Unsheathed

The middle-aged man slowly emerged from the shade of the tree, and he grabbed onto the hilt of his sword with its blade pointing upward, wobbling from side to side. As opposed to a swordsman, he looked much more like a naughty child playing with a rattle drum. However, as soon as he stepped into view, everyone’s expressions instantly changed drastically.

The man paid no heed to all of these vast renowned martial artists, and his gaze was fixed solely on Chen Ping’an as he smiled and said, “You’re thinking far too highly of yourself. In the next century, Ding Ying is probably the only one worthy of being hunted by me. As for you, you’re still nowhere near worthy of that honor yet.”

Everyone looked on as the man plunged his sword into the ground, and he rested his hands lazily onto the tip of the sword’s hilt as he turned to everyone else with a smile and said, “Well, don’t just stand there. Keep going! I’ll only step in if all of you are unable to get the job done. Rest assured, my sword is reserved only for that boy today, and I won’t target any of you.”

Ma Xuan spat up a globule of bloody saliva, then smiled as he said, “I never thought that I would have the opportunity to be backed up by Sword Immortal Lu. Looks like it was worth making this trip to the capital, after all! Regardless of the outcome, my name will inevitably be mentioned whenever someone speaks of this battle, and that’s enough for me!”

Ma Xuan huddled over slightly, and a fearsome tiger tattoo appeared over his body, stretching all the way from his shoulder down the entire length of his arm.

On top of that, a door-god-like image had also appeared on his muscular back. It depicted an azure-robed man with a head of long hair, wielding a long saber. The man’s eyes were closed, and he was giving off a cold aura that was even more formidable than that of the tiger tattoo.

Qian Tang’s smile widened even further, and he plucked out a piece of straw from somewhere, then began to gently chew on it.

Meanwhile, Zhou Shi said Ya’er in a quiet voice, “It looks like Ma Xuan has stumbled upon some type of fated opportunity. My father tells me that this is a deity invitation technique, and someone was able to use this same technique in that battle outside the capital three hundred years ago to great effect, hunting down two thousand elite grassland cavalry and wiping out every single one of them.”

Upon catching sight of the peculiar look in the lute-wielding woman’s eyes, Ma Xuan smiled as he said, “I wouldn’t have dared to take on this job if I didn’t have some new tricks up my sleeve. Do you really think I care about the gold on offer?”

“I’m here solely for the gold,” the woman replied in a cold voice. “This money is clean.”

A hint of mockery flashed through Ma Xuan’s eyes as he scoffed, “You haven’t really fallen for that impoverished scholar? All scholars care about their reputation. If he learns about your past, he’s going to be kicking himself, and he’ll definitely denounce you for being a prostitute and a whore!

“And you know what? He’d be right! Which part of your body is clean? Keep lying to yourself! When you and that impoverished scholar get married, I’ll give you five hundred taels of gold as your prostitution fee!”

“I sense genuine love and affection behind those scathing words,” Zhou Shi chuckled.

A hesitant look appeared on the face of the lute-wielding woman.

All of a sudden, Qian Tang interjected, “You’re planning to marry him? Prior to coming here, I had a chat with that scholar, and we hit it off really well. We talked about many interesting stories that we’d heard, and one of those stories was the one about the lute woman.

“The idiot immediately began denouncing the lute woman for her actions, referring to her as a shameless whore, but little does he know that he’s talking about the very same woman that sleeps beside him every night! I think a marriage between the two of you would work. Given his sheer stupidity, you could easily keep your identity from him a secret for the rest of your life!”

A look of melancholy appeared on the woman’s face, but it was then immediately replaced by one of resolve.

Chen Ping’an had been listening and observing this entire time without displaying any agitation.

Not only was he currently surrounded, it seemed that Fifteenth had been trapped in the house where he had been staying.

The lackadaisical swordsman that had just stepped out from under the shade of the tree was the third martial artist that Chen Ping’an had encountered that was displaying signs of approaching the Great Dao, with the previous two being the old man in the lotus flower hat and Fan Wan’er.

However, this man’s martial arts cultivation base was far superior to Fan Wan’er’s, and it seemed that he wasn’t far away from the old man with the Ding surname.

On top of that, even Ma Xuan had some trump cards up his sleeve, and it was clear that the water here was deeper than it appeared on the surface.

If he had kept Fifteenth in his Sword Nurturing Gourd instead of First, then he would be in a slightly better situation right now, but there was no point in thinking about that now.

