Chapter 677: Give It a Try
That Outer Celestial Demon, who seemed to spend all his days idling about, after receiving Chen Qingdu's approval and permission, finally had all his suppression prohibitions lifted. Granted a brief period of freedom, he was able to unleash the true divine abilities of the Ascension Realm. All things in heaven and earth flowed according to his will, almost comparable to "truth" itself.
Old Deafie also received orders from the Oldest Sword Immortal to open the gate of the small world within the prison ruins, accepting martial fortune tributes from both the Sword Qi Great Wall and the Barbaric Wild Continent. In an instant, martial fortune surged like a herd of dragons, pouring into the ancient battlefield ruins in a majestic torrent.
By the stream, the Executioner Sword Immortal walked out of the thatched hut, went to the stone table, and pressed down on that immortal book infested with bookworms.
The woman beating clothes and the little maid washing silk continued their labors as before.
Du Shanyin stood under the grape trellis, peering through the gaps in the lush green foliage at the scene, his expression complex.
As the Executioner pressed down on the book, the atmosphere of the small world near the stream settled into tranquility and serenity.
Old Deafie stood at the entrance to the prison, stroking his beard and smiling: "Heaven and earth overturned, stirring emotions of generosity and sorrow."
The young Youyu, brought along to witness the spectacle, felt his spirit shaken and gained even more reverence for the young Hidden Officer.
Nian Xin silently appeared, asking softly: "That Outer Celestial Demon actually possesses such divine abilities?"
Old Deafie chuckled: "You don't really think of him as just a little clown, do you? His Ascension Realm cultivation is only here because the Dao here suppresses him too much, making it seem a bit flashy. He's also wary of the Oldest Sword Immortal. Otherwise, with just your level of cultivation and Dao heart, you would have long become his puppet plaything. Even your sewing arts, though deeply involving souls, are still inferior to the Outer Celestial Demon's abilities in the deepest recesses of the human heart."
Nian Xin asked: "He has always wanted to leave this place through Chen Ping'an."
Old Deafie shook his head: "Chen Ping'an will never allow him to leave this forbidden ground. As long as the Oldest Sword Immortal's suppression is gone, Chen Ping'an will become his best vessel. It would be like being possessed by a magpie immortal—body and soul replaced by a new master. Then he would just flee to the Barbaric Wild Continent, far and wide, free and unfettered. Both sides know this clearly. The Outer Celestial Demon is peeling away layers, constantly familiarizing himself with Chen Ping'an's mind, while Chen Ping'an adheres to his original heart, using this to temper his Dao heart in return. On the surface, they seem to get along well, chatting and laughing, but in truth, this life-and-death struggle is not much less than the Dao struggles of Qi refiners. You might not know this, but the vows made by these Outer Celestial Demons are the most frivolous, utterly without binding force."
Old Deafie's expression was intriguing: "With Chen Ping'an's state of mind and physique as a foundation, who knows, the Barbaric Wild Continent might soon have a new throne-rank great demon. The Tuoyue Mountain Ancestor would certainly welcome this. Two successive Hidden Officers of the Sword Qi Great Wall defecting to the Barbaric Wild Continent—that would be the trend of the times. Even in front of the Oldest Sword Immortal, I'll say something rebellious: I am quite looking forward to it. A 'Chen Ping'an' heading toward another extreme—still Chen Ping'an, yet not entirely Chen Ping'an—attaining the purest freedom. From then on, cultivating only for supreme longevity. Nian Xin, what do you think?"
Nian Xin said: "I don't care either way."
Nian Xin added: "If that day really comes, I might choose to attach myself to that new Chen Ping'an and go together to the Barbaric Wild Continent to take root. I might even have a chance to break through my realm."
Old Deafie gently twisted his beard between two fingers, chuckling: "The new Chen Ping'an, the seamstress Nian Xin, and myself, an Ascension Realm cultivator—if the three of us joined forces in the Barbaric Wild Continent, establishing a sect and founding a school, we would certainly have an impressive aura and great prospects."
Old Deafie then mocked himself: "Such a magnificent thing can only be dreamed about."
Young Youyu was terrified by what he heard.
He couldn't imagine what kind of horrifying scene would occur if that young Hidden Officer defected to the demon race, both for the Sword Qi Great Wall and that strange Righteous Continent.
