Unsheathed

The old scholar stomped his foot and fumed, “Only villains and women are hard to deal with[1]! Our ancestors don’t deceive us!”

The tall woman in white twirled the snow-white lotus leaf that she had plucked from some unknown place. She was radiating with killing intent. Even though there was a smile on her face, this smile appeared chilling and menacing no matter how one looked at it. “You can’t beat me in a fight, so you’re going to curse me instead? Are you looking for a beating?!”

The circular sword formation that had initially had a radius of five kilometers instantly shrunk in size, becoming so small that it only enveloped the mountain face beside the river. At the same time, the wisps of sword qi also became increasingly intense and alarming, with the wall of sword qi even forcing the formless Great Dao circulating through heaven and earth to become visible. Bursts of black and white furiously collided together, and they sent countless sparks flying through the air before eventually returning to the chaotic void of nothingness together.

The old scholar shrunk back slightly. However, a brilliant thought suddenly occurred to him, and this immediately restored his confidence. “I can agree to a fight, but can we fight in a slightly different way?” he asked loudly. “Rest assured, my suggestion can definitely help Chen Ping’an as well. I guarantee you that this is a reasonable request that will suit your wishes!”

The tall woman in white remained silent. However, she suddenly saw the old scholar desperately signaling at her with his eyes.

She hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, “Fine.”

————

Standing above the well in Autumn Reed Inn, Chen Ping’an’s index finger and middle finger were held together to form a sword that directly pointed at the bottom of the well.

The brilliant ray formed by the first burst of sword qi gradually faded down to half its initial brightness in the old well. It was no longer blinding, and Chen Ping’an could borrow its radiance to observe the burst of sword qi that had been described as “extremely small”. After leaving his acupoint, this burst of sword qi had condensed into something tangible before crashing into the well and furiously pummeling its “base”. In fact, this “base” that was withstanding the furious punishment of the sword qi was seemingly a round mirror.

Chen Ping’an naturally wouldn’t know that this was called the Lightning Division Stamp Mirror, a mirror with an extremely impressive background!

In the ancient past, the gods from the lightning division had seized the opportunity to carve up the lightning powers — the ancestor of all powers — of the Heavenly Lord of Lightning after his passing. Each god had obtained a portion of this power. Afterward, with the exception of the god responsible for welcoming the arrival of spring, the state of these gods had become increasingly miserable, with many of them declining to become nothing more than mountain gods and river gods. They were either restrained by the sages of the three teachings and prohibited from leaving the “thunder pool”, or they were whimsically summoned through lightning element talismans or god-summing techniques and commanded to do the biddings of Militarian sects such as Wind Snow Temple and True Martial Mountain or of some Daoist Sects.

This Lightning Division Stamp Mirror was once owned by one of the formal gods of the lightning division. Even though the mirror had experienced catastrophe after catastrophe, causing it to already be extremely damaged and weak, the almost exhausted lightning power within it was still something that definitely couldn’t be shattered by some random cultivator at the Middle Five Tiers.

Standing at the bottom of the well, Cui Chan had already been pushed more than three meters down from his initial position. Even so, he still used his hands and shoulder to firmly support the bottom of the mirror. The mirror continued to shudder and crack as it was pummeled by the burst of sword qi, yet it wasn’t long before the remnant wisp of lightning power within it automatically repaired all the damage.

The burst of sword qi was like an army of armored cavalry attempting to slice through the enemy formation, while the surface of the mirror was like a formation of foot soldiers defending with all their might.

The two sides chipped away at each other, and this was a battle to see who would exhaust their power first.

Cui Chan gritted his teeth, and his handsome face was already unclear due to the layer of blood covering it. Right now, he no longer had the extra strength to curse Chen Ping’an. Instead, he could only think to himself, “Once I struggle through this torrential downpour of sword qi, I’ll definitely charge to the surface and return the favor 100 times over! I can definitely succeed! The sword qi is already weakening, so I only need to hang on for a little while longer. Just you wait, Chen Ping’an!”

