Unsheathed

Du Ying returned his blade to its scabbard as he ordered, “Cross the bridge!”

Right at this moment, an elderly man in the small town on the summit of the Magnificent Peak grabbed onto a young man’s shoulder before flying away. There was golden light shimmering over the old man’s body like radiant fish scales, presenting a particularly eye-catching spectacle in the night.

“So there really was a Golden Scale Palace cultivator among them,” Du Ying remarked.

The box-bearing man behind Du Ying had already sprung through the air as a streak of light. He was a Golden Core Tier cultivator from the imperial preceptor’s office of the Great Seal Script Empire, one that was renowned for his combat prowess, and as aforementioned, he was the eldest disciple of the Daoist imperial preceptor.

The Golden Scale Palace cultivator seemed to have been at the Dragon Gate Tier, so the saber-wielding man’s cultivation base was superior to his, not to mention his saber was a powerful artifact revered and honored by an entire nation.

As he slashed the saber toward the Golden Scale Palace cultivator from afar, the latter hurriedly made a hand seal, and the shimmering golden Dao robe that he was wearing slid off his body on its own. It remained suspended in place and abruptly expanded drastically to form a golden barrier to oppose the oncoming saber projection, while the old man continued to flee with the young man.

The saber projection sliced the Dao robe into two, and the Golden Core Tier cultivator immediately sped up, catching up to the Golden Scale Palace cultivator in the blink of an eye before thrusting his saber toward the old man’s back. The old man desperately tried to hurl the young man forward.

At this point, several Golden Scale Palace talismans had already been plastered to the young man’s body, temporarily granting him the ability to fly like a Qi refiner, but the old cultivator knew that this would only be delaying the inevitable. Never had he imagined that the Golden Gate Nation would find the Magnificent Peak and send a Golden Core Tier cultivator from the imperial preceptor’s office of the Great Seal Script Nation here.

With a slight flick of the wrist, the saber veered away from its original trajectory, transitioning from a thrust into a slash, and both the old cultivator and the young man were decapitated with a single stroke.

Prior to his death, the old cultivator detonated all of the spiritual energy in his body, hoping to take down the Golden Core Tier cultivator with him, but the latter merely sprang back through the air and watched as the old cultivator and the young man’s bodies were blown into smithereens.

All of the spiritual energy within a radius of over a hundred feet was cast into a state of disarray, following which ferocious gusts of wind swept through the air in all directions. As a result, the suspension bridge began to sway violently, and several armored soldiers on the bridge were sent plunging to their deaths.

Thankfully, Du Ying and Zheng Shuizhu were able to drastically increase their body weights through the use of martial arts techniques, thereby stabilizing the bridge.

The Golden Core Tier cultivator looked down at the blade of the saber and gave a pleased nod, but his brows then furrowed slightly as he flew back before gently drifting down onto the suspension bridge.

“Was that the one we were looking for?” Du Ying asked.

The man nodded in response.

“He was definitely the one, but the Dragon Qi in his blood was a little lacking, so the saber hasn’t benefitted as much as it could from slaying him. Having said that, this is only to be expected. Once an imperial lineage is severed, the Dragon Qi within all members of the former imperial clan will slowly seep away.”

Du Ying took a deep breath as he grabbed tightly onto the rope railing of the suspension bridge and declared, “Finally! I can finally return to the capital and declare myself worthy of my position as the foremost general of the nation!”

The Golden Core Tier cultivator carefully placed the saber back into the rectangular wooden box, and a rare smile appeared on his face as he said, “Congratulations, General Du. Not only have you made a massive contribution for your emperor, you’ve also done Heroine Zheng here a favor.”

He tossed the wooden box to Zheng Shuizhu as he spoke.

Zheng Shuizhu caught the box with a suspicious expression, then asked, “You’re not taking this back to the imperial preceptor’s office with you?”

Clearly, she was worried that the Golden Core Tier cultivator would take the saber to the emperor of the Great Seal Script Nation in exchange for a reward.

The man couldn’t even be bothered to offer an explanation to the clueless woman.

That black flood dragon was extremely troublesome to deal with, and it intended to flood the capital of the Great Seal Script Empire to transform the entire city into its underwater dragon palace. The Golden Core Tier swordsman’s master was a Nascent Tier cultivator that specialized in water-attribute immortal techniques, so there was no way it could battle a flood dragon with natural affinity to water.

