(Ten-thousand-character chapter.)

The sword hanging from Song Yushao’s waist, temporarily taken from the waterfall yesterday, was a divine weapon that even mountain cultivators would avoid its sharp edge, named “Yiran” (Standing Tall).

In fact, Song Yushao first saw this sword at the bottom of the deep pool beneath the waterfall, right at the feet of Chen Pingan as he practiced the sword-forge stance under the cascade, inside the rock that seemed like a pillar in the stream. A mechanism was hidden within the giant stone, and Song Yushao obtained the sword by chance. His swordsmanship complemented the famed sword, leading him to become the future Sword Saint of Shushui Kingdom.

After the death of his son, Song Gaofeng, Song Yushao replaced his usual sword, re-hiding the Yiran sword, with its sheath made of special green bamboo, within the giant stone. Song Yushao scoured through ancient texts and finally found a page of secret history that recorded the sword as being personally forged by a Martial God from another continent, lost in Bao Ping Continent. It had textual records of “sharpening light to split the Five Peaks, sword qi to sever great rivers.”

At this moment, Song Yushao, with the yellowing scabbard hanging at his waist, looked at the Shushui Kingdom’s army, whose horses had suddenly slowed their pace. True to the sword’s name, the old man in black stood tall and fearless.

This “rebellion suppression army” of nearly ten thousand soldiers from Shushui Kingdom included three thousand elite cavalrymen, the direct subordinates of General Chu Hao, all from the border battlefields, the best of Shushui Kingdom’s warriors. In addition, there were four to five thousand local elites drawn from garrisons across various regions, over a thousand veteran constables dispatched by the state capital government, and chivalrous heroes bought with heavy gold. Of course, there were also a group of Jianghu experts gathered by General Chu Hao himself, almost all of whom were the generous “dowry” when the current Emperor personally arranged the marriage with that woman. Although his father-in-law died in Jianghu vendettas, he had been the leader of the Martial Alliance for nearly twenty years before that, and with the imperial court as a backer, he secretly cultivated many shadowy Jianghu wings, which later became General Chu Hao’s bodyguards and sworn retainers.

Even after so many years, Chu Hao’s pillow companion, that woman, still deeply resented the Sword Water Manor and held a deadly grudge.

Chu Hao understood this clearly. He verbally agreed, but would never act rashly. Before the Emperor gave his order, he would not, as a general in command, openly provoke a martial arts grandmaster whose swordsmanship was unparalleled in Shushui Kingdom. Therefore, the woman often complained. Fortunately, this time the Sword Water Manor had courted death themselves, angering the Emperor, and Chu Hao seized the opportunity to volunteer for the campaign. Everything fell into place.

To be honest, while his wife had an unresolved grudge, Chu Hao, as a prominent figure who had fought on the border for many years and maneuvered in the imperial court, also had a grievance. You, a woman, knew that Song Gaofeng was already married, and the young couple loved each other dearly, with a Sword Saint for a father. Why should he have abandoned his wife to marry you just because you were the daughter of the Martial Alliance leader? Then, in a fit of rage, you sent someone to destroy the flower garden, taking the life of that woman? If it were Chu Hao, he would have mobilized his army long ago and slaughtered them, causing a river of blood to flow.

But then again, Chu Hao was not that poor wretch Song Gaofeng who had suffered an unprovoked disaster. Now that he was married, trusted by the Emperor, and had a beautiful wife, he had also gained a dozen Jianghu experts to command. These so-called experts knew very well that the imperial court would never care about the phrase “Wandering the Jianghu, bearing the consequences of one’s actions.” If someone died, it would be considered the will of Heaven.

Chu Hao, who had personally escorted his wife to the ancestral grave of the Martial Alliance, where she paid her respects, was now riding a tall horse and smiling faintly. He held a paper-cutting knife bestowed by the Emperor, and his gaze swept across the army behind him. He thought to himself, “As long as this battle goes smoothly, and I can completely destroy the Sword Water Manor, and then slowly eradicate the remaining forces of the Martial Alliance, the position of Marquis…”

Chu Hao clenched the paper-cutting knife bestowed by the Emperor, his smile growing wider, and he couldn’t help but repeat, “Heaven helps me!”

