Chapter 507: (3): Lofty Like a Deity

The flying sword leisurely flew back to its master's side, appearing like an obedient little bird as it slowly circled him in a gentle and docile manner.

Chen Ping'an shot a glance at the young girl wearing a green dress, and Little Cui grinned at him in response.

Chen Ping'an also smiled, saying, "Of Yellow Axe City's He Lu, the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm's Yan Qing, and Verdant Bamboo Lake's Lake Lord Yin Hou, did not a single one of these three people inform the others that it would be best to directly place the battleground at Imperial Accompanying City? I would have perhaps been the most restricted over there, while you would have enjoyed the greatest chance of success. Killing me might have been difficult, but you would have had a better chance to flee."

Lake Lord Yin Hou put his hands down and looked up, replying, "I did mention this before, Sword Immortal, and He Lu also agreed to my proposal. He even came up with many intricate and interlinked plans, for example, using all kinds of immortal techniques to envelop the commoners and force them to directly charge to the ghost residence. In the end, however, both sides felt like staying too close to Imperial Accompanying City would increase the risk of being targeted by Great Sword Immortal, someone who's able to use his flying sword to kill someone a thousand paces away.

"No one was willing to sacrifice themself first, and the lives of the cultivators from Yellow Axe City and the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm are also very valuable. Without these cultivators volunteering to act first, the cultivators from the vassal immortal forces aren't completely stupid either, so no one was willing to sacrifice themself for money that they wouldn't be able to spend. They argued incessantly, and they could only abandon these plans in the end.

"Sword Immortal, I've already said everything that I should say and shouldn't say. You can feel free to kill whomever you want now, and so be it if I lose my dragon palace and my thousand-year-long reign. When this is over, and if Sword Immortal is willing to act benevolently and spare me, then Verdant Bamboo Lake will definitely repair the mountain and water fortune of Imperial Accompanying City. I'll treat this as a form of repenting for my crimes."

Upon hearing Lake Lord Yin Hou's first remark, Yan Qing's entire body started to shake, with her face also becoming as white as a sheet.

Her Dao Heart was unstable, her acupoints and spiritual energy were unstable, and her sword-gripping hand was even more unstable.

Chen Ping'an put his index finger and middle finger together before making a light sweeping motion.

Yellow Axe City's City Lord Ye Han surprisingly remained still on purpose, allowing Chen Ping'an's sword to pierce through his chest and nail him to the wall.

Meanwhile, a dark green flying sword with a slightly quivering sword tip hovered one foot from Fan Weiran's glabella.

The old woman also remained unmoving.

"You people are truly the smartest, with each being better than the other at analyzing the situation and acting appropriately. I truly admire you people in this respect, and I'm definitely not saying this in ridicule."

Chen Ping'an sighed and clasped his hands behind his back, slowly walking forward and catching a glimpse of a wine pot as he did so. He casually summoned the wine pot over, holding it in one hand and holding a cup in his other hand. He poured himself a cup of wine and took a sip, with a wide smile appearing on his face as he continued, "If there were several more He Lus present, or if the residents of Imperial Accompanying City were able to witness this scene, they would definitely scold me for being a domineering sword immortal. The residents would boil with fury, and they would loudly question my right to wantonly kill people whom I've only seen a few times.

"After all, we haven't genuinely fought to the death, and there aren't broken limbs and streams of blood littered around the floor, so what right do I have to determine whether someone is good or bad and thus determine their life and death? For what reason must I be so unrelenting and kill so many people? This shows a complete lack of benevolence and kindness, so I'm presumably the same kind of person as those whom I'm killing..."

Chen Ping'an's words sent a cold chill down everyone's spine.

Judging from this powerful sword immortal's words...

Things still weren't over yet?

Chen Ping'an looked toward the old woman sitting at the front and said, "You're a bit more fortunate, and you don't have a good son like He Lu, so we can discuss things calmly."

He then turned around and glanced at Ye Han, continuing, "However, it's a different story for City Lord Ye."

The eyelashes of the young girl wearing a green dress quivered slightly.

She remained unmoving like a meditating old monk, with her body unmoving, her heart unmoving, and everything about her unmoving. She simply relied on the strange mystical ability that her old ancestor had seemingly bestowed upon her to secretly take a glance at the situation.

