Unsheathed

Wei Bo touched on the topic a bit more, but he was ultimately unwilling to reveal too much. White spaces had to be left in works of calligraphy and painting[1], and a similar principle also applied when it came to conversing with others.

An elegant white robe rose into the sky and gracefully flew away in the sea of clouds and wisps of mountain wind.

After leaving Downtrodden Mountain, Wei Bo slowed down and casually grabbed a nearby cloud. As if he were making a snowball, he continually kneaded the cloud and increased his force as he did so. After forcefully compacting the cloud, Wei Bo ended up with a white ball that was as large as a pebble in his hand. As he hovered in the sky, he located one of the river sources of the small town’s Dragon Whisker River.

He lightly tossed the white ball toward the stream in the mountain, and after it landed, it wasn’t long before an azure fish swam over and gobbled it up. The azure fish then swam downstream following the flow of the current, exiting the mountain, passing the Azure Cow Ridge, the stone arch bridge, the blacksmith shop, and eventually entering a tumultuous stream of water at the intersection between the Dragon Whisker River and the Iron Talisman River and plummeting down the waterfall.

The river roared forward, and time continued to flow. On the bank of the Iron Talisman River where no one else was present, the river goddess named Yang Hua was sitting on the trunk of the old willow tree that extended over the river. Her eyes were shut as she rested her mind, yet the river goddess whose beauty was concealed by face armor suddenly opened her eyes at this moment.

With a wave of her hand, a lively azure fish immediately appeared in her palm. She used a finger to slice open its belly, uncovering the white ball that was filled with spiritual energy. She then lightly ran her thumb over the incision on the fish’s belly, sewing the wound of the messenger fish back together. The azure fish slipped through her hand and into the water, and it appeared as lively and joyful as could be. It was as if its scales were even more colorful than before.

Yang Hua looked down at the white ball in her hand. Wisps of cloud root aura hovered inside this white ball, and this made the white ball as precious as could be. This was something extremely beneficial to river deities. Of course, river deities and mountain deities all had their own kinds of delicacies. For example, water essence and cloud roots were both formed by the condensation of intangible mountain and water aura into something tangible. Impurities were separated and only the essence was kept, and the value of these things to deities was similar to the value of Dragon Slaying Platforms to divine weapons, and the value of snake gall pebbles to flood dragons and their ilk. Indeed, these were all things of great significance.

Yang Hua looked up, and she could vaguely see a man in white robes standing atop a mountain amid the clouds and mists. There was a golden earring on one of his ears.

Not long ago, she had personally witnessed this person riding on the back of that black python with mediocre cultivation talent alongside Xu Ruo, a Mohist disciple and one of the Great Li Empire’s guardians. After going against the flow of the river and passing this place, they had headed toward the mountains in the distance. However, Yang Hua hadn’t imagined that Wei Bo would surprisingly become the formal god of the Great Li Empire’s Northern Mountain. His rank was now far above hers.

Right now, Yang Hua was unsure of why Wei Bo was expressing goodwill toward her. Perhaps his position was unstable, so he needed to win over others?

Yang Hua smiled coldly. She clenched her fist and resolutely crushed the white ball in her hand, causing all of the spiritual energy to flow into her body. Her hair billowed in the wind, and waves appeared in the river beneath her feet. It was as if the river were expressing its delight after seeing its master advance her cultivation.

Wei Bo retracted his gaze from the distant Iron Talisman River before turning around and returning to Cloud Drape Mountain.

As he rode the wind and flew across the mountains, there would occasionally be Qi refiners who looked up and loudly shouted in greeting. In the past, Wei Bo would always smile and greet them back. Today, however, he was in no mood to do so.

He simply arrived before an iron chain and rope bridge that hung between two mountain peaks. This bridge was still in construction, and it was wide enough to allow two horse-drawn carriages to pass by each other. No matter how powerful the mountain wind was, the bridge would only sway a very small amount. This was because the Mohist Qi refiners and mechanists all had strict requirements regarding how much the bridge was allowed to sway under what kinds of wind conditions. They most definitely wouldn’t cut any corners.

Planks of ebony wood were laid across the rope bridge, an extremely tough kind of wood. In fact, the full-power attack of a swordsman at the Lower Five Tiers would only be able to leave a small hole in this wood. The iron chains were also forged from top-quality iron essence.

After all, shops that had a history of 100 years could already be considered time-honored and reputable in the mortal world. In the cultivation world, however, only those places with a history of over 500 years dared to call themselves a time-honored place.

