Huang Luan’s suggestion to jointly tour the Sword Qi Great Wall was indeed tempting.

The sword formations of the Sword Qi Great Wall were too tightly interwoven, leaving almost no idle sword immortals.

Yang Zhi, standing on the railing, had even removed her illusion, revealing the imperial crown and the dragon robe, displaying the demeanor of a monarch.

However, Yang Zhi did not immediately attack, gazing at the young man on the city wall and asking Huang Luan, “The city wall’s sword immortal’s swordplay and formation changes are unpredictable and methodical. Is this his doing? On what grounds? Isn’t he just a wandering outsider to the Sword Qi Great Wall? When did the literary sage lineage of the Great Bright World become so influential? It’s said that Lu Zhi has always had a poor impression of scholars.”

Previously, during Chen Ping’an’s battle with Li Zhen, the direct descendant of the Great Ancestor of Mount Tuoyue, the mountain peak great demons of the Savage Desolate World had leisurely watched from the sidelines, observing everything. However, at that time, ancient existences like Yang Zhi still didn’t believe that these slightly larger ants could influence the war’s trajectory. In the collision between a world and the Sword Qi Great Wall, even upper five realms sword cultivators were not indispensable. The three sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall who had died previously had only stirred up some waves.

Once, a great demon who had attacked the city wall, returned severely wounded and eventually disappeared into the rolling river of time, leaving behind some heartfelt words before his demise.

Apart from Chen Qingdu, no one at the Sword Qi Great Wall was worth a damn. Apart from the gray-clad old man who stood tall and reached the heavens, no one in the Savage Desolate World was really worth anything either.

Sword immortals and great demons, in this matter, shouldn’t laugh at each other.

Knowing that Yang Zhi no longer intended to attack, Huang Luan nodded and smiled, “This kid is constantly courting death. I wonder how long he can keep hopping around.”

Huang Luan looked at Chen Ping’an standing next to Lu Zhi, “It seems this kid harbors quite a grudge against me. He probably blames me for sending him a welcoming gift during his fight with Li Zhen and is now venting his anger on me for the severe injuries of his senior brother. Such courtesy, not only is he ungrateful but also doesn’t know what’s good for him. Then, I’ll just say hello to him.”

With a slight thought from Huang Luan, an ancient palace with red walls and green tiles, filled with incense smoke, and a solitary mountain with a stone tablet inscribed with “Ancestor of Autumn Thoughts” standing on its peak, suddenly disappeared from the heavenly city. The mountain was covered with withered trees, white grass, red leaves, and yellow flowers, and the small hilltop was filled with a desolate and bleak atmosphere.

The palace flew towards the city wall where Lu Zhi and Chen Ping’an were standing, while the solitary mountain flew towards the two thatched huts.

The ancient palace was cleaved in two by Lu Zhi’s sword, crashing heavily onto the city wall beneath their feet and turning into dust.

Sword Immortal Wei Jin of the Wind and Snow Temple appeared beside the stone tablet on the summit of the small solitary mountain. The next moment, countless sword lights bloomed from the gaps between every blade of grass, tree, stone, and rock on the solitary mountain, then silently vanished into nothingness.

This person, who was the number one in Bao Ping Continent’s cultivation talent after Li Tuanjing of the Wind and Thunder Garden, was still a Jade Purity Realm sword cultivator when he first arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall. In just a few years, living in the small thatched hut, and having participated in only one siege battle, practicing swordsmanship with the eldest sword immortal and the left and right swordsmen, he had already shown signs of breaking through the bottleneck and ascending to immortality.

Yang Zhi greeted Huang Luan. Before leaving, she glanced at the young man a few more times, remembering him.

Unexpectedly, the young man not only didn’t know when to stop, but instead closed his folding fan and made a throat-slitting gesture, the movement slow, making it extremely conspicuous.

Huang Luan suppressed a laugh, finding it somewhat interesting. Yang Zhi was the former master of the Yiluo River and was also at the peak of the Ascension Realm. If she acted impulsively and was determined to compete with Chen Ping’an, it would definitely cause a great commotion, which Huang Luan would be happy to see. The losses would be Yang Zhi’s affiliated forces, but the war merits would be credited to Huang Luan. Every little bit counts. Moreover, after arriving in the Great Bright World, each of them would be staking out territory. Whoever had more direct troops, whoever was stronger, would be able to gain a foothold faster. It was about competing for territory and people, and ultimately gaining the favor of heaven. This matter was no small matter.

