Unsheathed

Even though Chen Ping’an’s bridge to immortality had already been shattered, and it was definitely impossible for him to repair it in the short term, there were indeed many divinely skilled sword grandmasters in the world who could rival Qi refiners powerful enough to move mountains and part seas.

When it came to pure martial artists, the most carefree and graceful among them were always swordsmen. If there were two equally handsome and impressive martial artists, with the former using fists and the latter using a sword, it would always be the latter who was more likable than the former.

When throwing punches, one would have to physically strike their opponent and attack until their knuckles became bruised and bloody. In fact, one might even have to directly shatter their opponent’s head or penetrate their opponent’s belly. How could this compare to using a sword?

Possessing the courage of ten thousand people since young, now even more impressive with a treasured sword by his waist. Heroic is the youth’s ambition, capable of ending lives while enjoying wine with a smile[1].

Roaming the world with my swordsmanship now mastered, slaying flood dragons where flood dragons roam[2].

Just how carefree was this? Just how refined and admirable was this?

Even as pedantic and uninteresting as Chen Ping’an was, he had still involuntarily felt a sense of yearning upon hearing Cui Dongshan reciting these poems atop a cliff next to some river.

Chen Ping’an was practicing fist techniques right now, and he at least had the Mountain Shaking Guide to teach him. No matter how much Ning Yao looked down on it, it was at least able to point him in the right direction when it came to practicing martial arts.

When it came to practicing swordsmanship, one naturally needed a sword scripture or something similar as well. Otherwise, with Chen Ping’an’s talent and comprehension ability, he didn’t feel like he would be able to make much progress. In fact, he felt like he would fail to make any progress even if he practiced until the heavens grew old and the earth became desolate.

This caused Chen Ping’an to feel slightly anxious.

Outside the bamboo building, a man walked over from the distance with a bamboo hiking pole in his hand. There was a peach wood talisman hanging by his waist, and he loudly shouted, “Chen Ping’an!”

Standing on the second floor, the gloomy Chen Ping’an looked over and asked loudly, “Brother Li, what brings you here?”

Chen Ping’an sprinted downstairs.

Bringing Cui Ci — the young boy who could be regarded as half his disciple — with him, Li Xisheng had especially climbed up Downtrodden Mountain to visit the mountain master, Chen Ping’an.

Li Xisheng untied the peach wood talisman from his waist and said directly, “I might need to leave the small town soon, so I hurriedly made my way over here to give you something. Otherwise, I was afraid that I wouldn’t have enough time to explain things properly if I had to leave in a hurry.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t reach over to accept the peach wood talisman. He wasn’t worried about the young man trying to harm him, and he was instead accustomed to not accepting things that he hadn’t earned. He couldn’t bring himself to accept things for free.

“You know about my younger brother, Li Baozhen, right?” Li Xisheng asked.

Chen Ping’an nodded in reply.

“It was under his secret directions that Zhu Lu attempted to kill you in Pillow Relay Station,” Li Xisheng explained. “He was naturally in the wrong, but it was already too late for me to stop him when I found out. Li Baozhen is someone who has never been willing to acknowledge his mistakes ever since a young age. However, what can I do about this? He’s Li Baoping’s second brother, and he’s also my younger brother. Family is family, after all. Since he’s unwilling to apologize and repent for his mistake, I have no option but to do so in his place.”

Looking at the tanned young boy who chose to remain silent, Li Xisheng smiled and continued, “Rest assured, I’m discussing matters as they are, and this peach wood talisman is only an apology gift for the assassination attempt in Pillow Relay Station. After I leave the small town, you still need to be careful of Li Baozhen. If you become significantly more powerful than him in the future, Chen Ping’an, I implore you to spare his life once and give him the chance to change his ways. Once, just once.

“Of course, if the two of you are evenly matched and engaged in a perilous battle of life and death, then there’s no need for you to hold back and show any mercy. The most important thing is self-preservation.”

Chen Ping’an carefully considered this for a moment before slowly replying, “Okay!”

Li Xisheng offered the peach wood talisman to the young boy and said with a warm smile, “Since that’s the case, then be at ease and accept this. It’s nothing much.”

“Brother Li, there’s no need for you to give me anything. Also, you can rest assured that I’ll definitely keep my promise.”

Chen Ping’an waved his hand and smiled as he continued, “Since you traveled so far and especially came here to give this to me, it’s definitely a very valuable item. Moreover…”

Chen Ping’an’s voice trailed off, and he didn’t say anything else.

