Luan or Yang Zhi acts impulsively, they might just become a pair of ill-fated lovers, resembling divine lovers even if they aren't."
There was one thing Chen Ping'an had not revealed about the heavenly secrets: among the two "Hidden Official" flying swords, the more covert one had gone directly to the eldest sword immortal. Once a great demon approached, besides a host of sword immortals striking, the eldest sword immortal would directly order Chen Xi and Qi Tingji to strike without fail. In full view of everyone, sword immortals were already intercepting with their swords—these two family heads who had carved their names on the city wall would merely be picking up the leftovers. Who would dare to hold back then?
Aside from being certain that the Hidden Official Xiao Xun was a traitor, Chen Ping'an also didn't fully trust these two old sword immortals with exceptionally high killing power. This might seem like a terrible thing of the highest order.
But in truth, if you trusted them, there were ways to handle trust. If you didn't, there were arrangements for distrust.
If Yang Zhi and Huang Luan thought that the current Sword Qi Great Wall was still the same as it had been for ten thousand years, and believed they could come and go safely, they would have to pay the price.
It wasn't that the Sword Qi Great Wall's swordsmanship over the past ten thousand years had been insufficient.
Quite the opposite: it was precisely because of the generous and heroic strikes of sword immortals over those ten millennia that the current Hidden Office sword cultivators had earned room to strategize.
Lu Zhi shook her head. "You're thinking too simply. Old beasts like Yang Zhi, who have endured to such an age and realm, are rarely stupid."
"I thought too shallowly."
Chen Ping'an chuckled. "At least we suffered no loss."
Lu Zhi waved her hand. "The Lord Hidden Official may continue with his work. I will guard this place."
As for this Lord Hidden Official who had taken command in a crisis, Lu Zhi felt he had been diligent enough, doing better than she had imagined. But if it came to personal preference, Lu Zhi's impression of Chen Ping'an was only average.
The reason was simple: he was ultimately not a sword immortal, not even a sword cultivator.
Chen Ping'an jumped down from the city wall, returned to his desk and sat down, smiling. "Made everyone waste their efforts. Since it didn't work out, that's fine. It was just gambling on a one-in-ten-thousand chance."
As he bent his head to copy books, Chen Ping'an took the opportunity to review the actions of all Hidden Office sword cultivators, speaking to these "subordinates" about more of his own thought process. Slowly, he said, "The Barren Wilderness World's attack this time has entered its third phase. The great demon Bai Ying was responsible for the opening battle of the first phase. Besides altering the elements of time and terrain to a certain degree, it was more about scouting and confirming the defense details of the Sword Qi Great Wall. Coupled with secret flying sword messages from traitorous sword cultivators, the Barren Wilderness gained first-mover advantage. This is a meticulous task that requires precise timing, which fits the historical image of Bai Ying well. Among the fourteen great demons, relatively speaking, Bai Ying has never favored defeating enemies with pure force; he prefers psychological warfare. So if Bai Ying were in command, I would never have shown my face."
Chen Ping'an paused his writing, thought for a moment, then extended his folded fan on the table, pointing to a certain ruin among the five mountains previously depicted on the scroll. "Then Yang Zhi was tasked with holding the five mountain peaks on the battlefield. Compared to Bai Ying, who constantly needs to communicate with the sixty military tents, Yang Zhi clearly doesn't need as much real-time adjustment. Those five peaks harbored five great demons, intended to intercept our Immortal Realm sword cultivators. It had little to do with Yang Zhi herself; it was a strategy the beasts had long planned. After that came the great demon Huang Luan. Obviously, Yang Zhi is the most straightforward—even the scheming in the Yeluo River and the conflicts among enemy great demons seem shallow to us. So Yang Zhi was the most likely to act, even more so than Huang Luan. If by that one-in-ten-thousand chance either Huang Luan or Yang Zhi died near the city wall, even if only one peak great demon died right before all sword cultivators' eyes, it would be a huge win for the Sword Qi Great Wall. The aftermath of Xiao Xun's betrayal could then be filled in one go by us new Hidden Office sword cultivators."
"This one-in-ten-thousand chance I gambled on wasn't that Yang Zhi was stupid and didn't know the stakes, but that due to her status as an atoner, she lacked freedom of action. I was betting that Huang Luan would pour a little oil on the fire. Suppose the Sword Qi Great Wall couldn't hold and the demonic races invaded the Haoran World—what would they seek? Naturally, a vast territory of mountains and rivers. What would each great demon seek for their path? Who would they seek it from? By relying on strong troops and horses? On battle merits? Certainly. But the truly critical factor was still a word from Tuoyue Mountain—or more precisely, the inclination of the Great Ancestor of the demonic races. Unfortunately, Yang Zhi didn't take the bait; she was very cautious. This shows how pragmatic, not idealistic, the great demons of the Barren Wilderness World are. This is something I, and all of you present, must learn from, and also a point to be wary of regarding our enemies. So we cannot take things for granted."
At this point, Chen Ping'an's gaze sharpened, and he repeated the last sentence: "So we cannot take things for granted!"
