Li Zhen’s brow unfurrowed, a minor mishap, nothing that would derail the overall situation.

Li Zhen was the first to emerge from the lightning pool, its array powered by eighteen treasured objects from the mountains. The manifested sword intent, the “Gazing Reflection,” followed closely behind, and then the rest of the black-clad immortals.

Li Zhen turned his head and said, “A clever illusion of a detached spirit! Consider this lightning pool, with its Heavenly and Earthly tribulations, a gift.”

The cost was significant. The eighteen treasures, the eighteen array nodes, would have their quality diminished by the Heavenly and Earthly tribulations. Among them, the two semi-immortal artifacts, the Five Thunder Seal and the imitation White Jade Pagoda, would not be completely destroyed, but their “realm” would fall, reduced to mere magical implements.

However, he was Li Zhen, the reclusive disciple of an ancestor. Such a price was entirely bearable.

It was just that one small surprise followed another. First, this man replaced Ning Yao in leaving the city walls, then he never engaged in close combat, wasting that deadly sword-intent cage. Now, he had even deceived Li Zhen, leaving behind only a detached spirit to bear the brunt of the lightning pool’s tribulations, powerful enough to severely injure a Jade Purity Realm swordsman. This displeased Li Zhen.

Only twelve years old, arrogant in speech and manner, with no one in his eyes, rambling on and on, standing still atop a demon’s head, offering to take a single blow.

This man had refused to take the bait.

Any young swordsman from the Great Wall of Sword Qi, each ignorant and impudent, save for Ning Yao, would have died a meaningless death.

Li Zhen couldn’t help but turn his head again.

After Li Zhen revealed the deception, the azure-robed man ceased his pretense. He levitated from the ground, his sleeves fluttering. He slightly distanced himself from the Earthly Tribulation, and with a flick of his wrist, he tapped a closed jade bamboo folding fan against his palm. A ripple spread through his attire, and the azure robe vanished, replaced by a snow-white gown. The man met Li Zhen’s gaze and smiled, “After such a grand display, you only managed to trap my insignificant detached spirit. Are you feeling the sting? Are you leaving already? Not staying in the lightning pool, watching my annihilation? Not worried that the Heavenly Tribulation won’t kill me, and your efforts will be in vain?”

The man held the fan in one hand, then raised the other, revealing a fragment of a cyan-colored talisman, like a smear of blue mud clinging to his palm.

A single talisman, exchanged for the degradation and damage of so many of Li Zhen’s semi-immortal artifacts and treasures.

The key was that it allowed his true body to escape certain death.

Many of the sword immortals on the city walls breathed a sigh of relief.

A glorious death was still death, after all.

Li Zhen laughed, “A detached spirit is still a detached spirit. It’s no true illusion. Once gone, it’s gone. Your cultivation level seems low. Besides, under thirty, how could you surpass Ning Yao and Pang Yuanji? Even with some supreme treasure, even if you could use some strange power to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation for a moment, it would still be death. Perhaps you would even bestow a fortune upon me. If others gave it to me, I might not accept it, but to seize it from you, even a piece of broken junk, I would find it meaningful.”

Li Zhen gradually moved away from the lightning pool, turning his head as he walked, and said, “Although I don’t know your origin, or when the Great Wall of Sword Qi produced such an interesting fellow, I do know I’ve heard so much about Ning Yao of the Great Wall of Sword Qi that it’s grating on my ears. You took the initiative to return the favor for Chen Qingdu, Ning Yao didn’t stop you, Chen Qingdu even dared to place a heavy bet. From that moment on, I knew you had to die. What does a little cost matter? Perhaps killing you is no less significant than killing Ning Yao.”

Li Zhen pointed towards the towering Great Wall of Sword Qi, “The cost? From now on, the entire city wall will be my place of cultivation.”

Li Zhen looked at the young man in white, waving his hand, “Farewell.”

The detached spirit dissipated, leaving the soul incomplete. For a cultivator, this was a condition even immortals could not cure, and his combat strength would be greatly diminished.

The detached spirit smiled slightly, flicked his sleeves, and talismans flowed like clouds and water, blanketing the sky and covering the earth. The talismans previously thrown out had been crushed by Li Zhen’s treasures. It didn’t matter; he had plenty of talismans.

Five Elements Talismans, Lightning Talismans, Snow Mud Talismans, the Yang Qi Lamp-Lighting Talismans from the “True Records of the Alchemist,” the Ferrying Talismans taught by Qi Jinglong, the Mountain-Searching Talismans taught by his student Cui Dongshan, no less than twenty types.

Previously, the talismans could not form an array, which was a regret. But they could still use the residual spiritual energy of the talisman cores to observe the subtle flows of qi in the Heavenly and Earthly tribulations.

