Chapter 845: Unbeatable at Endgame
Nowadays, qi refiners who come to travel on the Sword Qi Great Wall come in droves, with people coming and going, bustling to the point of discomfort.
They have seen all the sights, without spending a single coin.
This is probably due to the fame of Wei Jin, the great sword immortal of the Snow Wind Temple, which has spread throughout the world; no one dares to approach this area, and passersby will intentionally or unintentionally lean toward the other side of the city wall.
At this moment, people are already speculating which pair of mountain dao companions from the mountains would dare to sit on the city wall between Wei Jin and Cao Jun.
In fact, Cao Jun is merely basking in Wei Jin's glory, which is why people are curious about his identity. In the end, there are only two kinds of explanations: one is that he is a descendant of Cao Xi, the old sword immortal of the Zhenhai Tower in Southern Bodhisattva Continent; the other is that he is the innate sword embryo whose sword heart was shattered by Zuo You in the early years. At most, an additional question is asked: Did Zuo You deliver one sword strike or two back then?
So during this period of practicing swordsmanship here, Cao Jun has been quite annoyed. He thought to himself, "I am at least a genuine Nascent Soul realm sword cultivator. Apart from this Sword Qi Great Wall ruin, where in the Haoran AllHeaven couldn't I claim the title of sword immortal?"
Cao Jun recalled something and said to Chen Ping'an, "By the way, before this, there was a wandering taoist who claimed to be your maternal uncle. He casually chatted with me and Great Sword Immortal Wei, with a very aggressive tone and a big air about him. What's his background?"
Cao Jun had been to the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven back in the day, and besides, the Cao family ancestral home was on that Mud Vase Lane. He naturally knew Chen Ping'an's background; he shouldn't have any relatives.
Chen Ping'an said, "Of course he's not my maternal uncle. Maybe he's yours instead. Next time you meet, just call him that. I guarantee it won't be a bad thing. Believe it or not."
It was undoubtedly Wu Shuangjiang, but he didn't know if he had found Old Deaf Boy.
There is no Fourteen Realm cultivator under heaven who is easy to mess with. The higher a cultivator climbs on the mountain path, the more they understand this truth.
And Chen Ping'an is now only a Jade Pu Realm cultivator. If his cultivation path remains relatively smooth over the next hundred years, he might reach the Immortal Realm and achieve Ascension. But the so-called "mysterious beyond mystery, seeking mystery beyond mystery" opportunity for Fourteen Realm dao integration—he has no clue at all. This fills Chen Ping'an with a sense of powerlessness, because he can be completely certain that people like Zheng Juzhong and Wu Shuangjiang, who never cram at the last minute, had already planned ahead, even as early as the Middle Five Realms, how to walk that path of dao integration.
Cao Jun was puzzled. Did these two both seem to enjoy chatting like this? Could that taoist really be a distant relative of Chen Ping'an's?
Cao Jun tentatively asked, "Is that guy some Ascension Realm grand cultivator hiding his identity?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "He's not in the Ascension Realm, nor is he a sword cultivator."
However, this master of the Year-End Palace in the Azure Inferno AllHeaven was a Fourteen Realm grand cultivator, and he had also imitated four immortal swords.
Cao Jun laughed. "Then why the hell should I acknowledge him as a relative? It's all loss and no gain."
Chen Ping'an didn't care. Anyway, the debt of tricking you into coming to the Sword Qi Great Wall can be considered settled. It's your own fault, Cao Jun, for not seizing the opportunity.
Cao Jun asked with a grin, "These days, there are always immortal sisters on the city wall with their mirror flower, water moon projections. You must have seen them on the way here. Aren't you angry at all?"
Powder and paint, chirping and twittering, honeyed words, sightseeing, leisure and carefree, strolling around enjoying the views—there are few sword cultivators, but plenty of qi refiners like ox hairs.
Even though Cao Jun had never been to the Sword Qi Great Wall before, he knew that these things were utterly incompatible with the Sword Qi Great Wall, which was once filled with heaven-and-earth slaughterous intent.
Chen Ping'an shook his head.
Cao Jun looked at the expression on his face; it didn't seem like he was pretending not to care. Thus, he became even more curious and couldn't help asking, "Why? If it were me in your shoes, I'd beat up everyone I saw, and if I saw two, I'd beat them both."
Chen Ping'an said, "This is precisely the meaning of the Sword Qi Great Wall's existence."
Because the Sword Qi Great Wall has stood here for ten thousand years, there has been peace in the Haoran AllHeaven for ten thousand years.
Cao Jun sighed, rubbed his face with both hands. He came too late; he should have arrived earlier and not missed that great war.
Chen Ping'an turned to look at Ning Yao and asked, "What did this guy just say? I was distracted and really didn't hear it."
He had been trying to use the little bit of opportunity from the suppression by the Great Dao of the Barren Wild AllHeaven to check the battle situation in the heartland of that allheaven, but it was futile. He couldn't afford to be distracted while doing this.
Ning Yao said, "He said someone was secretly taking the broken stones from this half of the city wall and bringing them back to the Haoran AllHeaven."
In fact, Ning Yao didn't care about such things. In her heart, the Sword Qi Great Wall was the sword cultivators.