Deep down, Youyu even felt that Chen Ping'an switching sides to the Barbaric Wild Continent would have even more serious consequences than the previous Hidden Officer Xiao Xun's betrayal of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Nian Xin asked curiously: "Aren't you afraid the Oldest Sword Immortal will hold you accountable for speaking your mind so openly?"
Old Deafie laughed heartily: "I am originally of the demon race. When have I ever hidden my great demon ferocity? When Chen Ping'an asked me what I would do without taboos, didn't I directly say 'all who see me die'?"
Nian Xin looked at the magnificent scene across the sky and said: "This is not the kind of commotion that should accompany a Golden Body Realm martial artist breaking through. Even if Chen Ping'an has obtained the title of 'strongest,' it still doesn't conform to reason."
Old Deafie shook his head: "That's because you've never seen Cao Ci. He is the same age as Chen Ping'an. When Cao Ci returned to Daoxuan Mountain and crossed the gate, he happened to break through, causing tremendous disturbances in both great worlds. But in the end, Cao Ci didn't accept a single share of martial fortune, causing six sword immortals from the Sword Qi Great Wall to draw their swords to repel the martial fortune, plus two Celestial Lords from Daoxuan Mountain personally intervening."
Old Deafie glanced at the sky: "But in terms of martial arts, Chen Ping'an is getting closer and closer to Cao Ci. The rest of the world's martial artists will probably only drift further and further from Cao Ci."
This was an extremely high evaluation from a senior of the Ascension Realm to a junior.
When Chen Ping'an first mounted the city wall and encountered Cao Ci, two young martial artists of similar age, the world only knew of Cao Ci at that time.
Youyu said cautiously: "Senior Deafie, if he is getting closer to Cao Ci, doesn't that prove that the Hidden Officer is advancing faster than Cao Ci?"
Old Deafie nodded: "Who says otherwise."
The white-robed Yin spirit had already returned from its distant wanderings. Chen Ping'an, now with form and spirit reunited, crashed heavily to the ground. His knees bent, he lowered his head and gasped for breath.
At that moment, the blue-robed traveler, head bowed and silent, felt that the vast heavens and earth were all accessible. No matter if you were a great sword immortal or an Ascension Realm great demon, as long as you stood before him as an enemy, he had both fists and a sword, more than enough for battle.
The white-haired child landed on the ground, seeking credit: "I really gave it my all to stir up such a big scene. Grandfather Hidden Officer, you must remember this favor!"
This Outer Celestial Demon saw that the young man maintained his original posture, only slightly lifting his eyelids.
It stopped smiling and met Chen Ping'an's gaze.
Chen Ping'an slowly straightened his back, his movements somewhat sluggish, and smiled: "There is nothing in the world that cannot be discussed."
It curled its lips, hugging the back of its head with both hands: "So that means no deal?"
Chen Ping'an tilted his shoulder, stomped one foot heavily on the ground, and only then stabilized his stance.
His back trembled slightly, and blood oozed from his arms and eyelids.
The Outer Celestial Demon naturally knew this was due to an unstable realm, compounded by the sewing techniques affecting the Dao suppression. At this moment, the young Hidden Officer was in a state of internal conflict, literally a "battle between heaven and man."
Those of higher realms are closer to the heavens. Standing tall and seeing far, their perception of the orderly operation of the heavenly Dao is deeper, and the burden they bear is heavier.
For Qi refiners, the key to entering the Jade Purity Realm lies in "union with the Dao." For an Immortal Realm cultivator to break through into the Ascension Realm, the fundamental path lies in "recognizing truth"—knowing the character "true."
Chen Ping'an staggered as he walked slowly toward the prison entrance.
The Outer Celestial Demon's temperament was fickle. Now, cheeky and grinning, it followed alongside, saying it had already protected the Hidden Officer Grandfather on one journey after another, forging two bonds of incense-fire friendship—what great fortune.
Chen Ping'an focused on two things at once: feeling the many mysteries of the Far Wandering Realm physique, while also concentrating his spirit into a mustard seed, patrolling the small world of his own body.
Having endured the pain of Nian Xin's repeated sewing sessions, and then cross-referencing and verifying them with the fist principles Li Er had taught him, Chen Ping'an dared to claim that his understanding of the "mountain and river geography" of the human body—whether from a pure martial artist's perspective or a Qi refiner's view of "cave heavens and blessed lands"—had already far surpassed ordinary people.
