Chapter 660: Caged Sparrow

Chen Ping'an charged south through the enemy formation by himself, with relentless torrents of immortal techniques and spirit tools raining down upon his location.

He eventually came across a hard nut to crack, and this was a short man dressed in bright red chainmail armor and wearing a phoenix-winged golden-purple crown. There were two extremely long feathers extending from the crown, making the demon look like a fancy-dressed actor in the mortal streets of the Majestic World.

Individuals who dared to dress like this on the battlefield before the Sword Qi Great Wall weren't afraid of death. Of course, they definitely possessed the right not to fear death as well.

This demon cultivator was extremely quick, and it was almost as if he were using Land-Shortening Talismans as he dashed around the battlefield, covering several kilometers in an instant and arriving beside Chen Ping'an in a flash. He directly shattered Chen Ping'an's thick layer of defensive fist intent with a single punch, striking the young Hidden Official's temple and sending him flying dozens of meters into the distance.

Chen Ping'an placed a hand on the ground and gracefully spun around, after which he got to his feet and stood up straight. The demon stalked him like a shadow, exchanging another punch with him.

The two of them slid back at the same time, digging knee-deep trenches into the ground. The demon shook his wrist and used his other hand to pinch a long feather from his crown. He opened his mouth, surprisingly using the local dialect of the Sword Qi Great Wall as he asked, "You're the new Hidden Official? Are you a Far Roaming Tier martial artist? Your fists are quite heavy, and it's no wonder that you lost three battles to Cao Ci but won three battles against Yu Juanfu."

He raised his right hand, gesturing for the surrounding demon army to retreat. This was a battlefield for himself and the young Hidden Official from the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Chen Ping'an used his thumb to wipe the tendrils of blood from the corner of his mouth. He then used his palm to massage his temple. The demon's punch was quite powerful, and he was probably close to the Mountain Summit Tier. Martial artists from the demon tribe relied on the innate toughness of their physiques, and this was an advantage that meant few of them would be pushovers.

However, a ninth tier martial artist with abundant martial fortune shouldn't be seeking death like this. Whether it be his appearance or his manner of attacking, this short man appeared to be far too casual and uncaring.

Chen Ping'an quickly came to a realization, so he spoke with his enemy on the battlefield in a rare display. "You're the strongest eighth tier martial artist in the Savage World? So you're looking for an opportunity to advance and obtain martial fortune?"

The short man released the long feather in his hand, which suddenly sprang up with a pop. He then nodded and replied with a smile, "What do you say? Why don't the two of us have a fist duel? You definitely won't believe me if I say that no one will interfere, and I surmise that I won't be able to command some of those cunning sacrificial sword cultivators either. But this doesn't matter. As long as you agree to this fist duel between martial artists, I'll kill anyone who dares to interfere and becomes my enemy."

Chen Ping'an raised a hand and pointed at the Sword Qi Great Wall, saying with a smile, "There's a ninth tier senior who taught me fist techniques over in the city. You can ask for a fist duel there."

There was a cold look in the short man's eyes. He was displaying deep sincerity, yet this young and renowned Hidden Official was failing to understand the situation.

"I'll say a few more things to you," Chen Ping'an said. "Regardless of who a martial artist loses to — even if it's Cao Ci — there's no such thing as feeling glory despite defeat. A loss is a loss. From this, it can be seen that regardless of how strong the fist of the strongest Far Roaming Tier martial artist in the Savage World is, his martial courage and mindset are indeed quite mediocre. It will be the biggest joke in the world if you manage to become the strongest ninth tier martial artist."

The conversation between them was actually quite meaningless.

However, both had their own calculations. The short man was purposely acting in a bold manner and asking Chen Ping'an for a fist duel, wanting to use the young Hidden Official as a stepping stone on his path of martial arts. If he managed to advance, he could receive martial fortune from both the Savage World and a portion from the Sword Qi Great Wall.

As for Chen Ping'an? He was naturally looking for the demon who ranked first among the one hundred innate sword talents of the Savage World. The sages of the Three Teachings had summoned the golden river twice before, and Chen Ping'an had also left the city wall to fight on the battlefield twice.

He had fought against this demon sword cultivator before, and it had looked like both sides were holding back and limiting their attacks. In reality, however, their exchanges had been smooth and incisive, and whoever made the first mistake would have faced death. Moreover, this wouldn't have been a heroic death, and the spectating sword cultivators with lower cultivation bases would have found the outcome extremely strange and mysterious.