As for the other half, because Chen Ping'an had dao-integrated with it, the Literary Temple hadn't set any specific rules. They didn't explicitly forbid foreign qi refiners from climbing that side of the city wall. But they only gave four words: "life and death, your own responsibility." The qi refiners who traveled here knew the stakes, so naturally they didn't dare to go looking for trouble there. Who knew if there were some bizarre prohibitions over there? The only inside information they could confirm was that that side of the city wall was supposedly the cultivation site of the last Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Ning Yao frowned and asked, "Why doesn't the Literary Temple regulate this? Isn't there an accompanying sacrifice saint here?"
She didn't care, but that didn't mean the Literary Temple could be so clueless. If they were so clueless, how could they have the face to stay here?
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "This is a form of respect the Literary Temple shows to our Sword Qi Great Wall."
Ning Yao asked in confusion, "How so?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Matters of the Sword Qi Great Wall, whether big or small, are left to the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall to handle. If they don't want to manage it, then they let it be; if they are willing to manage it, then they can do as they please."
Ning Yao nodded. Now that Chen Ping'an had explained it that way, the little resentment in her heart dissipated.
She suddenly reached out and gently held Chen Ping'an's hand.
The reason Ning Yao had offered to accompany him to this side at the inn was to let him relax a little, not to make him more worried.
Because she could sense that after arriving here, Chen Ping'an had become even more anxious.
Chen Ping'an said softly, "It's nothing. I'm just used to zoning out here; I can't change it for a while. As for my worry, it's actually not that bad. Between being too worried and not worried at all, I can find a middle ground. I'll be careful to control the balance."
Just like the bumps and bruises in romantic relationships between men and women, the emotions of women that men find incomprehensible are themselves a kind of reason. Acknowledging her emotions, helping her soothe them, and then, when the woman has gradually calmed down, discussing your own reasoning calmly—this is the right path. This is called "stepping back to think." It's about applying knowledge in the correct order. If you skip the first step, everything is lost.
Ning Yao turned her head to look at the other half of the city wall and asked, "What if you challenge someone to a sword duel over there?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Then I could wrestle with Great Sword Immortal Wei. If it's only about victory or defeat, I would still lose. But if we agree that neither of us can leave the city wall, then there would be no suspense: I live, he dies."
The great sword immortal of the Snow Wind Temple, who had his sword laid across his knees, was slightly moved.
The conversation between Ning Yao and Chen Ping'an did not involve any telepathic speech.
Chen Ping'an turned his head and laughed. "Bragging isn't illegal, is it?"
Wei Jin chuckled. "Anyway, here, whoever has the higher rank has the final say."
Chen Ping'an tossed a jar of Hundred Flower Brew he had recently acquired to Wei Jin. "Guest Elder Wei has been a regular customer at my wine shop. Back then, people called you the 'No. 1 Sucker,' which infuriated me. If I hadn't been tied up at the Summer Resort Palace, I would have gone after them one by one with a sack. Oh, by the way, this isn't just any ordinary Hundred Flower Blessed Land brew. Even the Ritual Saint hasn't had a drink of this in years. So, Great Sword Immortal Wei, please, savor it slowly. Otherwise, you'd be wasting a priceless, marketless fine wine."
Where in life is there a shortage of wine? Only a shortage of friends who willingly treat you to a drink.
Besides, there was one thing Chen Ping'an had never personally mentioned to Wei Jin: The first time he witnessed what could be called the enchanting style of a sword immortal, it wasn't the ever-companion A Liang, but the Snow Wind Temple sword immortal who split the sky with one sword strike at the mansion of the Bride Ghost. But such words, if there was still a chance in the future to get drunk together with Wei Jin at a wine table, could be said then.
Wei Jin caught the wine jar, casually tore off the clay seal and red paper, tilted his head back, and took a sip. His eyes lit up, and he nodded in praise. "It really is excellent wine!"
Chen Ping'an didn't bother to argue with Wei Jin about the "really." He quickly reached out and captured the fluttering red paper, tucking it into his sleeve. He didn't forget to add, "If you don't mind, after you finish the wine, return the empty jar to me, please."
Wei Jin asked with a serious expression, "Do you have any left? I can buy the next jar. Name your price. I'll buy as many jars as you have. If I don't have enough Grain Rain coins, I can borrow some."
Cao Jun was extremely envious. He rubbed his hands together and asked, "Chen Ping'an, isn't it unfair to favor one over the other like this? Don't forget, we're fellow townsmen, and neighbors on the same lane!"
Chen Ping'an curled his lip. "Great Sword Immortal Wei is a proper guest elder of my Fallen Mountain. What are you? If you really want to beg for wine from me, would you like some glutinous rice wine from our hometown? It's tasty and cheap—guaranteed to be good value for money."
Damn it. I haven't even settled the old score with you from the Mud Vase Lane days, and you have the nerve to mention being fellow townsmen and neighbors? This Cao Sword Immortal sure has a bad memory.
If it weren't for the fact that Cao Jun had gone to Tongye Continent and once followed Elder Brother Zuo You to guard the gate to the Multicolored AllHeaven, Chen Ping'an might have mistaken him for a direct-line sword immortal from the First Peak Ancestral Hall of Zhengyang Mountain later.