In reality, A’Liang had once mentioned to him that the genuinely big fated opportunities in Jewel Small World still remained in Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley.

Chen Ping’an’s intuition told him that these fated opportunities were perhaps related to the peach wood talisman in Li Xisheng’s hand.

Seeing the young boy’s strong determination, Li Xisheng hesitated for a moment before asking, “Can we talk in private?”

————

After Dragon Spring County became Dragon Spring Prefecture, the county that initially had a unique name with the character “dragon” had its name changed to Locust Yellow County. The prefectural office was set up in a location to the north of the mountains, and the county office remained in the same place in the small town.

The county magistrate was a young official with the surname Yuan, and in stark contrast to the previous county magistrate, Wu Yuan, who always liked to do things by himself, County Magistrate Yuan barely ever showed himself. Strangely, however, many of the matters and projects that had become stagnant under the now-promoted Wu Yuan’s watch were starting to progress smoothly and steadily again.

For example, the construction of the Wenchang pavilion and the martial sage temple. Because of this, many people felt like it was extremely unreasonable that the useless Wu Yuan had been promoted.

The new kiln supervision official was a young man with the surname Cao. He was of a similar age to County Magistrate Yuan, and his surname was also that of a Pillar General Clan. Compared to the elusive County Magistrate Yuan, however, Kiln Supervision Official Cao was much more willing to show himself in public. Not only did he take the initiative to visit the wealthy clans and families in Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley, but he even visited the private school established by the Dragon Tail County Chen Clan quite often.

This was especially the case when it came to Li Xisheng’s lessons. If Kiln Supervision Official Cao had spare time, he would definitely take off his official garb and change into Confucian robes to attend this young scholar’s lessons. He would openly sit at the back of the classroom, and he would never feel embarrassed by the fact that he was attending a lesson with a big group of young children.

There was a post road to the east of Locust Yellow County, and the relay station on this road that was closest to the small town was called Locust Residence Relay Station. It wasn’t large, but it had everything that a relay station needed to have. The five relay station horses here were second-grade war horses, and this was something that small relay stations in other counties could only dream of.

On this day, several groups of esteemed guests arrived at Locust Residence Relay Station early in the morning. Prefectural Overseer Wu Yuan had already traveled over from the west, and he only brought with him two of his most trusted subordinates, a scholarly secretary and a martial secretary. County Magistrate Yuan arrived after him, having made his way over on a carriage. When he saw his superior standing beside the post road and waiting for him, however, he was unwilling to even greet him. Instead, County Magistrate Yuan directly walked into the relay station and asked for a pot of tea. He then sat there and sipped tea by himself.

After a while, Kiln Supervision Official Cao arrived on horseback, with the smell of alcohol lingering around his body. He wobbled as he unmounted his horse, and he burped loudly as he walked forward with his steed. He had most likely drunk too much last night, and he had thus drunk more to awaken himself this morning. When he saw Wu Yuan, he hurriedly patted his clothes to get rid of the smell of alcohol. Acting as if nothing was wrong, he walked up to the prefectural overseer and bowed in greeting, chuckling, “Subordinate Cao Mao pays his respects to Prefectural Overseer Wu.”

Wu Yuan had been promoted to a lofty position, yet he didn’t appear smug at all. “Kiln Supervision Official Cao is an official who reports to the Ministry of Rites, so there’s actually no need for you to pay respects to me,” he said in a refined and courteous manner.

There was a wide smile on Kiln Supervision Official Cao’s face. His appearance was handsome and his body was slender, so it was no wonder that this man with a carefree demeanor was referred to as the “Jade Tree of the Cao Clan”. “No, it’s only right that I should pay my respects to you. After all, subordinates should treat their superiors with respect. In any case, if Lord Wu becomes the son-in-law of the Yuan Clan in the future, then you’ll truly transform into a dragon. At that time, your influence in the officialdom will be even greater. I wouldn’t dare to slight Lord Wu.”

Cao Mao’s speech and mannerisms made one feel as if they were bathing in the refreshing spring breeze.

He was being extremely modest at this moment, yet he spoke freely in a way that was very against the rules of officialdom. In fact, he wasn’t showing too much respect to Wu Yuan, an official who was in charge of a large prefecture.

However, this wasn’t strange. As a legitimate descendant of the Cao Clan whom his elders had high hopes for, Cao Mao had many reasons not to like Wu Yuan, the future son-in-law of the Yuan Clan.