Hence, the only one who had a chance of successfully slaying the flood dragon was Zheng Shuizhu’s mistress using this prized saber from the Golden Gate Nation. All that the cultivators of the imperial preceptor’s office could do was ensure that the capital wasn’t flooded during the course of the battle.

This was a matter of the utmost importance, concerning the fortune of the entire Great Seal Script Empire, so the imperial preceptor’s office naturally had to have an eye for the big picture and hand over the saber to Zheng Shuizhu. Besides, once the battle commenced, Zheng Shuizhu’s mistress was going to be the one who saved the empire.

Even if Feng Yi were the foremost disciple of the imperial preceptor, what was he supposed to do? Claim the saber for himself, then go to Zheng Shuizhu’s mistress and offer up the saber with both hands, imploring her to accept it so that she could slay the flood dragon?

Lin Shu’s knees were feeling, and he had to grab onto the rope railing of the suspension bridge for support.

He really had been harboring a former prince all along!

“Don’t get so worked up, Lin Shu,” Du Ying said with a reassuring smile. “You’ve worked diligently for His Majesty for many years, and you’ve made some significant contributions during this time, so your loyalty was never under question.”

Lin Shu was very relieved to hear this, but he also didn’t dare to take Du Ying’s words at face value for fear that the imperial court would come after him at some later point.

Du Ying didn’t care to offer up any more words of reassurance, merely allowing Lin Shu to stew in his own fear. Lin Shu and powers like the Magnificent Sect were like fish in dirty little creeks, but their existence was a necessity. Someone else in his place would definitely serve the imperial court with more effort and diligence, but they may not be as useful as someone like Lin Shu.

Furthermore, in the wake of what had just happened, Du Ying and the imperial court now had massive leverage over Lin Shu, so the Magnificent Sect was only going to be more obedient and desperate from now on. By using the people of the martial arts world to kill their own peers, the imperial court could reap the benefits without having to dirty their own hands.

“We’ll stay on the Magnificent Peak for tonight,” Du Ying decided after a brief hesitation.

“Do we still have to kill all of the young men between eighteen and twenty years of age?” Lin Shu asked in a quiet voice.

Du Ying was a little hesitant.

“It’s always better to be safe than sorry, but it’s up to you, Sect Leader Lin,” the Golden Core Tier cultivator remarked.

A cruel look of resolve appeared in Lin Shu’s eyes, and he made his way across the suspension bridge on his own into the brightly lit small town.

Chen Ping’an remained completely still beneath the suspension bridge.

Before long, the floor of the Magnificent Sect’s main hall was drenched in blood, while Lin Shu sat in the main seat in an expressionless manner.

The Golden Core Tier cultivator from the imperial preceptor’s office of the Great Seal Script Empire, Zheng Shuizhu, Du Ying, and the Directorate of Imperial Horses were all also present.

Standing across from them were several senior figures of the Lin Clan, as well as Lin Shu’s daughter and all of his direct disciples, and all of them had their eyes cast down in a fearful manner.

Initially, Lin Shu didn’t dare to take the main seat, but Zheng Shuizhu quickly grew impatient with him and forcefully asked him to sit where he was told. Only then did he sit down on the main seat in an uneasy fashion.

Inside the hall, most of the men between eighteen and twenty years of age had already been executed.

“Do you take joy in killing these people, Feng Yi?” Zheng Shuizhu asked in a cold voice.

Fang Yi was the name of the Golden Core Tier cultivator, and he smiled as he replied, “Perhaps we can lure another big fish from the Golden Scale Palace out of hiding.”

Some distance away from the main hall of the Magnificent Sect, the young man who had taken over from the old scholar to become the schoolteacher rose to his feet with a cold sneer before stomping a foot down onto the ground. A longsword instantly sprang out of the earth, and he grabbed onto its hilt as he strode over to the entrance of the school, enroute to the main hall.

The Golden Scale Palace was on extremely bad terms with the Great Seal Script Empire, and they were really only a small spark away from a fullblown conflict.

