Unsheathed

Chapter 321 (1): Each a Peak, Yet Missing a Mountain

The Daoist priest was tall and sturdy, while the little girl was as skinny as a bamboo pole.

The difference between them was night and day.

Under the Daoist priest's gaze, it was as if the skinny little girl, who had slammed her head into the well to seek release, were standing in the courtyard of a wealthy family on a hot summer's day and drinking a large bowl of plum soup from a white porcelain bowl.

The pain suddenly vanished, and she panted heavily as she leaned her back against the wall of the well. She timidly looked at the old immortal, and her instincts caused her gaze to rapidly dart around, seeking the location where the old man had hidden the "jewel."

People called this kind of behavior "not learning from mistakes."

Fortunately, the old Daoist priest's attitude toward the world—especially his attitude toward good and evil—was very different from ordinary people. He didn't think much about the skinny little girl's impudent behavior, but he was well aware of the little girl's identity. In fact, it was because of this that the old Daoist priest felt even more irritated at the old scholar who always claimed that "scholars only borrow things."

The two of them had made a bet many years ago, and the impoverished old scholar had relied on acting shamelessly and rolling around and screaming like a petty woman to win a token from him. The old scholar had then asked the old Daoist priest to guarantee that he would protect the person who held this token if he ever came across this person in the future. Since he had lost the bet, the old Daoist priest had naturally agreed to this request. However, his resentment toward the old scholar wasn't minor.

Afterward, the two of them had encountered each other again, and they had sat down and debated Dao with each other. They had debated verbally and not physically, and they had done so on the border between the Lotus Flower Blessed Land and the Lotus Flower World.

Otherwise, even though the small Lotus Flower Blessed Land was small and lacking in spiritual energy, meaning that it was extremely difficult for the Great Dao to manifest, it would still fail to contain the two immortals as they debated about the Great Dao.

In the end, it was still the old scholar who had taken advantage of the old Daoist priest. At some unknown time, however, the shameless old scholar had done more than just this. He had actually planted this Go piece in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land in secret. Meanwhile, such was the old Daoist priest's familiarity with his blessed land that he had been blind to this.

The old Daoist priest stared at the skinny little girl leaning against the well, his eyes limpid and indifferent like the brilliant sun in the sky that never cared about the harsh cold or searing heat in the human world. He cared even less about the words of praise or condemnation from other people.

In just a few seconds, the old Daoist priest had already observed the entirety of the skinny little girl's life.

Sure enough, it was just as he had expected.

The old Daoist priest then glanced at some large residence before humphing coldly. His resentment eased a little, and he pondered for a brief moment before reaching an understanding of the old scholar's rough plan. He calculated the possibilities in his mind, and felt like this was indeed doable.

However, the old Daoist priest also felt a rare sense of hesitation. He turned around to look at the city wall to the south, and an expression of slight astonishment spread across his face as he did so.

He lightly snapped his fingers, striking the skinny little girl's glabella and causing her to freeze to the spot.

He then flicked his sleeve, causing ripples to appear around the well. The old Daoist priest stepped forth and vanished from sight. Within a radius of three meters, the river of time started to flow in reverse, including within it the skinny little girl as well as a myriad of fine matters that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Even the regulations of heaven and earth started to flow in reverse. The scattered books flew back into the skinny little girl's arms, after which she returned to the edge of the well and the moment when she had wanted to spit into the water.

She was slightly puzzled, and an unexplained sense of terror suddenly welled up in her heart. She shook her head, and she ultimately didn't dare to act so atrociously. Hugging the stolen books in her arms, she jumped off the well and sprinted away, as swiftly as the wind.

Bull Mountain was located ten or so kilometers to the south of the capital.

Atop the severely damaged city wall, several grandmasters had hurried over to admire this newly created battlefield ruin. They were spread out along the wall, and Yu Zhenyi and Zhong Qiu had also paused their life-and-death battle to rush over to this place.

