Unsheathed

Chapter 504 (1): Sword Immortal In A Sword Immortal’s Hand

There had been an enraged expression on Lake Lord Yin Hou’s face when Chen Ping’an had shattered the golden body of Algae Stream’s canal master, as if he were about to unleash a wrathful attack at any moment. In fact, it was as if he might even go as far as to charge ashore.

When Chen Ping’an obliterated the godly body of the river god with a single punch, however, the lake lord’s heart surprisingly became as calm as a tranquil pond, with his expression equally as calm and indifferent. Facing the outsider who was like a lone steed charging a formation by himself, Yin Hou raised a hand and held two fingers together, summoning an orb of golden light and an orb of turquoise light that condensed into two snake-like wisps that hovered on his fingertips and intertwined with each other.

Lake Lord Yin Hou gently flicked his hand, causing mist to rise from the surface of Verdant Bamboo Lake with him as the center. Azure smoke instantly enveloped an area of three hundred meters in radius.

Over at the dock, to say nothing of Ghost Axe Palace’s Du Yu, even Yan Qing was unable to see anything but a vast expanse of misty white when she channeled her Qi to look over. She was unable to see the lake lord and the many scholarly officials and martial officials of the dragon palace. Meanwhile, the old ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm had seemingly activated a valuable treasure of the immortal force, with a burst of treasure light vaguely visible and protecting all of the cultivators of the immortal force. The cultivators then started to slowly retreat, most likely intending to leave the battlefield and hand everything to Lake Lord Yin Hou to deal with.

A faint golden python and a turquoise snake continuously circled around the outskirts of the misty dome, swaying their tails as they soared through the skies and appearing like the descendants of flood dragons that were controlling the clouds and rain and thickening the mist over Verdant Bamboo Lake.

Yan Qing only knew that this was an innate mystical ability of a water god who had attained the Great Dao. This wasn’t simply an illusion technique, and it was instead something similar to a talismanic prison, one which could continuously deplete the spiritual energy inside a Qi refiner’s acupoints or the True Qi of a pure martial artist once they were trapped inside. This was a mystical ability that could be used for both offensive and defensive purposes.

Du Yu stood still the entire time, and he took a glance at the obliterated section of the dock in front of him. The structure had completely collapsed, and only the area around the bamboo case and the hiking pole was still untouched and pristine.

The mighty senior was truly very impressive.

What did this signify? This signified that the mighty senior hadn’t used his full strength just then.

Yan Qing flicked her sleeve and expelled the dust from the dock.

However, her eyes remained fixed on the commotion at the surface of Verdant Bamboo Lake the entire time. The mist formation had initially covered an area of three hundred meters in radius, yet as if it were a fishing net being dragged up, it instantly shrank in size to just thirty or so meters in radius. However, the mist also became as viscous as water as a result, with the golden python and the turquoise snake surprisingly slithering into the formation from the left and the right.

Yan Qing sighed in her mind. This was a battle taking place at Verdant Bamboo Lake, after all, so Lake Lord Yin Hou clearly enjoyed an overwhelming geographical advantage. At the same time, a trusted river god of his had even been willing to sacrifice his life to obstruct the advance of the young man in azure, causing him to lose his initial advantage. As the battle dragged on, it was likely that his predicament would only become worse and worse.

Lake Lord Yin Hou had enjoyed influence and power in the Silver Screen Nation for one thousand years without falling, and he was even able to stand on equal footing as the formal gods of the Five Mountains as a water god. Taking these matters into account, it was no wonder that the old ancestor had chosen the dragon palace of Verdant Bamboo Lake as the final place to stay on their trip to Imperial Accompanying City.

Yan Qing glanced at Du Yu and saw that he was still calm and unfazed.

Du Yu noticed Yan Qing’s gaze, so he turned his head and commented with a smile, “This measly pond isn’t enough to trap Brother Chen, someone who can turn the rivers and upheave the seas with a casual sneeze.”

Yan Qing scoffed upon hearing this.

She wondered if he could still utter such repulsive and obsequious words once this intense battle drew to a close.

