Unsheathed

Near the ghost residence in Imperial Accompanying City…

An old cultivator was sitting on a nearby roof, and he became quite annoyed at the small monkey on his shoulder that couldn’t be calmed down no matter what. He furiously grabbed the small monkey and threw it away.

The local cultivators with low cultivation bases had already noticed the dire nature of the situation, and they started to either sprint or fly as they rapidly fled from Imperial Accompanying City.

They didn’t dare to covet the valuable treasure at all. In any case, they were mainly from the subordinate immortal forces of Yellow Axe City and the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm, and they had simply been deployed here to increase the presence of the two forces and cheer them on. Of course, they could also provide a small amount of help if the two forces genuinely started to fight each other.

The old cultivator felt extremely frustrated. Things were very troublesome now that it had come to this.

Sure enough, there was something wrong with this young sword immortal’s brain. Sword immortals were one of the four most difficult breeds of cultivators to deal with, and this young sword immortal indeed lived up to the reputation. When sword immortals left the mountains to travel around the cultivation world, all they pursued was unrestrained satisfaction!

However, was this heavenly tribulation riddled with karmic fate something that he could block so easily? Even if he managed to block half of the tribulation and was able to flee with his life afterward, would he not end up riddled with unnecessary karmic fate?

“Don’t bother me right now, you horny slut. I’m in a bad mood,” the old cultivator suddenly said.

There was a woman wearing a wooden hairpin and dressed in a cotton dress standing on the curved eaves of the roof. Her appearance was very ordinary, but how could an ordinary mortal woman stand on the small curved eaves with such stability?

She covered her mouth and said with a silvery laugh, “Is this how you speak to an empress? How courageous of you.”

“Master has plotted for a long time to obtain this treasure, so both you and I deserve to die one hundred times over for failing to carry out such an important plan,” the old cultivator said with a gloomy expression. “In fact, Master will only feel angrier due to this awkward situation that’s essentially the same as falling at the final hurdle.”

The woman waved a hand and replied, “Even though I’m unsure of why that treasure has suddenly fallen quiet and is allowing the heavenly tribulation to freely grind down its innate quality, not even seizing an opportunity to flee, it will still be forced to show itself once the heavenly tribulation truly descends. Yellow Axe City and the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm have already retreated further in a tactful manner, either heading to the dragon palace of Verdant Bamboo Lake to seek shelter or traveling to the more distant Black Glaze Mountain to hide. As such, won’t it be easier for you and me to get a head start and seize an opportunity to obtain the treasure afterward?”

The woman’s expression became serious as she continued, “The two of us have worked together for many years, so allow me to boldly ask you a selfish question. Why is Master unwilling to personally get involved in the matter? With Master’s paramount cultivation, even though he expended too much energy to achieve that incredible feat and was forced to cultivate in seclusion, he should have already recovered his peak cultivation after recuperating for several hundred years, right? If Master comes to Imperial Accompanying City, then won’t that valuable treasure be as good as his? Who would dare to challenge him? Trash like Fan Weiran?”

“You don’t understand shit,” the old cultivator sneered. “This is a treasure pertaining to virtue, so is it really the case that those who possess a higher cultivation base can forcefully obtain it with ease? In any case, regardless of how high Master’s cultivation base is, he isn’t a pure martial artist or a Militarian cultivator, so he’ll naturally become the primary target of everyone after entering this region. The heavenly tribulation doesn’t favor anyone either, so what will happen if Master’s cultivation is damaged again even if he manages to block the tribulation? Will you compensate Master? Will you be able to compensate Master even if you offer him the pathetic treasure chamber of the entire Silver Screen Nation? What an absolute joke!”

The woman was unfazed by the old cultivator’s words of ridicule, and she turned around to look at the city god temple as she said with a frown, “By the looks of it, we’ll need to at the very least temporarily leave Imperial Accompanying City as well. If we stay too close, will we not be forced to face the heavenly tribulation as the most powerful cultivators in the area? Will we not become punching bags for the heavenly tribulation?