This seemed like a truly dire situation.

Zhou Shi smiled as he said, “I’ll let you do the honors, Ms. Ya’er.”

“I was put up to this by my grandteacher, so I certainly wouldn’t dare to slack off. Having said that, remember to save me if I’m in danger,” Ya’er replied in a resigned manner.

Zhou Shi nodded in response.

“There’s no loss more tragic than that of a beautiful woman. Rest assured, I won’t let you down.”

Qian Tang tossed the straw that he was chewing on aside, and he also rose to his feet. After doing some stretching, a genuine smile far less stiff and rigid than his normal smile appeared on his face as he said, “It’s not every day that I get to fight an otherworldly immortal.”

Lu Fang smiled as he cautioned, “Stop thinking about such useless things on the cusp of a battle. Tong Qingqing, Feng Qingbai, and you all have similar levels of talent when it comes to the martial arts, and the three of you all live your lives in different ways, but you have the least luck out of the bunch.

“I know that you’ve been concealing your true power all this time. That’s a very dangerous game akin to playing with fire, and you may just get burned if you’re not careful.”

Ma Xuan had already elevated himself to the peak of his powers in one fell swoop, and there was no reason for him to wait any longer.

It wasn’t clear whether the resentment and affection that he felt toward the woman with the lute was genuine, but his battle intent was definitely genuine.

The tiger tattoo was moving as if it were a living creature, and a burst of golden light appeared over his shoulder arm, to the point that golden radiance was even spilling through the gaps between his fingers.

He stepped forward and arrived in front of Chen Ping’an in an instant, then threw a punch forward with tremendous force.

Instead of retreating, Chen Ping’an advanced forward as he lowered his center of gravity while ducking his head to the side, just barely evading Ma Xuan’s fist while also blocking Ma Xuan’s knee strike with his right hand. With a firm push, Ma Xuan was sent flying back seventy to eighty feet before stumbling back a few more steps, stomping several craters into the ground.

The sound of the woman’s lute rang out, and two bright threads of light swept directly toward Chen Ping’an from either side of Ma Xuan, who stomped his foot forcefully into the ground to launch himself forward once again.

Chen Ping’an was able to evade the oncoming lute strings with ease, and not only was he extremely agile, he was abnormally fast, as if there were something tugging on him, allowing him to change directions at an inconceivable speed.

Lu Fang’s eyes lit up as he yelled, “Ma Xuan, look out in front of you!”

Ma Xuan instantly stopped cold in his tracks, doing so with such tremendous force that his feet plowed a pair of trenches into the ground, and he raised his arms to form a barrier in front of himself.

Sure enough, a punch came out of nowhere to strike him on the arm, and he let loose a thunderous roar, upon which the azure-robed door god on his back abruptly opened its eyes.

“Die!”

Ma Xuan leaned back slightly from the force of the punch, then stepped forward as he swung his fist through the air, and the golden light radiating from his entire arm left a radiant golden sector in its wake.

From the perspective of Qian Tang, he saw Chen Ping’an gently press down onto Ma Xuan’s fist with one hand, then launch himself up into the air, vaulting over Ma Xuan’s head. From there, he trod onto the back of Ma Xuan’s head, launching himself at the woman with the lute hiding behind him.

The woman strummed her fingers rapidly over the strings of her lute in response, releasing a series of strings of light that intertwined to form a green net in Chen Ping’an’s path.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an’s brow furrowed slightly as he abruptly changed directions, abandoning the woman with the lute as he darted away to his left, toward Qian Tang.

Aside from Lu Fang, Qian Tang was the one who Chen Ping’an was most wary of.

“Aren’t you supposed to be going after the easy targets? You’re taking the complete opposite route!” Qian Tang chuckled as he spread open his arms before falling backward.

In the next instant, he abruptly vanished into thin air, and Chen Ping’an swiveled around to reach out toward Qian Tang, who had somehow appeared behind him and was swinging a kick right at the back of Chen Ping’an’s head.

Chen Ping’an’s hand grasped onto nothing but empty air as Qian Tang vanished once again, as if he were using Land-shortening Talismans.

For a second time, he appeared behind Chen Ping’an without any warning, and this time, his body was curled up slightly as he spread both arms open and lashed out at Chen Ping’an’s temples with his fists.

Right as Chen Ping’an was about to retaliate, Lu Fang warned in a clairvoyant-like manner, “Look out, Qian Tang, he’s about to really fight back now.”