The cultivators of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm had already retreated three hundred meters into the distance, yet Old Ancestor Fan Weiran still didn’t put away the most valuable treasure of the immortal force. Golden light radiated from the golden crown on the old woman’s head and illuminated the surroundings.

A female heavenly official who appeared like someone out of a painting appeared beside Old Ancestor Fan Weiran, with her appearance hazy and her lithe body enveloped in golden light. The sleeves of the seemingly intangible golden maidservant fluttered in the wind, and she reached forward to hold up an extravagant immortal canopy to shield the cultivators of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm. The lake surface under Old Ancestor Fan Weiran’s feet had already frozen over, and it was as if she had created a temporary dock for everyone else to stand on.

Yan Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

By the looks of it, the old ancestor wasn’t planning to get involved in the conflict tonight.

Lake Lord Yin Hou remained standing in the same spot, but the two surviving river gods had already left the area with the other officials. Judging by their directions of travel, they were making their way back to their own territories. The canal master of Peony Stream felt a great sense of relief, and it appeared as if she had obtained fortune thanks to this misfortune. The delight on her face couldn’t be concealed as she channeled a mystical ability and transformed into a ball of mist, rapidly making her way back to Peony Stream.

Yan Qing knew very clearly that Verdant Bamboo Lake was going to mobilize all its power to ruthlessly kill the young man in azure.

Even so, Lake Lord Yin Hou still had the time and the good mood to look over and smile faintly at Yan Qing.

Yan Qing paid no heed to this.

An unexpected phenomenon took place on the lake.

A golden thread suddenly appeared across the misty dome that was enveloping a large area of the lake, following which the dome exploded apart like shattering ice and fused back into the lake.

Chen Ping’an stood with one hand behind his back, with his other hand raised and two fingers held together. He was facing Lake Lord Yin Hou with his back to the dock.

The golden immortal talisman between his fingers was only less than halfway burned.

Yan Qing was extremely puzzled.

This was nothing more than a Barrier-Shattering Talisman?

There existed such a powerful Barrier-Shattering Talisman in the world?

Not only had this person used it to shatter Lake Lord Yin Hou’s formation, but from the dock where Yan Qing and Du Yu were standing, they could even see him gently clenching the hand behind his back into a fist, holding onto the golden python and the turquoise snake.

However, Lake Lord Yin Hou was completely unsurprised by this turn of events, and he said with a faint smile, “This was just a small appetizer to welcome our guest from outside to Verdant Bamboo Lake. How did you find it, Esteemed Immortal?”

Chen Ping’an looked around, and he saw that the two river gods and the canal master of Peony Stream had already returned to their own territories, starting to accumulate power at the origins of the rivers and canals and allowing this power to continuously flow down to Verdant Bamboo Lake to assist Lake Lord Yin Hou in setting up a true killing formation.

If it weren’t for noticing the actions of the two river gods and the canal master, Chen Ping’an wouldn’t have minded staying in the previous formation to appreciate the bright moon and enjoy the cool night breeze. In any case, the water fortune snakes of Lake Lord Yin Hou would be much more impressive than the measly four ounces of water fortune essence that the canal master of Peony Stream had given him back then once they were refined. Weighing them in his hand, Chen Ping’an estimated that each snake was at least five hundred grams. Sure enough, the foundation and wealth of a lake lord were far superior to that of a measly canal master.

Chen Ping’an temporarily abandoned his thoughts of refining the two water fortune snakes, and the two wisps of light in his fist instantly vanished as he forced the python and the snake outside the entrance of his water palace.

Even if there were truly a hidden danger that caused his physique and soul to suffer some small consequences, Chen Ping’an was willing to accept this small price and concede that Lake Lord Yin Hou was indeed quite capable.

Inside his body and near his acupoints, two water-element snakes were coiled up outside the water palace and trembling in terror.

A fiery dragon had furiously dashed over, and it reared its head and coldly peered down at the two despicable snakes who were even lowlier than ants. It gently scraped its claws on the ground, and it would have smacked these two snakes to death without hesitation if it weren’t for the familiar scent of refinement on them.

