Holding a mended Sword Immortal banner, Chen Ping’an stood atop the tallest, most precipitous point of the imitation White Jade Capital.

Within his own domain, everything within Chen Ping’an’s sight was meticulously clear, like a commoner closely examining an inscription on a cliff.

That She Yue seemed particularly fond of the seven-colored garment, the Nectar Armor.

The ” cultivator She Yue”, the only one on the city walls to reveal her original appearance, used her innate divine ability to condense moonlight, once again donning the strange armor that seemed to have refined an ancient rainbow. She looked up at the young Hidden Official wearing what appeared to be a Daoist celestial robe.

The armor on her body flowed with colorful light, like the flowing ribbons of a celestial maiden of the “Wu Family style” in a Buddhist temple mural.

She Yue quietly waited for the ripples of sword energy to dissipate into the world, constantly clashing with her bright moonlight, like two armies facing off, with millions of soldiers on each side.

She Yue was quite familiar with the immortal treasure beneath Chen Ping’an’s feet, the imitation White Jade Capital, a towering, white jade structure that seemed to “wound the extreme heights of the heavens”. It originated from the lotus monk’s adjacent bright moon. It was an ancient relic, probably given to the closed-door disciple of Tuoyue Mountain as a token of goodwill by that old demonic Daoist priest to curry favor with the great ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain. After Li Zhen’s defeat and death, Chen Ping’an, who had not yet assumed the position of Hidden Official, picked it up. Clearly, he had received guidance from an expert, allowing him to fully refine it.

Was it the Daoist Saint who guarded the sky above the Sword Qi Great Wall in the past? But would it be inappropriate for a Confucian scholar to refine something in the shape of an imitation White Jade Capital, violating Daoist etiquette?

She Yue knew that the other party was still painstakingly searching for the location of her true form. She was still distracted, thinking about random things. No wonder Mr. Zhou said she was too lazy.

However, today She Yue intended to be a little more serious, because she was indeed somewhat angry.

On top of the city walls, She Yue’s moonlit avatars were all kinds of strange and bizarre. Sword Immortals unleashed their flying swords, martial artists threw punches towards the White Jade Capital, and great demons rose from the ground in their true forms, crashing towards the White Jade Capital with their immense bodies. On the path of every attacker, the ripples of sword energy from the Sword Immortal banner suddenly knotted into ropes in various places, then formed a large net. The threads were the millions of fine sword energies from half of the Sword Qi Great Wall. It was clear that to shake the White Jade Capital, one had to first break through the omnipresent, mighty sword energies with one’s flesh, flying swords, fist techniques, or magical powers.

The momentum was fierce, and none of it was an illusion. Therefore, She Yue’s attack alone was like a large army forming a battle formation, jointly attacking a White Jade Capital.

As for the “She Yue” with her original appearance, she rose into the wind, her seven-colored garment tearing through the sword energy net, heading towards Chen Ping’an.

The “Jade Purity Realm” Chen Ping’an smiled freely, raised one hand, and formally released a clear and mystical Five Thunder Dharma Seal from his palm, suddenly as large as a mountain, then sinking down in an instant, overlapping with the high point of the White Jade Capital.

This allowed Chen Ping’an to stand both on the peak of the White Jade Capital and on top of the Dharma Seal.

The upturned eaves of the high-rise building were like a path in the mortal world, with scholars riding white oxen, hanging books on the ox’s horns.

Myriad dharmas gathered, lightning intertwined, and a tribulation seemed to gather in the sky.

If this weren’t the Sword Qi Great Wall, but anywhere else in the world, those demons and spirits below the Earth Immortal realm, those yin objects of mountains and rivers, would probably have their hearts and livers shattered and their Dao hearts collapse at the sight of this White Jade Capital, this thunderous heavenly tribulation, this god-like man in the sky.

Chen Ping’an, who seemed like a White Jade Capital Immortal and a “god-like man,” though his gaze was only fixed on the “She Yue” clad in colorful armor, had already surveyed the entire world with his mind.

Holding the Sword Immortal banner, Chen Ping’an stepped out, firmly planted on the Dharma Seal. Holding the banner in his left hand, he joined two fingers of his right hand and, facing the earth, lightly wrote characters.

It was said to be a thunderous Dharma Seal, but the Thunder Dharma, which was regarded as the lord of all dharmas, lived up to its reputation for being the beauty of infinite creation. The images presented by the magic were not limited to thunder and lightning.

From the seal inscriptions, streaks of lightning appeared out of thin air, as if sixteen heavenly Thunder Department divine generals were jointly wielding whips, lashing out at the mortal earth.

Streaks of golden lightning fell rapidly towards the mortal world from all directions, and with a slight turn, they ultimately struck the great demons that were crashing into the White Jade Capital. Moonlight shattered like dust, dissipating without a trace.

The Five Thunder Seal that Chen Ping’an created in his palm was initially guided by the extraterrestrial demon Frost Descent in the prison, while the Seamstress Nian Xin helped transfer the Five Thunder Dharma Seal’s “grotto-heaven”, moving it from the mountain shrine to the peak of a “mountain” in Chen Ping’an’s palm lines.

The Dharma Seal had a total of six faces, which Frost Descent called the “Six Full Seal”, also known as the “Waxing Moon Seal”. Apart from the missing inscriptions on the top, one face was blank, and the sixteen characters of the insect-bird script at the bottom read:

Gathering the five thunders, governing all dharmas. Eliminating the five leaks, the pivot of heaven and earth.

Therefore, the source of the sixteen “thunder whips” that resembled ancient gods was the manifestation of these sixteen ancient inscriptions. Each insect-bird character at the bottom of the Dharma Seal seemed to be the central point of a Thunder Department office.

The remaining four faces were engraved with a total of thirty-six closed-eyed deities who had not yet been “enlightened by dotting their eyes.” Four nines were thirty-six, and the number nine was highly significant. Therefore, the engravings were all ancient images of thunder lords, lightning mothers, wind earls, rain masters, cloud officials, spirit generals, and celestial goddesses, who once presided over the weather of one region.

