Unsheathed

After the loud and direct Cao Xi left, the Xie Clan instantly became peaceful and quiet again. However, everyone in the clan — from the housewives to the children, and from the old servants to the elders — tiptoed around in a cautious manner, afraid that they would disturb Xie Shi as he rested.

For the past few days, everyone in the Xie Clan felt as if they were living in a dream. An old ancestor who had his name recorded in the Jiaxu genealogy book of the clan had suddenly appeared in front of them. This was an old ancestor who had lived for heaven knows how many years.

Among everyone in the clan, perhaps only the young boy with long eyebrows was able to remain relatively calm and composed. This was because Xie Shi had roughly explained the outside world to him, and the young boy had also been told to follow Ruan Qiong and forge iron with him. When it came to fated opportunities, it wasn’t necessarily the case that following his old ancestor around and acting in a haughty manner would be better.

The young boy with long eyebrows was mentally tough and resilient, and he didn’t show any signs of wanting to change his teacher even after learning that Xie Shi was imminently going to become the first Heavenly Lord of Complete Reed Continent. Xie Shi was soon going to be superior to his current teacher Ruan Qiong no matter if it was cultivation base or status. Xie Shi felt a slight sense of approval when he saw this. This was the disposition that was expected of the Xie Clan’s descendants.

The young boy with long eyebrows naturally didn’t know that if he had shown any signs of hesitance, Xie Shi would have abandoned all thoughts of training and developing him. In fact, he would have even paid Ruan Qiong a visit and said a few words to him, lest the young boy with long eyebrows bring misfortune and calamity to his clan.

In other words, long eyebrows would have almost completely lost the opportunity to achieve immortality and rejuvenate his clan.

When recruiting and teaching disciples, cultivators from the mountains placed heavy emphasis on the cultivation of one’s mind. This was especially the case for Daoist terrestrial immortals. One’s mind wasn’t something that could be easily understood in a few years, and it was often the case that cultivators would travel around the world for dozens of years before being able to find a satisfactory disciple to whom they could pass their true teachings.

During these dozens of years, many cultivators would give their disciples all kinds of trials and examinations — wealth, perilous hardships, romance, and all varieties of mortal matters. These were all checkpoints on the path of cultivation. Whether one remained a measly fish in the river, or whether one leaped through the dragon gates to success and immortality, all of this might be determined by a single choice.

The path of cultivation was long, and each person who was able to reach the 10th tier was undoubtedly an astonishing prodigy. This was especially the case for Qi refiners who managed to reach the Upper Five Tiers.

However, there were a myriad of Great Dao, and there was no definitive path that led to the peak of the mountain. Thus, everyone had their own unique fated opportunity. Indeed, a quality and characteristic that Heavenly Lord Xie Shi didn’t like was very possibly desired by some other sage or heretical cultivator. Thus, it was often said that the heavens would never cut off all paths.

Of course, Xie Shi’s lofty status naturally gave him a wide and distant view. In reality, the young boy with long eyebrows had talent and aptitude that was extremely sought after by the immortal sects in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. These sects would definitely recruit him as a disciple before deciding anything else.

After all, it would be incredibly beneficial for a force to gain a new immortal at the Middle Five Tiers. Such cultivators would be extremely helpful in terms of intimidating mortal empires and in terms of maintaining a subtly balanced relationship with neighboring forces. Thus, these forces naturally wouldn’t be as pedantic and nitpicky as Heavenly Lord Xie Shi.

Xie Shi slowly sipped wine with an anxious expression.

“Is something weighing on your mind, Old Ancestor?” the young boy with long eyebrows asked as he sat on the opposite side of the table.

Upon seeing that there were no outsiders present, a pair of extremely high-quality incense children jumped down from the plaque hanging in the hall. They started to happily run around and play with each other on the young boy’s shoulders and head. The young boy with long eyebrows had already become accustomed to this.

Xie Shi gloomily drank a mouthful of wine and replied, “I’m merely feeling a little guilty.”

The young boy with long eyebrows was dumbfounded, and he asked, “Old Ancestor is so powerful, yet you still need to do things against your conscience?”

Xie Shi smiled and replied, “You’ll also be troubled by such matters in the future. There’s no need to feel astonished. Your personality is more honest and straightforward than flexible and agile, so it will be a fairly good choice for you to learn the sword. Daoists cultivate a pure and tranquil mind, and this sounds as if one is transforming themselves into a puddle of stagnant water. However, this isn’t the case. Instead, it’s a path where the examination of one’s own conscience is most important. There are all kinds of considerations and restrictions, and this isn’t an easy path to walk at all.”

