Unsheathed

The old scholar was standing on a huge boulder atop the colossal mountain. The mountain wind whistled past him, causing his sleeves to loudly flap in the air.

At this moment, did the white-haired old scholar standing high against the mountain wind still appear impoverished in the least?

The old scholar gazed at the brilliant speck of light that suddenly burst into existence more than 400 kilometers away. Even though it was extremely far away, the old scholar still found it to be slightly blinding. He nodded slightly and said, “So many years have passed, and even though the edge of the blade is far blunter than the legends, the intense aura of sharpness that it possesses hasn’t declined by much. Impressive, how very impressive. After a lengthy 10,000 years filled with vicissitudes, you’re still able to maintain such a razor-sharp spirit. However…”

The old scholar quickly smiled and continued, “I’ll use this mountain to teach the two of you the meaning of true difficulty and the need to retreat to avoid defeat. In terms of things like fighting, it’s best that we keep it to a minimum. After all, fighting will detrimentally affect relationships.”

The mountain that the old scholar had “visualized” into the painting and was standing on right now was as renowned as could be.

In the Middle Earth Divine Continent, the largest of the nine continents, there was a lofty mountain called Tassel Mountain. This was a majestic mountain, and it could be said that it rose from the earth and soared into the sky. On the mountain peak, there was a monument upon which the Paramount Sage had personally written the characters “Epitome of the World”, there was a cliff face upon which the Etiquette Sage had personally engraved the characters “Ancestor of the Five Mountains”, there was an engraving upon which the first disciple of the Dao Ancestor had left the characters “Astral Winds Gently Arrive”, and there was an engraving upon which a Militarian Sage had used his fingers to engrave the characters “Sole Paragon Wudang”.

Only taking into account the engravings left by the emperors of the different dynasties from the different continents during their ceremonies of worship toward heaven and earth throughout history, there were already more than 180 in total. These stone tablets consisted of ones that were engraved using cursive, seal, official, and regular script. These characters and cliff faces that were filled with an aura of mystery and profoundness extended all the way from the Heaven Ascending Platform on the peak of Tassel Mountain to the waist of the mountain halfway down. Monuments and historical sights were everywhere one looked.

The old scholar gazed at the dazzling sword light far away in the distance. When he had first arrived by the old well and seen Chen Ping’an’s sword stance, he had felt like the young boy’s manner of holding the sword was as unsightly as could be. Even as someone who didn’t care much about martial arts, the old scholar had still been barely able to stand that sight. Now, however, the old scholar only had a single feeling as he observed the young boy holding the sword horizontally in front of him.

Steady.

Chen Ping’an’s hand was extremely steady as he held the sword. His mind was also very calm and still, and this allowed his soul and aura to become even steadier.

After funneling all of her sword intent into the “old sword billet”, the tall woman directly appeared in Chen Ping’an’s mind using an even more intangible and illusory body. This was an incredibly mystical sight. Her pupils were gold and her feet were bare, and when she lightly landed on the “lake” that was Chen Ping’an’s mind, light ripples undulated across the surface. A voice sounded in the young boy’s mind.

This was a gentle voice that reverberated through his mind, and it said, “There’s no need to hurry. Take your time to familiarize yourself with the feeling of being a 10th tier Qi refiner.

“So-called sword techniques only consist of a few different types. There aren’t many variations. This is the difference between ordinary cultivators in the world and those from lofty immortal sects. Qi refiners refine Qi and combine both nurturing and refining together. They’re able to nurture a myriad of different sword qi, some which are profound and some which are shallow, some which are mighty and some which are lowly. If others are creeks or streams while you’re a lake or river, you’ll naturally be hundreds upon thousands of times more powerful than them.

“The power of your sword qi depends on how much your physique and acupoints have been explored and opened up. The more acupoints you open up, the more potential you’ll unlock. If others only possess a single low-level blessed land while you’ve unlocked all of your blessed lands, the gulf between the two of you will be like the gulf between heaven and earth! Meridians are like paths, and the tougher and wider they are, the better. If the paths of others are single-log bridges while yours is a grand highway that leads to the heavens, how can they possibly rival you?”

The sword spirit observed the surroundings, and after seeing the images in Chen Ping’an’s mind, she smiled widely and asked in a soft voice, “Do you understand?”

Chen Ping’an was still struggling to adapt to the feeling of being a 10th tier Qi refiner. Add to that the utterly chaotic aura around him, and he couldn’t even open his eyes, much less open his mouth to reply. Fortunately, the sword spirit had told him that he only needed to reply using his thoughts. Chen Ping’an truthfully replied, “I understand, but I don’t know how to do it.”

The tall woman wasn’t surprised at all, and she laughed heartily upon hearing the young boy’s reply.

Chen Ping’an didn’t quite understand, and he continued to focus his full attention on adapting to this feeling of being a 10th tier Qi refiner.

This was a strange feeling that he couldn’t explain using words.

It was as if he were a starving person with a rumbling stomach whose belly had suddenly been stuffed full of generous amounts of fish and meat, not leaving a single empty space. It was as if all of his acupoints had been opened up.

The wisp of Qi within him was like a fiery dragon swimming around and had suddenly transformed from the size of a thread to the size of a comically large loach. It rapidly dashed through his meridians, traveling everywhere it wanted without any obstructions. As it swam, it didn’t forget to pull the Qi from the other acupoints toward itself. This had a snowballing effect, and it was as if the fiery dragon wouldn’t relent unless it became a genuine flood dragon.

Chen Ping’an’s insides became as clear and limpid as colored glaze, while his torso and meridians were comfortably stretched until they became like a golden branch and jade leaves.