The short man seemed uninterested in verbal arguments, and he lightly kicked the sand on the ground as he said, "Now that you've finished speaking while standing up, I'll give you an opportunity to speak while lying down in a moment. Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Hou Kuimen."

Chen Ping'an clasped one hand behind his back and turned his head slightly, raising his other hand and pointing at his temple. He was inviting Hou Kuimen to strike his temple again if the short man were so capable.

He suddenly had a thought, and he wanted to test it out.

Of course, the prerequisite for testing this out was to have his enemy test it out first.

Hou Kuimen naturally wouldn't hold back against the young Hidden Official. He hesitated for a moment after throwing a punch and didn't charge forward to press his advantage. Instead, he stood still and watched the young man flying back after being struck by his blow.

The young man didn't dodge or fight back, and he forcefully stomped on the ground to arrest his momentum. He looked at Hou Kuimen with a smile, and there was a slight hint of ridicule on his face.

Hou Kuimen had held back slightly just then, afraid that there was a trap.

The schemes and plots of the young Hidden Official were widely renowned throughout the sixty military tents, so he surely wouldn't be so stupid as to stand there and wait for death, right?

However, he immediately felt a hint of regret after successfully striking the young Hidden Official. What if he had unleashed his full strength instead of holding back? Would Chen Ping'an still be standing at this moment?

But why had the young Hidden Official chosen to face his fist head-on?

Chen Ping'an pointed at his chest and said, "Give me another punch here."

Hou Kuimen raised his hands and pinched the long feathers on his crown. His bright red chainmail armor, golden purple crown, and two spectacular feathers weren't ordinary treasures from the mountains, but rather, they formed a complete set of primordial Militarian treasures. They had simply changed appearances after being refined.

This set of Militarian treasures could be regarded as a pseudo-celestial tool, and it possessed both offensive and defensive capabilities. Its name was Sword Cage, and it could capture the flying swords of sword immortals for a brief moment. And once he approached a sword immortal after capturing their bonded flying sword, his opponent would have no choice but to engage in a physical battle with him, making it a battle between physiques.

Hou Kuimen released the two feathers and dashed forward, arriving before the martial artist who was seeking death and unleashing another punch, sending the young Hidden Official flying into the distance and crashing into the ground.

Chen Ping'an stood up and spat out a mouthful of blood, after which he glanced at Hou Kuimen and cursed using the local dialect of his hometown.

He had initially wanted to borrow the strength of this eighth tier martial artist to break through the barrier of the seventh tier. Unexpectedly, however, Hou Kuimen's attacks had both been hesitant and half-hearted. This caused Chen Ping'an, who was already accustomed to the heavy attacks from Li Er at the Northern Complete Reed Continent's Lion Peak, to feel as if he had been scratched twice in the face by a woman for no good reason.

There was a fair and justified statement spreading through the Sword Qi Great Wall nowadays: Watching the young Hidden Official pummel others, or watching the young Hidden Official being pummeled, were both very pleasing spectacles.

There was a complicated expression on Hou Kuimen's face.

Chen Ping'an used the official dialect of the Savage World to ask, "Do you want to kill the Hidden Official and earn military merit, or do you want to fight as a martial artist and advance to the next tier?!"

Hou Kuimen took a deep breath and lightly brought his fists together, replying in a solemn voice, "We'll count it as my loss if I can't kill you with my final punch. I know you're seeking something as well, Chen Ping'an, but that doesn't matter. Let's see which of us possesses loftier fist skills! Feel free to fight back against my final punch."

Chen Ping'an furrowed his brows slightly.

Hou Kuimen's vast fist intent vaguely condensed into a blurry haze around him, similar to an isolated small world created by a sage.

When traveling with Cyan Gorge Island's Zhang Ye around Bamboo Scroll Lake back then, Chen Ping'an had already discovered that he could faintly detect traces of isolated small worlds.

Chen Ping'an shook his arms and gently rolled his sleeves back down.

Swirling dust instantly flew into the sky, blotting out the sun and engulfing the battlefield surrounding the young Hidden Official and Hou Kuimen.

Wisps of fist intent were woven into the rampaging sandstorm, chaotically shooting around like tens of thousands of miniature flying swords.

A split-second later, the quaking earth dispersed the sandstorm, only to reveal Hou Kuimen desperately clutching at his neck, with blood seeping through his fingers. Meanwhile, his other hand was clenched into a fist as he looked around.