On the road, Song Yushao, facing the cavalry alone, had successfully blocked two waves of arrows and was now only fifty steps away from the cavalry formation. At his current speed, the cavalry had given up on mounted archery and were charging straight at the black-clothed old man in a familiar wedge formation.

Song Yushao’s mind stirred slightly. While running forward, he shifted a few steps, dodging an extremely swift and insidious arrow, far more powerful than the previous volleys that relied on quantity. After that, the old man changed positions three times, perfectly avoiding the specially made arrows. He flicked his fingers in a sword gesture, controlling the long sword in the air to descend and rush forward, laughing loudly, “Cleave the horses and open the formation!”

Those cavalrymen who fell from their horses wanted to fight to the death, but their sabers all landed on empty air, as if a wisp of ethereal green smoke brushed past them, and the figure of the black-clothed old man disappeared from their sight.

Yiran flew forward like a sword, like a dragon swimming in a river. In the blink of an eye, several horses had their legs severed. The sword only cleared a path for its master, piercing the backs of warhorses, slicing a huge bloody groove on their sides, or tearing a mass of bloody intestines from their bellies. Wherever it went, warhorses fell, cavalrymen plummeted, and then there was a faint, smoky figure, dashing forward with ease.

The elite cavalry charge was thus pierced through by the Sword Saint of Shushui Kingdom.

After Song Yushao successfully broke through the first formation, he was met with shields like mountains, lined up in a row, with gleaming blades between the gaps, and spears like forests sloping slightly forward, a full one and a half people tall. The neat spearheads shone in the sunlight, radiating the unique and astonishing aura of the battlefield.

If he were to leap high and fly towards the main banner where the general was located, the Chu army’s way of welcoming him would definitely be the crossbowmen stationed behind the spear formation, firing upwards.

Because Song Yushao broke through the formation too quickly, the crossbow barrage had not been used, but this did not mean that the crossbows were not a threat. Moreover, there were also Mo family crossbows, which the imperial court treasured.

Song Yushao gathered a new breath, and the qi in his body flowed like a raging flood. At this moment, behind the infantry formation, beyond Song Yushao’s line of sight, several sword immortals in the Jianghu world of Shushui Kingdom, who were attached to the imperial court, displayed their sword-control skills, full of the carefree spirit that martial artists on the battlefield found difficult to comprehend.

If they weren’t on opposing sides, someone might have been tempted to applaud.

Then, an even more outrageous scene occurred.

That young man, instead of flying on the main battlefield to assist the Sword Saint to turn the tide, was actually drinking wine on a tall building.

On the high building, the young man stepped on the spears and flew forward against the wind, and even took off his wine gourd, raised his head and took a sip!

While everyone hated it, deep down, weren’t they somewhat… yearning for it?!

The battlefield was brutal, and the Jianghu was heroic.

Originally, the two were vastly different, just like the previous breakthrough of the Shushui Kingdom’s Sword Saint, especially when the sword qi split and chopped through the infantry formation, how tragic and bloody was it?
However, this sword-bearing youth, progressing all the way, slew not a single soul. Silently, he merely followed the black-clad elder, forging ahead to shatter the formations. Albeit both were dismantling the array, his demeanor was uniquely gallant.

Because the spear’s advance was too swift, and the act itself too inconceivable, the square formation’s archers were somewhat bewildered. But under the command and rebuke of the military general, the strongest warriors in the army were specifically ordered to intercept and kill this man with powerful bows. Naturally, those formidable individuals qualified to wield the Mo family’s divine bows were already drawing their bows taut like full moons, firing volleys of military treasures in pursuit.

An extraordinary phenomenon manifested, and another astonishing event unfolded.

From the vermillion wine gourd hanging at the sword-bearing youth’s waist, two resplendent streams of light, one snow-white and one emerald green, suddenly emerged. Under the shaft of the spear, they shattered the incoming arrows one by one.