Chen Ping'an suddenly stopped, and it was as if he instantly lost his demeanor as a sword immortal at this instant. There was a tired expression on his face, with his eyes appearing dull just like the fading golden glow around the sword that had pierced through Ye Han's chest and nailed him to the wall. He looked around and poured himself another cup of wine, casually tossing the wine pot back to its original spot before slowly tipping the wine cup forward and pouring its contents out in front of him.

It was as if Chen Ping'an were offering wine to someone's tomb as he murmured to himself, "After the heavenly tribulation passed, the residents of Imperial Accompanying City who had sincerely offered incense and kowtowed in front of the city god temple had simply been going with the flow to feel at ease. They're genuinely weak and fragile, and the large majority of them will very likely be oblivious to the truth for their entire lives, especially those who choose to remain silent. As such, some of them incorrectly worshipped the city god, while some of them very correctly worshipped the fire god.

"My feelings toward these commoners are similar to how some of you cultivators keep your distance from the mortal world, cultivating in peace and looking down on mortal matters. I neither like nor dislike these commoners, and I can't say whether they're necessarily correct or incorrect. There are hundreds upon thousands of paths of the Great Dao, so which path can't be chosen and embarked on? What do you say, Fire God of Imperial Accompanying City?

"In the end, you seemingly didn't stand atop the roof of your shrine and scold me? Instead, you charged toward the heavenly tribulation yourself, causing your godly body to shatter into two. I was genuinely unable to speak at that time, or else I would have definitely scolded you and sent you flying back to the fire god shrine with a single punch. It was only a small heavenly tribulation, so could it have possibly killed me? I was only pushed to the brink of death.

"However, I can also be regarded as a cultivator, so is there anything to fear about becoming half-dead? I analysed and calculated many things beforehand, but I didn't have enough time to inform you about these matters because we met each other too late. Of course, I wouldn't have revealed these matters to you even if we had met earlier. After all, the heart and the mind are unpredictable, so who dares to so easily trust other people?"

As he spoke...

...There was a soft plop at Fan Weiran's glabella.

The old ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Sect fell backward as if she had been struck by a hammer blow.

Meanwhile, Ye Han was still unharmed, and he simply looked to be in a dire state as he was nailed against the wall.

However, Fan Weiran definitely hadn't been killed for good, and this was clear from the fact that her appearance and body instantly withered on the spot, following which an abnormal energy fluctuation appeared in the dragon palace before disappearing in a flash.

Chen Ping'an appeared slightly exasperated and helpless as he crushed the wine cup in his hand. There was nothing he could do right now since the Pure Jade Illumination Talisman had already been used and destroyed. Otherwise, the talisman from the Esteemed Mystery Department's Lofty Cloud Palace would have been able to deal with this immortal technique regardless of how peculiar and unpredictable it was.

Even though Fan Weiran's yin soul had dispersed like mist, concealing her golden core in the process, the talisman would have instantly enveloped an area of several kilometers in radius in an instant, most likely preventing the old ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm from fleeing. However, Chen Ping'an was currently unable to draw talismans after his great battle with the heavenly tribulation. In any case, the talismans from the Authentic Death-Avoiding Book that he was skilled at drawing were all unsuitable for the current scenario.

This was why there existed the saying that cultivators from the mountains were easy to defeat but difficult to kill. This was especially the case for Qi refiners who had reached the Golden Core Tier, since which of them wouldn't have several life-saving trump cards?

Meanwhile, things were much more straightforward for pure martial artists, where a loss in battle would often mean death.

However, having Fan Weiran escape didn't matter as her golden crown still remained in the dragon palace.

Perhaps she was unable to take the golden crown with her, or perhaps taking it would have exposed her whereabouts, but she was too afraid of Chen Ping'an's flying sword.

Chen Ping'an retrieved his folding fan and slowly opened it with two fingers, asking with a faint smile, "What's this? Do you people believe whatever I say? Then what if I tell you that I'm not a sword cultivator at all, and that I'm actually a sixth tier martial artist? Would you believe me?"

Chen Ping'an turned to a cultivator from Blissful Dream Peak and asked, "What do you think?"

The cultivator directly kneeled down and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I'll believe whatever Sword Immortal says!"

