Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an no longer charged forward in a straight line, instead choosing to draw a large circle on the battlefield and slightly shifting sideways as he advanced. The faster a demon fled, the more likely it would be targeted and killed by Chen Ping’an.

He relied on his breath of True Qi and continued to unleash a flurry of punches, finding an opportunity to take a breath when he had almost exhausted the previous breath of True Qi. Of course, he would forcefully hold on if the situation were dire.

Regardless of how many enemies he was facing on the battlefield, could this possibly compare to sparring with tenth tier martial artists? Facing the latter was genuinely dangerous, with his life only hanging by a thread. After all, so-called tough physiques were like wet paper before the punches of tenth tier martial artists, which could easily reach the peak stage of the ninth tier, no? One could only rely on guessing, gambling, instinct, and almost a divine sense of premonition to roll with these punches.

Chen Ping’an wouldn’t face any real danger as long as there weren’t sacrificial Nascent Tier demon sword cultivators lying in wait.

Charging through the enemy ranks by himself, this section of the battlefield didn’t appear like a battlefield at all. Rather, it was as if Chen Ping’an were challenging the demon cultivators to individual duels.

Li Er had almost killed Song Changjing in a duel between the two of them back then. Afterward, he had remarked that the aptitude of the Great Li Empire’s Song Changjing was indeed very good, but his punches were still too soft. Even so, Song Changjing had still been able to endure Li Er’s attacks for a long time, and this was because he was more than just a martial artist.

Song Changjing was also someone who had tempered his fists on the battlefield for a long time, so he naturally possessed the indomitable aura of a formidable battlefield veteran. If Song Changjing comprehensively tempered this state and returned to a state of natural simplicity, those who fought him would feel as if they were facing an army of one thousand elites, causing them to inevitably feel constrained.

Right now, Chen Ping’an was striving to reach the first level of this state as he fought on the battlefield. There were layers upon layers of mountains and waters, so how many layers could he traverse?

As long as his punches were heavy enough, his body was quick enough, and his eyes were sharp enough, he could ”slowly” cross the many rivers and traverse the myriad mountains.

Chen Ping’an became engrossed and spirited as he fought, with his movements also becoming increasingly pure. He performed the six-step walking meditation no matter whether he was walking or flying, and he only used the Heavy Cavalry Formation Shattering Technique, Deity Drumming Technique, and Rain Evaporation Technique to throw punches.

Li Er was a tenth tier martial artist, but he hadn’t explained much about fist principles when sparring with Chen Ping’an at Lion Peak’s immortal abode ruins back then. He had only mentioned a few principles very occasionally, and he had bluntly admitted that these were simply principles that Zheng Dafeng always mumbled about — perhaps these principles would be of some use to Chen Ping’an. In any case, these fist principles were weightless words that couldn’t suppress anyone.

Among these principles was the saying: Enemies in sight and punches targeting weaknesses, invincible in mindset and free from distractions; always adhering to verity, verity always unobstructed.

As he advanced through the enemy formation, Chen Ping’an wouldn’t go out of his way to brutally crush the ferocious and bellowing demons, nor would he show any mercy to the young demon cultivators with terror on their faces and pleading in their eyes.

Pure martial artists simply threw punches.

Those with superior skills lived, and those with weaker punches died.

Martial Artist Chen Ping’an had an unwavering expression and a cold gaze as he cut through the battlefield.

Ning Yao simply said to Fan Dache in warning, ”Don’t get too close to him.”

There were fewer and fewer thoughts in Chen Ping’an’s mind, and he pushed aside all of his considerations and worries, approaching the state of ”forgetting self and remembering fists” described by Li Er.

He didn’t use any Land-Shortening Talismans, nor did he use First or Fifteenth. In fact, he didn’t even summon Pine Needle or Lightning Devourer.

As for his two bonded flying swords, Caged Sparrow and Moon in the Well, they were incredibly useful and definitely couldn’t be revealed too early.

At this moment, Chen Ping’an even forgot his identity as a sword cultivator, completely forgetting that he had four flying swords and two bonded flying swords.

Looking at the heart of the demon formation, where the most demons were gathered, Chen Ping’an’s fist intent arrived long before his physical body arrived.

Ning Yao continued to look for the Golden Core Tier and Nascent Tier demon cultivators.

Fan Dache was still very idle, having no important tasks to handle. Fortunately, compared to everyone furiously flying on their swords in a bid to keep up with Ning Yao’s advance last time, Chen Ping’an’s advance with his fists at least gave Fan Dache some more opportunities to kill more demons.

Ning Yao’s advance through the demon formation had been far too quick.

