Chapter 644: Down from the City Wall

Chapter 644: Down from the City Wall

On Reed Flower Island, in that legendary Grotto of Creation where a Daoist high immortal cultivated an immortal technique, there was a great demon on the verge of the Flying Ascension realm, at the bottleneck of the Immortal realm. Zuo You tested its strength with a single sword strike, then forced it to flee far from Reed Flower Island with another sword strike, eventually slaying it at sea.

After Zuo You and Wang Shizi landed by sword flying, the Fuji Sect dispatched two flying swords to send messages to Daoxuan Mountain’s Chunfan Studio.

The Golden Core sword cultivator who had accompanied Zuo You to Tongye Continent tried to describe the events in detail in the message flying sword.

After Zuo You fought that great demon, Wang Shizi, a Golden Core sword cultivator, only dared and could only watch from afar. Although Wang Shizi’s realm was not high, his insight was sufficient, having witnessed many earth-shaking strikes by great demons on the Sword Qi Great Wall battlefield. He vaguely discerned that the demon in the Grotto of Creation was by no means an ordinary Immortal realm.

At that time, Wang Shizi was nearly three hundred li away from the battlefield, yet beneath his feet, huge waves surged, and the tide roared like thunder. He could still clearly perceive the ripples of sword Qi stirred by Zuo You’s sword intent.

After sheathing his sword, Zuo You found Wang Shizi and simply said the matter was settled, then the two continued their journey.

Wang Shizi couldn’t help but ask the “peer-aged” sword immortal “old senior” beside him, who had been silent all along.

Naturally, he asked if that great demon had already reached the Flying Ascension realm. Zuo You shook his head, saying it was still a hair’s breadth away. If they had arrived at Reed Flower Island later, in a few years at most, or at most a dozen years, what ran out from the Grotto of Creation would have been a genuine Flying Ascension realm, which would have been very troublesome.

Then Zuo You added another sentence: If he encountered it three to five years later, and he himself had no injuries, it actually wouldn’t be too troublesome.

Zuo You seldom spoke much, but whenever he did, he always said one thing and never exaggerated, nor was he too lazy to deliberately be modest.

As for Zuo You’s later message via the Fuji Sect’s flying sword, it was very simple: just one sentence: On this trip to Tongye Continent, I happened to slay a great demon at the Immortal realm. No bones remained under the sword. Credit it to my junior brother Chen Ping’an.

If the Chunfan Studio and the Sword Qi Great Wall had only received Zuo You’s single message flying sword, they would probably have regarded it as just an ordinary great demon of the Immortal realm.

At the Chunfan Studio’s accounting office.

Yan Ming and Nalan Caihuan were first stunned, then exchanged smiles. As expected of Zuo You.

Wei Wenlong, on the other hand, felt like he was reading a heavenly book.

Mi Yu chuckled, “Wenlong.”

Wei Wenlong’s scalp went numb. He raised his head, “May I ask Sword Immortal Mi, any instructions?”

Mi Yu asked, “Do you know who Zuo You’s little junior brother is?”

Wei Wenlong guessed, “It should be the Hidden Officer.”

Low realm, good brain.

That describes Wei Wenlong.

Mi Yu looked at this guy who had killed the conversation.

Wei Wenlong quickly tried to salvage, “Right?”

Mi Yu smiled and nodded, “Pretty good guess, you indeed are a talent chosen by the Hidden Officer. Wenlong, is there a woman you have feelings for but cannot obtain? Need me to teach you some tips? Don’t worry, they aren’t those unorthodox crooked ways, absolutely sincere.”

Wei Wenlong quickly shook his head.

Even if there was, he absolutely wouldn’t dare let Mi Yu know.

Mi Yu held a folding fan and laughed, “If a woman who has mutual feelings with you would turn to like me, is she still worth your liking?”

Wei Wenlong was troubled.

Nalan Caihuan was annoyed by this philanderer and snapped, “Just an empty handsome face, what are you showing off?”

Mi Yu elegantly closed his fan, “A love of beauty is universal. The only thing I can do is ensure that when women in this world encounter Mi Yu, they don’t find anything displeasing.”

Nalan Caihuan sneered, “I find you extremely displeasing.”

