Unsheathed

Chapter 617 (1): Who’s Worthy of Ning Yao

Bai Lianshuang offered a very concise description of the early stages of all battles between the Savage World and the Sword Qi Great Wall: courting death.

The sword immortals and sword cultivators atop the city wall unleashed their flying swords in unison, sending a furious wave of sword qi toward the south, pulverizing everything in its path.

The hordes of demons charging at the Sword Qi Great Wall were cut down like grass, falling dead to the ground in swathes upon swathes.

Three moons hung above the Savage World, yet the most illuminated by the moonlight was the city wall.

There were innumerable sword cultivators on the city wall, and the entire battlefield would become as bright as day when they unleashed their flying swords in unison, so bright that the three moons would seemingly lose their luster.

The dense army of demons continued to surge forward, fearlessly pushing back against the deadly flying swords. However, it was still too early — far too early — for the demons to create a sloped wall with their bodies to charge onto the city wall.

The demons could only sacrifice countless soldiers to slowly exhaust the spiritual energy of the sword cultivators, exchanging this for an opportunity to gradually approach the Sword Qi Great Wall. They needed to pay a huge price for each meter that they advanced.

A group of great demons assumed their true forms, and under the lead of Ascension Tier Great Demon Zhong Guang, they were responsible for uprooting many mountains in the Savage World and carrying them to the battlefield in the south, after which they would hurl the mountains with their full strength at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Great Sword Immortal Yue Qing, who was widely regarded as someone ranking just outside the top ten pinnacle sword immortals, had two swords hanging by his waist: Mighty Guardian of the Five Mountains and a standard sword from the sword market.

Both swords were sheathed, but he had summoned two bonded flying swords, with Thousand Feet Spring appearing like a thundering waterfall as it cut down the many large mountains being viciously launched at the Sword Qi Great Wall. The earth trembled as the mountains crashed down and flattened countless demons.

Meanwhile, Soaring Cloud Sparrow, Sword Immortal Yue Qing’s other bonded flying sword, released a downpour of sword qi onto the battlefield.

Sect Leader Han Huaizi of the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s Great Emblem Sword Sect didn’t point his flying sword at the demons rushing to their deaths, and he instead helped Sword Immortal Yue Qing strike down the large mountains hurtling toward the city wall.

Immortal Tier Sword Immortal Li Tuimi, the chief guest elder of the Yan Clan, also had two bonded flying swords, White Flood Dragon and Black Hornless Dragon. The two flying swords were like flood dragons that measured hundreds of meters in length as they wantonly rolled through the battlefield and massacred the demons.

Ao Fish, the bonded flying sword of Immortal Tier Sword Immortal Mi Hu, left the city wall and directly dove into the earth, ripping many deep ditches in the ground and obstructing the advance of the demon army.

His little brother, Mi Yu, summoned his bonded flying sword to cooperate with Ao Fish, with the thick iridescent light of the flying sword sweeping through the ditches and preventing the great demons from filling them in. At the same time, the flying sword crushed all of the demons in the ditches.

Sword Immortal Yuan Qingshu from the Southern Whirl Continent also summoned his flying sword, Frost Snow, to help the Mi brothers protect the ditches and slow down the demons. His flying sword was brimming with sword qi, and many demons standing around the ditches of various sizes felt as if they were plunged into bone-chilling temperatures, almost as if thick snow were covering the ground and heavy snowfall was continuing without reprieve.

Demons were renowned for their tough physiques, yet the flesh on their feet was melted by the sword qi, completely exposing their bones. Their bodies also became bloodied and mangled.

Sword Immortal Wu Chengpei, who had been stuck at the peak stage of the Unpolished Jade Tier for many years, was sitting cross-legged on the city wall. His bonded flying sword, Sweet Dew, was very strange, even in a place like the Sword Qi Great Wall. Sweet Dew didn’t travel along a set path, and it flew through the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood on the battlefield. Wu Chengpei didn’t attack the demons, and he surprisingly focused his attention and started to refine his bonded flying sword.

