Above the celestial cloud sea of the Great Wall of Sword Qi, a Daoist Sage rose, respectfully greeting the visitor with a deep bow, then chuckled, “A rare pleasure indeed.”

Chen Qingdu smiled, “To survey from such heights, the scenery must be far superior to that beheld from my humble thatched hut.”

After the polite exchange, silence descended.

The venerable Sword Immortal, who had deigned to grace the cloud sea with his presence, merely gazed towards the clamorous battlefield to the south.

The aged Daoist Immortal suddenly inquired, “Why does that young Hidden Official harbor a certain prejudice against this poor Daoist?”

Chen Qingdu replied, “His sentiments extend to the entirety of the Daoist school, not directed solely at you. He is aware of the impropriety of such views, yet finds it difficult to alter them in the immediate future.”

There exist such eccentric individuals who readily dismiss matters concerning themselves, yet hold onto grievances related to the words and actions of those around them, unable to find solace.

Such individuals were not unfamiliar to the foremost Sword Immortal. Not to delve into distant examples, there were Zuo You nearby, and, of course, Pang Yuanji.

The Daoist Sage lifted his sleeve, engaging in divination with his fingers. A Daoist should not engage in such practices in private, but with the Sword Immortal present, all constraints were cast aside. After a moment of calculation, he murmured, “To think such a monumental karmic entanglement lies upon him. No wonder, no wonder.”

This Daoist Sage was the individual most detached from worldly affairs within the entire Great Wall of Sword Qi, having truly achieved pure cultivation. He paid no heed to the affairs of the Great Wall, nor even the ebb and flow of his own Daoist sect.

No one sought him out, nor did he actively seek anyone.

This aged Immortal, responsible for guarding the Great Wall of Sword Qi for the Daoist school, was a high-ranking disciple from the lineage of the Dao Ancestor. Should he return to the Jade Capital of the Azure Heaven, one of the twelve towers of the five cities, the loftiest among them, would serve as his immortal abode, his place of cultivation.

Chen Qingdu stated, “These many years, you have been forced to while away your time, hindering your progress to further heights. Much hardship you have endured.”

The Daoist hastily returned a bow, “I am unworthy, I am unworthy.”

Chen Qingdu sighed, “If that lad were to meet you, I wager the two of you would find much to discuss.”

The Daoist once more calculated with his fingers, shaking his head. “Perhaps not, perhaps not.”

Chen Qingdu, unwilling to say more, remained in place, overlooking the southern battlefield. It would be improper to simply arrive and depart.

The Daoist suddenly voiced a note of surprise, “Our young Hidden Official, is he somehow entangled with the Xuan Du Temple’s Daoist Sun?”

Sun Huaizhong, the Abbot of Xuan Du Temple, had long since attained divine mastery of swordsmanship.

He was also hailed as the unshakable fifth foremost cultivator in the Azure Heaven.

The Daoist lamented, “Who would have thought that Daoist Sun would abandon his own realm and venture into the Vast World?”

One calculation led to ten, a hundred, a thousand, approaching divine calculation.

Chen Qingdu chuckled, “The Daoist Sword Immortal lineage does possess certain… qualities. That Daoist Sun is also a rather… interesting character.”

If Chen Qingdu were to utter “possesses certain qualities” in relation to swordsmanship, it was undoubtedly a testament to great skill.

Otherwise, why would Chen Qingdu, with nothing better to do, repeatedly seize Zuo You, saying his swordsmanship was insufficient? Though he only spoke of swordsmanship, Zuo You was already undeniably the foremost cultivator of the Vast World.

The four Immortal Swords originally represented the four prominent schools of swordsmanship in the world.

One resided in the Heavenly Master’s Residence of Dragon and Tiger Mountain, one with the most esteemed scholar of the Central Divine Continent, one was wielded by Dao Laoer, and the Vast World had always claimed that the last one was suppressed within the Sword Suppressing Tower, one of the nine majestic towers.

In truth, the Immortal Sword of the scholar from the Central Divine Continent rightfully belonged to the Daoist Sword Immortal lineage. By both reason and sentiment, it should have been enshrined in the ancestral hall of Xuan Du Temple. However, this involved a complex and ancient connection, and Sun Huaizhong of Xuan Du Temple was a Daoist more chivalrous than immortal, consistently unwilling to use his influence to reclaim it for the Xuan Du Temple of the Azure Heaven.