Long eyebrows nodded in understanding.

Xie Shi sighed with emotion in his mind as he looked at the relatively childish face of the young boy.

Chaos was about to erupt, and all kinds of powerful beings were about to rise and gain renown. Things were destined to become spectacular and lively. At the same time, however, there would be an inevitable increase in partings, deaths, and other matters that went against one’s will. This would be the case both in the mountains and outside the mountains.

Xie Shi waved his hand, signaling to the young boy that he could leave.

The pair of incense children jumped back into the plaque, where they leaned against each other and chit-chatted in a low voice.

Xie Shi closed his eyes and rested his mind. His breathing was calm, and his mind was at ease.

————

After leaving Peach Leaf Alley, Cao Xi started to randomly wander around the wide streets and narrow alleys. He was like a wealthy man, and outsiders were completely unaware of his lofty status. Moreover, Cao Xi was someone who could strike up a conversation with anyone.

In fact, if it weren’t because all of the treasures in Jewel Small World had already been found and taken, Cao Xi would have flipped the entire small town upside down before he stopped his search. Indeed, he was known as someone who would pluck the feathers of passing geese in Southern Whirl Continent[1].

Cao Xi felt deep resentment in his mind. He was angry at the fact that the Great Li Empire had forcefully purchased and sold those things before. According to the secret reports from the descendants of the Cao Clan in the Great Li Empire, the empire had truly reaped many benefits during that process of forcefully collecting treasures. It was as if the empire had been fishing in a dry lake. Even as high as Cao Xi’s cultivation base was, he still couldn’t help but feel slightly envious.

During that dragon-slaying battle, the ancestors of the three teachings and hundred schools of thought had engaged in a bloody and earth-shattering battle here. Corpses had rained down like snow, and the four sages had eventually descended from the sky and sealed this area off. And just like that, all of the treasures had been left in the small world.

Afterward, the small world would open its doors to outsiders once every 60 years. After paying to enter, these outsiders would rely on their own skills and abilities to collect any remaining treasures. Many of these outsiders obtained great fortune and had their cultivation base rise explosively after leaving the small world.

Cao Xi hesitated for a moment before murmuring, “Descendants and future generations will have their own fortunes… my ass. If I don’t give them some guidance, I reckon things will be quite doubtful.”

He arrived at the kiln supervision office, and the gatekeeper there was someone with relatively poor observation skills and judgment. Moreover, he didn’t have the right to know about the Cao Clan’s internal matters and cultivation matters either. Thus, he aggressively stopped Cao Xi at the gate and refused to let him enter. Cao Xi didn’t get angry, and he chuckled merrily as he stood outside the kiln supervision office and chatted with the gatekeeper. After a while, the two of them became quite familiar and friendly with each other.

However, Cao Jun, who had moved out from the Cao Clan’s ancestral residence and temporarily settled down here, noticed something was off and gave Kiln Supervision Official Cao Mao a warning. The eldest grandson of the Pillar Cao Clan hurriedly ran to the front gate in fear. Upon seeing his old ancestor whom he always thought about, Cao Mao immediately plonked to his knees and kowtowed without hesitation.

The gatekeeper was almost scared out of his wits.

Even though Cao Mao had cheerily chatted with Prefectural Overseer Wu Yuan before, he actually didn’t hold Wu Yuan — someone with an underprivileged background and the disciple of the imperial preceptor — in very high regard. Cao Mao was also a renowned young master in the capital of the Great Li Empire. Now that he had arrived in front of Cao Xi, however, he didn’t hold back at all as he expressed his utmost respect.

However, he couldn’t be blamed for being so spooked. Cao Xi was the most senior ancestor in the Cao Clan, and his status was even higher than the ancestor who had won the title of pillar general for the clan. However, only the eldest son of each generation had the right to learn this huge secret.

This was something they could reveal in moments of great danger, and they could announce that their old ancestor was a terrestrial sword immortal from Southern Whirl Continent and half the owner of the Sea Suppressing Pagoda. This was something even more powerful and useful than a death-exemption plate[2].

Cao Xi walked up to Cao Mao and gave him a kick. “Stand up; stop embarrassing yourself in front of so many people.”

Cao Mao hurriedly stood up and wasn’t even willing to pat the dust from his official garb. The rims of his eyes were red with emotion, and this was emotion that came from the bottom of his heart.

