Chapter 646: Opening the Formation
Above the cloud sea under the sky canopy of the Sword Qi Great Wall, the Daoist sage rose, respectfully bowed to the visitor with a ritual salute, and then smiled, “Rare, rare.”
Chen Qingdu laughed, “Looking from a height, the scenery is indeed better than what I see from my shabby hut.”
Once the polite pleasantries were likely over, there was nothing more to say.
This rarely visiting great sword immortal on the cloud sea simply gazed toward the clamorous battlefield in the south.
The old Daoist immortal suddenly asked, “Why does that young Hidden Officer seem to have some prejudice against me?”
Chen Qingdu said, “He has some issues with the entire Daoist sect, not just you individually. In fact, he knows this is inappropriate, but it’s hard to change in a short while.”
There are always such weird people—they can let go of words and matters directed at themselves, but for certain words and actions directed at those close to them, they hold on for a long, long time, unable to let go.
In fact, the great sword immortal had seen quite a few such people. Not going far, there were those close by like Zuo You, and of course Pang Yuanji as well.
The Daoist sage raised his sleeve and began to calculate on his fingers. A Daoist would not normally engage in such private divination, but since the great sword immortal had appeared, there was no longer any restraint. After a moment of finger-counting, he said, “I never imagined there would be such a massive feud entangling him. No wonder, no wonder.”
This Daoist sage was the person on the entire Sword Qi Great Wall furthest removed from the mundane world, truly achieving pure cultivation. Not only did he ignore the affairs of the Sword Qi Great Wall, he even paid no attention to the ups and downs of his own Daoist sect.
No one would come here to find him, and he would not actively seek anyone.
This old immortal, responsible for sitting in for the Daoist sect at the Sword Qi Great Wall, was a high-ranking adept from the lineage of the Grand Master's eldest disciple. If he returned to the White Jade Capital of the Azure Sky World, among the Five Cities and Twelve Towers, one tower was extremely high—that was his immortal cave dwelling, a place of Dao cultivation.
Chen Qingdu said, “All these years, I’ve made you waste your time, unable to advance further. It’s been hard on you.”
The Daoist quickly performed another salute, “I am terrified, terrified.”
Chen Qingdu said helplessly, “If that kid met you face to face, I reckon you two would actually get along quite well.”
The Daoist calculated with his fingers again and shook his head, “Not necessarily, not necessarily.”
Chen Qingdu no longer wished to say much, but since he had come, leaving immediately would not be appropriate, so he stood still, overlooking the southern battlefield.
The Daoist suddenly exclaimed, “Eh? Our young Hidden Officer actually has some connection with that Daoist Sun of the Xuan Du Temple?”
Sun Huaizhong, the abbot of Xuan Du Temple, had long attained divine sword techniques.
He was also acclaimed as the immovable fifth person in the Azure Sky World.
The Daoist lamented, “I never imagined that Daoist Sun would leave his own world and make a trip to the Haoran World.”
Without calculation, it was fine; once calculated, tens, hundreds, thousands of calculations were made, nearly heavenly calculations.
Chen Qingdu laughed, “That line of Daoist sword immortals still has some substance. That Daoist Sun is also somewhat interesting as a person.”
Whenever it came to swordsmanship, if the great sword immortal said something “has some substance,” then of course it had plenty of substance.
Otherwise, why would Chen Qingdu, with nothing better to do, occasionally catch Zuo You and say, “Isn’t your sword technique not high enough?” Zuo You only talked about sword techniques, but he was already the undisputed number one in the Haoran World.
The four immortal swords had long represented the four “prominent schools” of the world’s sword path.
One from the Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, one from the most proud scholar of the Zhongtu Shenzhou, one owned by the Daoist Second, and one that the Haoran World had always claimed was suppressed under one of the nine great town towers, the Town Sword Tower.
In fact, the immortal sword of the Zhongtu Shenzhou scholar should have belonged to the Daoist sword immortal lineage. By reason and principle, it should have been enshrined in the ancestral hall of Xuan Du Temple. However, this involved an extremely complex web of origins, and Sun Huaizhong of Xuan Du Temple, being a cultivator with more chivalrous aura than immortal aura, was never willing to use force to take it back to the Xuan Du Temple in the Azure Sky World.
