Chapter 661: Surrounding and Killing One Person, and One Person Surrounding and Killing
Only hearing their voices, not seeing them.
Liu Bai had been paying close attention to the battlefield situation all around, speaking rapidly through heart-mind voice: "This is sudden. For now, there are no Sword Immortals coming to rescue. We still need to finish this quickly."
This female sword cultivator, who together with Sword Immortal Shou Chen came from the Zhoumi lineage, had served as the deputy commander under the chief officer Muji in the Jiashen Tent and had yet to draw her sword to this day.
The youth Ba Tan was the first to summon his natal flying sword. It flew close to the ground, tracing a lingering trail of sword-light fireflies around the edge of the deep pit.
"We must force him to show himself!"
Ba Tan had twin swords hanging at his waist. He pressed both hands on the sword hilts, concentrating as he gazed down at the bottom of the pit, which was filled with dust and dirt. Some dust could not hide the vision of a sword cultivator, but he had no idea what clever concealment technique the other party had used; he could not find the figure of the young Hidden Official. But Chen Ping'an had definitely not left this place. Ba Tan communicated with his friends via heart-mind voice: "Forget it. Since our eyes can't see, I'll go directly into the pit to investigate. Don't give him a chance to recover. Zhu Qie, pay attention to the earth's root veins underground. Liu Bai, be ready to strike with your sword to intercept Chen Ping'an."
Ba Tan leaped down, using his natal flying sword "Armored Cavalry" to clear the way. Around the edge of the entire pit, the sword light dispersed, revealing thousands of fully armored iron cavalry, densely packed in formation. Although each rider was only the size of a palm, looking somewhat comical, in truth each one was like a flying sword. For a moment, countless miniature iron cavalry charged down the slope from the top of the pit, like a tide pouring into a low-lying area.
The flying sword "Armored Cavalry" took the lead in breaking formation with a grand army advance, best suited for probing the subtle traps of that young Hidden Official.
If Ba Tan were a sword cultivator of the Sword Qi Great Wall, merely this natal divine ability of his flying sword, which was most suited for breaking formations on the battlefield, would earn him at least a B-grade rating from the Hidden Official lineage, on par with Yue Qing's "Hundred Zhang Spring" and "Skylark in the Sky," and Qi Shou's "Bouncing Pearl." If this natal flying sword possessed more mysteries, it might even rank alongside Wu Chengpei's "Sweet Rain."
Zhu Qie, as Liu Cha's senior disciple, would be the only direct descendant if Liu Cha hadn't taken on a batch of nominal disciples during this campaign.
But since the war began, Zhu Qie had never made a move, even more obscure than the female sword cultivator Liu Bai from the same tent. Apart from his widely known master-apprentice relationship, everything else about Zhu Qie—how many flying swords he had, his natal divine ability, his sword-training methods—was unknown. On his back, he carried a huge sword rack. At this moment, six of the long swords on it left one by one, circling the pit, then turning their tips downward, they plunged into the earth in an instant. Forming a formation deep underground, they prevented the already-injured young Hidden Official from escaping the encirclement. Even if he still had the strength to break the sword formation, he would leave traces, and then what awaited the young Hidden Official would certainly be the interception of sharp flying swords, and more than one at that.
Yu Si wore a black robe, his hair tied up with a length of pure white silk, a dashing and elegant noble son.
His mind stirred slightly. A few broken weapons on the ground nearby immediately flew off in different directions, eventually falling to the ground. As they passed, there was no ripple or vibration, meaning there were no formation traps. Logically, from when Chen Ping'an fought with Hou Kuimen, who acted as bait, to when Hou Kuimen was possessed by a Throne Great Demon "holding a fishing rod," who brought a momentum of martial fortune and did not hesitate to perish together with Chen Ping'an, Chen Ping'an had been caught in one accident after another. Even wearing a celestial soldier-grade magic robe like "Jinli," he would have to shed several layers of skin even if he didn't die.
Yet Yu Si still felt something was off.
Li Zhen had already crouched down, pinched a pinch of soil, and rubbed it gently. The dust scattered and flew, each speck clinging to a trace of sword intent. Li Zhen looked around and smiled: "Sure enough, there's something strange. It's a forbidden area like a minor heaven and earth. Last time we fought, he didn't reveal this ability. Good, very good. At least I can lose with conviction now."
It turned out that when the dust drifted to about ten zhang away, it ignited like a lamp wick and then turned to ashes.
Yu Si again commanded some broken weapons and wreckage on the ground, along with some dismembered remains of the demon clan, to fly off into the distance.
As expected, they hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground.
That young Hidden Official was both a sword cultivator and a pure martial artist, making him especially troublesome to kill. Even if he exhausted his pure true qi, he could switch to sword flying to kill. Once his spiritual qi needed replenishment, he would switch to martial artist punches. Martial artist true qi and sword cultivator spiritual qi alternated endlessly. Hence, in the second field sortie of sword cultivators, when the Jiashen Tent later tallied the war contributions on both sides, relying on having participated in the entire battle from start to finish, accumulating small gains, the young Hidden Official's military merits topped the list of sword cultivators who had gone out from the Sword Qi Great Wall. Of course, this was also related to the fact that Sword Immortals needed to guard the Golden River. The Sword Immortals stationed on the city wall either held their positions or provided cover for the young sword cultivators. Sword Immortals rarely had many chances to truly draw their swords.