Qian Tang hesitated slightly, then voluntarily abandoned his attack, even though it seemed like he was passing up a golden opportunity, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing back on the street.

The two of them had just about changed positions, with Chen Ping’an standing atop the wall, while Qian Tang was standing on the street.

He took a glance at Lu Fang, who had foiled his plans twice in succession, and he asked, “Why don’t you just attack me?”

Lu Fang patted the hilt of his sword with a smile as he replied, “It would be terrible for my reputation if it became known that I ganged up on a junior with so many others.”

Chen Ping’an offered no response.

His Sword Nurturing Gourd had become completely still and lifeless, and his connection with First had been completely severed.

Not only that, but the Dao robe that he was wearing had also been rendered ineffective.

Without the Dao robe’s protection, Chen Ping’an was no longer able to disregard the weapons of his opponents. However, the silver lining here was that without the restrictive effects of the Dao robe hindering his movements, his fists would only be faster, much like back when he removed the True Qi Talismans that Old Man Yang had placed upon him.

First had gone missing, Fifteenth was trapped, and the Dao robe was now just a normal piece of clothing.

In exchange, his fists had been completely freed from their bindings.

Up to this point, Chen Ping’an had actually been holding back as he was very perplexed about this world, this entire city, and the so-called Upper Ten Elites.

He still couldn’t make sense of everything, but there were some things that he had to do anyway.

“Don’t die, Ma Xuan!”

Once again, Lu Fang was barking instructions.

Ma Xuan adopted a fist stance, and at this point, both of his arms had turned golden in color. On top of that, specks of golden light were flowing out of his nostrils with each exhale.

After opening its eyes, the green-robed martial sage on his back had become even more life-like, and a speck of white light emerged from the tip of its saber, then spread through Ma Xuan’s entire body, and it didn’t take long before his eyes were glowing with faint silver light.

In his current form, he resembled a deity revered in temples, and he grinned as he said, “I was planning to take on the Imperial Preceptor Zhong with this indestructible godly body of mine, but I’ve been forced to unveil it early here. Come at me, boy! Give me everything you’ve got, and if I so much as frown, I’ll concede my loss!”

Chen Ping’an needed no second invitation, and he launched himself forward.

In this instant, everyone was struck by the illusion that the entire street had sunken several feet from the force of Chen Ping’an’s stomp, and he struck Ma Xuan’s chest with all his might using his Heavy Cavalry Formation Shattering Technique.

The green-robed martial sage image on his back was instantly shattered, and he was sent flying back through the air like a cannonball.

Chen Ping’an followed along close behind, throwing another punch into Ma Xuan’s midsection.

Ma Xuan had already completely doubled over, and with this second punch, he was sent flying back toward the lute-wielding woman behind him.

“Lu Fang, save me!” the woman exclaimed as her expression changed drastically, but despite her panic, she didn’t retreat, nor did she try to dodge to the side.

Instead, she darted forward, attempting to hide behind Ma Xuan’s indestructible godly body, thinking to herself that surely there was no way that Chen Ping’an would be able to punch straight through Ma Xuan’s body, and as soon as he was slowed down, she was certain that Lu Fang would intervene.

Chen Ping’an seemed to have gleaned her thoughts, and he threw a third punch into Ma Xuan’s abdomen.

Not only was Ma Xuan’s godly body completely pulverized, his silver eyes instantly turned bright red and completely bloodshot.

Ma Xuan crashed into the woman behind her, causing her lute to jangle erratically, and she threw up a mouthful of blood as she kicked out her legs in an alternating fashion, frantically retreating through the air.

However, she was still too slow.

Chen Ping’an’s fist tore straight through her lute before crashing heavily into her abdomen, and he swung his fist through the air in a semicircle, twisting the woman and her destroyed lute around in mid-air before sending them crashing heavily into a wall. Her voluptuous body was almost completely embedded into the wall, and it was unclear whether she was dead or alive as her shattered lute fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Lu Fang continued to stand still on the spot, watching from afar with a smile on his face.

“Qian Tang, don’t be fooled by the current speed of his punches, he can go even faster. Do not let him get close to you. If you have ranged weapons, you can give those a try,” Lu Fang advised in a lackadaisical voice. “Oh, by the way, the people that he wants to kill the most are actually Ya’er and Young Master Zhou.”

At this point, Ya’er was so astonished by Chen Ping’an’s display of power that she couldn’t even muster up the courage to enter the fray anymore. Even if she were to be reprimanded by her grandteacher, it was still a better fate than the one that Ma Xuan had suffered.