Li Zhen suddenly stopped and asked, “Was that earlier display of yours, seemingly embracing death, a deliberate ploy to lure me into deploying this array early?”

The white-robed detached spirit smiled, “Guess.”

Li Zhen kindly reminded him, “Enjoy the Heavenly and Earthly tribulations. And don’t forget, the eighteen Nascent Soul sword immortal puppets guarding the treasures will be idle once the tribulations begin. Each strike of their swords will be equivalent to the full power of an Earth Immortal swordsman.”

Li Zhen looked in one direction, “Is it time to reveal your true form?”

Li Zhen had played a small trick on the head of the Yue family swordsman. Now that the strange talisman that concealed his aura was gone, hiding there was pointless.

Where Li Zhen’s gaze fell, ripples spread like water, and a blue-robed man with rolled-up sleeves walked out, two sword immortal flying swords forged in the style of Hate Sword Mountain from the Northern Continent, Pine Needle and Cough Thunder, whirling around him.

The two flying swords flashed and disappeared.

Li Zhen said nothing more. Two black-clad immortals formed from sword intent darted out from behind him, their sword light like rainbows.

Chen Ping’an stepped on the ground, vanishing from the spot, dodging the two sword lights. Two more black-clad immortals appeared, one holding a sword and standing before Li Zhen, the other disappearing without a trace.

Only the tall “Gazing Reflection,” the most solid manifestation of sword intent, almost a real person, remained behind Li Zhen.

A swordsman with a low cultivation level, yet also a pure martial artist with a not-so-low cultivation level?

Just what kind of person was this?

The displeasure in Li Zhen’s heart lessened slightly.

The great demon Chongguang bowed his head, standing behind the gray-robed old man, hesitant to speak.

The gray-robed old man smiled, “Within the wild lands, we are all family. It’s fine for Li Zhen to suffer a small loss. It’s too early to speak of victory or defeat.”

Only after suffering would he know to focus on practicing his sword, to no longer internally reject his identity as a “Gazing Reflection.”

The great demon Chongguang flattered him with a smile, but was instantly horrified.

Wasn’t Li Zhen supposed to win for certain?

The gray-robed old man said, “He won’t lose.”

The great demon Chongguang was dripping with sweat.

The gray-robed old man smiled, “Being this close, standing here for so long, you’ve gained quite a bit of the Dao aura. Consider it compensation for those two little skirmishes earlier.”
The great demon Chong Guang bowed and retreated, quietly departing.

Upon the city walls, no one dared to unleash a sword strike upon the tribulation cloud sea in the sky.

Every sword cultivator under the age of thirty within the Great Wall of Sword Qi was, without exception, a prodigy amongst prodigies. This was a rare golden age that had occurred only a few times in the millennia-long history of the Great Wall.

The last time such a generation appeared was during the most brutal war the Great Wall had ever faced, so much so that only Chen Qingdu remained to defend the city.

But this time, for the past three or four decades, the Great Wall of Sword Qi had taken exceptional care of these youngsters. The cost, of course, was the lives of many Earth Immortal sword masters who died protecting them.

Pang Yuanji said, “If it were me, facing the descent of the Five Thunders from the heavens and the murderous intent rising from the earth, I definitely couldn’t evade it. I’d have to take it head-on and die.”

Gao Youqing, High Lord Gao’s sister, softly said, “I would probably die even faster, slain by that sword formation.”

Dong Huafu remarked, “That little beast is a closed-door disciple of the Lord of Mount Tuoyue. Aside from Sister Ning, it’s normal for any of us to lose. Don’t overthink it. Look at us, who can casually produce so many half-immortal weapons and treasures? So, according to Chen Ping’an’s logic, when dealing with someone rich, powerful, and well-connected, we shouldn’t ‘charge in alone to deliver ourselves as fodder.’ Instead, we should ‘make them come and fight a whole group of us.’ Then we can all split the loot and become filthy rich.”

Pang Yuanji said, “That’s the theory, but we also have to acknowledge that the little beast’s ability to control so many treasures at once is something that ordinary people can’t do. It’s fortunate that it was Chen Ping’an who faced him in a one-on-one duel, otherwise those big and small traps would have been immediately effective. We need to be especially careful of this kind of person on the battlefield in the future.”

A young sword cultivator, whose relationship with Ning Yao, Chen Sanqiu, and the Diezhang Wine Shop wasn’t particularly amicable, spoke a fair word: “When it comes to being ruthless and underhanded, that little beast picked the wrong person.”

Ning Yao looked up at the cloud sea tribulation, silently.

If it were her, blocking it wouldn’t be difficult, but the far-reaching consequences would be troublesome.

