Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an dared to reveal himself not just because he was with Lu Zhi, but even more importantly, Chen Chun’an was also present.

In a battle between cultivators of similar cultivation bases, sword immortals were generally much better at killing than they were at protecting.

This had already been demonstrated to Chen Ping’an in the past, when Mi Yu had completely failed to protect him from Lie Ji atop the city walls.

However, with Chen Chun’an present, he wouldn’t have to worry for his safety at all.

Chen Chun’an didn’t waste any time, conjuring up a small world in the blink of an eye to completely transform the surrounding heaven and earth.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an felt as if a gargantuan Dao Manifestation had been projected out of his body, instantly ”ascending” to the very pinnacle of the heavens, where he could look down upon the entirety of the Majestic World. However, before he had a chance to look, his enormous Dao Manifestation was instantly reduced to less than the size of a speck of dust. Not only had it been brought back down to earth, but it was also so tiny that the lines on one’s hand resembled giant mountains and valleys in comparison.

Upon returning to his senses, Chen Ping’an discovered that there was a massive orb hovering behind him. It was pristine white in color and gave off a soothing glow. Some buildings and pavilions could just barely be made out on its surface, and there was also a large osmanthus tree, the one at the center of the moon.

Compared with the celestial body behind him, Chen Ping’an was as tiny as a grain of rice in a massive bowl.

As he cast his gaze forward, he discovered that his entire field of view was completely taken up by another celestial body, this one a scintillating golden sun that was even more enormous than the moon behind him.

The sun was giving off countless rays of golden radiance, and there was a black speck flashing back and forth in front of it like a spot of ink.

At the same time, there were also thin streaks of white light racing through the air, and they were capable of severing the rays of golden light radiating from the sun.

It seemed that Lu Zhi and ”Bian Jing” were already engaged in battle.

After a brief hesitation, Chen Ping’an sat down with his legs crossed as he prepared to immerse himself in the small world, then release the bonded flying sword that he had yet to think of a name for. The intention was to face this small world with his small world to try and glean more of the secrets of the small world around him.

However, before he could do so, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder from Chen Chun’an, who smiled and advised, ”It’s not a good idea to try and learn some things too early. I’m not being stingy with my secrets; it’s just that the innate abilities of your bonded flying sword do not mesh with this small world of mine.”

Chen Ping’an immediately heeded Chen Chun’an’s advice, turning around to extend a respectful bow toward the latter.

”I’ll treat that as a bow from a Confucian junior to his senior, as opposed to a bow from the closing disciple of the Scholarly Sage,” Chen Chun’an said with a smile. ”Otherwise, I’ll have to return the bow as a follower of the Second Sage.”

”Of course,” Chen Ping’an hurriedly replied. ”That was never my intention.”

”There’s no need to be so reserved and rigid around me,” Chen Chun’an said with a comforting smile. ”You and I both share the same surname, and we are also both followers of Confucianism. In addition, the Yingyin Chen Clan owes you a favor for that model tree in the Jewel Small World. That’s why I brought you in here so you could see a sword immortal in action from afar. You earned the right to be here, so don’t feel like you’re undeserving.”

Chen Chun’an reached out to make a grabbing motion, and Mi Yu was dragged into the small world from outside.

Shortly thereafter, Xie Songhua and Shao Yunyan also arrived on the scene, having been notified of the situation on the Clay Pot via messenger flying swords. Upon their arrival, they were also invited into the small world by Chen Chun’an.

None of the three Unpolished Jade Tier sword immortals displayed any intention of taking part in the battle. Instead, they merely arranged themselves in a triangular formation around the battlefield, ready to assist Lu Zhi if required.

Mi Yu put on a very dutiful display, intently scrutinizing the battlefield. He had chosen not to intervene because he would only get in the way, and he was going to remain a passive observer as long as Lu Zhi wasn’t in need of any assistance.