As for Zhou Shi, he had already decided that he was absolutely not going to get involved, and both of them were horrified by Lu Fang’s casual statement.

Sure enough, Chen Ping’an switched directions once again, and this time, he was rushing directly at Ya’er.

Right as she was about to react, her eyes abruptly widened as a pained look appeared on her face.

The wall behind her had exploded without any warning, and an extremely thin longsword had emerged. The assassin was wielding the sword with both hands, and they had struck as fast as lightning.

The sword pierced straight through her back before protruding out of her abdomen, and the poor woman was pushed forward involuntarily as the assassin continued to charge toward Chen Ping’an.

It was as if a three-foot longsword were growing out of her abdomen, and its tip was aimed straight at Chen Ping’an’s Zhongting acupoint, which was situated right in the center of his midsection.

Lu Fang grabbed onto the hilt of his sword in a subtle fashion, but then quickly released it again.

In this dire situation, Chen Ping’an abruptly vanished from the spot, using up his final Inch Movement Talisman.

The assassin removed one of his hands from the hilt of his sword, then pressed it against the back of Ya’er’s head before pushing forward forcefully, sliding her body off his sword. Ya’er fell to the ground several dozen feet her way, and her body was heaving violently as blood gushed freely out of her mouth.

The back of her clothes was already completely soaked with blood, and she attempted to turn her own body around, but she only managed to press the palm of her hand against the ground before she collapsed once again.

The assassin was a barefoot young man with his sleeves rolled up, and he turned to Chen Ping’an, who was catching his breath.

A wide smile appeared on the young man’s face as he said, “I heard that there were immortal treasures to be gained from killing you, so I came. My name is Feng Qingbai, and I’m a swordsman. I’m one of the Upper Ten Elites, so that’s already one in the bag, and with the second one I’ll be able to secure in exchange for your head, I’ll be making a killing!

“It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to kill you with a single blow. In a direct battle, I doubt that I’ll be a match for you, but that’s fine, I can work with Lu Fang to take you down. He’s the only one worthy of the title of sword immortal here, and he’ll definitely be going back.”

Ma Xuan’s godly body was broken.

The woman with the lute remained embedded into the wall with loose rocks clattering onto the ground in front of her.

Ya’er was laying in a puddle of her own blood, and her fair and delicate exposed feet presented a stark contrast with the dark red blood beneath her body.

However, there was still Lu Fang, Feng Qingbai, Qian Tang, and Zhou Shi to be dealt with.

The emaciated little girl was curled up into a ball on the little stool as she thought to herself, Keep going! Smash their heads open so I can take their clothes and shoes! I can tell just by looking that they must be worth a lot!

The little girl took a glance at Ya’er, and in particular, her gaze settled on her wooden clogs. In her mind, Ya’er deserved her fate for dressing in such an ostentatious fashion.

Chen Ping’an clenched his fists before loosening, repeating the process a few times.

He had practiced his fist techniques for so long, and it was time to put them to work.

————

On the summit of Bull Mountain, Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu was standing with a solemn and uncertain expression as he asked, “Is that really true? Not only will killing that man grant an additional spot, there are three fated opportunities on offer as well?

“Why is that? Out of all of the nations’ secret historical records and the secret files of the Reverence Pagoda, there have been no instances of this ever happening near the conclusion of any sixty-year period. Could this be a trap set by Ding Ying?”

At this moment, Yu Zhenyi was carefully engraving a bamboo jade fan with a carving knife, and he was doing so with such painstaking care that he resembled a lovestruck man caressing the skin of the woman of his heart.

Instead of responding to Zhong Qiu’s question, he continued to stare intently at the fine engravings that he had made, and sweat was already beginning to bead up on his forehead, which was very abnormal, considering his exceptional martial arts cultivation base.

As an elite master who was second only to Ding Ying, environmental temperatures no longer had any impact on him. On top of that, it was said that he had obtained an immortal scripture some years ago, through which he was able to glean the will of the heavens for the past several decades and attain powerful mystical abilities.

In fact, some even proclaimed in no uncertain terms that they had seen Yu Zhenyi taking flight across the heavens, and it was exactly during this time that his appearance had reverted back to a young boy from that of an old man.

After a successful decade-long stint of seclusion, he had finally become one with the heavens, and everyone was hoping that Yu Zhenyi would face Ding Ying in battle as the leader of the righteous path. Ideally, he would strike Ding Ying down and bring peace to the land.

