Unsheathed

There was lingering apprehension in Wei Bo’s heart as he stopped in his tracks and heavily patted Chen Ping’an’s shoulder. “Chen Ping’an, if I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have charged you a single copper coin for the medicinal ingredients!”

Chen Ping’an faltered upon hearing this. However, a dazzling smile quickly spread across his face, and he said, “It’s not too late to return the money now.”

Wei Bo pretended to look for money in his sleeves.

Chen Ping’an quietly stood there and waited, and he didn’t show any signs of wanting to politely turn down Wei Bo’s offer.

“Chen Ping’an, don’t be so stubborn and boring!” Wei Bo exclaimed with an annoyed chuckle.

Chen Ping’an laughed heartily and patted the wine gourd by his waist. “Just this is enough!”

Wei Bo wrapped an arm around Chen Ping’an’s shoulders and started to climb the mountain just like that. “Just as I thought. Chen Ping’an, you’re never stingy toward your friends, are you?”

After trying to find the right words for half a day, Chen Ping’an could only mutter, “Thank you.”

Wei Bo feigned the reaction of a sulky young girl, and he said, “How distant and cold is it to mention thanks to a friend? This is the same as being overly focused on money in a romantic relationship.”

A look of realization spread across Chen Ping’an’s face.

He felt like he needed to carefully remember this principle. When he had time, he would engrave this saying onto a bamboo slip.

When he arrived in Stalactite Mountain and saw Ning Yao in the future, he definitely couldn’t mention anything about money.

This was called putting into practice what one learned.

Wei Bo was extremely renowned and known by essentially everyone now, and he was also a formal mountain god who genuinely wielded a lot of influence and power. Yet, how many people of his status and power were as amiable as he was? Thus, he had extremely good relationships with everyone, and even Chen Ping’an could tell that the Qi refiners and cultivators who greeted him felt a sense of closeness and friendliness toward him from the bottom of their hearts.

They continued to climb the mountain, and people continued to greet Wei Bo. However, Wei Bo didn’t stop much, although he would still smile and respond to these people. Sometimes, he would even say something amusing and draw joyful laughter.

At some point in time, a vagrant demon cultivator who was no inferior to the little boy in azure in terms of his obsequious nature insisted on acting as Mountain God Wei’s guide. However, Wei Bo scolded him with a chuckle before jokingly kicking him away. The vagrant demon cultivator wasn’t angered, and he instead viewed this as something to be proud of. There was a delighted expression on his face as he gazed at the carefree figure of the mountain god.

When they neared the ferry station located at the peak of Parasol Tree Mountain, Wei Bo smiled and said in a soft voice, “Chen Ping’an, this peaceful and friendly atmosphere may appear sincere, but in reality, all of it is nothing but a facade. You don’t need to reject it, but don’t take it too seriously either. If I were still the mountain lord from Go Table Mountain, it would be extremely difficult for me to even speak to them. Of course, being able to maintain this peaceful and friendly atmosphere is ultimately a good thing.”

Chen Ping’an silently committed this to memory.

On the fringes of the ferry station on Parasol Tree Mountain was a tall platform that had just finished construction. It was a structure built from pure white jade, and there were already dozens of Qi refiners dressed in all varieties of clothes standing atop it. In addition to them, there were also some elders, women, and young children dressed in colorful clothes. The latter were most likely people from immortal forces who had come here to observe the mountains after buying them. After finishing their observations, they were now preparing to return.

After seeing Wei Bo and Chen Ping’an, the two groups of people walked over to greet them in a warm manner. Wei Bo remembered all of their names and backgrounds, and his ability to converse and interact with them was simply flawless. Indeed, the two groups of people all felt extremely refreshed and delighted talking to him.

Chen Ping’an didn’t go out of his way to deliberately say anything, and he simply observed the situation and didn’t let any escape his attention. He felt slightly envy and admiration toward Wei Bo. His ability to interact with others in such a kind and jovial manner couldn’t be simply dismissed as the innate ability of Northern Mountain’s formal god.