Right now, Yu Zhenyi was silently observing the flow of Qi around the city wall as well as the remnants of the pure sword intent still lingering among heaven and earth. Zhong Qiu wasn't in the mood to do this, and he rested his hands on a destroyed merlon, leaning slightly forward as he gazed into the distance.

The colored glaze flying sword flew to Yu Zhenyi's side, with its speed decreasing further as it drew closer to the city wall. After arriving atop the city wall, it couldn't help but ring softly as if it were feeling slightly afraid.

Following the colored glaze flying sword, Knife Sharpener Liu Zong also arrived on the carriageway of the city wall. He leaped onto an annihilated section of the wall and sat down cross-legged. The Boning Knife in his hand was severely damaged, and the old man extended a thumb and carefully ran it over the mirror-like surface of the blade. His knife had been so arrogant and haughty during its life, yet it had now been reduced to such a sorry state by a flying sword. This was karmic retribution in the same life!

Dragon General Tang Tieyi from Northern Jin Nation slowly climbed onto the city wall with his saber, Refiner, hanging by his waist. He chose an empty spot to stand, placing his hand on the hilt of his saber and radiating with a vast and magnificent aura.

Compared to these grandmasters, Arm Sage Cheng Yuanshan, who remained hidden in the shade of the stone arch bridge, was truly bringing shame to the title of grandmaster.

Zhou Fei and Lu Fang also arrived at the city wall to the south of the capital together. Behind them, there was Zhou Shi, as well as Ya'er, who was wearing wooden clogs.

Fan Wan'er from Mirror Heart Hall also climbed onto the city wall carefully. She didn't dare to walk onto the carriageway from the paths on the two sides of the city wall, and she instead used her qinggong to dash up the side of the wall.[1] She chose a spot between the imperial preceptor of Southern Garden Nation and the Dragon General of Northern Jin Nation.

The battle between Ding Ying and Chen Ping'an, which had first moved atop the city wall, had now moved even farther away, outside the capital of Southern Garden Nation.

From the city wall where the grandmasters were standing to Bull Mountain in the distance, clouds of dust billowed through the air, making it seem as if an Ao were turning its back and ripping open the ground.[2]

Beyond the south of the capital, the merchants and travelers on the post roads and official roads had already scattered and fled.

Not only did Ding Ying advance against the flow, walking forward step by step and throwing punch after punch to forcefully shatter Chen Ping'an's river of sword qi, but he even risked a multitude of injuries to approach Chen Ping'an, forcing the young boy to engage with his sword.

Ding Ying turned a terrible situation into a good one, no longer restricting himself to a certain branch of martial arts as he fought. Instead, he used everything within his repertoire. His techniques were superficially similar to the trump cards of Yu Zhenyi and the other grandmasters, yet in reality, they possessed a starkly different intent.

A palm strike directly smashed toward Chen Ping'an and his sword, yet the astral energy of the attack originated from behind Chen Ping'an, exploding with a boom.

As he snapped his fingers, wisps of sword qi surged forth like water in a funnel, with their movements rapid and unpredictable.

Not long ago, Ding Ying's clothes had been in tatters and his hair a complete mess as he had forced Chen Ping'an onto the ground. He hadn't paused at all, and had instantly leaped down the city wall to continue pursuing Chen Ping'an, making sure to maintain a distance of at most two arms' length between them the entire time.

Ding Ying refused to give Chen Ping'an the opportunity to calmly and comfortably unleash his sword techniques and raise his sword intent to a pinnacle level. He could say with absolute confidence that each of the young otherworldly immortal's sword strikes was as powerful as the full-power sword strike of that legendary woman known as Sword Immortal Sui Youbian.

Of course, this didn't take into account Sui Youbian's three sword strikes in an attempt to achieve ascension.

Having found the opportune moment, Sword Immortal Sui Youbian had very likely possessed close to half of the world's martial fortune at that time. Thus, she couldn't be considered as just Sui Youbian during that moment.