This led to the later feat of the scholar cleaving open the Yellow River Grotto Heaven with a single strike, and the phrase that resounded throughout the world, “Li Bai’s poems are unrivaled, the most triumphant in the human realm.”

The Daoist sighed, “I suddenly recall Xuan Du Temple. When the peach blossoms bloom, if yellow orioles perch upon them, it is particularly moving. The eyes dare not move, for the very soul is stirred.”

Chen Qingdu jested, “Not ‘extremely beautiful, extremely beautiful’?”

The Daoist shook his head. “That would be vulgar.”

Business was sluggish at the wine shop with the three storefronts. In fact, this was the case for all the taverns and wine shops in the city.

The elderly, women, children, or those men whose natal flying swords had been destroyed and could no longer be considered sword cultivators remained in the city. Moreover, with the fierce battles raging on the city walls, few were in the mood to spend money on wine.

The two young shop assistants of the same age, the boy Qiu Long and the girl Liu E, were both puzzled. Tao Ban, the youngest among them, had been whispered to by Feng Kangle, who had run over in a hurry. The two had then run off together, returning with bruised faces and covered in dust. They sat down, and Feng Kangle had his father make two large bowls of Yangchun noodles. The two boys ate only noodles; they were too small, their feet dangling in the air, and they had to lean over the table to eat. There were no pickled vegetables, because Tao Ban said that without buying wine, there were no pickled vegetables, as was the rule of the shop.

Liu E sat down at the table and asked with a smile, “What happened?”

Feng Kangle was sullen and buried his head in his noodles.

Tao Ban said angrily, “A bunch of little bastards were cursing our Second Shopkeeper for being heartless and not a good person. They said a lot of nasty things, so they deserved a beating, right? Kangle and I beat them up.”

The girl teased, “Who exactly beat up whom?”

Feng Kangle scoffed, “They had more people, okay? How could the two of us beat them? A hero roaming the world can’t fight four hands, that’s what the books say, don’t you know that?”

Tao Ban became angrier as he spoke. “The worst part is that there were people watching the show from the side, and none of them helped us, even though they’ve heard so many stories from the Second Shopkeeper without paying. Those people are even more heartless.”

Liu E stifled a laugh. “I’ll get two eggs for you to use to reduce the swelling.”

Tao Ban nodded. “Kangle, have your dad make two more bowls of Yangchun noodles, then we’ll each have a bowl with a fried egg. It’ll be very delicious.”

Feng Kangle leaned over and whispered, “No, no, no, it’s best if we get hurt and it takes a while to heal, so the Second Shopkeeper will see it.”

Tao Ban asked, “Why? The Second Shopkeeper is so stingy, he won’t give you any money.”

Feng Kangle grinned. “Maybe I’ll get to hear another story.”
Tao Ban rolled her eyes and said, “Then tell that little slip of a girl? You’re still too young, you don’t know these pretty girls are clever too, whether a family is rich or not, *that’s* what matters.”

Feng Kangle chuckled, “My family has money now.”

Tao Ban silently ate his yangchun noodles.

Feng Kangle scratched his head and said softly, “Tao Ban, if you ever need money, remember to borrow it from me first. My earthenware pot is full of copper coins, it’s so heavy now, I can barely lift it! But those are all my marriage funds, remember to pay me back when I’m ready to get married.”

Feng Kangle chatted about everything with Tao Ban. Once, he talked about his grievances, how he got up in the middle of the night to relieve himself and ended up falling asleep by the broom at the door. He slept so soundly that his parents searched for him half the night. When they finally found him, his mother spanked him so hard he cried his eyes out. But when Tao Ban heard this story, he lowered his head and started to sniffle. Later, Feng Kangle learned that Tao Ban’s ancestors, all the way to his parents, were laborers in the cloth mill, and Tao Ban couldn’t see his parents for most of the year.

Tao Ban suddenly laughed, “Actually, I quite like that little girl too.”

Feng Kangle was dumbfounded.

Tao Ban burst out laughing, “Just kidding! What’s so good about girls?”