Cao Jun sneered. "What are guest elders on the mountains? They're all just freeloaders who take money and do nothing. Of course, I'm not talking about our Great Sword Immortal Wei. Chen Ping'an, how about a deal? Let me be an honorary offering priest for your Fallen Mountain. Even if I'm last on the list, it's fine. For example, if anyone else wants to become an offering priest in the future, they'll have to get past me, the last-seat offering priest Cao Jun. If this gets out, how much face would your Fallen Mountain have, right? I'm at least a Nascent Soul realm sword cultivator now, and who knows, maybe I'll break through to Jade Pu tomorrow or the day after. A jar of wine in exchange for an offering priest position—how about it?"
Chen Ping'an rubbed his chin. "Fallen Mountain is about to establish a branch sect, and we are indeed short of manpower."
Cao Jun laughed heartily. "The greatest virtue of my life is that I never care about empty fame. Being the last-seat offering priest of that branch sect is even better!"
Chen Ping'an tossed a jar of Hundred Flower Brew to Cao Jun. "Then it's settled."
Ning Yao reminded him, "If you give them away like this, you won't have many jars of Hundred Flower Brew left. You can visit Aunt Feng later and find an excuse, like inviting her to visit Ascension City?"
Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded. "That's a good excuse. I figure at least five jars of wine as a starting point."
Cao Jun was much more finicky than Wei Jin. He took out a wine glass, poured the wine, sniffed it, raised the glass for a sip, and smacked his lips in aftertaste.
While drinking, he telepathically asked Wei Jin, "Is Ning Yao always like this woman?"
She really was different from the legendary Ning Yao, who slaughtered demons like flies on the battlefield and only practiced swords outside of battle. It was a case of "knowing by hearsay is not as good as seeing in person."
Wei Jin said, "I don't know."
Cao Jun was about to continue questioning, but Wei Jin said, "I only know this: Instead of secretly talking to me with your mind, you might as well openly ask Ning Yao."
It was only at this moment that Wei Jin suddenly remembered that this young female sword cultivator was an Ascension Realm.
It was just that Ning Yao, when beside Chen Ping'an, didn't seem like an Ascension Realm sword cultivator at all. Her edge was hidden, her features soft, her aura faint—where was the hint of the first person of the Multicolored AllHeaven?
Chen Ping'an looked out at the land beyond the city wall. Back then, it had been carefully dug up by Taoist Peach Pavilion, so there was no chance of finding any great bargains.
Moreover, in recent years, foreign cultivators had been coming and going, including many reclusive masters. This vast battlefield outside the city wall must have been raked over like a dog gnawing a bone, dug three feet deep.
Holding Ning Yao's hand lightly with one hand, he raised the other, pointing into the distance, and introduced to her in telepathy the locations of several ferry crossings and Return to Void Gates. The three ferry crossings that the Haoran AllHeaven had opened here—Bingzhu, Zouma, and Dimai—were still being expanded and moved southward. Especially the Dimai Ferry City created by the Mojia Master; it was growing increasingly massive, soaring into the clouds. It was the only relatively clear sight Chen Ping'an could see from this city wall. He had heard that this city could garrison 200,000 soldiers, and as it expanded, it could eventually accommodate 300,000 dynasty cavalry troops, along with weaponry and supply depots.
Additionally, the three Mojia lineages and the Artisan cultivators, totaling over 12,000 qi refiners skilled in mountain construction and mechanical arts, were relying on the two ferry crossings to each build a majestic movable city.
Furthermore, at the four Return to Void Gate passages further away—Tianmu, Shenxiang, Qingji, and Rizhui—large-scale construction was underway everywhere. Haoran cultivators and forces from the mortal world were continuously rushing to the Barren Wild AllHeaven.
Sword boats, mountain ferry boats, and cross-continent ferry boats were constantly passing through the Return to Void passages, which were like water gods escorting goods, escorting troops from various continents of the Haoran AllHeaven on their long journey to the Barren Wild AllHeaven. In the past, only Ascension Realm grand cultivators could cross between two allheavens; now, it was no longer a rare sight.
Listening attentively to Chen Ping'an's detailed explanation, Ning Yao suddenly asked, "Did the Literary Temple really help repay that biggest external debt that Great Li owed to the Mojia?"
Chen Ping'an hummed in affirmation. This debt had originally been an astronomical amount of divine money. Now, the mobilization of the border troops of the Great Li court was even more effortless. As for the other major creditors, such as Liu Jubao of the Aiai Continent and the Yu clan of the Central Earth, the Great Li Song clan found it simple to compensate them, thanks to the mountains and lowlands of Tongye Continent handling the labor.
It seemed that Elder Brother Cui Xi never left any messes behind.
Seeing Chen Ping'an starting to zone out again, Ning Yao withdrew her hand. Chen Ping'an pulled himself together, somewhat embarrassed, and continued talking about the Haoran AllHeaven's advances.
The map of the nine continents of Haoran was led by the Dan Dan Lady of the Green Water Pit, who nominally managed the land waterways of the allheaven. Almost all river gods of higher rank had taken on duties similar to river escort masters, traveling between the four Return to Void waterways. Each commanded the water immortal officials and water-born spirits under their palace, setting up temporary ferry crossings in the waters to guide ferry boats from various continents.
Among the five great lake lords, including Li Ye Marquis of Jiaoyue Lake, three of them, after the Literary Temple council ended, had been promoted one rank to become sea lords, stationed across the four seas.
