Sword of Coming

Sword of Coming

Chen Ping’an had reappeared no more than five meters away from Qi Shou, but instead of pouncing right away, he channeled his land-shortening immortal technique once again.

Qi Shou knew that Chen Ping’an was going to appear behind him, so he instantly bolstered his defenses there, and in the blink of an eye, the number of Jumping Spiders hovering behind him had increased drastically.

At the same time, Heartstring was sticking to Chen Ping’an like glue, while Flying Kite was constantly harassing him from different directions.

Qi Shou didn’t have to do anything other than stand completely still to have Chen Ping’an dancing frantically on the palm of his hand.

His goal was to slowly run Chen Ping’an into the ground and exhaust him to death, subjecting him to the most humiliating defeat possible.

“This is not looking good,” Yan Zhuo murmured in a concerned voice. “Flying Kite doesn’t pose much of a threat, but if I recall correctly, Qi Shou is currently able to support over five hundred Jumping Spiders at once. Right now, I can only count fewer than three hundred.

“On top of that, the longer this battle drags on, the more familiar Heartstring will become with Chen Ping’an’s soul, and it’ll only become faster and faster. The bastard’s clearly toying with Chen Ping’an on purpose!”

“It can really feel like a hopeless task when you’re facing an opponent with multiple flying swords that work well together in tandem,” Chen Sanqiu mused with a wry smile as he shot a concerned glance at Ning Yao, but at the very least, on the surface, it seemed like her resolve hadn’t been shaken in the slightest.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an drew to an abrupt halt, and his fist intent was swirling around him with tremendous force, conjuring up a palpable aura that was visible to the naked eye even for some cultivators of the Lower Five Tiers.

Qi Shou had his back to Chen Ping’an, and he immediately sprang forward without any hesitation. His original intention was to remain standing where he was for the duration of the entire battle in order to inflict maximum humiliation upon Chen Ping’an, but his intuition told him to abandon the idea as he sprang forward by over a hundred feet.

At the same time, the number of Jumping Spiders around him increased once again, forming an even denser and more impenetrable sword formation.

From there, he turned around to face Chen Ping’an, and a slightly wary look surfaced in his eyes at the sight of the latter’s oncoming fist, prompting him to retreat even further. However, in the eyes of all of the bystanders, he still appeared as casual and relaxed as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

Meanwhile, Flying Kite and Heartstring were each struck by a streak of sword light.

However, the two flying swords that had appeared out of nowhere were laughably weak, only able to obstruct Flying Kite and Heartstring for a moment before they were both sent flying through the air, but that was already enough.

Right before Qi Shou’s eyes, Chen Ping’an’s fist broke through the Jumping Spider sword formation, and the flesh and skin on his fist were torn to shreds, stripped down to the bone, but even then, it was only slowed down slightly.

However, that slight falter was enough time for Flying Kite and Heartstring to reenter the battle, and the faster Heartstring was racing directly toward Chen Ping’an, aimed just below his heart. This wasn’t supposed to be a battle to the death, after all, and Qi Shou had no intention of soiling his own reputation just to kill someone that he saw as a pathetic nobody.

Meanwhile, Flying Kite was hurtling directly toward Chen Ping’an’s spinal column from behind.

Qi Shou was curious to see just how much force would be left behind Chen Ping’an’s punch once those two swords pierced through his body.

The physiques of swordsmen were constantly refined day and night by their bonded flying swords, and as a result, their physical constitutions could almost rival those of Militarian cultivators.

With three bonded flying swords in his possession, Qi Shou’s physical constitution was far more formidable than even the average swordsman of his cultivation base.

In an instant, Qi Shou instinctively drew upon the immense spiritual energy in all of his major acupoints. A series of mesmerising phenomena arose within his internal small world at once, and his entire body was enveloped in a resplendent veil of light, while his eyes began to glow with rippling golden radiance.

As it turned out, Chen Ping’an possessed more than just those two virtually useless flying swords.

In addition to those, he also possessed a true bonded flying sword, which was racing through the air as a rapid streak of green sword light, striking Heartstring tip to tip. Both flying swords were knocked away by the force of the collision, clearing the path ahead for Chen Ping’an’s fist.

As for Flying Kite, it was being outsped by Chen Ping’an, so it was unable to catch up to him and successfully pierce its way through his spine.

A trail of blood trickled down from the corner of Qi Shou’s lips after withstanding a punch from Chen Ping’an’s stripped skeletal fist, but he was put at ease by the observation that there wasn’t much force behind Chen Ping’an’s punch.

After clearing the path with his Heavy Cavalry Formation Shattering Technique, Chen Ping’an immediately followed up with his Deity Drumming Technique.