Mi Yu opened his fan again to cover his face, “Willing to do more for Miss Nalan.”

Wei Wenlong’s horizons were broadened.

At the Fuji Sect’s ancestral mountain, Chuishang Mountain.

Originally, Sect Leader Ji Hai had rejected Zhong Kui’s proposal, because that exclusive secret art was Ji Hai’s very foundation of cultivation. It would only be passed down single-heir to the sect leader successor. Moreover, Ji Hai had already chosen the next Fuji Sect sect leader, precisely that young man who had inadvertently exposed a hidden great demon years ago. This child had karma with the Fuji Sect. On the mountain path of cultivation, karmic fate matters most.

He only planned to formally accept that young man as his closed-door disciple after he returned from studying at the Dafu Academy. The previous incense-offering and bowing to the portrait in the ancestral hall hadn’t happened yet, so he wasn’t really Ji Hai’s true closed-door disciple.

Zhong Kui also knew that relying only on the two secret letters from the Academy master and the Heavenly Lord of Taiping Mountain would be hard to make Ji Hai break the rules. Moreover, logically and emotionally, it shouldn’t be this way. If Zhong Kui hadn’t been urged by his master to come and complete this task, he himself wouldn’t have wanted to force the issue. But his master’s order was hard to defy, so Zhong Kui just stayed and wouldn’t leave. Every few days he would go drink tea and chat with Sect Leader Ji. Ji Hai, harassed, could only use seclusion as an excuse. But Zhong Kui set up a table and piled it with books at the entrance of that forbidden immortal grotto in the Fuji Sect, saying he was guarding Ji Hai’s seclusion to suppress the situation, and read there every day.

Ji Hai ignored him.

On other matters, anything could be discussed, but this matter, not even Taiping Mountain and Dafu Academy’s words worked, nor would even Duke Gui Sect’s old sect leader Xun Yuan and new sect leader Jiang Shangzhen come to plead.

Huang Ting didn’t have Zhong Kui’s thick skin; she went down the mountain alone to travel far.

Strangely, her master Song Mao and the old Heavenly Lord patriarch, who had previously been anxious about her cultivation bottlenecks, now told her not to rush breaking the Nascent Soul bottleneck, take it slow. Cultivators most value naturalness; why rush? Especially the old Heavenly Lord, who earnestly gave a long string of messy reasons, even coming up with nonsense like “Women with too high a realm have a hard time finding a man.”

While Zhong Kui tested patience with Ji Hai, Zuo You and Wang Shizi traveled far from the sea to the Fuji Sect, and Ji Hai had to come out of seclusion.

Then Ji Hai heard the Golden Core sword cultivator Wang Shizi’s account: Zuo You had slain a great demon at sea and needed to send a flying sword message to Daoxuan Mountain.

As a sect leader, Ji Hai already had a very good impression of this man who, after challenging the Tongye Sect single-handedly, had left it half-dead. One could even say Ji Hai regarded him as a benefactor.

Now in Tongye Continent, no one hated great demons more than Ji Hai, because his Dao partner had died at the hands of a great demon back then. That great demon had fled madly away from land. Ji Hai was severely injured at the time and couldn’t pursue far. Three others in Tongye Continent had pursued that demon: Song Mao, the master of Taiping Mountain; the then Tongye Sect’s ancestral law elder; and Duke Gui Sect’s Jiang Shangzhen. As luck would have it, that immortal-level great demon encountered Zuo You at sea. In Jiang Shangzhen’s words, the great demon inexplicably took a dislike to Zuo You and refused to detour, so it charged straight into him, inexplicably received a sword strike, and died.

Now that Zuo You had landed, his first news was that he had slain another bottleneck great demon of the Immortal realm at Reed Flower Island.

Moreover, seeing Wang Shizi’s hesitant look as if he wanted to say more but didn’t dare, it was obvious Zuo You’s experiences over the years on the Sword Qi Great Wall were absolutely not simple.

How could Ji Hai not be delighted?

But Zuo You didn’t bother much with this overly enthusiastic sect leader.

Among Tongye Continent, his impression was slightly better, only for Taiping Mountain.

So before going down the mountain, Zuo You took the initiative to say a word to Zhong Kui, “The little snow awl my junior brother lent you, are you thinking of muddling through and not returning it?”