In that battle, the young Hidden Official had been constantly hiding his identity and changing his aura, using an endless array of methods. It was very different from his first city sortie, where Ning Yao was guarding him and he could openly use his pure martial arts to break formations. In the second sortie, he was more like an assassin looking for openings, only using fists and swords to kill when absolutely necessary. So in the various military tents of the Barren Wild Heaven, this outsider of the Sword Qi Great Wall had earned a new saying: "South Shou Chen, North Hidden Official."
Finding Chen Ping'an on the battlefield was already hard; finding him and injuring him was even harder. Even if someone was willing to exchange injuries with Chen Ping'an, or even seek mutual destruction by death, his retreat and escape were exceptionally decisive. The key was that Chen Ping'an's ability to sustain combat was too astonishing. Compared to those Sword Immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall who drew their swords openly and had immense killing power reaching the heavens, this young Hidden Official was the most disgusting opponent on the battlefield.
"Damn, almost fell into his trap. Everyone, my apologies. That was my mistake."
Yu Si was furious inside. He reached out and pressed his hand on his sword, his sword intent condensing into substance. Wisps of white sword qi coiled around his arm and the sword hilt, cold and fierce. The entire scabbard was covered with a thin layer of frost. "But from this, it seems he's quite injured. Otherwise, with Li Zhen's move, our Hidden Official would have continued to hide and not reveal his hand so soon. As an apology for my mistake, I'll be the last to strike!"
Anyone not a member of the Jiashen Tent would find Yu Si's last remark utterly baffling.
Zhu Qie frowned and asked, "Li Zhen, where did this minor heaven and earth come from? Can you borrow a minor heaven and earth?"
Among them, in terms of familiarity with minor heavens and earths, Li Zhen was unquestionably the foremost.
Li Zhen had already started strolling, just like when he first fought Chen Ping'an one-on-one, leisurely and unhurried. Every few steps, he threw out a valuable mountain treasure. As a closed-door disciple of Supporting Moon Mountain, he lacked nothing in the way of treasures.
And Li Zhen's formation skills were extremely high.
Zhu Qie's underground sword formation was not trustworthy to Li Zhen; he had to personally set up another formation to feel at ease—one that could both prevent Chen Ping'an from breaking out and somewhat intercept Sword Immortals from coming to the rescue.
Li Zhen smiled and said, "Heaven knows how he got it. The urgent matter is to determine the mysteries of this minor heaven and earth. Is it to help Chen Ping'an elevate his realm? Or is it a lawless land deliberately targeting Qi refiners? Or maybe it's just a delaying tactic to buy time until a Sword Immortal can arrive and rendezvous with Chen Ping'an."
Yu Si had already been investigating this. Around him, severed limbs and broken remains hovered and flew, bumping against the invisible wall nearby. Yu Si glanced at the pit. The dust had already been dispersed by him, but the bottom was still shrouded in white mist. "Apart from the barrier isolating heaven and earth, the pit bottom is still unclear. There doesn't seem to be anything strange around us. Why don't we just strike with our swords and break this minor heaven and earth?"
Li Zhen shook his head. He crouched down, pressed the last treasure into the earth to suppress it, and at the same time replied via heart-mind voice: "It's not very meaningful. Chen Ping'an doesn't mind if we leave now. Don't forget our goal: to encircle and kill Chen Ping'an. I've already tested with flying sand, as you suspected. He is indeed heavily injured. Pretending to be mysterious with this minor heaven and earth is ultimately to buy himself time to catch his breath. Let's first see the result of Ba Tan's sword strike."
Yu Si was quite helpless.
With an encirclement in place, they still couldn't find the person, which was frustrating.
In the pit, the armored cavalry army bore small pennants on their spears, colorful and varied.
The colorful flags and tassels attached to the spears were the second of Ba Tan's natal flying sword's divine abilities.
The materials needed to refine a flying sword were numerous and precious, but the most fundamental item was the soil from the mountain roots of the various Five Sacred Mountains in the Barren Wild Heaven. It wasn't just for show for the "iron cavalry army" manifested by the flying sword.
Ba Tan's mind wavered for a moment. When he looked again, he found himself suspended above a sea of clouds. Several peaks rose above the clouds like islands.
The heavens and earth were vast.
Ba Tan immediately stopped flying and hovered in the air, looking down. On the earth, it seemed like a battlefield. Teams of iron cavalry charged, but they were like headless flies. The geographical layout was completely irregular. Many cavalry units that should have been far apart suddenly collided with each other in an instant.
As far as the eye could see, a large army of green flags was grinding against an army of red flags.