Feng Kangle laughed along.

Young Master Qiu Long brought over two eggs, smiling, “Put it on my tab.”

Tao Ban imitated the second shopkeeper, giving a thumbs up, “Generous!”

Feng Kangle nodded, “The second shopkeeper and I are the best of friends, we have a great relationship. I’ll have him be your matchmaker and marry Liu E off to you.”

The young master was speechless.

The young girl’s face was flushed red, her cheeks as embarrassed as blooming peach blossoms.

The Hidden Official’s winter retreat palace, usually empty, now held more than a dozen people.

Apart from a white-haired old woman, they were all children, some as young as four or five, the oldest no more than seven or eight. There were both boys and girls, from vastly different backgrounds, including the pampered children of wealthy families from Taixiang and Yuhu Streets, as well as the urchins from the slums.

The old woman said, “You are all material for martial artists. In the past, we had some martial arts grandmasters in the Sword Qi Great Wall, but most of them didn’t live long, rarely reaching a hundred years. The path of martial arts relies on talent, but even more on diligent practice. So, when they die young, their realm naturally doesn’t reach great heights. I am one of the more fortunate ones. Do you know who I am?”

One of the children from Taixiang Street, young and bold, said in a childish voice, “Granny Bai from the Ning family, a tough old woman with hard fists.”

“That’s right, my name is Bai Lian Shuang. I came from the Ning family and am a female martial artist. My fist techniques are passable.” The old woman nodded with a smile, then kicked the child in the stomach, sending him flying. He fell to the ground, rolling and squirming, eventually curling up in pain, tears and snot streaming down his face.

The old woman asked again, “Do you know why you’ve been gathered here?”

A little girl from Yuhu Street, her face pale, trembled, “Granny Bai, I want to become a sword cultivator, I don’t want to learn martial arts. There’s no future in practicing martial arts.”

The old woman rubbed the little girl’s head and gently pressed down, causing her to sit down hard on the ground. The old woman glanced at the more delicate child on the ground, assessing her for a moment, concluding that her foundation was passable, and smiled, “Wanting to become a sword cultivator and being able to become one are two different things. I had a similar idea to yours in my younger years, but I couldn’t become a sword cultivator, and there was nothing I could do about it. You can’t force it.”

Just as the little girl was about to speak, the old woman smiled, “Don’t worry, after a month, those who want to learn martial arts may not be able to stay, and those who don’t want to learn might end up staying.”

The old woman turned to the group of children who looked reserved but had passionate eyes, “Aptitude for martial arts is less important than for sword cultivation, but that’s only relatively speaking. Whether or not you can do it, you have to endure great hardship to know. Isn’t that right?”

The group of children nodded in succession.

The old woman said, “First, learn two fist stances from me. A fist without stances is like a house without pillars, it won’t stand. I’ll teach you one standing stance and one walking stance, entry is simple, mastery is difficult. In practicing fists, the most important thing is familiarity.”

After the old woman taught the eight children the standing and walking stances, she slowly walked around, observing their awkward, unsteady stances, and said slowly, “Practice your fists a thousand times, and your body will naturally move according to the art. Believe this saying, but don’t believe it. What you should believe is the principle behind it, you need to practice your fists a lot. What you shouldn’t believe is that a thousand punches will lead to natural movement. Even if you are a martial arts genius with excellent bones, aptitude, and temperament, if you only throw a thousand punches, it will still be difficult for the intent of the fist to imbue your body.”

The child who had been rolling on the ground sat up, a stubborn one indeed, gritting his teeth and saying, “That martial arts genius Cao Ci from the Central Earth Divine Continent, does he need to practice a thousand punches for the same fist technique?! Definitely not!”

The old woman was not angry and looked at the child, smiling, “The martial arts of the Grand World are vast and profound. A pure martial artist, while being able to use fists without logic, also emphasizes learning etiquette before learning techniques, and learning virtue before practicing martial arts.”

The child crossed his arms and sneered, “I’m talking to you about fist techniques, and you’re lecturing me about principles? Old Granny Bai, I don’t think your fist techniques are that great.”

The old woman became even more amiable, bypassing the eight children who were already swaying, “A righteous heart produces righteous fists, an evil heart produces evil fists. So teaching fists is teaching people.”

