Unsheathed

Chapter 623 (2): Sword Training

Guo Zhujiu had sprinted over just then, and she had already been squatting beside her master for a long while. After Situ Longqiu left, the young girl whispered to her master, "Rest assured, Master, your secret is safe with me. I won't say anything to the Master's wife. Master's wife is lofty, but I'm still on your side."

Chen Ping'an smiled and commented in a soft voice, "Regardless of whether it's you or Big Sister Situ, both of you can be regarded as celestial maidens in my hometown."

"Celestial maidens?" Guo Zhujiu asked in curiosity. "Do they still fart? If they do, are their farts fragrant? Do they keep these farts contained inside their dresses on purpose? Otherwise, they can't be regarded as celestial maidens, can they? After all, I wouldn't be able to accept something like this if I were a man who looked up to celestial maidens. So, if I were a celestial maiden, I would hide under my blankets to fart in secret. I would then lift a corner of my blanket and use it as a fan. That way, I most likely won't end up smelling my own fart."

Chen Ping'an was already accustomed to Guo Zhujiu's wild and peculiar manner of thinking, so he simply took another sip of water elixir wine from his Sword Nurturing Gourd, further easing the dire situation in his pitiful water palace that was almost sucked dry of spiritual energy. He then smacked the young girl's head, standing up and saying, "Let's go and look for Master's wife."

The master and disciple made their way to Ning Yao's section of the great wall.

Guo Zhujiu skipped and hopped, but it was a shame that she wasn't wearing the small bamboo bookcase on her back right now. "How many great demons did you kill, Master?" she asked in a casual voice.

"It's already a good result that your master managed to stay alive," Chen Ping'an replied with a chuckle.

Guo Zhujiu's mind was as nimble as could be, and she didn't hesitate for a second before nodding and remarking, "Master, you are being benevolent and temporarily sparing their worthless lives."

"How are things going on your father's side?" Chen Ping'an asked.

Guo Zhujiu cracked a grin and replied, "I saw him on my way here, and he allowed me to look for you and return home later."

This was a simple response, and her comment of seeing her father "on the way here" was worthy of deeper consideration. This eased the gloominess in Chen Ping'an's mind, which had gradually accumulated while he experienced the first large-scale battle in his life. The gloominess was replaced with warmth, and it was as if the clouds had parted to reveal the bright moon.

Chen Ping'an had been responsible for defending a section of the great wall closer to the middle, which was relatively far away from where Ning Yao and the others were.

Guo Zhujiu wasn't afraid of traveling long distances, and even taking one extra step would be good as she explored everywhere with her master. As she walked around, she might even overtake her senior sister, who wasn't very tall.

They continued to walk along the city wall, passing Sword Immortal Wu Chengpei, who was at the peak stage of the Unpolished Jade Tier, on the way. He had yet to unleash a single sword strike, and he had used the entire battlefield as a whetstone to temper and train his sword.

There were all kinds of strange and peculiar bonded flying swords at the Sword Qi Great Wall, with some able to transform into the godly bodies of primordial deities, some able to create talismanic formations, some able to summon the five lightnings around themselves and unleash the Five Lightning Righteous Technique, and so on.

There was even a pair of earth immortal Dao partners, and one of their flying swords could transform into a flood dragon, while the other's flying sword was named Painting Eyes. The strength of these flying swords would increase considerably when they were unleashed together, and their attacks were no inferior to those of sword immortals. There were countless more examples, and there were truly all kinds of bizarre and fantastical bonded flying swords at the Sword Qi Great Wall.[1]

It was no wonder that the Sword Qi Great Wall didn't need any additional Qi refiners to help.

Pang Yuanji didn't leave the city wall either, and following beside him was a young woman who admired him. She was none other than Gao Youqing, Gao Yehou's younger sister.

Pang Yuanji smiled and nodded in acknowledgment when he saw Chen Ping'an and Guo Zhujiu.

Chen Ping'an also smiled and nodded in response, after which he asked, "How many great demons did you kill, Brother Pang?"

"The same as you," Pang Yuanji replied with a smile.

"You're a lofty earth immortal, so why are you comparing yourself to a measly second tier cultivator? This is cheapening yourself," Chen Ping'an said.