“However, we can’t retreat too far away either. Otherwise, when the rare treasure appears after the heavenly tribulation passes, it will definitely try to flee from this filthy city as quickly as possible. At that time, Yellow Axe City and the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm will definitely be extremely quick to react. The two of us can naturally take on City Lord Ye Han and Fan Weiran with ease, but the large number of weaklings surrounding them might prove to be an issue. After all, enough ants can kill an elephant.”

The old cultivator smiled and pointed at the small monkey that had climbed back to the roof ridge and was relentlessly baring its teeth at the city god temple, saying, “Woman, you’ve been interacting with those so-called royal descendants and officials for far too long, so much so that your observation skills are becoming worse and worse. You haven’t realized yet, have you? This is the treasure-engulfing monkey that Master spent a huge sum of money to buy, and it’s the descendant of a peculiar primordial beast that set Master back an exorbitant amount of immortal coins. I’m afraid that I’ll scare you to death if I tell you the amount.

“With this monkey present, it can swallow the treasure into its belly. In other words, the current situation isn’t as troublesome as you think. However, if your abilities aren’t up to scratch and you get held back by Ye Han or Fan Weiran, then let me say this first: I’ll leave with the small monkey and leave you behind. As for whether a horny slut vixen like you can continue to enjoy the fortunes of the mortal world and continue to carve the dragon aura of a nation into fox fur, that’s completely up to you.”

Just how many times had this slutty fox played the role of empress already?

The old cultivator couldn’t help but grumble in his mind.

The woman sighed in grief and looked up at the slowly descending sea of black clouds. There was a hint of worry and fear in her eyes as she asked, “Master’s arch enemy won’t cause trouble for us, will he? Will Ye Han and Fan Weiran truly be the only Golden Core Tier cultivators present?”

The old cultivator shook his head and replied, “The two parties already drew a clear boundary in the past, agreeing that they wouldn’t interfere with each other as they each attended to their own needs. As such, there shouldn’t be any unexpected surprises. After reaching Master’s lofty height, cultivators surprisingly start to care more about promises than weaklings like us. Before I set off, Master said to me that there would only be two paper-mache-like Golden Core Tier cultivators, so the two of us could give up on returning if we failed to defeat them. We could find some place to bang our heads against a wall and commit suicide.”

The woman nodded in response, and a look of fervor appeared in her naturally charming eyes as she exclaimed, “That’s truly a good sword! It’s definitely an immortal treasure! Even the earth immortal sword cultivators from outside regions will be tempted by such a good sword!”

The old cultivator smiled and said, “Even blind fools on the streets can see this, so is there any need for you to announce it? What, are you tempted as well? Then why don’t you go over and snatch it?”

The woman turned around and made eyes at him, replying, “Old geezer, all you spout is nonsense. Even if I want to snatch it, that will have to wait until this impudent person is beaten half-dead by the heavenly tribulation.”

The old cultivator clicked his tongue in wonder and remarked, “It’s been a long time since we last met, and it seems like your cultivation has indeed advanced by a little. For a woman to not rely on her appearance and only rely on her eyes to enchant a person, you are indeed quite capable in this regard. How about the two of us enjoy some intimacy after we obtain the treasure? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and how many hundreds of years have we been apart already?”

The woman tapped her foot and dashed away, with her silvery laugh sounding like chiming bells as her lingering voice replied, “It will be too late if you don’t retreat now, old geezer. Let’s continue to discuss things after we leave Imperial Accompanying City. I’ll be all yours after we successfully obtain the treasure for Master.”

The old cultivator grabbed the small monkey and placed it on his shoulder, after which he flew out of Imperial Accompanying City with the woman.

The two of them were naturally suppressing their cultivation bases, or else they would attract unnecessary trouble if they caught the attention of Ye Han and Fan Weiran. Even though the large majority of these cultivators only knew how to act in a haughty and domineering manner in their own territories, this was ultimately a very large territory that encompassed a dozen or so nations. As a result, one or two exceptionally prodigious talents would naturally emerge every one hundred years, talents that couldn’t be underestimated. Even though the old cultivator and the woman spoke about Ye Han and Fan Weiran in a derisive manner, they definitely still needed to be careful once they engaged in life and death combat with these two Golden Core Tier cultivators.