Chen Qingdu smiled, “Ning丫头, if it were you fighting, there wouldn’t have been a bet in the first place. And since I brought Chen Ping’an to the city walls, there’s no ‘what if’.”

Chen Qingdu recalled a rare memory, “Wu Chengpei once questioned A Liang, asking who in the world absolutely cannot die, and whether it had anything to do with their surname or family.”

“A Liang was stumped. Those kinds of questions are the most troublesome to answer. So, later on, he had to make a trip to Mount Tuoyue and Yiluo River.”

Chen Qingdu chuckled and turned to look at Ning Yao, “Of course I value you and Chen Ping’an, but I don’t necessarily think you’re undying. To put it bluntly, it’s a bit complicated. Ning丫头, do you understand what I mean?”

Ning Yao nodded, “I understand. But I’m very unhappy, not for myself, but for Chen Ping’an.”

Zuo You coldly said, “You can count me as another unhappy person.”

Chen Qingdu’s smile deepened. Talking to Ning丫头 was so easy, and Zuo You’s straightforwardness was also good. “That’s good. It’s better than being indifferent to everything. Being unhappy is good, otherwise Zuo You would just be a cautionary tale, constantly caught in a loop of questioning what to practice swordsmanship for, why practice swordsmanship, and what the meaning of life and death is. It’s only today that he’s finally starting to resemble a true sword cultivator.”

Chen Qingdu ignored him, muttering to himself, “A true sword cultivator.”

A true sword cultivator would unsheathe their sword for the sake of humanity, forgetting life and death, transcending life and death.

This matter, which becomes increasingly difficult to achieve the more one thinks about it, is also a small thing that can be done unintentionally.

And in reality, it’s a strange phenomenon where many middle-fifth realm sword cultivators can achieve it, while upper-fifth realm sword immortals find it increasingly impossible.

The human world is becoming less and less beautiful, causing discouragement and unwillingness. When the human world becomes more and more beautiful, people become unwilling to give up what they have. If their swordsmanship is not high enough, they have no choice but to die for themselves or others. If their swordsmanship is high enough, they can find a thousand reasons not to die, which is also human nature. One cannot demand perfection.

The human heart is truly the most interesting prison that the gods created in the past.

As for the other prison, it’s humanity’s perception of the passage of time. Ancient sages separated heaven and earth, and future generations received invisible protection, only able to watch the scenery from the shore, which always falls short. Therefore, before someone truly attains the Dao, even those in the Ascended Realm, will inevitably have a sense of the emptiness of life. This is a tremendous problem that the three religions, and the hundred schools of thought, have been tirelessly trying to find a final solution to for ten thousand years.

Immortal realm cultivators seek truth, Confucianists use their righteous aura to settle the human heart, Buddhists break free from attachment to the self, and Daoists return to simplicity, all putting in great effort in this matter.

Everyone is working hard to survive, and everyone is quietly seeking death. What a contradiction. Therefore, it is necessary to pursue a life where one’s form is like the scenery under the sun, and one’s heart is like the moon in the sky, observing everything with clarity and brightness.

Chen Qingdu said something strange to Ning Yao, “Regardless of the outcome, don’t think that Chen Ping’an will lose too much in this battle.”

Ning Yao remained silent.

Chen Qingdu smiled, “I didn’t beg Chen Ping’an to leave the city walls to return the favor.”

On the battlefield, dust flew everywhere.

Three illusory black-clad immortals unsheathed their swords, each standing in one direction, surrounding Chen Ping’an. Their sword light was dazzling, their momentum like thunder, with no discernible pattern. They simply bombarded Chen Ping’an with a barrage of attacks.

One of the black-clad immortals, struck by a fist at close range, had his form shattered, but soon his sword intent reformed. The sword intent-condensed being was only slightly dimmer, and his sword strikes remained as swift and powerful as before.

Another immortal was struck by his own sword light, then continued to revive as if from the dead.

In the other battlefield, where the strength disparity was vast, the cloud sea containing the Five Thunders Rectification Law hung low, and the earth was being drawn upwards by the thunder pool, clearly intending to connect heaven and earth and crush the white-clad yin spirit within.

The third black-clad immortal, who had been hidden in the shadows, revealed himself and stood firm. Unknowingly, they were now positioned in the four cardinal directions.

In an instant, the earth behind the four black-clad immortals trembled, and statues rose from the ground, erecting four celestial king dharma forms. They were like the most lifelike painted statues in the world, and when the four sword immortals simultaneously performed sword incantations, the four celestial king dharma forms opened their eyes simultaneously, revealing their furious gazes.

One of the statues, gorgeous and resplendent, radiated golden light all over, wearing a five-Buddha crown and golden armor, adorned with jewels and necklaces, and holding a treasure banner in his right hand.

