Unsheathed

Chapter 244 (2): I Am Chen Ping'an of the Great Li Empire

Once upon a time, a formidable general with the Ma surname had emerged in Colorful Garment Nation military, but his superiors essentially forced him to move to the Blusher Prefecture out of envy, and he lived out the rest of his days there. In light of Colorful Garment Nation's obvious military incompetence, it had become a very alluring piece of free real estate for the three nations that directly neighbored it.

Chu Hao had volunteered to lead this army against Sword Water Villa not just to settle a personal vendetta for his wife. Instead, the main reason was actually because he wanted to claim the position of general of the army that would eventually be sent to conquer Colorful Garment Nation.

If he could successfully bring down Sword Water Villa, then that would lend him greater authority and acclaim in the imperial court. Otherwise, even if the emperor wanted to select him for the role, he would undoubtedly be met with resistance from some more seasoned generals with more accolades to their name.

If he could slay the sword saint on top of eliminating Sword Water Villa, then that would contribute significantly to furthering his agenda.

Surrounded by his formidable army, Chu Hao was completely safe, and with that in mind, he couldn't help but think to himself, Even the heavens are on my side! Kill as many as you please, Song Yushao. Let's see what you're going to do once you're completely worn down. Soon, I'll be leading an almighty border army of over 100,000 troops on a northbound march, and I'll be the one to claim top honors for the eradication of Colorful Garment Nation!

When that time comes, there's a very good chance that I'll be able to claim one of the ten spots among the generals of the decade adjudged by Lake View Academy! Song Changjing of the Great Li Empire is nothing more than a northern savage who only reached his current position thanks to his imperial ties. In terms of actual strategic acumen and competence when leading an army, he's nothing compared with me!

Chu Hao unconsciously tightened his grip around his golden paper cutter as the smile on his face grew even wider, and he could already envision his imminent meteoric rise.

Meanwhile, Song Yushao had successfully withstood the second volley of arrows fired at him by Chu Hao's cavalry, and at this point, he was already no more than fifty meters away from the line of cavalry. Given the speed at which he was advancing, the cavalry had already given up on firing more arrows at him, and they had adopted the formation shattering setup that couldn't have been more familiar to them as they stormed at Song Yushao with unstoppable might.

All of a sudden, a sense of foreboding welled up in Song Yushao's heart, and he sprang several meters to the side while charging forward, allowing him to evade an arrow that had come flying at him with extraordinary speed. That arrow had been far more formidable than the normal arrows fired at him in the volleys from the cavalry, and three more of those arrows were fired at him in rapid succession, but he was able to successfully evade them every single time.

At the same time, he thrust his joint index and middle fingers upward, and Immovable came plummeting out of the heavens at his behest.

As for the blade-wielding cavalry who had tumbled down from the backs of their fallen steeds, they were prepared to lay down their lives, but none of them were able to land a single blow on Song Yushao, and all of them felt as if he were simply gliding past them in a wraith-like manner.

Immovable continued to plunge forward like a flood dragon powering through a river, severing the legs of several horses in the blink of an eye. The sword seemed determined to open up a path for its owner to advance freely, and it was hurtling forward with unstoppable force, plunging straight through all of the horses in its path.

A trail of fallen horses and cavalry were left in its wake, immediately following which a wraith-like figure would glide through the chaos in a graceful and carefree manner.

Song Yushao was slicing through the elite cavalry in his path like a sharp blade, and after successfully piercing through the line of cavalry, he was met with a mountainous wall of shields that were spread out before him in a line.

The spear tips protruding out of the gaps between the shields were all shimmering with a menacing gleam, and the length of these spears was around one and a half times the height of a grown man. The combination of shields and spears formed an impregnable fortress that was also capable of lethal retaliation, and it seemed that there was no way to bypass it.

If he were to leap high up into the sky to attack Chu Hao from above, then he would be sure to be shot full of holes by the array of archers standing behind the wall of shields and spears.

Due to how quickly Song Yushao had been advancing earlier, the archers were rendered largely useless, but that certainly didn't mean that they would remain ineffective for the rest of the battle. In particular, the archers wielding the prized Mohist divine bows were sure to play an important role going forward.