All Qi Shou saw was a blur of activity flash before his eyes, and even though he had already sped up in his retreat thanks to the force of Chen Ping’an’s initial blow, the latter’s second punch was still somehow able to catch up to him before making solid contact.

Not only was Flying Kite powerless to do anything, but even Heartstring also seemed a little lost and dazed, forced to clash repeatedly against that streak of green sword light. Each time the two flying swords clashed, the air around them would visibly ripple, presenting a marvelous yet deadly spectacle to behold.

“Isn’t Brother Ping’an only a fourth tier Qi refiner?”

“Why does he have three flying swords?”

These questions were blurted out by Yan Zhuo and Chen Sanqiu in unison, and they were left to stare at each other in confusion and bewilderment.

All of a sudden, the tables had been turned, and it was Qi Shou’s turn to begin frantically fleeing for cover. He was a swordsman at the pinnacle of the Golden Core Tier with a vast wealth of battle experience, yet he had been forced into a fistfight by Chen Ping’an.

Having said that, even though this wasn’t his forte, he was still able to hold his own.

After being struck by those initial two punches, more and more spiritual energy began to surge out of Qi Shou’s acupoints to bolster his already impressive physical constitution, and after clashing fists with Chen Ping’an several times in succession, he decided to go on the offensive himself, exchanging blows with his opponent as if he were also a pure martial artist.

One of his punches sent Chen Ping’an’s head rocking back to a significant degree, but the latter remained as composed and expressionless as ever, as if he were incapable of feeling pain. Furthermore, it seemed like there wasn’t any consideration in the placement of his blows, as if he were content just to be landing punches on Qi Shou at all.

Heartstring was fast enough to chase down Chen Ping’an, but it was constantly being obstructed by the green flying sword, whereas Flying Kite was perpetually a step behind.

The finest of margins made a world of difference in battles between swordsmen.

The Jumping Spider sword formation was already on the verge of collapse, and it was posing less and less of a threat to Chen Ping’an.

All of the spectators lining the street were stunned by what they were witnessing, and they wondered if they were about to witness a miraculous comeback from the outsider.

After fifteen punches, Qi Shou was finally unable to hold his own any longer, and he was knocked down before sliding back over a hundred feet along the ground on his back. However, the Dao robe that he was wearing had cushioned the blow, and as he was sliding back, a Militarian armor pellet slipped out of his sleeve, instantly encasing his entire body in a suit of golden armor.

From there, he slammed a palm into the ground to propel himself to his feet, only to be instantly knocked back down by a punch to the face.

It was an extremely powerful blow, slamming Qi Shou to the ground with such immense force that his body bounced back up, only to be mercilessly struck down again by another punch.

At this point, blood was flowing freely out of all of Qi Shou’s orifices.

Pang Yuanji heaved a faint sigh as he observed the battle from afar. He knew that it was about time for Qi Shou to open up some distance between himself and Chen Ping’an before drawing the sword on his back.

None of the swordsmen of the Sword Qi Great Wall carried around physical swords for style or aesthetics. Instead, they were often trump cards to be used in tandem with their bonded flying swords.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an stopped in his tracks, pulling his punches instead of continuing to press his advantage.

Right as everyone was wondering why he had relented all of a sudden, another Qi Shou appeared around thirty meters away from the Qi Shou on the ground.

His yin soul had been released from his body.

Clearly, he had used some type of secret technique. Otherwise, given that all swordsmen were extremely sensitive to even minute shifts in aura, there was no way that he could have released his yin soul without detection.

Qi Shou’s yin soul reached out expressionlessly with one hand to make a grabbing motion, and the sword on his physical body’s back instantly flew out of its scabbard and into his grasp.

The sword’s name was High Radiance, and it was one of the Qi Clan’s pseudo-celestial weapons.

It was said that the sword had been forged using the godly body spinal column of a deity of fire from the ancient Heavenly Court. Apparently, one of the Qi Clan’s old ancestors had obtained the deity’s remains by chance before refining the spinal column in question for over a hundred years to forge this sword.

Qi Shou had immediately come into possession of the sword upon his birth.

“Do you still want to continue?” Qi Shou’s yin soul asked as it held High Radiance firmly in its grasp.

Everyone turned to Chen Ping’an for his response, and they were stunned by what they saw. Even Die Zhang, who was definitely no stranger to physical punishment, couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of Chen Ping’an’s condition.

Chen Ping’an’s right hand had been stripped completely down to the bone, but he didn’t seem to have noticed at all as he picked up Qi Shou’s body from the ground, then casually tossed it at his yin soul.

He then stood with his left hand clasped behind his back and his right hand clenched into a loose fist against his abdomen.

All the while, blood was flowing down from his mangled arm along his skeletal fingers onto the ground.

Qi Shou’s yin soul instantly returned to his body.

Chen Ping’an raised his unsightly arm, then yelled, “Come!”