Additionally, the Literary Temple had reopened the matter of sealing great rivers. Following the Ji River of the Northern Julu Continent and the Qi Ferry of the Vase Bottle Continent, a new batch of great river lords, viscounts, earls, and water rectors had been consecrated. The old flood dragon in the Feng Shui Cave of the Qiantang River in the Vase Bottle Continent had just been promoted to fill the vacancy of the Linli Earl of Qi Ferry. Chen Ping'an had also heard that the Great Li court seemed inclined to let the Iron Talisman River god Yang Hua fill the currently vacant position of Changchun Marquis.
The Haoran cultivators who had come to this Barren Wild AllHeaven one after another, stationed at the three ferry crossings and the four Return to Void Gates, were truly busy without a moment's rest. Using various divine abilities and techniques, they drove large numbers of talisman warriors and puppet spirits to carve mountains and move rivers, relocate peaks and lakes, and set up grand formations across the Barren Wild AllHeaven. Let's just say the merchant families at the gates of the four Return to Void Gates were scattering money like rain, altering the seasonal weather of various places, supplementing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, then using qi refiners to rely on the mountains and rivers to gather the feng shui luck and not dissipate. Meanwhile, cultivators from the Farmer and Medicine families were planting immortal herbs and grains, summoning wind and rain, changing the geography, transforming barbaric miasmic lands into cultivation grounds or fertile farmlands suitable for farming...
Ning Yao asked, "The Barren Wild AllHeaven has definitely plundered a massive amount of resources from the Tongye, Fuyao, and Jinjia continents. Where is Tuoyue Mountain using all of it now?"
Unconsciously, Chen Ping'an had taken her hand again.
Chen Ping'an gently swayed Ning Yao's hand in his; her fingers were slightly cool. He squinted as he smiled. "During the Literary Temple council earlier, this matter was the top priority. Actually, many people had overlooked it initially. It seems there's no exact clue yet. No one can give a detailed answer."
After finishing a jar of Hundred Flower Brew, Wei Jin tossed the empty jar back to Chen Ping'an. "Earlier, Qi Tingji and Lu Zhi came here, only stopped briefly, then each took a group of Dragon Elephant Sword Sect sword children and hurried to the Bingzhu and Zouma ferry crossings."
After all, Wei Jin still nominally held the title of honorary guest elder of Fallen Mountain. He had been part of the Zhengyang Mountain observation event.
Cao Jun, now half a Fallen Mountain cultivator, recalled something and twisted his wine glass as he spoke. "Although the Literary Temple warned that cultivators are not allowed to leave privately, and even if they make gains outside, they won't be counted as battle merits, there are still a few groups of cultivators who break the rules and cross borders without permission."
Chen Ping'an said, "There's profit to be had. What was the outcome?"
Cao Jun took a sip of wine and curled his lip. "What else could it be? Men die for wealth, birds die for food. They really thought the Barren Wild AllHeaven was a place to come and go as they pleased. They all died violently. Not only did their bodies vanish without a trace, but even the Yin-Yang family cultivators couldn't deduce the cause afterward."
Cao Jun poured another glass of wine. "I heard that just a few days ago, at the entrance of one of the Return to Void passages, there was an Immortal Realm wild cultivator from the Jinjia Continent—I can't remember his name anyway. This guy probably thought, relying on his realm and escape techniques, he could find a loophole. He snuck into a demon clan's mountain sect, intending to rob them and then retreat. But guess what happened?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Can't guess."
"Such fine mellow wine, but it's missing a bit of drinking snack," Cao Jun slurped regretfully. "When he came back, he had only half his life left. It seemed he used up a half-immortal-tier natal object just to barely preserve his soul, and his realm fell directly to Nascent Soul. This guy was actually pretty cautious. He first sent an Earth Immortal realm puppet to test the waters. It made a big scene but nothing happened, so he appeared. Then he immediately ran into a group of young cultivators, as if they were waiting for a rabbit by a tree stump, waiting for him to fall into the trap. He couldn't even see their faces or count how many there were. In the blink of an eye, that was his end."
Chen Ping'an said calmly, "It's like fishing—catch the big ones and release the small. They are specifically hunting upper-five-realm cultivators of the Haoran AllHeaven. Free battle merits; why not take them?"
An Immortal Realm cultivator whose name even Cao Jun couldn't remember—Chen Ping'an hadn't heard of any Immortal Realm wild cultivator appearing on the Jinjia Continent battlefield after returning to the Haoran AllHeaven. Pei Qian hadn't mentioned it, and he hadn't heard about it at the Literary Temple either.
Chen Ping'an suddenly frowned deeply and said gravely, "No! Wei Jin, immediately send a flying sword message to warn Elder He, who is guarding the Heavenly Veil, to be careful of this person!"
"This Immortal Realm wild cultivator—died is really dead, and thoroughly dead at that!"
"Who knows what in the hell that thing that finally returned alive really is. Even if it's just a so-called Nascent Soul cultivator, it can still cause tremendous trouble."
Wei Jin flicked his sleeve, and a sword light shot out toward the Heavenly Veil to warn the Literary Temple accompanying sacrifice saint stationed there.
The accompanying sacrifice saint stationed here was surnamed He.
Chen Ping'an suddenly asked, "Which Return to Void passage?"
Cao Jun spoke first. "Qingji."
Chen Ping'an changed his statement. "Then no need to send the flying sword message. Recall it, or we might overcorrect and alert the enemy."
Wei Jin didn't bother asking further. He directly recalled that message-carrying flying sword.