The child watched the old woman’s smile grow and grow. Sensing something amiss, he had a flash of inspiration and shouted, “You’re an old woman, learning fists from you is not as good as learning from the second shopkeeper. He’s a master, I’ve seen him in action! Even though he lost three matches to Cao Ci earlier, didn’t he win three matches against Yu Juanfu later?”

The old woman laughed heartily, “Little rascal is quite clever. Alright, alright, get up, stand with the others. If you stand well, you’ll get beaten less. The six-step walking stance I taught you just now came from Mr. Chen.”

The child stood up, rubbing his stomach, wincing. It really hurt, in the flesh, but he would get through it soon.

The old woman smiled. The child’s pain was real pain, but only skin deep, and he would get through it quickly.

The child muttered, “With food at home, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

The old woman glanced at him.

The child immediately wailed, “I’ll learn, I’ll learn, alright?”

The old woman felt a little helpless.

Dealing with children, her son-in-law was indeed more skilled.

In fact, even teaching fist techniques was not her forte.
Even Bai Lian-shuang was once the only tenth-realm martial artist of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Even when she was sparring with the young master in the Ning residence, the old woman herself felt uneasy, truly unable to bring herself to use ruthless, heavy blows.

However, her own young master had said that the seeds of martial artists from the Sword Qi Great Wall might be unremarkable there, but their future was uncertain. Even in the worst-case scenario, having a skill to rely on was always a good thing.

Chen Ping’an found a secluded spot and instantly changed his face, appearing as a young man.

He secretly took out a borrowed longsword from his pocket dimension and stored the broken longsword from his back, still in its scabbard, within the same space, as he would eventually have to return it to Pang Yuanji.

Re-wielding the sword, his entire aura instantly transformed from that of a withered, weary old man into that of a vibrant young man, his eyebrows raised with spirit, his eyes clear.

The Great Refining Flying Swords Initial One and Fifteenth, the Pine Needle imitation sword and the Cough Thunder from Hate Sword Mountain, were to be used only in dire circumstances.

The sword “Sword Immortal,” of the immortal weapon rank, and the golden-glazed robe had already been given to Ning Yao.

Therefore, Chen Ping’an’s travels with his sword, coupled with summoning one or two “ledger” natal flying swords, truly embodying the identity of a sword cultivator, and throwing himself into the battlefield, was in itself the best form of disguise.

As for the faces made by Zhu Lian, they were secondary.

In any case, it never hurt to have more skills, the more the better.

With a slight thought, Chen Ping’an steered his sword quickly upwards, glanced at the battlefield situation, and soon resumed flying low to the ground.

On the battlefield, thousands of sword cultivators were charging south in formations, constantly pushing the demon army southward.

The most tragic battle was still along the golden river, where the demon army south of it swarmed and collided with the sword immortals guarding the river. Often, in the brief moment after a sword immortal delivered a strike, the demon army would instantly pile up into a sloping mountain, pressing against the invisible barrier of the small world that was the river. The golden river, agitated by layer upon layer of waves, splashed with blood, and as the great waves surged back and forth, they left behind countless piles of white bones, which were then covered by the demons behind, layer upon layer, constantly eroding the textual embankments on the southern bank of the golden river.

The sword immortals could only slightly retract their swords to clear the battlefield immediately before them, lest the white bones and flesh pile up too much on the spot, constantly eroding the golden river.

Each and every golden, minuscule sage-like character, and each and every golden lotus swaying gracefully in the river, were constantly vanishing, but the three religions’ saints constantly enhanced the river from afar, preventing this small world from dissipating too quickly.

On that battlefield, several great demons had already appeared, personally breaking through the formations.

Moreover, demons with the innate abilities to move mountains and shift rivers were constantly hurling mountain peaks down upon the golden river and the sword immortals, or unleashing torrents of rain filled with intense yin energy and filth.

Some great demons directly used spells to crack the earth, excavate the ground, or control naturally gigantic demons to burrow deep into the earth, and with a rumbling heave, tear apart the ground, enduring the sword immortals’ slicing strikes to try and turn the indestructible golden river into a river suspended without earth, allowing the demon armies in the southern battlefield to quickly connect with the armies in the northern battlefield.