Because of this, Ding Ying knew that the Heavenly Dao of this world didn't discriminate against martial artists attempting to crudely ascend with their physical bodies. In fact, Sui Youbian had been allowed to freely absorb the martial fortune of the world. In other words, her failure to ascend and the decay of her flesh, disintegration of her bones, and crumbling of her soul as she fell back to the mortal world was simply a result of her own lack of power. She had no one to blame but herself.

Ding Ying's fist slammed into the middle of Chen Ping'an's sword, causing the blade to bend backward. The tip of Lasting Qi was almost about to pierce into Chen Ping'an's shoulder, so he had no option but to extend two fingers and push them against the tip of the sword, pushing the blade back to its original shape. At the same time, he nimbly jumped back in retreat and instantly slid more than thirty meters along the official road.

However, Chen Ping'an didn't feel any sense of delight at the fact that Ding Ying hadn't given pursuit. Instead, he immediately used the Proper Sword Scripture's Deity Suppression Technique to release sword qi and guard his surroundings.

Like spectacular rays of light, seven or eight bursts of fist aura condensed into something tangible as they blasted into the sword qi.

Chen Ping'an shuffled around in small steps as thunderous booms echoed around him repeatedly. The sword qi and the fist auras were almost destroyed in unison, releasing bursts of splendidly colorful light. It was as if two armies of elite cavalry had perished together on the border between two nations.

Standing in the distance, Ding Ying continued to throw a relentless flurry of punches, not using any fancy stance or technique. Instead, he was doing as he pleased and throwing the most simple of punches. He also took a single step and cut the distance between them by six meters.

When Chen Ping'an finally countered all of the fist auras with much difficulty, Ding Ying had already rushed back and started to engage in close-quarter combat with him again, not giving him the opportunity to replenish his Qi.

Chen Ping'an continued to retreat as he fought, while Ding Ying continued to push forward in an overbearing manner.

Both sides had shown off the peak of their strength already, with Chen Ping'an's peak being his first sword strike atop the city wall.

Facing that sword strike, even Ding Ying—who was so haughty that he only viewed the heavens as his rival—had no option but to silently step back in retreat. In fact, even his temperament had started to shift.

Meanwhile, Ding Ying's peak had arrived at the exact moment that he had been forced into a disadvantageous position. He had charged forward against the torrential flow of sword qi.

Afterward, Chen Ping'an's strength had started to decline, while Ding Ying had also surprisingly failed to maintain his intensity and determination.

Even though Chen Ping'an's release of sword qi appeared turbulent and formidable on the surface, looking much like floodwater that had burst through a levee, this was something that Ding Ying could confidently block. As a result, it would only win Chen Ping'an enough time to catch a breath. This was only enough to prevent Ding Ying from making the first move and seizing an advantage.

When it came to the tide of sword qi that had been condensed into a single thread, however, Ding Ying had been left with no choice but to dodge its intense might.

Two kilometers from the city, a small hill rested near the official road.

Ding Ying flicked the tip of Lasting Qi away using two fingers before suddenly smashing Chen Ping'an's chest with his palm.

Chen Ping'an crashed into the small hill like a kite with a broken string. The strike was so powerful that he simply blasted through the hill like an arrow through paper.

Dust and debris soared into the sky.

The incredible might of Ding Ying's palm strike was evident from the fact that Lasting Qi had gone flying from Chen Ping'an's hand, drawing an arc in the air before plummeting to the ground. If there was no other surprise, then the sword was going to land near the small hill on Ding Ying's side.

Ding Ying narrowed his eyes. He was unable to clearly see Chen Ping'an's pitiful state, but he still darted forward without delay. In reality, he was slightly hesitant about how he should deal with the sword in front of him.

Should he drive home his advantage and grab that sword, tossing it back to the city wall and having it be as far away from their battlefield as possible? That way, the young otherworldly immortal would no longer have a sword to wield. Or should he use the sword as bait, setting up a trap here and aiming to kill Chen Ping'an with a single blow?

