Unsheathed

The burly man in golden armor suddenly assumed his true form and grew to a colossal size, with the suit of golden armor also growing with the great demon, continuing to suppress him. The burly man reached forward to block the tip of the sword, pushing it back along with the vortex, eventually causing both of them to shatter. Sword qi cracked against his golden armor, yet the burly man didn’t so much as glance at the armor.

Instead, he looked down at the small crack on his golden palm. However, it was a pity that the thick golden light from his fingers quickly rushed over to fix the damage. The burly man was extremely frustrated, and he reverted to the size of a normal human. He thought for a moment, deciding that the relatively powerful Zuo You would definitely be his in the following battle.

The great demons who were powerful enough to have a throne in the ancient well each unleashed a mystical power to deal with the flying swords and vortexes, with some unleashing a punch to shatter Zuo You’s attack.

Some caused a bigger commotion, such as the sword immortal standing at the feet of Skeletal Great Demon Bai Ying using his much smaller sword to repel the larger sword, leading to countless sparks that appeared like a dazzling rain of fire falling to the quaking earth.

Some great demons used extremely mysterious techniques, also summoning small worlds to collide with Zuo You’s vortexes.

The big-bearded man didn’t block the vortex himself. Rather, he instructed his disciple to fly into the air and block the attack with his sword.

The man in Confucian robes appeared the most relaxed and carefree, allowing the huge sword to burst out of the vortex and race toward him. However, the sword qi of the flying sword gradually waned as it flew through the air, with the size of the sword rapidly decreasing as well, eventually becoming as small as a miniature flying sword.

The flying sword hovered in front of the man in Confucian robes, who held two fingers together and smiled faintly as he manipulated the sword with ease, causing it to turn around and shoot somewhere extremely far away in the Sword Qi Great Wall. It disappeared in an instant.

The Confucian sage sitting on one end of the city wall also put two fingers together, deflecting the flying sword into the rolling white mist formed by the fading river of time from the Savage World. The next instant, the flying sword mysteriously plummeted down from above the head of the great demon in Confucian robes, yet he simply smiled and raised a sleeve, causing the flying sword to instantly dissipate. The incisive flying sword, which had picked up some of the river of time’s aura, returned to heaven and earth.

On the battlefield, the little boy didn’t pay any attention to the sword light slicing through the air behind him, nor did he pay any heed to the rising white jade hall being blasted apart by a single sword strike from the city wall. He remained unfazed from the beginning to the end.

However, the destruction of the sword light and the explosion of the white jade hall caused the sword qi around the little boy and Chen Ping’an to become unstable and chaotic, with the little boy’s vision becoming ever so slightly hazy.

The little boy pursed his lips and rolled the head of the great demon under his foot before kicking it away, lest it detrimentally affect him in a moment. This direct disciple from Holding Moon Mountain was already dead, so could he still be regarded as the little boy’s senior brother?

The little boy retracted his foot and remained standing in the same spot, neither retreating nor dodging.

His opponent was finally willing to make a move — the young man in azure was truly a stupidly kind person with a slow and weak personality.

It was completely pointless for him to be so cautious. After leaving the city wall and choosing to face him, death would be very easy, while trying to stay alive would be incredibly difficult.

Upon thinking about how to deal with his corpse and soul to lure Ning Yao into battle with him and die together, the little boy couldn’t help but feel slightly troubled.

He genuinely couldn’t bring himself to chomp down on people’s limbs and faces, especially since he wasn’t actually a member of the demon tribe, nor did he have a true form that measured hundreds upon thousands of meters in height. Even if he opened his mouth as wide as he could, how long would he need to chomp down on Chen Ping’an’s corpse before he could repulse those on the city wall? In fact, he would probably repulse himself to death before he could repulse anyone else.

Moreover, he was only a mediocre sword cultivator with an unstable soul, so just practicing sword techniques alone was already an exhausting task. That being the case, he had never learned immortal torture techniques such as turning people’s souls into candle wicks.

The little boy had named himself Li Zhen, and he had initially thought that a battle would be nothing more than just that. Upon truly arriving on the battlefield, however, he discovered that he needed to think about a whole heap of other useless things. He started to feel slightly regretful about not being diligent enough when practicing sword techniques in the past. At the same time, he had also taken great delight in the jealousy and resentment hidden in the hearts of some of his senior brothers and senior sisters.

Li Zhen absent-mindedly looked around.

His opponent was decent enough, being a sword cultivator with two bonded flying swords.

One flying sword was extremely slender and sharp, almost like a needle. It exuded an ancient aura, also carrying with it the feel of rustling pine trees. It was similar to those flying swords that weren’t necessarily destructive, but were very swift and deadly.

The other flying sword had the aura of crackling lightning, one that wasn’t concealed and was completely unwilling to hide. In contrast to the other flying sword, this one was more similar to those exceptionally destructive swords that sword immortals were renowned for.

