Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an had the status of an esteemed guest, but in reality, he wasn’t a noble or wealthy person at all. Thus, he didn’t require the twin maidservants to genuinely serve him or whatnot. Because of this, Qiu Shi turned her attention to the matters happening outside this premium room.

She was like a well-informed reporter as she told Chen Ping’an about the interesting people and matters on the Kun ship every day. She didn’t care whether he wanted to listen or not, and this didn’t matter anyway since the impoverished young boy from the Great Li Empire was an easy-going person.

The young girl continued to gossip, and she talked about how someone managed to obtain a rare piece of beautiful jade while gambling on stones at the gambling venue. This piece of jade had possessed rare jade essence, and after being extracted, it had glowed with a dazzling and eye-catching radiance. It was worth at least 30,000 snowflake jades, so that person had made a huge fortune.

Meanwhile, two wealthy customers had visited the weapon store owned by Mr. Liu. They had both set their eyes on the same spirit tool, and they had eventually started to bid with each other out of anger. They had raised the price again and again, and it was ultimately the customer who had boarded the Kun ship at the Great Li Empire’s Parasol Tree Mountain that had offered a higher amount.

The Heaven Rivaling Painted Ji[1] had initially been priced at 8000 snowflake jades, but the customer had eventually ended up spending close to 20,000 snowflake jades to purchase it. Qiu Shi was extremely envious of this. After all, who in the world spent money so carelessly like this? Had his money been swept over by the wind?

Someone had also put on a drunken show at Apricot Blossom Tavern, and they had continued to shout a lady’s name in a heart-wrenching manner as they wailed in grief. The nearby guests had all been extremely irritated, and in the end, the manager of Apricot Blossom Tavern had dragged the person away and given them a good beating.

Two days later, however, the person had returned to the tavern again. He hadn’t dared to make a scene, but rather squatted outside the tavern and chowed down on dry biscuits as he dazedly gazed at the room of the lady he had feelings for. Tears and snot had flowed down his face, adding the perfect mixture of condiments to his dry biscuits.

In fact, this young fourth tier cultivator had spent all of his savings on a beautiful entertainer[2] who was like a white lotus. He had spent all of his money on her these past two months, and the two of them had also been very close and intimate with each other. This was nothing. However, it was rumored that the young cultivator was obsessively in love with her, yet he hadn’t even touched the hands of that entertainer yet. In this sense, he was truly a moral and righteous person.

Qiu Shi babbled non-stop about these peculiar matters, and she didn’t forget to embellish these stories with her own opinions and descriptions to make them even more exaggerated and gripping. Indeed, her descriptions of these events were even more spectacular than the stories told by storytellers. However, Chen Ping’an treated them as nothing more than stories.

Right now, Chen Ping’an’s interest wasn’t in these people and matters that occurred on the ship. Instead, his interest lay in the world beneath them.

One night, the Kun ship was forced to descend to a lower altitude after coming across strong winds and turbulence in the sky. This allowed Chen Ping’an to discover raging fires tearing through an empire in the world beneath them. Columns of smoke rose into the air, as if they were crooked trees rising from the fields.

Chun Shui knew about many things in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and after searching through a geomantic map in the study, she quickly offered an answer about the situation beneath them. As it turned out, it was a bloody war that pertained to the fortunes of two empires that had been mortal enemies for many generations already.

After warring for several hundred years, the two empires had finally decided to go all out and gamble the power of their entire empire to decide victory. Hence, they had also dispatched many Qi refiners to the battlefields.

This battle had definitely wounded both empires to the core. Thus, when casting one’s gaze over the region north of Lake View Academy in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, there were already few empires that could rival the northern barbarians in the Great Li Empire, with the exception of Great Sui Nation.

Chun Shui looked down at the land of death and misery and said with a soft sigh, “If the war becomes even more intense, then Eastern Treasured Vial Continent might gain a new ancient battlefield. In a few dozen years, when the aura here settles, sages from True Martial Mountain or Wind Snow Temple will most likely come over to transform this into a brand-new territory for the Militarian Sect.”