However, Huang Luan would not say anything inflammatory, as it would be counterproductive, making Yang Zhi more clear-headed and even causing her to resent him.

The Savage Desolate World had no rules, which was comfortable, but sometimes troublesome.

Yang Zhi smiled, “Huang Luan, if you can capture this kid and ultimately hand him over to me, in addition to compensating you for your efforts, I’ll offer you a sect-ranked mountain gate in the Great Bright World in exchange, plus the capital of a large dynasty, how about it?”

Huang Luan shook his head, “Before Chen Ping’an showed his face today, I would have definitely agreed to this deal. Now, the price is too low.”

Yang Zhi’s face turned gloomy.

Huang Luan didn’t even look at this female ruler of the Savage Desolate World.

Yang Zhi left on the wind, leaving behind only a single sentence that echoed near the railing where Huang Luan was sitting, “Don’t regret it. Remember, if you dare to touch any dynasty capital under any mountain in the future, you will be my enemy.”

Huang Luan rejected not only Chen Ping’an, but also the intention of alliance revealed by Yang Zhi.

Huang Luan didn’t care about Yang Zhi’s threat at all.

The torrent of magical treasures formed by tens of thousands of demon race cultivators was still incredibly magnificent.

But compared to the well-ordered waterfall of sword qi, the former seemed a little chaotic.

Almost all sword immortals had begun to abandon the pursuit of pleasure in their swordplay, no longer pursuing individual lethality, no longer exhibiting the unrestrained freedom of heaven and earth, but instead, almost every sword strike was filled with calculated utility. They considered how to break the formation while protecting their own middle five realms sword cultivators, how to cooperate with sword immortals far away to jointly destroy certain key treasures, and how to withdraw their swords from the formation while their flying swords stealthily went to the wings of the magical treasure torrent above the earth, reaping the heads of some earth immortal demon race cultivators.

Huang Luan naturally felt some heartache, but it wasn’t too overwhelming. The real headache, the urgent matter that needed to be resolved, was for the military camps on his side.

Regarding their fourteen’s actions, the gray-clad old man had privately established a small rule: if they were bored, they could take a walk near the city wall, but it was best not to exert all their strength, especially their innate abilities and trump cards, which were best saved for the Great Bright World.
Lu Zhi held the standard-issue longsword from the sword forge, unable to bear the impact of her sword intent colliding with the entire palace-observatory array. After retracting her sword, it instantly shattered and vanished. She and Chen Ping’an stood on the wall, and she turned her head to look at the young man fanning himself with a folding fan. “Does the Honorable Hermit Officer so desire death, or have you already decided not to venture out of the city to fight in the subsequent battles? I follow the orders of the Old Sword Immortal to guard this array, representing the entire Hermit Officer lineage of sword cultivators, not just Chen Ping’an. Think carefully, and don’t act rashly on impulse.”

There’s little to say about the nature of the great demons of the wild lands. Whether it was Chen Ping’an slaying Li Zhen earlier, or Zuo You passing on the sword and questioning all of them afterward, those beasts didn’t really feel anything wrong, because the wild lands never cared about right or wrong. But when it came to personal grudges, the higher the realm of the beast, the clearer they would remember. Therefore, Chen Ping’an’s actions were directly forging a death feud with two great demons.

Chen Ping’an lightly tapped his head with the folding fan, somewhat disappointed that the female great demon had managed to restrain herself.

Otherwise, Lu Zhi only needed to hinder the great demon Yangzhi for a moment, and three sword immortals, who had already received a flying sword message from the “Hermit Officer,” would strike: Yue Qing, Yuan Qingshu, and Wu Chengpei. They would each use their own means and divine powers to cut off its retreat. As for who would slay the great demon at that time, of course, it wouldn’t be a certain great sword immortal, but a vast multitude of sword immortals. Before ascending the city wall, Chen Ping’an had instructed Guo Zhujiu and Wang Xinshui that once a great demon approached the city wall, they should immediately send a flying sword message to all the local sword immortals and encircle and kill it.