The infinite creation of heaven and earth’s yin and yang was all within this mountain of the Dharma Seal, all within the palm holding the seal.

And the characters that Chen Ping’an was writing at that moment were to “unauthorizedly” inscribe the Heaven inscription on the Dharma Seal.

The mountain cottage’s clean offerings contained a heaven-and-earth box that housed an ancient inkstone. This mountain Five Thunder Seal, which had fallen into Chen Ping’an’s hands due to fate, should have had both heaven and earth inscriptions.

Chen Ping’an wanted to identify and fill in the gaps for this seal, adding his own inscription to the final blank face.

The Second Shopkeeper didn’t read much, but he had carved quite a few seals.

So what if the moon waxes and wanes? If the heart and the bright moon reflect each other, it will wane and then become full again. The circulation of the Great Dao inherently lies in a waxing and waning cycle.

I have stood alone on the city walls for many years, and I have not complained about fate every day. Refining swords and drawing talismans, practicing boxing and cultivating my mind, none of it has been delayed.

Even that refinement of 300,000 characters has been done. It’s just that this mountain-and-water travelogue only has this much content. Even if it were 3 million or 10 million characters, Chen Ping’an would refine them all!

In the future, as long as there is an opportunity, I will travel the world under the pseudonym Cao Mo.

In the path of talismans, I am also a Refiner who has entered the hall and entered the room.
Amidst the siege of the imitation White Jade City atop the city walls, monstrous demonic entities, in their true forms, relentlessly battered the majestic structure. This city, like the Sword Qi Great Wall, was “harmonized with the Dao.” They endured the incessant barrage of thunderous whips, the moonlight shattering and reforming, seemingly tireless and unscathed. Their aim was clear: to shake even the slightest part of White Jade City, for it meant shaking Chen Ping An’s very soul and Dao heart.

Furthermore, countless martial artists of Golden Body and Far Travels Realm, fueled by borrowed moonlight, ascended the tall buildings and ramparts of White Jade City. They scaled the heights with incredible speed, like apes clambering up cliffs.

Then there were the Golden Body dharma forms, whose origins and identities were unknown to Chen Ping An. Each towering hundreds of feet tall, they wielded divine weapons and unleashed a furious assault upon White Jade City.

Chen Ping An’s composure wavered slightly, and he couldn’t help but frown. “Does She Yue have too much hidden power?” he wondered. “She’s not that old, yet she has so many tricks up her sleeve. This girl appears naive, but she’s incredibly cunning. Will she even have any friends in the world?”

“You may possess countless spells and divine abilities, but I have my own little tricks.”

Chen Ping An plunged the Sword Immortal Banner firmly into the earth. Like a bolt of lightning, it descended from White Jade City to the mortal realm. Both the banner and the Dharma Seal had been refined by him, so they passed through unimpeded. The banner pierced through and instantly reappeared within a replica city below the imitation White Jade City.

Once the Sword Immortal Banner was planted firmly in the center of the city, it became the rallying point for troops and horses.

One by one, the Sword Immortals contained within the banner materialized. They emerged from the banner and shot out like shooting stars, wielding their swords and intercepting the swarming martial artists of She Yue.

The Sword Immortals’ swordplay possessed a far greater flair than when Li Zhen had initially unleashed them.

However, Chen Ping An focused more of his attention on the matter of completing the seal.

Chen Ping An had, in fact, already carved four characters onto this Dharma Seal, designating them as the Heavenly Inscription.

However, he had never truly dedicated his mind to it, nor had he utilized the Opening Mountain Method from the “Dan Shu Zhen Ji.”

Therefore, this inscription marked the first complete manifestation of the “Five Thunder Dharma Seal.”

As Chen Ping An wrote the characters with his hand, guided by his intent, fragments of the seal’s surface flew off like shimmering snowflakes. Finally, the four characters emerged, clear as water exposing stone.

The characters appeared initially small, no larger than a palm. Compared to the mountain-sized platform atop the Dharma Seal, they were negligible. Chen Ping An lowered his head to gaze upon the four characters. The first peculiarity of this talisman was that Chen Ping An, having learned from past mistakes and suffering great losses, had chosen to write the characters backward this time. Combined with the Jade Purity Realm cultivation he had borrowed from Heaven and Earth, he was able to complete the talisman with ease, almost in one breath.

Seeing those four characters, Chen Ping An smiled contentedly. It was a genuine joy.

It seemed that the Great Dao was vast and distant, seemingly unreachable to certain lofty beings. But since he, Chen Ping An, could write these four characters today, it proved that continuing down this path for ten years, a hundred years, or a thousand years would only bring him closer to those entities than that sword-carrying youth who punted a tiny boat. He was approaching them every day. One day, he would travel the world without needing to look up at the true White Jade City.

One day, he would ride his sword on a grand journey, visiting the Azure Billow World and standing eye-to-eye with the peak of White Jade City.

She Yue, adorned in colorful robes, who had been soaring toward Chen Ping An and the Five Thunder Dharma Seal, suddenly changed her mind. With a single step, she bridged the distance of thousands of miles, aiming for the Sword Immortal Banner, the central pillar of the formation.

Chen Ping An, who had just completed the seal in the sky, smiled and followed She Yue’s example by splitting his attention.

Although merging with the Dao meant losing his Yin and Yang spirits and severely damaging his Great Dao, Chen Ping An didn’t feel too disappointed.

“I am still me.”

“Chen Ping An is still Chen Ping An.”

“I dwell within my own heart, forever at home.”

The ancestral armor of the military strategists that She Yue wore impressed Chen Ping An and gave him a new appreciation for the world. Zhong Kui had once said that the most profound aspect of the seven sets of Sweet Dew Armor, including the one at Western Mountain, lay in their possession of “innate” divine powers akin to those of sword cultivators.