As for the five-element type lifebound objects, he had already assembled four, with only one final barrier remaining.
He lacked the last fire-type object.
That stream the Outer Celestial Demon had mentioned, which it called "water within fire," Chen Ping'an coveted it but was not tempted. Coveting because the stream's value was immeasurable—any wandering merchant in the world would take a second look. Not tempted because he was unwilling to take what others valued. Of course, that was a nicer way of putting it. To put it bluntly, he lacked confidence in dealing with the Executioner. Chen Ping'an always felt that that senior sword immortal of extremely old seniority and extremely high realm seemed to harbor a natural prejudice against him. That seemingly casual visit had only confirmed his intuition.
At the Ning residence, there were fire-type objects suitable for great refining. Although those treasures in the Ning family's collection weren't of the highest rank, they were more than enough to piece together the five elements for a lifebound object.
For a Qi refiner in the lower five realms, even if they were not a wilderness cultivator who refined whatever they could find from day to day, but even a core disciple of a first-rate sect, it would be difficult to have the kind of lifebound object configuration Chen Ping'an currently possessed.
What's more, Chen Ping'an had been tirelessly adding to his assets to supplement his five-element lifebound objects: for example, the green brick from the mountain-top Daoist temple, the Five Thunder Dharma Seal obtained from Li Zhen, the imitation White Jade Capital pagoda, and the sword immortal banner. After refining the Five Thunder Dharma Seal, he had hung it on the door of his wooden residence, using it like an exorcism mirror in a marketplace. The pagoda and banner were placed at the mountain shrine.
Even Chu Yi, whose original name was "Little Fengdu," the flying sword Fifteen, plus two imitation sword immortal swords from Hate Sword Mountain, were often taken by that little bald head to play with, all stored together in a scabbard.
The four flying swords, connected end to end, were like the most bizarre "single long sword" in the world.
Only the earliest forged Water Mansion had never received any enhancement from Chen Ping'an.
Back then, he had used the Water Seal as his first lifebound object above the clouds of Old Dragon City, refining it under the guardianship of the one who later became the Southern Marchmount Lord, Fan Junmao. He successfully built a Water Mansion, with a green-clad boy helping to manage the water fortune and spiritual energy. The murals on the walls, a "Water Gods Offering Homage" painting, had many finishing touches. The water gods on the walls were lifelike, their robes flowing in the wind like living spirits. But after several great battles, Chen Ping'an's realm had fluctuated, falling repeatedly, causing the Water Mansion to dry up several times, the paintings to peel, and the pond to run dry—a major taboo in cultivation.
Beneath the Water Seal, there was a small pond where a water fortune dragon coiled. The water from the Water Seal cascaded like a waterfall, so the pond resembled a dragon's pool, fitting the saying, "Water need not be deep; where there is a dragon, it is numinous."
The white-haired child glanced over, seeing through Chen Ping'an's thoughts at a glance, and said casually: "Raising dragons in a dragon pool has always been the preferred method since ancient times. The sages annotated this character: 'qiu' means qi gathering, 'di' means qi stopping—both meanings of stagnation without dispersion. Grandfather Hidden Officer, the biggest problem with the dragon pool in your Water Mansion is that its area is too small. Why have you never deliberately expanded its territory? It's not like you can't. Why imprison yourself within boundaries? If it were me, I'd have that obedient grandson seize all the water fortune beads and throw them all into the pond, wearing out those little people in the Water Mansion."
Speaking thus, the Outer Celestial Demon put on a mournful expression, pitifully saying: "Qiu qiu, the state of sorrow and sadness. I am greatly sorrowful and sad for Grandfather Hidden Officer!"
Chen Ping'an's steps remained heavy, his whole body listing from side to side. He said: "I am relatively close to water. I worry least about the Water Mansion."
The Outer Celestial Demon shook its head: "For Dao cultivators, nothing is more important than the quality of their alchemy chamber. If nothing unexpected happens, your future alchemy condensation site will most likely be the Water Mansion. But putting a few pieces of junk... oh no, a few opportunities, in the mountain shrine is a great loss. If it were me, to hell with it, I'd refine all those magical treasures and pile them all in the Water Mansion, prepare early—that's the best strategy. Condensing the golden core is the top priority for a Dao cultivator, and the quality of the golden core directly determines the future achievements of a Qi refiner."