Even though the current Sword Qi Great Wall seems to have sword immortals each performing their duties, interlocked, creating the magnificent situation where the Sword Qi Waterfall overpowers the torrent of magical treasures, once the Hermit Officer lineage sends out a flying sword message, dozens of sword immortals would instantly have to turn their sword tips. Even if it caused damage to the sword array, all sword immortals would have to obey orders.

Chen Ping’an smiled slightly, “A few more fleas won’t make me itch, and a few more debts won’t worry me, it’s good to get used to things. Huang Luan and Yangzhi, as long as one of them is impulsive, might become a pair of doomed lovebirds, not immortal companions, but something similar to such.”

There was one thing Chen Ping’an did not reveal. One of the “Hermit Officer” flying swords, the more concealed one, went directly to the Old Sword Immortal. Once a great demon approached, in addition to a large number of sword immortals drawing their swords, the Old Sword Immortal would also directly order Chen Xihe and Qi Tingji to kill them without fail. Under the eyes of the public, the sword immortals were already drawing their swords to intercept, and these two patriarchs who had inscribed their names on the wall would only be picking up the scraps. At that time, who would hold back? No one dared.

Besides determining that the Hermit Officer Xiao Xun was a traitor, Chen Ping’an actually didn’t trust these two old sword immortals with extremely high killing power. This originally seemed like a terrible thing.

But in fact, if he could trust them, he had trustworthy means. If he couldn’t trust them, he had arrangements for those he couldn’t trust.

If Yangzhi and Huang Luan thought that the current Sword Qi Great Wall was still the Sword Qi Great Wall of the past ten thousand years, and that they had the opportunity to make a round trip unharmed, they would have to pay the price.

It wasn’t that the Sword Qi Great Wall’s swordsmanship hadn’t been high enough in the past ten thousand years.

On the contrary, it was precisely because of the generosity and heroism of the sword immortals in the past ten thousand years that the Hermit Officer lineage of sword cultivators had earned the leeway to strategize today.

Lu Zhi shook her head and said, “You think too simply. Old beasts like Yangzhi, who have survived to that age and realm, aren’t stupid.”

“I thought too shallowly.”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “Fortunately, we didn’t lose anything.”

Lu Zhi waved her hand, “Honorable Hermit Officer, continue to be busy. I’ll guard this place.”

Lu Zhi felt that the newly appointed Honorable Hermit Officer was dedicated enough and had done even better than she had imagined. But if she were to speak of personal preferences, Lu Zhi’s impression of Chen Ping’an was just average.

The reason was simple, he wasn’t a sword immortal after all, not even a sword cultivator.

Chen Ping’an jumped off the wall and returned to the desk, sitting down and laughing, “It seems we troubled everyone for nothing. Since it didn’t work out, forget it. It was just betting on the off-chance.”

While Chen Ping’an buried himself in copying books, he took this opportunity to debrief all the sword cultivators of the Hermit Officer lineage, sharing more of his own insights with these “subordinates,” and slowly said, “The wild lands’ siege this time has entered the third stage. The great demon Bai Ying was responsible for the opening battle, which, in addition to changing the weather and terrain to a certain extent, was more about surveying and determining the details of the Sword Qi Great Wall’s defenses. Coupled with the secret flying sword messages from certain traitorous sword cultivators, the wild lands gained an advantage. This is actually a meticulous task that tests one’s skill and experience, which is very consistent with the historical image of the great demon Bai Ying. Among the fourteen great demons, Bai Ying has never liked to kill enemies by force. He plays the game of attacking the mind. So, if Bai Ying were in charge, I wouldn’t have shown my face at all.”