Shao Yunyan arrived before Xie Songhua, and as soon as he was dragged into Chen Chun’an’s small world, he immediately began refining his sword using the abundant essence of the sun and moon around him.

Xie Songhua was the final one to arrive in the small world, and compared with Mi Yu and Shao Yunyan, she was much more relaxed and carefree. After taking a moment to assess the ongoing battle and conclude that her assistance wasn’t required, she began to casually roam the small world atop her flying sword as if she were on a sightseeing tour.

The personalities of the three sword immortals were put on full display. Mi Yu seemed very lazy and carefree, but he was actually the most restrained of the three. Shao Yunyan was the most pragmatic and materialistic, eager to capitalize on any and all opportunities that came his way, while Xie Songhua had the purest and most carefree personality.

”Everything’s been revealed up to this point,” Chen Chun’an said. ”That Ascension Tier great demon has lost his true body, and he’s using Bian Jing’s body as a yang soul avatar. He’s using a very special concealment technique, and that’s what gave him the courage to go to the Sword Qi Great Wall. As long as he didn’t blatantly step onto the top of the city walls, even Chen Qingdu wouldn’t have been able to detect the presence of his yin soul in Bian Jing’s body. How did you find out?”

”I made three gambles in a row,” Chen Ping’an revealed. ”The first gamble was on whether I should leave the summer palace to sneak onto one of the intercontinental ships leaving Stalactite Mountain. Then, I had to make a gamble on which ship I thought was likeliest to have the culprit onboard.

“Finally, I had to gamble on whether you would actually take me seriously and be willing to travel here in person from the Southern Whirl Continent. If you weren’t willing to come, then even if I gambled correctly the first two times, it still wouldn’t have amounted to anything.”

”Go into more detail,” Chen Chun’an encouraged with a smile. ”Don’t be too embarrassed to speak about your thought processes just because you were ’taking gambles.’”

Chen Ping’an was just about to speak when the Ascension Tier great demon withstood an attack from Lu Zhi before abruptly hurtling directly toward Chen Ping’an and Chen Chun’an, his Dao Manifestation resembling a giant mountain.

However, Chen Chun’an didn’t even bother to look at the great demon’s direction as he extended a hand in his direction, casually swatting him back onto the battlefield. Not only that, but his enormous Dao Manifestation had been swatted straight into the golden sun, embroiled in a molten golden furnace.

The great demon let loose a thunderous roar and sprang tens of thousands of feet up into the air, but countless rays of golden light were still clinging to his body, forcibly dragging him back down.

Lu Zhi didn’t jump on the opportunity to attack the great demon. Instead, she merely served as a passive observer and only engaged the great demon in battle again once he had freed himself.

The entire time, Chen Chun’an’s gaze remained fixed on Chen Ping’an, waiting to hear him elaborate on his three gambles.

After returning to the summer palace, Chen Ping’an had tossed a lesser heat coin to decide whether he would sneak onto the Clay Pot.

If it came up heads, then he would follow through on his plan, and if it came up tails instead, then he would stay in the summer palace and wait for the enemy to strike first.

The lesser heat coin came up heads, but Chen Ping’an was still rather hesitant, so he tossed the lesser heat coin again, and on that occasion, he asked Guo Zhujiu to guess the side.

In the end, he chose to leave the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Prior to his departure, Chen Ping’an paid a visit to the Daoist True Lord that he had once met before, the one who was currently in charge on Stalactite Mountain during the Great Heavenly Master’s seclusion.

Zuo You had previously told Chen Ping’an that after he ravaged the Flood Dragon Trench, the True Lord had benefited immensely, gathering many flood dragon whiskers from the Flood Dragon Trench in its weakened state. Hence, Chen Ping’an was entitled to a favor from him, and if he refused, Chen Ping’an could threaten him by saying that Zuo You would have a word with him upon his return.

Thanks to the spies planted on Stalactite Mountain by both the Sword Qi Great Wall and Cui Dongshan, Chen Ping’an had already received a comprehensive log of all of the passengers on the intercontinental ships before the final one left the Spring Banner Inn.