When She Yue approached the city where the Sword Immortal Banner was located, seven celestial maidens manifested from seven colored ribbons, forming a rainbow that stretched from She Yue to the Sword Immortal Banner. As the rainbow struck the banner, a dazzling display of light erupted. But beneath the surface, the momentum resembled a great river flowing into the sea, ceaseless and inexhaustible. The qi around the banner surged like waves crashing against reefs, mixing spiritual energy and sword qi. The Sword Immortal Banner began to tremble.

Having split his attention like She Yue, a “Chen Ping An” stood atop the banner. One hand was clasped behind his back, while the other formed a hand seal in front of him. Smiling, he peered through the rainbow at the woman riding the wind and said softly, “Of my humble White Jade City with its five cities and twelve towers, this is the only gate that remains closed. I invite Miss She Yue to enjoy the scenery elsewhere.”

It was a Chen Ping An dressed in a blue Daoist robe!

His face looked a bit older than the real Chen Ping An.

This scene, these words…

It was likely that all the Daoist immortals of the Azure Billow World would disapprove and be unhappy to witness it.

She Yue was not aware of the “middle-aged Daoist’s” true identity, but even if she knew, she probably wouldn’t care.

She had certainly committed her fair share of overstepping boundaries.

For example, as she reached the apex of the rainbow, she transformed into the likeness of the Lotus Nunnery Mistress and pressed down with her hand.

Above the city, a sea of clouds condensed into a jade-white palm. Within the palm were lotus leaves in succession, and moonlight shone brilliantly. Moonlight and green lotus intertwined, and suddenly, countless snow-white lotuses bloomed within the lotus pond in the palm of the hand.

The middle-aged Daoist Chen Ping An glanced sideways at the descending palm and blooming lotus pond, and laughed, “The Great Dao is vast, so how can it be defined by the size of objects? It is still small, too small.”

The Daoist kept one hand behind his back as before, flicking a finger in a hand gesture.

A grain of golden light slowly ascended.

The thunderous force of the lotus pond descending, the pressure of a mountain bearing down, was majestic.

Every time a lotus bloomed, a beam of snow-white light fell.

However, the middle-aged Daoist’s grain of golden light swayed leisurely, like a sparrow flapping its wings in the wind and rain, facing the torrential rain of snow-white light.

Daoist Chen Ping An smiled slightly, “Hurry, hurry, in accordance with the law, go!”

The grain of golden light vanished abruptly, appearing on the back of the palm.

A dragonfly had already landed atop.

Whether it was the mutual clashing of the rainbow light and the Sword Immortal Banner or the force of the giant palm pressing down like a mountain,

the appearance of this grain of golden light was utterly devoid of any grand cosmic phenomenon. It was, in theory, utterly futile.
Yet, precisely when that golden light landed on her hand, the torrential snow-white rain was forced back along its path, the flowers bloomed and then un-bloomed, her palm descended and then retreated.

The river of time itself seemed to flow backward.

It was as if a contest of magical prowess was taking place between the middle-aged Daoist and the Mistress of the Lotus Hermitage.

Sheyue flicked her wrist, dismissing the supernatural ability she had grasped after only a few glances, and the gigantic hand in the sky dissipated along with it.

She continued to focus her mind on waving the Sword Immortal Banner. Not just a pure martial artist, even a cultivator could use brute force to overcome skill.

This cultivator, Sheyue, paused and surveyed her surroundings.

“How perilous, how lofty! Towering to the heavens, the Five Cities and Twelve Towers.”

Wave after wave of lightning, carrying the mighty power of the Heavenly Dao, slammed down upon the White Jade City’s domain, repeatedly dispersing the moonlight of the great demons’ true forms.

However, the Sword Immortal Banner was suppressed by the iridescent light. The number of Sword Immortals emerging from it was too few, causing the ascending martial artists of Sheyue’s illusion to kill endlessly, their swordsmanship inexhaustible. The martial artists’ path to the heavens was already more than halfway complete.

Then, Sheyue sensed a strange anomaly.

It was the first time she had felt this.

That Chen Ping’an was finally beginning to use his trump card.

If Sheyue was not mistaken, he was using one of his natal treasures!

Within the White Jade City, five martial artists Chen Ping’an, each with a slender build, appeared simultaneously in the towers and cities at varying heights. One wore straw sandals and carried a saber, another had a sword strapped to his back, another wore a wine gourd at his waist, another had a jade hairpin in his hair, and the last was a scholar in green robes.

Each Chen Ping’an wore one of the five colors of clothing, casually killing the martial artists Sheyue who lacked sufficient cultivation.

“Too slow! Your punches are far too slow!”

“As fragile as paper!”

“When a martial artist seeks a fight, the fist must land on the opponent’s body. Do not simply tickle them!” The five martial artists Chen Ping’an struck incessantly, shattering the bodies of the martial artists Sheyue, twisting off their heads, or cleaving them in two with a straight hand chop.

What a pitying and cherish flower Second Master.

Another gentle voice descended from the sky into Sheyue’s heart.

“Miss Sheyue, you have been neighbors with the Mistress of the Lotus Hermitage for a long time, while I have never spoken a single word to that Daoist Sage of the Sky Canopy. Why is the Daoist magic in your heart so light, so easily defeated?”

“So, seeking a master of scripture is not as good as seeking an enlightened master. Why not become my disciple and cultivate the Daoist arts? I can take you as an unregistered disciple for now. My standards for accepting disciples are always very high. However, I am quite generous in imparting Daoist teachings.”

“The superficial appearance of your arts is nothing more than dividing the vast moonlight of a bright moon, treating it as a guest while you remain the host. The fundamental principle of the Great Dao should be unification. Why not be sincere, Miss Sheyue, and offer a genuine supernatural ability as a welcoming gift?”

Sheyue found this person extremely annoying. He possessed great abilities, but he spoke far too much nonsense.

She had never been so annoyed by anyone before.

Perhaps even two Jiang Shangzhen, chasing for ten thousand miles with a single willow leaf, could not compare to the annoyance of this Chen Ping’an.

And Chen Ping’an, standing at the highest point, suddenly stepped on the final two characters of the Decree Talisman, which belonged to the beginning of the talisman script: “Land” and “Submerge”.