With regards to Chen Ping’an’s trip to the south, Wei Bo brushed over this with a casual remark, saying that the young boy had a relative in the south. At the same time, the young boy was also taking this opportunity to visit a few friends, for example, Divine Edict Sect’s He Xiaoliang and Wind Lightning Field’s Liu Baqiao. Beads of cold sweat formed on Chen Ping’an’s forehead when he heard this.

What was going on? Claiming that he was traveling south to visit a relative was indeed a legitimate excuse. However, taking this opportunity to visit that Daoist nun and sword cultivator? Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. He had indeed interacted with Immortal He once, but he had only given her a single snake gall pebble during their meeting on the Azure Cow Ridge.

He was slightly better acquainted with Liu Baqiao, and he had entered the mountains together with him, Chen Dui, and Chen Songfeng. Liu Baqiao was extremely extroverted, and he also liked to refer to everyone as his brother. In reality, however, he and Chen Ping’an weren’t familiar with each other in any way. In fact, they barely knew each other at all.

Yet, here Wei Bo was, talking up his relationship with He Xiaoliang and Liu Baqiao. Moreover, Chen Ping’an couldn’t retort him either. He could only tolerate this, and he felt so stifled that he almost gave himself internal injuries.

Wei Bo might have spoken in a casual manner, but the listeners all took his words to mean much more. He Xiaoliang and Liu Baqiao were both renowned prodigies in the continent. This was especially the case for He Xiaoliang, and she was the Jade Girl of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s Daoist orthodoxy. Being acquainted with her, no matter how shallow the acquaintance, was an incredible fortune. After all, who dared to offend a friend of the Divine Edict Sect?

Moreover, there was also Wind Lightning Field’s Liu Baqiao to consider. Thus, the two groups of people — all of whom were important and influential in their nations and empires — became increasingly warm toward the ordinary-looking young boy who had twin swords on his back. In fact, some of them even offered him their exquisite-looking name cards. Chen Ping’an felt so embarrassed that he wanted to dig himself a hole to hide in.

Wei Bo was happy to see this, and there was a profound and meaningful smile on his face.

No one knew what kind of story or relationship existed between Mountain God Wei and the young local boy who owned five mountains. There were all kinds of rumors and speculations.

“The Kun[1] ship has arrived!” someone suddenly exclaimed.

Chen Ping’an followed everyone’s gazes, and he saw a colossal creature breaking through the sea of clouds and slowly gliding toward Parasol Tree Mountain.

Chen Ping’an’s jaw dropped when he saw this. That colossal creature with fish fins was actually a living being! Moreover, it wasn’t just big, but it was like a majestic mountain descending from the sky and bearing down on Parasol Tree Mountain. Afterward, the Kun ship continued to descend, and this made Chen Ping’an feel a huge and suffocating pressure. He felt increasingly small and insignificant.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. As expected of a ship for gods and immortals. Sure enough, it was stunning and extraordinary.

A Kun ship could cross continents and swim tens of millions of kilometers. Moreover, this description of tens of millions of kilometers wasn’t an exaggeration. Before this brand-new ferry station was built on Dragon Spring Prefecture’s Parasol Tree Mountain, the entire northern region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent hadn’t had the right to host a Kun ship. Only Southern Stream Nation and Old Dragon City in the southernmost region of the continent had possessed ferry stations suitable for hosting Kun ships.

Some powerful nations and empires naturally had ferry stations that could take cultivators on long journeys to places all over the world. However, the “ships” and “ferries” that served these stations were relatively small, and their capacity was relatively limited as well. Their cargo throughput was far inferior to these Kun ships, which were unique to Complete Reed Continent.

In reality, carrying passengers was only a small side business for these Kun ships. What they focused on was trading and selling natural treasures collected from all over the world. They would also carry and sell all kinds of precious treasures and unique beasts.