The two saints sitting on either end of the city walls almost simultaneously unleashed great divine powers, not only causing the water of the entire river to surge violently, cascading down like a waterfall, but also causing the roots of the golden lotuses to suddenly droop down with the river’s water, taking root in the deeper earth. The golden lotuses were entwined with rows upon rows of fine golden characters, all famous poems by the world’s literary giants and poets praising the lotus.

Among them, a lotus flower near the feet of a certain female sword immortal in the river was especially large and beautiful, reaching over a hundred feet in height, its fragrance pure and distant, condensing into wisps of golden spiritual energy, which eventually gathered into water droplets, rolling onto the lotus leaves, tinkling.

Rows of golden characters were like birds snuggling up to people, like swaying tree shadows, gentle and lovely.

“Of the flowers of aquatic and terrestrial plants, those that are lovely are numerous.”

“It neither creeps nor branches, but stands upright and pure. It emerges from the mud yet remains unstained.”

The female sword immortal landed on the constantly spreading lotus leaves, standing in the golden lotus, the world became clearer, and the spiritual energy was full of vitality.

Each time the woman wielded her sword, it became even more fluent and unrestrained.

At that moment, the already beautiful female sword immortal became even more stunning.

A male sword immortal adjacent to her, whose sword strikes were extremely ruthless against the enemy, delivered his strikes without any hesitation, while speaking to her in his heart, “Are you really unwilling to become my sister-in-law?”

The female sword immortal, Zhou Cheng, said calmly, “Mi Yu is just an embroidered pillow, and likes to say things that I don’t understand, which is extremely annoying.”

Mi Hu was silent for a moment, then asked, “What about me?”

Zhou Cheng was also silent for a moment, then replied, “Too ugly.”

Mi Hu, who had not been a great sword immortal for long, was not only not annoyed, but laughed heartily, delivering a new sword strike with outstanding elegance.

In the face of life and death, one could see the great charm of the sword immortals even more clearly.

Chen Ping’an steered his sword extremely fast, heading straight towards a certain southern battlefield, to find the group of sword cultivators who were digging south through the formations the fastest.

With Diezhang and Dong Hei-tan clearing the way with their swords, it was difficult to slow down.

The demon army also gave up the idea of burying their heads and charging forward. If they could successfully kill those sword cultivators fighting outside the city, the merit would be even greater than climbing the city walls.

Moreover, once they approached the city walls, the sword strikes of the defending sword cultivators would only become sharper, leading to a swift death. It was better to encircle and hunt the sword cultivators on the battlefield, at least they could live a little longer.

Therefore, to the south of the Sword Qi Great Wall and to the north of the golden river, a vast battlefield had inadvertently formed into circles of encirclement of various sizes.

He saw many familiar faces, some near and some far.

The sword immortal Tao Wen was on the front line of the furthest battlefield, guarding the golden river with the other sword immortals.

Closer by, besides Pu Yu and Ren Yi, whom he had encountered before, there was also the Yuan Ying sword cultivator Ye Zhenchun, who was serving as a formation-protecting sword master, as well as a number of regulars at the wine shop, who had drunk a lot of Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven wine, eaten many bowls of Yangchun noodles, and a number of gamblers and bachelors who had lost their bets.

On this journey to find Ning Yao and the others, Chen Ping’an could only do what he could to save several groups of sword cultivators in dire situations, allowing them to temporarily leave the encirclement.
Following the established rules of the Hidden Official lineage, when venturing south to carve through enemy formations and eliminate the demonic horde, swordsmen of different cultivation realms were assigned varying advance distances. Upon reaching that point, or slaying the corresponding number of demons, they could independently retreat north, returning to the base of the Sword Qi Great Wall to recuperate. If strength permitted, they could continue south; if severely depleted, they would ascend the wall, replaced by a fresh batch of rested swordsmen ready to engage. Overzealous advances and trading lives with demons were strictly prohibited.

On the same battle line, the two groups of swordsmen, one advancing from the wall and the other retreating, had to act decisively. Hesitation from the retreating group would create a domino effect. If swordsmen fighting south of the wall lingered, suffering heavy losses and refusing to withdraw, the replacement group would have to advance prematurely, plugging the gap. Over time, a north-south battle line would crumble completely, becoming a chaotic mess requiring additional swordsmen to clean up.