Looking at the neighboring sections of the battlefield on either side, the sword cultivators from the city wall were still very far away from the golden river, having not even reached the halfway mark. Moreover, the further they advanced, the slower the speed of their advance would become.

In fact, it was extremely likely that they would need to retreat to the city wall before they could even reach the halfway mark, swapping positions with the well-rested group of sword cultivators on the corresponding section of the battlefield. They needed to constantly rotate in and out of the battlefield to wade through the sea of corpses and push toward the golden river.

Casting one’s gaze over the vast battlefield between the city wall and the golden river, the fastest-advancing group of sword cultivators had only just reached the halfway mark, and this was largely thanks to Nascent Tier Sword Cultivator Qi Shou leading the group and tearing open a bloody path.

Meanwhile, Die Zhang and the others were retreating north, creating a pincer attack on the demon army in conjunction with the group of a dozen or so sword cultivators advancing south.

The four young and prodigious sword cultivators stood in a row, with a gap of approximately two hundred meters between each of them. They no longer pursued speed as they retreated, and they instead strove to kill and wound as many demons as possible. Thus, they all stepped on their swords — Mountain Suppressing, Elaborate Makeup, Scripture, and Purple Lightning — and summoned their bonded flying swords, dealing death and destruction as they made their way back to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Chen Sanqiu’s bonded flying sword was called White Deer, and one of the bonded mystical abilities of the flying sword was manifesting a white deer that carried a ganoderma in its mouth. The white deer would be as large as a building, and the ganoderma in its mouth would be Chen Sanqiu’s bonded flying sword. Not only that, but the white deer would innately exude sword light that looked like falling snow, further possessing the ability to automatically gather spiritual energy. This was a remarkable bonded flying sword.

The white deer shimmered with sword light as it wantonly galloped around the battlefield, showing off its immense destructive ability.

It was said that the young Chen Sanqiu had experienced a dream at noon before nurturing this bonded flying sword, with a milu trotting over before kneeling down and recognizing him as its master.

Thus, it was definitely with good reason that Chen Sanqiu was renowned for his elegant demeanor among the younger generation at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

His background was good, his temper was good, his appearance was good, his aptitude was good, and apart from his behavior being slightly wanting after a few drinks, it was almost impossible to find any problems with Chen Sanqiu.

Moreover, divine beings like white deers often had some minor links to the elusive scholarly fortune, so Chen Sanqiu’s weapons were further able to complement each other after he obtained Scripture, one of the ancient swords from the Great Li Empire’s replica White Jade Capital.

Chen Sanqiu’s bonded flying sword was an extremely rare and precious item that possessed two bonded mystical abilities. Apart from being able to manifest a white deer, it was also able to formlessly boost Chen Sanqiu’s scholarly fortune. In other words, Chen Sanqiu was both an innate sword talent and an innate scholarly talent.

One had to realize that across the three Confucian schools and seventy-two Confucian academies in the Majestic World, only a measly two Confucian sages were also sword immortals.

However, it was a shame that Chen Sanqiu had been born at the Sword Qi Great Wall, a place with pitifully few scholars. Most importantly, Chen Sanqiu’s surname of Chen prevented him from going to that foreign land, a place that was filled with private schools and the sounds of scriptures being recited.

In reality, sword cultivators who were regarded as prodigies at the Sword Qi Great Wall all had their own stories.

Sword cultivators who liked to drink could all do so until they were completely inebriated. In fact, they would even have excuses to drink themselves to death.

Ning Yao continued to follow Chen Ping’an from a middling distance, watching him unleash punches to his heart’s content.

She could vaguely detect Chen Ping’an’s intention, a thought that perhaps even Chen Ping’an himself was completely unaware of right now.

If my fists become loftier than the heavens, then even without drawing my blades, those who dare to oppose me on the battlefield to the south of the Sword Qi Great Wall will face assured death.

Ning Yao didn’t think that this was bad, but she felt like this perhaps wasn’t the best. The reason for this was simple: He was Chen Ping’an.

Thus, Ning Yao called out to him, shouting, ”Chen Ping’an.”

On the battlefield, Chen Ping’an immediately retracted his fists and stopped, turning around with a slightly puzzled expression.

Fan Dache’s sword heart suddenly became slightly unstable at this moment, yet this strange feeling disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

”You can continue to throw punches. I’m right behind you,” Ning Yao said.

Chen Ping’an faltered for a moment, not understanding why Ning Yao was saying this. Even so, he still smiled and nodded in response.