Seeing as the matter at hand had been taken care of, he wouldn’t mind taking this opportunity to slay that Golden Core Tier Qi refiner of the Great Seal Script Empire. If he weren’t mistaken, that young swordswoman was the beloved disciple of that Far Roaming Tier martial artist.

If these two were killed and the prized saber capable of subjugating the flood dragon was taken, only for Du Ying to be left alive, then there was no way the emperor of the Golden Gate Nation would be able to answer to the emperor of the Great Seal Script Empire.

Right at this moment, Chen Ping’an released the cliff face, allowing himself to plummet down in free fall.

Only as he neared the bottom of the cliff did he reach out to grab the mountain face in order to slow his fall, and after a soft landing, he immediately departed.

This was very likely a plot that had been brewing for a very long time, and anyone that chose to reveal themselves at a time like this was very likely to die. In fact, the higher one’s cultivation base, the quicker they were likely to meet their demise.

Chen Ping’an knew better than to get involved, and he saw this as the right time to depart. The waters here were far too deep and murky for him to try and wade through.

The Golden Core Tier swordsman was the chief guest elder of the Golden Scale Palace, and at this moment, a hole had been pierced through his glabella, while the golden core in his body had been completely destroyed.

Even in his dying moments, his eyes were still wide with incredulity, and his final words were: “Ji Yue…”

His body quickly disintegrated into a puddle of blood.

A short elderly man was standing on the opposing mountain with his hands clasped behind his back, and he scoffed, “To think that a mere Golden Core Tier swordsman would try and meddle in my affairs. You should’ve learned from that young man. This is already the second time he’s saved himself from the clutches of death.”

In the next instant, the short old man arrived by Chen Ping’an’s side, walking along next to him with a smile as he asked, “How did you figure out that something wasn’t right? Care to tell me? Or were you never planning to stick around and get involved in the first place? You look very young, but you seem wise beyond your years.”

Chen Ping’an continued walking along as he smiled and replied, “I had a feeling that you were dangling out some bait to lure out some big fish. I would’ve been biting off far more than I could chew if I had gotten involved, so I decided to leave.”

“Do you think the missing prince is dead?” the old man asked.

“I think the one that was killed was most likely a decoy manufactured using immortal techniques,” Chen Ping’an replied. “He had imperial blood in his body, but he wasn’t actually the missing prince. It seems like Lin Shu’s loyalty still lies with the former emperor, and he’s determined to protect that scholar no matter what. In the end, his efforts paid off, and Du Ying and the others were fooled.

“That old cultivator from the Golden Scale Palace also has to be commended for having the guts to sacrifice himself in order to truly sell the decoy. As for that young man himself, he’s also extremely shrewd. Otherwise, there’s no way Lin Shu would’ve been able to pull this off on his own.

“Having said that, I’m sure their conflicts are nothing more than a joke in your eyes. From your perspective, it’s better if the missing prince of the previous imperial clan remains alive, and it’s also better if that blade capable of subjugating flood dragons doesn’t reach its most powerful form.

“Hence, if that Golden Core Tier swordsman that had remained hidden in the Magnificent Sect for all this time had chosen not to intervene, then he wouldn’t have had to die by your hands.”

“Those are some very honest and candid words from you. You’ve just saved your own life once again,” the old man remarked. “How very intriguing, but at the same time, it’s quite a pity.”

Chen Ping’an stopped in his tracks as he smiled and said, “Please don’t scare me, Senior. I’m a huge coward, and your killing intent is making me feel weak in the knees. Even if I go all-out, there’s no way I would be able to survive in a battle against you, so I’ll have no choice but to call upon my teacher and my senior brothers to save myself.”

The old man burst into laughter, then nodded in approval as he said, “You’re as cunning as you are shrewd, so it’s only right that you get to live. You’re just as handsome and slippery as I was back in my youth, so I supposed we’re birds of a feather. If I manage to kill that old bastard in the end, you can come to find me on Ape Call Mountain.

“If anyone gets in your way, tell them you’re here to see an old man with the Ji surname. You’re a very smart lad, so I’m sure you wouldn’t go telling the emperor of the Great Seal Script Empire about all of this. I can assure you that it won’t work out well for you.”

Chen Ping’an heaved a faint sigh.