A pillar of golden light erupted into the heavens from the Ning Manor in the distance, and what sounded like a string of rumbling thunderclaps rang out as a streak of golden radiance raced through the air before arriving in Chen Ping’an’s grasp.

The trail of sword qi left behind was so immense that even after the sword had already been caught in Chen Ping’an’s grasp, the long line of golden light that it left behind continued to linger.

Qi Shou’s entire face was covered in blood and filth, but he was too stunned and enraged to care as he yelled, “Who lent you that celestial weapon?!”

The golden sword in Chen Ping’an’s hand was none other than Sword Immortal, and it was ringing and buzzing incessantly, seemingly ecstatic at the fact that it had finally been called upon in battle again after so long.

The golden radiance emanating from the sword was so incredibly bright that it made it appear as if Chen Ping’an were holding a miniature sun in his hand.

High Radiance? Just how high is your sword’s radiance? Only the light of the sun can compare with the radiance of my sword!

A calm smile appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face as he said, “If your surname wasn’t Qi, you’d still be lying on the ground right now. You had a pseudo-celestial weapon handed to you because you were born into affluence and privilege, whereas I had to earn this sword with my life. I now turn your question back to you: Do you still want to continue?”

At some point, the one-eyed sword immortal had returned to his chair in the completely demolished wine shop, and he picked up a relatively intact bowl before pouring himself some wine as he said to Qi Shou, “If you’ve lost, then you have to concede. No direct descendant of the Qi Clan has ever died north of the city walls.”

Qi Shou sheathed his sword as he made his way down the street, and as he passed Chen Ping’an by, he challenged, “Do you dare to arrange a time for a rematch?”

Among all of his peers on the Sword Qi Great Wall, he was the one who had the best chance of reaching the Nascent Tier first, even before Ning Yao.

The problem with Ning Yao’s cultivation was that she had to do too many things. Qi refinement had never been a problem for her. Instead, the item refinement element of her cultivation was what had always been slowing down her progress.

If Qi Shou could fight Chen Ping’an again after reaching the Nascent Tier, then the outcome of the battle would be a foregone conclusion from the very beginning.

“How about you choose the location, and I’ll pick the time?” Chen Ping’an asked, making a counterproposal.

Qi Shou was almost unable to suppress the mouthful of blood fighting to force its way out through his throat.

Without another word, he trudged his way on foot to the end of the street before rounding the corner, seemingly intentionally choosing to prolong his own humiliation by refraining from taking flight.

Trailing along behind him was a group of lackeys, all of whom looked even more distraught than he did.

Chen Ping’an turned to Ning Yao with a wide smile, only to receive a displeased glare in response.

Chen Ping’an then cast his gaze over his surroundings. Strangely enough, aside from his ancestral residence on Clay Vase Alley and the bamboo building on Downtrodden Mountain, this was the place where he felt most free and uninhibited, and that gave him the courage to freely swing his fists and draw his swords.

The reason for this was that the Sword Qi Great Wall was a very pure place. Sure, it was more dangerous here than just about anywhere else, but it was nowhere near as complicated as the Majestic World, and there was far less to be considered.

Furthermore, residing atop the Sword Qi Great Wall was the old great sword immortal, who had once personally taught him how to “be unreasonable.” This was followed by a demonstration, during which the old great sword immortal had casually sent a streak of sword qi raining down from the heavens to kill an Upper Five Tiers swordsman from a prominent clan.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Qingdu was the highest principle there was.

Chen Ping’an earnestly respected and admired the old immortal, and he hoped to also be able to someday attain such immense power that he could lash out with his fists and his swords without any qualms or inhibitions.

Furthermore, this was a place where A’Liang had once stayed for many years, and Chen Ping’an would be doing a disservice to this sacred place if he were too hesitant with his fists or too slow with his swords.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath, feeling quite exhilarated, but it still wasn’t enough.

Pang Yuanji was just about to depart when, to his surprise, Chen Ping’an turned to him with a faint smile.

“You don’t feel like you’re placing yourself at a disadvantage?” Pang Yuanji asked with a smile.

The previous victory had not come easily.

Everyone on the street watched as Chen Ping’an pierced Sword Immortal into the ground, then released it and beckoned to Pang Yuanji as he replied, “On the contrary, I’m worried you’re the one who feels at a disadvantage.”

This bold declaration was very amusing to the sword immortals present, and Pang Yuanji stepped out onto the middle of the street from the wine shop with a wide smile as he cupped his fist in a salute and declared, “I am Pang Yuanji of the Sword Qi Great Wall! Please enlighten me!”

Chen Ping’an thought about it for a moment, then returned the salute as he declared with a serious expression, “I am Chen Ping’an, the one liked by Ning Yao! Please enlighten me!”