Chen Ping'an's Water Mansion, aside from the Water Seal that gave the Outer Celestial Demon a headache, and the group of green-clad boys who were outsiders and would eventually move away, the rest of the scenery was naturally formed. Impressive, yes, but in truth, still not quite enough.
Unfortunately, Chen Ping'an clearly hadn't taken his golden words to heart.
The Outer Celestial Demon didn't care either. Even if Chen Ping'an did so, it would still be minor tinkering, not particularly meaningful.
In the eyes of an Ascension Realm cultivator, so-called "prodigies of heaven," "extraordinary talents," "deep blessings and fortune" were all illusions. Unless the other party could one day become an Ascension Realm cultivator themselves, otherwise, in the eyes of an Ascension Realm cultivator who had already reached the peak, so-called mountain opportunities and all Dao struggles were just a bunch of cats and dogs scrapping under the eaves or outside the corridor. If they were amused, they'd watch a bit; if they found it annoying or noisy, they'd just kill them.
This Outer Celestial Demon had observed Chen Ping'an for a long time and really wanted to make a big deal with the young man.
Chen Ping'an's mustard-seed spirit went to tour the mountain shrine. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, a mountain shrine was built from the five-colored soil of the new five marchmounts of Great Li, piling soil to form a mountain. On the summit, a small mountain shrine had been constructed. Later, Chen Ping'an refined the Daoist true intent contained in those green bricks to reinforce the mountain peak.
The white-haired child asked curiously: "Grandfather Hidden Officer, why do you have no great vision for cultivating and attaining the Dao? Don't you have any longing for immortality?"
During his walk, Chen Ping'an used a six-step stake-base posture, constantly switching fist frames and correcting subtle aspects of muscles, bones, and flesh to better adapt to his current body. Hearing this question, he replied: "The distance is too far. I can't see clearly. I can't imagine it."
The white-haired child said, "Oh, so you need a little light to guide the way. But you haven't found it yet. It seems that aside from the scholarship, fist techniques, and swordplay, none of the Dao attainers of the Righteous Continent have truly inspired your heart."
Chen Ping'an didn't want to dwell on this topic and turned to ask: "That senior Executioner isn't a native sword cultivator, is he?"
The reason for this question, aside from the fact that the Summer Resort Palace had no records of him at all, was that there were actually many clues: the twelve multicolored flower-cup deities suspended under the grape trellis; the silverfish eating immortal characters; the Executioner's order that Du Shanyin, upon learning sword techniques, must kill all flower thieves in the mountains; and the woman beating clothes and the little maid washing silk, condensed from two ancestral coins—a bronze coin and a Guyu coin. Even if the Sword Qi Great Wall also had elegant sword immortals like Sun Juyuan, they were different from that enigmatic Executioner.
Native sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall rarely had such attachments to people and affairs elsewhere. Mi Yu's case wasn't attachment; it was purely liking to attract bees and butterflies, a small world among a hundred flowers—deserving a beating.
The white-haired child, who seemed very telepathic with Grandfather Hidden Officer, immediately said: "Ah, he's indeed not a local. His hometown was a lower-class blessed land in Liuxia Continent. His talent was terrifyingly good—so good that he broke through the heaven and earth barrier with his sword. In a lower-class blessed land with extreme limitations, where cultivators could barely even enter the Cave Dwelling Realm, that remote and impoverished place, the Executioner, using the methods of an infant soul sword cultivator, successfully 'ascended' to the Righteous Continent. But because his appearance in Liuxia Continent caused such a huge commotion, it attracted the covetous attention of various forces. That originally very secluded blessed land, a veritable paradise, became a mess within a hundred years, reduced to a playground for banished immortals. Everyone fought over it, and without any stable 'heavenly lord' to manage it properly, eventually, two sword immortals and a Immortal Realm Qi refiner engaged in a three-way battle that shattered heaven and earth. The locals almost all died, with fewer than one in ten surviving. The Executioner's realm was insufficient at the time, so he couldn't protect his homeland. He has been guilty about it ever since. It seems that the Executioner's family, children, and disciples—none escaped the disaster."
Chen Ping'an sighed inwardly.
His own Fallen Mountain possessed a Lotus Root Blessed Land.