Thus later came the scholar’s feat of splitting open the Yellow River Cave Heaven with one sword, and the saying that spread across the world: “Bai Ye’s poetry is unmatched, the most proud under heaven.”
The Daoist lamented, “Suddenly I recall that Xuan Du Temple, when the peach blossoms bloom, if there are orioles on the flowers, it is especially moving—the eyes dare not move, but the soul moves.”
Chen Qingdu laughed, “Not ‘extremely beautiful, extremely beautiful’?”
The Daoist shook his head, “That would be vulgar.”
---
At the three-shop-front tavern, business was slow. In fact, not only this tavern, but all the wine shops in the city were mostly the same.
Only the old, the young, the women, and those men who had lost their lifebound flying swords and could no longer be considered sword cultivators remained in the city. Moreover, the battle at the city wall was fierce, and few people were spending money on drinks at such a time.
The two same-age assistants in the shop, the boy Qiu Long and the girl Liu E, were both a little puzzled. Because the youngest colleague in the shop, the child Tao Ban, had earlier run over with Feng Kangle, who whispered something to him, and then they both ran far away. When they came back, the two children were bruised and swollen, covered in dust. They sat down, and Feng Kangle asked his father to make two bowls of plain noodles. The two of them just ate the noodles. They were too small, their feet off the ground, so they had to straighten their backs and lean on the table to eat. There were no pickled vegetables, because Tao Ban said that if you don’t buy drinks, you don’t get pickled vegetables—that was the shop’s rule.
Liu E sat down at the table and asked with a smile, “What happened?”
Feng Kangle was sullen, burying his head in his noodles.
Tao Ban said indignantly, “A bunch of little bastards cursed our Second Manager, saying he had no conscience, wasn’t a good person. Anyway, they said a lot of nasty things. Don’t they deserve a beating? So Kang Le and I gave them a thrashing.”
The girl teased, “Who was thrashing whom?”
Feng Kangle snorted, “They outnumbered us, okay? How could just the two of us fight? A good man on the road can’t beat four hands with two fists—that’s what it says in the books. Don’t you even know that?”
Tao Ban got angrier as he spoke, “The most infuriating part was those people hiding nearby watching the show. They’ve heard so many free stories from the Second Manager, yet they didn’t even lend us a hand. Those people have even less conscience.”
Liu E suppressed a smile, “I’ll get you two eggs. You can use them to reduce the bruising.”
Tao Ban nodded, “Kang Le, ask your dad to make two more bowls of plain noodles. We’ll each have one bowl of plain noodles, plus a fried egg. That’ll be fragrant.”
Feng Kangle leaned in and whispered, “No, no, no. We’re injured. It’s better if we don’t heal too fast. It’s best for the Second Manager to see us like this.”
Tao Ban asked, “Why? The Second Manager is such a stingy guy. He won’t give you money.”
Feng Kangle grinned, “I’ll get to hear another story.”
Tao Ban rolled his eyes, “And then tell it to that little girl? You’re still too young. You don’t know that these pretty girls are also cunning. Whether the family has money or not is what matters.”
Feng Kangle laughed, “My family has money now.”
Tao Ban silently ate his plain noodles.
Feng Kangle scratched his head and said softly, “Tao Ban, if you ever need money in the future, remember to borrow from me first. My clay pot is full of copper coins. It’s so heavy now, I can barely lift it! But that’s my wife money. When I finally take a wife, remember to pay me back.”
Feng Kangle and Tao Ban talked about everything. Once they talked about his grievances. He got up in the middle of the night to pee outside the door, but ended up drowsily falling asleep next to the broom at the door. He slept quite soundly, so his parents searched for him half the night. When they finally found him, his mother spanked his bottom so hard it swelled up. He cried his head off. But when Tao Ban heard this, he lowered his head and actually started crying. Later, Feng Kangle found out that Tao Ban’s ancestors, and then his parents, were all laborers in the clothing workshop. Tao Ban couldn’t even see his parents’ faces all year round.
Tao Ban suddenly laughed, “Actually, I kind of like that little girl too.”
Feng Kangle was dumbfounded.
Tao Ban laughed heartily, “Just kidding. Girls, why would anyone like them?”
Feng Kangle laughed along.