Song Yushao forcibly drew in a fresh breath, and his Qi instantly began to surge violently throughout his entire body. Right at this moment, several top cultivators of Water Combing Nation who had pledged their allegiance to the imperial court launched themselves into the air off the heads and shoulders of the foot soldiers in front of them.

They were concealed behind the wall of shields, so Song Yushao was unable to see them, and they were pouncing on this interval where Song Yushao was out of breath to make their move, lashing out at him with formidable weapons.

Instead of backing down in the face of these mighty adversaries, Song Yushao sprang forward without any hesitation, sweeping his longsword horizontally through the air.

Even though they had perfect timing to capitalize on Song Yushao pausing to draw a breath and replenish his qi, they had never faced a sixth tier swordsman in battle before, and they failed to anticipate just how quickly a swordsman of this caliber was able to replenish the air in his lungs.[1]

In the blink of an eye, three fourth-tier Lesser Grandmasters were chopped in half by the oncoming streak of crescent-shaped sword qi.

They had met their demise before they had even had a chance to play any role in the battle, and one couldn't help but wonder if they had died filled with regrets.

After slaying these Lesser Grandmasters, Song Yushao slashed downward without pause. Four or five of the armorclad foot soldiers in front of him, as well as several of the soldiers behind them, were instantly torn apart by the streak of devastating sword qi, together with their armor and weapons.

Blood and scattered remains instantly splattered onto armor of the nearby foot soldiers, but this was a very well-trained and experienced unit. More foot soldiers instantly charged forward from the rear to fill the hole that Song Yushao had just pierced into their ranks, while the other foot soldiers on either side of the hole also closed in to fill the gaps.

Those who didn't fear death weren't guaranteed to survive on the battlefield, but those who did fear death often found themselves suffering the very fate that they frantically tried to avoid.

In the brief moment that it took for the hole in the formation of foot soldiers to be filled, Song Yushao was able to catch a glimpse of just how deep the formation was, and he couldn't help but heave an internal sigh. However, his fighting spirit didn't waver in the slightest as he sprang up into the air before slashing his sword through the air once again, severing several rows of spears at the forefront of the opposing formation.

At the same time, he abruptly tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword, and his unbridled sword intent erupted out of his body. It was as if he were wielding a full moon that was glowing with dazzling radiance, threatening to steal the limelight from the sun up above!

With a thunderous roar, he rose up over three meters further into the air, and his sword intent and sword qi swelled drastically in unison. The moon that he was wielding was originally only the size of a jade plate, but it abruptly expanded dramatically to encompass his entire body, keeping all of the oncoming arrows at bay as he flew directly toward Chu Hao from above. Upon striking the shining moon, all of the arrows would have their tips chipped and their shafts snapped.

While the entire army's attention was focused on Song Yushao, Chen Ping'an wasn't just standing around. Instead, he also rushed forward with the speed and agility of a nimble rabbit.

The cavalry of Chu Hao's army naturally weren't going to turn around; doing so would only cause disruption to the formation of foot soldiers. They remained in place, and Chen Ping'an was forced to bear the full brunt of their fury.

While it was almost to be expected that the almighty sword saint of Water Combing Nation would be able to pierce through their ranks, no one could've anticipated that this unknown young boy would also be so difficult to deal with.

He was extraordinarily fast, able to cover ten meters with every single stride, and he was also infuriatingly agile, managing to successfully evade a volley of arrows along with four or five Mohist arrows fired at him from very sharp angles.

As for the arrows that he was unable to evade, he would simply brush them aside with his hands. Before long, he had already rushed into the ranks of the cavalry like a slippery eel, traversing through the tiniest of gaps in the opposing formation.

During the occasional instances where he was forced to face an enemy directly, he would either throw a punch into the horse's side to send both horse and rider flying ten meters through the air, or ram his shoulder into the oncoming horse to achieve the same outcome.

After that, he would gently spring up into the air, launching himself off the horse's back with the grace and finesse of a dragonfly skimming over water. In the blink of an eye, he would already be gone, leaving behind nothing more than a gentle breeze in his wake. All of the cavalry that he passed by would lash out with their blades and spears, but none of them were able to even graze his clothes.