Female Sword Immortal Zhou Cheng didn’t possess a high cultivation base, but she enjoyed a peculiar fortune: As the last surviving member of her lineage, she could use the sword intent of her predecessors to temper her bonded flying sword while cultivating at the Sword Qi Great Wall. After cultivating for many years, she was eventually able to forge and nurture a bonded flying sword named Seven Radiance. The sword light consisted of seven colors, and it was as if Sword Immortal Zhou Cheng were wielding seven bonded flying swords.

Nalan Shaowei and Lu Zhi, both of whom were regarded as members of the top ten pinnacle great sword immortals, didn’t launch any attacks. Instead, they led a dozen or so Upper Five Tier sword immortals with extremely quick flying swords to patrol the battlefield, specifically targeting the great demons hidden among the hordes of demon soldiers. Of course, they would also draw their swords to kill the demons inching closer to the city wall, preventing them from reaching the foot of the city wall too easily.

Countless sword cultivators performed their own duties atop the city wall.

The flying swords of the Upper Five Tier sword cultivators were at the forefront of the tidal wave of sword qi, venturing furthest away from the great wall and killing the most enemies. As such, they naturally consumed the most spiritual energy and faced the most danger.

The flying swords of the earth immortal sword cultivators at the Nascent Tier and the Golden Core Tier followed closely behind them. They weren’t necessarily seeking to kill the demons in the distance, and they only needed to stabilize the river of sword qi flowing outside the city wall. If they had the extra energy, they would target and kill the demon cultivators wearing Dao robes or talismanic armor, and they would especially go to great lengths to kill the formation cultivators secretly transported over by the demons.

The Middle Five Tier sword cultivators under the Golden Core Tier needed to be especially careful when they launched attacks, and in reality, their main purpose wasn’t to kill the demons at all. Rather, they were responsible for maintaining the formation in front of the city wall, using it to prevent the demons from specifically targeting them and damaging their bonded flying swords.

There were three waves of sword cultivators taking turns to attack or carry out other roles. Being flashy would appear frightening but was actually useless, so every single sword cultivator at the Sword Qi Great Wall launched their sword strikes in the most functional and effective manner, seeking nothing but results.

This was especially important given that the demons’ assault on the Sword Qi Great Wall wouldn’t last a few days or a few months, but instead would generally drag on for several years.

For the demons of the Savage World, the current assault of three days and three nights was truly nothing more than an appetizer.

The only unexpected surprise during these three days came from Bai Ying, one of the fourteen pinnacle great demons. He sat high atop his skeletal throne and appeared like a towering figure overseeing the army of the demon tribe. He stood up one time, channeling a mystical ability and causing thousands of corpses on the bloody battlefield to instantly stand up.

For some unknown reason, however, these corpses didn’t attack or retreat, and they simply stood there in a dazed manner, allowing the sweeping sword qi to comprehensively shatter them and render them worthless.

Bai Ying sat back down on his throne and extended a hand, seemingly gesturing for the sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall to continue their attacks.

He took an extra glance at the Unpolished Jade Tier Sword Immortal Wu Chengpei, feeling especially interested in his bonded flying sword, Sweet Dew.

The great demon’s gaze stretched further. If he could bathe in sweet dew and temper his physique in this skeletal form, he would receive some minor benefits to his Great Dao.

Apart from this, Bai Ying didn’t find any value in spectating this battle.

With the exception of a few pinnacle great demons who had no descendants or forces of their own, all of the other great demons mobilized the full strength of their sects and vassal forces, including Bai Ying’s Skeleton Mountain.

Thus, if someone were able to peer down at the vast lands from the three moons like that Daoist priest great demon who had refined the core of the moon, then they would be able to see specks appearing on the land before forming thin trails that slowly moved toward the Sword Qi Great Wall. These were the endless trails of demons continuing to arrive at the battlefield to take the places of their fallen comrades.

Each thin trail could represent more than tens upon hundreds of thousands of demons, with many of them being puppets that had yet to develop any intelligence, controlled by their cultivator handlers. Among these trails were also countless demon cultivators who had embarked on the path of cultivation and assumed human form. Furthermore, many of them were powerful beings who ruled over a region, emulating the Majestic World and establishing their own kingdoms and empires.