Previously, he had written the characters “Decree”, “Command”, “Submerge”, “Land”.

The complete talisman was precisely the “Decree of Land Submergence.”

Therefore, Chen Ping’an heavily stepped on the characters “Land” and “Submerge”, waved his hand, and laughed loudly, “Go!”

The characters “Land” and “Submerge” first went to the upper left and lower right corners of the Dharma Seal, while the characters “Decree” and “Command” followed to the remaining two corners.

A complete Six-sided Five Thunder Dharma Seal, finally filled the flaw.

Sheyue felt a slight tremor in her heart, knowing something was wrong.

That Five Thunder Dharma Seal, like the Thunder Department Celestial Official opening a gate, with light pouring forth, plummeted to the ground at an incomprehensible speed, merging with the city walls and the Great Dao.

This caused nearly half of Sheyue’s illusions to be simultaneously placed within the four characters of the “Decree of Land Submergence”.

The cultivator Sheyue, standing at the top of the iridescent light, further discovered that only now had Chen Ping’an employed the fundamental means of the Sword Qi Great Wall, isolating heaven and earth.

At the same time, he also sacrificed those two natal flying swords of Jiazi Account, whose names were temporarily unknown but whose general supernatural abilities were known.

Three great and small worlds, detaining half of Sheyue’s illusions.

Sheyue sighed softly, as expected, annoying people always possessed even more annoying methods.

She had long been aware of the Heavenly Earthly Restriction of the Sword Qi Great Wall, as well as the young Hidden Official’s natal flying sword, and had prepared for the worst.

However, she never expected that this Five Thunder Full Moon Dharma Seal, which everyone used to increase their offensive power, could be refined into a prison with just a few strokes added by Chen Ping’an.

A martial artist Sheyue who had just begun to cling to the White Jade City, rather than the cultivator Sheyue in colorful robes, was responsible for collecting all the moonlight, transforming back into a young woman with a round face and cotton clothes.

She was already within the small world of the Bird in the Cage of Flying Swords.

As the Dharma Seal landed, the thunder vanished, and the world turned dim and obscure.

It was like the primordial chaos before the heavens and earth had opened.

Even the towering White Jade City, the Sword Immortal Banner and the middle-aged Daoist, and the five martial artists Chen Ping’an, all disappeared without a trace.

That young man in a scarlet robe, holding a narrow blade, lightly tapped his shoulder and slowly descended from the sky to the city walls, his smile brilliant, “Even if I still cannot completely defeat Miss Sheyue, I must leave a Miss Sheyue on the city walls.”

The young Hidden Official spoke politely.

But within this Bird in the Cage small world, filled with sword qi…

Apart from the path where Chen Ping’an descended, where the flying swords dissipated on their own, making way for the scarlet robe, the entire world was filled with flying swords gathered in dense arrays, circling and layering from the top of the small world, all sword tips pointing directly at Sheyue.

Within ten feet of Sheyue, moonlight flowed like water, blocking those flying swords.

Sheyue asked in confusion, “You took it upon yourself to alter the purpose of this Five Thunder Dharma Seal. Aren’t you afraid that doing so will not only prevent the Dharma Seal from reaching its perfect state and halve its offensive power, but also cause it to lose the chance to become a sect-founding Dharma Seal?”

Chen Ping’an blinked, hesitating, as if to say that Miss Sheyue, your question is too big and too difficult to answer.

Sheyue asked curiously, “Isn’t that so?”

Chen Ping’an stopped tapping his blade and complained, “Miss Sheyue, you and I are kindred spirits. I forbid you from looking down on yourself like that. Half of Sheyue, or even a small part, is it not worth more than a sect’s Dharma Seal?”

Sheyue felt somewhat remorseful, saying, “It’s just that your talisman methods are too strange. I can’t guess that a Dharma Seal restriction could be so uncanny.”
Chen Ping’an suddenly asked an even stranger question, “Can a person die from self-reproach?”

Here we go again!

She Yue raised her hands and slapped her cheeks hard.

Without Chen Qingdu holding down half of the Sword Qi Great Wall, could she, even with her Jade Pure Realm cultivation and intricate schemes, truly stop a wandering bright moon?

Chen Ping’an hung the beheading tally at his waist, suppressed his smile, hovered in the air, and with his left hand, two fingers together, gently pressed against the void to his right.

Finally, a faint glimmer of light appeared.

Chen Ping’an slowly swept his fingers from right to left.

Chen Ping’an narrowed his eyes, staring intently at that speck of light, watching it turn into a gleam, then into a brighter and brighter light, eventually resembling a sword more and more.

Within his human body’s miniature world, a golden little figure gently grasped the sword hilt, riding a fire dragon, heading towards Chen Ping’an’s heart lake, looking up at the sky, where a moon hung.

And behind Chen Ping’an stood a towering golden deity, precisely Chen Ping’an’s golden body Dharma form, wearing a Taoist robe, with a middle-aged countenance.

The four corners of the world gathered into four words.

A young Chen Ping’an with a jade hairpin on his head, stood on two of the words, his smile confident, almost arrogant. He possessed the grand spirit of “If not me, then who?” characteristic of scholars.

The straw-sandaled youth, stepped on the words “Land Submergence”, a white jade hairpin adorned his head, and a water-character seal hung from his waist.

He first used the false Jade Pure Realm of harmonizing with heaven and earth, to contemplate alone, to murmur to himself alone, to act alone.

He ascended to the peak of the Martial Artist realm with a shattered golden core, to stand on the city wall, and to finally become one of “us” in the eyes of those celestial immortals.

He thoroughly memorized a fist technique, the “Mountain Shaking Manual,” a talisman manual, the “True Traces of the Dan Writings,” and a straightforwardly named book, the “Sword Art Canon.”

He also had an Aperture Palace ready to be opened, yet had not been used to nurture a Natal Treasure.

There remained only a return home.

The setting sun shone far away, and the flowers along the path bloomed as he slowly returned.

