Unsheathed

The man turned around and smiled at the young boy, saying, "The imperial preceptor needed to borrow the small lake of lightning to temper her sword, so I also used this as an excuse to take a break from my busy schedule. I came to Stalactite Mountain to enjoy some fresh air, and I initially didn't want to disturb the Ape Havoc Estate. However, I heard that Young Master Liu was coincidentally in Stalactite Mountain as well, so I thought that I had to come here to visit no matter what."

Liu Youzhou clasped his hands and bowed again, saying, "Your Majesty is too polite."

The Great Duan Empire was the newest member of the nine large empires in Majestic World.

It had conquered more than half the territory of some old empire, so the reinvigorated Great Duan Empire was busy with many tasks and changes. Thus, it didn't make sense for the emperor and his imperial preceptor to leave the empire together.

However, these were secrets that the current Liu Youzhou couldn't speculate about. Liu Youzhou was well aware why the emperor of the Great Duan Empire was giving face to the Ape Havoc Estate. The Great Duan Empire had succeeded in pulverizing the Supreme Mystery Empire, a former member of the nine large empires.

That war had been a nation-destroying one involving countless forces, and it had lasted for almost an entire decade. In the end, the Great Duan Empire had forcefully outlasted the Supreme Mystery Empire's Imperial Xie Clan. During that war, Pure White Continent's Liu Clan — or the money pouch of Liu Youzhou's father, to be exact — had made extremely big contributions.

After Liu Youzhou straightened his back, he turned to the female imperial preceptor of the Great Duan Empire before clasping his hands and bowing again. "I've admired Imperial Preceptor for a long time already."

In reality, the Liu Clan was a secret benefactor of the Great Duan Empire. As the future clan leader, there was therefore no need for Liu Youzhou to be so polite and self-debasing.

A rare smile appeared on the woman's face, and she put down her teacup and said, "Your personality is completely different from your father's. This is quite good."

The emperor of the Great Duan Empire felt slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Could this be considered praise?

The tall woman smiled and asked, "Have you been to the Sword Qi Great Wall before?"

Liu Youzhou didn't even sit down, and he remained respectfully standing as he shook his head and replied, "Not yet. Father won't allow me to go, lest anything untoward happen while I'm there."

The woman thought for a moment before offering, "My only disciple is currently tempering his Martial Dao in the Sword Qi Great Wall, so if Young Master Liu is willing, you can travel with me to the Sword Qi Great Wall. There won't be any accidents."

The old woman and the old steward of the Ape Havoc Estate exchanged a glance. They both felt like this was a prickly situation.

They weren't doubtful of the imperial preceptor of the Great Duan Empire, but this was something that pertained to their clan leader's wishes. As subordinates, they didn't dare to take matters into their own hands and make unauthorized decisions.

Fortunately, Liu Youzhou had already shaken his head and politely turned down the offer, saying, "I shouldn't go against my father's wishes. Please understand, Imperial Preceptor."

The tall woman took no offense, and she nodded and said, "It won't be long before my disciple needs to leave the Sword Qi Great Wall and Stalactite Mountain. At that time, having him train in Pure White Continent will also be quite a good choice. If Young Master Liu doesn't mind, you can bring my disciple along with you."

Liu Youzhou's expression relaxed a little, and his voice also became much more carefree than before as he chuckled, "I'm more than happy to!"

He was only a young boy, after all, yet he was facing the fifth most powerful person from Middle Earth Divine Continent.

Moreover, his father had long been peerless in Pure White Continent, yet he still claimed that he could only rank at most tenth in Middle Earth Divine Continent.

Upon seeing the tall woman stand up, the emperor of the Great Duan Empire smiled and said, "In terms of when we're departing from Stalactite Mountain, I'll order someone to inform the Ape Havoc Estate as soon as possible when I get back. There's no need to show us out, we're fine to leave by ourselves."

The emperor and his imperial preceptor walked out of the Ape Havoc Estate.

More accurately, the imperial preceptor and her emperor walked out of the Ape Havoc Estate.

This was because no matter how one looked at them, it seemed as if the tall woman were the ruler of the Great Duan Empire, while the man was nothing more than her attendant or subordinate.