Then Chen Ping'an immediately put on a smiling face. "So for the fourth and fifth phases afterwards, which great demon will be in command, what the general offensive of the Barren Wilderness World will taste like—whether it's measured, well-versed in military tactics, or stupidly throwing themselves to death—we can actually predict a little in advance. But with the enemy having a full sixty military tents and being even more meticulous than us, this prediction isn't very meaningful. Better than nothing, I suppose."
On the southern city wall, Lu Zhi found it both amusing and exasperating.
These words were clearly something the Lord Hidden Official had wanted to say to her earlier when he thought there was no chance, but now he was making her listen whether she wanted to or not.
Her impression of Chen Ping'an hadn't improved.
But her view of "Lord Hidden Official" had unconsciously improved a bit.
Lu Zhi gazed at the southern battlefield, then looked back at the "small world" where no one was drawing their swords. Turning around again, a hint of a smile appeared on her face.
Those sword cultivators were probably the young people the eldest sword immortal most anticipated.
And she, Lu Zhi, along with many current sword immortals, might once have been such young people.
Chen Ping'an looked at the crowd, his expression turning serious, then he put on a shocked face and asked with feigned confusion, "At this point, you still have no ideas? I only know that Lower Five Realm qi refiners exhaust their mind and spiritual energy if they keep attacking, but I didn't know that using your brain too much makes you more sluggish."
As the only Upper Five Realm sword cultivator, Mi Yu was the most composed—not because of his high realm, but because he felt it had nothing to do with him. If the Lord Hidden Official got upset and settled scores later, it would be the young bastards like Lin Junbi and Xuan Shen, who were young but had dark hearts and dirty tricks, who would take the lead.
Deng Liang said solemnly, "The next great army formation the demonic races will set up consists entirely of sword cultivators. For this wave of enemies, our current formation change is essentially us feeding them swords for them to learn. For example, how sword immortals strike with their swords, how they trade the cost of sheathing their swords for maximum killing power in the overall formation, how to concentrate the strikes of top sword immortals to kill enemy Earth Immortal sword cultivators without warning—all of this will certainly be learned by them. Even if they only mimic the bare framework, in the next swordsmanship duel between sword cultivators, if we have no countermeasures, our losses will certainly skyrocket."
Chen Ping'an pointed his folding fan at Lin Junbi, smiling. "Junbi, speak your mind freely."
Lin Junbi immediately had a draft ready and smiled. "The general trend is like this; we are at a disadvantage, so the sword formation naturally cannot be changed. But we can adopt a different method. Around all our key Earth Immortal sword cultivators, we can build a series of hidden traps. From now on, all our sword immortals will have an additional duty: to protect the formation for certain Earth Immortal sword cultivators. But protection is not about passive defense—that would be meaningless. Everything we do is to strike back. Because next, we will no longer target Earth Immortal demon cultivators among the enemy sword cultivators, but the enemy's true top combat power: the sword immortals!"
Chen Ping'an nodded.
If the one-in-ten-thousand chance to kill Yang Zhi or Huang Luan didn't work, substituting them with a few enemy sword immortals would still mean no loss.
Chen Ping'an had actually been waiting for Deng Liang and Lin Junbi to speak these words.
Once someone broke the ice, the others' filling in the gaps followed almost instantly.
Gu Jianlong glanced at the confrontation between flying swords and treasure on the scroll, then opened a book on the table and nodded. "Then we need to quickly wear out this third volume thoroughly. We must select ten to twenty Earth Immortal sword cultivators from our side to act as bait. The compilation of the third volume was originally Wang Xinshui's sole responsibility. I suspect that from now on, it can't be left to Wang Xinshui alone. Additionally, this gives us an opportunity to hold drills and tests for our sword immortals, trying out more possibilities. In the past, sword immortals killing demons still focused too much on individual performance, at most cooperating in groups of two or three familiar friends. But that's not necessarily the best pairing. The third volume has become the top priority for the next battle. That burden shouldn't rest only on Wang Xinshui's shoulders. Lord Hidden Official, what do you think?"
Chen Ping'an rested his cheek on one hand, elbow on the table, sitting sideways. He seemed to be scribbling something on a piece of paper, which lay next to the already thick "self volume" stuffed with many papers. Without stopping his writing, he glanced at Gu Jianlong and smiled. "Fair words. I will personally help Wang Xinshui refine the third volume and designate the twenty Earth Immortal sword cultivators to serve as bait."
Xuan Shen followed Gu Jianlong's train of thought and continued, "Previously, we had few opportunities to test the effects of pairing our sword immortals for combat. Now we can use this chance to hone them, making their cooperation smoother. With more solid battle merits, the sword immortals naturally won't feel too awkward. Otherwise, if the Hidden Office's flying sword communications rely only on novelty, and once the novelty wears off, sword immortals are by nature proud. We're currently benefiting from being new in office, and indeed the sword immortals' recent strikes have been effective. But if we stop here, the battle merits we've accumulated won't be enough. The senior sword immortals will only become less and less inclined to heed us. So the Lord Hidden Official is right: besides the beasts of the Barren Wilderness World, objectively speaking, the realms, statuses, and mindsets of our own sword immortals are also major enemies of the Hidden Office. We must not fail to notice this! Regarding this matter, we can't just think on the fly and patch things up as we go; it will only miss opportunities. Someone must be specifically responsible for studying this issue."