Guo Zhujiu ran over to Gao Youqing and stood on her tippy-toes, patting the latter's head with a kind expression as she nodded and lectured, "Youqing, a married daughter is like spilled water that can't be recovered, so since you're yet to get married, you need to make sure to restrain yourself. Remember to restrain yourself, okay?"

Gao Youqing swatted away Guo Zhujiu's unwelcome hand, shooting a glare at the young girl and scolding, "Don't utter such nonsense, Lü Duan."

The young girl looked at the elegant Pang Yuanji in white through the corners of her eyes.

Chen Ping'an and Guo Zhujiu continued to walk along the Great Wall, and Chen Ping'an gestured for Guo Zhujiu to remain silent when he saw an excitedly talking young man on the parapet.

However, Gu Jianlong immediately felt like something was amiss after Chen Ping'an took a few steps, and it wasn't long before he discovered the warmly smiling second shopkeeper. Without saying so much as an additional word, Gu Jianlong beckoned to his friends and jumped on his flying sword, hurriedly rushing back to the main city.

Two unfamiliar faces appeared at Ning Yao's section of the great wall.

One was Virtuous Scholar Chen Shi from the Pure Confucian Chen Clan, and the other was Noble Scholar Qin Zhengxiu from the Southern Whirl Continent's Mountain Foot Academy.

The two of them didn't kill demons like Liu Xianyang, and the reason for this was very simple. They weren't sword cultivators, and the demon army was unable to advance close to the city wall, so they were unable to provide any help. Moreover, sword cultivators were very particular about having highly compatible and seamless cooperation when they launched sword attacks, so Chen Shi and Qin Zhengxiu might have very easily been more trouble than help if they had attempted to launch any attacks of their own, despite some of their mystical abilities being overwhelmingly powerful.

Because of this, the two good friends were legitimately sightseeing as they walked along the entire carriageway of the great wall. When returning the same way, they seized this pause in battle to greet Chen Sanqiu and the others.

The Confucian noble scholar who had taken the sword, Righteous Aura, from the Sword Qi Great Wall back then was good friends with Qin Zhengxiu, and the two of them had also become noble scholars at the same time.

It was this noble scholar who had asked Qin Zhengxiu to help him deliver a message and greeting to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Qin Zhengxiu was currently chatting with Die Zhang.

Die Zhang was revealing some insider information about large-scale battles, saying that the Sword Qi Great Wall didn't need to explicitly strive to kill as many demons as possible early on in the battle. In fact, the sword cultivators might even consolidate the battle lines depending on the situation, choosing to slowly kill their enemies.

When things became urgent and the demon army reached the foot of the great wall, giving them a very good chance to build a wall of corpses and reach the parapet, then a large number of sword immortals would leave the city wall to stabilize the front lines. They would sever the battlefield into two, allowing the earth immortal sword cultivators to jump down the city wall with their respective units to kill the attacking demons. Middle Five Tier sword cultivators with insufficient combat power could stay back to guard the city wall.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo were squatting to the side and chuckling in secret as they watched on. They copied the second shopkeeper and held their hands inside their opposite sleeves, making them appear like farmers squatting in the fields and staring at their crops.

It was very rare to see Die Zhang speaking to others in such a soft and gentle manner.

Ning Yao was resting her mind with her eyes shut.

When Qin Zhengxiu had introduced himself and explained his relationship with the other Confucian noble scholar, Ning Yao had spoken a few sentences in an uncharacteristic display. Only afterward had she walked away to nurture her sword intent by herself.

Dong Huafu and Fan Dache were discussing what they should drink and eat after they returned to the city. Dong Huafu praised Fan Dache for a decent performance this time, and he suggested that they should buy a pot of Azure Divine Mountain Wine to celebrate.

"There was most likely a renegade sword cultivator before, and they paid the price of sacrificing a bonded flying sword to secretly deliver a message to the demon tribe," Chen Shi suddenly said.

This was an extremely unpleasant way to put things.

Indeed, this was probably the reason why Chen Shi would inexplicably make enemies wherever he went as soon as he left home.

However, Ning Yao and the others were completely unfazed.

"Rain needs to fall, women need to marry, and shops need to make money — no one can stop these things."