Only after his two guests left did Liu Youzhou sit down and tug at the collar of his bamboo robe. He was drenched in sweat. He glanced at the most prized treasure of the Ape Havoc Estate, the 'Hunched Old Lotus Painting,' and he ordered the steward, "Take it down, package it up properly, and deliver it to the emperor of the Great Duan Empire."

There was an uneasy expression on the old steward's face.

Liu Youzhou flashed a dazzling smile and reassured, "Listen to me."

The old steward silently nodded and went off to carry out the young master's wishes.

After the old steward removed the painting and carried it out of the main hall, the young boy looked at the suddenly empty wall and asked with a smile, "Grandma Liu, should we hang the painting of that young boy rowing a boat? What do you say?"

Fear washed over the old woman, and she was just about to persuade her young master not to be rash.

However, Liu Youzhou was already chuckling to himself, saying, "I won't hang it here. When I get home, I'll hang it in my own room! Let's go, let's go. In order to express my sincerity, I'm going to paint a picture myself! Grandma Liu, make haste and tell the subordinates to bring me a calligraphy brush and ink!"

There was an amused expression on the old woman's face.

There were four beautiful and delicate-looking maidservants in the Ape Havoc Estate, and two of them were actually Qi refiners at the Abode Tier. They eagerly watched their young master exert much effort to paint that picture, and they appeared increasingly attractive and delicate as they did so. It took all of their willpower not to laugh.

Liu Youzhou was extremely proud of himself. Even though the painting was a bit ugly, it was undoubtedly filled with his sincerity.

Indeed, Liu Youzhou's painting was just as wonderfully artistic as that person's handwriting on the wall in the wine shop.

However, it was a pity that Liu Youzhou hadn't bought himself a jar of golden millet wine at that time. Otherwise, he might have found himself a cherished friend upon seeing those worm-like characters.

————

There existed a large wall in the world, upon which 18 characters were engraved.

Dao Power, Grand Majestic, Western Land.

Thunder Pool Restricted Land, Eternal Lasting Sword Qi.

Qi, Chen, Dong, Badass.

After that wager which had involved 13 fierce battles between elites from both sides, the demon tribe had gone back on their word. Not only had they refused to return all of the damaged swords strewn across the land to the south of the great wall, but they had even turned their embarrassment into anger and unleashed wave after wave of attacks.

However, compared to their all-out assault from before the wager, when they had fought without caring about their lives, the three subsequent assaults had been intermittent and slightly less intense. According to rumors, many great demons in the demon tribe had been unwilling to launch those assaults. Thus, the demon tribe had failed to launch a united and powerful attack.

Right now, the Sword Qi Great Wall was exactly the same as before. There were simply 18 extra characters on its surface.

This was because the Sword Qi Great Wall was a barrier formation that had been created by the combined power of sages from the three teachings. Unless it was comprehensively destroyed in a short period of time, it would quickly recover and return to its original state. If this weren't the case, then it would have been annihilated and flattened long ago, regardless of how tall and sturdy it was.

Moreover, the vicious attacks from the paramount great demons, as well as the fierce sword strikes from the generations of sword immortals on the city wall, would all give rise to boundless waves of peerless sword qi that cut through space and inevitably damaged the great wall.

Swarms of demons were stationed 50 kilometers from the great wall, so great in number that they looked like endless clusters of ants. As of this moment, they had already paused their assault for more than one month.

The Sword Qi Great Wall was experiencing a rare moment of peace.

Just the path on top of the great wall measured a whopping five kilometers in width.

An old man of unknown age was living in a thatched cottage on top of the city wall. The old man's descendants had already settled down and flourished with their own descendants in the city to the north of the Sword Qi Great Wall, and they had become one of the largest clans. However, the old man had never left the great wall before, guarding this place day after day, year after year. The old man had a strange temper, and he never allowed descendants from his clan to come here to visit him. Yet, he would occasionally smile in a kindly manner at children from other clans.

Sword immortal. Great sword immortal.

The only difference was a single word, yet the gulf between the two titles was like the gulf between heaven and earth.

Similarly, there was also a huge gulf between the title of great sword immortal and old sword immortal in the Sword Qi Great Wall.