The youth didn’t need to evade at all. Wave after wave of arrows, fewer in number but exceedingly menacing, all fell harmlessly to the ground.

After soaring for tens of zhang, the descending momentum of the spear on which he stood began to take effect. Chen Pingan stomped on the spear, ceasing to concern himself with its fate upon hitting the earth. His figure ascended, rising straight up, just barely dodging a mid-air interception from a top-tier Jianghu swordsman. The latter landed with regret, turning his head to look back, his eyes fierce and his face filled with resentment.

If failing to stop Song Yushao earlier, being forced back into the great formation by the almost flawless, majestic sword aura was excusable, then what to make of not even touching a nameless youth?

Having raised soldiers for a thousand days to use them for a single battle, how could he continue to enjoy wealth and glory by General Chu Hao’s side?

Further ahead, less than a hundred paces from the commander’s great banner, the sphere of seamless sword qi enveloping Song Yushao had already been severely diminished by countless spears, lances, and arrows. Coupled with the relentless assaults of over a dozen Jianghu experts, when a cyan sword qi, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder, arrived, Song Yushao held his sword horizontally. Though the sword qi, thick as a cyan python, finally broke through the elder’s crescent moon sword array, it was resolutely cleaved in two by the longsword, whistling past the elder’s side. Dozens of heavily armored infantrymen behind him died on the spot.

Song Yushao retracted his horizontal sword stance, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Even so, he dared not breathe easily.

Because the swordsman who had unleashed the attack from a hundred paces away was a sword dao grandmaster of at least the fifth realm.

That person stood beneath the great banner, next to General Chu Hao, wearing a green robe, one hand behind his back, the tip of his sword pointed directly at Song Yushao.

This person wasn’t old. He looked to be in his early thirties, but his true age might have been forty. The longsword in his hand wasn’t a peerless divine weapon, but a section of lustrous green bamboo, two chi and six cun long, the same length as a sword.

He stood proudly upon his horse, and General Chu Hao, who was much shorter, didn’t seem to mind, his face full of joyful smiles.

The swordsman wielding bamboo as a sword smiled and said, “The bamboo scabbard of Song Yushao’s sword is quite good. General Chu, could you gift it to me?”

Chu Hao laughed heartily, “Why not? Not only the scabbard, but the sword itself!”

The swordsman shook his head and chuckled, “That’s not necessary. If General Chu can offer the Yiran Sword to your emperor, demonstrating the Jianghu’s submission to the imperial court, it would be a tale of great merit.”

Chu Hao suddenly understood, clapping his hands and laughing loudly, “The Green Bamboo Sword Immortal is truly thoughtful, this is best!”

Song Yushao held his breath, standing in a small clearing where the martial soldiers voluntarily retreated.

The young swordsman, the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal of Songxi Kingdom, smiled and asked, “Old Sword Saint Song, do you believe that the moment you take a breath, will be the moment of your demise?”

Song Yushao’s expression was cold.

A stir ran through the ranks behind the old man.

Chu Hao narrowed his eyes, taking a small silver ingot-like object from his sleeve and holding it in his palm. Then he tilted his neck, and soon two white-haired old men with deep breaths walked out from beside him, one wearing a brocade robe, pinching a cyan talisman with golden characters between his fingers. The other was burly, wielding a pair of axes, engraved with auspicious cloud patterns. Neither wore armor, clearly not soldiers in the army.

Both looked towards Song Yushao’s rear. Compared to the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal’s composure, the two accompanying elders were somewhat grave.

As the royal cultivators of Shushui Kingdom, they knew what it meant when a sword cultivator who had nurtured a Natal Flying Sword, young or old, was forced into a desperate struggle.

Chu Hao said softly, “One of you help the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal to quickly finish the battle and kill Song Yushao, and the other must hold back that youth.”

The burly man holding the double axes strode towards Song Yushao, sneering, “I will force the old fellow to take a breath!”

The brocade-robed elder smiled wryly, gathering his spirits and lightly tossing the treasured cyan paper talisman into the air. With a great enemy before them, he had no choice but to use it, no matter how precious it was.