Dong Huafu turned around and said, "They at least sacrificed a bonded flying sword for the sake of staying alive. In the future, I wonder whether scholars like you from the Southern Whirl Continent will dare to genuinely sacrifice half their lives to stay alive. I've heard that scholars who aren't cultivators might possess profound knowledge, but they're quite lacking when it comes to tolerating pain. How does that saying go again? There's no knife in the kitchen, there's no well in the backyard; hanging oneself is too unsightly, and the beams are too hard and too cold?"

Qin Zhengxiu furrowed his brows.

Meanwhile, Chen Shi laughed and said, "There is indeed such a saying. This can't be helped. There are far too many scholars in the Majestic World, the good, the bad, and everything in between."

Dong Huafu stole a few glances at the young scholar before nodding and saying, "You're a fairly easygoing one. You should treat me to some wine later."

Chen Shi found this quite interesting, and he smiled and asked, "Shouldn't you be the one treating me to some wine?"

Dong Huafu smiled and called out, "Hey, Dache."

"Even the second shopkeeper is unable to make Dong Huafu pay for anything," Fan Dache immediately revealed in exasperation.

Qin Zhengxiu turned around and looked over. There were two visitors, one being a deathly pale young man wearing a standard Dao robe from the garment market and carrying a standard sword from the sword market. He looked very much like a sickly and frail person with insufficient combat power, but because he was accompanied by Liu Xianyang, Qin Zhengxiu knew that he was Chen Ping'an from Dragon Spring Prefecture, which was located in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent's Great Li Empire.

Qin Zhengxiu also knew that Chen Ping'an was a direct disciple of the Scholarly Sage, making him the junior brother of Great Sword Immortal Zuo You. Watching Liu Xianyang unleash sword strikes beside Chen Ping'an before had truly been an eye-opener for this noble scholar. Liu Xianyang had kept his abilities very well concealed in the past, and even Chen Shi, who had an extremely good relationship with Liu Xianyang, was only finding out for the first time that Liu Xianyang was actually a sword cultivator.

Chen Ping'an smiled and bowed in respect, saying in greeting, "My respects to Noble Scholar and Virtuous Scholar."

Qin Zhengxiu and Chen Shi also bowed in response, returning the gesture.

"When disciples of the Second Sage and the Scholarly Sage meet, they should at least argue with each other even if they don't fight," Dong Huafu mumbled quietly.

Ning Yao stood up and said, "It's time to head back."

Chen Ping'an summoned his talismanic boat and stepped onboard.

Meanwhile, Qin Zhengxiu and Chen Shi politely turned down Chen Ping'an's invitation, saying that they wanted to wander around the Sword Qi Great Wall for a while longer.

The talismanic boat sailed north.

Chen Ping'an and Guo Zhujiu were sitting on one side and rowing very hard.

Chen Sanqiu and Yan Zhuo were sitting on the opposite side and rowing equally as hard.

Dong Huafu shook his head and remarked, "This is far too embarrassing."

Fan Dache wholeheartedly agreed with this.

Qin Zhengxiu observed this from the city wall.

With the exception of Chen Ping'an, all of the passengers on the immortal ship were actually sword cultivators. Despite this, none of them flew back to the city on their flying sword.

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Liu Xianyang always boasts to me about Chen Ping'an from his hometown, saying that apart from being a bit quiet and reserved, he's incredibly smart and very quick at learning new things. It's almost like he has no flaws at all. In the beginning, Liu Xianyang even patted his chest and confidently promised me that Chen Ping'an would definitely become the most skillful pottery maker one day. Afterward, however, Liu Xianyang never mentioned anything about pottery firing at the dragon kilns again."

"Even Liu Xianyang most likely didn't imagine that Chen Ping'an would become the closing disciple of the Scholarly Sage," Qin Zhengxiu said.

Chen Shi glanced at the talismanic boat in the distance and commented, "Chen Ping'an probably didn't imagine that Liu Xianyang would become a sword cultivator either."

He then sighed with emotion and remarked, "My older sister once said that the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent's Jewel Small World was a treasured land with extraordinary people."

1. This refers to the idiom (画龙点睛) about bringing a painted dragon to life by painting its eyes last. ☜