Zhong Kui almost burst into tears on the spot.

Forget about returning or not, the key point was that this sword immortal senior was family!

That Chen Ping’an kid was something; he had actually become this senior’s junior brother. Then I, Zhong Kui, am brothers with Chen Ping’an, so Zuo You is practically my senior brother.

Is there anything in this world more reasonable than that?

So Zhong Kui, acting aggrieved and not polite at all to his “senior brother,” began on the way down the mountain to describe his miserable encounters at the Fuji Sect—not being well received, being shut out, given cold looks...

This made Sect Leader Ji Hai’s face turn livid. Any remnant guilt he had in his heart vanished entirely.

Zuo You pondered for a moment, then asked both Zhong Kui and Ji Hai via heart voice, and finally said, “Ji Hai, you can have Zhong Kui swear an oath that the secret art won’t be passed to outsiders. Since he is no longer a Confucian student, he can concurrently serve as a Fuji Sect guest elder. But I am just an outsider, merely making a casual suggestion.”

Ji Hai sighed and actually nodded in agreement.

Zhong Kui had no objections either.

Ji Hai escorted Zuo You all the way to the mountain gate. Zhong Kui thought back to his and Huang Ting’s earlier experience climbing the mountain—it was incomparable.

Zuo You happened to be traveling with Zhong Kui, heading to Taiping Mountain.

Zhong Kui asked, “Senior, how did you become Chen Ping’an’s senior brother?”

Zuo You laughed, “My master forced a little junior brother on me. I reluctantly acknowledged him.”

Zhong Kui was speechless.

——

Even the kitchen knife next to the chopping board in a commoner’s kitchen, after chopping too many vegetables and meats over time, will roll its edge and become more and more dull.

A dull knife needs sharpening.

But the Wild Continent’s successive volleys of attacks, besides using mountains of demon corpses to exchange for the flying swords and lives of Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivators, the most important point was to give the sword immortals on the wall no chance to sharpen their swords. If they wanted to nurture their swords a bit and withdraw from the battle for a moment, they had to trade with the lives and flying swords of Middle Five Realm sword cultivators.

In the past, the Wild Continent’s siege battles lacked organization, were intermittent, with many accidents. The deployment of troops, the arrival of follow-up forces, and the separate sieges and unauthorized departures often broke the continuity. So there would often be a break of a month or even half a year. One side would bask in the sun, then it would be the other side’s turn to look at the moon. During the outbreak of battle, the battlefield would be extremely brutal, with flesh and blood flying, flying swords shattering, especially when great demons and sword immortals suddenly engaged in duels, which were dazzling. The victory or defeat and life or death of both sides could even determine the trend of a certain battlefield or even the entire war.

But absolutely no battle had come close to this great war in making both sides feel stifled and suffocating.

It seemed no one could ultimately decide anything. Great demons displayed their various divine abilities, sword immortals made fierce strikes, but none could deliver a decisive blow. Life and death, victory and defeat, all were eventually swallowed by the battlefield.

The biggest battle, the most thrilling slaughter, was when the great demon Chongguang moved the Five Sacred Mountains to the battlefield. The throne great demon Yangzhi sat in command on one. The three sword immortals Li Tuimi successively fought to break the deadlock, then Zuo You entered the fray. Various hidden great demons appeared to besiege him. The old sword immortal Dong Sangang left the city wall to reinforce Zuo You. Eventually, Zuo You was heavily injured by a sneak attack from the Hidden Officer Xiao Xun, thus ending that battle.

The Wild Continent’s sixty military camps provided continuous supply of troops, stage by stage sieging the city, tightly connected, leaving no gaps. The Wild Continent clearly did not give the Sword Qi Great Wall any chance to rest, especially not giving the Upper Five Realm sword immortals any breathing room. Under such severe and high-pressure conditions, the initially frustrating constraints on sword immortals’ strikes—those rules following the Hidden Officer lineage that didn’t allow unrestrained strikes—gradually showed their effects.

Before this, on the city wall, an individual’s overwhelming killing power and the outstanding demeanor of individual sword immortals were, as a necessary cost, subtly downplayed. In exchange, the overall sword formation’s killing power was even stronger.

