Sword of Coming

Sword of Coming

The loud echo of a horn reverberated throughout the battlefield, following which the demon army started to retreat.

After attacking for more than twenty days, the large demon army still failed to push their front lines to the city wall.

The sword immortals atop the city wall were still spirited and graceful as always, while the great demons from the Savage World had seldom participated in the battle. Only a small handful of Ascension Tier and Immortal Tier great demons had channeled their mystical abilities, and none of them had truly joined the demon army in its assault. Thus, it appeared as if the Sword Qi Great Wall had easily repelled the assault of the Savage World.

Over the past few weeks, the two most outstanding battles acknowledged by everyone included Zuo You once again charging deep into enemy territory with nothing but himself and his sword. He almost destroyed the Geng Wu Tent, which was located closer to the large army of demons, and this caused two Ascension Tier great demons to step forward and attack him.

However, Zuo You still refused to retreat, and his majestic sword qi stretched from the city wall all the way to the distant ground, peering down at the vast earth like a tangible small world that had materialized in the sky. With Zuo You as its core, boundless snow-white sword qi formed a colossal dome that blotted out heaven and earth, ruthlessly annihilating the bodies and souls of all demons in its path.

Those at the Sword Qi Great Wall couldn’t see Zuo You at all. They could only see his sword qi and sword light.

Immortal Tier Sword Immortal Mi Hu, who had secretly broken through recently, was standing beside his younger brother, Mi Yu, who was still at the Unpolished Jade Tier. The two brothers both felt mixed emotions.

Mi Hu felt like things would truly be satisfying if Zuo You could unleash even more sword qi. All of the sword immortals in the world should be like this. In contrast, there was a bitter expression on Mi Yu’s face, and he thought to himself that Zuo You’s sword qi was seemingly too abundant.

If it were said that Zuo You’s magnificent battle against the two Ascension Tier great demons was taking place on the earth, then the other battle was truly taking place in the skies.

When Chen Chun’an stepped forward and made a move, one of the bright moons in the Savage World was astonishingly dragged from the lofty skies to the earth.

Almost the entire Savage World descended into a state of utter terror and panic, worried that the moon, which was growing larger and larger in their eyes, would truly crash to the earth.

The old man in gray from Holding Moon Mountain still didn’t step forward to stop Chen Chun’an, and he instead looked up and remarked with a smile, ”Quite an impressive technique, Scholar. ”

This was as expected of Chen Chun’an, someone regarded as another towering peak in the lineage of the Second Sage.

Casting one’s gaze over the eight large continents beyond the Middle Earth Divine Continent, there was the Southern Whirl Continent’s Chen Chun’an, the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s Spiritual Master Fire Dragon, and the Pure White Continent’s God of Riches. Each had their own strengths, and even the haughty Qi refiners from the Middle Earth Divine Continent didn’t dare to recklessly accuse these individuals of being lightweights.

The old man in gray allowed the Ascension Tier great demon, who referred to itself as Lotus Flower Nunnery Master, to unleash its full strength against Chen Chun’an.

The Ascension Tier great demon was a Daoist priest who had refined half of the moon’s soul, allowing it to enjoy a strong advantage in terms of conditions and geography. However, it was still unable to block Chen Chun’an’s divine technique of slowly drawing a moon to the earth.

In reality, this sense of slowness was actually an illusion. If there were truly a primordial deity or an ascended immortal residing on the moon, they would presumably be able to experience the wind blasting past their body as the moon rapidly plummeted to the ground.

Outside the battlefield, the demon cultivators with relatively high cultivation bases — especially those approaching the Upper Five Tiers — could increasingly feel the stifling pressure permeating through the surroundings. They could clearly see the ”Moon Palace” on the bright moon, where many vast but lifeless mountain ranges rose and fell. Upper Five Tier demon cultivators with better eyesight could even see the lifeless ruins of the Moon Palace. There were gigantic columns of decayed wood, primordial corpses that could flatten the mountains, and hovering garments that were as large as lakes and rivers.

A Militarian sage from the Majestic World had once made a remark that was more praise than criticism. ”’Tis a shame the pure Confucian scholars aren’t domineering, with their essays unable to reach the heavenly roads.”

If the speaker of this remark were able to witness Chen Chun’an’s formidable feat at the Sword Qi Great Wall, they would most likely refrain from making such a preposterous statement.

