Sword of Coming

Sword of Coming

Chen Sanqiu revealed a rumor, saying that another sword immortal from the Northern Complete Reed Continent was going to arrive at the Sword Qi Great Wall very soon. In fact, this sword immortal had seemingly arrived at Stalactite Mountain already. However, some sword immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall were also going to return home soon.

This was often the case for sword cultivators from the Northern Complete Reed Continent. They would usually return home after participating in one large-scale battle.

However, two large-scale battles breaking out within a timespan of ten years had caught everyone off guard. As such, the large majority of sword cultivators from the Northern Complete Reed Continent had chosen to stay behind at the Sword Qi Great Wall, deciding to take part in another battle.

There were naturally some sword immortals and earth immortal sword cultivators who had to leave the Sword Qi Great Wall for various reasons, given that they needed to deal with matters at their own sects. The Sword Qi Great Wall never uttered any nonsense regarding these decisions, and not only that, but there was even an unwritten rule that pertained to these outsider sword immortals as they prepared to leave. The local sword immortals, who were well-acquainted with these outsider sword immortals, needed to treat the latter to some wine and bid them farewell. This could be viewed as a gift of gratitude from the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Chen Ping’an and Ning Yao turned around and looked toward the street in unison.

Six people were walking over, all of them sword immortals!

Not only did Chen Ping’an recognize one of the female sword immortals, but he was even quite familiar with her. She was none other than Li Cai, the sect leader of the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s Duckweed Sword Lake.

She had once said that she would come to the Sword Qi Great Wall after challenging the newly advanced Sword Immortal Liu Jinglong to a sword duel. Apart from fulfilling her promise to Li Yu, her good friend from Profound Dawn Mountain, she also needed to kill an additional great demon to commemorate Li Yu, who had already passed away after failing to break through to the next cultivation tier.

Chen Ping’an only recognized one of the five remaining people, the tall and sturdy elder with white hair and a white beard walking at the front of the group. This old man genuinely had a bad temper, and this was something Chen Ping’an had personally witnessed and heard when he had stood atop the city wall in the past. The old man had directly uttered the old great sword immortal’s name, loudly questioning Chen Qingdu’s decision to kill Dong Guanpu. Afterward, the clan leader of the Dong Clan had almost clashed physically with Chen Qingdu, eventually exclaiming, ”Others are all afraid of you, Chen Qingdu, but I’m not afraid!”

This left a deep impression on Chen Ping’an, and he also became slightly curious about Dong Guanpu, the person whom the old great sword immortal had killed with a single sword strike. This was because, according to Ning Yao’s explanation, Dong Guanpu, or Grandpa Little Dong, was actually a very good person.

He could only attribute this to every clan having its own burden to bear.

There were far too many extraordinary sword immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall, but there was even more unrest to worry about.

Dong Sangeng, Li Cai, who had just arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall, and the other sword immortals were seemingly making their way straight to the small wine shop.

Seeing this, Chen Ping’an stole an extra glance at the four other sword immortals, managing to guess the identities of two of them. There was Sect Leader Han Huaizi of the Great Emblem Sword Sect and Huang Tong, the disciplinary elder of the ancestral hall.

Chen Ping’an and his companions had already stood up.

After greeting his old ancestor, Dong Huafu said, ”This wine shop doesn’t sell wine on credit.”

Dong Sangeng shot a glare at him and asked, ”Don’t you have money on you?”

”I never pay for my wine,” Dong Huafu replied with a shake of his head.

Dong Sangeng laughed heartily and remarked, ”As expected of a descendant of my Dong Clan. Looking across the entire Sword Qi Great Wall, only sons from the Dong Clan can act so shamelessly, yet appear so reasonable.”

Die Zhang inevitably felt uneasy and fearful.

After all, this old man was Dong Sangeng, the clan leader of the Dong Clan.

He was the old sword immortal who had inscribed the character ”Dong” onto the great wall!