Another statue, a golden man, wore crimson-purple armor, his face showing an angry expression, holding a spear in his right hand, with the spear tip touching the ground, and holding a treasure mirror in his left hand, reflecting the earth.
A Celestial King Dharma Body, adorned in celestial garments, held a blade in its lowered left arm, a treasure resting in its palm.

The last divine statue was entwined with a dragon, its right hand gripping a crimson rope, said to be capable of subduing all dragon kings.

Li Zhen, with the focus of a dual mind, observed both the true form of his opponent within the array and the white-robed Yin Spirit amidst the dual heavenly tribulation.

Each of the four Celestial King Dharma Bodies brandished their treasures, using their divine radiance to re-envelop the area, forming a miniature world. After forming the array, the four black-clothed sword immortals dispersed, transforming into strands of pure sword intent.

Chen Ping’an unleashed a fist, the “Cloud-Steaming Marsh” stance, shaking the firmament of the miniature world, temporarily halting its descent and suppression of the earth with heavenly might.

Simultaneously, the flying sword “First Day” shot out from his natal aperture, attempting to eradicate the approaching sword intent.

Li Zhen smirked, realizing his opponent had quite a few tricks up his sleeve, only now being forced to unveil his defenses.

Li Zhen’s thoughts stirred, and the “Contemplator” behind him stepped forward, a true guardian deity, shielding Li Zhen.

A streak of lightning-fast, emerald sword light pierced through the Contemplator’s body at an unimaginable speed, then trembled, its tip a mere foot away from Li Zhen’s brow.

Li Zhen retreated a step. The Contemplator’s ethereal form solidified, poised to imprison the insidious flying sword with two fingers.

Unexpectedly, the emerald flying sword, failing its initial strike, vanished in retreat.

A mortal is physically weak. Even with a mountain treasure, they cannot control it and will suffer misfortune.

Similarly, not all Earth Immortals can fully control a Half-Immortal weapon.

As for gaining recognition as its master, that is even more difficult than ascending to heaven.

Yet, Li Zhen now possessed Immortal weapons, and two at that.

Li Zhen raised a palm, bearing the ancestral symbol of all Five Peaks True Form Charts, the “Three Mountains Talisman”.

Once unleashed, the cost would be so great that even Li Zhen would cry out in agony. He would willingly use it against Ning Yao, but was reluctant to against the young man before him.

Thus, Li Zhen clenched the hand into a fist, revealing the other hand, its palm holding a slowly rotating sword pellet. It was once his, or rather the Contemplator’s, natal flying sword. Shattered and broken in the Battle of Mount Tuoyue, it was gradually restored to its peak by Mount Tuoyue over ten thousand years at a great cost. Historically, during every siege warfare, there would be dedicated demon cultivators responsible for extracting the ‘Contemplation’ sword intent of the Sword Qi Great Wall via ancient secret methods, secretly sending it to Mount Tuoyue. One of the Mount Tuoyue direct lineage demon cultivators was personally taking risks, trying to steal more sword intent, which was why Dong Sangeng and Chen Xi were able to trap him.

Capturing a Ascended Realm demon alive was far more complex than killing it.

As Li Zhen opened his palm, the sword pellet merely trembled slightly, yet the heavens around Li Zhen began to distort. Even the Sword Immortal Contemplator, a being of condensed sword intent, turned its head, revealing a complex emotion in its eyes, resembling that of a human.

Li Zhen raised his head, clenched his fist again, and smiled at the “Contemplator”, “This is mine, not yours.”

The Contemplator lightly waved its sword, deflecting a sudden surge of emerald sword light.

Li Zhen ignored the elusive flying sword and strode forward, passing through the Contemplator’s ethereal form to continue observing the battle.

The young man was incredibly resilient. A spear from a Celestial King Dharma Body struck down, yet he directly blocked it with his arm, the impact driving him to sink his legs into the ground.

On the city walls, the young talents of the Sword Qi Great Wall continued to converse through mental communication.

Dong Budde smiled, “Another one-sided exchange where Chen Ping’an is powerless to retaliate. A total rout, a total rout.”

Guo Zhujiu nodded vigorously, “That little brat is truly formidable, capable of calling Qi Shou a brother. In the future, should they meet on the battlefield, they can pour out their hearts before engaging in combat.”

Chen Sanqiu smiled wryly.

In truth, these seemingly lighthearted jests were only masking the tight tension in everyone’s hearts.

Even the fearless Green Tip girl was covered in sweat, her heart clenched with worry.

As the clouds lowered and the earth rose, before the heavens and earth fully connected, the entire thunder pool on the ground drew in the clouds, and five thunders struck the earth. More and more thunderbolt whips appeared between the heavens and earth. Before they landed, they split into countless tiny, chaotic electric serpents imbued with the true essence of thunder magic. The white-robed Yin Spirit, trapped within, could only dodge, evading both the crashing thunder pillars and the wildly spreading electric light.