Chen Ping'an turned around and looked at the young man and the young woman who were both carrying swords, saying, "Oh, what a coincidence. We meet again. Did the two of you obtain anything from your trip to Imperial Accompanying City?"

The young man immediately fell on his backside in fright.

"No, Sword Immortal, we didn't obtain anything," the young woman replied in a soft voice.

Chen Ping'an smiled and asked, "Did the old man with the small monkey on his shoulder not target the two of you during the chaotic battle?"

"We immediately fled far away when we realized it was him," the young woman replied with a bitter expression.

Chen Ping'an nodded and said, "That was the correct decision. Tell your junior brother to improve his attitude in the future, and when he leaves the mountains to travel through the cultivation world again, it would do him good to look more and speak less."

This was a rare display of friendliness from the unpredictable young sword immortal, yet the young woman couldn't bring herself to feel happy no matter what. She felt like everything was over, and it was inevitable that she and her junior brother would be reprimanded soon. He Lu, a Vajra Body Tier martial artist from the Blissful Dream Nation, Fan Weiran, the guest elder from Yellow Axe City, and City Lord Ye Han had all been wounded or killed. Which person had enjoyed a good outcome after speaking with this sword immortal?

Chen Ping'an rubbed his glabella and frowned slightly. However, his expression quickly relaxed as he smiled and said, "To encounter each other is fate. The two of you can leave first."

The young man who had collapsed on the ground hurriedly crawled up and sprinted toward the entrance of the palace.

His senior sister couldn't stop him in time, and she felt like a bloody scene of his head being hacked off by a flying sword was imminently about to play out. Unexpectedly, however, her junior brother was not only able to run far away, but he was even able to shout in a frantic voice, "Hurry up, Senior Sister!"

The young woman looked at the sword immortal in white whose eyes were gentle like the spring breeze yet profound like the abyss, hesitating for a moment before bowing in respect and saying, "Thank you for showing us mercy, Sword Immortal!"

She was filled with apprehension as she channeled her spiritual energy and slowly flew out of the chaotic dragon palace.

Chen Ping'an walked forward onto the steps where Lake Lord Yin Hou was sitting.

As for the flying sword, it continued to circle around the sword immortal in white.

Feel free to do whatever you want, Sword Immortal. In any case, I won't move a single finger or have a single crooked thought today, even if you pummel me to death.

However, Chen Ping'an didn't sit down on the dragon throne that was like the throne of an emperor, and he instead tapped it with his fingers as if he were... appraising a treasure?

Chen Ping'an placed a hand on the armrest of the dragon throne and turned around to face the cultivators in the dragon palace, saying, "My judgment is poor, so I'm unable to determine whether a person is good or bad. In that case, I'll just pretend that half of you are good and half of you are bad. In other words, half of the people here are going to die tonight.

"Some of you might be very good friends, and some of you might be arch enemies who yearn to kill each other. Regardless, I'm sure that you're all aware of each other's backgrounds and histories. So, tell me, who has committed what bad deeds? Try to pick the more severe cases to talk about. The more shocking the crime, the better. If others have committed a crime that you haven't, then doesn't that make you a good person in comparison? And if you're a good person, then you have a chance to leave here alive."

The dragon palace was deathly silent.

Chen Ping'an smiled and added, "I forgot to say, but the battles and schemes pertaining to the immortal forces in the mountains don't count. I only care about the matters outside the mountains tonight."

A crisp and youthful voice suddenly sounded at this moment, saying, "It's still daytime, Sword Immortal, so you shouldn't say 'tonight.'"

Chen Ping'an looked toward the person who had spoken. It was none other than the young girl wearing a green dress, and judging from the position of her seat, she was a relatively prized disciple of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm.

Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder. It's very brightly lit inside the dragon palace, so I mistakenly thought that it was nighttime already."

"As it turns out, Sword Immortal's sword isn't actually an immortal treasure. So this is how it is. However, this makes much more sense," Ye Han suddenly said.

Chen Ping'an shook a hand and replied, "I know that Golden Core Tier cultivators like you have a myriad of techniques and trump cards, so hurry up and piss off."

Ye Han laughed heartily and directly walked forward, allowing the long sword to completely pierce through his body and remain embedded in the wall.