This was because if a sword cultivator wanted to enjoy a long life in the Sword Qi Great Wall, they could only rely on their combat power and not their surname or clan.

As a member of the oldest generation still alive in the Sword Qi Great Wall, the old man had experienced far too many things. He had naturally experienced far too many disappointments as well. The most recent disappointment could perhaps be considered a big disappointment, even from the aspect of the old man who had lived for so many years. The old man was disappointed that he hadn't been able to participate in that battle due to the constraints of some rules. It was because of this that the immortal couple, his juniors, had died such disgraceful deaths.

The old man had watched the two of them grow up, year by year, cultivation tier by cultivation tier, all the way until they became great sword immortals.

To the old man, only watching youths like them grow up brought a bit of color and a sense of anticipation to his life.

They made him feel like the worldly atmosphere wasn't regressing, and that young people were still very impressive.

Tonight, the old man was sitting cross-legged on top of the city wall by himself. Save for his bonded flying sword, his other swords had already shattered one after another. In the end, he decided to stop using other swords.

All of the elders and children in the Sword Qi Great Wall were extremely familiar with this old man of unknown age. However, the old man's temper was quite peculiar, so few people liked to interact with him anymore.

Even so, a youth of unknown origin from the outside had come here a few years ago and insisted on staying behind the old man's thatched cottage no matter what. He had eventually built himself a small thatched cottage there.

During recent times, the young boy would simply guard his and the old man's thatched cottages every time the demon tribe attacked. Otherwise, he wouldn't actively participate in the battles.

In fact, no one criticized the young boy from outside about this either. After all, he was only a pure martial artist at fourth tier. Thus, being able to persist and stay on top of the city wall was already quite the feat.

The old man with sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones fell into deep thought.

If it weren't on top of this city wall, and if it were in Majestic World on the side of Stalactite Mountain instead, it was very likely that not a single soul would believe it when they were told that this skinny and fragile-looking old man was referred to by the nickname of "old great sword immortal" by some goofy person who had carved the character "badass" on the great wall.

A couple appeared behind the old man at this moment, and the old man didn't turn around as he said in a hoarse voice, "There's not much time remaining for the two of you. Is there anything else you need from me? Feel free to request anything as long as it doesn't interfere with the future direction of the two worlds. If it's your private matters, I can ignore all the rules and whatnot. In any case, I already broke the rules by forcefully collecting your damaged souls back at that time. Even then, those two oldies turned a blind eye to it."

The man gently held his wife's hand, shaking his head and saying, "This is already very good."

The woman shot a glare at her husband before correcting with a smile, "Yes, there is one thing."

The old man squeezed out a smile and asked, "The mother-in-law is becoming more and more satisfied with her son-in-law? Mhm, this is a good thing. It's much better than finding a useless good-for-nothing. Go on, tell me what you need. Do you want to give the young boy a celestial tool, or do you want me to personally teach him sword techniques?"

The woman hesitated for a moment before replying, "It might be even more difficult than that."

The skinny old man turned around and asked, "Oh, how so?"

There was helplessness on the man's face as he revealed, "The young boy's bridge of immortality was shattered by someone."

The old man frowned and said, "Sword cultivators are the most skilled in the world when it comes to destroying other people's bridges of immortality. However, trying to repair a bridge of immortality is even more difficult than ascending the heavens.

"Moreover, if I remember correctly, not a single person whose bridge of immortality was constructed by someone else has managed to advance to the Upper Five Tiers and become a powerful sword cultivator. After all, cultivation itself is already an act of defiance against the heavens.

"If one repairs their bridge of immortality and sets foot on the path of cultivation after having their bridge shattered, they'll face even more scrutiny and anger from the heavens. It's extremely likely that the heavens will target them and never let go. Have the two of you genuinely made up your minds? Are you not afraid of making matters worse?"

After saying this, the old man smiled faintly and continued, "After all, it might be difficult for others to ascend the heavens, but this is no big challenge for me."

The woman was slightly hesitant. She and her husband had disagreements about this, with her husband holding the view that it was best to follow fate and go with the flow. Martial arts wasn't necessarily a bad option. However, as a sword cultivator who had stood on the mountain peak and witnessed majestic scenes before, the woman knew that the mountain peak of martial arts was lower than the mountain peak of Qi refiners.