The gates of the water palace instantly opened, yet they violently slammed shut just as quickly as they had opened.

As it turned out, two little children in green had hurriedly thrown the golden python and the turquoise snake onto their shoulders before dashing back into the water palace.

The gigantic body of the fiery dragon, which was the manifestation of a martial artist’s True Qi, slowly turned around before leaving in a leisurely manner.

Lake Lord Yin Hou spread open one hand, revealing a tiny golden shard. This was everything that the river god of the Twilight Cold River had left behind after being killed by Chen Ping’an.

There had actually been a larger golden shard as well, with two pieces of the godly body’s golden shard shooting outward following the violent death of the river god. However, the thumb-sized golden shard had been snatched by Chen Ping’an and placed inside his sleeve, and if Lake Lord Yin Hou hadn’t been quick enough, the smaller piece of golden shard would have also been snatched away by Chen Ping’an.

Lake Lord Yin Hou sighed and shook his head lightly. Even though the river god of the Twilight Cold River had been the weakest of the three river gods, he had been the most loyal of the three and had also started serving him the earliest. He had possessed both the experience of Peony Stream’s canal master and the considerate nature of Algae Stream’s canal master, so it was a slight shame that he had died just like that.

Moreover, it was an even bigger shame that the river god had only left him such a tiny piece of golden shard. Even if Lake Lord Yin Hou had managed to obtain the slightly larger golden shard as well, the two golden shards would have only been enough to advance his cultivation by roughly one hundred years.

Yin Hou absorbed the tiny piece of golden shard into his palm, planning to slowly refine it following the conclusion of this important battle. In any case, this was an unexpected surprise.

What did it matter that an important subordinate of his had died? He could simply ask the emperor of the Silver Screen Nation to appoint a new river god in the future. Indeed, the subordinates of this river god had already been eyeing off his position for a long time, coveting his power and influence. Otherwise, where had the additional pieces of rare treasures in his darling daughter’s residence come from?

During the past one hundred years, the river god of the Twilight Cold River had privately kept two beautiful maidservants of extremely good aptitude, so if the dragon palace had truly wanted to target him, it could have easily punished him to death for this crime. However, the lake lord had chosen to spare him out of generosity and in order to maintain the confidence and morale of his other subordinates.

Chen Ping’an took a glance at the cultivators of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm standing further away now, and it was clear that they were planning to observe the conflict from the sidelines. In reality, Chen Ping’an felt slightly exasperated about this, since he would no longer be able to target them and obtain their wealth as well.

Why didn’t these cultivators show some chivalry and backbone and help their ally in a time of great need? They had just been chatting and drinking at the banquet hosted by the dragon palace just then, yet they were going to coldly turn their back on the lake lord now? Would it be a big ask for them to casually activate a few immortal treasures to attack him and gauge his strength?

In any case, Chen Ping’an wasn’t planning on becoming too hostile with these cultivators from the Treasure Basin Immortal Sect.

However, Verdant Bamboo Lake was different.

Gods of the mountains and rivers performing evil deeds and terrorizing a region was completely different from cultivators committing sins and having complete disregard for the mortal world.

Seeing no further movement from Chen Ping’an, Lake Lord Yin Hou asked, “Perhaps you want to resolve the matter peacefully now?”

“I’m simply waiting for the main dish to be served,” Chen Ping’an replied.

“Excellent. Very well. What frankness and honesty!” Lake Lord Yin Hou exclaimed with hearty laughter.

Chen Ping’an narrowed his eyes.

The lake lord had overseen the water fortune of Verdant Bamboo Lake for one thousand years, ruling over an area which was as large as the territories of some small vassal states. He had presumably treated the mortal world as his plaything all these years, right? After becoming a spirit, being appointed a formal god, and obtaining the power of a deity, had the lake lord never been forced to shed tears before?

There was not a single ripple on the surface of the river.

However, an azure figure instantly appeared in front of Lake Lord Yin Hou.

The lake lord, who was dressed in an extravagant reddish-purple dragon robe, hesitated for a moment before deciding against dodging. Instead, he planned to test the fists of this so-called sword immortal standing in front of him.