Chen Ping’an also looked down at the land where brilliant flashes of light would appear from time to time. Meanwhile, he could also see warriors in golden and silver armor who only appeared as big as a fingernail from the Kun ship. Right now, they were doing battle against gigantic beasts that had crawled out from fissures in the land.

Chen Ping’an speculated that this was a battle between Qi refiners who could summon helpers with their mystical abilities.

Apart from this, he was stupefied by many other scenes.

A group of immortal cranes cried out as they slowly rose into the air. They rose through the sea of clouds, and they flapped their wings and soared into the sea of clouds even higher up, as if they were a moving painting.

A group of geese flew toward the south, and there was also a column of tumultuous clouds filled with thunder and lightning. Many flying Qi refiners hovered outside this column of clouds and used special immortal tools to extract the lightning from within it.

There were also Qi refiners riding azure phoenixes that were far quicker than the Kun ship. They were surrounded by treasured light, and they disappeared in a flash.

Chen Ping’an heard that there was a letter shop on the Kun ship that could use flying swords to deliver letters, and its function was much the same as relay stations in the mortal world. Thus, he wrote two letters and asked Qiu Shi to head over to the letter station to deliver them for him. There weren’t any secrets in the letters, and the main point of them was to tell everyone that he was safe and sound. In addition, the letters also contained some peculiar and interesting stories that he had heard from Qiu Shi. As such, it didn’t matter even if other people read these letters.

However, it was truly expensive to deliver these letters, and a letter sent to the Great Li Empire’s Dragon Spring County would cost him 10 snowflake jade coins. This was the currency used by immortals in the mountains. Sending a letter to Great Sui Nation’s Mountain Cliff Academy was even more expensive, and this would cost him an entire 20 snowflake jade coins.

Chen Ping’an was shocked, and the reason why he had only written two letters instead of a letter for everyone. One letter was addressed to Wei Bo in the Great Li Empire, while the other letter was addressed to Li Baoping in Great Sui Nation’s Mountain Cliff Academy. He asked the two of them to deliver his message to the others.

Chen Ping’an was standing on the observation deck at this moment, and under Chun Shui’s guidance, he discovered flashes of light occasionally coming from a small detached building near the railings of the ship. These flashes of light were subtle and quick, making them quite difficult to detect.

Chun Shui smiled and explained, “All things have their own requirements and desired environments, and flying swords used to deliver letters are no exception to this. There’s a certain altitude that’s the most suitable for releasing flying swords, and the resistance at this altitude is extremely small. Thus, some Qi refiners make a living by earnestly opening up special passageways at this altitude.

“After flying swords are released into the sky, they’ll all enter these small passageways to fly toward their destination. Disciples from larger forces all know about this rule, so when they soar into the sky to travel, they’ll actively avoid interfering with these passageways.”

Qiu Shi arrived in the study at this moment, and she leaned against the door frame leading to the observation deck and giggled, “Of course, there are also foolish vagrant cultivators who crash headfirst into these passageways after learning how to fly and finally soaring into the sky with much difficulty. If they are lucky, they’ll be beaten black and blue. If one is unfortunate, it’s possible that their eyes might be pierced or their neck might be sliced open. When they plummet from this high altitude, they’ll splat onto the ground and die right away. They’ll transform into a puddle of flesh. How pitiful.”

Chen Ping’an asked a very novice question, saying, “Are there people who block these letter-delivering flying swords out of boredom?”

Qiu Shi nodded and replied, “Sure there are. There are heaps of mentally challenged people among Qi refiners as well. However, these small passageways for flying swords are commonly referred to as Cloud Pattern Paths, and there are special Cloud Pattern Qi refiners who especially watch over these paths. They rely on this to make a living, so they dearly hope that fools will fly over to interfere with the flying swords.