But once the heavens and earth connected, and the dual tribulations overlapped,

There would be nowhere to hide.

Li Zhen smiled at the four Dharma Bodies, “No need to rush. Let this pure martial artist, who once possessed high martial attainments, slowly turn into a withered skeleton, tasting the flavor of a mortal becoming a god.”

After saying this, Li Zhen looked up at Ning Yao, hearing from his Mount Tuoyue Senior Sister that the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall were most vulnerable to this tactic.

The young man, with his Yin Spirit and true form trapped on separate battlefields, was perhaps one of the few exceptions.

However, Ning Yao did not glance at Li Zhen, only gazing at the rapidly descending cloud sea.

Ning Yao did not care about Li Zhen’s provocations.

Far from the city walls, a flying sword continued to streak towards Li Zhen, like a sword cultivator issuing a challenge.

This time, it was not just the emerald sword light, but three swords arriving simultaneously.

The first was the pine needle, as thin as a thread.

The Contemplator struck out with its sword, but the flying sword abruptly changed its trajectory, disappearing without a trace, leaving only a groove of uniform depth on the ground.

The Contemplator twisted its wrist and struck again with its sword, targeting the impressive “Coughing Thunder.” It still retreated without a fight, only affected by the sword qi of the Contemplator’s attack. As it retreated, its tip became crooked.

Li Zhen found it amusing.

So, these were two embroidered pillows, all for show? In ordinary battlefields, they could indeed intimidate others and change the situation in many life-or-death scenarios.

Only the flying sword “Fifteenth,” truly containing killing intent, pierced through the air from a distance to the side, drawing an arc as it swiftly darted towards the back of Li Zhen’s head.

The Contemplator, now hampered by Li Zhen’s realm and thoughts, unable to fully rely on its instincts to strike, and no longer at its peak strength, could not strike out in time, and simply grabbed the flying sword with its hand.

Li Zhen did not care about such assassination attempts at all.

Even taking a sword strike was nothing.

Especially with the Contemplator hindering the flying sword.
Li Zhen’s sole concern now was to ascertain the true identity of that young man. Was it truly his entire being, or merely an exterior manifestation of his Yang Spirit?

If his true form still lurked somewhere unknown, biding its time, it would be another minor incident, inconsequential to the grand scheme, yet embarrassing for Li Zhen.

After all, this opponent seemed so different from the straightforward sword cultivators.

He was more like the type who schemes on the city walls, plotting and maneuvering.

Li Zhen pondered. Waiting for the dust to settle on both battlefields was wise, but remaining idle felt wrong.

Thus, he summoned his innate flying sword, renowned for its Heaven-bestowed power, and soared into the sky. It blazed a trail of snowy light, transforming into a radiant moon amidst the desolate world, vying for glory with the great sun.

The full moon hung in the void, its moonlight cascading down like water, illuminating the battlefield for hundreds of miles. The threads of archaic Sword Immortal intent, bathed in moonlight, were mostly stilled.

The Thunder Pool was a miniature world, built upon treasures and his self-proclaimed mastery of rudimentary talisman arrays.

The four black-clad immortals were both a deception and not. Once their Dharma bodies stood erect, they formed another miniature world.

When Li Zhen’s innate flying sword was unleashed, it created the third.

Li Zhen focused his gaze. The moonlight that showered the earth carried the essence of flowing time. As his thoughts solidified, the third miniature world, encompassing over a hundred yards beneath the earth, came to a standstill, separate from the first two cages.

Events proved that the young man possessed no hidden means to conceal his true self elsewhere.

However, the three swords, both real and illusory, finally displayed some sense, ceasing their relentless pursuit of Li Zhen. They merely flitted in the distance, like headless flies, particularly the two imitations, which tottered precariously, a comical sight.

Within the miniature world, aside from the Sword Immortal intents, seemingly unbound by the Heavenly Dao, whose flow was merely slowed, countless other sword energies were reduced to dust by the flowing moonlight.

Li Zhen felt a mix of relief, for the absence of further surprises, and disappointment.

He observed that the flying sword in his hand had already escaped. Its sharpness was remarkable.

However, Guan Zhao, too, remained unharmed. That faint emerald sword light, repeatedly failing in its attacks, would ultimately be unable to escape the fate of its master’s demise, its innate sword shattering with his death.

Both it and its pitiful master were merely struggling in their death throes.

The first miniature world, the Thunder Pool, had already merged with the heavens, with countless sword energies erupting like a tidal wave of flying swords unleashed by Sword Immortals, surging in all directions above the earth and below the city walls.