The talisman disappeared in an instant after ascending.

It appeared in an instant, 150 paces away, exploding with golden light. Finally, a golden-armored martial general crashed to the ground. He was two zhang tall, standing out prominently among the infantry ranks. He held a great halberd, and within the solemn golden armor, only silver light flowed. The general had no substantial body.

Chen Pingan ran all the way, seemingly walking on air, but in reality, each step landed on the Flying Swords, Chuyi and Shiwu.

It would certainly be accurate to say Chen Pingan was a stubborn person.

However, since he began to walk the Jianghu alone, compared to the Mud Bottle Lane youth who liked to leap across streams, Chen Pingan had changed a lot.

At this moment, seeing the golden-armored silver-bodied warrior not far away, holding a golden great halberd, poised and staring intently at him.

Chen Pingan’s heart did not waver. In Rouge County, Taoist Chongmiao had two Yellow Copper Warriors guarding him. It seemed that a high-quality talisman-derived Yellow Copper Warrior could rival a third-realm martial artist. This two-zhang-tall Golden Armor Warrior, was likely at least a fourth-realm martial artist, and possibly even a fifth-realm strength.

But from the very beginning of practicing martial arts, he dared to challenge an old Ape carrying mountains from Zhengyang Mountain.

When Chen Pingan got stubborn, he really wasn’t afraid of anyone.

Accumulating strength, a flash of inspiration.

Chen Pingan almost naturally reached behind him, grasping the Scholar’s Sword made of locust wood.

At the same time, he silently recited in his heart, “Chuyi, Shiwu, go help Senior Song deal with that swordsman and the burly man. I’ll handle this warrior myself.”
Barely twenty paces separated them. The two wisps of sword light beneath Chen Ping’an’s feet, one left and one right, arced around the golden-armored warrior who had begun to heavily stomp the earth, charging forward with a halberd in hand.

Still reaching behind to grip the hilt of his wooden sword, Chen Ping’an leaped forward, shouting, “Senior Song, just focus on catching your breath!”

With a formidable enemy before them, the burly man’s twin axes about to cleave down, and the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal watching with predatory eyes, Song Yushao understood and smiled, actually taking the chance to recover his qi.

The Green Bamboo Sword Immortal, atop his horse, unleashed a sword strike.

Chen Ping’an, airborne, muttered unheard words, then entered a state of ethereal clarity he had never experienced before.

The self and external objects were forgotten, his sword heart clear as crystal.

Once, the Locust Wood Sword of an ancient temple had casually cleaved apart the golden light formation of a powdered-faced demon.

Since his strength was insufficient, then today his swordplay would be like learning to box, one punch at a time, slowly progressing until the day he could deliver a million blows. He would first grasp the essence, without mimicking the form!

Just deliver the sword!

Where there is a mountain, cleave the mountain! Where there is water, sever the water!

The eighteen reservoirs of sword qi within his body no longer held back in the slightest, like a flood bursting its banks, surging through the obscure qi meridians long deemed worthless by modern sword cultivators.

In an instant, Chen Ping’an violently drew the Locust Wood Sword, unleashing a dazzling sword aura that he himself could not see, and with it, slashed at the two-zhang tall golden-armored warrior.

The golden-armored warrior, along with his gigantic halberd, was cleaved apart with a ripping sound!

Chen Ping’an, landing on his feet, raised his head. A huge, slanted fissure had appeared on the golden-armored warrior before him, silver light bursting forth as the armor shattered.

The warrior collapsed before him, then crumbled into dust with a deafening crash, scattering golden and silver light in a dazzling display.

Chen Ping’an, drenched in sweat and his knees slightly bent, was momentarily dazed, but quickly regained his senses, straightened his back, and gripped the Locust Wood Sword tightly in his hand.

Wandering the pugilistic world, I have a sword!

The youth had never felt so exhilarated, so eager to vent the pent-up emotions within his heart. Amidst the ten thousand strong army, wielding the Locust Wood Sword that had achieved victory, the youth proclaimed in a loud voice: “Chen Ping’an of Dali is here!”