He then sighed and said, "I never imagined that Yellow Axe City would fall to such a pitiful state. My son who had the best chance to inherit the city is dead, the chief guest elder is dead, and the foundations of my Great Dao have also been damaged, leaving me unable to take another step forward for the rest of my life. Sword Immortal, what do you want me to do so that you won't pursue me to Yellow Axe City and completely exterminate my immortal force?"

Chen Ping'an smiled faintly and replied, "This is very simple. Since I can't shatter your golden core, you don't need to stay here to try and trick me anymore. You should make haste and look for your backer. After the heavenly tribulation passed back then, he did appear for a moment above Imperial Accompanying City. If my guess isn't wrong, there's definitely some sort of relationship between you and him. His cultivation base is very high, and he's caused me to suffer quite a bit, so we can deal with both the old debts and the new debts when he comes.

"If he can also bring over the hidden mastermind who managed to obtain the valuable treasure to target me, then that will be quite an impressive feat from you, Ye Han. At that time, my only option would be to turn around and flee. There's a canal master serving this lake lord of ours who has a very good saying engraved on the plaque in her shrine: Flowing Rivers Never Dry."

"Since Sword Immortal has already exposed the secret, is the only option left for us to fight to the death? Will you refuse to let me take away He Lu's soul?" Ye Han asked in helplessness.

Chen Ping'an smiled and replied, "I want to say that you should take away Young Immortal He's three immortal souls and seven mortal forms, as that will allow me to detect some traces when you flee into the distance. But even if I make this offer, will you, Ye Han, dare to do this? I predict not."

Ye Han nodded and said, "I indeed won't do this. Then as Sword Immortal said just then, flowing rivers never dry!"

The city lord of Yellow Axe City directly crushed the jade tablet hanging beside his waist.

His body vanished without a trace.

Chen Ping'an looked up at the ceiling, and it was as if his gaze had already reached someplace far away on Verdant Bamboo Lake.

The land-shortening effect of this jade tablet was surprisingly even better than that of a golden Inch Movement Talisman.

Chen Ping'an pinched his glabella.

He had a massive headache.

There was a flash of gold as the long sword flew out from the wall and pierced into a critical acupoint on He Lu's headless corpse.

A cloud of black smoke surged out from He Lu's body, instantly transforming into ten smaller wisps that attempted to flee in different directions. However, Chen Ping'an flicked his sleeve and slammed the wisps of black smoke into the walls, transforming them into lifeless ashes.

He looked up, with his expression much more at ease as he said, "Alright, you people can start to speak reason now. You need to cherish this opportunity, as I'm sure that you've seldom had any opportunity to speak reason to save your life after embarking on the path of cultivation."

Chen Ping'an made a grabbing motion, and the long sword sheathed itself in mid-air before flying into his palm.

He sat down on the dragon throne and placed the sword horizontally across his knees.

Yan Qing looked at the sword immortal in white sitting on the throne atop the platform and remarked in a solemn voice, "You truly appear very frightening when you become like this!"

Chen Ping'an smiled faintly and concurred, "To say nothing of you people, even I feel afraid of myself at this moment."

Little Cui, the young girl wearing a green dress, hurriedly grabbed Yan Qing's wrist, with panic on her face and tears in her eyes as she pleaded using her mind's voice, "Aunt Master Yan, please don't say anything else, truly. He already wanted to kill you two times before this, and his killing intent was as genuine as could be. Adding to that his killing intent just then, and Aunt Master Yan has already reached his so-called limit of the same mistakes not being made more than three times!

"This sword immortal speaks in a mysterious and unpredictable manner, but his overall intentions can't lie to me. I'm begging you, Aunt Master Yan, okay? Out of everyone in the immortal force, only you and Second Ancestor treat me sincerely. I don't want you to die as well."

Chen Ping'an rested his forearm on the armrest of the dragon throne, leaning sideways and sitting in a lazy posture as he warned, "I'll randomly kill a few people if no one speaks."

And thus, someone spoke up and exposed the crimes of another Qi refiner.

The exposed Qi refiner was an Abode Tier cultivator from an enemy force.

This cultivator's immortal force wasn't strong, and his cultivation base wasn't high, but he had committed quite a large number of sinister deeds.

Of course, his accuser had carefully cherry-picked what to talk about.

They were walking on the tightrope between life and death, so if they didn't use their brains now, were they perhaps going to complain about their wrongful death in the halls of the underworld?