Now, when a certain sword immortal withdrew from the battlefield to nurture their sword and rest, the drawbacks were correspondingly reduced.

Because the Hidden Officer lineage’s research and penetration into sword formations had continuously deepened. Not only did the Hidden Officer lineage know every Upper Five Realm sword immortal’s flying sword and innate divine abilities, but now they were also incredibly familiar with the life-bound flying swords of sword cultivators at the remaining three realms, to an exaggerated extent.

Water has no constant form; soldiers have no constant tactics. The sword cultivators on the wall constantly changed formations, rotating positions, and kept adapting to work with unfamiliar sword cultivators they had never met before.

In groups of two or three flying swords, they cooperated, even dozens of flying swords forming formations to stack innate abilities. As long as they survived the initial adaptation, their power would increase sharply.

Just by the attribute of the Five Elements, flying swords and abilities formed into formations. On the Sword Qi Great Wall, there were now as many as thirty-one sword formations.

In the past, the Sword Qi Great Wall was like a wealthy family, with so much gold, silver, and fertile land that it might not even know its own wealth.

Now the Sword Qi Great Wall is like a family that picks up even a single copper coin from the cracks in the wall corners and records it in the accounts.

To achieve this situation, every single member of the Hidden Officer lineage was indispensable.

Among them, the sword immortal Chou Miao’s understanding of flying swords and abilities, Lin Junbi’s overall perspective and overall planning, and Guo Zhujiu’s occasional flashes of strange ideas—these three contributed the most.

But during this period, the Hidden Officer lineage’s deployments were not without flaws. Some mistakes were fatal errors that required sword cultivators on the battlefield to compensate with their flying swords and lives.

Among the sword cultivators of the Hidden Officer lineage, there were also fierce arguments that hurt relationships, mutual resentment. After all, on the same small battlefield, there would often be two different plans. Before the results appeared, no one dared to say which plan had a higher chance of success or was more stable. If the battlefield trend developed as expected, it was fine. Once problems arose, it was very troublesome. The side that was wrong felt guilty, and the side that was right also felt stifled.

The most intense dispute occurred between Xu Ning and Cao Gun. They argued until red-faced, almost to the point of fighting a sword duel.

A plan formulated by the Summer Retreat Palace led to the deaths of two Earth Immortal sword cultivators on the Sword Qi Great Wall, along with thirty-one Middle Five Realm sword cultivators, all dead and swords destroyed.

Everyone was heartbroken. Xuanshen, who was responsible for formulating the specific plan, was even more regretful and resentful. Xu Ning’s words, though initially just a complaint, added fuel to the fire. Xuanshen looked gloomy, felt guilty, and didn’t argue back. Cao Gun, who had a very good relationship with Xuanshen, couldn’t stand it. He directly cursed, telling Xu Ning to keep his mouth clean and not be a wise guy after the fact.

Xu Ning cursed Xuanshen’s ancestors up to eighteen generations.

Xuanshen had high skill in chess; otherwise he wouldn’t often play against Lin Junbi and exchange wins. He was also a champion at cursing. He cursed Xu Ning’s face green, and they almost fought a sword duel.

At that time, the atmosphere in the hall was extremely tense. Once a sword duel started, regardless of the outcome, there would be no winner for the Hidden Officer lineage.

Luo Zhenyi then said that if Xu Ning’s earlier plan had been chosen, such heavy losses would not have occurred. If he remembered correctly, it was rejected by you people. How was Xu Ning a wise guy after the fact?

Chang Taiqing, who was on the same side as Xu Ning and Luo Zhenyi, and a close friend of Xu Ning, said even harsher words: foolish before; after making mistakes, refusing to admit them is even more foolish.

The outsider sword cultivator Song Gaoyuan, though usually close to Luo Zhenyi and the others, clearly sided with Cao Gun and Xuanshen on this matter. He directly confronted Chang Taiqing, arguing fiercely.

Lin Junbi tried to mediate, but ended up pleasing neither side. Dong Bude had no problem scolding Xu Ning and Xuanshen, and scolding Lin Junbi was no burden.

Guo Zhujiu had never seen such a scene. For the first time, she felt somewhat at a loss, as if saying or doing anything would be a mistake.