Meanwhile, of the nine large continents in the Majestic World, the Sword Qi Great Wall wasn’t actually the most familiar with the Middle Earth Divine Continent. Rather, it was most familiar with the Southern Whirl Continent, which was located closest to Stalactite Mountain. This meant it was extremely familiar with Pure Confucian Chen Chun’an.

Of course, this was also in large part thanks to A’Liang’s heavy promotion, especially his remark that Chen Chun’an was a relatively unique and mighty figure among scholars. A’Liang described Chen Chun’an as an old scholar wielding hammers, possessing both scholarly talent and martial prowess. Indeed, he was very impressive, being able to write good essays and also being able to fight.

However, the bright moon ultimately didn’t land on the earth. The Lotus Flower Nunnery Master unleashed its full power and fought a stalemate with Chen Chun’an for one entire hour. As a result, this particular moon appeared extremely large and bright on that night.

These two battles were the most genuine fights between paramount immortals.

These battles also provided a significant boost to the morale of the Sword Qi Great Wall, inspiring the sword cultivators to attack quicker and more viciously. This caused the waterfall of sword qi, which was formed by the convergence of tens of thousands of bonded flying swords, to become increasingly ferocious and formidable.

However, despite the sword qi being overwhelming, most of the demons that charged forward to their deaths were only ordinary pawns. Only a small number of demon cultivators truly advanced with the large army.

As a result, the large majority of sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall only managed to earn piddling amounts of military merit.

Thinking back to Sword Immortal Xie Songhua from the Pure White Continent, she had kept a low profile the entire time, yet she had suddenly launched a devastating strike and astonished the entire battlefield. She was one of the few people who had obtained significant military merit.

After the large demon army stopped its assault, it didn’t abandon the corpses of its soldiers on the battlefield as it had typically done in the past. It didn’t leave these corpses under the scorching sun and allow certain sword cultivators from the Sword Qi Great Wall to ”collect money.”

The demon tribe started to show respect toward those that had fallen in battle, doing its best to collect the corpses along with the belongings of the deceased. The demons carefully sorted through and stored everything, preparing to return the corpses and belongings to the relevant next of kin.

The Sword Qi Great Wall naturally wouldn’t allow the demon tribe to swagger around and clean up the battlefield so easily.

Most importantly, there was a profound reason for the demon tribe’s temporary retreat.

A great demon was holding a golden pot in his palm, one that was decorated with a mouse offering treasures. After activating this treasure, all of the ownerless spirit tools and immortal treasures that were brimming with spiritual energy on the battlefield automatically rose from the ground and rapidly flew toward the golden pot.

Elsewhere, there was a great demon holding a Jewel-Chasing Dragon Jade Tablet crafted from ink-black jade, and after tightening its grip, the jade tablet released a brilliant light as well as countless black flood dragons, each as long as a finger.

Like sinister flood dragons breaking free from suppression, these black flood dragons instantly transformed into enormous beasts after slithering far away from the jade tablet. They slammed their claws into the ground, easily sending plumes of dust more than fifty meters into the air as they attempted to brutally kill the sword cultivators who had jumped down from the city wall.

Great Demon Zhong Guang, who had previously commanded a large-scale assault on the Sword Qi Great Wall, summoned a bonded item. This was a bowl of water, and he lightly exhaled over it, creating a ripple on the surface of the water. A profoundly deep whirlpool suddenly materialized, appearing as blindingly brilliant as the galaxies in the night sky.

The wandering souls of the demons on the battlefield transformed into numerous tornadoes that swept toward the south, attempting to fuse into the bowl of water.

After collecting these souls, Great Demon Zhong Guang could either return them to the Savage World beyond this battlefield or he could keep them inside the paramount treasure, lest they be formlessly refined by the sword qi and sword intent of this place.

Profoundly concentrated and pure spiritual energy appeared to always have low affinity with people, but in reality, it would display a mystical and strong affinity toward those cultivators who enjoyed both favorable timing and geographical advantage.

The many primordial sword intents lingering over the Sword Qi Great Wall were the best example.

However, those severed limbs, broken bodies, and rivers of blood would seep into the earth, greatly transforming the aura and fortune of the battlefield.

The sword immortals needed to deal with this, and even though they would most certainly fail to purify the entire battlefield, they still needed to cleanse as much of it as they could.

