Unsheathed

”Do you want to go or not?” the old man in gray chuckled.

A wide smile appeared on the Hidden Official’s face, and she immediately flew away as a streak of light, racing directly toward the rat’s nest.

What was there for her to refine on the Sword Qi Great Wall? The Sword Qi Great Wall itself? The Sword Qi Great Wall was Chen Qingdu; Chen Qingdu was the Sword Qi Great Wall!

However, the Savage World was different because even the old man in gray hadn’t refined the entire world, so she still had chances, and perhaps she could even compete against the old man in gray in the future.

”Is it a good idea to be giving her so much?” Liu Cha asked with tightly furrowed brows.

”I can’t let you and Zhou Mi have everything,” the old man in gray chuckled. ”Once Chen Qingdu dies, it’ll be about time for the Etiquette Sage to meet me in the Majestic World. Let’s see if great heroes really do step up in times of crisis as the scholars of the Majestic World claim.”

”What about Bai Ze?” Liu Cha asked.

”He’s in about the same situation as the blind old man,” the old man in gray sneered. ”He’s utterly disappointed in everyone and won’t help either side.”

”There can be light in the deepest depths of darkness,” Liu Cha said.

”Have you considered in which world that phrase is more applicable?” the old man in gray asked with a smile. ”The Majestic World is already on a decline, while we are ascending. Soon enough, the gap between our two worlds will become insurmountable. Once we reach the Majestic World, it’ll be time for you to draw your sword and saber.”

”Of course,” Liu Cha replied with a nod.

The old man in gray patted Liu Cha on the shoulder and continued, ”Once we get to the Majestic World, you’ll be sure to have an opportunity to meet A’Liang again. When that time comes, I’ll let you have a continent in the Majestic World as a prize for whichever one wins the battle between you two.”

A’Liang had traveled to many places in the Savage World and slain many demons, but he had also made a true friend there, and that was Liu Cha.

After returning to the Sword Qi Great Wall, A’Liang had spoken quite highly of Liu Cha to some children, describing him as a loyal and generous man who was well-versed in both poetry and song.

Of course, he then immediately reverted back to his normal demeanor, spitting onto his hands to smooth down his hair before ”revealing the truth.”

”He’s a remarkable guy, but ultimately, he was still won over by my charm and flair, and he even tried to gift his sword to me. I refused, so he drew his saber and used it as a brush to write a poem to honor me. Of course, I’m a legitimate scholar, so his poetry was never going to impress me, but I suppose it’s the thought that counts. Anyway, if any of you ever run into Liu Cha on the battlefield, don’t be afraid. If you can’t beat him, then tell him that you’re A’Liang’s friend.”

As a self-proclaimed scholar, A’Liang had never once dressed as a scholar during his century-long stay on the Sword Qi Great Wall, and by the time he left, he didn’t even have a sword anymore. Instead, all he had was a saber and his conical bamboo hat.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Chen Qingdu had given him a very solemn parting message: ”Don’t come back here again. As an outsider who’s stayed on the Sword Qi Great Wall for this long, even if you didn’t leave, I would’ve kicked you out.”

A’Liang patted the old great sword immortal on the shoulder as he grinned, ”If you come across any fine wine, make sure to save it for me. It’s up to me whether I drink it or not, but you gotta make sure to save some for me. However, if the Sword Qi Great Wall turns on the Majestic World, then I won’t be returning. No matter how fine the wine is, who would I have to share it with?”

***

After Bai Ying and Yang Zhi, the next great demon to preside over the demonic army was Huang Luan, who possessed thousands of palaces, pavilions, and pagodas.

As usual, Huang Luan was sitting alone on the railing, giving her the appearance of a celestial maiden residing in an ethereal immortal city in the heavens.

All twenty-four solar terms were playing out in the city at once, and one could experience all four seasons within its boundaries.

The residence in the city where Huang Luan was currently situated was home to her most beloved Ruoye Creek. The flowing water in the creek was extremely clear, and on its bank was an elderly fisherman and some women who were washing clothes and collecting lotus flowers. All of them were formed by talismans, and they repeated the same activities year after year.

