Unsheathed

There were two people walking toward each other from either end of the paved street, and Chen Ping’an and the Go board were situated right in between them.

To Chen Ping’an’s left was a woman with a white veil over her face. She was wearing a green robe with a silken red outer garment and a jade belt around her waist. There was a lute held in her arms, and she was walking along in a seductive fashion.

To Chen Ping’an’s right was a man around eight feet tall. His upper body was completely bare to reveal a muscular physique, but he was wearing a pair of pink pants.

These two looked completely out of place in contrast with the residents of the local area.

The brawny man’s eyes were filled with killing intent, and he made no attempt to conceal his intentions whatsoever as he stared intently at Chen Ping’an. Despite Chen Ping’an’s harmless appearance, the man knew better than to judge his opponents based on outward appearances, and he declared, “Outsider, my name is Ma Xuan, and I come from outside the city.

“Some people like to call me Pink Vajra, and yesterday, I was offered a thousand taels of gold for your head. I was told that you’re an unfathomably powerful martial artist, and that despite your youthful appearance, there’s a very good chance that you’re Yu Zhenyi, so I called up that woman to come with me. If you put an end to your own life here, then you’ll be able to die in one piece. Otherwise, I’ll have to pummel you to bits with my fists.”

The man was extremely loud, and the entire street was buzzing from his thunderous voice. Everyone that was gathered around the Go board hurriedly fled in a panic. A murder was about to take place under broad daylight, and there was no way they were going to stay and watch.

According to the older generation living on Champion Scholar Alley, several battles between powerful martial artists had taken place in the past in Southern Garden Nation’s capital city, and each of those battles had resulted in a tremendous amount of collateral damage. Several entire sections of the city had been razed to the ground, and at least several hundred households were partially or entirely killed.

A faint smile appeared woman’s face as she watched the fleeing bystanders through her thin veil, and she was just about to strum the strings of her lute with her right hand to decapitate Chen Ping’an with a musical note, but she suddenly stopped what she was doing as she said, “If you don’t wish to hear my music, then I suppose I’ll have to hold off for now.”

As it turned out, Chen Ping’an had turned his gaze to her, and she felt as if he would immediately charge at her if she dared to even touch the strings of her lute.

She and Ma Xuan were romantic partners, and she was here to earn the one thousand taels of gold with him, not to put herself in harm’s way by pitting herself in direct battle against their target.

The only reason why she had agreed to come was because the two of them formed a perfect partnership, which was very rare in the martial arts world. Ma Xuan would be responsible for close-quarters combat, while she assisted him from afar, and they complemented each other perfectly. As long as they weren’t facing any one of the Upper Ten Elites, they would at least be able to get away even if they couldn’t defeat their target.

Chen Ping’an was feeling a little perplexed, and he couldn’t help but wonder why he was being targeted. First, it was Fan Wan’er, who had approached him out of the blue to ask if he was a so-called otherworldly immortal, and now, someone was paying a thousand taels of gold for his head. It was clear that these two had no qualms about killing innocents, and if he hadn’t stopped them, they would’ve most likely already killed all of the fleeing bystanders.

While Ma Xuan was by far the more physically imposing of the two, more of Chen Ping’an’s attention was focused on the woman.

Her lute was entirely crafted out of purple sandalwood, and Chen Ping’an could see that there was more to it than met the eye. In particular, there were traces of blood and inky black deathly energy intertwined near the strings of the lute, and they were slowly spreading outward in all directions.

However, there were no vengeful spirits or malicious ghosts taking shape around the lute, and that was rather strange to Chen Ping’an. Given his past experience, he expected to see some paranormal signs around the lute, given that it had claimed so many lives and accumulated so much resentment.

The emaciated little girl was seated on the stool at the foot of the wall, quietly repeating the phrase “no one can see me” to herself over and over again.

As for why she hadn’t fled like the other bystanders in the alley, she had considered that option, but she felt safer staying in close proximity to Chen Ping’an.

“If I give you two thousand taels of gold, will you tell me who instructed you to do this?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The woman lowered her head with a seductive smile, and as she was holding her lute in her arms, her chest was squeezed even more forcefully against the back of her lute as a result of this gesture.

Ma Xuan immediately turned his gaze to her with a look of fiery desire in his eyes, and he scoffed, “You horny slut, you’re still just as susceptible to handsome men as you’ve always been! Let’s find a place to do it after we finish things up here. Can you charge a little less this time? A hundred taels of gold a pop is way too expensive! ”

“So there’s no possibility for negotiation?” Chen Ping’an sighed.

“Sure there is,” the brawny man chuckled as he continued to approach Chen Ping’an. “Once I’ve twisted your head off, I’ll tell you anything that you want to know!”

Meanwhile, the woman stopped around a hundred meters away from Chen Ping’an, then began to gently flex her wrists in preparation for battle.

All of a sudden, Ma Xuan launched himself forward, shattering the ground beneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, he was no more than ten feet away from Chen Ping’an, and so fast was his speed of movement that his pink pants were flapping audibly while pressing themselves tightly against his legs.