Regardless of whether they were violent demons who resided deep in the mountains or far under the rivers, ruled over lands of desolation and miasma or oversaw treasured lands of fortune, or whether they were deities or malicious ghosts, all of the powerful beings in the Savage World had to mobilize at least half of their forces to join the assault on the Sword Qi Great Wall.

They would naturally be rushing to their death if they failed to breach the city wall.

At the same time, however, they would have to charge forward without fear of death if they wanted to successfully take down the city wall. As long as the demons were willing to engage in this battle of attrition, then the more measly ants they were willing to sacrifice, the more the seemingly towering and formidable Sword Qi Great Wall would lose its opportune time, geographical advantage, and popular support. Once all three were lost, that would be the moment when Chen Qingdu was comprehensively killed, with his soul breaking apart for good.

The Sword Qi Great Wall could be viewed as a world of its own, so the most critical consideration of this battle was how Chen Qingdu could maintain the natural advantages of the great wall, and how the Savage World could overcome their disadvantages as the attacking party. In fact, this could be regarded as the only consideration in the battle.

Indeed, this was what the sword immortals and the measly sacrificial demons were fighting for as the former unleashed sword strikes and the latter charged at the city wall.

The Sword Qi Great Wall was destined to fall if the Savage World mobilized half of its strength to participate in the assault.

Not only would the Sword Qi Great Wall fall, but several continents in the Majestic World would be engulfed by turmoil as well. For example, the Southern Whirl Continent, which was located closest to Stalactite Mountain, the Circling Ascension Continent in the southwest, and the Parasol Leaf Continent in the southeast.

So, when the old man in gray had finally reappeared after slumbering for ten thousand years, his first action had been to divide the Savage World into twenty territories, after which he had instructed the fourteen pinnacle great demons to mobilize at least half of the forces in at least one of their territories to attack the Sword Qi Great Wall. If they failed to even complete such a small task, then there would no longer be a need for them to keep living.

Moreover, the pinnacle great demons needed to be willing to ascend the city wall to challenge Chen Qingdu’s sword skills after the battle began. If they were unwilling to do so, then they could stay at the bottom of the ancient well.

Looking at the twenty territories, the overall cultivation bases of the demon cultivators in some territories were relatively lacking, and in these cases, the pinnacle great demons could make up for the lacking quality in increased quantity. In addition to this, there was one other thing that the pinnacle great demons needed to do, namely, to force all of the Upper Five Tier demons to travel north to join the battle. Those who dared to refuse or hide would be punished with death.

Of course, they couldn’t be too harsh on these powerful beings who had overcome many hardships and difficulties to reach the Upper Five Tiers, so those who were willing to join the battle would all receive rewards and honors in the future, as well as extremely valuable gifts before setting off for the battlefield.

If these Upper Five Tier demons died on the battlefield before breaching the Sword Qi Great Wall and reaching the Majestic World, then their children or direct disciples were guaranteed to receive a territory in the Savage World and enjoy a life similar to that of monarchs and nobles in the mortal world. The sizes of these territories would be determined by the deceased great demons’ cultivation base and military merits, and no one else in the Savage World would be allowed to attack them within one thousand years.

After they conquered the Sword Qi Great Wall and marched into the Majestic World, not only would the demons receive rewards and honors in the Savage World, but the Upper Five Tier demons would even be allowed to establish their own sects and forces on the extremely fertile lands of the Majestic World.

News of this contract signed by the fourteen pinnacle great demons at Holding Moon Mountain had already spread throughout the entire Savage World.

If there were enough top-notch cultivators in one of the twenty territories, yet they lacked Dao robes, armor, and immortal treasures, then the old man in gray had been extremely clear about how to address this issue. He had directly told the fourteen pinnacle great demons not to hide their treasures, and that they needed to arm their subordinates regardless of whether they were paying out of their own pockets or borrowing the treasures from someone else.

In any case, they could follow the agreed strategy and use their own abilities to recoup these costs once they arrived in the Majestic World. They were guaranteed to receive at least double what they had initially invested, and if this still wasn’t enough, then they could ask the old man in gray and Holding Moon Mountain for further compensation.