In the end, Hou Kuimen saw the young Hidden Official standing behind a demon cultivator, holding a short saber in his left hand. The blade was buried through the sacrificial demon cultivator's heart, and Chen Ping'an used his right hand to gently slice open his victim's neck.

Hou Kuimen was no longer able to speak properly, and his voice was muffled as he said, "Chen Ping'an, I've personally experienced your might as a Hidden Official. However, you've truly disappointed me as a pure martial artist. You're far too disappointing."

As it turned out, the young Hidden Official had faced Hou Kuimen's punch head-on just then, yet he had retrieved a small saber from his sleeve and thrust it upward, piercing through the short demon's neck. Not only that, but he had even struck the hilt of the saber with his left hand. If it hadn't been for Hou Kuimen stomping forcefully and jumping up, after which he had retreated several steps, the saber would have sliced through his mouth before punching into his cranium.

If a pure martial artist from the Majestic World faced such an attack and suffered equally severe wounds, there was no doubt that they wouldn't be able to say a single word, seeing that they didn't possess incredibly tough physiques.

Chen Ping'an lightly pushed aside the corpse of the sacrificial demon sword cultivator. He then compressed his voice into a thread, smiling faintly as he replied, "You launched three punches, but did a single punch live up to your status as a pure martial artist? If your first punch were pure enough, I wouldn't have minded exchanging three punches with you, and we might have even managed to discover a few weaknesses of each other. At that time, it would have truly been a case of fist skills determining life and death."

A large swathe of the battlefield was vacated once again when Chen Ping'an reappeared.

The young Hidden Official held a saber in reverse in each hand, lightly releasing his grip before gently grabbing the saber hilts again.

This was a small habit that he had learned from Yu Lu.

As for his manner of holding these sabers? This was derived from a saber stance he had observed in the Water Combing Nation's Sword Water Villa. In reality, some assassins roaming the martial world outside the mountains also held their blades like this. In Chen Ping'an's eyes, however, these assassins weren't able to display the same intent, with their stances being rigid and lifeless.

Hou Kuimen was only familiar with the young Hidden Official, at the end of the day, and he was far too unfamiliar with Chen Ping'an's habits in battle.

He was definitely seeking to prepare a trump card when he spoke nonsense and delayed the battle.

Otherwise, he would only speak nonsense after victory and defeat were decided.

Hou Kuimen didn't retreat because of this, and his fist intent soared instead of calming down. Very well...

Chen Ping'an put away the pair of small sabers that he had obtained from the assassin hailing from the Northern Complete Reed Continent's Deer Cutter Mountain. He stood still and didn't move.

Hou Kuimen channeled some unknown secret technique and stopped the bleeding on his neck, after which he dropped his arms and also stood still.

This was the mental state befitting of martial artists engaging in a legitimate fist duel.

Afterward, death and destruction followed the footsteps of the two martial artists.

They were both pure martial artists at the peak stage of their respective tiers, and they were like two formidable flying swords wantonly slicing through the battlefield and leaving broken limbs and lifeless corpses in their wake.

Hou Kuimen's punches became increasingly light and nimble, while his fist intent became increasingly vigorous and heavy.

Each of his punches displayed the embryonic form of a ninth tier martial artist, and this battle with the young Hidden Official was clearly a breakthrough catalyst for him.

For some unknown reason, however, Chen Ping'an didn't summon his flying swords the entire time, even though he was already widely recognized as a sword cultivator. In fact, he didn't even draw a single sword from the sword case on his back.

Extremely far away from the battlefield, a "middle-aged man" who was like-minded with the young Hidden Official was seemingly cocooned by the colossal demon army, which was boldly surging toward the Sword Qi Great Wall. He kept an eye on the battle between Chen Ping'an and Hou Kuimen the entire time, and he was able to notice some clues. Right now, he was hesitating about whether he should throw a wrench into Chen Ping'an's plans.

When he swept his gaze over several locations in the distance, however, he weighed things up and ultimately decided against interfering in Chen Ping'an's schemes. He wouldn't snatch military merit from the Jia Shen Tent, which was stacked with prodigies.

Hou Kuimen was bloody and mangled, and it was inconceivable that he had been reduced to such a sorry state while using powerful immortal treasures and fighting against a junior who was clearly a tier below him, a martial artist at the peak stage of the eighth tier.

Hou Kuimen suddenly stood still, lowering his bloody head and chuckling softly. This was extremely satisfying! He then looked up and stared intently at the young man, who had suddenly retracted his fists at the same time.