The moonlight around She Yue grew increasingly bright, the lunar color more intense.

Layers upon layers of flying sword arrays condensed from the Natal Divine Power of the Moon in the Well shattered on the spot after being plated with a layer of moonlight. She Yue’s figure was enveloped in moonlight, like a miniature moon growing larger and larger, ascending to become a great moon.

However, She Yue suddenly frowned deeply. Countless flying swords were destroyed in the sword arrays, but in the darkness, it seemed that the single true “Unique” flying sword was being tempered by her Natal Moon color!

She Yue immediately stopped her thoughts, dispelling the idea of using the moonlight to forcibly open an array, opening three layers of restrictions before leaving.

Even if Chen Ping’an was now a Jade Pure Realm sword cultivator, how strong could one sword be? In fact, were these tens of millions of flying swords truly aimed at the real “She Yue?”

She began to gather the moonlight, the lunar color around her becoming more and more condensed and rich.

Try it? Kill it and see!

Chen Ping’an suddenly reached out and grabbed the sword hilt, holding the sword horizontally in front of him.

The deity behind him did the same, exactly the same.

She Yue, do you really think I don’t know where you’re hiding?

I regard you as a beast from the Wild Desolate World.

You shouldn’t regard me as a person either.

Come before me, and be my enemy. Please be careful.

One sword to cut down the moon in my heart.

Please show yourself.

Another sword to cut down your true form.

Please die.

I have a sword to ask, please let heaven and earth answer, starting with the bright moon.

She Yue returned from plucking the moon in the sky to the human world, rushing headlong towards the opposite city wall, which made Li Zhen somewhat displeased. Now, she couldn’t defeat that little girl in a fight, and, more importantly, in terms of background and resources, the other party was not lacking.

Only at her peak could Li Zhen trade lives with She Yue in the human world. Her round face was no longer pleasing, and her indifferent appearance, that kind of “don’t bother me” look, had once made Li Zhen envious to the point of jealousy.

Li Zhen immediately flew her sword to the cliff edge near a gray-robed figure, complaining, “Why didn’t you stop She Yue? Being favored by heaven and possessing natural talent is so great? Being able to pluck a moon from the sky allows you to casually break the Jiazi Account rules? Letting our Hidden Official catch her and have a good chat would ruin so much of our hard work in an instant?”

Now, almost all the hundred sword immortals of Tuoyue Mountain had gone to the Vast Expanse World. Li Zhen was still dawdling here. As the direct disciple of the Grand Patriarch of this world, she had lost all face for Tuoyue Mountain. One of Li Zhen’s senior brothers passed by the Sword Qi Great Wall without even greeting Li Zhen, directly crossing the city wall on the wind.

The Dragon Lord condensed a blurry figure with tens of millions of fine sword qi. The old man raised his sleeve and pointed his finger at the only remaining bright moon in the sky, saying, “Isn’t there one left? If you have the ability to pluck it, I’ll let you wander on the opposite city wall too. Do whatever you want.”

The hundred sword immortals of Tuoyue Mountain were of course the well-deserved pride of the Wild Desolate World, but above them, there was also a small group of people with hidden identities and extraordinary status, who were not recorded in the Jiazi Account.

Besides this round-faced woman that Li Zhen kept nagging about, the mistress of the moon in the sky, there were also Fei Ran, Yu Si, Tan, Dou Kou, and others.

Li Zhen sighed, “Dragon Lord, Dragon Lord, Senior, Senior, we have such a long friendship of ten thousand years, we should cherish it more. Instead of protecting me a bit, you keep saying things that hurt my feelings. How many big gulps can a jar of old wine withstand? Leave a way out for everyone, there’s no dead end for geniuses.”

Plucking the bright moon to the human world.

The Lotus Convent Abbess, who refined half of a moon’s lunar essence in the past, could barely do it, but dared not because of Tuoyue Mountain’s existence. Of course, doing it would be meaningless. The moon not being in the sky, exchanging terrestrial advantage for celestial timing, was still a losing deal, detrimental to the Great Dao cultivation. The Vast Expanse World had many blessed lands, surpassing several worlds. The Lotus Convent Abbess was ambitious, attempting to unify the moons in the sky, so that the old demon Taoist, uniting with a portion of celestial timing, would manifest “The Tao” in true form, not a god, but better than a god.

It was said that before the great war, Zhou Mi once went to heaven and sat down with the Lotus Convent Abbess to discuss the Tao. Zhou Mi smiled in the moon, saying, “Why must this year lose to the past, why must the people of today lose to the ancients?”

Unfortunately, the romantic is always battered by the wind and rain. Sadly, the Lotus Convent Abbess did not even get to see the bright moon of the Vast Expanse World. It couldn’t be said that the Lotus Convent Abbess was ambitious but incompetent; it was just that Dong Sangeng’s sword was too domineering.
Elder Dong’s grand feat wasn’t merely slaying the Lotus Convent Mistress, a seated demon king. It utterly shattered a portion of the natural fortune and celestial timing of the desolate wilderness.

It was like smashing a Gu Yu coin into a pile of snowflake coins. Even if all the snowflake coins still landed in the Moon-Bearing Mountain’s coffers, the discrepancy in value was a tangible loss for the savage lands.

If Moon-Bearing Mountain wished to reshape a complete moon and re-suspend it in the heavens, it would incur another significant expense.

Although the Dragon Sovereign had allowed the cotton-padded-clad, round-faced girl to land on the opposite city wall, he kept a close eye on her movements. If She Yue made the slightest excessive move, he wouldn’t hesitate to draw his sword.

One of the ten most promising youths from several realms, destined for greatness, was undoubtedly extraordinary. However, in the eyes of an ancient Sword Immortal like the Dragon Sovereign, these vibrant young juniors were no more than a glimpse of his former self. Nothing more.

Compared to Li Zhen, who was always lazy and half-hearted in his sword practice, She Yue possessed sufficient cultivation and unique divine abilities. Thus, she could break through layers of restrictions, as if entering an uninhabited land, to meet that young Hidden Official.