Beneath this city atop the clouds was the steadily advancing demonic army, which consisted entirely of cultivators. There were over fifty thousand of them, and they were all at least at the Abode Tier, with spirit tools and immortal treasures to boot.

There was a flood of flying swords surging toward the south from the Sword Qi Great Wall, and in opposition, there was a mighty river of countless spirit tools and immortal treasures crashing toward the north.

The demons had already decided to pledge half of the power of their entire world to attack the Sword Qi Great Wall, and their determination was certainly on full display.

There were no sinister conspiracies or elaborate plans; it was just a direct clash of power and resources.

If Yang Zhi had managed to plant the five mountains onto the battlefield, then the losses suffered by the Sword Qi Great Wall would’ve been even more severe.

However, Li Tuimi and Zuo You had completely disrupted their plans. Not only were they not able to kill more Immortal Tier swordsmen, they very nearly ended up with nothing at all to show for their efforts. Yang Zhi’s shortcomings had also thrown a wrench into Huang Luan’s plans.

Otherwise, if she had been closer to the city walls, then the demonic army would’ve been sure to have suffered casualties at a much faster rate, but the swordsmen of the Sword Qi Great Wall would’ve had to sacrifice more of their bonded flying swords as well.

Five Upper Five Tiers mountain gods and thousands of talismanic cultivators had all sacrificed themselves to refine the five mountains so that Zhong Guang could carry them to the battlefield, and these sacrifices were all on record.

If it weren’t for the massive saving grace that was the Hidden Official’s betrayal, then Yang Zhi would’ve been in huge trouble.

At the moment, things were taken into much more meticulous consideration in the demonic army than they had been in the past. Those tents weren’t just there for show. Some of the cultivators in the tents weren’t particularly impressive in terms of cultivation base, and many of them were even young children, but any order that came out of those tents had to be taken seriously even by the likes of Huang Luan, Yang Zhi, and Bai Ying.

Huang Luan raised a hand up high before waving it forward, and the demonic army released their treasures all at once.

The vast torrent of treasures resembled a resplendent river of stars in the night, and even an old demon who had been around for as long as Huang Luan had to admit that it was a stunning sight to behold; she just didn’t know how many more times she would get to see it.

According to the outcomes of past divination, it seemed that such opportunities would be difficult to come by once they reached the Majestic World.

All of a sudden, an intrigued look appeared on Huang Luan’s face, and she opened the restriction with a smile and remarked, ”What a rare guest!”

It was none other than Yang Zhi, who was currently wearing linen garments after her Dao robe was destroyed. She had managed to salvage most of the scraps, but mending it simply wasn’t worth the effort and cost, and she would be better off simply going to the Majestic World and taking some Dao robes from others.

She sat down beside the railing with a sullen expression.

”What’re you doing here?” Huang Luan asked with a smile. ”Are you trying to steal the credit from me?”

”I’m just here to help you out and make myself useful,” Yang Zhi sighed. ”Our patriarch didn’t say anything excessively severe, but it was clear that he wasn’t happy with my performance. After this battle, I’ll have to return to the Savage World right away to hunt down the sword immortals who are wreaking havoc everywhere as a form of self-redemption.”

Huang Luan cast a slightly forlorn gaze toward a certain spot on the Sword Qi Great Wall. Even she hadn’t been tipped off in advance about the Hidden Official’s defection, and she had no idea it was going to happen.

”When are our pawns in the northern city and on Stalactite Mountain going to make their move?” Yang Zhi asked.

”How am I supposed to know that?” Huang Luan chuckled.

The demonic army down below continued to advance onward while hurling more treasures at the city walls up ahead.

The mighty rivers of sword qi and immortal treasures clashed with the force of a thousand suns, presenting an incredibly marvelous spectacle to behold. It was as if countless stars were constantly spraying in all directions, illuminating the night to be as bright as day.

Aside from that, there were also some soldiers charging forward from either flank of the demonic army, and it was not just for show. Instead, they were truly sacrificing their lives to try and advance the demonic army. This was the ”helping hand” that Yang Zhi had been referring to. The soldiers running ahead on this suicide charge were all directly under her command.