But Ba Tan did not withdraw his natal flying sword "Armored Cavalry." As long as the iron cavalry trampled on the ground, even in the illusory minor heaven and earth, all the armored cavalry with pennants on their spears remained unscathed. In fact, on the battlefield, the iron cavalry kept shattering and reforming, tirelessly charging again and again. Ba Tan soon discovered the mystery of that battlefield. It was as if the pages of a book, thin as paper, were being folded by an unseen hand in ways invisible to others. Thus, the marching routes of the iron cavalry were all under the opponent's control.
Ba Tan found that his heart-mind voice could no longer communicate with Zhu Qie and the others. Trapped in this predicament, the youth's sword heart remained clear. He drew his twin swords and disappeared in a flash.
After one sword disappeared, bolts of lightning interwove into a net in the sky, surging wildly, constantly unfolding breathtaking scenes.
One sword transformed into a rainbow and traveled far away, hurrying to the furthest distance, trying to map out the boundaries of this minor heaven and earth.
Ba Tan reached out and grabbed. His second sword, which should have been a thousand zhang away, instead stabbed straight toward his back. He caught it in his hand.
Ba Tan sneered, "Skulking around, relying on such flashy tricks? Do you think you can outlast me like this?"
On the summit of a mountain, a speck-sized figure suddenly swelled to the size of a mountain. That towering, majestic figure in a blue robe carried a sword case on his back.
His dharma body stood on the mountain peak.
It was as if a person stood on a pebble by the roadside.
Chen Ping'an smiled as he looked down at the sword-wielding youth. He raised one hand, and a jade bamboo folding fan gifted by a student appeared. He slapped down fiercely, and the surrounding sea of clouds was stirred by the majestic aura, rolling and boiling like water, with faint thunder.
Ba Tan stood motionless, letting the large fan slap down on him. In the end, it passed right through him.
Ba Tan sneered, "Your true body is indeed heavily injured. You can only rely on illusions to delay things."
Chen Ping'an raised his other hand. In his palm rested a dharma seal. He turned his hand over, and the great seal became as massive as a mountain, flying toward Ba Tan again.
Ba Tan swung his sword, cutting the "Mountain" seal in two. There was no ripple of qi, only sword light.
Another illusion manifested by mind intent.
Ba Tan shook his long sword and hooked his finger at the young Hidden Official, who was putting on a show.
The "Chen Ping'an" smiled slightly, then produced a golden talisman. Because the dharma body's talisman was too enormous in young Ba Tan's eyes, the talisman's core was like a golden lightning pool. Containing that lightning pool, the golden talisman floated menacingly toward the young sword cultivator.
At the same time, Chen Ping'an's dharma body gently raised its left hand. On the earth, a mountain range was directly uprooted from its roots. From below, it soared upward, cooperating with the golden talisman that was descending on Ba Tan, crashing toward the latter.
Ba Tan wiped his long sword with his finger, stopping at the tip. At the sword tip, a brilliant light blossomed, and finally, with the young sword cultivator as the center, a great circle of sword light emerged, colliding with the talisman and the mountain.
This time, the young Hidden Official's moves were indeed real!
With a stroke of enlightenment, Ba Tan suddenly leaned back. His fingers formed a hand seal. The magic robe he wore burst into dazzling seven-colored light, revealing countless heavenly musicians with flowing ribbons, extremely small and adorable, immediately protecting all of the youth's vital apertures.
Ba Tan fled far away on his sword. When he stopped, behind the youth, a golden dharma body appeared—a heavenly maiden of unparalleled beauty, slightly bending down, cupping her hands to hold the youth's form.
Between Ba Tan's neck, a long string of blood beads slowly seeped out.
The sword beneath the youth's feet trembled slowly, as if suppressed by the heavenly earth's great way.
The golden dharma body of the goddess protecting the youth also began to peel away inch by inch. The flawless, radiant golden body was corroding rapidly.
Ba Tan wielded his sword in one hand, gently wiping the blood from his neck with the other.
This was clearly a "lawless land" targeting all qi refiners in the world.
He had almost had his head cut off by that guy with a knife.
The youth finally experienced firsthand what it felt like to be an enemy of the young Hidden Official.
Real and illusory, true and false—all were trials of the heart, all were calculations.
On the city wall of the Sword Qi Great Wall, Wei Jin asked the senior Sword Immortal, "Do you really not need me to go and break the siege?"
Chen Qingdu laughed. "Break the siege? Whose siege? Chen Ping'an's, or yours, Wei Jin? Do you think the other side has no hidden cards? Just those five excellent sword immortal seedlings—who is responsible for guiding them away? If even one of them dies, the Jiazi Tent will grieve deeply."
Wei Jin said, "With Lu Zhi's help to hold the line, I can give it a try."
Chen Qingdu shook his head. "Just wait. Whoever strikes last gains the advantage."
Chen Qingdu gazed at the many demon tents to the south. Fourteen Throne Great Demons—even if Zhoumi made a move, it would be tolerable. But that Liu Cha, if he found a reason to strike, things would get a bit troublesome for the Sword Qi Great Wall.
For example, if a direct disciple on whom Liu Cha had placed great hopes died.
Then he, Chen Qingdu, would not find it convenient to draw his sword.