In their eyes, he was definitely a grandmaster martial artist who was at least at the pinnacle of the fourth tier, perhaps even a fifth tier martial artist!

A lance-wielding cavalry carefully took aim at Chen Ping'an's neck, then thrust the lance upward violently with unbridled killing intent.

Chen Ping'an cocked his head to the side to just barely evade the oncoming lance, and at the same time, he reached out to grab onto the shaft. The lance was a prized weapon that had been passed down in the soldier's family for generations, but despite his best efforts, it was still wrenched out of his grasp, leaving the flesh on his hand torn and bloodied.

Chen Ping'an adjusted the lance while in mid-air so that he was holding onto it with both hands, then plunged it deep into the ground. The lance was remarkably flexible, and it bent in a massive arc before catapulting Chen Ping'an close to twenty meters up into the sky with a dull twang.

Even as he was launched into the air, Chen Ping'an was still holding onto one end of the lance instead of leaving it behind.

All of the cavalry that he had left behind could only look on as he flew through the air like a wind-riding immortal before landing on a patch of empty land directly behind their ranks. Upon landing on the ground, Chen Ping'an took a step back without pause, then swung his arm through the air with all his might to hurl the lance up into the sky.

After that, he patted the wine gourd strapped to his waist as he sprang up into the air, and in the next instant, he vanished into thin air without any warning. It was as if he had used some type of land-shortening mystical ability, and all of the cavalry looked on in shock and awe as he appeared atop the lance an instant later.

He was standing on the lance with one foot in front of the other, just like how legendary sword immortals rode atop their flying swords, presenting an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

If it weren't for the fact that they were in opposing camps, they would've been unable to resist the urge to cheer him on.

Immediately thereafter, an even more infuriating sight unfolded.

Not only was Chen Ping'an flying through the air atop his newly acquired lance, he had removed the wine gourd from his waist and was taking a swig of wine, even as he was surrounded by throngs of enemies!

All of the onlookers were incensed to see this, but deep down, they couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

Both Song Yushao and Chen Ping'an were advancing deep into enemy territory, but they were doing so in completely different ways.

The former was slicing through the enemy ranks with his unmatched sword qi, cutting down enemies with every single slash of his sword, whereas Chen Ping'an hadn't killed a single person thus far.

All he did was follow Song Yushao like a shadow, and he was waltzing into the enemy camp as casually as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

Due to the incredible speed at which the lance was traveling and the unexpected nature of this turn of events, the enemy archers were momentarily rooted to the spot. However, the commanders in the army quickly snapped back to their senses and began barking orders, instructing the strongest archers to intercept Chen Ping'an by shooting their bows with incredibly high draw weight.

Of course, the archers wielding Mohist divine bows were also among them, and a fierce storm of lightning-fast arrows were sent hurtling toward Chen Ping'an.

While everyone was still reeling at what they were seeing, they soon found themselves even more astonished as two resplendent streaks of light, one white and one green, suddenly shot out of Chen Ping'an's red wine gourd before striking and shattering all of the oncoming arrows.

Chen Ping'an didn't need to take any evasive measures at all, and the crisis was averted in virtually the blink of an eye.

After flying for a good two hundred meters, the lance had already begun its descent. Chen Ping'an launched himself up into the air, allowing the lance to crash down to the ground. He did so just in time to evade an attack from a top-tier swordsman of Water Combing Nation, and the swordsman landed on the ground before turning back to glower at Chen Ping'an with a look of frustration and indignation on his face.

Earlier, he had been completely powerless to stand against Song Yushao's tremendous sword qi, but that was only to be expected. Yet now, he had completely failed to even graze a no-name young boy with his attack! How was he supposed to live with himself?

As a formidable swordsman of Chu Hao's army, he sat on an elevated pedestal, enjoying far greater benefits than the average soldier, yet now that it was time for him to do his job, he had failed in humiliating fashion!

Further up ahead, Song Yushao was no more than 200 meters away from Chu Hao. At this point, the ball of sword qi around him had already been worn down significantly by the countless arrows and spears that it had withstood, not to mention that the attacks that had been thrown at him by the dozen or so powerful cultivators directly under Chu Hao's command.