Even though his determination was unwavering, his blood-soaked appearance was still as miserable as could be.

Cui Chan had never been reduced to such a disheveled state before, not even during the miserable times after he had turned his back on his master. He had traveled all over the world, leaving the Middle Earth Divine Continent, journeying through the large continent in the south, and eventually choosing to settle in the smallest Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Once the first disciple of the Scholarly Sage, Cui Chan had traveled for tens of millions of kilometers after leaving his master. However, when had he not been relaxed and carefree? Which demon or spirit had ever been able to challenge him and leave him in a disheveled state?

One had to realize that before becoming the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire, the wandering Cui Chan had once had a pet phrase that was both unrefined and inelegant. After slaughtering demons and fiends on a whim, he would always like to say, “Reduced to ashes with a snap of my fingers, you monsters are truly inferior to even mere ants.”

Holding up the mirror with his hands and shoulder, the young Cui Chan continued to sink further and further down the well. However, the magnitude of his descent was gradually decreasing.

The mirror was still able to resist the burst of sword qi, yet wisps of the sword qi continued to rush down past the rim of the mirror, slamming into Cui Chan and causing him to become weaker and weaker.

With a single thought, a life-saving talisman slid out from one of his sleeves. This was a trump card that he had treasured for many years. Being forced to use it now, he felt such great pain that even his expression became slightly twisted as a result.

The golden talisman first attached itself to Cui Chan’s white sleeve before immediately melting away. A short moment later, numerous gold symbols started to flow over his white robe. If one listened carefully, one would discover that Buddhist chants were surprisingly traveling out from the white robe that was rippling like water. This caused the young Cui Chan to appear extremely dignified and solemn.

This was an extremely special talisman. If one regarded gold powder and cinnabar as the most integral materials when it came to drawing talismans, then there were also some extremely rare materials that could only be found through fortune rather than intention. Once these materials were used to draw a talisman, the power imbued within the talisman would become indescribably mysterious.

The golden talisman that Cui Chan had just used was a good example of this. The main material used to draw the talisman was the golden blood of a Golden Arhat from the Buddhist nation in the west. Moreover, this enlightened monk had almost become a Bodhisattva, and as such, his blood had transformed from red to gold. After dripping this blood onto gold powder and copying the ‘Diamond Sutra’ onto a talisman paper, one would be able to create a Vajra Seal that was filled with boundless Buddhist power. In fact, such a Vajra Seal would even be able to block the full-power attack of a terrestrial sword immortal.

How could the young Cui Chan not feel pained?

After activating this life-saving talisman that was as valuable as an entire city, he performed some rough calculations in his mind and easily determined that the burst of sword qi could only shatter the face of the mirror at most. However, it wouldn’t be able to damage the body of the mirror. Afterward, this Lightning Division Stamp Mirror would heal and return to normal as long as he soared into the thunderclouds and invited lightning into the mirror during thunderous nights for a few years.

With this in mind, Cui Chan instantly felt much more at ease. He bent his arm slightly and roughly wiped the blood from his face. “How utterly humiliating… This almost damaged the foundation of this body’s golden branch and jade leaves!”

He shut his eyes and started to quietly gather his power.

Some critical instant before this burst of sword qi completely disappeared would be the instant that he charged to the top of the well.

He naturally wouldn’t wait until this sword qi completely disappeared.

If he waited until that moment, and if Chen Ping’an realized that he hadn’t died, then who knew whether the bumpkin from Clay Vase Alley would have another sneaky and despicable attack waiting for him?

After all, his current cultivation base and physique were already too weak to withstand another unexpected attack.

The path to the Great Dao was truly rugged and difficult to walk!

There was intense resentment in Cui Chan’s mind.

Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan had initially thought that his trip to the small town would be the end game for this “game of Go”. Because this pertained to his Dao attainment catalyst, he had even been willing to separate his soul into two and place one half of it in another body. He had then openly left the capital of the Great Li Empire with this young body.