At the Return to Void Tianmu passage, two vice-leaders of the Literary Temple and three academy rectors were jointly laying out plans.
At Shenxiang, there was Fu Xi, who could return to the human world at any time, the Dragon Tiger Mountain Grand Celestial Master Zhao Tiansheng, who was said to be carrying a sword on a long journey to the Barren Wild AllHeaven in search of the Mount Moving Ancestor. There was also the Fiery Dragon True Lord who had already made a move in the Barren Wild AllHeaven, as well as the ambitious great sword immortal Bai Shang of the Northern Julu Continent.
At Qingji, there was Zheng Juzhong of the White Emperor City, the female martial god Pei Bei of the Great Duan Empire, the grand cultivator Huai Yin, one of the Central Earth Ten, and Guo Outing, an Ascension Realm demon clan cultivator from Tieshu Mountain. Also, Liu Tui, the sect master of Tianyao Township of Fuyao Continent, and Cong Qian, a female immortal of Liuxia Continent who was also the master of Song'ai Blessed Land. In Cong Qian's sect, her status was somewhat similar to Jiang Shangzhen of Tongye Continent, who controlled a Cloud Den Blessed Land.
At Rizhui, there were Su Zi and Liu Qi. Also, Song Changjing of Great Li and Wei Ying, the sect master of the Jade Gui Sect.
Cao Jun asked cautiously, "Are you sure we don't need to give a few more words of warning? If we're found to have knowingly withheld information, the Literary Temple might hand down a serious charge."
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No need."
Cao Jun laughed, exasperated. "I'll take it easy on the drinking, Chen Ping'an, but you also take it easy on the actions. Don't make me lose the chance to draw my sword after just a few days of practice here, get expelled back to the Haoran AllHeaven by the Literary Temple, and then go directly to be your last-seat offering priest at that branch sect!"
Chen Ping'an didn't bother to explain. But then a voice sounded in his mind lake: "May I ask the Hidden Officer, why is this?"
It was obviously the inquiry from Elder He.
Chen Ping'an answered telepathically: "With Mr. Zheng watching over there, there won't be any mistakes."
This Elder He, who was from the Yansheng lineage, had a very good relationship with his master. Even after the Third-Fourth Dispute, it didn't hinder Elder He from taking the initiative to drink with his master. And he had heard from Elder Brother Mao Xiaodong that when Elder Brother Cui Xi defected from the Wensheng lineage, Elder He privately tried to stop him, couldn't, and even scolded him face to face. So Chen Ping'an added a few more explanations, stating his conjecture: "The previous deaths of several groups of traveling cultivators, with the Yin-Yang family cultivators unable to find results, can be considered a form of misdirection on the opponent's part, making the Barren Wild's actions appear very clean and decisive. This is to prepare for a subsequent 'dragging mud and water'—most likely waiting for such a self-delivered opportunity."
"For example, if 'this person' were the Plague God, it would be very troublesome. And I dare to assert that this assumption is definitely not the worst-case scenario. Once it proves true and it is indeed the demon clan's scheme, and we here are unaware, then the situation will only worsen. One careless mistake could bring calamity to hundreds of thousands of people. I know that during the Literary Temple council, precautions were already made against plagues and similar accidents. But what's fearsome is that the enemy is scheming with full intent while we are unsuspecting."
Elder He asked, "For caution's sake, how about I send a separate flying sword message, neither startling the Qingji cultivators nor alerting Zheng Juzhong, but still warning him?"
Here at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Ping'an was no longer just a direct-line descendant of the literary lineage, but also the Hidden Officer.
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Of course that's fine. It was my oversight."
Elder He smiled.
The Wensheng lineage of Old Scholar finally had a good-tempered scholar.
As for the series of seemingly reckless moves Chen Ping'an had made at the Literary Temple, the elder didn't think Chen Ping'an was being overbearing; it was just a young man's necessity.
Elder He soon received a flying sword reply from Qingji. Regarding the serious matter, Zheng Juzhong of the White Emperor City only sent two words: "Already known."
Beyond the official matter, there was another sentence, asking the accompanying sacrifice saint to pass on a message to Chen Ping'an: "Tell the Hidden Officer that if he has time, he can come to Qingji for a chat."
In fact, when Elder He had sent the letter to Qingji earlier, he hadn't mentioned Chen Ping'an.
This Literary Temple accompanying sacrifice saint, responsible for guarding the Heavenly Veil, looked into the distance, then down at the blue-shirted figure on the city wall.
The latter was certain that Zheng Juzhong had long known the truth; the former was certain that it was Chen Ping'an returning to the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Ning Yao asked, "Do you want to go see Zheng Juzhong?"
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment. "Let's skip it."
Facing this giant of the demonic path was in no way easier than facing Wu Shuangjiang. The pressure was immense, and the mental effort even more so.
He really didn't want to be called "Mr. Chen" by Zheng Juzhong again; it made Chen Ping'an's hair stand on end.
Chen Ping'an leaned forward.
The large characters carved on this half of the city wall, besides a few surnames, included A Liang's "Fierce" character, which looked like a drunkard's scrawl.