In the past, A’Liang had hated nothing more than sword technique sparring sessions with Dong Sangeng, avoiding this whenever he could. If he couldn’t avoid it, then he would ask Dong Sangeng to give him money. If Dong Sangeng refused, then A’Liang would obediently stand beside the thatched cottage on the city wall and accept a beating. If he didn’t go to the city wall to disturb Chen Qingdu’s rest, then he would instead lie down on the rooftop of the Dong Clan’s ancestral hall.

Dong Sangeng waved a hand and put two tables together, saying to the youths, ”Don’t come over here to speak nonsense. Just focus on serving wine.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in acknowledgment at Li Cai, who also smiled and nodded in response.

Old Ancestor Huang Tong of the Great Emblem Sword Sect unexpectedly smiled at Chen Ping’an, leaving him with no option but to cup his fists and bow in respect. However, he didn’t say anything to the sword immortal.

After sitting down, Dong Sangeng glanced at the couplets and horizontal scroll plastered around the shop door, clicking his tongue in wonder and remarking, ”How truly daring. Thankfully, the characters are written quite well, much better than A’Liang’s worm-like characters.”

Beads of sweat involuntarily formed on Die Zhang’s forehead.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo also felt a little anxious.

This couldn’t be helped. They were too insignificant to even be scolded by Dong Sangeng, whereas most of the sword immortal seniors in their clan had suffered genuine beatings at the hands of Dong Sangeng.

Perhaps only Ning Yao and Chen Ping’an could be regarded as calm and composed at this moment.

Dong Sangeng stood up and left after drinking a pot of wine, and the two other local sword immortals from the Sword Qi Great Wall also bade farewell and left.

Meanwhile, Han Huaizi, Huang Tong, and Li Cai, the three sword immortals from the Northern Complete Reed Continent, all stayed behind.

Chen Ping’an told Die Zhang to retrieve an extra pot of fine wine from the shop, following which he accepted it and brought it to the table himself, saying, ”Junior Chen Ping’an pays his respects to Sect Leader Han, Sect Leader Li, and Sword Immortal Huang.”

Li Cai smiled widely and commented, ”Did you hear that, Huang Tong? My name came before yours. This is the consequence of you not becoming a sect leader.”

Chen Ping’an felt a little exasperated upon hearing this.

Sword Immortal Li Cai was completely going against the justice and morality of the martial world.

Unexpectedly, however, Huang Tong smiled and said, ”I’m doing very well behind Sect Leader Li. In fact, being on top or under Sect Leader Li will also be okay.”

Chen Ping’an had just sat down, yet he almost fell off his chair after hearing this. He didn’t have time to worry about etiquette anymore, and he hurriedly drank some wine to suppress his shock.

When traveling across the Northern Complete Reed Continent before, he had never heard about this sword immortal from the Great Emblem Sword Sect being such a direct and unrestrained person.

Why hadn’t Qi Jinglong mentioned this at all? To avoid disrespecting his lofty seniors?

Li Cai chuckled coldly and responded, ”Here’s wishing you misfortune when you travel on the intercontinental ship, drowning halfway and becoming fish feed.”

Huang Tong laughed loudly, not appearing angry and instead looking quite delighted.

Han Huaizi was a very composed and mature person, possessing the demeanor of a lofty sword immortal. He smiled faintly at Chen Ping’an and said, ”You can ignore their nonsense.”

Huang Tong retracted his smile, no longer appearing immature as he said, ”Stalactite Mountain is keeping an extremely close eye on the origins, destinations, and contents of every single messenger flying sword in the area now. In fact, Stalactite Mountain has unilaterally locked up a large number of messenger flying swords, and there’s no way to speak reason with them.

”Thankfully, Qi Jinglong wrote his letter in a very smart manner, preventing his messenger flying sword from being blocked and taken. Since Chen Ping’an is good friends with Liu Jinglong, and seeing that Li Cai is also a sword cultivator from the Northern Complete Reed Continent, the four of us can all be regarded as one big family.