With only ten feet of distance separating them, Chen Ping’an hadn’t moved in the slightest, and it was as if he had been completely rooted to the spot from fear.

A sinister grin appeared on Ma Xuan’s face as he scoffed, “This is what you get for making my woman go into heat!”

He swung a fist at Chen Ping’an’s head with tremendous force as he spoke, and in response, Chen Ping’an arched back gently to avoid the blow, while his feet remained firmly rooted to the ground.

At the same time, he was thinking to himself that this Ma Xuan was acting a little too cocky by speaking during battle. Was he not afraid of being struck by his opponent during the interval between breaths?

As soon as Chen Ping’an evaded his punch, Ma Xuan immediately knew that he was in trouble, and he instantly spread his Qi throughout his entire body. Even though he was renowned for his physical prowess, it was still always better to be safe than sorry, and he was worried that his body may not be able to withstand the retaliative strike from his opponent.

Hence, he immediately abandoned offense for defense, focusing all of his efforts on defending himself. As his Qi traveled through his acupoints, his skin began to glow a radiant golden color.

Chen Ping’an aimed a kick upward, striking Ma Xuan in the abdomen to launch him up into the sky.

From there, Chen Ping’an abruptly stood up straight again, then dodged to the left and the right in quick succession to evade the four “lute strings” that were sweeping toward him from afar.

The woman’s right hand was flying over the strings of her lute in a barely visible blur, but the lute produced no sound. Instead, it was releasing strings of translucent light that swept through the air with lethal force.

Chen Ping’an drifted along the street like a leaf in the wind, managing to evade all of the oncoming lute threads just in the nick of time. These threads of light were sweeping through the air without any rhyme or reason, like arrows being fired by dozens of powerful bows, and they were converging toward Chen Ping’an from all directions.

Meanwhile, Ma Xuan plummeted to the ground, using his downward momentum to slam his fists down onto the street with tremendous force.

The woman had been keeping an eye on Ma Xuan this entire time, and right as he landed on the ground, the flurry of strings of light being released from her lute ceased so that she didn’t interrupt the flow of his attack.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an vanished from the spot. Ma Xuan faltered slightly upon seeing this, but it was too late for him to arrest the momentum of his fists, and they slammed heavy down onto the street. Ma Xuan was half-knelt onto the ground, and his fists sent shattered rocks flying in all directions.

In the next instant, Chen Ping’an appeared beside Ma Xuan and placed a hand onto his shoulder, then only exerted a slight amount of force, and both of Ma Xuan’s knees instantly sank into the bluestone street.

Ma Xuan let loose a furious roar as he attempted to resist against the tremendous force being exerted through Chen Ping’an’s hand, but Chen Ping’an merely pressed down a little more firmly, and he was forced down onto his backside.

The golden coloration of his skin that signified his unmatched physical constitution began to fade away on its own, while his aura also began to circulate in his body in an unstable fashion against his will, and a horrified look instantly appeared on his face.

Through the initial phase of the battle, Chen Ping’an had noticed something, which was that Ma Xuan’s True Qi was too loose and scattered.

His aura and fist intent were both truly formidable, and his martial arts cultivation base was also nothing to be scoffed at, but in a sense, he was like a house built upon low-quality wooden support beams. On calm and pleasant days with light winds, there wouldn’t be any problems, but during heavy storms, the house could easily collapse.

His True Qi was scattered and chaotic. He had clearly valued quantity over quality in his accumulation of True Qi, and it wasn’t pure at all. He was a martial artist, yet it was as if he had gone down the Qi refiner route.

The woman stopped playing her lute altogether as she heaved a faint sigh.

There was a vast disparity in power, and it was clear that she and Ma Xuan had bitten off far more than they could chew.

There was a very good chance that this white-robed outsider was a martial arts master who was infinitely approaching the Upper Ten Elites.

Was he a martial artist aligned with the demonic forces? Had another exceptional prodigy emerged in the wake of Old Demon Ding to unify the martial artist world? Alternatively, could he be a secret disciple of Yu Zhenyi’s, painstakingly nurtured for the purpose of taking down Old Demon Ding?

The situation had completely spiraled out of control, and the woman was at a complete loss for what to do.

She and Ma Xuan should’ve never gotten involved in this matter.

Right at this moment, the sound of applause rang out from on top of the wall.

“Impressive! As expected of someone who was placed on the list on a last-minute basis. It looks like I’ll have to take this seriously.”

The woman looked up, and she fell even further into the depths of despair. Squatting on top of the wall was a man with a stiff smile. It was an expression that never changed, as if he were wearing a crude mask that had taken root on his face and would remain there for the rest of his life.

It was Smiley Face Qian Tang.

Outside of the Upper Ten Elites, Qian Tang was considered to be the martial arts master most difficult to deal with. He was a very enigmatic martial artist who was aligned with the demonic forces, and he didn’t often engage in senseless slaughter of innocents, but if he were to encounter a martial artist of the same caliber as himself, then he would be sure to pester them to no end.