Who would stop him then? Dong San'geng was tied up at the Golden River. Lu Zhi? Far from enough. Even adding the deaf jailer who would also have a reason to strike would still not be enough.
——
At the foot of a mountain far away from Ba Tan, Chen Ping'an, who had gone there and back in an instant, now stood atop a relatively slender "mountain range."
Beneath Chen Ping'an's feet was the corpse of Hou Kuimen, which had reverted to its demon true form after death. As for the black armor, purple-gold crown, and two plumes—after the earlier collision, they were damaged but not shattered. Normally, they would have been picked up as scraps and pocketed by the Hidden Official. But this time, Chen Ping'an didn't take them all. He only put the plumes into the "Cunbu" item that Yan Ming had "temporarily lent" to him in exchange. Not only that, but the items previously stored in the "Cunbu" had also been emptied.
As for Hou Kuimen's armor and purple-gold crown, Chen Ping'an used the mountain-moving technique to place them far away from Hou Kuimen's corpse.
Chen Ping'an was now extremely injured, his face pale. Even his right arm was trembling uncontrollably—a very rare occurrence for him.
Hou Kuimen's move earlier had been too vicious. Chen Ping'an had essentially taken the full-force punch of a Tenth Realm martial artist. If he hadn't dodged slightly, Hou Kuimen's fist would have pierced straight through his heart.
If this had been on a martial arts arena, taking a full-force punch from a Tenth Realm peak martial artist without dying would be a great feeling. But now, though he seemed to be toying with the young sword cultivator, the truth was that Chen Ping'an was still trapped in a deadly encirclement, which made the feeling extremely bad.
That he had failed to hit the young sword cultivator with his previous strike also made Chen Ping'an very frustrated. If his body had been in peak condition, that genius sword cultivator's head would now be resting in his spatial item.
But the longer this youth remained here, unable to break this minor heaven and earth, the more Chen Ping'an could recover.
Chen Ping'an gazed at the youth being held in the goddess's hands, not looking away for a long time.
Ba Tan did not look at that conspicuous dharma body on the mountain peak, which seemed to be resting with its eyes closed.
The youth stared intently at a distant place with a lingering trace of aura. Though he couldn't clearly see the scene at the foot of the mountain, he was sure that the young Hidden Official's true body was hidden there.
The towering dharma body on the mountain peak opened its eyes, formed a sword hand seal with its fingers, and behind it, huge flying swords shot out from the sword case, speeding toward Ba Tan.
The dharma body of the musicians, which had been protecting the youth with both hands, spun around, turning its back to those flying swords as large as celestial boats.
Ba Tan gritted his teeth and spat out fresh blood.
That sword intertwined with lightning suddenly stopped in midair. Between the tip and the pommel, a thread of sword light blossomed, shooting straight up toward the sky and down toward the earth.
Chen Ping'an used his ability to arbitrarily fold the mountains, rivers, and heavens and earth to try to alter the paths of those two sword lights. Once he could slightly change their course so they were no longer perfectly straight lines, he could prevent the young sword cultivator from using them to gauge the boundary of the world.
Unexpectedly, the youth directly detonated that sword. The sword light suddenly expanded, propping up a pillar between heaven and earth.
That sword was actually Ba Tan's second natal flying sword.
At the same time, the natal flying sword "Armored Cavalry" condensed from the iron cavalry army back into a single sword and returned to one of Ba Tan's apertures.
The heavenly maiden dharma body pressed its hands together to protect its master, Ba Tan, who had not hesitated to destroy a flying sword. Then it shot off like lightning along that sword light, clearly intending to use that opened path as an escape route.
The dharma body on the mountain peak raised one hand, its palm pointing at the hole in the sky torn open by Ba Tan's sword light. With the other hand pressed on the mountain peak, it tried to mend the hole in the earth torn open by the youth far below.
Chen Ping'an's dharma body's palms, though not truly touching the sword light, were being constantly eroded.
Chen Ping'an had layered the minor heaven and earth into three levels. From the inside out: the innermost sheltered his true body; the second layer opened the door's barrier and manifested a half-baked dharma body specifically targeting the first sword cultivator to fall into the trap; the outermost, thinnest layer served as an illusion to deceive the other four genius sword cultivators.
What he sought was to rest and recover as much as possible while picking them off one by one—to wound if possible, to kill if possible. In the end, killing even one would be a profit.
But just killing this youth alone seemed difficult. He might have to withdraw the outermost third layer and reinforce the second layer to have a chance at killing the youth.
Chen Ping'an still didn't want to bring out the full divine abilities of his two natal flying swords too early.
But depending on how things changed, the youth's choice was surprising. Chen Ping'an could only choose the lesser of two evils and kill one first.
Just as Ba Tan, at the cost of destroying one of his natal flying swords, was about to forcefully leave this place—
A sword light had already broken through the sky of the second-layer minor heaven and earth.
Chen Ping'an gripped his short knives, ready to intercept and kill the youth, but suddenly his mind stirred and he stopped.
At that moment, the "Cunbu" item in Chen Ping'an's sleeve suddenly vibrated with a bang, without any warning.