Chen Ping'an then frowned deeply.
Often, the emergence of every lower-class blessed land would lead to bloody storms.
The situation in Fuyang Continent was now in chaos. Besides the appearance of several immortal treasures, there was also a "ascension" of a Far Wandering Realm pure martial artist, which led to traces of an originally secret, secluded blessed land being discovered by mountain cultivators, sparking a scramble among various immortal forces. It was also a lower-class blessed land, but because it had long revered martial arts and had "no techniques," it had accumulated a huge amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Almost all sect-level immortal families in Fuyang Continent could not stay out of it, wanting a piece of the pie. Moreover, Fuyang Continent was the continent with the deepest connections between the mountain and secular worlds. Immortal masters had their schemes, and secular monarchs had their ambitions. So a single move affected the whole. With the strong support of Dao cultivators, several large dynasties were locked in constant warfare, so in recent years, both the mountain world and the secular world were engulfed in flames of war.
The white-haired child said: "Want to make a deal?"
Chen Ping'an smiled: "Let's hear it."
The white-haired child, rare for him, spoke seriously: "Under Chen Qingdu's witness, let me completely merge with your yin spirit. I choose to sleep deeply for a hundred years. Within a hundred years, as long as you enter the Jade Purity Realm, you must restore my freedom. As compensation, I will use my Ascension Realm original life soul as the source of your Dao techniques. For a middle-five-realm cultivator, this will be inexhaustible. You won't have to worry about the amount of spiritual energy anymore. When fighting others, you'll have no worries."
Speaking thus, the white-haired child was beaming, feeling more and more that this deal was mutually beneficial. He jumped up cheerfully: "Not only will you enter the upper five realms without any accident, but with me as your guardian door god, any inner demon won't be a problem. Moreover, before that, opening the cave dwelling, observing the blue sea, leaping the dragon gate, condensing the golden core, gestating the infant soul—I guarantee you'll advance as fast as splitting bamboo. And there's an even faster shortcut, but it requires a secret technique. You first fall to the third realm. I might be able to let you, in a single night, as if in a big dream, enter the upper five realms. Either choice, you won't lose, and there are no hidden dangers at all!"
Chen Ping'an said: "No thanks."
The white-haired child became a little anxious: "Even if you don't trust me, can you at least trust Chen Qingdu? The old man's judgment is extremely high and accurate!"
Chen Ping'an shook his head: "As long as I have this thought and speak to the Oldest Sword Immortal, regardless of whether you have any schemes, he will agree."
The white-haired child beat his chest and stamped his feet: "How did I meet such an unyielding person? Can't you just gamble? If you lose, it's a small loss; if you win, it's a huge gain. What are you afraid of? A cultivator must have courage, decisive killing and judgment! Grandfather Hidden Officer, this time, you have disappointed me, utterly disappointed me! Cold is my once warm heart!"
The Outer Celestial Demon was back to being roguish, but Chen Ping'an remained serious: "The reason I didn't agree isn't that I'm afraid of taking risks. It's that I don't want to harm both of us, because this action goes against my original heart. When the time comes for me to enter the upper five realms, the inner demon might change and very likely become you. So even if you seal yourself as a door god, you simply won't be able to protect me."
The white-haired child heard Chen Ping'an's implication and asked doubtfully: "Are you saying that, setting aside that unavoidable crux, just assuming you enter the Jade Purity Realm, you'll have a way to kill me? Grandfather Hidden Officer, no matter how wise and mighty you are in my heart, that seems a bit presumptuous, doesn't it?"
Chen Ping'an stopped walking and chuckled: "Don't believe me? Give it a try?"
The white-haired child was eager to try, but he still stared hard at Chen Ping'an's eyes, actually feeling a bit uncertain. However, after thinking for a moment, he flickered and chose to enter a newly arisen thought within Chen Ping'an's heart-lake world. If it was to be tried, then try!
Having made four visits, what strange things hadn't he seen in Chen Ping'an's "heart"? If there really was something majorly strange, it would broaden his horizons. He might as well look for some amusement.
After the Outer Celestial Demon entered his heart-lake, Chen Ping'an took a deep breath, held his breath, concentrated, cleared his mind of distractions, and attempted a soft call.
In an instant, the Outer Celestial Demon rolled out, his face pale. Not only had he returned without success, but his realm seemed somewhat damaged.