Among the previous generation of the Upper Ten Elites was a man known as Eight-Armed Deity Xue Yuan. Due to his advanced age, he was past his prime and had fallen out of the Upper Ten Elites, but he was still a force to be reckoned with, and a certain martial arts master of the three devilish sects had almost perished to his fist techniques.

However, even Xue Yuan was harassed by Qian Tang for an entire year and was almost driven insane as a result.

Qian Tang was squatting on top of the wall, and he grabbed a handful of dirt before casually tossing it forward as he chuckled, “If you’re still intentionally holding back, then you’re going to end up dead, not by his hands, but by mine. Your name was Ma Xuan, right? And you there, the woman with the big tits. What was your name again?”

All of a sudden, a tremendous aura erupted out of Ma Xuan’s body, one that was far more powerful than before.

At the same time, the woman had also put on a set of fake nails that were giving off a faint gleam, and she was clearly no longer holding back as she urgently strummed the strings of her lute.

Ma Xuan threw a vicious punch at Chen Ping’an, who raised a hand to block the punch, and he used the force of the punch to glide back along the street, with his feet sliding over the ground like a pair of Go stones.

At the same time, a pair of thin strings of green light passed through the area in between Ma Xuan and Chen Ping’an before slicing deep into the wall on the other side of the alley.

If Chen Ping’an had retreated just a moment too late, then he would’ve been forced to face this surprise attack.

Ma Xuan turned to take a glance at Qian Tang, who was still squatting on the wall, then harrumphed coldly as he turned his gaze back to the unscathed Chen Ping’an before spitting up a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

He had already sustained some internal injuries to his organs from that kick to the abdomen from Chen Ping’an, and he said to the woman behind him, “It’s going to be very difficult for us to make it out alive unless we go all-out here.”

“This is all your fault!” the woman spat through gritted teeth. “There are countless easier ways to earn a thousand taels of silver!”

“How was I supposed to know that this would be such a difficult job? Everyone had agreed to take on Old Demon Ding together, and I thought this guy was just a small fry,” Ma Xuan countered with a grimace.

Meanwhile, most of Chen Ping’an’s attention was placed on Qian Tang.

He was testing them, trying to see just how deep the water here was, and all of them were trying to determine exactly what Chen Ping’an was capable of.

Qian Tang began clapping once again as he said, “How interesting! It looks like great minds do think alike.”

Right at this moment, a handsome young man emerged from a crossroads, carrying a pair of bloody heads.

It was Zhou Shi, and he stood at the crossroads, looking at Chen Ping’an from afar. He smiled as he raised the heads that he was holding, then casually tossed them onto the ground.

From behind him emerged an extremely beautiful woman wearing a pair of wooden clogs. She made her way around Zhou Shi, and as she stepped onto the paved street, her clogs began to clack against the bluestone material. She was also holding a pair of heads, which she casually tossed onto the street as well.

A faint smile then appeared on her face as she said, “Greetings, Young Master. My grandteacher says that this boy can live as long as you hand over that wine gourd of yours. Otherwise, their family of five will be reunited on the other side.

“You’ve been exploring the capital city extensively over the past few months, and you’re clearly a very kind-hearted person. Surely you wouldn’t just stand by and watch an innocent child be killed when you could change that outcome.”

Inside the house deep in the alley, Old Demon Ding was seated on a stool, basking in the light of the sun. Beside him was a boy trembling uncontrollably with snot and tears flowing down his face.

The old man smiled as he said, “There’s no need to be afraid, child. You possess exceptional aptitude, and I’m planning to make an exception and take you as my disciple. Perhaps you could become the leader of the demonic orthodoxy, so what’s there to cry about? You’ve lost some family, but you now have the chance to rule over an entire world.

“You’ve read some books, so you should be aware of which is more valuable out of the two. If you keep crying and diverting my attention, I may not be able to keep that little guy trapped in that room, and if that happens, I’ll have to kill you as well.”

He then cast his gaze toward the distance as he said, “Yu Zhenyi, Zhong Qiu, let me tell you this now: Zhou Fei has already promised to help me, so I suggest that you kill Tong Qingqing and Feng Qingbai first, then come back to fight me. Also, the emergence of that outsider is a huge opportunity, so it’s no longer really that important whether you kill me or not.

“Do you really think I would be lured in by a Golden Arhat Body? If that’s the case, then you think far too little of me. Having said that, I can tell you a huge piece of good news. If you kill that man on the street, then it’ll no longer be ten.

“With his life, in addition to that wine gourd and the immortal flying sword in the room behind me, it’ll at least be thirteen. How about all of us adjust our strategies? If we kill that kid, many more choices will become available to us.”

After a brief silence, the old man seemed to have received a response, and he gave a cold sneer.

On the street, Chen Ping’an inspected his surroundings momentarily, then declared, “There’s no need to try and get a grasp on my mental state.”

Everyone was rather perplexed, wondering why he had suddenly said something like this.

In the distance, a middle-aged man was standing under the shade of a tree with a sword held to his chest. He had been taking a nap this entire time, but his eyes suddenly sprang open, and he was completely alert as he remarked to himself with a cold smile, “I knew it!”