Not only that, but the armor and purple-gold crown that Chen Ping'an had thrown far away also exploded simultaneously.
An external sword light, like a crescent moon hanging in the sky, sliced through the barrier of the two layers of heaven and earth, precisely striking the place where the broken treasures lay.
But Chen Ping'an looked elsewhere. At the spot where the purple-gold crown had self-destructed, there was an extremely tiny trace of a flying sword. No noticeable sword light, no sword qi, no ripples or fluctuations.
If it weren't located within his own minor heaven and earth, Chen Ping'an would never have detected it.
When Chen Ping'an tried to track the trajectory of that flying sword, he found no trace at all.
As the ruler of this minor heaven and earth, he could, like a sage, observe all mountains and rivers at will. This made Chen Ping'an extremely wary of that unknown flying sword, much more so than of the sword that had broken the barrier. The former was like an even more exaggerated version of Qi Shou's flying sword "Heartstrings." If that flying sword targeted him on the battlefield, it would be extremely troublesome. It was not Yu Si, not Li Zhen, not the already-struck Zhu Qie. Then it must be the female sword cultivator the youth called Liu Bai.
No wonder the youth had warned Liu Bai to intercept him. Liu Bai's natal flying sword was similar in style to the female sword immortal from Beiju Continent, Xie Songhua, who had once fought alongside him.
She was skilled in nurturing sword intent, striking extremely fast, with immense killing power, aiming for a one-hit kill, determining life and death in an instant.
Chen Ping'an abandoned the idea of killing the youth. Since the situation had changed, the youth was heavily wounded and staying on the battlefield would still be useful.
The youth could be killed or not killed; the female sword cultivator was a must-kill.
Li Zhen instantly arrived beside Liu Bai. Following the trace of sword intent left by Zhu Qie's sword that had broken the barrier of the minor heaven and earth, Li Zhen made a quick calculation and immediately revealed the truth: "Our previous heart-mind voice conversations were very likely heard by Chen Ping'an. This minor heaven and earth—he didn't borrow it from anyone; it's his own minor heaven and earth."
Liu Bai suddenly warned, "It's Yu Si up above!"
After Liu Bai spoke, Zhu Qie, who was protecting the youth Ba Tan, and Li Zhen, who was protecting Liu Bai, were originally far apart, both hovering above the sea of clouds. But now, inexplicably, they both stood a few zhang apart at the bottom of the pit.
During this time, the four most outstanding young sword cultivators of the Barren Wild Heaven felt a gentle breeze on their faces—traces of the three layers of the minor heaven and earth shifting.
In an instant, they returned to their original positions. The two groups of four sword cultivators were once again separated by a vast sea of clouds.
Zhu Qie said, "Li Zhen, stop holding back. Outside this formation, create an even larger minor heaven and earth, then keep shrinking it."
Li Zhen nodded. He offered seven natal items that he had just recently refined. They suddenly rose into the air, eventually hanging like stars in the sky, connecting with each other in a line, then interacting with the array Li Zhen had set up on the ground earlier. What had been daylight was now heavy with nightfall. The next moment, heaven and earth returned to clarity.
Li Zhen's figure gradually dissipated, and his soul splintered into seven directions. He warned Zhu Qie and the others: "At most within the time it takes to burn an incense stick, I can force Chen Ping'an's minor heaven and earth to reveal its true form. But during this time, I won't be able to strike with my sword."
The two minor heavens and earths engaged in a conflict of great ways. The heavens and earth shook, and the scenes in the sword cultivators' vision twisted and wavered, like a scroll spread out on a desk but violently shaken by someone holding one end.
Zhu Qie's long swords from the sword rack on his back continuously flew off into the distance, leaving trails of rainbow light. All the clouds and mountains within the minor heaven and earth were destroyed by the long swords. Outside the sword light, sword qi bloomed.
Some flying swords passed over mountains, rivers, and "ruins" that tried to regenerate illusions, but were torn apart again by residual sword qi.
Zhu Qie seemed intent on filling every corner of the minor heaven and earth with infinite sword intent. Even if Chen Ping'an were the sage of this place, he would only have a tiny foothold to stand on, no longer able to freely shift his position.
The sword rack on his back was now empty.
Zhu Qie held a long sword, landed on the ground, and pressed the tip against the earth. The sword blade slowly sank into the ground. Ripples spread out in circles, rapidly dispersing in all directions.
Within the ripples on the ground, droplets of pure sword intent rose up, following the spreading ripples and continuously forming, like a curtain of rain suspended above the ground.
It was clear that Zhu Qie was unwilling to wait for Li Zhen.
The youth Ba Tan sat cross-legged, and Liu Bai had taken Li Zhen's place, standing beside Ba Tan to protect the formation.
Yu Si, who had promised to be the last to strike.
A bloody, disheveled figure, holding a long sword, suddenly slid backward out of the cloud sea, as if someone had kicked him in the abdomen. He then forcibly broke through the barrier of heaven and earth, finally crashing not far from Liu Bai.
Liu Bai directly offered her natal flying sword, the one renowned for its power, and it pierced straight through that "Yu Si" from behind.