The Yuan Clan and the Cao Clan were both powerful pillar clans in the capital of the Great Li Empire. They had initially been very close with each other, and there had often been marriages between the descendants of the two clans. During the past 100-odd years, however, the two clans had gradually drifted apart and become hostile with each other.

The ancestors of the two clans who had led them to their current glory had once been staunch allies who had fought alongside each other on the battlefield. At the same time, they had also been crucial pillars of the Great Li Empire, and it was thanks to them that the empire had been able to rise and flourish. Moreover, Cao Hang and Yuan Xie were from the same place, so the history books referred to them as the “twin jade pendants of scholarship and martial arts.” Even until today, many legends and stories about these two individuals were still being spread far and wide throughout the streets and alleys of the Great Li Empire.

In fact, after regulating the door god stickers in Dragon Spring Prefecture, all of the door gods plastered on the gates of the residences were illustrations of Cao Hang and Yuan Xie, the ancestors of the Cao Clan and the Yuan Clan, respectively.

In terms of sending their descendants over to become officials in Dragon Spring Prefecture, nobody knew whether this was under the guidance of some powerful immortals or due to a desire to obtain ancestral blessings. After all, that old locust tree had already collapsed and withered, with all of its leaves scattering and nowhere to be found. It was truly difficult to say whether this ancestral land for the two clans still possessed any ancestral blessings for them.

It wasn’t long before several other people arrived together. They were all elderly people.

One of them was an old woman with a walking stick, and her grandson Zhao Yao had been Qi Jingchun’s scholarly attendant. During the tumultuous period in the small town back then, he had already taken a cow-drawn cart and left his hometown.

There was also an old man whose aura was hidden, and he was the old ancestor of the Li Clan. After the restriction in the Jewel Small World was lifted, the old man successfully advanced to the 10th tier and won two protected appointment positions[3] for the Li Clan. However, his eldest grandson Li Xisheng turned down this offer, while his other grandson Li Baozhen chose to accept this offer. The latter successfully became a formal official in the capital of the Great Li Empire.

In terms of the remaining protected appointment position, this could only be left vacant for the moment. In any case, the Li Clan could save this for a promising descendant in the future.

In addition to the old woman from the Zhao Clan and the old man from the Li Clan, there was also a short old man from a residence that was located on the corner of Peach Leaf Alley. He had a benevolent and kindly expression, and when Chen Ping’an had been delivering letters back then, he had even wanted to invite the young boy into his house to offer him some water. However, the young boy hadn’t dared to accept his

Apart from them, the remaining elders were also clan leaders from the Four Families and Ten Clans. They owned many dragon kilns, farmlands, and ordinary mountains, and it could be said that they were the genuine landlords of the small town.

An old man dressed in Confucian robes and wearing a tall hat on his head lightly pushed the curtain of his carriage aside and stepped down. He squinted his eyes and swept his gaze around the surroundings, instantly causing everyone to feel a suffocating aura sweep over them.

Like the shadow of a tree, a person’s reputation followed them everywhere they went.

The old man in Confucian robes had countless profoundly powerful titles — the first disciple of the Scholarly Sage, Qi Jingchun’s senior brother, the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire, Confucian sage, an imperial go player who had enjoyed a match with the city lord of White Emperor City amid the iridescent clouds…

Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was the smallest of the nine continents in the Majestic World, yet the rise of Cui Chan helped attract the gazes of many mighty figures hidden in the background to this small continent.

After Cui Chan stepped down from the carriage and stood still, all of the elderly clan leaders bowed and paid their respects to him in unison.

When the clan leaders slowly raised their heads, they were astonished to discover a beautiful young girl dressed in palace attire stepping down from the carriage and standing behind the powerful and influential old man. Some of the clan leaders were aware of some secrets, and this caught them completely off guard.

“All of you can return now,” Cui Chan said in a calm and indifferent voice.

None of them dared to object. In fact, they didn’t even dare to express the slightest hint of anger or resentment.

1. Extract from Li Bai’s poem, 《结客少年场行》. This is a poem about young and skillful swordsmen. ☜

2. Extract from Lu Yan’s (Lu Dongbin) poem ‘Jueju’. Lu Dongbin is a legendary Chinese scholar and poet who lived during the Tang dynasty. ☜

3. This gives hereditary privilege based on the merit of one’s ancestors in terms of entering schools and becoming officials. ☜