The Dao robe that he had borrowed from Pang Yuanji was already in tatters and stowed away, while the Dao robe he was currently wearing was so tattered that it wasn’t even worth stowing away. Chen Ping’an used his fist intent to lightly shatter the Dao robe, causing it to scatter in the wind like dandelion seeds.

Not only that, but he even put away the azure Dao robe from the Ning Residence. And thus, he was only left wearing the most ordinary Dao robe.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath and spat out a large mouthful of blood. Before he knew it, all of the demons within several dozen meters of him were already dead.

He shook one hand and lightly clenched his other hand into a fist before relaxing it. The bones in his hand were clearly exposed, but this was as normal as could be. This naturally hurt, yet the familiar feeling of pain actually made him feel more at ease.

If he couldn’t endure some pain, then what was the point of practicing fist techniques? What was the point of cultivating?

Chen Ping’an gazed into the distance before looking up and discovering the large and extremely familiar character engraved on the city wall.

Badass.

The handwriting was truly very poor.

Chen Ping’an subconsciously glanced up at the sky.

You can arrive late, but you must arrive at some point in time.

You need to visit even if just to take a glance at the Sword Qi Great Wall, which is somewhat of a hometown for you. As for whether you draw your blade or not, you can make a decision after you come.

Chen Ping’an made a grabbing motion, but he quickly recalled that his standard sword from the sword market had already been destroyed.

Thus, he retrieved the slender and sharp Dao saber taken from the Nascent Tier demon cultivator belonging to the mountain-moving tribe. Treasured light flowed over the blade.

Chen Ping’an held the ownerless Dao saber, which was a legitimate immortal treasure of extremely high grade. He weighed it in his hand, determining that it was hefty enough before continuing to tear through the enemy formation.

A short moment later, Fan Dache couldn’t help but glance back.

Ning Yao pinched her glabella.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an continued to wildly swing the Dao saber in front of them.

Fan Dache felt like this was most likely the embodiment of violently hacking down enemies.

Ning Yao suddenly launched a sword strike at this moment.

Her attack wasn’t to save Chen Ping’an, even if the demon launching a sneak attack on him was a very well-concealed sacrificial Nascent Tier demon cultivator.

At the same time, the demon cooperating with the sacrificial Nascent Tier demon cultivator and choosing to attack Ning Yao was none other than the Unpolished Jade Tier sword immortal that was extremely skilled at concealment techniques.

When it came to immortal Dao partners from the mountains, those with the higher cultivation base would inevitably hesitate even if they decided against helping their weaker Dao partner.

However, Ning Yao wasn’t distracted by these thoughts, and her sword heart instead became increasingly limpid and bright.

She could kill enemies, and he could survive.

Ning Yao believed in herself, and she had an even stronger belief in Chen Ping’an.

She had purposely suppressed her cultivation to the peak stage of the Golden Core Tier for many years, and at this moment, she casually and easily advanced to the peak stage of the Nascent Tier.

After launching a sword strike, Ning Yao still had the time and effort to steal a glance at the city wall.

Chen Qingdu stood atop the parapet with his hands clasped behind his back, a smile on his face.

Standing beside him, Wei Jin smiled wryly and asked, ”Old Great Sword Immortal, why suppress Ning Yao’s cultivation advancement on purpose?”

Chen Qingdu smiled and replied, ”Relax. There’s no need to actively fight for those useless titles. Is there any need to become the first sword immortal under thirty years old in history or whatnot?”

Wei Jin, who had become a sword immortal at forty years old, was still unable to understand this, so he asked, ”Ning Yao’s cultivation speed isn’t being accelerated in a detrimental manner, but rather, she’s growing naturally thanks to the current environment. Old Great Sword Immortal, why did you use the entirety of the Sword Qi Great Wall’s Sword Dao to suppress Ning Yao to the peak stage of the Nascent Tier?”

”Am I Wei Jin?” Chen Qingdu replied with a scornful chuckle.

Wei Jin was rendered speechless.

He started to miss Senior Zuo You’s presence on the city wall.

The old great sword immortal was essentially asking Wei Jin whether he viewed himself as Chen Qingdu. Who was calling the shots here?

”And suppressed by the Sword Dao? You’re severely underestimating Little Ning,” Chen Qingdu continued.

In the Savage World, the old man in gray had simply rested his mind with his eyes closed in the Jia Zi Tent, paying no attention to the large-scale battle regardless of how bloody and intense it became.

However, he opened his eyes at this moment, directly saying to Chen Qingdu with a smile, ”Hey, you’re breaking the rules now.”

”You have a problem? Then come to the city wall for a fight,” Chen Qingdu said in response.