“These flying swords aren’t worth much money, but catching these foolish Qi refiners will allow them to forcefully demand an astronomical amount of money as compensation. If the troublemaker is poor, then the Cloud Pattern Qi refiners will ask the mortal empire that said troublemaker belongs to for compensation. If it’s a vagrant cultivator who has no money and isn’t registered with any mortal empire, then the Cloud Pattern Qi refiners can only accept their misfortune. In any case, this won’t be a big loss for them.”

An expression of envy appeared on Qiu Shi’s face, and she continued, “The Qi refiners who are responsible for watching over these Cloud Pattern Paths are all extremely wealthy! Whenever they board intercontinental ships to travel, they’ll always stay in at least medium-grade rooms.”

Chun Shui’s voice was warm and gentle as she added, “In reality, powerful immortal sects and clans that have existed for thousands of years generally won’t use flying swords to deliver messages. There are many mystical secret techniques in the world, and these secret techniques can make it seem as if people from far away are talking face-to-face.

“For example, there’s a kind of linked elm tree blossom. If one person massages their elm tree blossom with a special technique and speaks into it, then the linked elm tree blossom that’s located at some other place will automatically vibrate and repeat the speaker’s words to the other person.”

Chen Ping’an clicked his tongue in wonder.

Qiu Shi looked at the earnestly listening Chen Ping’an and thought to herself, How did this poor young boy become acquainted with the formal god of the Great Li Empire’s Northern Mountain? Just how incredibly lucky did he get?

Fortunately, Chen Ping’an was only poor. He wasn’t very knowledgeable, but he would ask questions whenever he wasn’t sure about something. He would never pretend to be knowledgeable at his own cost. Because of this, the pure and simple-natured Qiu Shi felt like he was a very good person. If he were poor but liked to show off, and if he were unknowledgeable but liked to feign knowledge, then that would truly be both pitiful and detestable.

After chatting for a long time, it was inevitable for the twin sisters to mention their place of origin, Complete Reed Continent.

There were many sword cultivators in Complete Reed Continent, and it was without a doubt that they made up the largest percentage of cultivators.

Sword cultivators had powerful destructive abilities, so it was only natural that many of them were domineering people. Just how domineering were they? A simple example would demonstrate this well.

Southern Whirl Continent was located to the south, and Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was located to the east. Thus, these two continents were commonly referred to as Southern Whirl and Eastern Treasured Vial.

Complete Reed Continent was clearly located in the northeastern region of the Majestic World, yet they insisted on referring to themself as Northern Complete Reed Continent. As a result, the Pure White Continent located in the north could only be called Pure White Continent. They were forced to drop the description of north from their name.

When the graceful and gentle-natured Chun Shui talked about Complete Reed Continent, she also displayed a slight hint of pride and haughtiness. However, she didn’t notice this herself. Qiu Shi naturally displayed this sense of pride and haughtiness even more openly, and she liked to talk about how great “our” Complete Reed Continent was and how mediocre “your” Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was. There was a bright and lively glimmer in her eyes, and she was like a proud and haughty little warbler.

One day, Chen Ping’an finally decided to leave his premium heaven-grade room.

Even Chun Shui was slightly overjoyed, and Qiu Shi was so happy that she jumped up and down in excitement before bowing and thanking Young Master Chen.

This caused Chen Ping’an to feel slightly guilty.

The reason he decided to finally leave his room was that Qiu Shi had delivered a huge piece of news. Tonight, the Flower and Bird Scroll passed down by the ancestors of Ceremony Mountain would be displayed at the bow of the Kun ship. This scroll could allow one to witness scenes from tens of thousands of

Chen Ping’an wasn’t overly astonished by this, especially since the little boy in azure had retrieved a bowl of water on that one windy and snowy night. The water in the bowl had clearly displayed the sight of Celestial Maiden Su Jia flying on her sword.

Thus, Chen Ping’an wasn’t heading over to look at this treasure. Instead, he was heading over because the event that was going to be streamed on the scroll had much to do with him. As such, he had no option but to attend.

Sun Scorch Mountain and Wind Lightning Field were going to engage in a life-and-death battle. This news had arrived suddenly, and there hadn’t been any warning before this at all. The entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was caught by surprise.