Right at this moment, a streak of green sword qi came hurtling toward Song Yushao with unstoppable might, and it was finally able to breach the barrier of sword qi around him. However, it was met by Song Yushao's Immovable sword, and was split in half before sweeping past him, instantly killing dozens of foot soldiers behind him on the spot.

Song Yushao withdrew his sword as a line of blood trickled down from the corner of his lips. This time, he didn't dare to relax and replenish his qi.

At the very least, the person who had attacked him just now had to be a fifth tier swordsman, so it was not someone that he could afford to take lightly.

At this moment, that person was standing right beside Chu Hao. He was dressed in a green robe with one hand clasped behind his back, while the other hand was holding his sword with the tip aimed directly at Song Yushao.

The man didn't appear to be very old, seemingly only in his early thirties, but he could just as well be over forty. Upon closer inspection, Song Yushao discovered that the man wasn't even wielding a sword. Instead, it was a well-polished piece of green bamboo the length of a normal sword.

He was standing atop his saddle rather than sitting on it. This made him appear significantly taller than Chu Hao, but the latter didn't seem to mind.

The swordsman turned to Chu Hao with a smile as he said, "That sword of Song Yushao's has quite a nice bamboo scabbard. Would you be able to give it to me, General Chu?"

"Why not?" Chu Hao immediately replied in a generous manner. "Forget the scabbard, you can have the sword as well if you want!"

The swordsman shook his head with a smile as he replied, "There's no need for that. Immovable is Song Yushao's personal sword, so if you can offer it up to your emperor, then that would be a symbolic representation of the martial arts world bowing its head to the imperial court."

An enlightened look appeared on Chu Hao's face, and he immediately burst into laughter. "How thoughtful of you, Green Bamboo Sword Immortal!"

Song Yushao was standing on a small patch of empty ground that had been vacated by all of the surrounding foot soldiers, and the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal declared, "Sword Saint Song, the instant that you draw your next breath will be the instant that you meet your demise!"

Song Yushao's expression remained unchanged, while a loud commotion rang out from behind him.

Chu Hao's eyes narrowed slightly as he pulled what appeared to be a silver ingot out of his sleeve, and he clutched it in the palm of his hand. Moments later, a pair of old men with white hair emerged beside him.

One of the old men was wearing a brocade robe. Between his index and middle fingers, he held an azure talisman that had golden text inscribed upon it. The other one had a burly and imposing physique, and he was wielding a pair of axes with cloud designs engraved upon them. Neither of them was wearing armor, and it was clear that they weren't soldiers of Chu Hao's army.

Both of them cast their eyes toward Song Yushao, and in contrast with the calm confidence that the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal was exuding, the two old men were a little apprehensive.

Both of them were formidable Qi refiners who were also guest elders of Water Combing Nation's imperial clan, and they were aware of just how fearsome a sixth tier swordsman could be, particularly when the swordsman in question was prepared to lay down his life to make one final stand.

"I need one of you to help the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal slay Song Yushao as quickly as possible, while the other one keeps that boy at bay," Chu Hao instructed.

The burly ax-wielding man strode toward Song Yushao with a cold smile on his face as he declared, "I'll force the old bastard to breathe and replenish his qi!"

Meanwhile, a wry smile appeared on the brocade-robed old man's face as he gently tossed forward the azure paper talisman that he had treasured for many years. Despite his reluctance to part with the talisman, he had no choice but to do so in the face of such a formidable foe.

After rising up into the air, the talisman vanished in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of golden light erupted out of thin air roughly 150 meters away, and a giant warrior clad in a suit of golden armor landed on the ground with a resounding boom. The warrior stood at over seven meters tall, towering over the surrounding foot soldiers, and it was wielding a huge halberd. There was no actual body encased within the suit of golden armor, only streaks of silver light that were moving around incessantly.

Chen Ping'an continued to charge forward, and it appeared as if he was running on air, but in reality, he was using First and Fifteenth as stepping stones to pave the way forward.

Chen Ping'an was most definitely a very dogmatic and stubborn person, but he had actually changed quite a bit ever since he had begun traveling the world on his own.