If not for Chen Ping’an and Chou Miao’s composure, the two hidden factions of native sword cultivators and outsider sword cultivators might have developed a rift.

After Chou Miao and Chen Ping’an exchanged a glance, Sword Immortal Chou first told Xu Ning to shut up.

Then Chen Ping’an spoke, asking them whether they wanted to reason or vent emotions. If reasoning, there was no need to argue. Such heavy losses were a miscalculation by the entire Hidden Officer lineage. Everyone was responsible, and I, as the Hidden Officer, had the greatest fault, because I established the rules. Every plan selection was according to the rules. Post-event accountability was not only permissible but necessary. But it shouldn’t target a specific person or escalate into a fall-clearing reckoning. If that’s how you do accounts, the Hidden Officer lineage’s temple is too small to serve such people.

If everyone had anger and wanted to vent by cursing, there was no problem. Even a sword duel was fine. Three against three: Deng Liang against Luo Zhenyi, Cao Gun against Chang Taiqing, Xuanshen against Xu Ning. Treat it as a delayed guardian test. After the fight, the matter would be over. But then my account book would have more records of your sword immortal lords’ heroic deeds.

Everyone in the hall fell silent.

Then Chen Ping’an, together with Chou Miao and Lin Junbi, conducted a review, analyzing the pros and cons of Cao Gun’s plan in detail, without completely negating the plan itself because of the bad results.

By this time, most sword cultivators had calmed down.

Chen Ping’an finally made a concluding statement: “Everyone who can sit here is extremely smart, and each has their own even smarter points.”

“Therefore, those present should act with more rules and conduct themselves with conscience. I believe Xu Ning’s earliest words didn’t have much malice. I don’t even think such words cannot be said. On the contrary, they should be stated clearly, so that Xuanshen understands that doing something wrong does not allow complete forgiveness just because your original intention was good.”

“Since it’s wrong, it won’t be covered up by colleagues from the Hidden Officer lineage. On the contrary, precisely because we are friends, we close the door and scold you to your face. We have been part of the Hidden Officer lineage for over a year now. We know each other’s rough temperaments. We are all smart people. Is it hard to find faults and scold each other? Don’t you all understand the principles?”

Sword Immortal Chou Miao then said, “What really needs to be discussed is not Xuanshen and Xu Ning, but Cao Gun and Luo Zhenyi’s respective protectiveness. Should one matter be muddied just to show loyalty and righteousness?”

Chen Ping’an laughed, “If not for the sword-art-divine Sword Immortal Chou Miao sitting in command, you would have beaten each other’s brains out. Thanks to my foreknowledge, I sent you in groups of three to the city wall to kill demons, separating you. Otherwise, one missing today, one gone tomorrow, within half a year, half of the Summer Retreat Palace would be empty. I’d have to put an incense burner and three sticks of incense on each empty desk. Who would cover that expense? If the Summer Retreat Palace turned into a memorial hall, would I curse you for being wasteful, or miss your hard work and merit?”

Here it came.

The Hidden Officer’s signature trick—the long-missed sarcasm.

Sword Immortal Chou Miao said, “It’s still the Hidden Officer who is magnanimous, willing to take the greatest fault upon himself.”

Chen Ping’an turned to look at Gu Jianlong. Not getting a fair word, Gu Jianlong silently turned to look at Wang Xinshui. Wang Xinshui didn’t want to take on the burden, so he looked at Guo Zhujiu. Guo Zhujiu looked down at her desk.

Chen Ping’an had no choice but to open a booklet, one dedicated to recording the merits and faults of the Hidden Officer lineage, and began to write.

A moment later, Chou Miao asked, “Xu Ning and Luo Zhenyi wrote it. Xuanshen and Cao Gun wrote it too. The gist of the argument is written down. Why don’t I see the words ‘Hidden Officer’ or ‘Chen Ping’an’?”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “Sword Immortal Chou, how about we make a bet? Bet on whether I wrote my own fault in this booklet or not?”

Chou Miao nodded, “Bet.”

Chen Ping’an smacked the table, “Everyone can bet.”

Except for Guo Zhujiu, everyone bet with Chou Miao that the Hidden Officer didn’t write it. Small gambling for fun, just a few small summer coins.