A mere Yin Spirit…

Within the second miniature world, guarded by the Four Heavenly Kings, the young man, relying more on his sheer martial prowess, continued to strike with his fists. His hands and shoulders were already stripped bare to the bone. Li Zhen’s claim that he would turn him into a skeleton was clearly no idle boast.

Inside the second miniature world, Chen Ping An, covered in blood, continued to strike relentlessly, using the Divine Mortar Pestle stance to attack the barrier of the miniature world at a single point.

His fists were bone.

Between each strike, Flying Sword First would add a sword thrust at the point of impact.

Flying Sword Fifteenth, situated in the third miniature world, abruptly turned its point as if to meet Flying Sword First, blade to blade.

As the two blades met, a crack appeared in the barrier of the heavens.

With a final Divine Mortar Pestle strike, at the cost of a broken arm, the green-robed figure shattered the heavens. In a blinding display of resplendent light, he charged in a straight line toward the most favored son of the desolate world, Li Zhen.

However, breaking through one miniature world to plunge into the next should have slowed his progress, especially given his grievous injuries.

Yet, his peak martial intent flowed like a cascading waterfall, as if a lofty deity had descended upon him, making Chen Ping An move as swift as lightning. He traversed tens of miles in an instant. His golden fist intent collided with the moonlight created by Li Zhen’s innate flying sword, shattering the latter directly.

On the city walls, Ning Yao’s eyes shone brightly. Her gaze was fixed upon the purely martial Chen Ping An, still clad in green robes, though without his white jade hairpin. She resisted the urge to look at the merging thunder pool tribulation in the skies above.

Li Zhen ceased his empty-handed posture, lightly clenching one fist. His entire arm began to separate from his flesh, his bones shattering.

He never expected to resort to such a desperate measure, employing a Celestial Soldier Talisman.

Li Zhen’s entire arm vanished, his face paling. However, where his fist had been, an ancient, time-worn talisman appeared, suspended in the air.

The young man, his arm limp, flicked his sleeve with his left hand, revealing a golden robe, and continued his charge. Simultaneously, the robe donned itself.

The next moment, a mountain range of three connected peaks emerged from the earth.

The young man, who had changed from green robes to golden ones, was nowhere to be seen.

A golden streak flashed across the sky above the Sword Qi Great Wall.

It passed over the triple-peaked mountain range.

With a single stroke, it cleaved apart the miniature world constructed from the innate sword’s moonlight and the flowing river of time, heading straight for the top of Li Zhen’s head.

Li Zhen cast aside the sword pellet in his hand, instantly merging it into the brow of the Sword Immortal Guan Zhao.

Sword Immortal Guan Zhao’s ethereal form erupted in a flash of sword light, soaring to a height of dozens of yards, wielding a long sword to intercept the golden sword.

Li Zhen bled from all seven orifices, filled with utter hatred.

Why, of all things, must he drag him down with him!

Only Ning Yao should have been worthy of such a cost!

To control that Celestial Soldier Talisman, Li Zhen needed to sacrifice a soul and a spirit! And that sword pellet, after merging into Guan Zhao’s sword heart…

Li Zhen’s initial intention was to simply abandon Guan Zhao, worth the equivalent of two Celestial Weapons, and combine it with the Three Mountains Talisman to exchange lives with Ning Yao!

Otherwise, if his sword heart ever harbored any resistance to “Guan Zhao,” it would mean that he would never truly be able to control a puppet Guan Zhao, one who wielded a Celestial Weapon and was itself a Celestial Weapon, completely useless, and even detrimental to Li Zhen’s Dao Heart in this life. What nonsense about fighting alongside Chen Qingdu, never learning from the Dragon Lord, Guan Zhao! The oldest prisoner of the Sword Qi Great Wall should have died cleanly and thoroughly!

Li Zhen abruptly turned his head towards the heavens, where the two miniature worlds collided, staring intently.

It was a white jade hairpin, slowly falling.

Indeed, the white-robed Yin Spirit was nowhere to be found.

Above him, the Celestial Weapon sword, whose path had remained a concentrated golden light, collided with the longsword in Guan Zhao’s hand.
Apart from where Li Zhen stood, the surrounding earth instantly sank by tens of zhang.

Between the white jade hairpin and Li Zhen, two flying swords, Pine Needle and Cough Thunder, were coincidentally suspended in mid-air, merely posturing from beginning to end.

They formed a perfect straight line.

As the white jade hairpin fell, Chen Pingan appeared.

In a flash, Chen Pingan stepped onto the flying sword Pine Needle, and the next moment, he stood on Cough Thunder.

Before becoming a Wind-Riding realm martial artist, he needed a sword-escape method for survival.

Therefore, Cui Dongshan, Qi Jinglong, and Nalan Yexing, together, had researched this secret art for Chen Pingan.