He was seemingly telling Chen Ping'an to wait until he advanced to the ninth tier and obtained the blessing of martial fortune. At that time, it would be his turn to act unreasonably and pummel the young man who was unreasonably powerful for someone at the peak stage of the Vajra Body Tier.

What did it matter that Chen Ping'an had all kinds of schemes and plots? Would they be of any use once Hou Kuimen advanced to the ninth tier? Could the young Hidden Official still leave the battlefield alive? If Chen Ping'an were so capable, then why didn't he try to advance as well?!

Hou Kuimen clearly possessed a higher martial arts tier, yet he was still coming out second best against Chen Ping'an. This wasn't due to his physique being too weak, nor was it due to his punches being too light. Rather, this was because Chen Ping'an was seemingly able to predict his attacks in advance.

Chen Ping'an was tense as if he were facing a formidable enemy, and it didn't look like he was faking his expression. Seeing this made Hou Kuimen feel extremely satisfied. In fact, he had almost never felt this content before, not even when he practiced fist techniques and advanced through the martial arts tiers.

Since Chen Ping'an was helping him advance today, he would show benevolence and leave young Hidden Official a complete corpse afterward. Of course, this was if the young man's physique could withstand his ninth tier punches and resist being blasted into pieces!

Rays of martial fortune roared through the sky, soaring over from the Savage World and descending onto the battlefield, where they furiously funneled toward Hou Kuimen.

Chen Ping'an smiled upon seeing this. The moment had finally arrived.

Hou Kuimen's punches were too light, and they were unable to shatter Chen Ping'an's cultivation barrier. At most, they could only temper some of his critical bones and tendons, providing very minor help.

Chen Ping'an was afraid of detrimentally affecting his ability in battle afterward, so he didn't brute-force Hou Kuimen's ninth tier attacks to his critical acupoints even though he wasn't afraid of getting wounded. Rather, he was afraid that Hou Kuimen's fist intent would cause turmoil inside his body, so he could only move in a way that dissipated more than half of the force from Hou Kuimen's punches. Thus, Hou Kuimen was able to attack to his heart's content, but the same couldn't be said for Chen Ping'an.

However, this didn't matter. Chen Ping'an was very experienced with pushing away martial fortune, and he had done this more than once at Old Dragon City.

Not only that, but Chen Ping'an had even faced heavenly tribulations two times, once at the Northern Complete Reed Continent's Imperial Accompanying City, and once at the Sword Qi Great Wall while fighting against Li Zhen.

Chen Ping'an tapped his foot and leaped up, directly soaring into the air but not throwing a punch. Instead, he solely focused on climbing higher, seemingly not willing to relent until he reached the zenith of the heavens. Despite not throwing a punch, however, he used the fist intent of the Rain Evaporation Technique to welcome the rays of martial fortune shooting over from the Savage World.

The "middle-aged man" stopped and looked over, murmuring to himself, "Martial fortune can be snatched as well? Is this a new way of doing business?"

The young Hidden Official had used some strange method to surprisingly intercept the rays of martial fortune, after which he rose into the sky with them. It was as if the young man were ascending with rays of brilliant white light.

Martial fortune was an extremely inexplicable and intangible existence to begin with, or else it wouldn't be the case that even the scholarly temple in the Majestic World's Middle Earth Divine Continent was unable to stop it and obtain it. It could only watch on and allow martial fortune to freely flow between the prodigious martial artists in the nine continents.

Similarly, the Savage World's Holding Moon Mountain was also unable to restrict the flow of martial fortune.

Right now, things were naturally the most awkward for Hou Kuimen, whose deserved martial fortune had arrived, but was unable to navigate over.

Hou Kuimen bent his knees slightly and also soared into the sky, where he chased after Chen Ping'an, who was already as small as a grain of sand. He was trying his best to pursue the rays of martial fortune.

The "middle-aged man," who referred to himself as a swordsman, still refrained from drawing his sword to launch a surprise attack on Chen Ping'an. He wasn't adhering to the rules or whatnot, especially since he employed the same schemes and tactics as Chen Ping'an on the battlefield — each action and exchange of wounds was like a carefully calculated transaction.

He was the young swordsman belonging to the list of one hundred innate sword immortals and towering over Li Zhen, Zhu Qie, and all of the other prodigies. At this moment, he was able to sense a wisp of the intangible and unpredictable true intent of the Great Dao.

