Unsheathed

Ding Ying pursed his lips and added, “Even deceased individuals can be brought out from this world as long as they’re people who have genuinely existed. If deceased individuals are chosen, they’ll revive and regain their full consciousness, yet they’ll still become something akin to loyal puppets. Isn’t this very interesting?”

The images of several people instantly flashed past Zhong Qiu’s mind.

There was Wei Xian, the founding emperor of Southern Garden Nation divinely skilled with the spear. He was regarded as the most skilled martial artist of the past one thousand years when it came to breaking enemy ranks.

There was Lu Baixiang, the demonic cultivator who had founded the demonic forces and enjoyed the greatest notoriety of anyone in the past five hundred years.

There was Sword Immortal Sui Youbian, someone whom even Yu Zhenyi admired greatly.

Of course, there was also Zhu Lian, an absolute maniac and the strongest person in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land prior to Ding Ying.

These people had undisputedly been the most powerful cultivators during their time. Without exception, however, all four of them had already passed away. There was sufficient proof of this.

Emperor Wei Xian had died of old age at 120 years old, Lu Baixiang had been surrounded and killed by dozens of top-notch elites, Sui Youbian had attempted to ascend from the world on her sword under the watchful gazes of everyone yet plummeted back to earth with her flesh melting and her bones disintegrating in the process, and Zhu Lian had died at Ding Ying’s hands after suffering severe wounds during some previous conflict.

In fact, Ding Ying had grabbed the silver-colored lotus flower hat from Zhu Lian’s head and taken it for himself.

“Why?” Zhong Qiu asked.

“You’re asking me, but who should I ask?” Ding Ying replied with a smile.

Zhong Qiu looked straight into Ding Ying’s eyes and said, “You, Zhou Fei, and Lu Fang—that’s three people already.”

“And that’s why you have two choices now. You can either kill Lu Fang or you can ally with Yu Zhenyi and attempt to kill me,” Ding Ying chuckled.

Zhong Qiu remained silent.

“However, I suggest that you wait for a little longer,” Ding Ying said in amusement. “Perhaps someone else will kill Lu Fang for you.”

“Who will you bring from this world if you ascend and leave?” Zhong Qiu asked.

Ding Ying pointed at Cao Qinglang who was standing at the doorway of the kitchen and replied, “I’ll only bring him if I choose to leave.”

Zhong Qiu glanced at the little boy and said in confusion, “His aptitude isn’t anything special.”

Ding Ying dismissed this with a smile.

————

No longer constrained by anything, Lu Fang unleashed his first genuine sword strike.

When he completed his motion, an extremely long ditch that measured one and a half meters deep appeared from his position all the way to the end of the street.

To say nothing of Ya’er and Zhou Shi, people who were native to this world, even Feng Qingbai was completely stunned. It was as if he had returned to his hometown, Parasol Leaf Continent.

The smiling face of Smiley Face became even more animated.

It was easier to relax under the shade of big trees. Thanks to the strings of fate and destiny, Smiley Face had become friends with Lu Fang during the latter’s most troubled times. Back then, the impulsive Smiley Face had recklessly accompanied Lu Fang to Spring Tide Palace, essentially choosing a gallant death in the context of that time.

However, Lu Fang had knocked Smiley Face unconscious at the foot of the mountain and gone ahead to challenge Zhou Fei by himself. When Smiley Face had regained consciousness, Lu Fang had already been sitting by his side, no longer a dejected person who always drank wine to wash away his sorrows.

For many years afterward, Smiley Face was the only person who could visit Lu Fang’s Bird’s Eye View Peak and leave the mountain alive.

In any case, Zhou Shi was feeling the most exasperated out of everyone present. Now that Lu Fang was fighting without constraint, wouldn’t that render the formation that he had set up with so much difficulty completely useless?

The battle was progressing smoothly, and the only disappointment was that the young sword practitioner in white had surprisingly chosen to flee.

It was as if Chen Ping’an had confirmed that he couldn’t block his opponent’s attack the instant that Lu Fang had unleashed his sword strike. Chen Ping’an had shuffled sideways before directly crashing through a wall and disappearing without a trace.

Lu Fang looked around, convinced that Chen Ping’an was still lurking in the surroundings.

He swung his sword down in a seemingly casual manner, causing a large hole to immediately appear in the wall.