After being shattered into two parts by the Tuoyue Mountain Great Ancestor's strike, leaving a huge gap, it had broken the ancient formation. The once indestructible Sword Qi Great Wall, "always one and united," could no longer evade the invisible impact of the River of Time. In addition, the remaining half that Chen Ping'an hadn't dao-integrated with was exposed to the sun, wind, and rain, which would damage the wall. But as long as no grand cultivators fought here, it could stand for a thousand or even several thousand years without issue.
Moreover, the large and small broken stones left from the wall could indeed be used as high-quality treasures. For example, they could be used as whetstones to sharpen magic artifacts, or as a kind of imitation Dragon-Slaying Platform—though the two were vastly different in rank. Even just grinding them into brick inkstones could serve as elegant desk ornaments for mountain immortals or scholarly gentlemen.
Back when this place fell under the jurisdiction of the Barren Wild AllHeaven, Chen Ping'an had dao-integrated half of it. The other half was watched over by the Dragon Lord, one of the old Throne great demons who was a sword cultivator. The hundred sword immortals of Tuoyue Mountain had been practicing swordsmanship here, and anyone who dared approach the city wall, or even linger at its base, would risk their life. The Barren Wild AllHeaven wasn't known for reason. However, during those years when it fell under the Barren Wild's control, it remained intact with hardly any loss. Now that it had been reclaimed into the Haoran AllHeaven's territory, it started being stolen from.
Ning Yao said, "Go on ahead by yourself. I'll look around elsewhere."
Chen Ping'an nodded, jumped off the city wall, and vanished in a flash of his blue shirt and sword.
Ning Yao got up and walked to the north of the city wall, into a land completely empty of anything. She walked on foot.
Within one of the carved strokes on the city wall, there was something like a wide plank road carved into the mountain.
A dozen cultivators, men and women, old and young, were present. Two of them, senior mentors of this trip acting as protectors, deliberately kept some distance from the younger ones, walking side by side so as not to make the children uncomfortable. For disciples on their worldly training, immortal sects often liked to travel with friendly mountain sects, not just to look out for each other. If the incense fire of the ancestral hall is passed on through generations of direct disciples adding oil and keeping the lamp lit, then the mountain-to-mountain friendship outside is best fostered through such travels.
These two protectors—the man appeared to be a mortal old man of seventy, while the woman had the appearance of a young girl. In truth, the latter was over a hundred years older than the former.
The man wore a copying-hand inkstone at his waist, an old inkstone with deep ink stains, and on it was engraved a wandering immortal poem. He said softly, "We won't be able to see the peculiar scene of three moons hanging in the sky."
The woman had a tonghua bird resembling a phoenix perched on her shoulder. She smiled and said, "That old sword immortal Dong who carved words on the city wall truly had transcendent swordsmanship. It's a pity we couldn't witness that scene with our own eyes—the moon of the heavens descending into the mortal world. Just imagining it makes the heart sway."
"I've heard that the pure sword intent accumulated here over ten thousand years was a great dao gift left by sword immortals, thread by thread, in vast quantities. They didn't disperse for a thousand years. Rumor has it that when Ascension City went to the Multicolored AllHeaven, it took half of it, and then the beast sword cultivators of Tuoyue Mountain stole quite a bit more. A pity, truly a pity."
"Anyway, we're not sword cultivators. My biggest regret is different from yours. I never got to see with my own eyes that female sword immortal who had a swing on the city wall. I don't know how beautiful Zhou Cheng really was."
"I share that regret."
Some distance away from these two Earth Immortals, another group of people was busy. They were several immortal sisters from the Southern Bodhisattva Continent who had traveled together to the Sword Qi Great Wall. They were setting up a mirror flower, water moon projection. But the images that cultivators from their homeland would see would definitely be blurry. If the distance was even greater—like in the Aiai or Liuxia Continents—not only the sisters' faces but even their silhouettes would be indistinct.
For this long journey, they had joined forces with a mountain "baggage shack" shop to rent two cubic-space items. Women traveling need a lot of belongings; one cubic-space item was never enough. Who had added more things, taking up more space—the others each knew in their hearts, but they didn't say it out loud. They were close sisters; why fuss over such things? It would hurt the relationship.
One of the immortal sisters, dressed in a dragon-girl style robe, took out a landscape painting scroll with flowers and birds. When she unrolled it and laid it on the ground, plants and trees grew, shooting up, and birds perched on the branches, chirping. This sister now occupied the scene of the scroll alone, her posture graceful, holding a small celadon bowl that she gently tossed to feed the flying birds.
The other sisters stood outside the painting, whispering among themselves.
"That Great Sword Immortal Wei from the Vase Bottle Continent—no wonder he comes from the Snow Wind Temple's Immortal Platform. His demeanor is like that of a god, full of immortal aura. Just looking at him from afar makes one's heart flutter. Don't laugh, don't laugh. Who was it just now that almost went to strike up a conversation with Wei Jin?"
"He's no less handsome than Fu Jin. A few more looks is a gain."
"Sword Immortal Wei really does have a good temper. Yesterday when we were projecting the mirror flower, water moon on the city wall, he didn't stop us. But that guy who was making faces at us was annoying. He had no shame, actually trying to squeeze into our projection."
"I heard he's some sword immortal embryo from the Southern Bodhisattva Continent whose sword heart was shattered by Zuo You. Later he went to the Vase Bottle Continent. I don't know how he ended up here training with a sword. If you ask me, he's just a poseur."
"Oh, that woman—isn't she Zhu Yuan, the Disciplinary Ancestor Master of Sishui Red Apricot Mountain, with the dao name 'Tongxian'?"