Moreover, even though only a few morsels of information made it out, this was still enough to make everyone feel a cold chill.

The two top-notch sword cultivation forces in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent were going to choose three sword cultivators each — one old, one middle-aged, and one young.

The young sword cultivators wouldn’t fight to the death, and they would simply fight until a victor was determined.

The middle-aged sword cultivators could either fight to the death or fight until a victor was determined. This was subject to the will of the two sword cultivators. However, everyone in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent knew that whenever sword cultivators from these two forces came across each other in the outside world, they would engage in battles to the death anyway.

Since this was a critical battle that would bring either glory or humiliation to their force, the temper of the sword immortals from Sun Scorch Mountain and Wind Lightning Field would most likely push them to fight to the death.

As for the old sword cultivators, their only option was to fight to the death!

Killing intent permeated the air.

Swords were yet to be drawn, yet it was as if everyone could already smell the metallic stench of blood.

The young sword cultivator chosen by Sun Scorch Mountain was none other than Celestial Maiden Su Jia, a cultivation prodigy who possessed a high-grade Sword Nurturing Gourd.

Meanwhile, Wind Lightning Field had chosen a direct disciple who wasn’t well-known. In fact, it could be said that he was completely unknown. He was even less famous than his junior brother, Liu Baqiao. However, since this was a pinnacle battle that was attracting gazes from all over the continent, how could Wind Lightning Field possibly be mucking around?

Chen Ping’an led his maidservants downstairs and headed to the bow of the Kun ship.

The Flower and Bird Scroll passed down by the ancestors of Ceremony Mountain was decorated with all kinds of lively and colorful birds. These painted birds flew around inside the scroll, and they would even release a variety of crisp and ethereal chirps and cries.

When the scroll was fully unfurled high above the bow of the ship, it measured approximately 15 meters in length and six meters in height. It was gigantic from up close, and the Qi refiners could see it even if they chose to remain in their rooms. However, that naturally wouldn’t be satisfying enough.

Moreover, the attacks of sword cultivators were as quick as lightning and as imperceptible as strands of hair.

At the same time, the profound and subtle sword intent possessed by their Sword Dao would exist for but a split second. Because of this, it was naturally the best choice to observe these battles from up close.

And thus, the seats for the guests were also divided into different tiers. The guests in the three detached residences were offered seats in the front row. Not only were fruits and snacks prepared for them, but there were even beautiful maidservants nurtured and trained by some heretical forces as well as the highest-ranking prostitutes from Peach Blossom Tavern. As for whether the three groups of people appreciated this, this was a different matter altogether.

Behind them were people like Chen Ping’an, guests from the premium rooms. If these guests were in a good mood, they could naturally bring their maidservants along to the event. If they wanted to come alone, however, this was naturally fine as well.

The Kun ship prohibited its guests from using mystical powers without permission, and it would be too unrefined for these cultivators to hover in the sky to observe the battles anyway. If everyone wanted to gain a better vantage point, it was inevitable that things would become messy and chaotic. In fact, there was even the possibility that conflict might occur. Thus, the Kun ship strictly prohibited everyone from manipulating the wind to fly into the air. This wasn’t negotiable.

Due to these rules, most people brought chairs and stools over, and this made it seem like they were a bunch of mortal commoners gathering together and getting ready to watch a show.

Chun Shui and Qiu Shi were still quite young, but they were already very familiar with these kinds of events and matters. There were also attendants clearing the path for them, so they managed to arrive at their assigned location smoothly and without a hitch. This was an extremely optimal location.

Thus, the young boy in straw sandals instantly drew many curious gazes.

Perhaps this was a strange-tempered descendant from a wealthy clan who liked to act as an impoverished person?

Otherwise, why was he wearing a pair of straw sandals? Perhaps he was planning to go outside to remove weeds? Or was he planning to go to the fields to transplant seedlings?

1. A Chinese polearm similar to the halberd. ☜

2. The exact term used (清倌 – qingguan) refers to a profession more or less the same as that of a geisha. ☜