One had just returned from the other’s homeland to his own, while the other enjoyed acting as a watchdog for another’s home.

A young man and woman, from different homelands and of similar age, coincidentally ranked among the eleven most promising youths.

Li Zhen asked, “Are they chatting idly, or fighting?”

The Dragon Sovereign said, “A lonely man and a solitary woman, like dry kindling meeting a spark, do you believe it?”

Li Zhen grinned mischievously, “Hurry and open the restrictions, let me take a look. Seeing is believing. Let’s see if they really strike up a fiery passion. Then I’ll create a divine scroll and ask someone to help send it to Ning Yao. Perhaps Chen Ping’an won’t be killed by Liu Cha, but will be killed by Ning Yao first, wouldn’t that be wonderful? When Ning Yao draws her sword to chop him, the Hidden Official would never dare to utter a fart, only obediently stretch his neck. I admire the Hidden Official most for this.”

The Dragon Sovereign glanced at this increasingly unfamiliar “reflection,” shaking his head. “This time we’ve reunited, and there’s only one thing I admit you’re right about, and that is that you are indeed more pitiable than Chen Ping’an. You are no longer that reflection. At least Chen Ping’an stays here as a watchdog, and no one finds it laughable. Perhaps even Fei Ran and Muji-like people will respect him a little.”

The Dragon Sovereign raised his head to look at the sky.

In the past, three people, three swords, cultivated and climbed mountains together, together they questioned the heavens with their swords.

In the end, their paths diverged on that high mountain in the desolate wilderness.

He, the Dragon Sovereign, didn’t actually die at Moon-Bearing Mountain, but his heart died the moment Chen Qingdu said he was going to take a trip to Moon-Bearing Mountain.

The reason he was still willing to wield his sword to Moon-Bearing Mountain was to give an explanation to all his fellow Daoists who had become convicts.

Chen Qingdu died once in that battle at Moon-Bearing Mountain, and ultimately died again here.

So what about this reflection? He also died once at Moon-Bearing Mountain, and then lost to Chen Ping’an outside the city. The last trace of the reflection’s spirit discernible on Li Zhen’s body probably died completely.

The Dragon Sovereign almost never asked the same question twice, but the old man made an exception for She Yue today, and then for Li Zhen, “In the final battle with Chen Ping’an, with the help of that flying sword’s innate divine power, what did you actually see?”

Li Zhen laughed, “One is not a reflection, and the other is not like a Dragon Sovereign. You still have the face to pity me.”

The Dragon Sovereign changed the question, “Did that person at Moon-Bearing Mountain see the same result as you?”

Li Zhen thought for a moment, “I don’t know if my master knows. Because I myself don’t know anything at all.”

The Dragon Sovereign stopped talking.

This Li Zhen is truly deserving of death.

In the future, he will just see Li Zhen off for the last time as the reflection.

Li Zhen didn’t know whether he was completely unaware of the Dragon Sovereign’s intentions, or whether he knew but didn’t care. He just persisted, “Dragon Sovereign Senior, please open the restrictions. Practicing the sword is so boring.”

Unexpectedly, the Dragon Sovereign actually opened the mountain and water restrictions of the Jiazi Tent.

Li Zhen let out a “Whoa,” marveling, “White Jade Capital, it’s quite impressive. The Hidden Official harbors quite a bit of resentment towards the Azure Heavens. This Jade Purity Realm’s magical powers are amazing, I can’t afford to provoke it.”

“Look, the Hidden Official is starting to bewitch people again. Luckily it’s Sister She Yue, who doesn’t think too much. If it were Sister Liu Bai, she would definitely suffer a cruel fate.”

“Dragon Sovereign, you are highly respected and knowledgeable, do you know where She Yue’s true form is? Can the Hidden Official’s dog nose sniff it out?”

Listening to Li Zhen’s clamor, the Dragon Sovereign rarely recalled some old matters he didn’t want to think about.

Chen Qingdu’s natal flying sword, Floating Duckweed, had already shattered at Moon-Bearing Mountain.

That’s why the saying “wind rises from the tip of duckweed” came about in later generations, and the saying “a leaf of duckweed returns to the vast sea”.

Dragon Sovereign, natal flying sword, Great Ruins Immortal Graveyard.

Reflection, natal flying sword, River of Time.

Therefore, in an old almanac spanning over ten thousand years, on the front pages of the almanac, it was recorded that “Sword Cultivator Reflection” had the most bumpy road of cultivation, targeted the most by those ancient gods.

His friends Chen Qingdu and the Dragon Sovereign, escorted Reflection the longest, and that was just the longest.

Because the sword cultivators who had escorted Reflection the most were those extinct sword cultivators who had disappeared into the dust of history.

There were once several sword cultivators with extremely high achievements in the Sword Dao, whose sword skills were so high, whose sword intent was so strong, and whose sword drawing scenes were so magnificent that even the Dragon Sovereign, who had long lost heart, would occasionally feel ripples in his state of mind when he recalled them after ten thousand years.

Later generations find it hard to imagine that Chen Qingdu’s aptitude, in fact, when he first practiced the sword back then, among the large batch of sword cultivators who rose and fell like comets, was not the best, or even ordinary. It’s just that Chen Qingdu’s opportunity was good, and Chen Qingdu ultimately seized it, and held it firmly. He grasped that opportunity in his hand like a sword.

It’s just that with Chen Qingdu’s stubborn personality, for ten thousand years, he probably wouldn’t want to be candid about this matter with anyone.

Seas change to mulberry fields, houses are added to the sea, and people often forget when they get old.

Li Zhen tiptoed and looked at the battlefield over there, exclaiming, “These two can really fight. They have all sorts of tricks, it’s dazzling to watch.”

Endless stream of spells, chaotic means, and tit-for-tat in various battlefields.

Li Zhen suddenly asked, “Chen Ping’an seems to have used his Jade Purity cultivation from the beginning, unlike our Hidden Official’s style. The result of this fight won’t be all thunder and no rain, right?”