The assault on the Sword Qi Great Wall proceeded smoothly, having been divided into eight separate stages.

The demons of the Savage World had only just started the first of the eight stages.

Afterward, the sword immortals guarding the Sword Qi Great Wall would be astonished again and again. For example, the Savage World would also have pure martial artists at the tenth tier, and there would also be magnificent scenes of sword cultivators battling against sword cultivators atop the city wall. In addition, the Savage World would also have a large army of Militarian cultivators wearing incredibly valuable armor pellets.

Some time later, a large collection of mountains would also materialize on the battlefield, these being the towering Five Mountains that had been taken from a dozen or so empires. Standing on these mountains would be countless cultivators unleashing a rain of immortal treasures.

All of the demons on the battlefield right now needed to crane their necks to gaze up at the majestic city wall, but as time went on, the battlefield they fought on would slowly rise higher and higher.

In the end, the Sword Qi Great Wall would become a legitimate territory of the Savage World, and with the demons growing stronger and the humans becoming weaker, the demons would be the ones enjoying an upper hand in future conflicts with the Majestic World, able to attack or defend as they pleased.

Bai Ying started to drink wine. He had heard that there was an abundance of immortal wine in the Majestic World.

Didn’t those haughty sword immortals atop the city wall like to unleash the full power of their blades to kill demons? Well then, they could attack to their heart’s content and accumulate as much military merit as they wanted. In any case, they would eventually drown under the weight of all the potential military merit.

In reality, the Savage World had already started to scheme and plan immediately after the wager of the thirteen battles.

The Savage World had suffered heavy defeat in the three previous battles, but it had only launched those assaults for the sake of conducting realistic military exercises.

The Sword Qi Great Wall was enjoying a generation of outstanding young prodigies, led by none other than Ning Yao.

However, was the Savage World not enjoying a similar phenomenon?

Li Zhen, who possessed part of Guan Zhao’s soul, had naturally been one of them, and the old man in gray hadn’t felt any pain regarding his death. Bai Ying felt even less concern and pity.

One had to realize that the Savage World also had a group of young demons known as the Hundred Sword Immortals, and their rankings weren’t based on their current cultivation bases and combat power, but rather, determined by their aptitude for the Great Dao and their future cultivation potential. Bei Qie, the only disciple of the big-bearded man, was only ranked third out of the Hundred Sword Immortals.

During previous battles at the Sword Qi Great Wall, the human sword immortals would only leave the city wall together when the two sides were evenly matched or when the Sword Qi Great Wall was facing a disadvantage. They would split open the battlefield and appear on the front lines, resolutely blocking the relentless attacks of the demon tribe.

It would then be the turn of the earth immortal sword cultivators and the young prodigies, such as Ning Yao, to leave the city wall, and they would charge onto the battlefield and battle to the death with the demons. It was up to their own abilities and fortune whether they lived or died.

Only at that time would the frail Lower Five Tier sword cultivators appear on the city wall. If the great demons managed to successfully ascend the city wall, however, countless of these pitiful ants would be killed, even if some exhausted sword immortals stayed on the city wall and tried to stop the great demons.

Flying swords continued to shoot forward from the city wall, with countless streaks of sword light leaving countless rays of lingering radiance in the sky. At the same time, many sword cultivators continued to summon their bonded flying swords back to the city wall, after which they would retreat from the front lines and make their way to the northern end of the city wall. They would nurture their flying swords and ingest alchemical pills, also meditating to recover their spiritual energy. While they did this, another group of sword cultivators would quickly take over their original positions and continue to defend against the demons.

This behavior of the Sword Qi Great Wall caused the biggest headache for the Savage World.

The sword cultivators could firmly guard the city wall and slowly deplete the demon army’s numbers.

Upon witnessing such a scene, a spectating great demon from the Savage World had once sighed and remarked that the attacking army of demons was like a colossal and bloated being, waiting to be weakened as it sat before the great wall. Just how tragic and helpless was this? Just how futile was this?