In order to make amends, she obviously couldn’t just sit beside Huang Luan to look at the scenery, or launch a few attacks at the oncoming stream of sword qi whenever it suited her. She had to actually do something substantial, and in this case, it meant completely sacrificing several branches of soldiers that had taken her a long time to nurture and develop.

The best thing about the Savage World was that everyone was absolutely obedient to those more powerful than them. If you didn’t want to be forced to sacrifice yourself, then you would have to die on your own terms before that.

”Since when did the sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall learn to work together in such a cohesive fashion?” Huang Luan suddenly mused with a faint smile. ”At this rate, the losses suffered by the enemy will surely be lower than projected. Is your bad luck rubbing off on me, Yang Zhi? Look at them!

“Even the likes of Yue Qing and Mi Hu, and a bunch of sword immortals who purportedly aren’t on very good terms with each other, are suddenly working together as a united front. It’s nothing out of the ordinary to see two or three sword immortals working together seamlessly, but I’ve never seen so many of them willing to set aside their differences like this. What’re we supposed to do now?”

”Be that as it may, their resistance is still futile,” Yang Zhi sneered with a cold look in her eyes.

Huang Luan observed the ongoing battle for a moment, then lamented, ”They’ve all just retreated a kilometer together like a well-oiled machine! Is this really still the Sword Qi Great Wall we’re dealing with right now?”

”Why are you still just watching and not doing anything?” Yang Zhi asked.

”I’m trying to put those young guys in the tents through some adversity,” Huang Luan explained with a smile. ”I don’t think we’re going to suffer too heavy a loss on this battlefield anyway, and if we want to be able to contend with the Majestic World, then our demonic army can’t just rely solely on a few great demons like ourselves.”

Yang Zhi turned in a certain direction. There, in the extremely far distance, was another, even larger battlefield, one that she was yet to visit, and it was rife with native swordsmen of the Savage World.

No matter how precious these swordsmen were, they had to be sent into battle at some point. Otherwise, they would simply be sitting around, doing nothing.

Only those who could hone their swords using the Sword Qi Great Wall as their whetstone and live to tell the tale could be considered true swordsmen.

***

Over on the Sword Qi Great Wall, a strange group had been assembled. The group consisted of around a dozen people, roughly half of whom were outsiders.

They had been gathered as the newest swordsmen of the Hidden Official’s branch, and it was the first time in the history of the Hidden Official lineage that outsiders were being recruited.

After assembling everyone, Lu Zhi quickly departed, only leaving behind a pair of picture scrolls sent to the Sword Qi Great Wall by Daoist sages.

The two massive scrolls had been unfurled and laid out by Lu Zhi on the carriageway, and one of them depicted the clashing rivers of sword qi and treasures.

As for the other one, it presented a scene further south of the battlefield, where the tents of the demonic army were situated. The image was rather blurry and unclear, but the scene became clearer and clearer the more it moved toward the north. It was as if there were some type of barrier separating the two areas.

All Lu Zhi told everyone was that they were now considered part of the Hidden Official’s branch, and that they wouldn’t have to go into battle for now. That was the extent of her message, and she didn’t offer any further elaboration.

The vast majority of the swordsmen were left exchanging puzzled glances with one another.

Many of them didn’t even know each other, and they had no idea what they were supposed to do.

Mi Yu was the most awkward one of all as he was the only Upper Five Tiers swordsman in the group.

Given that he possessed the loftiest cultivation base out of everyone, he decided to take charge, and he said, ”Let’s all introduce ourselves. My name is Mi Yu, and I am an Unpolished Jade Tier swordsman.”

”I am Lin Junbi from the Middle Earth Divine Continent, and I’ve only just reached the Dragon Gate Tier.”

From there, everyone else made their self-introductions one after another.

”Pure White Continent, Deng Liang, Nascent Tier.”

”Circling Ascension Continent, Song Gaoyuan, Golden Core Tier.”

”Flowing Dawn Continent, Cao Gun, Dragon Gate Tier.”

”Golden Armor Continent, Xuan Can, Golden Core Tier.”