Otherwise, the so-called favorable timing that originally belonged to the Sword Qi Great Wall would gradually lean toward the Savage World instead.

Besides the old great sword immortal and the great wall beneath their feet, this favorable timing was one of the biggest shields of the sword cultivators.

And with this in mind, one of the strangest scenes appeared on the battlefield. The two sides had clearly paused the battle already, yet more and more great demons and sword immortals started to channel their abilities. These powerful beings used all kinds of techniques and treasures to manipulate and gather the many immortal treasures and damaged spirit tools on the battlefield. However, a significant portion of these treasures was smashed into pieces as they were relentlessly fought over.

In any case, despite the huge commotion caused by the sword immortals and great demons, things were actually quite muted compared to the intense clash between the two armies before.

There was a short period of rest following the pause in battle, and according to the historical rules, sword cultivators would be allowed to rest and recuperate for anywhere from two to ten days.

Chen Ping’an didn’t leave the city wall straight away, and he continued to sit there cross-legged and observe the long-range abilities of the sword immortals and great demons.

Liu Xianyang walked over and sat down beside Chen Ping’an. He needed to meet up with his friends and fellow disciples soon, and the most important aspect of his trip to the Sword Qi Great Wall was still to study and learn.

Regardless of what the other Confucian disciples from the Second Sage’s lineage thought, Liu Xianyang didn’t actually care very much about killing demons. In fact, he might not have been willing to participate in the battle if it hadn’t been for Chen Ping’an sitting here. This was also a clear reflection of how Liu Xianyang had always been more relaxed and carefree than Chen Ping’an.

As for when they would leave the Sword Qi Great Wall, no one was clear about this. This was completely up to the sage of the Chen Clan. Liu Xianyang scratched his head and gazed at the suddenly rising and suddenly waning bursts of ferocious sword light in the distance, saying, ”Count my military merit under your name.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response, smiling as he offered his Sword Nurturing Gourd to the sturdy young man.

Liu Xianyang shook his head and said, ”I’m good. Even if I want to drink wine to let loose, I would at least need a beautiful young lady to accompany me, no?”

He had heard about Chen Ping’an composing the Seal Manual of the Two Hundred Sword Immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall, so Liu Xianyang also planned to ask Chen Ping’an for a pair of seals. One would be relatively straightforward, and he would inscribe the characters: Great Sword Immortal Liu. The other would be more sincere and down-to-earth, and he would inscribe the characters: Liu Xianyang Preserves His Integrity As Purely As Jade.

Chen Ping’an lowered his voice and asked, ”That demon cultivator was actually unscathed after being struck by your sword?”

Liu Xianyang smiled and replied, ”He was also a sword cultivator, and he had a defensive treasure as well. He’s not so easy to kill.”

Things were very lively on Qi Shou’s side of the great wall.

Many people made their way over, and this was because Qi Shou had broken through and exited seclusion just before the commencement of the battle. He had successfully advanced to the Nascent Tier, after which he had guarded a section of the great wall by himself. This was indeed worthy of praise and celebration.

Qi Shou clearly lived up to his reputation as the leader of his small group, and he was also a descendant of the Qi Clan to begin with, so it wasn’t long before a group of more than a dozen good friends gathered around him.

Chen Ping’an was familiar with some of them, for example, Dragon Gate Tier Sword Cultivator Ren Yi, who had manned the first trial back then.

There was also Golden Core Tier Sword Cultivator Pu Yu, who had been responsible for conducting the second trial. He was dressed in white and was an especially handsome and elegant young master.

There were also several female sword cultivators around the same age as Qi Shou, and coming here to congratulate him was only half their goal. The other half of their goal was to look at his two neighbors. Unlike the noble ladies in the Majestic World, the young women here were far bolder and more straightforward, and right now, these female sword cultivators didn’t conceal their judgmental gazes as they looked Chen Ping’an and Liu Xianyang up and down. Their so-called whispers were also far from quiet.

During the rotation of personnel atop the Sword Qi Great Wall before, some sword cultivators had seized the brief moment of reprieve to chat with their friends and acquaintances. They would occasionally discuss the situations on the other sections of the wall, and among these topics would be the second shopkeeper and the scholar from the Southern Whirl Continent. There was quite a lot they could chat about.

As for which sword cultivator had died and whose bonded flying sword had been destroyed in battle?