Ultimately, the Hidden Official lineage prioritized the survival of its swordsmen, so they could continue wielding their blades, thus saving more lives.

However, war inevitably brought death, and more death.

Separation and demise were like next-door neighbors on the battlefield.

The demons whose retreat was cut off had to be eradicated, while the mid-tier swordsmen fighting beneath the Sword Qi Great Wall had to minimize casualties.

The migrating armies from the desolate lands were an endless stream heading north, but each swordsman lost by the Sword Qi Great Wall weakened its fighting force. These were just cold calculations on a ledger; how could one account for the human heart?

On the battlefield, where enemies clashed, the swordsmen closest to the golden river, those who had been like a sword formation cutting through everything, halted abruptly.

Even Diezhang, caught up in the bloodlust, slowed her sword, choosing to retreat dozens of paces, her greatsword Zhenyue held in both hands, slightly bowed, the tip of the blade touching the ground, standing shoulder to shoulder with Dong Huafu.

Their natal swords continued their tireless slaughter.

The reason was simple: they had advanced too quickly, with demons on both flanks.

Further back on the battlefield stood Ning Yao, carrying a sword box and wearing a mage robe. Inside the box was that “Sword Immortal”, but Ning Yao held only one sword.

Twenty feet to her left and right were Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo.

Fan Dache stood even further back.

This group of swordsmen was supposed to advance another hundred and fifty li before retreating, intercepting the many stragglers.

But Ning Yao had just said, “Something feels off.”

If Ning Yao sensed something amiss, Diezhang and Dong Heitan, unless they had lost their minds, would treat it with caution.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo preferred to use their personal swords, “Scripture” and “Purple Lightning”, as flying swords.

Besides their natal swords, the trajectory of these swords was incredibly precise. The longsword Scripture, flying at waist height, drew a large circle two li away from Chen Sanqiu. Yan Zhuo’s Purple Lightning drew a circle slightly higher, at the height of a man’s neck. The two swords never interfered. If a demon, through luck, brute force, or a protective treasure, managed to break through the encirclement, the two men simply ignored it, leaving it all to Ning Yao and Fan Dache to clean up. It was simple and direct.

As for Diezhang, the “heedless of the rear” swordswoman, and Dong Heitan, the “grunt and hack” swordsman, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo’s circular sword formation ignored them.

If anything truly unexpected happened, Ning Yao, overseeing the situation, would take care of it.

Chen Sanqiu had another cloud-patterned sword, which he had lent to Fan Dache.

These high-quality personal swords were all borrowed by A Liang from the Great Li Dynasty’s imitation White Jade Capital.

Only that Haoran Qi sword, favored by that Confucian gentleman, had been taken to the Haoran world.

Ning Yao spoke again, “There should be an ambush. I’ll hold back the highest-realm ones. You all just focus on retreating.”

Her tone was as casual as usual, but Diezhang, being a woman herself, detected a hint of complaint.

Diezhang was helpless. Since all the swordsmen of the Hidden Official lineage moved to the Summer Palace, the young Hidden Official had not shown his face on the city walls for too long.

Even when Fan Dache finally joined the ranks of Golden Core swordsmen, he didn’t come to share a celebratory drink. The first person Fan Dache wanted to tell the good news to was no longer his friend Chen Sanqiu.

Ning Yao scanned the battlefield. The situation seemed normal, just densely packed demonic armies on all sides.

Ning Yao frowned. Just as she was about to remind Fan Dache to retreat first, and then have Diezhang and Dong Huafu cover his rear, preventing him from being surrounded by the army. As for herself, she could retreat slowly with Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo. Chen Sanqiu had a mage robe and life-saving talismans, and Yan Zhuo was naturally good at self-preservation. These two friends might not be as fast at killing enemies as Diezhang and Dong Heitan, but they struck an excellent balance between killing and self-preservation.

But before Ning Yao could speak through mental communication, she was slightly surprised to see Fan Dache already flying away on his sword, retreating north without a word.

Ning Yao was puzzled. When had Fan Dache become so perceptive?