They first refined the two flying swords, Pine Needle and Cough Thunder, into something akin to “talismans,” allowing them to serve as anchor points, like those in the River of Time, helping Chen Pingan instantly retreat from the battlefield by a hundred li, or even several hundred li.

But in the end, for a pure martial artist like Chen Pingan, a method of escape should still be used for a desperate, life-or-death kill!

Chen Pingan’s true body had always been integrated with his Yin Spirit, only making his opponent believe that his Yin Spirit had left its body and journeyed far away, retreating from the Thunder Pool.

He intentionally allowed the eighteen Mustard Seed Sword Immortals to heavily injure his “Yin Spirit” in the Cloud Sea Tribulation and Earth Thunder Pool, only at the very last moment did his true body and Yin Spirit hide together within the jade hairpin adorning the Yin Spirit’s head.

Otherwise, if he had hidden inside earlier, in a sliver of a moment, that temporarily masterless white jade hairpin might have fallen into the opponent’s hands.

As for Initial One and Fifteen, Pine Needle and Cough Thunder, a total of four flying swords, they were all left to the pure martial artist Chen Pingan’s Yang Spirit doppelganger, along with that Immortal artifact-grade robe, Golden Dew.

Both only sought to survive, and that was enough.

In just a few fleeting thoughts, not discussing realm or swordsmanship, just in terms of sheer calculation, even a Sword Immortal on the city walls couldn’t match Chen Pingan.

All for the sake of drawing his sword at this very moment.

Li Zhen looked up, his expression complex. He had exhausted all his means, so what else could he do? That worst-case scenario, that accidental accumulation of possibilities, seemed to have truly arrived.

Chen Pingan reached out and grabbed, silently uttering a word.

A sword slashed down, directly cleaving Li Zhen’s body in two on the spot.

Li Zhen only slightly turned his head.

Therefore, he managed to preserve a complete head.

The long sword in his hand was merely a condensed imitation of sword intent. Did they really think Chen Pingan was wasting time being taught swordsmanship again and again on the city walls?

It wasn’t that Sword Immortal still confronting Guanzhao.

Scholars observed the world, taking all things and transforming them for their own use.

After Chen Pingan landed, the sword intent of the long sword shattered. He stepped on the head, delivering a punch that restrained all the souls attempting to scatter and escape.

Li Zhen’s already fragmented remaining soul was grasped in the hand of a young sword cultivator whose name he didn’t even know, gently lifted, and enveloped by fist energy that faintly resonated with the sound of spring thunder.

Chen Pingan stomped on the head, crushing it. His five fingers hooked into the opponent’s soul, asking, “Little good-for-nothing, why aren’t you rambling now?”

Li Zhen’s soul didn’t struggle at all. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, about to speak, when Chen Pingan blasted him into fragments with his fist energy. “Did I ask you to say even a single word? Can you manage that?”

Between heaven and earth, only sword energy and gale winds blew against the young man’s temples and robe.

In the distance, the fourteen great demons on the horizon were mostly restless, ready to pounce.

However, the grey-robed old man raised his hand, preventing these apex beings of the barbaric world from attacking the young man. He stepped forward and smiled, “Little fellow, your state of mind is not bad.”

Not only that, the grey-robed old man waved his sleeve, dispersing Guanzhao, who had swallowed the Immortal sword pellet.

Not only that, the Three Mountains Talisman Great Mountain also vanished.

Chen Pingan also grasped the flying Sword Immortal, its tip pointing directly at the grey-robed old man. His actions couldn’t be more provocative, but he said, “You’re not allowed to bully the small, I’m the timidest person.”

The grey-robed old man smiled, “Know when to stop, return to your Sword Qi Great Wall.”

Chen Pingan carried the Sword Immortal and turned to leave.

Along the way, he gathered everything, not leaving behind even a blade of grass, even taking the head of the Ascension Realm great demon, storing it all in his portable space.

The white-robed Yin Spirit emerged from the white jade hairpin, and the mostly bone-covered Yang Spirit doppelganger, each converged with Chen Pingan, reuniting as one.

Chen Pingan suddenly stopped on the battlefield, raised his fist high, then slowly lowered it, smiled at Ning Yao, and gently tapped his chest, resulting in a mouthful of blood. He staggered, then was “dragged” by the Sword Immortal in his hand, with whom he shared an understanding, and flew up to the city walls.

During this time, one of the handsome great demons couldn’t help but want to slap the Sword-Nourishing Gourd again, releasing all the sword energy at once to kill the extremely irritating young man.

But after slapping it, the Sword-Nourishing Gourd didn’t react. Looking at the grey-robed old man, this great demon reluctantly withdrew his hand.