The thunder is truly loud.

The Five Thunder Seal hanging high in the White Jade Capital, the sixteen characters engraved on the ground, each containing the true meaning of the Dao, the gods wielding thunder and lightning, fiercely whipping the earth.
A sense of disorientation washed over Li Zhen, as if he had witnessed a sword cultivator’s vision, returning to an ancient battlefield.

Li Zhen shook his head, dispelling the meaningless sentiment.

He then said with a hint of regret, “It’s a pity it wasn’t Liu Cai. If it were him, with his two natal flying swords, plus a borrowed treasure from Tuoyue Mountain, even if our Lord Yin Guan were extremely careful, he would still suffer a crushing defeat.”

The Dragon Lord sneered, “Relying on others? It’s not just a vision anymore; you don’t even want to be a sword cultivator?”

Li Zhen lamented, “Dragon Lord, what’s wrong with you? Every time you speak to me, you’re so sarcastic. Why don’t you go and test your strength against Lord Yin Guan?”

The Dragon Lord, still focused on the battlefield, casually replied, “I can’t win against him in words. Why humiliate myself?”

Li Zhen was speechless.

On the opposite city wall, the two figures vanished abruptly.

Li Zhen chuckled, “Good Yin Guan, finally couldn’t resist unleashing his trump card. Sister Sheyue was too careless. Once you’re in the pit, it’s hard to get out.”

The Dragon Lord said, “That Five Thunder Talisman was your doing.”

Li Zhen smiled, “If Sister Sheyue wants to interrogate me, she’ll have to survive first.”

The Dragon Lord said, “Having left the well to see the sky, she insists on returning to be a frog at the bottom of the well. The vision is indeed as foolish as his friend Chen Qingdu.”

Li Zhen’s expression changed abruptly, losing all interest in bantering with the Dragon Lord.

The Dragon Lord had sensed something amiss even before Li Zhen.

Li Zhen was sent tumbling from the city wall by a sudden burst of sword qi.

At first, he was taken aback, then he clutched his head, letting his body fall, laughing heartily, “The Dragon Lord helping someone with his sword? That’s a rare occurrence indeed!”

The Dragon Lord grasped his sword, manifesting his Dharma Body. The heavens and earth shifted, and sword qi surged, shattering the sea of clouds for thousands of miles. The Dragon Lord’s sword qi clashed with numerous ancient sword intents, like a contest of great Dao.

Not only did Li Zhen dare not land casually, becoming disheveled and begrimed, hastily summoning a protective treasure to resist the sword intents and qi that showed no deference to Tuoyue Mountain’s disciples, but also the remaining Tuoyue Mountain sword immortal aspirants on the city wall, whose talents and opportunities were inferior, found it even more difficult, each summoning their natal flying swords to protect themselves.

The Dragon Lord unleashed a full-force sword strike towards the opposite city wall, holding nothing back.

Otherwise, Sheyue’s Dao foundation would be severely damaged. The Dragon Lord didn’t care about that; it was her own fault. But the Dragon Lord would never allow Chen Pingan to gain any benefit from it!

Allowing Sheyue to go to the city wall, whether for idle chat or questioning through fighting, was merely the Dragon Lord giving a stray dog a last meal.

After Chen Pingan’s inner sword strike,

the moon in his heart shattered.

Sheyue’s figure drifted in the prison of heaven and earth. Although not fully “Sheyue’d,” she was a bird in a cage.

With another sword strike,

Chen Pingan’s true form and the divine spirit behind him both unleashed their swords.

Heaven and earth became one sword.

The Sheyue’s true form, rapidly condensing into a tiny moonlight particle, was first cleaved open, then pulverized, and then further crushed.

The moon in the sky broke and reformed, endlessly. The ubiquitous moonlight was repeatedly reduced to powder. The sword strike severed not only Sheyue’s true form but also her Dao techniques.

Chen Pingan looked up and sneered.

“The Dragon Lord’s predecessor’s full-force sword strike seems a bit slow, doesn’t it?”

Above half of the Sword Qi Great Wall, the heavens and earth regained clarity.

The Dragon Lord waved away a chaotic swirl of sword qi and scattered moonlight, then grabbed something.

A pale-faced, round-faced girl stood beside the Dragon Lord, hoarsely saying, “Sheyue thanks the Dragon Lord predecessor.”

The Dragon Lord glanced at Sheyue’s aura and said, “It’s fortunate that the damage to your Dao foundation isn’t too severe. Take this opportunity to change your temperament and cultivate diligently. Spend some time cultivating in the Blessed Land. You should be able to recover.”

Sheyue nodded silently.

A figure in crimson robes, with hands clasped in sleeves, stood opposite, looking at Sheyue with a smile, “Sorry, I didn’t quite control my strength. Please forgive me, Miss Sheyue.”

Sheyue held a secret doubt, but she kept it hidden. She did not speak. Her Dao was damaged, and she was not at ease. If not for her unique true form, truly blessed as Li Zhen said, then an ordinary, pure martial artist would be writhing on the ground in pain, and cultivators would be in disarray, their future prospects bleak.

Li Zhen hung on the city wall, slightly distant from the Dragon Lord and Sheyue, craning his neck to look across. He saw Lord Yin Guan raise a hand, in the palm of which was a miniature moon, the purest in all the heavens and earth.

It could rival the moon of the Confucian Chen Chun’an in terms of purity.

Chen Pingan slightly moved his hand, and the moon trembled gently, as if on the peak of a mountain on his palm.

This more than compensated for the loss of the shattered moon from his inner sword strike.

Sheyue said, “Today’s dispute will be repaid.”

Chen Pingan nodded, “Come again when you have time. You’re more than welcome.”

Chen Pingan shifted his gaze, looking at the sneaky Li Zhen in the distance, and smiled, “Look at Miss Sheyue’s greeting gift, then look at your petty behavior. If it were me, I’d have killed myself by smashing my head against the wall.”

Li Zhen propped his hands against the city wall, his body hanging in the air, revealing only his head, looking pitiful and not speaking.