The Ascension Realm arrogance that had been restored to its peak moments ago was now completely gone.
The white-haired child murmured: "Well played, Grandfather Hidden Officer, well played. Let me be a message-flying sword crossing two worlds. In the entire Sword Qi Great Wall, only I could pull this off..."
Chen Ping'an said: "Want to try again?"
The white-haired child sat down with a thud, fell backward, flailing his arms and kicking his legs, wailing: "This life is unbearable! Grandfather Hidden Officer only bullies honest people."
Chen Ping'an continued walking. This long-planned venture had indeed worked out.
Otherwise, why would he have allowed an Outer Celestial Demon to enter his heart-lake multiple times?
The white-haired child stood up, following behind the young Hidden Officer, still shaken, speechless.
Earlier, he had eagerly charged into Chen Ping'an's heart-lake, only to find a bizarre sight: a golden arch bridge. At first, he ran merrily along, quite cheerful, then he saw the tall silhouette of a woman in white. She stood on the bridge railing, one hand on a sword, seemingly in a deep slumber. When Chen Ping'an softly called out, the woman, who according to reason should have been just an illusory phantom, suddenly "awakened" without warning. In a moment, she turned her head and looked at the Outer Celestial Demon, who sensed something wrong and abruptly stopped.
The white-haired child dared to swear that in two lifetimes, he had never seen such eyes.
He couldn't even clearly see her face, only her golden eyes.
Looking down, utterly devoid of emotion, pure like the highest of gods in legend.
To her, an Ascension Realm cultivator was as insignificant as an ant.
Beneath the golden arch bridge she stood on seemed to be the once-complete ancient human world. On the earth below, countless living beings existed. Heaven and earth were distinct; only the gods were immortal.
With just one look, the Outer Celestial Demon was knocked out of Chen Ping'an's small world, causing a demon that should have been at an absolute standstill to consume an amount of Dao power equivalent to a hundred years of painstaking accumulation by an Ascension Realm cultivator.
When an Outer Celestial Demon is born, its realm remains stagnant at a standstill—never increasing a single iota, never decreasing a single hair. Thereafter, it only knows life and death.
The white-haired child said resentfully: "Grandfather Hidden Officer, is she from the same generation as Chen Qingdu? Why didn't you say so earlier? If she has such origins, calling you 'grandfather' isn't enough. I should just call you 'ancestor' directly."
Chen Ping'an said: "I'm not someone's reincarnation. You misunderstood."
The white-haired child snorted contemptuously. Even an Outer Celestial Demon could be fooled—truly a scholar through and through.
Approaching the prison entrance.
Chen Ping'an had more or less adapted to the vast difference between the Golden Body Realm and the Far Wandering Realm physique, but he was still hunched and breathing heavily—not feigned.
This was the aftereffect of Nian Xin's sewing techniques: the heavier his own muscles and bones, the tougher his physique, the more burdensome the true names of great demons already inscribed on his body would become.
And this was before the true names of many key great demons had been inscribed. Chen Ping'an couldn't imagine what it would be like once Nian Xin's sewing was complete—would he have to walk bent over?
Passing the five cages holding upper-five-realm demons, Yun Qing stood by the sword-light bars, offering congratulations on breaking through.
The great demon Qingqiu merely hid behind a veil of mist, her gaze cold, fixed on the heavily stepping young man.
Among the other three great demons, one who had never shown himself before made a rare appearance. The demon, going by the alias Zhujie, sat on a still partially unfurled scroll of green landscape painting. If a Qi refiner looked closely, they would find this painting unlike any ordinary picture: it resembled a true blessed land, not only with undulating mountains, pavilions and towers, but also with living flowers, trees, birds, and beasts, and a magnificent scene of stars hanging in the sky. The great demon, who seemed to be coiled atop the sky-scroll, spoke hoarsely: "Little one, your luck is good."
Chen Ping'an stopped, just looking at the painting. The Summer Resort Palace records noted that this great demon could steal mountains and rivers with his brush. He had served as a vanguard for the throne-rank great demon Huangluan for several hundred years. On the battlefield, he could paint, moving mountains and rivers into the painting, then roll up the scroll, enough to crush and kill all living things on the painting. For Qi refiners with vastly inferior realms, he could simply paint their likeness, directly imprisoning part of their soul in the painting. Thus, in the Barbaric Wild Continent, demons often brought portraits of their enemies, along with their names, birthdates, and ancestral hall locations, to find this painter, pay him to make the portrait, and then buy the scroll that had captured the enemy's soul.