It was no wonder that the old great sword immortal was gambling big on this young man in azure. He did indeed possess some skills.

There was still something a little strange, however. Chen Ping’an had summoned two bonded flying swords at once, but he wasn’t using these to attack his opponent, instead choosing to rush over at a relatively quick speed.

Li Zhen had a slight headache. He owned far too many things, in large part due to him accepting presents all day long after leaving Holding Moon Mountain with his master. His senior brothers and senior sisters had insisted on giving him presents, after which great demons whose names he didn’t remember had run over to give him presents. Did they view him as a trash can that accepted everything? They were very much distracting him from cultivation.

These presents were unexpectedly of some minor use today; otherwise, he would have needed to deal with a bunch of rubbish every few years following his advancement in cultivation base. He wouldn’t want to give these items to other people, but it would also be a shame to just throw them out.

So, his master was correct in saying that one shouldn’t slack off when it came to cultivation, and it wasn’t too late to take things easy after quickly advancing to the Upper Five Tiers. Things would become much easier after he mastered the mystical ability of having a storage space inside his sleeves, and at that time, it wouldn’t matter even if he had mountains upon mountains of immortal treasures.

His senior sister, who was cultivating in seclusion right now, had once said that the Majestic World was far too wealthy, so wealthy that it was beyond their comprehension. There were countless immortal forces, and the cultivators of various ages and cultivation bases were also very smart, though they were even more afraid of death. Thus, they were willing to disregard everything for the sake of staying alive. With this in mind, testing people’s hearts after arriving in the Majestic World would be very entertaining.

Li Zhen hesitated for a moment before deciding to roll with the punches. He would face the punch head-on, and if the young man in azure was capable enough to produce another flying sword, then he would face that head-on as well. In fact, his opponent could feel free to smash all of his immortal treasures onto his head!

Giving his opponent a free rein in this exchange wouldn’t delay him from making preparations for the next exchange — he hadn’t been bluffing when he had said that he would kill his opponent as quickly as possible.

The little boy was indeed standing there without moving, and the ground within a thirty-meter radius of him rose by an inch or so, appearing like a mid-sized dirt platform. At this moment, a burst of pure sword intent that shared the same origin as the Great Dao appeared in the surroundings, not just on the battlefield, but stretching as far as the great wall and as tall as several thousand meters above the great wall.

This sword intent condensed into a tangible form without warning, criss-crossing inside the platform like tens of thousands of silk threads that each shimmered with snow-white intent under the radiance of the sun. This looked like a web of sword intent imprisoning the little boy.

Chen Ping’an didn’t choose to get close and fight with his life on the line, and he had seemingly noticed the peculiar change amid heaven and earth the moment before they had appeared. He altered his course, but he didn’t stop and stand still, simply slowing down slightly and circling the little boy from a distance of thirty meters like a lone ghost in azure, making sure that he didn’t approach the web of eerie sword intent.

He also held a stack of talismans in each hand, casually tossing them forth and allowing them to either hover in the wind or embed into the ground. From time to time, some yellow paper talismans would get closer to the dirt platform that was just an inch taller than the surroundings, yet they would be silently attacked and damaged by the sword light formed by the web of sword intent, eventually ripped into pieces and scattering around the platform.

Li Zhen was slightly disappointed as he said, ”You don’t even dare to fight to the death with me? What a boring sword cultivator. You’ve been given the opportunity to die a spirited and brave death, yet you’re letting it slip through your hands just like that. I’m not your relative, and our world doesn’t have the tradition of burning yellow paper during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, so just what are you playing at?”

He slowly walked forward, and the web of sword intent also moved forward with him. More and more of the sword intent scattered throughout heaven and earth was gathered together, causing the web to become larger and larger. For some unknown reason, all of the primordial sword intent beyond the Sword Qi Great Wall, sharing the same Dao but not the same origin as this sword intent, chose to become silent and still in an extremely rare display, neither funneling over to become one with Li Zhen’s sword intent, nor putting up a great resistance against it.

Two elderly sword immortals, both of whom had engraved large characters on the Sword Qi Great Wall, spoke to each other using their mind’s lake. Chen Xi said to Qi Tingji, ”This is the remnant sword intent left behind by Senior Guan Zhao many years ago, and it hasn’t taken a fancy to any descendant of the Sword Qi Great Wall for the past ten thousand years. No wonder...”

Qi Tingji frowned and chuckled coldly before remarking, ”Senior? Do these kinds of filthy people who are willing to turn their backs on the Sword Dao for the sake of ascending the pinnacle with their own sword techniques deserve to be regarded as our seniors?”