Not only that, but a young man who was “swaying” as he flew over on his sword, had repeatedly and narrowly dodged the magic weapons and spiritual tools of the demonic army. Finally, the person grabbed Fan Dache’s shoulder, grinning and shouting “Go!” He swung his arm with force and kicked the hilt of the cloud-patterned sword, sending Fan Dache flying a hundred feet away.

The Golden Core swordsman Fan Dache, making a rather undignified exit, flew his sword extremely quickly, without hesitation, not caring about anything, just running for his life.

There were two reasons: the long-lost “Dache ah”, and the concise words of the newcomer, “Still not running? Want to offer your head?”
At the same time, in the mind of every sword cultivator, a very familiar voice resounded, speaking with extreme haste, “Withdraw in order! Ning Yao and I will hold the rear. Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo will provide support from the center. Diezhang and Dong Heitan will be responsible for clearing the path behind Fan Dache. Maintain a gap of about a hundred zhang between each of our three groups—not too long, not too short. The enemy has many ambushes. I’ve only spotted two for now: Diezhang, to your northeast, thirty zhang out; Fan Dache, to your southwest, approximately one hundred and twenty zhang out. Be vigilant. The enemies are all sword cultivators, at least at the Golden Core stage, most likely Nascent Soul. There might even be Jade Purity Realm Sword Immortals, so be careful.”

“Especially be wary of the enemy sword cultivators targeting Dache first, trying to encircle him and draw us into a rescue mission. Dache, please make your sword movements more… enticing. If you keep flying straight like that, you’ll crash right into their suspended flying swords, won’t you?”

“Sanqiu, Fatty Yan, be prepared to use your trump cards—your life-saving treasures. The enemy’s ambush is intended to kill you, and they won’t let us retreat easily. Their assassins are all demon race sword cultivators. Remember to protect Fan Dache at the same time.”

The usual incessant, nagging words.

Chen Ping’an could only arrange the formations as quickly as possible. There was no need to say more about other guesses.

There would inevitably be two to three Nascent Soul Realm sword cultivator assassins, hiding themselves extremely well, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Perhaps there would even be a Jade Purity Realm Sword Immortal from the demon race, hiding even deeper, emulating Sword Immortal Lie Ji, completely disregarding their life, only seeking to deliver a single strike.

The reason was simple enough. Among this group of sword cultivators, everyone except Fan Dache, who had just reached the Golden Core stage, was on the Barbarian World’s hit list.

Ning Yao, Chen Sanqiu, Dong Huafu, Diezhang, Yan Zhuo.

All of them were the best of the best in the current generation of Sword Qi Great Wall.

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow, seemingly annoyed by the man’s constant chatter, but in reality, her eyes, the most beautiful in the world, were filled with a faint joy, happiness, and pride.

Like the ripples on a lake gently disturbed by the spring breeze.

Beside Ning Yao, a slender “young man” hovered on his sword.

She and he were no longer merely Ning Yao of the Sword Qi Great Wall and Chen Ping’an of the Vast World.

They were also sword cultivators, together on the battlefield.

The beginning is always the hardest, and this fellow beside her likes to overthink things, making doing anything even harder than starting.

But once he gets started, there’s no need to worry about him anymore.

Like liking her.

Or practicing his fist techniques.

Or becoming a sword cultivator, and then becoming a great sword immortal.

Ning Yao asked in a mental voice, “Natal sword?”

Chen Ping’an replied with a smile, “Two.”

Ning Yao said nothing more.

See?

Chen Ping’an naturally wouldn’t know what Ning Yao was thinking, nor did he have time to guess.

What worried him the most was that the enemy assassins chose to remain hidden, continuing to conceal their tracks.

The battle line that Ning Yao and the others were responsible for, the city wall side, not only had no subsequent sword cultivators to replace them, but also needed to kill the most enemies, breach the formation the fastest, and break through the army’s formation as soon as possible to approach the golden river, for them to be considered successful.

Once the enemy and allied forces were evenly matched, Fan Dache, who had only recently reached the Golden Core stage, would be the best point of attack.

If he were to simply order Fan Dache to leave the battlefield and watch from the sidelines, it would be unreasonable and difficult to explain.

Regardless, Chen Ping’an was sure that his appearance might have killed one unexpected element, but it might also bring an even greater one that was gathering momentum.