Plumes of dust rose into the air, and a fleeting glimpse of white was vaguely visible as Chen Ping’an dodged the torrent of sword qi that was powerful like a tsunami. However, he quickly vanished again after evading his opponent’s attack.

Lu Fang was well aware that neither of them could injure each other if things continued to drag on like this. His destructive power was superior to his opponent, yet the young boy in white was able to dodge all of his attacks.

Nothing would change unless one of them decided to go all out and fight with their life on the line.

For example, if Lu Fang retracted half of his sword qi to give Chen Ping’an an opportunity to approach him.

Or for example, if Chen Ping’an were willing to take a huge gamble and push through Lu Fang’s offensive and defensive sword attack, after which he would have the opportunity to kill Lu Fang with a single punch.

Lu Fang swung his sword upward.

A gigantic burst of crescent-shaped sword qi materialized in the air and surged forward.

A dash of white hurriedly ground to a halt and stopped charging forward, rapidly diving down instead. Only then was it able to dodge the deadly arc of sword qi.

Lu Fang jumped onto the wall with a graceful leap.

The young boy had dodged his attacks several times, yet he hadn’t used the sword that he had snatched from Feng Qingbai a single time. This was quite strange.

Lu Fang saw Chen Ping’an standing on the curved eaves of a roof in the distance. The young boy’s large sleeves were fluttering a little, and combined with that vermilion wine gourd by his waist, he didn’t appear just otherworldly and ethereal. His abundant and concentrated fist aura resonated with heaven and earth, appearing both formidable yet nimble at the same time. This was very difficult to achieve.

Even Lu Fang, who was widely renowned in Parasol Leaf Continent, had to admit that this young otherworldly immortal with a mishmash of martial arts skills would definitely reach great heights in the future if he were able to leave the Lotus Flower Blessed Land alive.

Since Chen Ping’an wasn’t biting his bait, he would simply change his tactic and cast a large net instead.

Lu Fang raised his arm and flourished his sword.

Apart from the sword in his hand, there were another thirty-six swords identical to Dachun hovering in front of him, orderly and creating a tight guard like soldiers standing in formation.

The thirty-six swords slowly hovered forward before suddenly speeding up and slicing through the air.

Chen Ping’an sprinted across the rooftops, spinning and jumping as numerous streaks of white sword qi exploded around him like parasitic enemies.

Apart from controlling the thirty-six bursts of sword qi and using them as arrows, Lu Fang also continued to advance during suitable moments whenever Chen Ping’an tried to increase the distance between them. He maintained a distance of ninety meters between himself and his opponent, far enough to prevent Chen Ping’an from suddenly rushing over in a single burst but close enough to entice him to try.

Lu Fang naturally wasn’t playing a game of cat and mouse with Chen Ping’an. He was inviting Chen Ping’an to attack, and he was setting up a trap whereby every opportunity the young boy saw to advance and deliver the decisive punch would be predetermined and fraught with dangers.

However, Chen Ping’an started to sprint toward Lu Fang before he could consume all thirty-six bursts of sword qi. Chen Ping’an’s footsteps were nimble and unpredictable, and he didn’t rush toward Lu Fang in a straight line.

Lu Fang was slightly astonished.

You’re charging over already? he chuckled coldly in his mind.

His fingers moved a little, and the final six bursts of sword qi suddenly separated and drew arcs in the air before their tips eventually converged together at a single point.

That point was coincidentally a location where Chen Ping’an’s fist had to pass.

There was a flash, and the six bursts of sword qi collided together and unleashed a deafening explosion behind Chen Ping’an.

Sure enough, the young boy could still move quicker. However, Lu Fang wasn’t surprised at all. He didn’t panic either.

The sword in his hand, the genuine Dachun, slashed horizontally forward. His sword qi converged into a thread.

It was as if this slash directly split the capital of Southern Garden Nation into two, a top layer and a bottom layer.

Chen Ping’an advanced instead of retreating, boldly pressing forward with indomitable will as he threw a punch at that thread-like sword light.

Blood splashed through the air.

There was apathy in Lu Fang’s eyes as he slashed down.

After splitting the space in front of him into top and bottom, he was now splitting it into left and right.

However, it was also at this moment that Lu Fang relied purely on his instinct to shuffle across the roof. A flying sword whooshed past overhead, flying toward Chen Ping’an from the direction where his back had been facing just then.