Chen Xi was unwilling to dwell on this matter, and he sighed with emotion and said, ”Chen Ping’an was fortunately able to run away quickly. Otherwise, even Nascent Tier sword cultivators will have to abandon their physical bodies if they’re caught in this web of sword intent, and only then will they have a sliver of a chance to survive. However, will they still be able to continue fighting after that?”

Qi Tingji gazed into the distance and replied, ”If Chen Ping’an wants his fist intent to reach its pinnacle, then there needs to be a process of retracting and releasing. That little brat isn’t idling around either, and he’s also very good at creating opportunities and seizing opportunities. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have used this technique straight away. Things aren’t as easy as they look, and it’s necessary to block the remaining portion of sword intent.

”Thankfully, Chen Ping’an isn’t at too much of a disadvantage here, and it isn’t often that one can borrow the Great Dao of heaven and earth to temper the true intent of their fist techniques. This sword formation is ultimately being borrowed from heaven and earth, however, so it won’t be able to last very long.”

Chen Xi shook his head and said, ”Don’t forget the current identity of that person. He’s sure to have many treasures in his possession.”

Li Zhen confidently and casually walked around the battlefield, saying with a smile, ”One exchange has already passed, and it doesn’t make sense for me to let you aimlessly wander around for so long. Don’t think that you can freely lay down a talismanic formation just because you’re circling me from further away. Do you know that your behavior is very annoying? Are you truly of the impression that I’m simply standing here and waiting to be beaten up?”

The little boy shook his sleeve, causing a sparkling and crystal clear Daoist seal to fall out. He stomped through the dirt platform and tossed the Daoist seal inside.

Afterward, he tossed forth a snapped, scabbardless sword, covered in rust and stripped of its luster.

Li Zhen then shook out a small and exquisite copper treasure pagoda from his sleeve, one that was seemingly a replica of the Heavenly World’s White Jade Capital. However, the treasure pagoda was on the verge of collapse, with the cracks and fractures especially evident. This made the treasure pagoda appear fragile and unable to withstand much abuse, and it would most likely be rendered useless after a single use. The treasure pagoda fell to the ground, directly sinking into the soil and disappearing without a trace due to its immense weight.

He continued to walk around, tossing forth an immortal treasure with each step and stomping them into the ground. As he did this, he said, ”I expose a small opening each time I take a step, and I’ll even be as kind as to give you a suggestion. Your flying swords are unable to breach this sword formation, but you can at least seize the opportunity to have them burrow into the ground and attempt to attack me from below.

”Yet, you’re quite an interesting one, and not only are you ignoring this opportunity, but you’re even running around and insisting on waiting for death. Well, alright then. Let’s see if you’re able to toss out more yellow paper for the Tomb Sweeping Festival, or if I’m able to clean your tomb quicker with my treasures.”

Li Zhen continued to stomp treasures into the ground, and when he reached a rolled-up scroll, he realized that it didn’t open up upon falling to the ground. This wouldn’t inhibit him from channeling the treasure’s power, but he still squatted down to unroll the scroll, revealing a severely damaged painting of the eighteen sword immortals.

Only after doing this did Li Zhen stand up and continue to walk around the platform. He walked very slowly, but he was able to cover a distance of more than thirty meters with each step.

Whenever Li Zhen was about to move, the threads of sword intent closest to him would automatically avoid his hands and feet, not even needing to receive any instructions from the young boy.

Li Zhen strolled around just like this, placing a treasure in the ground every one to two kilometers. In the end, he decided not to use any of the low-quality treasures, lest he embarrass himself in front of so many people. He finally stood still, extending two fingers and grabbing a diagonal thread of sword intent that had remained hovering one foot in front of him the entire time.

He lightly pinched the sword intent and caused it to ring, saying with a faint smile, ”Just how profound were Prisoner Guan Zhao’s sword skills? Even I struggle to fathom this now. At that time, what other paramount beings did he ascend the Sword Dao and challenge the heavens apart from Chen Qingdu? It’s a pity that I don’t remember this either.”

Chen Ping’an finally stood still sixty meters in front of him. Indeed, there was probably no need for him to run around anymore.

Li Zhen didn’t know whether to regard this person as stupid or foolish.

Was Chen Ping’an stopping simply because the sword formation around him was about to disappear? Did he truly think that the sword formation was for the sake of protecting him from flying swords and talismans?

”Oh, that’s right. What was your name?” Li Zhen asked.

Seeing that his opponent was showing no signs of wanting to reply, Li Zhen grumbled in an exasperated voice, ”What’s wrong with you? Many books that have found their way to the Savage World from the Majestic World describe elites as being upright and honorable in battle, with each calling out the names of their fist techniques or sword strikes or whatnot. Those ant-like spectators are responsible for clapping and cheering and exclaiming in wonder. Just how lively is that?