The boy Qiu Long brought over two eggs and said with a smile, “Put it on my tab.”
Tao Ban imitated the Second Manager and gave a thumbs up, “Generous.”
Feng Kangle nodded, “The Second Manager and I are close buddies. Our relationship is great. I’ll have him play matchmaker and give Liu E to you.”
The boy was speechless.
The girl’s face was flushed red, her cheeks as red as peach blossoms from embarrassment and anger.
---
The Cold Evading Palace of the Hidden Officer lineage had always been empty, but today there were more than ten people.
Apart from a white-haired old crone, they were all children, the youngest four or five years old, the oldest no more than seven or eight. Both boys and girls. Their backgrounds were as different as clouds and mud. Some were from wealthy and pampered noble families of Taixiang Street and Yuhu Street, while others were little mud-legged kids who had struggled through the alleys and lanes of the marketplace.
The old crone said, “You are all martial arts seeds. In the past, there were some martial arts masters on the Sword Qi Great Wall, but most didn’t live long, rarely surviving past a hundred. The path of martial arts relies on talent, but even more on hard work. So if you live short lives, your realm naturally won’t be high. I am one of the luckier ones. Do you know who I am?”
A child from Taixiang Street, young in age but bold, said in a childish voice, “Auntie Bai from the Ning Manor, an old woman with a very hard fist.”
“That’s right. My name is Bai Lianshuang. I’m from the Ning Manor, a female martial artist. My fist technique is passable.” The old crone nodded with a smile, then kicked the child in the stomach. He flew backward, fell to the ground, rolled around, and finally curled up, crying so hard that tears and snot poured out.
The old crone asked again, “Do you know why I’ve gathered you here?”
A little girl from Yuhu Street turned pale and said in a trembling voice, “Auntie Bai, I want to become a sword cultivator. I don’t want to learn martial arts. There’s no future in martial arts.”
The old crone rubbed the little girl’s head, then pressed down lightly. The latter sat down on the ground with a thud. The old crone glanced at the more delicate child on the ground and weighed her slightly. She could only say that her bone structure was passable. Smiling, she said, “Wanting to become a sword cultivator and being able to become one are two different things. I had similar thoughts in my early years, but not being able to become a sword cultivator is something you can’t force.”
The little girl was about to speak, but the old crone said with a smile, “No rush. After a month, those who want to learn martial arts may not necessarily stay, and those who don’t want to learn may end up staying.”
The old crone turned to look at another group of children—they looked restrained but had fiery eyes. “The talent for martial arts is less important than for learning the sword, but that’s only relatively speaking. But whether you can do it or not, you’ll only know after you’ve endured great hardship, right?”
These children nodded one after another.
The old crone said, “First, learn two fist stances from me. A fist without a stance is like a house without a pillar—it can never work. First, I’ll teach you two stances: the standing stance and the walking stance. Entry is simple, but mastery is not easy. Practice a thousand fist moves, and proficiency comes first.”
After teaching the eight children the standing stance and walking stance, the old crone walked slowly, observing the children’s awkward, wobbly standing stances. She said slowly, “Practice a fist a thousand times, and body technique comes naturally. Believe this saying, but also don’t believe it. Believe in the principle: fists need to be practiced many times. Don’t believe that a thousand punches will bring naturalness. Even if you are a martial arts genius with excellent bone structure, talent, and temperament, if you only throw a thousand punches, it will still be difficult for the fist intent to take hold of your body.”
The child who had been rolling on the ground sat up. He was truly stubborn, gritting his teeth and saying, “What about that genius martial artist Cao Ci from the Zhongtu Shenzhou? Would he need to practice a thousand punches for the same move? Certainly not!”
The old crone was not angry. She looked at the child and said with a smile, “Martial arts flourish in the Haoran World. A pure martial artist can be unreasonable with his fists, but he still emphasizes learning etiquette before learning the art, and learning virtue before learning martial arts.”
The child crossed his arms and sneered, “I talk to you about fists, and you talk to me about principles? Old Auntie Bai, I think your fist technique might not be that high after all.”
The old crone’s expression became even kinder. She walked around the row of eight children, among whom some had already started wobbling. “A righteous heart leads to righteous fists; a wicked heart leads to wicked fists. So teaching fists is teaching the person.”