The two of them flew over the city walls of Imperial Accompanying City one after another.

There were still many Qi refiners who didn’t fear death standing on the city walls, and they most likely believed that they would face much less danger once they left Imperial Accompanying City. With this belief in mind, they continued to feign calm and composure as they stood there and commented on the current situation.

Among these cultivators was a young Qi refiner who had been placed near the city god temple by his immortal force, concealing his identity and disguising himself as the shopkeeper of an incense shop for many years. After finally dropping his disguise now, he was especially fervent as he shouted abuse, saying that the person who looked like a young sword cultivator had either been dropped on his head as a baby or had his head kicked by a donkey.

After arriving at the city god temple, this outsider had immediately hacked the main official of the Yin Yang Department to death without trying to understand the situation first. After entering the city god temple, he further brandished his might and directly launched a sword strike at the city god. However, it was a shame that the gates of the city god temple were closed afterward, preventing them from seeing the commotion inside.

A nearby cultivator smiled and said that this sword cultivator clearly felt like he couldn’t obtain the valuable treasure, so he was attacking the city god to make sure that no one else could obtain it either. His intentions were sinister, and he deserved death for his ill will! If this young cultivator was lucky enough to survive the heavenly tribulation, then they definitely needed to have some “sparring” matches with him afterward.

The old cultivator with the small monkey on his shoulder found this extremely amusing as he slowly flew over the city gates, thinking to himself that the more of these foolish and ill-intentioned people, the better.

Of course, there also needed to be more people who were as stubborn and pedantic as the late prefectural overseer, as these types of people would allow more of the former to exist.

Otherwise, if everyone in the world were smart, how could he and the seductive woman, who was promoting debauchery in the imperial palace of the Silver Screen Nation, take advantage of other people and reap all of the large and small benefits in the world?

Inside the city god temple…

First quickly resurfaced after burrowing into the ground with the rusty golden shard of the city god. A streak of white light flew around the city god temple, killing more than half of the yin officials including the martial judge, the day and night wandering deity, and the ghost officials of the various departments.

In the end, only the scholarly judge, the newly appointed shackle and chain general, and some low-ranking ghost officials were spared from the deadly blade of First.

This time, Fifteenth remained inside the Sword Nurturing Gourd the entire time, deciding that it didn’t need to appear.

Chen Ping’an flicked his sleeve and swept the golden shards into his hand, following which he placed them inside his minimization treasure. Some of the golden shards were faint gold in color, while some of the golden shards were pure silver in color.

Afterward, Chen Ping’an continued to gaze up at the sea of black clouds that was already less than nine hundred meters above Imperial Accompanying City.

After thinking for a moment, he retrieved the golden Barrier-Shattering Talisman that had yet to fully combust when he had used it at Verdant Bamboo Lake. If this wasn’t enough, then he would try the Pure Jade Illumination Talisman as well.

Of course, he would naturally rely on his own strength as the primary means to block the heavenly tribulation tonight. As for what he used afterward, this didn’t matter at all.

First was still dashing around the city god temple, leading a loud ringing sound in its wake as it tore through the air.

Chen Ping’an looked over at the subordinates and yin officials of the city god temple who didn’t dare to move at all. He only took a single glance at them.

Upright and loyal, compassionate to all beings, governing on behalf of the heavens, eradicating evil and vanquishing criminals?

First had seemingly decided to spare the remaining yin officials already, yet it suddenly sped up, with a streak of white sword light piercing through several ghost officials who were from the departments responsible for punishing evil and bestowing longevity, causing them to instantly disintegrate and vanish.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath and turned around, no longer looking at the yin officials who enjoyed incense offerings alongside the city god. “You’re not going to leave? Perhaps you want to stay in the city god temple to face the heavenly tribulation with me?”