If he could do that, then the emperors would no longer have to worry about having their heads claimed by Ding Ying during their sleep, nor would the masters of both the righteous and demonic paths have to continue to look up at the insurmountable old devil.

Even the most powerful figures among the demonic forces were hoping that their enigmatic ancestor would either drop dead or complete the legendary act of ascension. In any case, they wanted him out of this world. It had already been eighty years, and it was about time that someone else claimed the top spot in his stead.

Aside from Yu Zhenyi and Zhong Qiu, there was also an extremely beautiful woman dressed in regal azure clothing on the summit of Bull Mountain. It was the most prestigious formal dress of Southern Garden Nation’s empress, and it was only worn during imperial assemblies, temple fairs, and other prestigious events. The woman was none other than Empress Zhou Shuzhen of Southern Garden Nation.

She also had another status that no one knew of; she was the pagoda master of the Reverence Pagoda, and she was responsible for ranking the top martial artists under the heavens once every twenty years.

Zhou Fei had been lusting over her stunning beauty for a very long time, and just as Zhou Shi had proclaimed back in White River Temple, if it weren’t for the fact that Zhong Qiu was based right next to the imperial palace, Zhou Fei would’ve already stormed into the palace to abduct her.

Yu Zhenyi set down the fan in his hand, then raised an arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. As he did so, he gently exhaled, releasing a faint cloud of mist that lingered around his face, refusing to dissipate.

After that, he replied to Zhong Qiu, “It should be true. Having said that, it’s very difficult to glean Ding Ying’s intentions, even at the best of times. In contrast with hunting down that young swordsman, we should be much more wary of what Ding Ying could be plotting right now.

“I don’t feel very comfortable with what’s happening over on Champion Scholar Alley right now. I think it would be best if you went there to oversee the proceedings in person, Imperial Preceptor Zhong.”

The fact that Yu Zhenyi was referring to him as Imperial Preceptor Zhong indicated that their relationship was indeed rather strained.

Zhong Qiu’s brow furrowed slightly as he said, “Not only is Ding Ying overseeing matters at Champion Scholar Alley, Lu Fang is also there with his sword, so what’s there to be worried about?”

“I don’t trust Ding Ying or Lu Fang,” Yu Zhenyi replied with a shake of his head.

Zhong Qiu was a little displeased upon hearing this. “Lu Fang is an open and upstanding man, what could you possibly find distrustful about him? Are you having doubts solely because he’s associated with that swordsman?”

This had always been the case for Yu Zhenyi. While it was true that he was open and candid in everything that he did, there was an air of cold detachment about him that only became more and more apparent the closer one got to him.

“If you don’t want to go, then I’ll go,” Yu Zhenyi said in an indifferent voice.

Zhong Qiu gave a cold harrumph, and he didn’t even take a glance at Empress Zhou before swooping down toward the foot of the mountain like an eagle.

In the blink of an eye, he became a tiny speck in the distance, and before long, he was completely out of sight.

“Even a martial artist as formidable as Zhong Qiu still isn’t able to fly like the immortals in the historic records. Are you able to accomplish that feat, Yu Zhenyi?” Empress Zhou asked.

Yu Zhenyi offered no response.

Zhou Shuzhen smiled as she added, “Even if he’s not flying, he still looks very graceful and elegant.”

Back when she had first met Zhong Qiu and Yu Zhenyi in a foreign nation as a young woman, the former had shone as brightly as a star, while the latter was far more restrained, but she had been mesmerized by both of them.

Yu Zhenyi rose to his feet, and the top of his head didn’t even reach Zhou Shuzhen’s chest. However, as soon as he stood up, Zhou Shuzhen felt as if she had been banished to the foot of the mountain, where she had to look up at him on the mountain summit.

“Have the Upper Ten Elites been finalized?” Yu Zhenyi asked.

Zhou Shuzhen nodded in response, then sighed, “It’s a lot like the examinations held for officials in the imperial court, but it’s not as brutal.”

Yu Zhenyi clasped his hands behind his back, looking out into the distance with an absentminded expression.

After a brief silence, Zhou Shuzhen asked, “Where is Tong Qingqing right now?”

Yu Zhenyi was silent for a moment, then replied, “I presume only Ding Ying knows the answer to that question.”

Zhou Shuzhen turned to him, then asked, “Just how lofty is Ding Ying’s martial arts cultivation base?”

“I don’t know,” Yu Zhenyi replied.