The child saw the old crone’s smile growing and knew something was wrong. With a flash of inspiration, he shouted, “You’re an old woman. Learning fists from you is worse than learning from the Second Manager. He’s a master. I saw him fight with my own eyes! Although he lost to Cao Ci three times earlier, didn’t he later beat Yu Juanfu three times?”
The old crone laughed heartily, “You little brat are quite clever. Alright, get up. Stand in the stance with the others. If you stand well, you’ll get beaten less. The six-step walking stance I just taught you was passed down from Mr. Chen.”
The child stood up, rubbed his stomach, and grimaced. It really hurt.
The old crone smiled. The child’s pain was real pain—just flesh and blood, and it would pass soon.
The child muttered, “If you have a handful of grain at home, don’t take up this trade.”
The old crone glanced at him.
The child immediately wailed, “I’ll learn! I’ll learn, okay?”
The old crone felt somewhat helpless.
Dealing with children was indeed more of her master’s forte.
In fact, even teaching fists was not her strong suit.
Even though Bai Lianshuang was once the only Tenth Realm martial artist on the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Even when feeding punches to her master in the Ning Manor, she herself felt it was improper—she really couldn’t bear to be ruthless or throw heavy punches.
But her master had said that the martial arts seeds of the Sword Qi Great Wall might be unremarkable here, but the future was uncertain. Even if they only learned a single skill to defend themselves, it was ultimately a good thing.
---
Chen Ping’an found a secluded spot, instantly changed his face, and showed a youthful appearance.
He secretly took out a borrowed sword from a sword workshop from his inch-measuring object, then put the broken sword that had been sheathed behind his back into the inch-measuring object. He would have to return it to Pang Yuanji later.
He mounted his sword again. His entire aura instantly changed from that of a weary, aged elder to a vigorous, spirited young man. His brows were lively, and his eyes were clear.
His great-refined flying swords, First and Fifteenth, the imitation sword Pine Needle from Hate Sword Mountain, and Cough Thunder—unless it was an emergency, he must not use a single sword.
Both the immortal-grade sword “Sword Immortal” and the dharma robe Golden Brew had already been given to Ning Yao.
Therefore, Chen Ping’an’s long-distance sword flight, coupled with sacrificing one or two “account book” lifebound flying swords, was itself the best disguise as he threw himself into the battle as a true sword cultivator.
As for the several face masks made by Zhu Lian, those were secondary.
Anyway, having many skills doesn’t weigh you down; the more, the better.
Chen Ping’an moved his mind slightly, quickly flew his sword to a higher altitude, looked at the battlefield situation, and soon flew close to the ground again.
On the battlefield, thousands of sword cultivators were breaching the formation southward, continuously compressing the demon army southward.
The most brutal part of the battle was still along the line of the golden river. Further south, the demon army swarmed and crashed into the river line held by the sword immortals. Often, in the gap after a sword immortal delivered a sword, the demon army could instantly pile up a sloping hill, squeezing the invisible barrier of the river’s small world. The golden river, stirred up by layers of waves, splashed with blood. Each wave that came and went left countless bones behind. These bones were then covered by the demons behind, layer upon layer, continuously eroding the textual embankment on the south bank of the golden river.
The sword immortals could only retract their swords slightly, delivering strikes to clear the battlefield right in front of them, lest the bones and flesh pile up too much in one place and wear away the golden river.
Golden, seal-script-like sages’ characters, as well as the golden lotuses swaying gracefully in the river, were vanishing at every moment. It was only because the Three Teachings sages continuously reinforced the river from afar that the small world did not dissipate too quickly.
On that battlefield, several great demons had already personally broken the formation.
There were also demon cultivators with lifebound divine abilities like Mountain Moving and Water Shifting, constantly hurling peaks at the golden river and the sword immortals’ heads, or conjuring torrential rains heavy with yin qi and filth.
Some great demons directly cast spells to split the earth, hollow out the ground, or drive naturally gigantic demons to break deep underground. With a thunderous upheaval, they tore the ground apart. Enduring the sword immortal’s sword strike as it slashed down, they still tried to turn the unbreakable golden river into a suspended river with no earth to rely on, allowing the southern battlefield’s demon army to quickly connect with the northern battlefield army.