His old ancestor was an immortal at the Upper Five Tiers, and that kind of person wasn’t someone that he could easily see on a whim. This old ancestor’s name was clearly written on the genealogical records of the Cao Clan!

With such a powerful backer, could the descendants of the Cao Clan not act haughtily and do anything they wanted in the Great Li Empire? In fact, could they not act haughtily and do anything they wanted in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent?

“Have you checked Chen Ping’an’s genealogical records?” Cao Xi asked.

“I’ve checked all of it, and there isn’t anything out of the ordinary,” Cao Mao replied in a reverent and respectful voice. “Even his ancestors from hundreds of years ago were only ordinary residents in the small town. In fact, there isn’t a single record about any of his ancestors being a Qi refiner.”

“Mhm, then that makes this matter much simpler,” Cao Xi commented, “However, this is still fairly strange and fishy. Either the Dragon Tail Creek Chen Clan has tampered with the records, or some old ancestor from that Chen Clan was far too fortunate, so much so that he used up all of his descendants’ fortune for dozens of generations. Forget about it, there’s no need to worry about these trivial matters.”

Cao Mao bowed down and wanted to lead his old ancestor to the main hall of the kiln supervision office. However, Cao Xi immediately snapped, “How measly is your position? I would feel ashamed to sit in that main hall.”

Cao Mao was at a complete loss.

He genuinely had zero experience when it came to interacting with old ancestors who were powerful immortals. Even if his grandfather, the current clan leader of the Pillar Cao Clan, were present, it was very likely that he would also feel as stuck in a hopeless position.

Cao Xi stood under the archway in the large space in front of the kiln supervision office and ordered with a cold smile, “Cao Jun, get your ass over here.”

After a short while, Cao Jun lazily walked over with two swords of unequal length hanging by his waist. After seeing Cao Xi’s casual posture, he chuckled, “What’s wrong? You were pissed off after meeting with those people in the Xie Clan’s residence, so you want to use me as a punching bag to vent your anger? You ran all the way over here just to drag me out and scold me?”

Cao Xi shot a sideways glance at Cao Jun and spat, “How pathetic!”

Cao Jun chuckled and replied, “Heh, there’s nothing I can do about this. I take after you, after all.”

Deep down in his heart, Cao Mao was slightly envious of this young swordsman who was from the same clan as him and whom he only knew the name of. He surprisingly dared to speak to their old ancestor in such a rude and carefree tone.

Cao Xi fell silent for a moment, and he carefully observed the layout and circulation of feng shui in the kiln supervision office. After a while, he suddenly asked, “Has the office just undergone a recent renovation? Whose idea was it?”

Cao Mao glanced around before replying in a low voice, “Grandpa took the floor plan of the office with him and earnestly asked a powerful person from the capital’s Lu Clan for some tips. What’s wrong? Was this not appropriate?”

Cao Xi’s expression was grim as he replied, “Not appropriate? It’s as appropriate as can be! Compared to how the winds were concealed and the water was gathered before, this slight change is akin to a beautiful act of painting eyes on the dragon[3]. In the future, this place will very likely become the origin of your dynasty. “Mhm, don’t misunderstand me, your destiny isn’t good enough for you to become a genuine ruler. If nothing unexpected happens, you can at most inherit the title of pillar general. If you’re fortunate, you might even be recorded as a clan rejuvenation ancestor in the clan genealogical records.”

Cao Mao could barely hide his wild delight.

Cao Jun habitually squinted his eyes and smiled.

Meanwhile, Cao Xi couldn’t help but feel slightly exasperated. He had gone through so much trouble to build a large clan with numerous descendants, yet in the end, all of his descendants were nothing more than pathetic and unambitious good-for-nothings. The mere position of pillar general was able to make this stupid child smile in such an ecstatic manner?

His mood instantly became foul. However, he didn’t let this show on his face.

He couldn’t help but think about his ancestral residence which had been repaired by someone else. The residence was slightly different from his memory now. For example, when he was little, the eaves of the skywell had already been extremely damaged. However, they didn’t have enough money to repair the rundown residence, so whenever it rained, the ground would always be flooded with rainwater.

This was in contrast to the skywells of wealthy clans, which would push all of the “wealth and fortune” brought by the rain and snow into the ponds beneath the skywells and prevent the ground from becoming too wet. This was truly a case of cleanly accepting feng shui.