"She must be. Because I recognize Jia Xuan, the previous chess awakener of the Gengyun Dynasty. I've seen him from afar once. It's said he and Zhu Yuan were almost dao companions once."
Elsewhere on the plank road, a group of people was collecting broken stones everywhere. This place was probably a fierce battlefield, with unusually many broken stones.
One of the men only picked up a single piece, the size of a palm. He crouched on the ground, smiled, and felt satisfied. He could polish it into an inkstone for his child. The little brat wasn't a sword cultivator, but he was fascinated by the Sword Qi Great Wall. As for the man himself, he was a Golden Body pure martial artist. Half of the reason he came was to wander the world—anywhere was fine—and half was to have something to brag about in front of his child. So he had come here, tagging along because of some connection with Sishui Red Apricot Mountain.
At the edge of the plank road, a figure appeared out of thin air: a blue shirt, long gown, cloth shoes, and carrying a sword on his back.
This uninvited guest said expressionlessly, "Put it back."
The Golden Body martial artist was the first—and the only one—to put down the stone in his hand.
The rest of the qi refiners, from two different Central Earth mountain sects, either stood up or turned their heads. None were willing to give up the city wall stones that were about to become their spoils.
A direct disciple of the Sishui Red Apricot Mountain ancestral hall lightly tossed the stone in his hand and sneered, "What busybody is this? Full and idle, have nothing better to do? Are you in charge?"
The blue-shirted man, who might or might not be a sword cultivator, nodded. "I am."
"An academy disciple?"
"No."
"Then you're asking for a slap?"
"Try it."
The young cultivator weighed the situation. If this guy happened to be one of those annoying mountain types he couldn't beat, there was no guarantee. After all, he was traveling and carried a sword on his back—maybe he was a sword cultivator. Besides, when out and about, he had been taught by his sect not to cause trouble. So he started reasoning, "The Literary Temple hasn't said anything about not allowing travelers to take wall stones. They only say cultivators aren't allowed to fight here without authorization, nor use offensive techniques. What gives you the right to meddle?"
Unexpectedly, the man replied directly, "I'll have the Literary Temple add that rule: steal stones, lose your hands."
Everyone was first stunned, then burst into laughter. Alright, they could relax completely. This kind of guy can be beaten up freely.
The martial artist also shook his head with a smile. Where had this young man come from, bragging without batting an eye? He hesitated, then sent a concentrated sound to warn, "Little brother, don't cause trouble. Mr. Jia is the second guest elder of the Traveling Immortal Pavilion. Although it's not a sect-level immortal clan, it's not someone an ordinary person can afford to mess with. And Immortal Master Zhu is the Disciplinary Ancestor Master of Red Apricot Mountain. Take my advice and leave. If the Literary Temple doesn't care, there's even less reason for you to."
The crouching man picked up the stone again.
But the reckless young man paid no attention.
Instead, he smiled and said, "I'll say it again: put them all back."
Then to the martial artist, he said, "You can make an exception."
The martial artist dismissed it with a smile. This young man was talking more and more nonsense.
Jia Xuan's proud disciple laughed. "Go fuck your..."
The next moment, somehow, this direct disciple of the Traveling Immortal Pavilion ancestral hall slammed face-first into the wall, his teeth shattered.
The blue-shirted man, one hand behind his back, held the man's head with the other. He twisted his wrist lightly, causing the man to scream in agony, but his face was pressed against the wall, so he could only whimper incoherently.
A female cultivator from Red Apricot Mountain tried to save him. Her sleeves fluttered, and she attacked fiercely, unleashing water and fire techniques that twisted together like two glowing ropes in the air and slammed toward the blue-shirted man's back.
But she too was inexplicably grabbed and brought to his side. He pressed her head against the wall. Her once pretty face was now scraped bloody against the stone.
The two protectors—the man and the woman—flew over at lightning speed. Jia Xuan roared, "Villain, how dare you commit violence!"
Zhu Yuan had just summoned a natal object when she realized something was wrong. Jia Xuan seemed to charge headlong at the blue-shirted man, who slapped his face with a palm, then twisted his wrist. Jia Xuan was slammed to the ground with a thud. His body bounced once before he went limp and passed out on the spot.
Zhu Yuan tried to retreat, but a slap landed on her face. Before she fainted, she heard the blue-shirted man say, "What's there to regret?"
Chen Ping'an wiped his palms together, as if cleaning them, and said to the pure martial artist, "You can take it."
The man silently put down the stone in his hand.
Chen Ping'an laughed. "Don't mishear me. I said you can."
The man silently picked up the fist-sized stone again.
Fine, I'll do as you say.
The blue shirt vanished.
The rest of the people stood dumbfounded, looking at each other.
A voice resounded in all their mind lakes: "Don't just stand there stupid. Get the hell out of here. Run as far as you can. He's the Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall. If he wants to kill someone here, I, He Shou, certainly won't stop him, because even if I tried, I couldn't."
The martial artist stood there slack-jawed. In his shock, he looked down at the stone in his hand, then thought that when he returned home, he could brag endlessly at the wine table. No one could stop him, and no one could stop him.
After the Literary Temple lifted the ban on landscape bulletins, two particular encirclements and massacres gradually spread among the mountain sects of the Haoran AllHeaven.