The two sages sitting at either end of the city wall almost simultaneously displayed their great divine powers. Not only did the river’s water volume surge dramatically, cascading down like a waterfall, but the roots of the golden lotuses also suddenly extended, hanging down with the river’s water to take root deeper in the earth. On the golden lotuses, rows of fine, dense golden characters coiled around them. The content of these characters were famous poems praising lotuses by literary masters and great poets of the world.
In the river near a certain female sword immortal, one particular lotus was especially large and beautiful, reaching over a hundred zhang in height. Its fragrance was clear and distant, condensing into wisps of golden spiritual energy that eventually gathered into droplets of water, rolling on the lotus leaves with a tinkling sound.
Rows of golden characters were like little birds nestled close, like shadows of trees swaying—graceful and lovely.
“Of the plants on land and in water, the lovely ones are many.”
“Neither creeping nor branching, it stands tall and pure. It emerges unstained from the mud.”
The female sword immortal landed on the continuously spreading lotus leaves, standing among the golden lotuses. The heavens and earth became somewhat clearer, filled with spiritual energy.
From then on, each sword she struck became smoother and more freehand.
At that moment, the already beautiful female sword immortal became even more stunningly gorgeous.
A male sword immortal adjacent to her struck his sword with extreme ruthlessness, each sword without any hesitation. At the same time, he spoke to her with his mind voice, “Really not willing to be my sister-in-law?”
The female sword immortal Zhou Cheng said indifferently, “Mi Yu is just a brocade pillow. He also likes to say sour words I don’t understand. Extremely annoying.”
Mi Hu was silent for a moment, then asked, “Then what about me?”
Zhou Cheng also was silent for a moment, then replied, “Too ugly.”
Mi Hu, who had only recently become a great sword immortal, was not angry at all. Instead, he burst into hearty laughter and delivered a new sword with unparalleled grace.
Between life and death, one could truly see the great elegance of a sword immortal.
Chen Ping’an flew his sword extremely fast, heading straight for a certain southern battlefield, going to find the fastest group of sword cultivators breaching the formation southward.
With Diezhang and Dong Huafu opening the way with their swords, it was hard to slow down.
The demon army had also given up the idea of charging blindly ahead. If they could successfully kill those sword cultivators who had left the city to fight, the credit would be even greater than climbing the city wall.
Moreover, once they got close to the city wall, the sword strikes of the sword cultivators stationed there would only become fiercer. They would just die quickly. By hunting and besieging sword cultivators out in the battlefield, they could at least live a little longer.
Thus, on the vast battlefield south of the Sword Qi Great Wall and north of the golden river, various-sized encirclements formed unintentionally.
Near and far, Chen Ping’an saw many familiar faces.
The sword immortal Tao Wen was at the very front line of the battlefield, holding the golden river alongside other sword immortals.
Closer by, besides Pu Yu and Ren Yi whom he had encountered earlier, there was also the Nascent Soul sword cultivator Ye Zhenchun, who served as a formation-protecting sword master, as well as many regular customers of the tavern—those who had drunk a lot of Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven wine, eaten many bowls of plain noodles, and plenty of bachelors and gamblers who had lost bets.
As he went to find Ning Yao and the others, Chen Ping’an could only do what he could, saving a few groups of sword cultivators in dire straits, allowing them to temporarily leave the encirclements.
According to the rules set by the Hidden Officer lineage, when breaching the formation southward and killing demons, sword cultivators of different realms would have different advancement distances. Upon reaching that distance or killing a corresponding number of demons, they could withdraw north on their own and return to the base of the Sword Qi Great Wall to rest. If they still had strength, they could continue southward. If their losses were severe, they should directly ascend the city wall and be replaced by a fresh group of rested sword cultivators heading to the battlefield. They must not be greedy for merit or think of trading life for life with the demons.
On the same front line, the two groups of sword cultivators—one below the wall and one on the wall—would retreat and advance in turns. The former group must be decisive; otherwise, if the links were interlocked and the sword cultivators below the city were reluctant to retreat, suffering heavy casualties and refusing to withdraw even in death, the latter group would have to leave the city early to fill the hole. Over time, a certain north-south front line would completely disintegrate into a mess requiring extra sword cultivators to clean up.
Ultimately, the Hidden Officer lineage still hoped that sword cultivators could survive and continue to strike with their swords, so that more people could live.