Then Chen Ping’an flipped back one page, held up the booklet, and said with a grin, “Open your dog eyes and look clearly! Pay up, pay up!”

Guo Zhujiu jumped up, “Collecting money, collecting money!”

All those who lost money looked at Chou Miao.

Chou Miao looked helpless, then looked at Chen Ping’an and said bitterly, “I didn’t expect to lose my reputation. Then the sixty-forty split won’t work; let’s go fifty-fifty.”

Chen Ping’an cursed, “Chou Miao, you bastard, you’re not my shill!”

Gu Jianlong said timidly, “Hidden Officer, let me say a fair word. Money matters should be clear between gentlemen. This is a bit dishonest.”

Wang Xinshui nodded, “Full of anger, pretending to be shocked—overdoing it.”

Guo Zhujiu sighed.

Master really worked hard to earn some pocket money.

Chen Ping’an suddenly looked at the scroll on the ground and said solemnly, “We need to prepare the sword immortals to leave the city wall to help separate the battlefield.”

Chen Ping’an stood up, “Previously, several opportunities to go to the city wall, I gave them to you all. That counts as saving up. So now I have about twenty days to leave Summer Retreat Palace and go out of the city to kill demons. During this time, Chou Miao and Lin Junbi will be in charge of managing affairs. If there is truly a difficult decision, you can use the ‘Hidden Officer’ flying sword to send a message to the city wall sword immortal Wei Jin. He will notify me to return temporarily for discussion.”

Luo Zhenyi hesitated. She was about to persuade this young Hidden Officer not to act impulsively.

She had to admit that, as the sword cultivators of the Hidden Officer lineage became more coordinated, Chen Ping’an’s presence in Summer Retreat Palace might not necessarily change the big picture much. But whether Chen Ping’an was here or not made some difference. At least many unnecessary arguments would be reduced.

Unexpectedly, Chou Miao spoke to Luo Zhenyi via heart voice, “Let him go. The ones with the most pent-up frustration are not us. A person, from start to finish, for over a year, not showing the slightest emotional fluctuation—that’s not easy.”

Luo Zhenyi suddenly understood. If not for Chou Miao’s reminder, she really hadn’t noticed this matter.

Chen Ping’an stood up, walked out of the hall, put on an old man’s face mask in the courtyard, carried a sword from the sword workshop, and wore an extra robe from the robe workshop.

Gu Jianlong reminded softly, “Hidden Officer, wearing that other face mask would better conceal your identity.”

Chen Ping’an turned with a smile. His figure had already hunched a bit, with a thoroughly natural old appearance. He said in a hoarse voice, “You’re so good with words. When I get back, we’ll talk slowly.”

Before Gu Jianlong could come up with some nonsense, the sword behind Chen Ping’an had already left its sheath. He touched it with his toe, stepped onto the flying sword, and flew away.

Inside the hall, everyone looked at each other.

Not like a disguised sword cultivator.

In Summer Retreat Palace, except for the young Hidden Officer, everyone was a sword cultivator, and each a genius. This basic insight was there.

Chou Miao laughed, “Come, let’s bet on whether the Hidden Officer is a real sword cultivator. This time, I’ll be the banker.”

Then Chou Miao immediately said, “Guo Zhujiu, you are not allowed to bet.”

Otherwise, not only would he not make money, but he would definitely lose severely. That girl, among other things, really had a lot of possessions.

Guo Zhujiu, who was just about to bet all her possessions, glared, “Why on earth?!”

But not only Cao Gun’s group, even Luo Zhenyi, Xu Ning, and Chang Taiqing all bet that Chen Ping’an was a sword cultivator.

Chou Miao waved his hand, “What bet? Little kids, low realms, not doing proper work. Get back to work! Guo Zhujiu, put everything back in your bamboo box!”

Guo Zhujiu rolled her eyes.

Without even a shill, he dared to be banker. Master said that at a gambling table, including the banker, out of ten people, there should be eight shills to make it proper.

After Guo Zhujiu packed up her various items, she frowned, looked around, and reluctantly went to the highest-realm, mediocre-minded Sword Immortal Chou Miao, and asked, “Sword Immortal Chou, my master won’t be in trouble, will he?”