The first, of course, was the battle at Fuyao Continent, hailed as "the spectacle of the allheaven," where Bai Ye took up his sword and appeared, one man and one Taibai sword, challenging half the Throne.
The second took place even earlier—on the Sword Qi Great Wall battlefield. It was rumored that several young sword cultivators from the Jiayin Tent of the Barren Wild AllHeaven had encircled and killed Chen Shiyi, the last Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
One was an undisputed peak confrontation.
The other was a clash of younger-generation geniuses, and it happened that their realms were not too far apart. Only the numbers on each side were wildly disparate, which made it even more interesting.
The four cultivators of the Jiayin Tent who had carefully ambushed and surrounded the Hidden Officer were all exceptional in their own sword dao talents, all among the hundred sword immortals of Tuoyue Mountain, each ranked highly and with exceedingly prominent, almost heaven-defying teacher backgrounds.
Li Zhen was the closed-door disciple of the Barren Wild AllHeaven's Tuoyue Mountain Great Ancestor. It was said he had practiced swordsmanship on the city wall for many years, and now his whereabouts are unknown.
Muji was the senior disciple of Liu Cha, once a Fourteen Realm.
Yu Si was a sword cultivator whom the old Throne great demon Fei Fei had called "Young Master." He had appeared on Tongye Continent and, like Li Zhen, vanished without a trace.
? Tan was the former master of Yelu River, the direct disciple of the Throne great demon Yang Zhi.
Liu Bai was one of the direct disciples of "the great thief of the allheaven," Wenhai Zhoumi.
And the person who came to reinforce and guide them was Fei Ran, an Ascension Realm sword cultivator who later became the ruler of the Barren Wild AllHeaven.
An encirclement that should have had no suspense in its outcome ended with the Hidden Officer killing Liu Bai.
When fighting with fists, he always aimed for the opponent's face.
First, there was Yu Juan's head smashed against a wall; then there was the Azure and White dispute between the Literary Temple Merit Grove and Cao Ci. What's this—fistfighting meant hitting faces? Such a unique boxing style.
On the battlefield, he specifically targeted women.
It was said the sword cultivator Liu Bai was a beautiful demon woman, pitiable to behold, with a very lovely appearance.
So this Hidden Officer was quite an interesting fellow!
No wonder he managed to climb to the high position of the last Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall as an outsider.
Unfortunately, aside from a few landscape bulletins like the Central Earth Mountains and Seas Sect that mentioned the Hidden Officer's name and hometown, most other mountain sects seemed to have an unspoken agreement—probably after the council, they had received some hint from the Literary Temple.
It was also fortunate that the Literary Temple had not leaked a certain massive secret; otherwise, current Haoran cultivators' discussions of this encirclement would likely occupy the entire space of the Nine Continents' landscape bulletins.
Because Li Zhen had left with Zhou Mi to ascend to heaven, and now held the highest divine position of the former Heavenly Court's Armor-Bearer.
And the sword cultivator Yu Si, from a "Heavenly Leak" region of the Barren Wild AllHeaven, was also one of the supreme divine positions in the new Heavenly Court, incarnated as the Water God.
As for Jia Xuan, Zhu Yuan, and those qi refiners who had come here to travel, they hadn't yet received the landscape bulletins from the Vase Bottle Continent, nor had they seen the mirror-image copies of that mirror flower, water moon projection.
Chen Ping'an returned to his original spot on the city wall, sat cross-legged, and quietly waited for Ning Yao to come back.
Cao Jun clicked his tongue. "Who was it earlier that said he had no temper? Also, Chen Ping'an, that habit of yours of hitting people in the face—change it, okay?"
Chen Ping'an remained silent, just quietly looking up at the Heavenly Veil.
Earlier, in the Great Li capital, Aunt Feng had asked a question from afar in the Fire God Temple. Chen Ping'an had helped his master give an answer, and in exchange, he got twelve jars of Hundred Flower Brew.
The answer was only four words: "Invite the enemy into the urn."
And within this was a scheme "greater than heaven," a destined "invite the enemy into the urn" that was unparalleled in past and future.
Was it only aimed at Zhou Mi, who had ascended to heaven? Just to let Wenhai Zhou Mi take over the old Heavenly Court and stop doing harm to the human world?
Of course not. That still wasn't enough.
During the Literary Temple council, Chen Ping'an had been taken by the Ritual Saint to the summit of Sui Mountain and had met the Most Holy Teacher.
Coupled with that riverside council hosted by the Ritual Saint, with the three sect founders watching from behind the scenes—an astonishing grand examination that had gathered many Fourteen Realm cultivators besides Zheng Juzhong—
Chen Ping'an finally understood his elder brother Cui Xi's larger scheme.
Once, at the White Emperor City's Caiyun Bureau, he had lost a move in the chess game and failed to defeat the "one who offers to yield to the allheaven first" of the Haoran AllHeaven—the Embroidered Tiger. The last thing of his life seemed to be, in the identity of the Wensheng lineage's senior disciple, setting up a chessboard of heaven and earth before him. Cui Xi, alone, had invited the Most Holy Teacher, the Buddha, and the Dao Ancestor—all three founding patriarchs—to sit down together.
Cui Xi seemed not only intent on making Zhou Mi fail even if he succeeded in ascending to heaven, but also on causing him to lose completely and thoroughly.
He also intended to make the human world have no need for the three founding patriarchs.