”Firstly, I need to thank Li Cai for being the first to challenge Qi Jinglong, helping him get off to a good start. That person who has a good relationship with the Confucian academy came immediately afterward, forcing the old geezer, Bai Shang, to act shamelessly. It was thanks to this that Qi Jinglong was not only able to solidify his position as a sword immortal in the Northern Complete Reed Continent, but he was even able to improve his Sword Dao through the three consecutive battles. The Great Emblem Sword Sect owes Li Cai a huge favor regarding this.”

After saying this, Huang Tong smiled faintly and continued, ”So, Sect Leader Li can feel free to choose the front or the back. I won’t say a single word, and I won’t be a man if I so much as frown!”

Li Cai pursed her lips and said, ”I have some good news for you. Jiang Shangzhen has already advanced to the Immortal Tier.”

”I’m a mighty sword immortal, and this is already enough. So what if I’m not man enough?” Huang Tong immediately said.

That godforsaken Jiang Shangzhen was like a shared nightmare for the cultivators of the Northern Complete Reed Continent. He was already able to use his golden core as a nascent soul in the past, and he was renowned for being able to unleash the power of an Immortal Tier cultivator as an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator afterward. So, what could he achieve now that he had advanced to the Immortal Tier?

Disregarding Jiang Shangzhen’s cultivation, who wanted to interact with a person who was metaphorically running around with a bucket of shit? Throwing a punch or launching a sword strike at Jiang Shangzhen would genuinely grant them piss and shit in return. Most importantly, Jiang Shangzhen liked to bear grudges and was also very good at running away. Thus, even Huang Tong wasn’t willing to provoke him.

In the past, an elderly Nascent Tier cultivator from the Northern Complete Reed Continent hadn’t believed these facts about Jiang Shangzhen, going as far as to spend twenty years of his life trying to hunt down and kill him, determined to exterminate this vermin that everyone wanted dead, but no one was able to kill. However, he failed to make many inroads, and his immortal force was subject to great misery.

Jiang Shangzhen had fabricated a mountain of stories about the chaotic, romantic, and hostile relationships of the immortal force, managing to compile them into several large books and even including pictures. Not only that, but Jiang Shangzhen even gave these books away for free, sometimes even paying people to accept them. And once people accepted these books, they would at least read a few pages, no?

Han Huaizi smiled and said, ”Senior Brother, there’s a junior present, so even if you don’t care about your own image, you should at least look after Jinglong’s image, right?”

Huang Tong cleared his throat and drank a sip of wine, continuing, ”Let’s discuss some proper matters, Li Cai. The customs and traditions at the Sword Qi Great Wall appear similar to those of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, but in reality, the difference is actually quite big. Indeed, the deadly clashes on the battlefield to the south of the city wall couldn’t be more different than the one-on-one duels we’re familiar with. Many cultivators from other continents are prone to dying during the first few days of battle, suffering death if they’re careless for even a second. People shouldn’t become conceited because of their status as an Unpolished Jade Tier sword cultivator or whatnot, what with the battlefield being a place of deadly tricks and schemes. The demon tribe also has some incredibly sly and cunning members.”

Huang Tong flicked his wrist and retrieved three books from his minimization treasure, two old and one new. He pushed them toward Li Cai, who was sitting opposite him, and said, ”These two books were printed in the Sword Qi Great Wall, with one introducing the demon tribe and one being similar to a military book. I wrote these books from personal experience after being involved in two large-scale battles. I suggest that you familiarize yourself with these three books and memorize them, or else I’ll honor you with a cup of wine right now. That way, I won’t need to raise a cup in your honor when I return to the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s Great Emblem Sword Sect in the future and hear about Li Cai dying in battle. After all, that would be a case of you seeking death, so it absolutely wouldn’t be deserving of me drawing my sword to pay homage!”