The Dragon Lord reopened the restriction. Chen Pingan still held his hands in his sleeves, nodding slightly, and looked up at Sheyue, smiling, “Miss Sheyue, I won’t see you off.”

Chen Pingan also had a small question. Why was this round-faced girl in a cotton coat so lazy when she was in the Blessed Land? Did she not kill people?

Li Zhen leaped onto the city wall, but Sheyue had already transformed into moonlight, instantly disappearing. She passed the gate at the site of the Upside-Down Mountain and traveled thousands of miles, eventually merging with most of her true form in Tongye Continent.

Now, the Blessed Land and the Wilderness were constantly colliding, especially with the gradual merging of Tongye and Fuyao Continents, the climate becoming increasingly similar.

It was no longer a scene of different day and night on either side of a door.

Sheyue had a riddle in her heart. Why did Chen Pingan not seem to exert his full strength in his second sword strike?

Otherwise, even with the Dragon Lord’s help, Sheyue would have had to leave behind more moon essence.

But even with her big heart, the round-faced girl couldn’t help but feel miserable. Half of her moon essence was gone.

On a mountain peak, the round-faced girl frowned hard, then slowly squatted on the ground, gently patting her cheeks, comforting herself, “It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t cry, don’t cry.”
Chen Ping’an turned and departed.

Unexpectedly, the Dragon Lord unleashed another sword strike.

It seemed the old dog of the Dragon Lord was truly enraged this time.

His form dissipated, then reformed ahead, Chen Ping’an roared with laughter.

Across the city wall, Li Zhen stealthily crept to the side of a gray-robed figure, “This time, the Shesyue returning home aren’t all true bodies traveling here from afar. Hidden Official is truly ruthless, a big gamble with big gains, I’m truly impressed.”

The Dragon Lord completely ignored Li Zhen, merely sneering to himself, “To dare openly tread upon that name, not fearing the Third Sect Leader sensing it in White Jade Capital.”

And in the Azure Vault Heaven’s true White Jade Capital, a young Daoist with a lotus coronet on his head strolled along the balustrade, lifting his hand to gaze into the distance, laughing, “Fine words, fine words, a fine name, a fine name.”

Chen Ping’an sat on a city wall, dangling his legs in the air, gently swinging them.

One hand held aloft a round miniature moon of pure essence, the other toyed with the Cao Zi dagger, its surface haphazardly engraved with later additions.

This short blade from Gelu Mountain, with the later inscription of “Morning Dew,” ultimately fell into the hands of the young man named Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an glanced at the miniature moon, smiled, and tucked it into his sleeve.

To be gifted to his first disciple upon establishing a lineage, as a present for breaking through from the Fifth Realm to the Sixth Realm.

If they had already reached the Sixth Realm and broke through to the Seventh, then the disciple might have made things difficult for the master.

The Cao Zi dagger spun rapidly between Chen Ping’an’s fingers and across the back of his hand.

Suddenly, Chen Ping’an stopped abruptly, sheathed the short blade, braced his hands on the city wall, and looked up, murmuring to himself.

“Fortunately safe, seeing the light of day again, what blame is there? Only the early morning dew.”

That year, when A’liang returned to the Sword Qi Great Wall from the Azure Vault Heaven, their reunion in a foreign land.

They drank together, and A’liang once said, “Chen Ping’an, it’s truly a pity.”

You haven’t seen the Three Teachings debate, where the old scholar seemed to have already won before even speaking, haven’t witnessed the spirited, radiant Literary Saint.

You haven’t seen the Mr. merely with slightly frosted temples, his countenance not yet too aged.

You haven’t seen Cui Chan, the young man in white robes whiter than snow, plucking black pieces amidst the colorful clouds.

You haven’t seen Zuo You, the youth who always held his head high after making mistakes.

You haven’t seen Xiao Qi, who liked to furrow his brow slightly while reading.

You haven’t seen Liu Shiliu stretching out both hands, pressing down on the heads of two junior brothers to prevent them from angrily fighting, grinning foolishly, and then, at Mr.’s signal, slightly loosening one hand, allowing the younger junior brother, Xiao Qi, to lightly kick the unreasonable Senior Brother Zuo. Finally, Mr. would play peacemaker, saying, “Alright, alright.” Xiao Qi would cross his arms, his eyebrows dancing, bearing a great resemblance to Mr. when imparting knowledge, while Cui Chan, the tall and slender senior brother, would place his hands on the shoulders of Junior Brother Zuo You, gently resting his chin on the head of the irritated youth, saying, “Forget it, forget it, you’re the senior brother, give way to the junior brother.” Xiao Qi would take advantage of this, shaking his head at the senior brother Zuo, saying, “Do I need him to give way?!” When Zuo You glared fiercely, the junior brother would immediately hide behind the tall senior brother, but when the senior brother released Zuo You’s shoulders, Xiao Qi would sense danger and immediately hide behind Mr., who would then spread his arms, protecting the little disciple behind him, stepping left, stepping right, blocking the relentless Second Disciple before him, the young man named Zuo You.

Indeed.

Chen Ping’an had never seen them.

At that time, Chen Ping’an laughed and drank, draining a bowl of wine, saying, “I only heard you tell it, heard it and can only imagine it, but just hearing and imagining it makes me very happy.”

A’liang saw the sorrow that seemed to run out of the young man’s smile, from the empty wine bowl.

Sorrow was always so mischievous, unable to hide its eyes, unable to hold back the wine.

So, in the end, A’liang finished the last bowl of wine with him, both moved and comforting, saying, “That time I left the Sword Qi Great Wall, I seemed to have aged, and then, one day, a tanned and thin grass-shoe boy, accompanied by a little girl in a red cotton-padded jacket, walked towards me together.”

At this moment, on the city wall, Chen Ping’an also wanted to walk towards his hometown, walk with many people, the road home was long, and even if he met many strangers along the way, he must look at them carefully.

Chen Ping’an clasped his hands behind his head, straightened his back, and gazed into the distance.