His True Qi was unblemished, his form radiated with a sense of natural simplicity, and he was able to freely observe the state of longevity.

One after another, the abilities and phenomena that Lin Shouyi had mentioned to him before appeared in his mind.

Hovering in his mind, the sword spirit said in a soft voice, “It’s still a little bit lacking. Sword immortals are different from ordinary Qi refiners, after all.”

She then looked up and gazed into the distance, with her gaze piercing through Chen Ping’an’s mind and directly landing on the huge boulder atop the towering mountain. She smiled and asked, “What do you say? Otherwise, your shameless act of summoning Tassel Mountain to use against your opponent is far too unfair.”

“I simply want the two of you to wholeheartedly accept your loss.”

The old scholar laughed heartily as he replied to the sword spirit. After hesitating for a brief moment, he retracted his gaze slightly and swept his gaze over the entire mountain. In the end, his gaze settled on a cliff face that had a strange “copybook” engraved onto it by an ancient sword immortal using their abundant sword qi. This was none other than the “Flying Sword Copybook” that attracted many sword immortals from the Middle Earth Divine Continent. These sword immortals would observe this copybook, and some of them would even build huts under the cliff face to comprehend the Sword Dao contained within the copybook.

“Here, take it! In terms of how much you can retain, that’s completely up to your own abilities. Back then, Little Zuo was in the same situation as you. He was yet to formally begin learning the sword, yet he unintentionally came across these characters when climbing the mountain. After observing them, he was able to retain six characters. This was an immediate reflection of his talent in swordsmanship. There are many prodigious swordsmen, but one has to realize that prodigies also come in different levels. Those who can retain five characters are guaranteed to become terrestrial sword immortals. Chen Ping’an, let us see just how talented you are!”

The old scholar waved his sleeve, causing the seven large and ancient characters to fly out from the cliff face and soar toward Chen Ping’an who was standing 400 kilometers away. These characters arrived before him in a flash, and when they did so, they had already become characters in official script that were only as big as his palm. They were golden and dazzling, and they started to rapidly circulate around him.

After a while, however, not a single character was willing to approach Chen Ping’an. They drifted further and further away from him, and in the end, they decided to directly fly back to the cliff face.

The old scholar felt both awkward and guilty upon seeing this, and he murmured, “I was trying to be clever, but my plan has clearly backfired on me. Sorry about this, Little Ping’an. I never imagined that these characters would be so disrespectful…”

The tall woman in Chen Ping’an’s mind humphed coldly in reply.

The old scholar produced a forced smile and said, “Troublesome, how very troublesome… How should I deal with this? No worries, let me think of an easier method. Something like this can’t trip me up. I’m old friends with the mountain god of Tassel Mountain, so I’m extremely aware of just how much wealth he has. If push comes to shove, I’ll just…”

“I’m not surprised that the seven characters didn’t take a fancy to me.”

Right at this moment, Chen Ping’an opened his eyes ever so slightly and directly voiced his thoughts, not using his mind to communicate with the tall woman anymore. “In any case, I didn’t want to obtain them either. Honest!”

The tall woman’s heart shuddered.

Chen Ping’an tightened his grip on the sword and slowly continued, “When practicing my fist technique, I always have a nagging feeling that my punches will eventually become very quick if I keep practicing like this. In fact, I feel like they can become the quickest. With you by my side now, I feel like this is already enough. I don’t need those characters, and I’m confident that my sword strike will still be very quick! Believe me, it will definitely be very quick!”

The tall female nodded in reply.

The old scholar also faltered for a moment, and he clucked his tongue in wonder before saying, “Your attitude and manner are truly like Little Qi from when he was young.”

There was a faint smile on the old scholar’s face, yet he purposely humphed and said in a cold voice, “Let me see just how powerful your 10th tier sword strike is. Will it unleash the power of an 11th tier cultivator, or will it unleash the power of a 12th tier cultivator? Chen Ping’an, don’t drag your feet and only unleash a sword strike that’s equivalent to the seventh tier or eighth tier! Come on, what are you still waiting for? If you still don’t launch your sword strike, then the sun is going to rise again!”

After teasing the young boy, the old scholar sat down cross-legged and murmured, “A poet once remarked, ‘For ten years my sword was sharpened, yet a test on its blade has never happened; I display it to Your Majesty today, tell me who has grievances to alleviate[1].’ However, so many grievances and injustices exist in the world, yet there only exists a single sword…”

A carefree smile appeared on the old scholar’s face, and he no longer troubled himself with these melancholy thoughts. “In any case, others might sharpen their swords for 10 years, but the sword in your hand has been sharpened for 10,000 years!” he gloated.

“Go!” Chen Ping’an and the tall woman solemnly exclaimed in unison.

Chen Ping’an started to charge forward at full speed. He surprisingly held the sword behind him.

The old scholar simply smiled and shook his head when he saw this.

The young boy looked up as he sprinted forward like the wind. He then leaped high into the air before slashing down.

The world fell silent.

There was no astonishing sword light that illuminated heaven and earth. There was no remarkable sword qi that soared into the sky.

At this instant, however, the old scholar who had initially been facing the south as he sat on the boulder atop the mountain tilted his body sideways.

Hovering in Chen Ping’an’s mind, the tall woman suddenly fell into his “mind’s lake” before shutting her eyes and murmuring, “It’s already been 10,000 years.”

At the same time, Li Baoping who was investigating the scroll next to the old well in Autumn Reed Inn suddenly widened her eyes and exclaimed in astonishment, “Why did the scroll suddenly crack?!”

1. From Jia Dao’s poem, A Swordsman. This represents the extraordinary nature of something, and taken in the context of the poem, represents a grand desire to unleash the power of this extraordinary item. ☜