Li Cai accepted the three books and nodded in response, replying, ”This is a matter of life and death, so I wouldn’t dare to be conceited and careless.”

Huang Tong sighed and looked at his junior brother, the sect leader of the Great Emblem Sword Sect, saying, ”Miss Li had no option but to personally travel here due to having no other capable cultivators in her sect. However, the Great Emblem Sword Sect still has me, Huang Tong, to represent the sect, no? Junior Brother, I’m not good at dealing with miscellaneous matters, and you’re also aware that it would be better for you to return to the Northern Complete Reed Continent to further help Jinglong ascend even higher. It’s not like there won’t be any representatives of the Great Emblem Sword Sect at the Sword Qi Great Wall after you leave — there’s still me!”

Han Huaizi shook his head and said, ”We already reached an agreement before. There’s no use trying to change my mind.”

”Agreement my ass!” Huang Tong fumed. ”I’m only pissing off back to the Northern Complete Reed Continent because I can’t defeat you in battle.”

”You can practice sword techniques in earnest when you return to the Great Emblem Sword Sect,” Han Huaizi said in a calm voice.

Huang Tong felt extremely anxious as he drank a large bowl of wine and said, ”But you’re ultimately the leader of a sect. Our Great Emblem Sword Sect can maintain a clear conscience even if you leave and I remain.”

”I’ll suffer a guilty conscience,” Han Huaizi replied. ”Ever since its founding, not a single sect leader of the Great Emblem Sword Sect has battled to death at the Sword Qi Great Wall, nor has a single Ascension Tier sword immortal. We can potentially achieve the latter with Liu Jinglong’s talent, so I can feel at ease and complete the former first.”

Huang Tong cut a dejected figure as he left.

However, he visited the wine shop before he left for Stalactite Mountain, using a wisp of sword qi to inscribe his name on a wooden tablet and writing another sentence on the backside: The old man leaves in desolation, devoid of a sword immortal’s spirit.

Li Cai was filled with spirit and vigor after hearing about the wine shop’s rules, but she only inscribed her name on the so-called safety tablet and didn’t inscribe anything on the backside. She said she would return and inscribe the backside after she killed two Upper Five Tier demons.

Han Huaizi inscribed both his name and a message.

”Han Huaizi, fourth sect leader of the Great Emblem Sword Sect. I have no major regrets in this life.”

Chen Ping’an quietly drank wine by himself during this time.

Only when Li Cai and Han Huaizi, two sect leaders from the Northern Complete Reed Continent, left together and walked along the deserted street at night did Chen Ping’an stand up and call out, ”Sect leaders.”

”Don’t look back,” Han Huaizi said with a soft chuckle.

However, Li Cai had already turned around and asked, ”Is something the matter?”

”Wine money,” Chen Ping’an responded with a smile.

Li Cai looked at Han Huaizi in puzzlement, asking, ”We need to pay for wine at the Sword Qi Great Wall?”

”I don’t know,” Han Huaizi replied with a relaxed expression.

Li Cai frowned and said, ”Feel free to keep the tab under Jiang Shangzhen’s name. You can record one snowflake coin as one lesser heat coin!”

Chen Ping’an smiled and nodded in response.

The two sword immortals slowly walked along the street.

Li Cai found this slightly strange. With Chen Ping’an’s temperament, it didn’t make sense for him to do something like this. Thinking of this, she turned around and looked back.

The young man was holding his hands inside his opposite sleeves as he stood there and looked at them. Only when Li Cai looked back did he return to the wine table and sit down.

Han Huaizi used his mind’s lake to chuckle and explain, ”This young man is just making conversation for the sake of it. He most likely thinks that even exchanging a few more words with us is a good thing.”

”What kind of interaction is this?” Li Cai asked in exasperation.

Han Huaizi thought for a moment before surprisingly giving an answer. ”This is an interaction between sword cultivators.”