Ba Tan also activated the divine maiden dharma body of no ordinary origin, placing it behind himself and Liu Bai, with one hand protecting each person.
This ancient musician dharma body was unusual. It seemed as lively as a living person. Earlier, when it had endured the flying swords from the summit of the blue-robed guest with its back, it had shown some subtle changes in expression.
Now, it looked down at its master with a very kind expression.
That "Yu Si" came and went in a hurry.
Zhu Qie's long sword flashed at the place where the door had been opened earlier, and then vanished.
In the innermost layer of the minor heaven and earth, Chen Ping'an covered his side, which had been pierced by a flying sword, and smiled bitterly.
What a Liu Bai.
If only she had shown a little mercy, even if she were cautious and ruthless. According to Chen Ping'an's expectations, lightly injuring "Yu Si" to determine truth would have been enough. Then a distance of over ten zhang would have been sufficient for Chen Ping'an, who had endured a sword strike, to get close. Once in close quarters, killing her or the youth would have been a great opportunity.
But Liu Bai's natal flying sword had directly targeted a fundamental qi mansion common to all sword cultivators. Chen Ping'an had to slightly adjust his position, paying the price of a light injury to retreat decisively.
He had tried to steal a chicken but only lost the bait.
As for the following long sword from Zhu Qie, Chen Ping'an dodged it easily, quickly "escorting it out."
Inside Chen Ping'an's minor heaven and earth, Yu Si was in an even worse state than Ba Tan had been.
Because Chen Ping'an, whose body was gradually recovering, no longer engaged in any flashy moves. Within the minor heaven and earth, flying swords were everywhere.
In the Jiashen Tent, the secret records on sword cultivator Yu Si were more detailed than those on Zhu Qie and Liu Bai.
His natal flying sword was "Waterfall."
After Yu Si offered his flying sword, it was like wearing a thick padded coat in freezing weather.
So even though he was besieged by crisscrossing, freely flying swords, he could still hold on.
If Liu Bai and Yu Si had switched positions, Liu Bai would likely already be dead.
The divine abilities of Chen Ping'an's two natal flying swords perfectly suppressed and countered Liu Bai's peculiar flying sword.
But unfortunately, there were no such "good ifs." Today's battle was full of bad surprises and rare occurrences.
Martial artist Hou Kuimen, also tampered with three treasures; the decisive action of the young sword cultivator; the ruthlessness of female Liu Bai toward a comrade-in-arms...
As for the ability to fold mountains and rivers like paper within his own minor heaven and earth, it derived from an inspiration Chen Ping'an had a long time ago in the Sui capital, when he witnessed Mao Fuzi trapped in a formation anomaly.
Unfortunately, Chen Ping'an hadn't yet mastered it completely. Otherwise, Li Zhen and Zhu Qie's forceful breaking of the formation would not have been accomplished within an incense stick's time. Because the flying sword "Caged Sparrow" was not like a dead landscape formation, nor like a sage stationed in an academy, temple, or battlefield ruin. In the latter cases, the territory being guarded was mostly fixed. But Chen Ping'an's "Caged Sparrow" made any place he walked into a heaven and earth. Additionally, because Chen Ping'an was the Hidden Official, he could not truly devote himself to cultivating the Dao or refining his swords. Otherwise, this layering of heavens within heavens would be much more smooth and seamless, without any leaks.
Things in the world have always been like this: one cannot take all the advantages.
If he had not become the Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Ping'an would not have been able to refine these two natal flying swords that "aligned with the Great Way" of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Yu Si could barely stay alive, but he was not faring well.
The young Hidden Official not only used flying swords to kill enemies, but also in this lawless land where the opponent's flying sword was suppressed while his own flew more smoothly, he fought as a pure martial artist, wielding twin knives, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.
A large piece of flesh was cut from Yu Si's cheek by Chen Ping'an's knife, and his body was covered in wounds.
Fortunately, the sword qi did not linger in his vital qi mansions, nor did fist force surge into his apertures. As a sword cultivator's body, he had no fatal wounds.
But he was a world apart from the elegant and refined figure he had cut when he first appeared.
Suddenly, a sword broke through the sky.
The long sword was sent out of the heaven and earth. Zhu Qie had found this place through the lingering traces of sword qi.
Chen Ping'an's figure vanished. He had been deliberately waiting for this sword, intentionally leaving behind that bit of sword qi.
Liu Bai's natal flying sword was hard to track, but Zhu Qie's sword qi, in Chen Ping'an's eyes, was like fireflies shining in the dark night right next to him.
Chen Ping'an couldn't move Yu Si, who was protected by the "Waterfall" flying sword's sword qi, so he inverted the heavens and earth, positioning Yu Si, who was busy fending off over a hundred flying swords of "Moon in the Well," directly in the path of that splitting sword light.
Zhu Qie communicated via heart-mind voice: "Yu Si!"
Zhu Qie said nothing more, so as not to leak any secrets.
It all depended on their tacit understanding.
Yu Si did not disappoint Zhu Qie. He reached out and grabbed the sword light.