Chen Ping’an stopped writing, thought for a moment, and pointed with the closed folding fan on the table at a certain ruin of the five mountains on the scroll, “Then Yangzhi is responsible for guarding the five mountains on the battlefield. Compared to Bai Ying, who needs to communicate with the sixty military tents at all times, Yangzhi obviously doesn’t need too many on-the-spot changes. Those five mountains contain five great demons, whose purpose is to intercept our immortal realm sword cultivators. It has little to do with Yangzhi himself. It’s a strategy that the beasts decided long ago. After that, it’s the great demon Huang Luan. It’s obvious that Yangzhi is the most straightforward. Even the infighting between Yeluo River and that archenemy great demon, in our opinion, their so-called schemes are still shallow. So Yangzhi is the most likely to strike, more so than Huang Luan. If it succeeded, whether Huang Luan or Yangzhi died on the city wall, as long as one peak great demon died right under the noses of all the sword cultivators, it would be a great win for the Sword Qi Great Wall. The aftermath of Xiao Xun’s betrayal could be filled in one fell swoop by us new sword cultivators of the Hermit Officer lineage.”
“The ‘what if’ I gambled on wasn’t that Yang Zhi was lacking in brains, so foolish as to be unaware of the gravity of the situation. Instead, it was a gamble on her status as a convict, a wager on her being unable to act freely, a bet that the Golden Phoenix would add fuel to the fire. Assuming the Sword Qi Great Wall couldn’t be defended and the demon race invaded the Great Harmony World, what would they seek? Naturally, vast lands and rivers, the grand dao that each great demon craves. And who would they implore? Rely on strong soldiers and mighty horses? Rely on war exploits and capturing cities? Of course, but the most crucial thing is still a word from Mount Supporting Moon, more precisely, the inclination of that demon ancestor. It’s just a pity that Yang Zhi didn’t take the bait, she was very cautious. This shows how pragmatic the great demons of the Savage Desolate World are, something that I, and everyone here, need to learn from, and also need to be wary of in our opponents. So we cannot assume anything.”

Speaking to this point, Chen Ping’an’s eyes sharpened, and he repeated the last sentence, “So we cannot assume anything!”

Chen Ping’an immediately smiled, “So for the upcoming fourth and fifth battles, which great demon is responsible for holding the line, the general offensive of the Savage Desolate World, how it tastes, whether it’s measured and paced, deeply versed in the art of war, or just a brainless charge to their deaths, we can actually predict a thing or two beforehand. However, they possess a full sixty military camps, even more meticulously planned than us, so this little bit of prediction is of little significance, better than nothing, I suppose.”

On the southern wall, Lu Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

These words were clearly what that Lord Hidden Official had previously observed on the city wall, feeling there was no chance to chat with her, and now they had become something she couldn’t avoid hearing even if she wanted to.

Her impression of Chen Ping’an hadn’t improved.

However, Lu Zhi’s perception of the “Lord Hidden Official” had actually improved slightly without her realizing it.

Lu Zhi looked towards the southern battlefield, then turned back to look at that “small world” where no one drew their swords. After turning her head again, she had a slight smile.

Perhaps those sword cultivators were the young people that the Old Sword Immortal was most looking forward to.

And she, Lu Zhi, and many of the current sword immortals, might have once been such young people.

Chen Ping’an looked at everyone, composed himself, and put on a shocked expression, asking in confusion, “Even at this point, you still don’t have any ideas? I only know that cultivators in the lower five realms will deplete their minds and spiritual energy if they act continuously. I didn’t realize that using your brains too much would make you increasingly sluggish.”

As the only sword cultivator in the upper five realms, Mi Yu was the most composed, not because of his high realm, but because he felt it had nothing to do with him. If Lord Hidden Official was truly displeased and sought revenge later, it would be Lin Junbi and Xuan Can, those young, dark-hearted, and wicked little bastards, who would be at the front.

Deng Liang said in a deep voice, “The next demon army to form a battle array is entirely composed of sword cultivators. Our change of formation this time is actually a case of us feeding them sword techniques for them to learn. For example, how the sword immortals’ strikes can maximize the killing power of the overall sword array at the cost of the sword immortals withdrawing their swords. How to concentrate the strikes of top sword immortals to strive to kill the enemy’s Earth Immortal sword cultivators without warning will definitely be learned. Even if they only learn a semblance of the technique, in the next sword duel between sword cultivators, without countermeasures, our losses will definitely increase sharply.”

Chen Ping’an pointed at Lin Junbi with his folding fan, smiling, “Junbi, feel free to speak your mind.”