”Afterward, they’ll all be transfixed with shock when the trump cards are used, becoming absolutely dumbstruck and unable to speak. Their silence would speak louder than words. Yet, take a look at yourself? Can you live up to the expectations of all those spectating sword immortals on the city wall? You playing mute is causing me to feel dispirited and unenergetic as well.”

The sword formation had already started to waver from Li Zhen’s initial murmurings to himself, with the criss-crossing threads of pure sword intent starting to lose their luster. However, they didn’t return to heaven and earth, and they instead appeared to transform into misty spiritual energy and funnel into the little boy’s acupoints.

Li Zhen burped in satisfaction and exhaled a cloud of mist. This was the old sword intent that had appeared murky to begin with, and it was now filtered and expelled from the little boy’s body.

A great sword immortal turned around to look at Chen Qingdu after seeing this.

Chen Qingdu shook his head and said with a smile, ”What’s his will always be his, and death will come beckoning if that’s what he seeks.”

Li Zhen smiled and asked, ”I exhibited six small openings and two large openings during the process of the sword formation disappearing, yet you were still able to resist launching an attack? Do you feel like I’m speaking too much? I find you annoying, but perhaps you find me even more annoying?”

Li Zhen retracted his smile, with his gaze becoming still as he snapped his fingers and remarked, ”Well, what a coincidence. I’ve finished setting up my formation, one that’s powerful enough to even trouble Upper Five Tier sword cultivators. So, you can go and die now.”

A string of many faint golden characters appeared along the path that Li Zhen had walked, hovering at different heights and each containing a different number of characters. They appeared slightly broken, but they were ultimately able to link together like talismanic mantras written on gold talisman paper.

The contents were all remarks made by Li Zhen before, with some spoken aloud and many more spoken in his mind. This was evident through the quick flash of golden characters, with a large number of the characters being gathered around the Five Lightning Daoist Seal, the copper treasure pagoda, the rusty snapped sword, the painting of sword immortals, and the many other immortal treasures.

On the ground, a huge bolt of golden lightning formed a large, squiggly circle, surrounding an area with a radius of fifty kilometers.

A sea of clouds gathered even higher than the Sword Qi Great Wall, and the booming thunder in the sky resonated with the pool of thunder and lightning on the ground.

At the same time, the Five Lightning Daoist Seal slowly rose into the air and exuded a brilliant radiance.

A dazzling treasure pagoda towered three hundred meters into the air.

The rusty broken sword suddenly shattered, with the resulting shards spreading evenly along the perimeter of the thunder pool.

The eighteen sword immortals slowly walked out of the painting, and even though they were suppressed by the sword intent of this heaven and earth and were no larger than grains of sand, the individuals formed from the sword immortals’ true intent were still filled with abundant sword qi. They hovered slightly above the ground, appearing like a natural barrier formed by the channeling of sword qi. In the end, the eighteen miniature sword immortals were each responsible for guarding some of the immortal treasures.

Many immortal treasures that Li Zhen had seemingly tossed to the ground in casual disregard were all exhibiting different phenomena at this moment.

Why had he spoken so much just then? Naturally, because he possessed far too many immortal treasures.

His cultivation base wasn’t high enough yet, so he could only make up for this shortcoming using immortal treasures, pseudo-celestial tools, and celestial tools.

Li Zhen stopped yawning and also stopped talking, with his expression calm and composed as he looked at his opponent.

He made a grabbing motion with one hand, and even though the spinning sword pellet in his palm didn’t exude any treasure light, it was actually a powerful celestial tool.

He feigned clenching a fist with his other hand, and that hand didn’t hold a celestial tool sword pellet but rather an ancestor talisman of the true appearances of the Five Mountains.

Sword immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall and those from generations before its existence had always been fond of the notion that human power was stronger than the heavens.

That being the case, his opponent would be rewarded with a heavenly tribulation first.

Following that would be an earth tribulation.

Li Zhen had another greeting gift after the earth tribulation, and he would use his status as a sword cultivator from the Savage World to challenge the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Thus, several immortals in black, each more than ten meters tall, appeared behind Li Zhen. They appeared wavering and unstable, and only the swords in their hands had material sword intent and dazzling sword light.

One of the sword immortals standing in the middle was clearly taller than the others, and there was an apathetic expression on his clearly visible face. His figure was the most stable, and he was none other than the primordial human sword immortal, Guan Zhao.

Li Zhen furrowed his brows.

He saw the young man in azure hold one hand behind his back and clench his other hand into a fist in front of his body. There was a fervent look in his eyes, and his sleeves were no longer rolled up as he stood in the astral winds whipped up by the tribulations of heaven and earth. His sleeves billowed in the wind, appearing extremely large and wide as if they were filled with a pure breeze. They looked like a blooming lotus that was so deeply blue that it was almost pitch-black like ink.

Chen Ping’an smiled widely and asked, ”Is that all?”