Before returning to the Spring Banner Inn, Chen Ping’an had recruited the assistance of several members of the Hidden Official’s branch who excelled in calculation, including Lin Junbi and Xuan Can.

He asked them to pick out the ten intercontinental ships that were likeliest to cause a mishap, and they chose the intercontinental ships that belonged to Wu Qiu, Tang Feiqian, Jiang Gaotai, Bai Xi, Dai Hao, Liu Shen, Liu Yu, and the Ding Clan of Old Dragon City, as well as one more ship each from the Southern Whirl Continent and the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

In the beginning, neither Chen Ping’an nor any of the others had been convinced that Bai Xi’s Clay Pot was definitely colluding with the Savage World.

In addition to those ten intercontinental ships, they also picked out thirty-two suspicious passengers.

”Given how careful and cautious Bian Jing is, he shouldn’t have ended up on that list of suspicious passengers,” Chen Chun’an mused.

”He was indeed not on the list,” Chen Ping’an confirmed with a smile. ”According to the information that we had on file, after leaving the Sword Qi Great Wall, Bian Jing stayed in the Plum Blossom Garden for a while, but since then, he had already left Stalactite Mountain, but not with Yan Lü, Jiang Guancheng, and the others. Instead, he had chosen to travel to the Circling Ascension Continent on his own.

“The first intercontinental ship that Sword Immortal Lu Zhi and I boarded was actually the Rainbow Raiment. However, we weren’t able to find anything amiss even after a thorough search, and only after that did we board the Clay Pot. After boarding the ship, we resorted to the dumbest method, which was to simply count all of the passengers onboard, and we discovered that there was one extra.

“Even so, we didn’t dare to conclude that there was definitely a great demon hiding onboard, and we certainly didn’t dare to say with confidence that the Mountain and Water Cave had been colluding with the Savage World.”

”Why didn’t you go to Sword Immortal Xie’s ship?” Chen Chun’an asked with a smile. ”Is it because you had faith in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent and the Northern Complete Reed Continent?”

”No,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head. ”What I had faith in was the intelligence of a great demon. I was confident that he wouldn’t do something unnecessary to raise the alarm after the Parasol Leaf Continent had already been brought to its knees at the cost of two great demons.”

Meanwhile, Mi Yu continued to maintain his facade of vigilance, pretending as if he were ready to assist Lu Zhi at any moment, but the problem was that the scorching heat radiating from the giant sun was beginning to feel quite unbearable.

Simultaneously, Shao Yunyan was going even further, taking the opportunity to scoop up some of the flying golden magma in his hand. He didn’t dare to actually let it touch his skin, only allowing it to hover above the palm of his hand as he tilted his hand to gently pour the magma onto his bonded flying sword.

”Can you give me some sun and moon essence, Mr. Chen? The type that I don’t have to return?” Xie Songhua asked loudly from afar.

”Go ahead and take however much you like, Sword Immortal Xie,” Chen Chun’an replied with a smile.

He then cast his gaze toward Mi Yu and asked, ”May I borrow your sword for a second, Sword Immortal Mi?”

Mi Yu immediately removed his longsword, and Chen Chun’an made a beckoning motion to draw it into his grasp, then drew it from its scabbard.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he released a burst of moonlight that was as viscous as water and said, ”I took this bit of moon essence from the Savage World.”

He then joined his middle and index fingers before gently tracing them over the length of the sword’s blade, and a tiny trough that was too small to be visible to the naked eye appeared. The burst of moonlight was injected into the trough along Chen Chu’an’s fingers.

Mi Yu was almost moved to tears of gratitude upon seeing this, and this was definitely an earnest reaction.

Chen Chun’an was personally helping him refine his sword! The enhancement effects were bound to be able to exceed what Shao Yunyan and Xie Songhua could accomplish on their own.

Chen Ping’an took a glance at Mi Yu, and the latter immediately understood his intentions.