But a war was destined to have constant deaths, and then more deaths.
Partings in life and separations in death were like two neighbors facing each other across a door in a battlefield.
The demon army that had its retreat cut off had to be completely annihilated, while the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall who went down to fight in the Middle Five Realms also needed to minimize casualties.
The Barbaric World’s migrating armies, continuously heading to the northern battlefield, were like an endless stream. But for every sword cultivator who died on the Sword Qi Great Wall, it meant losing a unit of combat power. These were just cold calculations on a ledger. How could one calculate the human heart?
On the battlefield where enemy and ally tangled and killed each other, relatively speaking, the group of sword cultivators who had gone out of the city and were closest to the golden river—everyone in that group, like a sword formation that was unstoppable, stopped moving forward at the same moment.
Even Diezhang, who was in the heat of battle, retracted her sword a little and chose to fly backward several dozen zhang. She held the great sword Town Peak with both hands, slightly bent over, its tip touching the ground, standing side by side with Dong Huafu.
Both of their lifebound flying swords continued killing enemies without stop.
The reason was simple: they had broken through the formation too quickly, and on both sides, there were still demon forces all around.
Further behind on the battlefield were Ning Yao, carrying a sword box and wearing the dharma robe Golden Brew. Inside the sword box was the “Sword Immortal.” Ning Yao only held one sword in her hand.
Twenty zhang to Ning Yao’s left and right were Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo respectively.
Fan Dache stood even further behind.
This group of sword cultivators was supposed to continue advancing another one hundred fifty li before starting to retreat, intercepting the many enemies that had slipped through from behind.
But just now, Ning Yao said something seemed off.
If Ning Yao thought the situation was off, then Diezhang and Dong Huafu, unless they had lost their minds, would have to be cautious and treat it seriously.
Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo liked to use their personal swords, “Scriptures” and “Purple Lightning,” as flying swords.
Apart from their respective lifebound flying swords, the flight paths of these two personal swords were extremely regular. The sword Scriptures, at about waist height, with Chen Sanqiu as the center, quickly drew a large circle two li away. Yan Zhuo’s Purple Lightning, at the height of an ordinary man’s neck, drew another circle. The two swords did not interfere with each other. Once a demon managed to luckily or forcefully break into the encirclement with the aid of treasures, the two of them didn’t need to bother—they left it all to Ning Yao and Fan Dache to clean up. It was very simple and direct.
As for the “headless rush” of Big Manager Diezhang and the “huffing and puffing chopper” Dong Huafu, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo’s circular sword formation didn’t bother with those two ahead.
If there was really any surprise, Ning Yao, who was in charge of the overall situation, would naturally handle it.
Chen Sanqiu originally had another sword, Cloud Pattern, which he had lent to Fan Dache.
These personal swords of extremely high rank were all good swords that A Liang had borrowed from the imitation White Jade Capital of the Great Li Dynasty.
Only the sword Haoran Qi had been taken to the Haoran World by the Confucian gentleman that Diezhang liked.
Ning Yao said again, “There should be an ambush. Later, I’ll hold off the highest realm ones. You all just retreat safely.”
It was the same light and casual tone as her usual speech. But only Diezhang, being also a woman, could detect a hint of something.
Ning Yao was hiding a bit of small resentment.
Diezhang was also helpless. After all the sword cultivators of the Hidden Officer lineage moved to the Summer Palace, the young Hidden Officer had not shown his face on the city wall for too long.
Even when Fan Dache finally managed to break through to the Golden Core sword cultivator realm, there wasn’t even a celebratory drink. The first person Fan Dache wanted to tell the good news to was no longer his friend Chen Sanqiu.
Ning Yao looked around. The battlefield situation actually showed no abnormality. Demons were densely packed in all directions.
Ning Yao frowned. She was about to remind Fan Dache to retreat first, then let Diezhang and Dong Huafu at the front cover him to prevent him from being trapped in the army. As for herself, she would be fine retreating north a bit slower with Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo. Chen Sanqiu had a dharma robe and a life-saving talisman; Yan Zhuo was naturally good at self-preservation. These two friends might be far inferior to Diezhang and Dong Huafu in killing speed, but between killing and saving themselves, they maintained an excellent balance.