As the white-robed mountain god walked across the planks of ebony wood, the stark contrast between the two made one want to sigh with emotion and remark, “Ah, what a tall and majestic mountain!”

Wei Bo stopped and placed a hand on the bridge railing. He looked up and gazed into the distance.

He knew that at least half of the reason why he was able to become the formal god of the Great Li Empire’s Northern Mountain was that man with the bamboo hat and bamboo saber.

It was because the Great Li Empire had discovered that it was only after his encounter with that man that he had mysteriously shattered the restrictions placed on him. Initially reduced to a pitiable mountain lord, he had returned to his original position as the mountain god of Go Table Mountain.

All of this was thanks to that strike from the bamboo sword. In fact, even Wei Bo had only come to understand this a long time after the fact. As time went on, Wei Bo gradually started to realize the remarkable nature of his godly body.

Could a small bowl hold an entire vat’s worth of water? Of course it couldn’t. This was the case even though he had once been the formal god of Divine Water Nation’s Northern Mountain, a high-ranking formal god who could accept an appreciable amount of incense and offerings. It was just that an immortal had used a paramount mystical ability to place a restriction on him afterward.

However, to accept all of the incense and spiritual energy in the Great Li Empire’s northern mountain regions? When leaving Go Table Mountain, Wei Bo had felt like this would be an impossible task. Attempting to accept all of the incense and spiritual energy would be a severe overestimation of his own abilities. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as severe as an earthworm trying to shake a tree, but it would definitely be as bad as an infant trying to swing a hammer to forge iron. If he attempted this, he would definitely end up damaging his body and ruining his fundamental vitality.

Now, however, Wei Bo could masterfully govern and control the 30-odd mountains in his area.

This was the reason why he was willing to show the greatest goodwill to Chen Ping’an and bring him around the mountains, essentially telling everyone that this young boy was under his protection.

Firstly, Chen Ping’an wasn’t unlikeable. Secondly, he needed to repay A’Liang. Thirdly, it was possible that A’Liang would one day return to this world again.

The third reason was naturally the most important.

If A’Liang did indeed return to this world one day, Wei Bo was extremely afraid that the man would be displeased at his performance. If that were the case, then since the strike from the bamboo sword at Go Table Mountain had allowed his cultivation base to rise explosively, the next strike from the bamboo sword at Cloud Drape Mountain could perhaps crush him back to his original state. If he were still the Wei Bo at Go Table Mountain, then perhaps he could treat this with much less importance. Now, however, he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

This was because of the young girl cultivating in the Great Li Empire’s Palace of Eternal Spring.

Wei Bo turned around to gaze toward the south, the distant south of the Great Li Empire. He squinted his eyes and softly murmured, “You definitely have to live a good life. And don’t fall for scholars anymore. Scholars are the worst when it comes to failing those hopelessly in love with them.”

————

Sitting outside the bamboo building in Downtrodden Mountain, the little boy in azure wanted to eat an ordinary snake gall pebble to settle his nerves after listening to Wei Bo’s story about that incredible battle at the border between the two worlds.

As the little boy in azure crunched down on the snake gall pebble, he thought of Chen Ping’an’s pitiable expression as he had turned around to look at the bamboo building just then. He couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder and say, “Who would have thought that Master would also shed tears? Master is truly someone with genuine emotions. It was a story completely unrelated to him, yet he was still so moved that he couldn’t help but shed tears. I’m sure that things will definitely be spectacular when Master travels around the world in the future. When he comes across injustices, he’ll roar and charge over to save those young women who will then pledge themselves to him. With a shake, Master will then become someone extremely experienced in relationships…”

In the little boy’s mind, Chen Ping’an’s future travels around the world would definitely be filled with beautiful and charming women. He became happier and happier as he thought about this, and he felt like it would be incredibly interesting when someday a female cultivator threw herself into the arms of this stubborn and boring young boy.

Meanwhile, the little girl in pink was still feeling a sense of shock and awe from Wei Bo’s story. Her expression was complicated, and there was bubbling unease in her mind. She turned to the little boy in azure and asked in a quiet voice, “The demon tribe in that world is so cruel and violent, so how are the mortals and immortals in the Majestic World able to maintain peace with each other? Why don’t the cultivators suppress and massacre us?”

The little boy in azure thought for a moment before casually replying, “Perhaps they view us as nothing more than dog shit on the side of the street. Even stepping on us will be an act of soiling their shoes.”

The little girl in pink only half believed this answer. However, she couldn’t think of any other explanation for this, so she could only bury this sense of concern and unease in her mind for the moment.