Chou Miao smiled, “Don’t worry.”

The other sword cultivators had strange expressions.

Gu Jianlong said, “Whether the Hidden Officer is in trouble, I’m not sure. I only know that whoever you’re targeting definitely has trouble.”

Wang Xinshui nodded, “Brother Gu’s words match my thoughts.”

Everyone soon fell silent.

Because on the scroll, a major accident occurred.

On the battlefield, there were often many casual attacks by observing great demons.

This time, the great demon Bai Ying, sitting on a bone throne, executed a divine ability that was extremely overbearing and unreasonable. On the battlefield near the city wall, hundreds of thousands of bone-crafted puppet corpses suddenly stood up, scattered in all directions, trying to help the army climb the wall like ants. Although these soulless bones, rising in this posture on the battlefield, had far less combat power than when alive, the front line of the two armies suddenly had an extra hundred thousand troops on one side. For the wall’s sword cultivators, this was not easy.

But before these bone puppets could swarm close to the wall, the Jade Pure Realm sword immortal Wu Chengpei sacrificed his life-bound flying sword “Sweet Rain” for the first time.

After Wu Chengpei’s flying sword appeared, on the ground wherever there was blood on the battlefield, “rainwater” rose from the earth, clustering toward the sky. Rain poured upside down. That scene was like heaven and earth turning upside down, only Wu Chengpei’s sword-intent rain fell normally.

After a torrential rain, the bone puppets and the demon army near the wall base almost all died instantly.

After that, Wu Chengpei repeatedly activated his life-bound flying sword, pushing outward from the base of the wall. After five consecutive heavy rains on the battlefield, less than one in ten survived. Those that did were high-realm demon cultivators or demons that hadn’t transformed into human form but had naturally tough bodies. These became arrow targets for the wall’s sword cultivators. Thus, the Wild Continent’s siege momentum stalled.

Wu Chengpei then sheathed his sword and quietly moved to another section of the wall to continue refining his sword.

Hard to imagine this was only a Jade Pure Realm sword immortal.

An old sword cultivator, acting suspiciously, climbed onto the city wall and happened to witness this scene up close.

Then one after another, sword immortals set out in formation, rushing to the battlefield, which was even more inspiring.

Dong Sangang, Chen Xi, Qi Tingji— three old sword immortals inscribed on the wall.

Lu Zhi, Nalan Shaowei, Yue Qing, Yao Lianyun, Mi Hu, and other great sword immortals also left the wall.

Additionally, female sword immortals such as Zhou Cheng, Yuan Qing Shu, Tao Wen, among others, were no exception.

The three sages of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, who were stationed at the Sword Qi Great Wall, began to use their divine abilities to transform heaven and earth.

So the frontline where the sword immortals deployed deep into the enemy’s heartland was highly strategic.

At the line where the sword immortals arrayed, the earth surged like a river—this was created by the Taoist sage’s whisk. On both banks of the river, golden characters formed two embankments. In the river water, golden lotuses hung one by one.

The old sword cultivator followed the Middle Five Realm sword cultivators, in great numbers, flying off the city wall.

After landing, the old sword cultivator didn’t dare rush to the front line. He held a sword in hand, but he did release a flying sword to circle around him. Seeing the surrounding sword cultivators’ life-bound flying swords all charging forward relentlessly, he seemed embarrassed, so he controlled his flying sword to follow the others’ flying swords and stabbed a half-dead demon that had already been hit by other flying swords. A Guanhai Realm sword cultivator glared at him. The old sword cultivator cursed and grumbled, then controlled his flying sword to stab other half-dead demons. On the battlefield, below Earth Immortal realm demon cultivators, only the one who kills gets the credit.

Although the demon army was large, the number of cultivators was relatively small. Some credit worth more was hard to snatch from others. The old sword cultivator would mutter under his breath.

After a few rounds, he still managed to pick up credit from several demon cultivators, grinning from ear to ear. The nearby Guanhai Realm sword cultivator cursed, “Get away from me, you bastard!”

The old sword cultivator cursed back, “I damn well won’t!”

On the battlefield ahead, a Dragon Gate realm demon cultivator had deliberately shown its true form all along. While the Guanhai Realm sword cultivator and the useless old sword cultivator were arguing, it suddenly charged forward, transformed into human form, and reached out to grab the Guanhai Realm sword cultivator’s head.