But before Ning Yao could speak with her mind voice, she was slightly surprised to see Fan Dache already take off on his sword and, without a word, actively retreat north.
Ning Yao was puzzled. When did Fan Dache become so sharp?
Not only that, but Fan Dache was also grabbed by the shoulder by a “wobbling” young man who arrived by sword. The young man dodged dangerous demon artifacts and spirit tools time and again, finally yanked Fan Dache’s shoulder, grinned and shouted “Go you,” then swung his arm and threw him hard, kicking the hilt of the Cloud Pattern sword, sending Fan Dache and his sword flying even faster. In an instant, he was thrown over a hundred zhang away.
The Golden Core sword cultivator Fan Dache, who had left the scene in a slightly awkward manner, then flew his sword extremely fast, without hesitation, just running with his head down.
The reason was twofold: the long-lost shout “Dache!” and the succinct words from the newcomer: “Still not running? Want to give your head away?”
At the same time, a voice that everyone was all too familiar with resounded in the mind lake of all the sword cultivators. The words came quickly, “Retreat in order. Ning Yao and I will cover the rear. Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo will respond from the middle. Diezhang and Dong Huafu are responsible for opening the way behind Fan Dache. Maintain a distance of about a hundred zhang between the three parties. Not too long, not too short. The enemy has many ambushers. I’ve only spotted two so far. Diezhang, be careful at the northeast position, thirty zhang away. Fan Dache, be careful at the southwest position, about one hundred twenty zhang away. The opponents are all Golden Core and above, most likely Nascent Soul, and possibly even Jade Realm sword immortals. Everyone be careful.”
“Especially watch out for the enemy sword cultivators targeting Dache first, trying to besiege the point to lure reinforcements. Dache, please make your sword flight trajectory a bit more zigzag. If you go straight, and an enemy flying sword stops in front, are you planning to crash into it?”
“Sanqiu, Fatty Yan, be ready to use your trump card treasures at any time. The enemy is determined to kill you all. These are death warriors, all demon sword cultivators. They won’t let us retreat easily. Remember to protect Fan Dache as well.”
The usual nagging, mothering tone.
Chen Ping’an could only arrange the formation as quickly as possible. There was no need to say more about the guesses.
There would definitely be two or three Nascent Soul sword cultivator death warriors, well hidden, waiting for the moment. There might even be a demon Jade Realm sword immortal, hiding even deeper, learning from the sword immortals’ halberd formation, willing to disregard his life entirely, just to deliver one sword.
The reason was very simple: among this group of sword cultivators, apart from the newly promoted Golden Core cultivator Fan Dache, everyone was on the Barbaric World’s must-kill list.
Ning Yao, Chen Sanqiu, Dong Huafu, Diezhang, Yan Zhuo.
All were the cream of the crop in the current great year of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Ning Yao raised an eyebrow, seemingly annoyed by the person’s incessant chatter. But in fact, those most beautiful eyebrows in the world were filled with barely concealed happiness, joy, and pride.
Like the ripples on a lake stirred by a spring breeze.
Beside Ning Yao, a well-proportioned “young man” hovered on his sword.
She and he were no longer just Ning Yao of the Sword Qi Great Wall and Chen Ping’an of the Haoran World.
They were sword cultivators, appearing together on the battlefield.
Everything is hard at the start. This guy liked to think far too much, so doing things was even harder than the start.
But once he got started, there was no need to worry about him anymore.
For example, liking her.
Or practicing his fists.
Or becoming a sword cultivator, and then a great sword immortal.
Ning Yao asked with her mind voice, “Lifebound flying swords?”
Chen Ping’an smiled and answered, “Two.”
Ning Yao said no more.
See.
Chen Ping’an naturally didn’t know what Ning Yao was thinking, nor could he spare the time to guess her thoughts.
What worried him most was that the enemy death warriors remained hidden, continuing to conceal their tracks.
On the front line that Ning Yao and her team were responsible for, there were no follow-up sword cultivators from the city wall to replace those below. They needed to kill the most enemies, breach the formation the fastest, be the first to break through the army formation, and finally approach the golden river. Only then would the mission be accomplished.
Once the enemy and our forces were evenly matched, Fan Dache, who had only recently reached Golden Core, would be the best breakthrough point.