He raised a hand to block Chen Ping’an’s strike.

The reddish-purple dragon robe was a Dao robe that Lake Lord Yin Hou had spent a huge sum of immortal coins to meticulously refine, and it was a genuine immortal treasure that could be regarded as a valuable treasure even in immortal forces such as Yellow Axe City and the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm.

When it came to the foundation and wealth of immortal forces, this was largely determined by how many immortal treasures an immortal force possessed. When it came to formal gods of mountains and rivers, however, their foundation and wealth were determined by how many godly positions they could freely manipulate and give to their trusted subordinates.

Such great power.

A flood dragon swimming along the surface of the reddish-purple Dao robe surprisingly exploded straight away.

Lake Lord Yin Hou borrowed the momentum to slide back a dozen or so meters.

Perhaps this young man in azure was a martial arts superior grandmaster at the Vajra Body Tier? Perhaps his identity as a so-called sword immortal was nothing more than an act of purposeful deception that he had set up at the water immortal shrine?

However, Lake Lord Yin Hou remained unfazed as he raised his hand and blocked another punch. Two of the water fortune flood dragons on his dragon robe exploded this time, but what exactly was a Dao robe? Lake Lord Yin Hou was able to freely condense and disperse the flood dragon formed from spiritual energy on his reddish-purple Dao robe, and he could quickly recreate them even if one or two were temporarily destroyed by his opponent’s attacks. This was similar to how deities could instantly restore their godly bodies as long as the foundations of their Great Dao weren’t severely damaged.

As such, Lake Lord Yin Hou was confident that he could withstand several hundred punches from the young man in azure if the two punches just then were anything to go by. At that time, it would be a contest between whether his Dao robe was more capable or whether his opponent’s breath of True Qi was longer-lasting.

The third punch quickly arrived.

Two flood dragons swimming across the large sleeves of the Dao robe were instantly blasted into smithereens.

Lake Lord Yin Hou’s expression started to become serious.

He was just about to contemplate whether or not he should channel his mystical ability to break free from these attacks, since it was completely unnecessary for him, a deity who was as noble as the rulers of mortal nations, to personally engage in battle and endanger himself. This was especially the case since the power of the two rivers and one canal had already been gathered, with the three deities imminently about to surge into Verdant Bamboo Lake with their accumulated power.

If Lake Lord Yin Hou hadn’t wanted to flaunt his might and power as a lake lord in front of Celestial maiden Yan Qing, would it have been possible for this young man in azure to set foot on Verdant Bamboo Lake and arrive before him? Doing so would have been more difficult than ascending the heavens.

Lake Lord Yin Hou was hovering several meters above the surface of the lake, and after being pushed back by another punch, he silently placed one foot on the lake and smiled faintly in a mocking manner.

However, another punch immediately arrived.

Something that appeared like an ice statue of the lake lord instantly shattered into countless pieces.

Lake Lord Yin Hou stood far away in the water several meters below the surface, clasping his hands behind his back and shaking his wrists to loosen his muscles. Sure enough, this young man in azure was a pure martial artist. It was no wonder that he dared to recklessly kill the canal master and the river god.

A heavy blow suddenly struck the lake lord in the back, with the fist aura soaring upward and directly blasting the lake lord out of the water and into the sky.

Thankfully, only six flood dragons swimming across the reddish-purple Dao robe were shattered as a result.

Otherwise, the Dao robe would have temporarily lost its power if all nine flood dragons were shattered at once.

In this sense, the lake lord’s Dao robe worked in a similar way to the Divine Dewbearing Armors formed from Militarian armor pellets.

Another punch crashed down from overhead.

There was a loud clang in the sky, and it was as if someone had struck a huge bell.

Lake Lord Yin Hou had just been launched out of Verdant Bamboo Lake a moment ago, yet he was immediately sent crashing back into the lake the very next instant.

Even though Lake Lord Yin Hou was barely injured by these attacks, he felt like facing these two punches was truly the most humiliating moment in his life.