Kun ships were also divided into three grades, and the first grade of Kun ships had backs so astonishingly large that they could rival the size of prefectural cities in the Great Li Empire. Under the careful planning and crafting of Mohist mechanists and many other types of Qi refiners, there could even be mountains, rivers, mansions, tall buildings, streets, shops, and all kinds of other things on these Kun ships. There was everything that one could wish for. As such, tens of thousands of Qi refiners could live on these Kun ships for years on end without feeling inconvenienced at all.

Wei Bo chuckled softly and explained, “Kun are gentle creatures, and after being trained by Qi refiners, they can endure severe pain and refrain from thrashing around even if they’ve suffered grave wounds. Because of this, Kun ships are relatively stable and safe compared to other forms of large ships.

“Some Mountain Turtles and Treasure Swallowing Whales are also top choices for use as ships, but these creatures are quite rare and also have their own tempers. For example, there have been tragic cases of Mountain Turtles diving to the bottom of the sea without permission.”

Chen Ping’an’s jaw was still on the ground.

Not only was the back of the Kun ship flat and wide, but there was even a fence around the perimeter as well as numerous tall buildings. The Kun ship, which was almost as large as the ferry station, didn’t land on the ground, and it instead came to a hovering stop in mid-air several meters above the ground. Its fins swayed slightly, and this caused gusts of mountain wind to sweep through the ferry station and bring up plumes of dust. Fortunately, the boarding platform of the ferry station was located between the fins of the Kun ship, so the passengers standing there weren’t affected at all. Thus, they naturally weren’t swept to the bottom of the mountain by the powerful gusts of wind.

After the Kun ship stabilized in midair, a set of stairs that was as wide as Peach Leaf Alley descended from an opening in the fence. The bottom of the stairs perfectly locked into a mechanism on the tall platform, and this caused the floating stairs to feel as sturdy as a boulder.

A group of people walked down the stairs, and after chatting with the official managing the ferry station, they turned to Wei Bo and the others and said in the official dialect of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, “Greetings everyone. After you board the ship, the loading and unloading of cargo for Ox Horn Mountain’s Cloth Wrapper Shop will take place on the two sets of stairs on that side of the Kun ship. This should take one hour to complete. If there are any delays that prevent the Kun ship from departing on time, as a time-honored force that’s existed in Complete Reed Continent for a thousand years, we’ll refund everyone the cost of their ticket.”

After saying this, the old man in brocade robes looked at Wei Bo and asked, “Are you Esteemed Mountain God Wei?”

Wei Bo smiled and replied, “You flatter me.”

The old man laughed heartily and cupped his fists in greeting, saying, “This Kun ship takes an entire year to make a return journey across three continents, so I can only congratulate Esteemed Mountain God Wei in advance! If I’m unable to make it here on time to celebrate, I’ll definitely prepare a modest present for you when I return again. I can only hope that Esteemed Mountain God Wei won’t turn down my present.”

Wei Bo placed his hands inside his opposite sleeves, and he joked with a wide grin, “No, of course I won’t turn it down. However, if I find that the present is too modest, I’ll definitely come here to make a scene and prevent you from departing on time the next time you’re here.”

The old man in brocade robes laughed heartily and replied, “It certainly won’t be too modest! Paying homage to mountains is an important matter, so how can I possibly treat such a large mountain lightly? Taking 10,000 steps back, I’ll make sure to make up for it out of my own pocket even if my force is stingy with their present!”

Wei Bo nodded and said with a smile, “This is very friendly of you.”

He then patted Chen Ping’an’s shoulder and said, “This is my best friend, Chen Ping’an. He’s the moneybag of this small town, and he’s planning to disembark the ship once it arrives in Southern Stream Nation. Please look after him for me, ship owner. You can record all of his expenses under my name, and I’ll pay the bill for him the next time we meet.”

The old man waved a hand and said, “Pay what bill? I’ll cover all of the costs.”

