Chen Ping'an Appointed as the Last Hidden Official

Overview

During the early-to-mid phase of the apocalyptic siege by the Wild World, the Sword Qi Great Wall suffered a massive internal blow when the previous Hidden Official, the ascending-tier sword cultivator Xiao Xun, betrayed her homeland and defected to the demon camp. In response to this crisis, Eldest Sword Immortal Chen Qingdu made the unprecedented decision to appoint an outsider, the young Chen Ping'an, as the newest and last Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Upon assuming command at the Summer Retreat Palace (避暑行宫), Chen Ping'an gathered a brilliant group of young sword cultivators, marking the first time the Hidden Official's lineage recruited foreigners to aid in command. This core group of twelve included native talents like Pang Yuanji, Guo Zhujiu, Wang Xinshui, and Dong Bude, alongside brilliant foreign sword cultivators like Lin Junbi, Cao Gun, and Xuan Shen. To establish absolute control and immediate battlefield responsiveness, Chen Ping'an mandated the use of specialized communication flying swords and introduced a rigorous, twelve-book archival system (named after the Heavenly Stems, from Jia to Gui). These ledgers meticulously tracked everything from enemy deployments and high-value targets to friendly casualties, tactical flaws, and battle merits.

Under his leadership, the Summer Retreat Palace fundamentally shifted the wall's defensive doctrine. Instead of relying on disorganized, heroic individual strikes that often led to unnecessary deaths, Chen Ping'an orchestrated highly calculated, resource-managed attrition warfare. By intimately analyzing the enemy's sixty military tents and carefully coordinating the deployment of the wall's sword immortals through relentless communication and precise orders, he forced the Wild World to pay an exorbitant price in blood for every tactical maneuver.

Outcome / Consequences

Chen Ping'an's appointment as the Hidden Official stabilized the defenders' morale after Xiao Xun's betrayal and drastically minimized unnecessary casualties among the human sword cultivators. His meticulous and ruthlessly pragmatic tactical overhauls successfully stalled the Wild World's invasion timeline, turning the siege into a grueling war of attrition that frustrated the high-tier demons and bought the Haoran World invaluable time to prepare its continental defenses.

References

• 剑来21：皆是笼中雀，第六章 — 新一任隐官: Details Chen Ping'an formally taking over as the Hidden Official from the defected Xiao Xun, assembling the young sword cultivators at the Summer Retreat Palace, and establishing the exhaustive twelve-book tactical system to command the defense.