This was the truth, and there were also historical reasons and grounds for this. She wasn't looking down on the young boy's martial arts cultivation, but she was rather worried about the slim possibility of him walking to the highest peak. The path of Martial Dao led to a dead-end, and the chance of someone reaching the peak was incredibly small. Moreover, what did a dead-end imply? And what did the bridges of immortality of Qi refiners imply?

What should their daughter do at that time?

The man smiled at her and said, "How about we leave things as they are? We'll let the young boy forge his own path. It's up to him how far he goes."

However, the woman was still hesitant to let this go, and she asked, "Why don't we help him ask Grandpa Chen for a celestial tool? Perhaps we can treat this as a dowry for our daughter?"

Regardless of age, everyone in the Sword Qi Great Wall was accustomed to calling this old man Grandpa Chen. Only two people were exceptions to this rule.

Of course, that one certain person who had put on a bamboo hat and left this place with a saber had also been an exception.

The man huffed in anger and argued, "To say nothing of whether he'll be able to use an unruly celestial tool in his lifetime, as a man, does Chen Ping'an need this kind of donated fated opportunity...?"

The woman cut her husband off, stopping him from expounding his profound principles. "He's still just a young boy."

The man was rendered speechless.

Even though the old man liked this young couple very much, this didn't mean that he enjoyed listening to their trivial bickering.

After hearing the young boy's name, however, he turned around again and asked, "The young boy's surname is also Chen?"

The woman smiled and replied, "What a coincidence, right? After drinking a few bowls of golden millet wine, the characters that he wrote on a whim on that wall were 'Lasting Sword Qi'."

The old man smiled and looked at the couple.

The man hurriedly shook his hands and said, "We definitely didn't plan this. Everything happened naturally."

The woman also nodded earnestly with an honest expression.

They were afraid that this respected old sword immortal would mistake them for scheming against him.

If the old man became angry...

The consequences would be unimaginable!

The old man casually extended a hand.

And thereupon, a young boy in Majestic World's Stalactite Mountain was dragged to the city wall in this world.

Sword qi and sword intent flooded the surroundings, seemingly omnipresent like seawater as it ferociously funneled into the young boy's acupoints.

This was a stifling aura.

It was as if the young boy were a small fish that had initially been swimming happily in a stream. However, the small fish had suddenly been tossed ashore, and the so-called shore was actually a scorched and cracked piece of land. If the fish thrashed and struggled, the remaining water on its body would be immediately vaporized into nothingness.

The old man observed the young boy who was hanging in midair above the city wall with an expression of pure agony. With a casual toss, he sent the young boy back to his original location in Stalactite Mountain. He smiled at the confused couple and said, "This is also quite good, isn't it?"

————

Chen Ping'an swayed back and forth, and it took him much effort to finally stabilize himself.

Right now, there was a talisman in his sword case that held the female bone ghost whom he had subdued in Colorful Garment Nation. Chen Ping'an had suffered agonizing pain during this "distant journey", yet the female bone ghost had actually suffered even more. In fact, she had almost been completely annihilated. Thankfully, the old man had only kept him there for a short moment. Moreover, there was rich yin energy in the naturally formed "locust residence" in his sword case, and this had blocked out the large majority of sword qi.

While hanging in the air, Chen Ping'an had seen a skinny old man as well as that husband and wife. At the same time, he had also stolen a glance at the city wall of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

On the plaza at the foot of Lone Peak, a young girl with two swords by her waist walked out from the mirror-like gate and pondered for a moment. She slowed her pace slightly, yet her face was still devoid of emotion. However, she somewhat greeted the young Daoist priest who was frozen with shock, saying, "Compared to last time, I'm a tiny bit more familiar with you this time. Even so, we're still unfamiliar with each other."

"Such lawlessness... Is the Sword Qi Great Wall not going to do something about this?" the young Daoist priest murmured.

The sword-hugging middle-aged man gazed up at the bright moon in the night sky. "How many people have died for the sake of you guys? Is Majestic World not going to do something about this" he muttered to himself.

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