“Since when are you this generous?” Wei Bo asked with a wide smile.

The old man replied with a loud laugh.

Everyone else on the platform felt extremely envious.

Before boarding the Kun ship with the others, Chen Ping’an stood beside the stairs and cupped his fists in respect at Wei Bo. He didn’t say anything else.

Wei Bo also cupped his fists and bowed slightly.

Everything was communicated in a silent manner.

Upon seeing this, the old man in brocade robes discussing proper matters with other people developed an even better idea of the situation.

In the end, Chen Ping’an slowly walked up the stairs by himself.

There were two swords on his back, Subduing Demons and Eliminating Fiends.

There was also a Sword Nurturing Gourd by his waist, containing First and Fifteenth.

Chen Ping’an had used his jade hairpin to trade for the flying sword, Fifteenth, which also doubled as an extremely precious pocket treasure that one could only hope to obtain. The name pocket treasure was seemingly unremarkable, but Fifteenth possessed a space inside it that measured as long as the locust wood sword, Subduing Demons, in all dimensions. Chen Ping’an loved it to bits.

Now that he was slightly familiar with using his mind to manipulate the flying sword, he could already place and retrieve items from the flying sword quite adeptly. To the young drunkard Chen Ping’an, the feeling of having items materialize in his hand was even better than the feeling of getting tipsy.

Right now, the pocket treasure held the seals that Mr. Qi had given him — the Tranquil seal and the Mountain and Water Seals.

There was also the Mountain Shaking Guide. Chen Ping’an was temporarily looking after it for Gu Can.

Beside it were a few Confucian classics given to him by the Scholarly Sage.

The calligraphy brush that Li Xisheng had given him was also inside the pocket treasure, and the characters “Wind and Snow Awl” and “Writing as if Assisted by the Gods” were engraved on the shaft of the brush. Apart from this calligraphy brush, there were also many blank talisman papers that Li Xisheng had asked his student, Cui Ci, to give him.

There were three main types of talisman papers, and the type that numbered the most was the yellow talisman papers. Then there were the golden talisman papers with cloud patterns, and then there were finally the talisman papers that looked like yellowing book pages. However, these talisman papers numbered the least. In addition to all this, there was also a beginner’s guide to drawing talismans.

There were a few pages of prescription papers left by the young Daoist priest, Lu Chen.

There was a large pile of maps of all the different nations in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and this had been given to him by Wei Bo. This was a little something extra for Chen Ping’an, who had used snake gall pebbles to pay for the medicinal ingredients during his training with Cui Chan’s grandfather.

There was a pile of several hundred jade “copper coins” as well, and Chen Ping’an had used some ordinary snake gall pebbles to trade for these with the little boy in azure. These were coins used by immortals in the mountains, and they were things that people in the mortal world would never see. Of course, these jade coins naturally weren’t as absurdly valuable as gold essence copper coins, but they were still far more valuable than mortal silver and gold.

There were bamboo slips that were yet to be engraved, and beside them was a small carving knife.

There was also a bag of rice and an assortment of bottles and cans used for holding oil, salt, and other necessary ingredients. There was a bunch of fishing hooks, a new machete, a few changes of clothes, a pair of newly woven straw sandals, and an array of some other miscellaneous items.

Of course, there was also loose silver and gold. When traveling to other places, being just a single copper coin short could become a huge and insurmountable obstruction. Chen Ping’an had become deeply aware of this during his first trip to Great Sui Nation.

Halfway up the stairs, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but turn around and look back.

Still standing in the same place, the mountain god in white robes smiled and waved his hand.

Chen Ping’an also waved goodbye. He continued to walk up the stairs, and he grabbed the red gourd from his waist and silently took a sip.

The young boy in straw sandals dearly hoped that his hometown and friends would still be safe and sound the next time they reunited.

He hoped that everything would be safe and peaceful, just like his name.

1. An enormous legendary fish which could transform into a Peng, a gigantic bird. ☜