Lin Junbi immediately had a plan in mind, smiling, “Given the overall situation, we are at a disadvantage, so the sword array naturally cannot be changed. However, we can change our approach and create a series of hidden traps around all of our key Earth Immortal sword cultivators. All our sword immortals will now have an additional duty: to protect the formation for a certain Earth Immortal sword cultivator. Moreover, protecting the formation cannot be just a passive defense, that would be meaningless. All actions must be aimed at fighting back, because our target next will no longer be the Earth Immortal cultivators among the enemy’s sword cultivators, but the enemy’s true top combat power, the sword immortals!”

Chen Ping’an nodded.

Betting on that one in ten thousand chance to kill Yang Zhi and the Golden Phoenix failed, replacing them with several enemy sword immortals to make up the numbers wouldn’t be a loss.

Chen Ping’an had actually been waiting for Deng Liang and Lin Junbi to say these words.

Once someone cracked the problem, the others’ patching and filling in the gaps almost followed instantly.

Gu Jianlong looked at the confrontation between flying swords and magical treasures in the painting, then opened a book on the desk and nodded, “Then we need to quickly turn this Volume C to tatters, striving to select ten to twenty of our Earth Immortal sword cultivators as bait as soon as possible. The writing of Volume C was originally Wang Xinshui’s sole responsibility, but it’s estimated that it can’t just be Wang Xinshui’s duty anymore. In addition, we can also conduct a martial arts performance and test for our own sword immortals, trying out more possibilities. In the past, sword immortals killing demons was too focused on the self, at most two or three familiar sword immortal friends would fight side by side, but in fact, this may not necessarily be the best pairing. Volume C has become the most important thing in the next battle. This burden shouldn’t just be placed on Wang Xinshui’s shoulders alone. Lord Hidden Official, what do you think?”

Chen Ping’an supported his cheek with one hand, his elbow propped on the table, sitting crookedly, as if casually writing something on a piece of paper. Next to that piece of paper lay Volume E, which already had many pieces of paper inserted in it. Chen Ping’an kept writing, looked at Gu Jianlong, and nodded with a smile, “Fair words. I will personally help Wang Xinshui improve Volume C and circle the twenty Earth Immortal sword cultivators who will serve as bait.”

Following Gu Jianlong’s train of thought, Xuan Can continued, “Previously, we had fewer opportunities to verify the effectiveness of our own sword immortals’ paired sword strikes. This is a good opportunity to hone them and make their cooperation smoother and smoother. With more solid war merits, the sword immortals naturally won’t feel too awkward in their hearts. Otherwise, our Hidden Official lineage’s flying sword transmissions, after the initial novelty wears off, given the lofty nature of the sword immortals, we are only taking advantage of the new appointment, plus the sword immortals’ strikes just now did have a good effect. But if we stop there, the war merits we’ve accumulated won’t be enough. The sword immortal seniors will only become more and more reluctant to pay attention to us. So Lord Hidden Official is right. The enemies of our Hidden Official lineage, besides the beasts of the Savage Desolate World, speaking objectively, the realm, status, and thoughts of our own sword immortals are also great enemies of our Hidden Official lineage! We must be vigilant! Regarding this matter, we can’t just do whatever comes to mind when the time comes, patching and fixing, which will only delay the battle. There must be someone specifically responsible for researching this matter.”
Dong Bude declared, “Leave this matter to me.”

Lin Junbi hesitated for a moment.

Chen Ping’an said, “Dong Bude will only be responsible for the native sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall. Lin Junbi will be responsible for all the foreign sword immortals. If Junbi has any doubts, Deng Liang and all other foreign sword cultivators will answer any questions. Regarding some private secrets of the senior sword immortals, should we gloss over certain things out of respect? Put those concerns aside for now. Even if the sword immortals are enraged and harbor resentment as a result, it won’t fall on your heads. This Hidden Official of mine isn’t afraid of being drenched in a torrent of blood and curses. If I can’t even protect your own vital interests, then what kind of Hidden Official am I?”

Guo Zhujiu suddenly said, “Then, what if the enemy has already considered the same answer as us? What if the ambush of the Earth Immortal sword cultivators is a feint, or even genuine, but the real intention is to set a trap for our sword immortals? What do we do then? If it turns into an exchange of sword immortal lives, they can afford the cost, but we can’t, absolutely not.”