Dong Bude said, "Leave this to me."
Lin Junbi hesitated for a moment.
Chen Ping'an said, "Dong Bude is only responsible for native sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall. Lin Junbi will be responsible for all outsider sword immortals. If Junbi has any doubts, all outsider sword cultivators, including Deng Liang, must answer promptly. As for certain private matters involving senior sword immortals, should we avoid mentioning them out of respect? Put those concerns aside for now. Even if sword immortals become angry and resentful because of this, it won't fall on your heads. As the Hidden Official, I am not afraid of being drenched in blood. If I can't even protect your immediate interests, what kind of Lord Hidden Official am I?"
Guo Zhujiu suddenly spoke up, "Then what if the enemy has already thought of the same answer as us? What if surrounding our Earth Immortal sword cultivators is fake, or even true, but their real intention is to set a trap for our sword immortals? Then what? If it becomes an exchange of sword immortal lives, the enemy can afford the cost, but we absolutely cannot. Absolutely not."
Speaking thus, Guo Zhujiu looked worriedly at his master, now the Lord Hidden Official.
Chen Ping'an smiled. "If you only plan one or two steps ahead with each move, can you win a game of chess? I think it's very difficult. So Guo Zhujiu's thought is very good. We must always fear the one-in-ten-thousand chance more than the beasts of the Barren Wilderness World. The enemy can afford many one-in-ten-thousand chances, but for us, even a single one might cause all the Hidden Office's plans and efforts to collapse in ruin."
Chen Ping'an turned his head to look at the usually taciturn Pang Yuanji. "Pang Yuanji, regarding how to reposition the great sword immortals listed in the first volume on the city wall, and which ones to pair with whom for strikes, you can start thinking. As usual, you come up with the plans, and I'll play the villain."
Pang Yuanji nodded. "No problem."
Chen Ping'an slowly said, "As the battle progresses, within at most half a month, we will all quickly reach an awkward situation where we feel like a clever woman without rice to cook. At that point, we will be familiar with every Upper Five Realm sword immortal and Earth Immortal sword cultivator on the Sword Qi Great Wall. What then? Should we go into detailed understanding of more Cave Abode Realm, Observation Sea Realm, and Dragon Gate Realm sword cultivators? We can learn about them, but it won't be the focus. The focus remains on the southern battlefield, on the second volume, both main and supplementary, and especially on that fourth volume that seems so thick it has no last page."
Chen Ping'an emphasized, "Everyone present, we Hidden Office sword cultivators are destined to disappoint everyone. It just depends on how well each of us cultivates our hearts—more or less. None of us are perfect; everyone makes mistakes. And every small mistake we make is not the kind that can be covered by later corrections. Once it happens, on the battlefield it will be a disaster killing or wounding thousands. All the advantages we have painstakingly earned for the Sword Qi Great Wall through our careful planning, all the battle merits we have accumulated with hard work, will be selectively forgotten by our own people. Then either they will come to us, cursing loudly, or they won't speak but their eyes will be full of resentment. But the most terrifying thing is silence—the silence of many people."
Mi Yu, who had always felt he was the most superfluous presence, couldn't help saying, "Then prove to them that they are not wrong, but we are even more right!"
Chen Ping'an opened his folding fan, fanning himself continuously. "Who dares to say that our Sword Immortal Mi Yu is superfluous? Who? Step forward and I'll spit in your face!"
Everyone except Mi Yu, who looked embarrassed, wore amused expressions.
Mi Yu gave a forced smile. "Lord Hidden Official, thank you very much."
Chen Ping'an waved his hand. "Brother Mi is the pillar of the Hidden Office. Don't say such polite words; it makes us strangers!"
Gu Jianlong nodded. "Fair words!"
Since the reckless Gu Jianlong had taken the lead, soon a series of voices typical of the Hidden Office rang out.
"Seconded."
"Indeed."
"Agreed."
"No objection."
Chen Ping'an folded his fan and gently placed it by his hand. "Time to work and earn merits!"
On the fan's surface, there was fine script calligraphy in small regular script—if not looked at carefully, it seemed like a blank fan.
"Man descends from heaven, bringing spring with him. Sword goes beneath the mountain, summer dares not arrive."
A spirit boat docked at the northern city wall. A figure alighted, clad in blue robes and carrying a sword, with a haggard expression and loose fist intent, as if just recovering from a serious illness. He put the spirit boat away into his sleeve and slowly walked toward the Hidden Office.
Not only the Hidden Office sword cultivators, but even Mi Yu, a Jade Realm cultivator, was caught off guard.
The Lord Hidden Official who had been with them day and night had only been Chen Ping'an's yin spirit traveling far from the body?
It must have been an illusion technique personally performed by the eldest sword immortal.
The yin spirit Chen Ping'an smiled as he stood up, holding the folding fan, walking backward as both figures merged into one.
Chen Ping'an gently grasped the fan, walked to his seat, sat cross-legged, and smiled. "I missed you all very much."