This was like the two plans of Xuan Can and Xu Ning. Before the truth came out, no one really knew which choice was better.

The most helpless thing was that once Xu Ning’s plan was implemented by the Hidden Official lineage, it might not necessarily be better than Xuan Can’s outcome, but Chen Ping’an didn’t want to say those harsh words at the time. Chou Miao was inconvenient to say it, and Lin Junbi didn’t dare to say it.

Compared to heavenly calculations, human calculations, no matter how hard you try to calculate everything, still give people a feeling of insignificance and powerlessness.

This was the biggest feeling in Chen Ping’an’s heart after he became the Hidden Official.

The group fought and retreated.

Diezhang and Dong Huafu tried their best to protect Fan Dache as they retreated from the battlefield. With Ning Yao and Chen Ping’an at the rear, Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo had no worries and focused on killing demons.

Ning Yao didn’t release her flying sword, she just used her sword in hand, still giving people the illusion that the essence of swordsmanship in the world was nothing more than horizontal and vertical strokes.

With one strike after another, Ning Yao, compared to her previous calm and composure, now moved with extreme speed, her sword energy surging, instantly dismembering a large group of enemies.

As a result, Chen Ping’an, who was controlling his sword and following Ning Yao, had nothing to do for a while and simply paid more attention to the clues on the battlefield.

In addition to the two assassin sword cultivators who had previously revealed themselves, Chen Ping’an had also found another demon race sword cultivator with Golden Core aura, because he was inadvertently swept by Ning Yao’s sword energy. Only this cultivator dodged slightly faster, making an imperceptible pause, and even deliberately suffered some injuries in order not to reveal his identity, allowing a large piece of flesh to be swept off his shoulder by the sword energy.

Ning Yao struck quickly, and sometimes even seemed aimless, obviously doing it on purpose, just so that Chen Ping’an could see more of the details.

As Ning Yao went from being the group of sword cultivators that broke through the fastest and was closest to the golden river, she unknowingly turned into the group of sword cultivators that was closest to the city wall.

Chen Sanqiu and the others didn’t care about this at all.

Anyway, no one would fight over the demon race army on this line.

Moreover, no one thought that they would be slower at breaking through the formation than the sword cultivators on other battle lines.

Because there was Ning Yao, and now there was also a Chen Ping’an.

Everyone felt that this was the most natural thing.

After temporarily moving away from the crisis-ridden accident, Fan Dache hesitated to speak.

Chen Sanqiu said softly, “It’s okay, don’t feel ashamed.”

Diezhang and the others also thought that Fan Dache was planning to return to the city wall first.

But Fan Dache said, “My realm is the lowest, and my skills are the worst, so let me be the bait. It’s better to be wary than to be missed. Instead of everyone being distracted all the time, it’s better to take the initiative to break the situation.”

Chen Ping’an was a little surprised.

Fan Dache looked at Chen Ping’an, “Sword Formation Protector, what do you say?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a while and nodded with a smile, “Okay.”

Chen Ping’an looked at the front of the battlefield. An extremely strange scene appeared on the battlefield. The demon race army gathered on a line, a hundred zhang away from this group of young sword cultivators from the Sword Qi Great Wall, and each of them refused to rush forward.

Chen Ping’an said, “I’ll hold the rear. You just go ahead and unleash your swords.”
Then, Chen Ping’an turned to Ning Yao, who nodded in agreement, “Very well.”

Ning Yao’s longsword returned to its sheath within the sword box on her back. However, that blade of a Sword Immortal, the one imbued with her very Dao, was drawn and held firmly in her grasp. “I shall open the formation.”

Die Zhang and Dong Huafu exchanged a glance, and chuckled, “Understood.”

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo were practically vibrating with anticipation.

The reasoning was quite simple. They had a grasp of the experience Fan Dache had when fighting alongside them.

And Chen Sanqiu and the others, after all these years of fighting beside Ning Yao, knew that feeling even more keenly.

Because Ning Yao had been constantly accommodating, watching over these “geniuses,” restricting her swordplay for far too long.

Finally, Ning Yao added a final note, “The formation will open at a furious pace. Do not fall behind.”

(End of Chapter)