The sword light bent like a rope. Zhu Qie, controlling his mind and sword intent, yanked hard, intending to drag Yu Si, who was gripping the sword light, out of this minor heaven and earth that was like a great cage.
To prevent Chen Ping'an from taking advantage, lest rescuing one fail and instead give Chen Ping'an a chance to attack the retreating Yu Si, Liu Bai did not need Zhu Qie's verbal reminder. She offered that natal flying sword that seemed not to exist in this world.
When Zhu Qie struck, he stood on the shoulder of the goddess dharma body.
Chen Ping'an sighed softly and let Zhu Qie rescue Yu Si. He went to kill the youth—neither should interfere with the other.
You save your people, I kill your people—business should be fair.
Since Zhu Qie had anticipated this, Chen Ping'an had to settle for the next best option.
The flying swords Chuyi and Shiwu, which had accompanied Chen Ping'an across countless mountains and rivers, finally appeared together.
Then, behind the goddess, a much larger and more majestic blue-robed dharma body suddenly emerged. Its hands intertwined to form a fist, smashing down on her head.
Zhu Qie, holding his sword, swept it through the air.
A crescent-moon sword light appeared out of nowhere, directly cutting off the hands of Chen Ping'an's dharma body.
Since none of the weaker sword cultivators in the encirclement could be killed, he would throw another surprise and kill the strongest.
Chen Ping'an forcibly changed the thickness of the heaven and earth layers, placing himself within the folded mountains and rivers. Faster than a pine needle coughing lightning or a ground-shrinking talisman, he instantly appeared behind Zhu Qie.
Zhu Qie took a punch to the back, fell off the goddess dharma body's shoulder, and crashed into the distant earth.
Chen Ping'an, however, was stabbed in the abdomen by Zhu Qie's backward sword strike. Zhu Qie could have dodged but didn't, clearly intending to exchange injuries.
Chuyi and Shiwu had already collided with Liu Bai's natal flying sword no fewer than a hundred times.
And that was not all. Two rivers of talismans, gleaming with golden light, surged majestically toward Yu Si.
Even though Zhu Qie was knocked flying, he still guided that sword light, making a large arc in the air to pull Yu Si toward himself as much as possible.
Liu Bai grabbed Ba Tan's shoulder and continued to control her natal flying sword to block Chuyi and Shiwu. She herself, with Ba Tan, flew on her sword to the distance, never giving Chen Ping'an a chance to engage in close combat.
Sure enough, the young Hidden Official followed Yu Si.
But Yu Si roared, "Liu Bai!"
The female sword cultivator's mind went blank. By instinct, she threw away the youth Ba Tan's hand and was about to self-destruct her golden core, then steer her natal flying sword to stab her own heart, hoping to kill herself first and then kill the young Hidden Official.
But the other party's five fingers grabbed her neck, yanked her back, and then Chen Ping'an twisted hard, directly ripping off Liu Bai's entire neck.
A punch heavily struck Liu Bai's spine. The fist force vibrated, penetrating her body, disrupting her qi, and even affecting her mind. This forced her natal flying sword, after flying along its original trajectory, to falter for a moment.
Chen Ping'an was about to land another punch to shatter Liu Bai's entire back, not only crushing her spine and golden core but also severing her Bridge of Long Life.
Unexpectedly, Chen Ping'an's forehead felt as if it was struck by a heavy hammer. His figure was forced to disappear.
Although Liu Bai's physical body was destroyed, she barely managed to preserve half of her Great Dao foundation. But to attempt to ascend to the upper five realms, especially the Immortal realm, would be hopeless from now on, as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Chen Ping'an quickly glanced near the woman's head.
It was the youth who had quietly placed a talisman on the woman.
To activate that life-saving talisman, the youth had aggravated his own injuries, coughing up blood. His face was covered in blood, his vision blurred. Still, the youth struggled to wave his hand, using the broken talisman to wrap up the woman's golden core and soul, tucking it into his sleeve. After doing this, Ba Tan almost lost consciousness. Maintaining the last trace of clarity in his mind, he reached out again, determined to retrieve Liu Bai's earthly shell, no matter what.
But then, pillars of light—which could be called sword light or starlight—descended from the sky, enveloping Zhu Qie, Yu Si, Ba Tan, and even Liu Bai's lifeless body all together.
Chen Ping'an managed to dodge Liu Bai's sword light, but in his own minor heaven and earth, there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. A second pillar of light struck him.
As for Liu Bai's body and shell, they were washed away by the pillar of light.
Chen Ping'an was knocked to the ground by the impact. In midair, he staggered, rolled, and dodged another shadowing pillar of light. Then he folded the mountains and rivers, instantly retreating hundreds of zhang.
Li Zhen's figure hovered in the sky. He seemed like an ancient god traversing the river of time, holding up the Big Dipper that should have hung in the night sky.
The stars slowly shifted. Within the minor heaven and earth, the four seasons began to flow: spring thunder shook, summer scorched, autumn winds killed, and heavy snow fell. The Great Way operated like a millstone, grinding everything to dust.