Wei Bo had already left, and Chen Ping’an was in no hurry to get up and return to the bamboo building either. He quietly sat on the small bamboo chair by himself. The mountain wind of early spring was still biting cold, and it caused the sideburns of the young boy to freely billow in the air.

Before leaving, Wei Bo had smiled and said, “It’s rumored that A’Liang is looking for a sword, a sword that’s worthy of his strength.”

Chen Ping’an clearly remembered his encounter with that person on the bank of the Iron Talisman River. Holding his bamboo hat in one hand and lightly slapping his bamboo saber with the other, he had bragged, “I’ve yet to find a sword that’s worthy of me, one that I can use to humiliate all of the saber-wielding cultivators in the world.”

Wei Bo continued, “Some people say that he’s a swordsman at the peak stage of the 13th tier, and during his battle with the great demons back then, the sword in his hand hadn’t been one of the best. However, he had already become accustomed to it, so he hadn’t been willing to switch to another sword. After that sword shattered, he naturally needed to look for a better sword.

“Imagine this. What if A’Liang manages to find a sword that he’s satisfied with? In fact, what if he manages to find a sword that can elevate his combat power? Just one such sword is enough, and just elevating his combat power by a single tier is enough. At that time, he’ll possess combat power at the peak stage of the 14th tier! As a sword cultivator, perhaps he’ll even be able to battle against the founders of the three teachings at that time! Perhaps he can battle against the Dao Ancestor, Buddha, and the Paramount Sage!

“This is simply unimaginable. After obtaining such a sword, just how incredible will A’Liang become?”

Wei Bo left after saying this. His face was filled with anticipation and reverence, and it was as if he were a small hill gazing up at a majestic mountain.

After entering the Scholarly Sage’s picture scroll, Chen Ping’an had once unleashed a single sword strike.

Only at this moment did Chen Ping’an understand what A’Liang had given up.

Walking down the mountain with A’Liang that rainy night, the man wearing the bamboo hat had said this to the young boy.

“You know, you’ve taken something that I thought was as good as mine.

“If you don’t become powerful enough to carve out at least two or three characters at that place someday, I’m going to beat the crap out of you!”

Back then, Chen Ping’an hadn’t understood the significance of these words that A’Liang had said in such a casual manner. This was because the man wearing the bamboo hat had appeared as calm and composed as could be as he had uttered these words. As a result, the young boy had been completely oblivious to the true weight of his decision.

At that time, Chen Ping’an had been absolutely clueless regarding just how powerful and impressive that sword was.

He hadn’t been aware of A’Liang’s true power either.

If Chen Ping’an had become aware of these things before parting ways with A’Liang, he would have definitely asked Big Sister Immortal, who was the manifestation of the sword spirit, whether she could follow another master. That man was called A’Liang, and he was a swordsman and a very good person.

A’Liang hadn’t said anything, so the young boy hadn’t known anything.

A’Liang bade farewell, and the young boy finally learned the truth.

Just how foolish is A’Liang?

What right does he have to scold me as a foolishly kind person?

Chen Ping’an was lost in thought for a long time. Afterward, he stood up and walked back to the bamboo building. Upon seeing this, the little boy in azure asked in a quiet voice, “Master, are you okay? Were you frightened by Wei Bo’s story? There’s genuinely no need to be afraid of those things. Stalactite Mountain? Sword Qi Great Wall? A’Liang? Great demon sword immortals? These things couldn’t be any further away from us! We don’t need to worry about them even if the heavens collapse!

“Confucian sages are more than just talk. Their combat power is also fairly impressive. In any case, that sword immortal with a strange name has got nothing to do with us regardless of how powerful he is. This kind of person definitely has three heads and six arms, and they’re definitely fierce and unrestrained and willing to kill everyone standing in their way no matter if they’re gods or immortals. In fact, I’d choose not to meet such a person even if I had the opportunity to. They’re far too terrifying. Just a single sneeze from them might reduce me to nothing more than a rack of bones.”

Chen Ping’an patted the head of the rambling little boy and chuckled, “I’m fine.”

He walked to the second floor of the bamboo building and grabbed his locust wood sword before making his way to the corridor under the eaves. He raised the locust wood sword high above his head toward the sky and spoke two sentences in his mind.

“I’m a swordsman.

“It’s a deal.”

1. This refers to Chinese calligraphy and traditional painting, where it is often the case that large white spaces will be purposely left. This is an artistic choice with historical roots. ☜