The fourth great demon was a female-looking Jade Purity Realm sword cultivator, but her lifebound flying sword had been severely damaged on the battlefield. Her alias was Mengpo. She was an extremely rare wood-and-grass spirit who had managed to study sword techniques with great killing power. She once dominated a region in the Barbaric Wild Continent and was the founder of a sword sect. Although she and the Ascension Realm great demon Chongguang had no formal title as lovers, they were lovers in fact.
The last upper-five-realm demon had been constantly breaking through realms since being imprisoned, now at the Immortal Realm. According to Old Deafie, Chen Qingdu had promised this demon that once it reached the Ascension Realm, it could replace Old Deafie as the warden of the prison.
The white-haired child seemed even more worried than Chen Ping'an, his face troubled: "Grandfather Hidden Officer Ancestor, even at the Far Wandering Realm, it seems you have no chance against these five."
Chen Ping'an nodded: "Not for now."
Descending the steps, they passed many empty cells. Apart from the two disciples chosen by Old Deafie among the sixty-one middle-five-realm demons, there were still five left, all tough nuts.
Chen Ping'an suddenly said: "It seems I need to break into the middle five realms, otherwise my limp will be too severe. Not to mention upper-five-realm great demons, even those five infant souls, I can't kill."
The white-haired child deeply agreed: "Grandfather Hidden Officer Ancestor needs to hurry."
Chen Ping'an sat down in a pavilion building. The white-haired child still adhered to the rules, only floating outside the building.
Chen Ping'an asked with a smile: "That thought that hid in my yin spirit—is it gone?"
The white-haired child said helplessly: "Although I treat people generously, I'm not stupid."
Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, then for the first time, he summoned all his lifebound objects out of his qi mansion: a Water Seal, a five-colored small mountain, a wooden deity statue, and a page of golden scripture.
The four key lifebound objects revolved slowly around Chen Ping'an, each glowing with different lights. The entire building blazed with light, illuminating the surrounding chaos and void.
The white-haired child drifted to the steps and asked: "What's the order?"
Chen Ping'an said: "Water Seal, five-colored mountain, Daoist wooden statue, Buddhist scripture. But first, I haven't found a suitable technique. Second, the original intention of refining the five-element lifebound objects was to rebuild the Longevity Bridge. So over the years, in fights with others, the path of techniques has always been my weak point. However, senior Nian Xin advised me to rearrange the positions of a few lifebound objects—for example, moving the Five Thunder Dharma Seal to the center of my palm."
The white-haired child nodded: "Gathering the five thunders, controlling all methods. Creating all methods in the palm—it's a good suggestion. The key is that it can bluff people, making it easier to conceal your identities as a martial artist and sword cultivator than your half-baked talismans."
Chen Ping'an asked: "Besides the Executioner's stream, is there any fire-type object suitable for refining in this world?"
The white-haired child nodded: "There is. And its rank is extremely, extremely, extremely high. The reason I didn't mention it earlier is naturally because there's no profit in it for me, unlike that stream I could have negotiated over."
Three consecutive "extremely high."
Chen Ping'an fell into deep thought.
He knew it was that lava furnace.
Having no benefit to himself, the white-haired child had no interest and began counting on his fingers: "First, use talismans to show weakness to the enemy. When the situation looks bad, produce pine needles and cough thunder to 'pretend' to be a sword cultivator. If seen through, feign anger, open distance, and smash down a genuine Five Thunder True Dharma. If the enemy is thick-skinned and tough, then close in and give him a few Far Wandering Realm martial artist punches. If you can't win, run. While running, pull out the sword immortal banner and use the crowd to intimidate. Just when the enemy thinks that's your last resort, hit them with a backhand strike using Chu Yi and Fifteen flying swords. If you still can't win or escape, then inconspicuously bring out the 'Caged Sparrow,' give a few more punches. If that's not enough, throw in a 'Moon in the Well'... Grandfather Hidden Officer Ancestor, I've run out of fingers!"
Chen Ping'an clicked his tongue: "You really have no shame."
The white-haired child beamed: "I picked a good ancestor, didn't I?"