The remaining yin officials hurriedly fled from the city god temple, hoping to run as far away as possible. It would naturally be even better if they could flee from Imperial Accompanying City.

A middle-aged man with a big beard surprisingly walked into the city god temple, having furiously spat on the ground when standing outside the entrance just then. After entering the front hall and seeing the young sword immortal regulating his breathing and focusing his concentration, the man hesitated for a moment before asking in a muffled voice, “What are you doing here? From an official perspective, I shouldn’t encourage you to leave as a local deity of the prefectural city, as it’s naturally in my interest to reduce the number of deaths befalling the residents of the prefecture.

“From a private perspective, however, I still hope that you can extract yourself from these troublesome matters. It’s not that I have no confidence in the lofty immortal techniques of a sword immortal like you, but heavenly tribulations are genuinely the most troublesome things in the world. It’s not the case that everything will be fine and auspicious if you manage to block the heavenly tribulation. Since you’re a sword immortal, how can you not understand the intricate and roundabout reasons behind this? Cultivation isn’t easy, so why subject yourself to something like this?”

Chen Ping’an turned around and asked, “Are you from the fire god shrine?”

The middle-aged man nodded and replied, “I truly must have committed a grave crime when I was alive, being forced to serve as the deity of the fire god shrine even after death. I’ve never enjoyed a comfortable day in the past several hundred years.”

“When the prefectural overseer was still a child, were you the one who protected him and helped him leave Imperial Accompanying City?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The fire god cracked a grin and replied, “If you had asked me this question when the city god was still alive, I wouldn’t have dared to admit it even if I were beaten to death again.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “You can leave now. There’s no need to persuade me any further. In any case, you’re a deity of Imperial Accompanying City, so when the heavenly tribulation descends, I surmise that you’ll face life-and-death danger much earlier than me.”

“That’s not an issue,” the fire god replied in a carefree voice. “Only after becoming the deity of a region did I truly understand the meaning of life being worse than death. Being fully dead is much better than being half dead. But before I die fully, let me carry a small stool to the roof of the fire god shrine. I’ll sit there and open my eyes wide to observe the fabled might and demeanor of sword immortals.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response.

The fire god turned around to leave. When he reached the entrance, he suddenly turned around and asked, “As the deity of a region, I’ve failed to do anything useful. You’re clearly a blunt and… good-intentioned sword immortal, so do you not blame me for anything? Are you not going to punish me?”

“Disregarding who I am and what my cultivation base is and simply focusing on this world, if someone has the strength and energy to complain about a good person not doing good enough, then I won’t ask too much of these people and hope that they’ll step forward to kill evildoers, but can they not at least muster some energy to scold evildoers for doing evil?” Chen Ping’an said in response.

The fire god laughed heartily and strode away, replying, “This is naturally because good people, good ghosts, and good deities are easy to pick on. As a sword immortal from the outside regions, this question of yours is truly very naive and foolish!”

After stepping over the door threshold, the fire god cupped his hands in respect and raised them above his head, rocking them back and forth a few times as he strode away. Only the rough and unrestrained voice of the big-bearded fire god reverberated through the night sky, saying, “However, if you weren’t foolish, then you wouldn’t have entered this filthy rat hole of a city god temple. Don’t die, Sword Immortal! There are already too few good and capable people in this shitty world! If you act too rashly and truly die in this worthless and crappy place, then I’ll make sure to angrily scold you at that time!”

Chen Ping’an threw the golden Barrier-Shattering Talisman toward the overbearing sea of black clouds, testing the might of the heavenly tribulation.

The golden talisman exploded at the bottom of the clouds and created a gigantic golden crater that was as large as the city god temple.

However, the sea of black clouds churned and quickly filled in the crater.

Observing the clouds just then, Chen Ping’an had seen that the sea of black clouds was extremely thick, with the golden talisman showing no sign of reaching the top of the clouds.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath.

He rested his hands on the hilt of his sword and gazed up at the sky.

He could unleash the first sword strike when the sea of clouds descended to a height of three hundred meters.

However, he could unleash his fists first when the clouds descended to a height of six hundred meters.