He had initially thought that even if he couldn’t sever the scholarly fortune of the Scholarly Sage and his junior brother Qi Jingchun’s branch of Confucianism, he would still be able to use Clay Vase Alley’s Chen Ping’an as a target for visualization and meditation. Through this, he could perfect his own shortcomings and temper his mind which was the most lacking. Once he succeeded, this would help him advance to the 10th tier and give him hope of returning to the peak stage of the 12th tier.

In fact, he could even seize this opportunity to have the Great Li Empire promote his teachings. If his knowledge and teachings could spread to half of the continent, then he would be able to advance to an even higher tier from what was already a lofty cultivation base. If all of the Confucian disciples in the continent became his disciples, then the benefit that he would receive would simply be unimaginable.

No matter how he analyzed the situation at the time, Cui Chan’s calculations had told him that he enjoyed an undefeatable position. The only variable was how many benefits he would ultimately obtain.

However, he had never imagined that Qi Jingchun’s true direct disciple was neither Zhao Yao whom he had gifted the spring seal to, nor Song Jixin whom he had gifted his remaining books to. In fact, it wasn’t even a scholarly student like Lin Shouyi.

Instead, it was that little girl called Li Baoping — a female! How could a female possibly inherit the scholarly lineage? A female teacher? A female Confucian? Was Qi Jingchun not afraid of them becoming a huge joke that everyone in the world laughed at? Was he not afraid of those old men in the Confucian schools and academies viewing him as the number one heretic?

Even more than this, he had failed to imagine that Qi Jingchun would take a disciple for their master and even gift the final relic of their master, the Scholarly Sage, to that young boy Chen Ping’an.

This being the case, not only was the scholarly lineage not severed, but it was even passed on to Li Baoping’s generation. Not only that, but Cui Chan, who had previously betrayed his master, was once again tied to the Scholarly Sage because of Chen Ping’an.

Initially confident of his victory, these events had caused Cui Chan to suffer a comprehensive mental breakdown. Add to that the formless influence of the scholarly fortune, and his cultivation base had directly plummeted to the fifth tier. It was only after forming an alliance with Old Man Yang and learning that long-lost Divine Dao secret technique that Cui Chan had been able to patch up the shortcoming of the secret technique that he had been studying. This had allowed him to rapidly nurture his soul and start to advance his cultivation again.

However, this kind of secret technique had a fatal flaw. That was, the cultivation he gained was nothing more than an “illusion” that would be shattered after he exhausted its power. This was unless he advanced to the 10th tier in a single go and became a cultivator at the Upper Five Tiers. If he managed to do this, then he would be able to “treat illusions as reality and treat reality as an illusion”. Reality and illusion would become jumbled, and this would be a completely different state.

When arriving at Autumn Reed Inn in this prefectural city, the young Cui Chan’s “illusory” cultivation base had already been close to reaching the ninth tier. It was because of this that he had been able to use a Militarian technique to “invite a god” and summon the Golden Dao Manifestation of a Confucian Sage. His cultivation base had been fake, but his abilities had been real.

This was the reason why the great river god of the Cold Food River had been scared out of his wits. Otherwise, with his experience and skill of ruling the northern rivers for hundreds of years, how could he be tamed by Cui Chan so easily? It was naturally necessary to put him through extreme suffering for him to become as obedient as a small catfish in the creek.

At the bottom of the well…

The sword qi raining down from the top of the well was still intense and aggressive, with wisps of sword light being deflected into the surrounding wall by the face of the mirror.

The feet of the young Cui Chan were almost touching the bottom of the well already. The groundwater linking the well to the great river had also completely evaporated a long time ago.

The young Cui Chan started to count down in his mind.

He didn’t want to kill Chen Ping’an, and this was the genuine truth. At the very least, it was the truth for now.