Even if he successfully launched a sneak attack at this moment, the costs would outweigh the benefits from the perspective of his Great Dao. This was because attacking Chen Ping'an at this moment would cause him to be formlessly suppressed by the martial fortune of heaven and earth for the rest of his life.

If he were a pure martial artist, this would actually be a positive outcome, one that would allow him to temper his martial arts cultivation. However, it was a pity that he was a sword cultivator.

No!

Chen Ping'an's fist intent and motivation were both fake!

He suddenly reached forward with his right hand and summoned a sword from the hands of a nearby demon sword cultivator, shaking it slightly and causing it to shatter into more than a dozen shards. At the same time, he twisted his left wrist and forcefully cracked open several acupoints in his palm. Blood seeped through his skin, and he wiped it over the shards of the sword. After doing this, the young swordsman who had used many trump cards flicked his sleeve and sent the sword shards shooting into the sky toward Hou Kuimen.

A blur flashed past Hou Kuimen's eyes at almost the exact same moment, with the figure approximately three hundred meters away from him using a Land-Shortening Talisman before summoning two flying swords, Pine Needle and Lightning Devourer.

Chen Ping'an held a saber in each hand, and one pierced horizontally through Hou Kuimen's cheeks, while the other thrust into Hou Kuimen's chest. Having successfully struck his enemy, Chen Ping'an instantly used another Land-Shortening Talisman and vanished from the spot.

The sword shards arrived beside Hou Kuimen in the next moment, hovering around him like a miniature sword formation and protecting the demon martial artist whose current cultivation tier was unknown. Perhaps he was at the eighth tier, or perhaps he was at the ninth tier.

If it weren't for the timely arrival of the sword shards, Chen Ping'an could have directly hacked off half of Hou Kuimen's head.

Hou Kuimen gritted his teeth after suffering two saber strikes, with his rising figure faltering slightly before continuing to soar upward. However, the rays of martial fortune were dragged even higher by the young Hidden Official.

Meanwhile, the sword shards disappeared with a flash after confirming that Hou Kuimen's life wasn't in danger, returning to the "middle-aged man's" side.

One after another, the two martial artists burst through two vast layers of clouds.

One layer of clouds was only slightly higher than the city wall of the Sword Qi Great Wall, while the other was much higher.

Chen Ping'an suddenly ground to a hovering halt after soaring above the second layer of clouds, frowning deeply once again. This time, however, he wasn't acting as he had in front of Hou Kuimen.

He had genuinely detected something amiss, the faint scent of a hidden scheme.

The martial fortune higher in the sky was as genuine as could be.

Hou Kuimen wasn't sure why the young Hidden Official had suddenly stopped, and he continued to fly on the wind and approach the rays of flood dragon-like martial fortune after breaking through the sea of clouds.

Chen Ping'an pondered for a brief moment and surprisingly decided to abandon his original plan, plummeting through the sea of clouds and returning to the ground.

Seeing this, Hou Kuimen smiled and readily accepted the martial fortune that should have been his to begin with. The radiant sun shone down upon the sea of clouds, making Hou Kuimen appear like a lofty deity.

However, Hou Kuimen's eyes instantly became pitch-black at this moment, and he struggled for a brief moment before unexpectedly turning around and chasing after Chen Ping'an. While doing this, the rays of martial fortune were also dragged toward the ground.

The rays of martial fortune crashed into Hou Kuimen's body, and the newly advanced ninth tier martial artist ferociously shot after Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an changed his path of retreat for the third time, yet he was still unable to evade the demon martial artist in time.

A shockingly huge crater appeared in the ground, one that appeared as if it had been created by the explosion of a sword immortal's bonded flying sword.

Hou Kuimen, the ninth tier martial artist, disintegrated along with his abundant martial fortune.

Over at the Jia Shen Tent, five innate sword talents of the Savage World no longer concealed their presence. They arrived around the perimeter of the colossal crater, with each demon guarding one side.

They were Zhu Qie, Li Zhen, Yu Si, Liu Bai, and Tun Tan.

The "middle-aged man" sighed softly and concealed his presence, taking his leave from the area.

A great demon from the twelve thrones had surprisingly channeled their bonded mystical ability and possessed Hou Kuimen the moment before his advance. Afterward, they had mercilessly sacrificed a ninth tier martial artist in exchange for severely wounding Hidden Official Chen Ping'an.

"Be careful; this might be a trap," Zhu Qie said in warning.

A voice immediately sounded in the mind's lake of the five innate sword talents, saying with a faint smile, "How is that possible?"