If they asked Fan Dache to leave the battlefield directly and watch from the sidelines, it would be unreasonable both emotionally and logically.
Regardless, Chen Ping’an was only sure that his appearance might have already eliminated one unexpected factor, but it could also bring about a greater unexpected factor that was building up.
This was like the two plans of Xuan Shen and Xu Ning. Before the results were clear, no one knew which choice was better.
The most helpless part was that once the Hidden Officer lineage implemented Xu Ning’s plan, it might not necessarily yield better results than Xuan Shen’s. But at that time, Chen Ping’an was unwilling to say such harsh words. Chou Miao was inconvenient to say this, and Lin Junbi didn’t dare to say it.
Human calculation compared to heavenly calculation—no matter how much you calculate with every effort, it still gives a feeling of smallness and powerlessness.
That was the biggest insight Chen Ping’an had gained after becoming the Hidden Officer.
The group fought while retreating.
Diezhang and Dong Huafu did their best to protect Fan Dache as they withdrew from the battlefield. With Ning Yao and Chen Ping’an behind them, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo had no worries about the rear, focusing on killing demons.
Ning Yao did not unleash her flying sword, only striking with her sword in hand. Yet she still gave the illusion that the essence of all sword techniques in the world was nothing more than two strokes: horizontal and vertical.
Sword after sword, Ning Yao’s strikes became extremely fast compared to her earlier calm demeanor. Sword qi surged in all directions, instantly dismembering large swaths of demons.
So much so that Chen Ping’an, flying beside Ning Yao, had nothing to do for a while. He took the opportunity to pay more attention to the subtle traces on the battlefield.
In addition to the two death warrior sword cultivators who had previously revealed their flaws, Chen Ping’an also found a demon sword cultivator with Golden Core aura. This was because, when Ning Yao’s sword qi swept past unintentionally, this cultivator was slightly faster in dodging, with an imperceptible moment of hesitation. To avoid revealing his identity, he even deliberately took some damage, letting his shoulder be cut by the sword qi, losing a large chunk of flesh.
Ning Yao struck swiftly, sometimes appearing aimless. This was clearly intentional, to let Chen Ping’an see more details.
When Ning Yao, from being the group that had broken through the formation most swiftly and was closest to the golden river, had imperceptibly become the group of sword cultivators closest to the city wall.
Chen Sanqiu and the others didn’t care at all.
After all, no one on this line would compete with them.
And no one thought they would be slower to break through the formation than sword cultivators on other fronts.
Because there was Ning Yao, and now Chen Ping’an.
Everyone felt that was the most natural thing.
After temporarily moving away from that crisis-ridden unexpected situation, Fan Dache hesitated to speak.
Chen Sanqiu said softly, “It’s okay. Don’t feel embarrassed.”
Diezhang and the others also thought Fan Dache was planning to return to the city wall first.
But Fan Dache said, “I have the lowest realm and the worst skills. Let me be the bait. Better to be afraid of thieves than to be owed by them. Instead of everyone being distracted, it’s better to actively break this situation.”
Chen Ping’an was a little surprised.
Fan Dache looked at Chen Ping’an, “Guardian Sword Master, what do you say?”
Chen Ping’an thought for a moment, nodded, and smiled, “Alright.”
Chen Ping’an looked at the front of the battlefield. A very strange scene appeared: the demon army was clustered on a line, a hundred zhang away from this group of young sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall, and they simply refused to charge forward no matter what.
Chen Ping’an said, “I’ll cover the rear. You all just focus on striking.”
Then Chen Ping’an looked at Ning Yao. She also nodded and said, “Alright.”
Ning Yao returned the sword in her hand to the sheath in the sword box behind her, but the Sword Immortal sword was drawn and held in her hand. “I’ll open the formation.”
Diezhang and Dong Huafu exchanged a glance and also smiled, “Alright.”
Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo were even more filled with anticipation.
The reason was simple: if Fan Dache felt a certain way when fighting alongside them, then Chen Sanqiu and the others had felt that way for years when fighting alongside Ning Yao.
Because Ning Yao had always been accommodating and taking care of them, these “geniuses.” When she struck, she had been restrained for a long time.
Finally, Ning Yao added, “The formation will open very quickly. Don’t fall behind.”