This was because Cui Chan was playing a tug of war with Chen Ping’an. He wanted to drag this young boy onto his own path of the Great Dao. Thus, not only would Cui Chan not harm Chen Ping’an in the short term, but he would even do his best to help Chen Ping’an advance his cultivation. At most, he would only try to subtly change Chen Ping’an’s way of thinking. Through continual suggestions and subtle influences, Cui Chan would eventually transform him into someone who walked the same path as he did. If Chen Ping’an were fortunate enough and eventually became capable of inheriting Cui Chan’s lineage, then Cui Chan wouldn’t reject this either.

However, Cui Chan genuinely wanted to kill Li Baoping.

This was because once the little girl grew up, the more she was scolded and the more she was pushed away, the more Cui Chan’s cultivation and Great Dao would be affected. This was largely due to her relationship with Chen Ping’an. As someone seeking perfection in cultivation, this was something that Cui Chan definitely couldn’t tolerate.

The young Cui Chan felt like this was undeserved bad luck.

No matter how much I appear like a sinister person with ulterior motives, was there any reason for me to act so meekly and submissively this entire time if I truly wanted to kill you? I clearly mean no harm to you.

So why are you, Chen Ping’an, intent on killing me because of some mere speculation?!

Why are you intent on killing me simply because you think I mean harm to the three children? And you aren’t hesitant in the least!

What kind of person does that make you? Can you still be considered a righteous person or a noble person? Qi Jingchun always praised noble people, so why are you, someone highly valued by him, so unreasonable? And why did the old geezer tell me to learn how to become a good person from you?! I, Cui Chan, was once the first disciple of the Scholarly Sage, and it was I who passed knowledge down to Qi Jingchun.

In terms of my standing in the Confucian Sect, I’m ranked far higher than those ordinary virtuous people and noble people. And yet you, Chen Ping’an, are wantonly acting on your whims. The old geezer’s eye for people is truly as terrible as always.

After picking and choosing for so long, has Qi Jingchun not chosen a second Cui Chan for you?

Cui Chan’s feet touched the stone slabs at the bottom of the well, and he continued to count down in his mind, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

At the same time, a feeling of satisfaction welled up in his chest.

Haha, this is even better. This means that after I break free from this dangerous situation, I’ll be able to leave you alive while subjecting you to miserable punishment. By doing this, you’ll naturally enjoy a smoother journey when you follow me down my path of the Great Dao in the future. By the looks of it, your luck isn’t too bad.

The old scholar had planted a restriction on Cui Chan, and this was a restriction that only pertained to Chen Ping’an. It prohibited Cui Chan from having any ill thoughts toward Chen Ping’an. Otherwise, he would suffer lashes to his mind and heart. Apart from this, the restriction didn’t prohibit him from anything else. This was somewhat in line with the old scholar’s knowledge and teachings which focused on seeking the fundamental origins of all matters. After fixing one’s foundation, one would then be able to flourish when it came to upholding morals and interacting with others.

In the future, I’m going to force you to watch on and see how Qi Jingchun’s direct disciple, that little girl called Li Baoping, dies in front of you. I’m going to make you understand the meaning of battles between the Great Dao and why she had to die!

The time has arrived!

Cui Chan’s arms were already bloody and deeply wounded from supporting the mirror. In fact, his wounds were so deep that his bones could already be seen. However, he paid no heed to this as he spat, “A ray of sword qi crashing down like a waterfall? Back up you go!”

————

However, a short moment before Cui Chan thought that he had succeeded, the young boy with straw sandals finally stabilized himself on top of the well and finished gathering his power. This was a game of mere milliseconds. Even though his mind was still trembling and his body was still aching in agonizing pain, he still said in a soft and quivering voice, “Go.”

The second burst of sword qi rushed down into the well.

Fuck your grandpa, Chen Ping’an! I’m going to be killed by you in this well!

This was the only thought running through Cui Chan’s mind at this moment.

Chen Ping’an wobbled back and forth as he stood on top of the well, and it looked as if he were about to fall over at any moment.