According to the elders in the small town, if a clan’s ancestors performed good deeds and were rewarded with 100 grains of rice, then their descendants could use the bowl that was the pond beneath the skywell to catch these 100 grains of rice without spilling a single grain. However, when Cao Xi was little, their pond had only been able to catch at most half a grain of rice.

Now that their ancestral residence had been repaired, however, they were enjoying fortune thanks to misfortune. If they believed those superstitions of the elders, then their clan could now catch all of the ancestral blessings that descended from the heavens.

“A family that accumulates goodness is sure to have abundant happiness. Should I believe this to some extent?” Cao Xi murmured to himself.

“So be it if other people believe this. But you, Cao Xi, believing this? If you truly believed this, then you definitely couldn’t have made it to where you are today!” a fiery red fox sitting above the archway sneered.

Cao Xi didn’t look up, and he chuckled coldly and replied, “That’s because I’m resilient and capable, so I have the freedom to not believe it. However, if I don’t believe it to some small extent, then I’m afraid that the good-for-nothing Cao Clan in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent will disappear with a snap of someone’s fingers one day.”

“Oh, you seriously believe it?” Cao Jun jeered. “What’s this? Is our old ancestor going to perform good deeds to accumulate good karma? The sun is truly rising from the west today!”

Cao Xi looked at Cao Jun and warned, “Don’t think about trying to get that sword billet anymore. If you’re unhappy about this, then I’ll naturally compensate you later.”

“Why’s this?” Cao Jun asked with an increasingly cold smile.

“Because I’m your ancestor,” Cao Xi replied casually.

Cao Jun suddenly burst into laughter. “Then it’s a deal! Good people will always be blessed with good karma, so Old Ancestor will definitely enjoy a long life!”

The fiery red fox stood on the archway and eagerly clapped its paws in celebration. However, its remark was extremely sarcastic as it said, “Wow, such a touching scene between a benevolent ancestor and a dutiful descendant! The old ancestor is generous, while the young descendant is filial. What a sweet sight. Oh, I can barely stop myself from crying…”

Cao Xi humphed and couldn’t be bothered responding to the foul-mouthed fox. He turned around and flicked his sleeves before striding away.

When the old man left the kiln supervision office, the sky had already become gloomy. It was truly going to rain soon.

He returned to his ancestral residence in Clay Vase Alley, and the pitter-patter of spring rain followed soon after. The rain became heavier and heavier.

Cao Xi sat by himself in the main hall. There was no plaque hanging in the average-sized hall, and someone else had already gobbled up the incense entity that had appeared after much difficulty.

This was a lone and rundown residence.

Cao Xi suddenly stood up and walked over to the kitchen to grab a large white bowl from the cupboard. He then made his way to the pond under the skywell and squatted down on the outside edge. His feet were resting on the pebbles inside the small pond, and he used the large white bowl to catch the falling rain.

After collecting half a bowl of rainwater, Cao Xi lifted the bowl and drank a mouthful. However, he immediately poured the rest of the rainwater into the small pond and grumbled, “Scholars only know how to spew bullshit. How does water from one’s hometown taste better than wine?”

Cao Xi sighed and became lost in thought.

In the end, the old man looked back with the bowl still in his hands, as if he could see an old woman doing housework inside the house. She was seemingly resting at this moment, and she hugged the broom in her arms as she quietly stood there and smiled at her son. There were times when children wished to care for their parents, yet their parents had already passed[4]. His mother hadn’t been able to enjoy a drop of fortune, yet she hadn’t cared about this as long as her son could become successful.

The old man had already enjoyed all kinds of glory and wealth in the world, and it had already been hundreds upon hundreds of years since he had last felt such a deep sense of sadness. Tears clouded his vision, and he softly murmured, “Mother, oh, my silly mother.”

————

Work had already commenced at the southern mountain foot of Cloud Drape Mountain. Forest Deer Academy was going to be constructed here, and it was as if new buildings were springing into existence with each passing day. The Great Li Empire treated Forest Deer Academy with utmost importance, and the Song Clan emperor viewed the construction of this academy as equivalent to the construction of the mountain god temple for the formal god of Northern Mountain. In fact, he even issued two imperial edicts regarding this matter, one to the provincial office and one to the prefectural office.

Cheng Shuidong, the old flood dragon from Yellow Court Nation, was dressed in azure and appeared completely like a Confucian scholar.