This man really was the legendary Immortal Tier swordsman of Ape Call Mountain, Ji Yue.

Chen Ping’an cast his gaze toward the brightly lit small town on the mountain summit, then suddenly asked, “I heard that the sword of a mighty sword immortal is so fast and sharp that it’s capable of severing certain karmic ties. Is that right, Senior?”

The old man considered this for a moment, then replied, “I’m still not quite there yet.”

After a brief silence, the old man shook his head as he mused, “You’re a smart lad, but your luck is terrible. You’ve run into me twice now, and you almost died on three occasions. The more I look at you, the more I’m reminded of my youth.”

“I’m already accustomed to it,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

The old man waved a dismissive hand as he said, “You can go now. If you’re going to be a swordsman, then don’t be too quick to accept your fate.”

Chen Ping’an really did depart without another word.

The old man rubbed his own head as he scrutinized the jade hairpin in Chen Ping’an’s hair with a complex mix of emotions in his eyes. When he had lamented that it was “quite a pity” earlier, he had been referring to the scholar that had truly dared to oppose the heavens.

In the end, he was unable to suppress his curiosity, and he swept a sleeve through the air to conjure up a small world, then asked, “Are you really the disciple of that man from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent?”

Chen Ping’an turned around to face him, but remained silent.

Ji Yue clasped his hands behind his back with an indifferent look on his face, then said, “Make sure you don’t put your teacher to shame.”

Chen Ping’an opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end, merely settling for a nod.

The small world remained in place as Ji Yue smiled and said, “If you ever get the opportunity, tell your uncle-master, Zuo You, that his swordsmanship isn’t actually all that impressive. Back then, I was too complacent, and my cultivation base was quite lackluster as well. That’s why I wasn’t able to withstand even a single attack from him.”

A peculiar look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face.

“Also, I suggest you remove that hairpin and keep it well hidden,” Ji Yue continued. “Due to my close proximity to the site of the incident that took place in the south, I was able to see some things, and that’s why that hairpin appeared familiar to me. Even so, if I hadn’t inspected it up close, even I would’ve mistaken it for nothing more than an ordinary hairpin.

“Having said that, it’s much better to be safe than sorry. Unlike me, not all swordsmen are averse to the idea of picking on those weaker than them. If you’re somehow identified by one of the other sword immortals on the Northern Complete Reed Continent, there’s a very good chance that they won’t be able to resist the urge to attack you.

“As for whether killing you will evoke vengeance from your Uncle-master Zuo, that wouldn’t be a concern at all for those Nascent Tier and Unpolished Jade Tier runts. In fact, they would be overjoyed for the opportunity to test their swordsmanship against Zuo You, and they’re not afraid of death at all. This is simply how things are on our Northern Complete Reed Continent. It’s both good and bad.”

“So you were the first of the Northern Complete Reed Continent swordsmen to have gone out to sea to challenge Zuo You all those years ago? I’ve read through many newspapers from the time, but none of them mentioned you by name, only raising speculation on who it could’ve been. Why is that?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“You think those little rats would dare to mention me directly by name even if they knew it was me?” Ji Yue scoffed. “Similarly, none of the identities of the three sword immortals that went after me were made public, either. Make sure to be more careful during your travels from now on and exercise just as much caution as you did tonight.

“You never know who could be lurking behind the scenes, pulling the strings of a bunch of lowly puppets. To put it frankly, I see you in the same way that you see Du Ying, which is the same way that Du Ying sees Lin Shu. Who’s to say that there isn’t someone else looking down on me in the same fashion?

“There are countless people in the cultivation and martial arts worlds who’ve died without even understanding the circumstances surrounding their death. All ailments can be treated, but foolishness is an incorrigible malaise.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Senior,” Chen Ping’an said as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

Ji Yue gave him a dismissive wave before vanishing from the spot in a flash.

From there, Chen Ping’an continued on his journey.

Before long, the Plum Rain solar term had arrived.

Chen Ping’an skirted around the Great Seal Script Empire entirely to visit a coastal subsidiary nation.

It was raining heavily on a cliffside walkway, and Chen Ping’an had lit a campfire under some cover. He stared blankly at the pelting rain outside, observing that the rain always managed to sap away much of the heat in the air.