The golden-armored warrior was holding its huge halberd in one hand, and it was scrutinizing Chen Ping'an intently, preparing to lash out as soon as he was within range, but Chen Ping'an remained completely unfazed.

Back in the Blusher Prefecture, Daoist Chong Miao had summoned a pair of copper-armored warriors to protect himself in battle, and if Chen Ping'an recalled correctly, even the best copper-armored talismanic warriors were only comparable in power to third tier martial artists. By Chen Ping'an's estimates, this golden-armored warrior had to be at least comparable with a fourth tier martial artist, perhaps even a fifth tier one.

Of course, there was no way that this would be enough to make him back down. Even back when he was first practicing fist techniques, he had possessed the courage to take on the old Mountain-moving Ape of Sun Scorch Mountain on his own, so this glorified puppet certainly wasn't going to strike fear into his heart.

In a gesture that was almost completely instinctively, Chen Ping'an reached out to grab onto the hilt of his locust wood sword.

At the same time, he instructed internally, "First, Fifteenth, go help Senior Song deal with those two. I'll take on this thing on my own."

At no more than twenty meters away from the golden-armored warrior, the two flying swords beneath Chen Ping'an's feet darted away, one to the left and one to the right, flying past the golden-armored warrior that was now charging at their master.

Chen Ping'an leaped up into the air while his hand remained locked around the hilt of his locust wood sword, and he yelled, "You'll be fine, Senior Song, I’ll make sure of that, so breathe whenever you're ready!"

The burly old man was charging at Song Yushao with his axes raised, while the Green Bamboo Sword Immortal was waiting to pounce, but there was a confident smile on Song Yushao's face, and he placed his full trust in Chen Ping'an as he drew a full breath.

The Green Bamboo Sword Immortal immediately pounced on that opportunity to lash out with his sword.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping'an continued to fly through the air while murmuring to himself in a voice that was audible only to himself, and he found himself in an unprecedented immersive state where his mind was completely empty, and his heart was focused fully on his sword.

Back in the ancient temple, Mr. Qi had managed to slice through the Golden Light Formation of that pink-robed great demon with ease with a single slash of the locust wood sword.

Seeing as he still wasn't ready to emulate that sword strike, he decided that he would take things slowly, just as he did in his fist technique practice. There would inevitably come a day when he threw his millionth punch, and everything would fall into place.

All he was focused on was moving his sword, and he was determined to pierce through anything in his path, whether that be mountains or rivers.

He channeled Eighteen Stops Technique with all his might, and the sword qi within his body surged forth like floodwaters through a broken dam, passing through a series of acupoints normally seen as not worth cultivating for the majority of swordsmen.

In the next instant, Chen Ping'an forcefully drew his locust wood sword, unleashing a burst of resplendent sword qi that he was unable to see as he slashed his sword at the giant golden-armored warrior.

The golden-armored warrior was instantly sliced apart along with its massive halberd!

Chen Ping'an landed on both feet, then raised his head just in time to see a huge rift appear diagonally across the golden-armored warrior.

Dazzling silver light erupted out of the rift as the warrior's golden armor fell apart, falling to the ground in a heap.

Chen Ping'an's knees remained slightly bent, and he was sweating profusely with a slightly dazed look on his face, but he quickly snapped back to his senses as he stood up straight again with his locust wood sword held tightly in his hand.

Never had he felt so exhilarated, and all he wanted was to yell out to express his emotions.

In the face of the formidable army, he raised his locust wood sword as he declared at the top of his lungs, "I am Chen Ping'an of the Great Li Empire!"

1. The original says something along the lines of "exchanging breath." This refers to the fact that the short moment between exhaling and inhaling is a natural moment of weakness, and it's impossible to fully mobilize one's muscles during the inhalation because the core has to be at least partially relaxed to allow the diaphragm to descend. This concept is even more important in internal martial arts—in order to draw in and circulate qi properly, deep abdominal breathing is absolutely necessary. For this reason, this is often translated as "replenishing qi." However, it takes a normal human around two seconds, and a lot of things can happen in a fight in two seconds.?

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