————

Before this…

The second time Chen Ping’an had visited and sat down at the pavilion, Li Baoping who had just been woken up by a nightmare had run over and sat down opposite him. At that time, a light breeze had brushed through the small pavilion for no reason at all.

Chen Ping’an had recalled something, and this was a memory that caused him to feel a little sad. At the same time, he had shut his eyes with Li Baoping and carefully listened to the tinkles of the wind chimes hanging from the eaves.

While listening to this, the young boy had silently told himself, “Mr. Qi, if the wind chimes tinkle an even number of times, then I’ll let things go first and tolerate that Cui person for a bit longer. If they tinkle an odd number of times, however, then I’ll make my move now.”

Ding ding, ding dong, ding ding dong.

After seven chimes, the wind chime had settled down and didn’t make any more noise.

After waiting for a while, the little girl in red had jumped up and left the pavilion. After that, Chen Ping’an had stood up and jumped onto the wall of the well.

————

Long before this, before Chen Ping’an had left the small town…

He had received a reminder from Old Man Yang at that time, and Chen Ping’an had taken an umbrella and left the Yang Family’s medicine shop. He had run off after the teacher from the private school who had visited Old Man Yang and gifted him, Chen Ping’an, two seals.

The scholar and the young boy had walked down the street together.

“Noble people can be deceived through means within reason. You can repeat this phrase to Senior Yang and the others.

“If you encounter any problems in the future, you can pose your questions to the spring wind. Mhm, you simply need to keep this in mind. Perhaps you’ll need to do this in the future. However, I hope that you won’t ever need to do this.”

After saying this, the scholar whose sideburns were graying had no longer worn a stern expression like he always did while teaching in the private school. Instead, he had winked at the young boy with a warm smile on his face.

————

When leaving the small town with the little girl Li Baoping…

The remnant soul of some scholar in green had returned to the mortal world after visiting some large world in the heavens beyond the heavens. After following Chen Ping’an and Li Baoping for a while, he had come to a stop and gazed at the disappearing figures of his junior brother and disciple. He didn’t see them off any further.

In the end, the scholar had waved a silent goodbye, and the gentle movements of his sleeves had sent a wisp of spring wind fluttering around the young boy. This was a silent wisp of wind that had remained lingering for a long time.

————

Inside the well…

The young Cui Chan was brutally smashed into the bottom of the well along with his Lightning Division Stamp Mirror. He was forced to curl up on the extremely dry bluestone slabs at the bottom of the well, and this was so that he could hide under his mirror as best as possible.

Even though he was still exerting his full power and putting up a final struggle, Cui Chan was in fact already lost in despair and resigned to death at this moment.

The mirror shuddered violently, brutally pressing down on the young Cui Chan hiding beneath it. At the same time, the sword qi flowed past the mirror like water and mercilessly seared the young boy’s body. Cui Chan’s consciousness started to fade.

Right at the moment that he shut his eyes…

The restriction that the old scholar had placed on the young Cui Chan’s mind surprisingly faded away.

Cui Chan instantly felt a flicker of hope, and it was as if he had finally come across water after suffering thirst for a painfully long time. He became spirited and energetic, and he naturally didn’t dare to hold back anymore. If he didn’t fight for his life now, then when would he get another opportunity?

“Haha, the heavens are on my side! Old geezer, even someone like you can make such a massive mistake! Old and undying bastard, even you’ve ended up shooting yourself in the foot. The heavens are truly on my side! The heavens never seal off all exits!”

One after another, Cui Chan slowly extracted the large golden characters that were filled with auras of righteousness from his soul. There was a twisted expression on his face, and he was suffering torturous and irrepressible pain that was even more terrifying than being cut by tens of millions of blades.

However, Cui Chan’s mind became increasingly clear as he took control of the ownerless golden characters, “Teachings of a sage, words used to record Dao”, and used them to attack the sword qi pounding down into the well.