During this time, the countless sword qi that Zhu Qie had earlier deployed became even more fierce. Between heaven and earth, the droplets of sword intent condensed into a river of sword qi, constantly expanding its territory, surging and flooding the sky.
Chen Ping'an either had to retract the divine ability of his flying sword "Caged Sparrow" or fall into a grueling battle of pure consumption of spirit and will against Li Zhen.
Chen Ping'an's figure appeared and disappeared in the minor heaven and earth time and again.
He slid sideways for over ten zhang and suddenly came to a stop.
The "Caged Sparrow," which had manifested as the minor heaven and earth, condensed into a single sword and disappeared into one of his natal apertures.
The minor heaven and earth dissipated.
Chen Ping'an stood on the slope of the deep pit. Li Zhen hovered above the pit, only about ten zhang away. Zhu Qie, carrying his sword rack, was exactly in the center of the pit bottom. Yu Si supported Ba Tan, standing on the edge of the pit top.
The sword formation Zhu Qie had buried underground was about to activate.
Then heaven and earth changed again.
This time, the minor heaven and earth was far more cramped compared to the vast one before.
Only about a dozen li in radius.
Grotesque scenes of graves everywhere, but around the graves, weeping willows swayed.
So this was the true state of mind of that young Hidden Official?
Zhu Qie, who had always been as calm as still water, showed anger for the first time.
Yu Si used his flying sword "Waterfall" to protect himself and Ba Tan, grinding his teeth in deep hatred.
Was this Chen Ping'an so hard to kill?!
Li Zhen casually raised one hand, touching the sky, and chuckled: "The most precious-life-loving Hidden Official, are you really not going to run this time?"
The best Chen Ping'an could kill from now on was at most half of Ba Tan's remaining life, plus one Yu Si.
As for Li Zhen himself and Zhu Qie, in this chaotic and messy siege, they lacked nothing in flying sword killing power; what they lacked was the chance to strike with full force.
Chen Ping'an was besieged, his figure swaying. Clearly, having activated "Caged Sparrow" twice and fought five enemies alone, whether it was his martial body, which had been repeatedly worsened, or his spiritual qi, which sustained his two natal flying swords nearly to exhaustion, or even his mental and spiritual energy—everything was at its last gasp.
Li Zhen shook his head, his eyes pitying. "Draining the pond to catch fish—a path to death."
Chen Ping'an punched his palm heavily and smiled. "I'll see you all off on your way. Rest assured on your journey."
From all directions, from every barrier boundary of this round heaven and square earth minor heaven and earth, countless flying swords "Moon in the Well" appeared, slowly advancing toward the four sword cultivators.
Another natal flying sword that defied all reason!
Li Zhen's heart shuddered.
Was this madman really trying to trade lives?
Zhu Qie frowned deeply. Was this young Hidden Official unwilling to be killed by a flying sword even in death, choosing to take more people with him?
A moment later.
Chen Ping'an fell backward.
Both flying swords, "Caged Sparrow" and "Moon in the Well," instantly returned to his apertures.
After learning the truth, Li Zhen couldn't help but curse.
It turned out that the place where Chen Ping'an fell backward was right at the base of the Sword Qi Great Wall's city wall.
This meant that all of them—Li Zhen, Zhu Qie, Yu Si, and Ba Tan—had been fooled by this damned young Hidden Official.
Using his two natal flying swords to fight them to the death was a fake; folding mountains and rivers and switching battlefields was real.
But what followed was a series of events that became huge surprises for both the Barren Wild Heaven and the Sword Qi Great Wall.
First, a Throne Great Demon hidden on the battlefield revealed itself. With a sweep of its sleeve, it swept Zhu Qie, who had already struck, and the others, who were trying to retreat, into its own sleeve universe. At the same time, it flicked a finger.
Wei Jin, the Sword Immortal of the Snow Temple, struck, splitting the demon's spell aimed at Chen Ping'an.
Lu Zhi was about to leave the city wall.
A burly man with a bushy beard, carrying a sword and a saber, used his fists to beat back two Sword Immortals from the Golden River, arriving on the battlefield near the Sword Qi Great Wall. He pressed his hand on the saber handle, looked up at the female great sword immortal Lu Zhi.
As long as Lu Zhi did not draw her sword, he would not unsheathe his saber.
This was not even the "biggest" surprise.
Chen Qingdu looked up and smiled.
The gray-robed old man from the Jiazi Tent stepped out of the tent, seemingly wanting to witness a certain scene with his own eyes.
In the common sky of the Barren Wild Heaven and the Sword Qi Great Wall.
A massive rainbow light, as large as a mountain, smashed through the grand prohibitions of the entire heaven and earth, landing directly on the battlefield. It did not approach the Sword Qi Great Wall but instead chose the hinterland of the demon army north of the Golden River.
On the vast battlefield spanning hundreds of li, the earth cracked open instantly, lifting countless demon soldiers into the air, causing massive casualties.
A man who had come from beyond the heavens bent his knees slightly, standing on the battlefield. He raised both hands, pressed them against his forehead, and slowly smoothed his hair back.
The man straightened his waist, looked around at the surrounding demons, and laughed loudly: "You are all surrounded by me."