Saying this, Guo Zhujiu looked at his master, the current Hidden Official, with concern.

Chen Ping’an smiled, “Can you win a game of chess by only calculating one or two steps ahead? I think it’s indeed very difficult. So Guo Zhujiu’s idea is excellent. We must always be more afraid of the ‘what ifs’ than the beasts of the Wilderness. They can withstand many ‘what ifs’, but for us, just one ‘what if’ could spell disaster. Then all the plans and efforts of the Hidden Official lineage will be in vain, reduced to nothing.”

Chen Ping’an turned to look at Pang Yuanji, who had been relatively taciturn, “Pang Yuanji, you can consider how the great sword immortals on the Prime List should be positioned on the city wall, and with whom they should coordinate to unleash their swords. Same old rules, I’ll be the villain when it comes to the finalized plan.”

Pang Yuanji nodded, “No problem.”

Chen Ping’an slowly said, “Based on the advancement of the war, in at most half a month, we will all soon reach an extremely awkward situation, which is that we feel like we’re being asked to make bricks without straw. By that time, we will be so familiar with every upper five realms sword immortal and Earth Immortal sword cultivator of the Sword Qi Great Wall that we won’t know what to do. Should we then go and learn more about the Cave Dwelling, Ocean Gazing, and Dragon Gate Realm sword cultivators in detail? We can learn, but that should definitely not be the focus. The focus is still on the southern battlefield, on the Second List, both the Prime and Sub lists, especially that thick Fourth List that seems to have no last page.”

Chen Ping’an emphasized, “Everyone here, we sword cultivators of the Hidden Official lineage, are destined to be disappointed. It just depends on our cultivation of the heart, to what degree. Because none of us are perfect, and everyone will make mistakes. But our every small mistake is not the kind that can be covered up by offsetting it with something else. Once it happens, it will be a disastrous consequence of hundreds or thousands of casualties on the battlefield. All the odds that we have painstakingly earned for the Sword Qi Great Wall because of our exhaustive efforts and conscientious planning, all the small contributions that we have painstakingly accumulated, will be forgotten by our own people. Then either they will come over and scold us, or they will remain silent but harbor resentment in their eyes. But the most terrifying thing is silence, the silence of many people.”

Mi Yu, who had always felt like he was the most superfluous existence, couldn’t help but say, “Then prove to them that they are not wrong, but we are even more right!”

Chen Ping’an opened his folding fan and fanned himself, “Who dares to say that our Sword Immortal Mi Yu is a superfluous person? Who, stand up, and I’ll spit in their face!”

Apart from Mi Yu’s awkward expression, everyone else had playful smiles.

Mi Yu forced a smile and said, “Hidden Official, I thank you.”

Chen Ping’an waved his hand, “Brother Mi is the pillar of our Hidden Official lineage. Don’t mention such polite words, it’s too formal!”

Gu Jianlong nodded, “Fair words indeed!”

Now that Gu Jianlong, who didn’t know the height of the heavens, had taken the lead, soon a series of words very much in the style of the Hidden Official lineage rang out.

“Seconded.”

“True.”

“Agreed.”

“No objection.”

Chen Ping’an closed his folding fan and gently placed it by his side, “Let’s get to work and earn money!”

On the fan surface, there were inscriptions in tiny regular script, so small that they appeared to be blank if not carefully examined.

*People from the heavens, carrying the arrival of spring. Swords go down the mountain, the heat dares not approach.*

A talisman vessel docked on the north side of the wall, and a figure descended. He was dressed in a green robe, carrying a sword, with a withered expression and loose fist intent, as if recovering from a serious illness. He stowed the talisman vessel into his sleeve and slowly walked towards the Hidden Official lineage.

Not only the sword cultivators of the Hidden Official lineage, but even the Jade Purity Realm Mi Yu was caught off guard.

The Hidden Official, who they spent every day with, was actually just Chen Ping’an’s detached spirit traveling afar?

It must be an illusion personally cast by the Great Sword Immortal.

The detached spirit Chen Ping’an smiled and stood up, holding his folding fan. He retreated backwards, merging with the true body walking forward.

Chen Ping’an gently grasped the folding fan, walked to his seat, sat cross-legged, and smiled, “I have missed everyone very much.”