Mi Yu knew that he had only been granted this honor thanks to his connection to the Hidden Official, and he was eternally grateful.

After using the moonlight to refine Mi Yu’s sword, Chen Chun’an returned it to its scabbard, and it returned to Mi Yu’s side in the blink of an eye.

”Thank you, Senior Chen,” Mi Yu said as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

”Alright, I think you’ve seen enough,” Chen Chun’an said with a smile. ”It’s about time that you went back.”

In the next instant, Chen Ping’an was back in the cabin on the Clay Pot, having been thrown out of the small world by Chen Chun’an.

Bai Xi hadn’t moved from his original spot.

Where could a mere Nascent Tier cultivator like him possibly go? Even if he were to abandon the Clay Pot, what would he do after that? Go and hide in the vast sea or frantically attempt to get back to the Mountain and Water Cave?

He was in the presence of the Hidden Official, four sword immortals, and Chen Chun’an; even if he were back on the Sword Qi Great Wall and had already fled into the army of the Savage World, he still wouldn’t be optimistic about his chances of survival.

”How long was I gone for, Administrator Bai?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile.

Bai Xi didn’t answer his question.

Instead, the first thing that he said upon catching sight of Chen Ping’an was, ”I’m willing to make up for my past transgressions, Lord Hidden Official! I can do anything as long as you spare my life! I can serve as a witness against our patriarch in his collusion with the demon race! I know just about everything there is to know about the Mountain and Water Cave, and I can tell you everything—”

Chen Ping’an raised a hand to cut him off, then sat down before gesturing for him to do the same as he smiled and said, ”Everything can be settled with money. Have a seat. There’s no need to be so frantic. There’s no hurry in trying to make amends, and there’s also no hurry in contemplating whether you should try to capture me as a hostage. You must be thinking to yourself that perhaps my cultivation base really is as low as it appears, right? Rest assured, you have plenty of time to think before you make your decision.”

Bai Xi immediately began sweating profusely, and he practically collapsed onto his chair with a dazed expression.

”Drop the act, Administrator Bai,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile. ”You may be superior to me in age, cultivation base, and experience, but you can’t fool me when it comes to putting up pretenses.”

All of a sudden, Bai Xi stood up with so much force that his chair was sent flying back, and he took a few steps backward before falling to his knees and kowtowing to the ground.

”Please spare me, Lord Hidden Official!”

His frantic desperation stemmed from Mi Yu’s abrupt appearance behind Chen Ping’an without warning.

Chen Ping’an poured himself a cup of tea, then smiled and instructed, ”Hand over all of your pocket and minimization treasures, both your own and the ones given to you by your sect, and make sure to open them for me. If you display enough sincerity, I wouldn’t mind turning this into a blessing for you and having you take over from your patriarch as the top dog of the Mountain and Water Cave.

“Even now, you’re probably still completely in the dark about my origins and my cultivation base, but at this point, I’m sure you have a decent idea of what kind of person I am. I’m someone who likes to try and maximize profits wherever possible. This is your last chance, so make sure to cherish it well.”

Several minutes later, an antiquated inkstone and a rather effeminate-looking round fan had been placed onto the table in front of Chen Ping’an. The former was a minimization treasure from the Mountain and Water Cave, while the latter was Bai Xi’s personal pocket treasure, and both contained large quantities of immortal coins and other fine treasures.

Bai Xi had also spilled many secrets about the Mountain and Water Cave, but of course, he hadn’t truly revealed everything that he knew. After all, he wasn’t an idiot, but unfortunately for him, Chen Ping’an also wasn’t an idiot.

Chen Ping’an pulled out a bamboo folding fan and began gently fanning himself with it, while Mi Yu stowed away the pocket treasure and minimization treasure on the table.

He then turned to Mi Yu and asked, ”What’re you waiting for? Hurry up and kill him! It’s not like he’s a beautiful woman, so surely you haven’t developed feelings for him too!”