There was lingering apprehension in Lu Fang’s mind.

Chen Ping’an had definitely kept Feng Qingbai’s sword near the wall the entire time. The young boy had appeared quite reckless when blocking Lu Fang’s slash, yet his intention hadn’t been to punch Lu Fang or the sword at all. Instead, he was manipulating Feng Qingbai’s sword like a sword expert and attempting to attack Lu Fang from two sides.

Chen Ping’an reached out and grabbed the sword.

He had almost pierced Lu Fang’s heart just then.

However, there was no sense of disappointment on his face as he quietly said in his mind, Go!

Lu Fang was overcome with shock, and he had no time to shout a warning at Zhou Shi or do anything else as he hurriedly chased after the sword and threw Dachun toward the wall.

Lu Fang used genuine sword kinesis this time, controlling his sword with his mind to prevent any accident from occurring again. He didn’t want to kill his ally by accident when attempting to save him.

Feng Qingbai’s sword pierced through the wall and continued toward the back of Zhou Shi’s head.

At almost the exact same moment, Lu Fang’s sword flew diagonally into the wall and crashed down toward the sword controlled by Chen Ping’an.

This was a critical moment, and Dachun viciously slammed into Feng Qingbai’s sword and caused it to dip slightly, eventually piercing through Zhou Shi’s shoulder instead of his head. However, the powerful momentum of the strike still caused Zhou Shi to stumble forward.

Lu Fang suddenly looked up.

A streak of white was plummeting down like a meteor, shooting past the hole in the roof and throwing a punch at him.

Lu Fang was sent sliding back by the punch, crashing through the wall as the second punch arrived.

This was the Deity Drumming Technique.

Lu Fang was directly struck by Chen Ping’an’s Deity Drumming Technique nine times and forced to retreat in a straight line again and again. In fact, Lu Fang even crashed through and obliterated the wall that Smiley Face and Chen Ping’an had been standing on just then.

Lu Fang attempted to summon his sword, Dachun, to rescue him. However, he quickly discovered that he didn’t have the courage to do this. He couldn’t split his attention, and he could only gather all of his energy to defend himself.

Moreover, Dachun was only a divine weapon from this world, and it wasn’t his bonded flying sword which he had left in Parasol Leaf Continent.

Chen Ping’an resolutely threw the tenth punch.

Lu Fang crashed through the building on the opposite end of the street, suffering the same fate as the pipa woman from before. He finally came to a stop and became embedded in some wall, appearing especially disheveled as blood flowed from all orifices on his face.

However, Chen Ping’an also paid a price for stubbornly throwing this punch.

Someone appeared beside Chen Ping’an and punched him in the temple.

It was as if his head had been struck by a large bell.

Chen Ping’an flew more than thirty meters back before landing on his haunches. Next to him was the deep ditch that had been blasted into the ground by Lu Fang’s powerful sword qi just then.

The person who had interrupted Chen Ping’an’s Deity Drumming Technique stood still with one hand behind his back and one hand clenched into a fist and held in front of him. Dressed in azure Confucian robes, he appeared especially calm and composed.

Chen Ping’an turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. He then raised a hand and wiped the corners of his mouth.

The skinny little girl was coincidentally located between Chen Ping’an and the imperial preceptor of Southern Garden Nation at this moment, and she remained quietly curled up on the small stool in front of the wall the entire time.

She secretly stole a glance at that boy dressed in white. He was indeed powerful and impressive, but he also appeared slightly pitiful at this moment.

Perhaps she was imagining things, but she felt like the boy who had told her to sit here and stay still, and who was slowly standing up in misery after being punched, was gazing at her at the same time that he was gazing at that old geezer who looked like a teacher from some private school.

Perhaps he was telling her not to be afraid?

She clearly understood that her survival was tied to his. If the young boy in white died, then she would most likely be killed as well.

However, she still couldn’t help but develop evil thoughts, eagerly hoping that he would be smashed to death by that old bastard.

Her feelings at this moment couldn’t be explained.

This was the same as when she had seen that miniature snowman in the small wooden box before.

She liked it very much, but since she couldn’t obtain it, she would rather throw it to the ground, destroy it, and kill it once and for all.

She didn’t feel like this was wrong.