The Guanhai Realm young sword cultivator was an old hand at this. His conversation with the unscrupulous old sword cultivator was only a slight distraction; it didn’t hinder his observation of the battlefield. He quickly controlled his flying sword to stab at the demon cultivator’s brow. The demon cultivator blocked the flying sword with its hand. Its body was thick-skinned and tough. Though the flying sword pierced through, the demon grabbed the stalled flying sword with its fist, clenched it, and at the same time flew after the retreating sword cultivator, willing to let its fist be blown to pieces, just to continue slapping down and smash the sword cultivator’s head.

The Guanhai Realm sword cultivator still had his workshop sword. He swept it horizontally. Unexpectedly, the ferocious Dragon Gate Realm demon cultivator suddenly stepped aside and, at even greater speed, came to the sword cultivator’s side and swung an arm to knock his head off.

An old sword cultivator inexplicably appeared between the sword cultivator and the demon cultivator, using two fingers pressed together to block the arm. Then the now-recovered sword cultivator pierced the demon’s head with his flying sword.

The old sword cultivator immediately turned back and cursed, “You bastard, you stole my credit! This was a great demon...”

The sword cultivator, who was just about to thank the old bastard, choked back the words and left, muttering inwardly, great demon my ass.

But the old sword cultivator shamelessly followed him.

The two formed a temporary partnership, fighting side by side. Many times they were in danger, but always came out unscathed. By the time the Guanhai Realm sword cultivator had to sincerely thank him, the old sword cultivator had disappeared.

He glanced into the distance. That old sword cultivator seemed to have taken a fierce punch from a Golden Core demon for someone else, flying backwards, tumbling on the ground, covered in dust. After getting up, seeing that Golden Core demon was already being ganged up on by other sword cultivators, he staggered away again.

The Guanhai Realm sword cultivator found it strange. If he were a Nascent Soul or Golden Core senior, acting so shamelessly, there were indeed a few on the Sword Qi Great Wall, but they could be counted on one hand, and each was more famous than the last. For example, the one who would suddenly recite poetry after drinking Bamboo Sea Cavern wine was a standout among this kind of senior sword cultivator. But this one’s face looked very unfamiliar.

The old sword cultivator wandered around, occasionally picking up small credit, until a Golden Core demon cultivator latched onto him, chasing him for over a hundred zhang. The old sword cultivator sacrificed yet another life-bound flying sword with almost identical aura, while dodging the demon’s aggressive close combat, cursing, “Don’t make me go all out! I have plenty of flying swords!”

The Golden Core demon cultivator’s ferocity exploded. It seemed to attack casually, but was actually about to sacrifice a life-bound attack treasure. But then it suddenly paused. The old sword cultivator, using the Wild Continent’s Great Standard Language, said to it via heart voice, “Quickly take away one of the flying swords, try to bring it alive to the Sixtieth Tent.”

The Golden Core demon was skeptical. Regardless, it decided to grab it first. But just as it reached out to seize the flying sword that indeed was a beat slower, who would have thought the flying sword would suddenly accelerate, directly piercing its head and shredding one of its eyeballs.

The Golden Core demon, in severe pain, revealed its true form, simultaneously sacrificing its attack life-bound item, then roared, trying to gather nearby demon troops to surround that insidious bastard. But when it looked again, that damn old sword cultivator had vanished.

After it revealed its true form and gathered about seventy or eighty nearby demon minions nearby, it naturally became the target of several nearby sword cultivators.

Far from this battlefield, a young sword cultivator was knocked sideways by a collision. At the spot where he originally stood, a demon cultivator’s life-bound item smashed a large pit. The next moment, the young sword cultivator was steadied by an old sword cultivator. At the same time, surrounding demons launched an encirclement, some charging headlong, some leaping, dense and overwhelming, blotting out the sky.

The old sword cultivator, with a sword on his back, neither drew the sword nor sacrificed a flying sword. He just pushed the young man away with one palm, sending him far from the battlefield.

Then the old sword cultivator casually opened a fist stance. Fist intent spread in all directions, reducing everything around to powder.