The rest of the group consisted of Pang Yuanji, Dong Bude, Situ Weiran, Gu Jianlong, Wang Xinshui, Guo Zhujiu, and Chen Ping’an.

Guo Zhujiu was ecstatic to see her master here, and the two of them were squatting down beside one another with their hands tucked up their opposite sleeves, looking as if they had been cast out of the same mold.

Guo Zhujiu immediately began applauding vigorously after her master declared his name and cultivation base.

”Where’s your composure?” Chen Ping’an asked as he turned to his disciple with a smile.

Guo Zhujiu immediately stopped applauding and began nodding vigorously.

”Even if these demons retreat, we’re definitely still going to have to deal with a whole host of enemy swordsmen. That’s likely the reason why we’ve been gathered here,” Lin Junbi analyzed. ”Let’s think about some possible courses of action that the enemy could take and devise some plans accordingly.

“Aside from Sword Immortal Mi, none of us are particularly advanced in cultivation base, so we’re not going to be able to play any important roles in the battle. Hence, our job is just to fill in some holes, and we could make ourselves useful if we can think of some good ideas.”

While Lin Junbi was speaking, Chen Ping’an sat with his legs crossed at the edge of the picture scrolls, gently tapping his palm with his folding fan as he observed the scenes unfolding in them.

Lin Junbi turned his gaze to Mi Yu, and the latter nodded and put on a composed smile, but in reality, he felt incredibly awkward and uneasy, as did Gu Jianlong.

Lin Junbi turned his gaze to Chen Ping’an, who smiled and said, ”I’m happy to follow your lead.”

This came as a bit of a surprise to Lin Junbi, but he quickly accepted his role as the strategist of the group.

Looking down at the battlefield below, it was as if he were presiding over a Go board, and his opponent on the other side of the board was the entire Savage World. If he could help the Sword Qi Great Wall even just a little, then he would already be making a contribution that was massively beyond what was expected of him.

With that in mind, Lin Junbi immediately sprang into action, assigning missions to everyone else in the group.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an turned to Gu Jianlong and greeted, ”Fancy meeting you here, Brother Gu!”

Gu Jianlong immediately rushed over to Chen Ping’an’s side before squatting down with a fawning look on his face, and he said, ”I wouldn’t dare to make the esteemed second shopkeeper refer to me as a brother; you can just call me Junior Gu instead.”

A series of short desks were laid out onto the carriageway, and each person sat down with their legs crossed behind their assigned desk. Among them, Mi Hu was responsible for recording the information that was gathered, after which Guo Zhujiu would hand out the records for everyone to read.

As for the more important pieces of intelligence, those could simply be conveyed verbally as everyone was situated quite close to one another anyway.

Out of everyone in the group, Chen Ping’an was the only one who hadn’t been assigned any duties, and the reason for this was very simple.

Earlier, Lu Zhi had sent someone to deliver the desks, writing brushes, ink, and paper, and they had also delivered a message on her behalf. ”From this moment forth, Chen Ping’an will be the Sword Qi Great Wall’s new Hidden Official.”

Mi Hu was rather dismayed to hear this, while Pang Yuanji was very relieved.

He didn’t care who inherited the position as long as it wasn’t him, and in his eyes, having Chen Ping’an fill the role was the ideal outcome.

In the wake of Chen Ping’an’s assignment, Guo Zhujiu erupted into such thunderous applause that it sounded like a whole party of people clapping at once.

Chen Ping’an was the youngest Hidden Official in the history of the Sword Qi Great Wall and also the one with the lowest cultivation base. He stood up to accept the ancient jade tablet that represented the status of the Hidden Official, then sat back down with the jade tablet hanging from his waist, on the opposite side of the Sword Nurturing Gourd. On his desk was a writing brush and some ink, as well as a stack of blank account books and that jade bamboo folding fan.

Chen Ping’an interlaced his fingers as he looked down at the familiar setup on his table, and he was feeling very good. Even though he hadn’t summoned his bonded flying sword, it was as if he were already presiding over a small world.

To him, becoming the Hidden Official was nothing more than going from an innocuous traveling salesman to a more professional accountant.