Including the emperor of the Great Li Empire and Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan, only few people knew of the old flood dragon’s true identity. Thus, even though Cheng Shuidong’s literary works were quite widespread and had a great reputation in the northern regions of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, many officials in the imperial court of the Great Li Empire still criticized the fact that a measly assistant minister from Yellow Court Nation was going to be appointed to the position of assistant mountain master.

Many officials felt that Cheng Shuidong didn’t have a strong reputation when it came to the study of Confucianism, so his words wouldn’t carry enough weight to convince and lead others. Meanwhile, the generals of the Great Li Empire were even more dissatisfied. The old geezer from the Yellow Court Nation was already lucky to be alive, yet he now wanted to become the master of the scholarly disciples in the Great Li Empire?

The old flood dragon stood beside Wei Bo and watched the construction work that was in full swing and sending plumes of dust into the air. This was the first time that the two of them had met in a private capacity.

“Wei Bo, you’re like dying embers that unexpectedly come back to life every time,” Chen Shuidong sighed with emotion.

Wei Bo had initially been the formal god of the Divine Water Nation’s Northern Mountain. However, his gold statue had been shattered by the Great Li Empire and thrown into the water, where it had sunk to the bottom. Afterward, someone had painstakingly helped him piece his shattered body back together, allowing him to just barely ensure that incense continued to burn for him.

However, calamity had suddenly descended from the heavens, and his gold statue had been restricted by two Go-playing immortals. This had caused him to become a mountain lord, a most low-level deity. In fact, he had been inferior to even ordinary river guardians. In the end, however, he had risen astronomically and now become the formal god of Cloud Drape Mountain, the Northern Mountain of the Great Li Empire.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the native mountain gods of the Great Li Empire felt an urge to fight Wei Bo to the death.

Cheng Shuidong had traveled all around the world during his younger years, so he was actually an old acquaintance of Wei Bo.

The sky started to drizzle, pushing the floating dust particles back toward the earth.

The old flood dragon and Wei Bo naturally didn’t need to worry about the rain hitting them.

Wei Bo extended an arm and gently waved his hand, causing the curtain of rain in front of him to waver slightly. He smiled faintly and said, “Why else would people be all envious of gods and immortals? In any case, the term puts gods before immortals.[5]”

“Is the emperor truly going to travel south to visit Dragon Spring Prefecture?” Cheng Shuidong asked quietly.

Wei Bo didn’t try to hide anything, and he replied with a laugh, “That’s right, he’s going to travel down here fairly soon. At that time, it will definitely be very interesting when you, an old flood dragon, has an audience with the emperor, a true dragon[6]. How is your preparation for the greeting gift?”

“I’ve already prepared everything; it’s barely worth a mention,” the old flood dragon replied with a smile.

Wei Bo pointed in the direction of the small town and asked, “Will they end up fighting? If they do, will you interfere?”

Cheng Shuidong hesitated for a moment, and he was ultimately unwilling to treat the future formal god of the Northern Mountain as an idiot. “I’ve already become involved, so what else can I do?”

Wei Bo could feel a slight headache forming, and he said, “Just don’t break my Cloud Drape Mountain.”

The old flood dragon laughed loudly and said in amusement, “How long has it been? You’re treating this place as home already?”

Wei Bo chuckled and replied, “I like the new but don’t tire of the old.”

The old flood dragon pointed at the mountain god in white and remarked, “Not tiring of the old to such a degree as yourself… This is truly a rare sight in our world.”

Wei Bo laughed heartily and teased, “This is most definitely because you’re not well-read and well-traveled enough.”

Cheng Shuidong immediately understood Wei Bo’s insinuation. The smile disappeared from his face, and he warned, “There are some things that other people can do, but we can’t talk about.”

Wei Bo nodded in acknowledgment. He suddenly recalled something, and he said, “I need to take a trip to Downtrodden Mountain. I won’t accompany you in the rain anymore.”

1. This refers to someone who likes to take advantage of things to gain small benefits ☜

2. A plate bestowed by the emperor that allows one to be exempt from the death penalty. Often the highest reward an official could receive. ☜

3. Adding finishing touches to bring something to life. ☜

4. A line from ‘The Sayings of Confucius’. This represents a feeling of exasperation and helplessness at the fact that one’s parents have passed before one can properly look after them. ☜

5. Referring to the term 神仙 which means both god and immortal depending on the context, and literally reads gods and immortals. ☜

6. The emperor is not a true dragon in the literal sense. However, emperors in ancient China all used the symbols of dragons. ☜