The golden characters collided with the sword qi.

There was surprisingly no explosion, yet the more silent this collision was, the more astounding and stifling it was.

This was no longer a battle between raw strength and might. Instead, this was an alternate form of a battle between Great Dao.

However, the surging sword qi was ultimately nothing more than an “extremely small” wisp of sword qi.

Similarly, those golden characters were nothing more than characters that Cui Chan had taken advantage of and borrowed for the moment.

The two sides pushed at each other, and in the end, it was as if they were going to end up evenly matched.

In fact, it was as if they were two armies that were going to slaughter each other and ensure an internecine outcome.

After detecting this opportunity, Cui Chan was no longer resigned to despair and death. Instead, he carefully sat up before slowly entering a squatting position. After a while, he finally managed to stand up with his back still bent.

He stepped sideways, and his mirror instantly tilted to the side as well, deflecting the last wisp of sword qi toward the wall of the well. Cui Chan decided to directly toss the ancient mirror away. He then stomped his feet and soared up the well, instantly vanishing from the bottom where he had been trapped. Only his dark and furious voice continued to reverberate around the well.

“Even if you still possess a thirst wisp of sword qi, you definitely won’t have enough time to unleash it now!”

————

Chen Ping’an was standing on top of the well and performing standing meditation, with his hands also forming a seal representing the Sword Furnace. After unleashing his last wisp of sword qi, he had already entered this position and prepared to face his opponent.

The introduction of the Mountain Shaking Guide clearly stated its purpose: “Those who practice the Mountain Shaking Fist in the future, remember this fact even if you’re facing the founders of the three teachings. Your fist technique is allowed to be weak, and your fist technique is also allowed to lose in battles. However, the fist intent that you possess definitely can’t take a single step in retreat!”

————

At the same time…

The little girl in red suddenly jolted awake in her room in the refined and peaceful courtyard again. This wasn’t because of a nightmare, and she had instead been slapped awake by a locust wood sword.

The dazed Li Baoping suddenly widened her eyes. The wooden sword that had broken through the window rapidly drew the character “Qi” in the air before flying toward the door with a swoosh. Li Baoping hurriedly jumped down from her bed and ran after the sword barefoot, not even stopping to put her shoes on. After leaving her room, she followed the wooden sword to her junior uncle’s room. Because Chen Ping’an hadn’t returned yet, the door to his room was naturally still unlocked. The flying sword knocked it open, and Li Baoping ran inside the room after it. She then saw the wooden sword pointing toward Chen Ping’an’s basket.

In the end, Li Baoping retrieved a seal that her junior uncle had kept hidden away under the guidance of the flying wooden sword. After uncapping it, she realized that this was the seal with the characters “Tranquil Mind Begets Enlightenment” that her junior uncle had secretly shown her just one time. Only after detecting this did the flying wooden sword earnestly “nod its head”. It quickly flew out of the room.

Li Baoping firmly held onto the seal that Mr. Qi had gifted her junior uncle before following the locust wood sword that had mysteriously appeared in Chen Ping’an’s basket at some time. She sprinted toward the pavilion, and she then deftly leaped down from it before running toward the well where her junior uncle was standing.

The seal instantly flew out from her hand and rapidly dashed toward the well. After hovering to a height above her junior uncle’s head, the seal suddenly slammed down with an extremely heavy thud.

A heart-wrenching scream traveled over from the top of the well. “Again? Fuck you, Qi Jingchun! Can you fuck off and stop haunting me? Are you going to give this a fucking rest or not?!”

What Li Baoping saw was a young boy in white suddenly appearing above the well before being heavily struck in the forehead by Chen Ping’an’s seal. This caused him to fly back and collapse to the ground.

Before losing consciousness, the young Cui Chan who was now devoid of any cultivation murmured, “Qi Jingchun, you win this time. I admit defeat.”

1. A line from the Analects of Confucius. However, this is most likely using a misinterpreted meaning, ☜