The grey-robed old man took a step forward, standing on the ground between the fourteen apex great demons and all the Sword Immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall, and extended a palm. “Chen Qingdu, according to the agreement, draw your sword.”

Chen Qingdu smiled and asked, “Putting on such airs, how about we negotiate, two swords?”

The grey-robed old man withdrew his hand, smiled, and didn’t bother to answer.

Chen Qingdu turned his head and beckoned to Chen Pingan, “I can’t let you work for nothing. Come over here, I’ll personally teach you a sword.”

Chen Pingan was pressed on the shoulder by Chen Qingdu’s hand.

Not only on the Sword Qi Great Wall side, but also as far as the apex great demons could see, there was no longer any trace of cloud sea.

Not only that, on the ground between the great demons and the city walls, even a grain of sand obediently stuck to the ground.

Above the Sword Qi Great Wall, behind Chen Qingdu and Chen Pingan, an old man in white robes suddenly appeared, sitting cross-legged on the city walls, reaching out a large hand, grasping a long sword, and simply stabbing down without any swordsmanship, heading directly towards the grey-robed old man’s head.

Once again, yellow sand billowed.

After a moment, the dust suddenly settled. The grey-robed old man was still standing on the battlefield, but he was suspended in the air, still with his hands behind his back, keeping his promise, and taking Chen Qingdu’s sword head-on.

Most of the fourteen apex great demons were somewhat unsettled.

Half of them turned their heads to look behind them.

The grey-robed old man turned and left.

He was the manifestation of the Great Dao of the barbaric world. Taking Chen Qingdu’s sword was nothing more than the barbaric world bearing Chen Qingdu’s sword, it didn’t matter at all.
In the primordial wilderness, a land barren since time immemorial, what could be salvaged from the shattered mountains and rivers after a single sword strike that cleaved through ten thousand leagues?

“After ten thousand years, Chen Qingdu’s swordsmanship has indeed improved.”

For a sliver of sword intent, defying the decree of the grey-robed elder, still landed mightily ten thousand leagues behind the great demon.

Chen Qingdu patted Chen Pingan’s shoulder. “Did you learn anything?”

Chen Pingan haphazardly wiped his face, smeared with blood from learning the sword. He didn’t answer the old sword immortal’s question, but asked, “That boy, is he not dead?”

Chen Qingdu smiled. “He was never alive to begin with, so how can he die? But if we’re only talking about the boy pieced together from fragments of souls, without the illumination, then he’s truly dead. With the boy’s death, the illumination dies even more. Let me tell you something discouraging: the true sword heart of Guanzhao, vastly different from that Dragon Lord, never truly strayed from the way of the sword. Therefore, the most crucial fragment of Guanzhao’s soul, hidden and guarded by Mount Tuoyue, was deliberately withheld from the boy. Otherwise, once the true heart of Guanzhao manifested, and the sword pellet was forged within it, returning Guanzhao to the Great Wall of Sword Qi would be a self-inflicted wound for the beasts of the wilderness.”

Chen Qingdu pointed to the tattered robe among the great demons. “As for this one, the former Dragon Lord, harbored the deepest hatred for the Azure World. He was the first to seek death among the sword immortals of the Great Wall of Sword Qi, not hesitating to draw his sword when I took him to Mount Tuoyue. After dying once, he felt no further debt to the Great Wall of Sword Qi and sought to question the sword arts of the Azure World as an exiled criminal sword cultivator. I understand, but I do not accept it. Therefore, he, the sword cultivator Dragon Lord, will never be allowed to pass the Great Wall of Sword Qi.”

Chen Qingdu expressed surprise. “You feel no guilt whatsoever towards the predecessor Guanzhao? That’s not like Chen Pingan.”

Chen Pingan said calmly, “Forget a boy whose mind wasn’t whole; even if the true Guanzhao stood before me and dared to speak those words, I would still cut him down.”

Chen Pingan turned to look south.

With the departure of the grey-robed elder, the fourteen great demons also withdrew, and the remaining demons retreated.

Chen Pingan closed his eyes. “Damn it, I’ve fallen in rank!” This fall cost him several realms. Fortunately, relying on his experiences traveling through the Northern Entirety Continent, he endured the trials of heaven and earth, managing to make up for it through advancements in the martial arts realm. As long as the Bridge of Longevity remained unbroken, and the four key natal objects were intact, even if he was now just a fifth-realm Qi refiner, losing a few ranks wasn’t fatal. As long as he could quickly nurture a true natal flying sword, based on the sword technique taught by the old sword immortal, it would be a blessing in disguise…

Ning Yao carried Chen Pingan on her back.

In the last moment before Chen Pingan completely lost consciousness, he faintly heard the sound of a horn.

The siege had begun.