However, Chen Ping'an's response caused Ding Ying to immediately abandon these thoughts.

Ding Ying's hair suddenly stood on end, and he instantly raised his guard. He ground to a halt and forcefully stomped his feet, assuming an overwhelmingly mighty fist stance and unleashing a torrent of powerful fist auras, rapidly striking the area between the sword and the small hill.

However, as rapid as Ding Ying's response was, there was still a wisp of snow-white that allowed the fist auras to violently strike it as it leaped up from the peak of the small hill and extended its arm, perfectly catching Lasting Qi that had pulled itself out from the ground.

For the sake of rushing through Ding Ying's torrent of fist auras as quickly as possible, Chen Ping'an was already at the limit of his power. However, he still grabbed his sword and insisted on unleashing this sword strike.

Chen Ping’an didn’t consider whether the might of this sword strike would be severely weakened—perhaps it would only be enough to tickle the spirited Ding Ying, or perhaps it would only be enough to leave some insignificant wounds.

In this inconceivable world, and on that street in the capital, everyone was mysteriously drawing their weapons and trying to kill each other. It was as if no one cared about who Chen Ping'an truly was—whether he was good or bad, and why he had appeared in the capital of Southern Garden Nation.

This kind of utterly terrible feeling... When walking to the covered bridge by himself after visiting the severely wounded Liu Xianyang, Chen Ping'an had promised himself that he could never accept such a situation again.

He would not be forced to become a powerless dog, wagging his tail and pitifully begging the heavens for mercy, hoping that he would receive justice.

Chen Ping'an had already practiced the Proper Sword Scripture for a decent amount of time. However, the true sword intent that Chen Ping'an had captured didn't belong to this sword scripture. Instead, it came from three sword strikes.

One was inside that rundown old temple, when Mr. Qi easily shattered Liu Chicheng's formation with a single sword strike. And while fighting alongside Sword Saint Song Yushao from Water Combing Nation, Chen Ping'an later split apart a suit of golden armor with a single sword strike.

One was unleashed inside the picture scroll of the Scholarly Sage by the sword spirit, and Chen Ping'an had managed to emulate a small portion of its aura when launching his own sword strike on the city wall of Southern Garden Nation. His strike had been so powerful that Ding Ying had almost conceded that he was second in the world.

One was unleashed by Chen Ping'an himself inside the picture scroll, against Middle Earth Divine Continent's Tassel Mountain.

In addition to these three, there were still an additional two sword strikes that Chen Ping'an was still relatively unfamiliar with. This was because he was not very familiar with the two people who had launched these sword strikes. At the same time, he had also been standing too far away. Thus, Chen Ping'an was still yet to comprehend them enough to emulate their aura and imbue them into his own sword strikes.

One strike was launched by Wind Snow Temple's Wei Jin. His sword slashed through the barrier in the sky before he even arrived.

One strike was launched by Mohist Xu Ruo. He drew his blade one inch from its scabbard, and an entire mountain materialized in front of him.

Holding Lasting Qi in his hand, Chen Ping'an was going to emulate the sword strike that Qi Jingchun had unleashed with his locust wood sword. Back then, Qi Jingchun had casually shattered Liu Chicheng's White Emperor City Chaos Origin Formation.

A hint of hesitation surfaced in Ding Ying's mind again. It was a familiar sword strike, one that carried with it the magnificent might of the heavens. He had retreated on the city wall, so was he going to retreat again this time?

In the sky high above Ding Ying, a person and a sword soared through the air.

Chen Ping'an slashed down.

A golden thread appeared between heaven and earth.

1. Qinggong (轻功) literally means lightness technique. It refers to a technique of climbing and jumping off vertical surfaces from Chinese martial arts. ☜

2. Ao is a mythical creature with a dragon head and fish body. ☜