They would surprisingly just nod in acknowledgment and say nothing else.

Chen Ping’an swirled his Sword Nurturing Gourd around and said in a teasing voice, ”And would you look? Aren’t there beautiful young ladies now? Care for some wine?”

Liu Xianyang jumped down the city wall and muttered, ”I’m off.”

After Liu Xianyang walked far away, one of the young female sword cultivators smiled and asked, ”What’s the name of your friend, Second Shopkeeper? Does he currently have Dao partners or mistresses?”

”Why didn’t you ask him directly just then?” Chen Ping’an replied with a chuckle.

The female sword cultivator also chuckled and said, ”Because I’m shy. Obviously.”

Chen Ping’an felt slightly exasperated. They had been looking at Liu Xianyang as if he were naked just then, displaying no sign of timidness at all.

This female sword cultivator was called Situ Longqiu, and she was a mistress’ daughter from Taixiang Street’s Situ Clan. She was at the peak stage of the Sea Observation Tier, and she was good friends with Dong Bude. Her cultivation base was middling among those at the same age at the Sword Qi Great Wall, but she was outgoing and cheerful in a way that was very much like those in the martial world.

Through Situ Longqiu’s added exaggeration and flair, interesting stories at the Sword Qi Great Wall would often become even more interesting. In fact, many rumors and gossip originated from her and Dong Bude chasing the wind and clutching at shadows, and this would cause real news to feel extremely fake, but fake news to feel even more legitimate than real news.

When Dong Bude had visited the Ning Residence and asked Chen Ping’an to help her inscribe three seals, one of them had been for none other than Situ Longqiu.

The second shopkeeper was an upstanding person who didn’t discriminate between old and young; Situ Longqiu always swore that she was telling the truth, Gu Jianlong would often step forward to speak fairly and candidly, Dong Huafu spent money like it was nothing, and Wang Xinshui was always confident before a fight but not so much afterward... They were now the five newest unique personalities of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The five previous unique personalities included A’Liang’s impressive gambling skills making him a public enemy, the Lord Hidden Official having the best temper and never hitting people, the old deaf guy telling people to speak like proper humans, Lu Zhi being breathtakingly beautiful, and Mi Yu failing to be recognized for his sincerity and this having nothing to do with his sword skills or cultivation base.

Right now, the encounter between Chen Ping’an and Situ Longqiu could probably be regarded as an encounter between mighty figures.

Situ Longqiu suddenly smiled and asked, ”Is Goose Lake Mountain very famous in the Majestic World?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, ”It’s a little-known mountain in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. The scenery there is top-notch, but it hasn’t made a name for itself yet. However, I have a good friend who likes to write travel journals while traveling around the martial world, and he has told me about the stunning scenery of this place, one of which was a large waterfall named Longqiu. This is why I have a fairly deep impression of Goose Lake Mountain.”[1]

”And here I was thinking that it was one of the Five Mountains and widely renowned throughout the world,” Situ Longqiu said in disappointment.

She then smiled widely and said, ”So be it. This is already very good.”

The reason for Situ Longqiu’s question was the strange contents inscribed on the side of the seal that Dong Bude had given her: Resting at Goose Lake Mountain’s Longqiu Waterfall, I dream of blazing stars in my slumber. Overjoyed, I’m unable to sleep, so I jump barefoot into the long grass.

Situ Longqiu had asked many knowledgeable friends in her clan — people with impressive libraries of books — about this after receiving the seal, yet none of them had managed to offer a good explanation about Goose Lake Mountain’s Longqiu Waterfall.

Chen Ping’an recalled something, and he said with a smile, ”In fact, I do have one piece of good news for you. It’s extremely likely that Goose Lake Mountain will become a vassal of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s New Eastern Mountain in the future, promoting it to the level of a ’crown prince’ mountain. This should greatly improve its renown.”

Situ Longqiu faltered for a moment before asking, ”Crown prince mountain? What nonsense is this?”

She then laughed loudly and continued, ”In any case, this sounds like a good thing.”

She turned around and walked back to Qi Shou’s side, after which they jumped on their swords and returned to the main city in the north together.

1. The waterfall here is referred to as Longqiu (龙湫), which is the same as Situ Longqiu’s name. The Longqiu waterfall is a real waterfall that exists at Goose Lake Mountain (雁荡山), a coastal mountain range in southeastern Zhejiang province in eastern China.