Unsheathed

A peaceful night passed by at the inn.

Chen Ping’an was staying in a room at the end of the corridor by himself, and before going to bed, he practiced standing meditation and walking meditation for two hours first. In the end, he retrieved the white bowl with the illustration of the Five Mountains as well as the piece of burnt ebony. He tossed and turned them in his hands and examined them for a long time, yet he was still unable to discover anything special about them.

He hoped that these two items would be worth one or two hundred snowflake coins each.

He put the hefty piece of ebony away, and he poured some local wine into the small white bowl. With a lamp next to him, he flipped through the two travel journals that Liu Gaohua had given him. From time to time, he would take a sip of the local wine. It tasted fairly decent.

After putting out the lamp and climbing into bed, Chen Ping’an closed his eyes and started to replay the fight with Ma Kuxuan in his mind. He reflected on the gains and losses of each punch. The fight had been intense and extremely dangerous, so Chen Ping’an hadn’t dared to conceal the fist techniques that Cui Dongshan’s grandfather had taught him. Thanks to this, he was also able to gain a deeper understanding of the Heavy Cavalry Formation Shattering Technique

However, it was a shame that he had only been able to throw fifteen punches using the Deity Drumming Technique. His intuition told him that if he had succeeded in throwing twenty in a row, Ma Kuxuan would have most likely been forced to admit defeat. This was just like how he had suppressed the tree spirit scholar wearing the radiant armor transformed from an armor pellet.

No matter how Chen Ping’an thought about it, however, allowing Ma Kuxuan to achieve a narrow victory over him had been the best choice at the time.

Apart from achieving somewhat of a draw against Ma Kuxuan, now a prodigy at True Martial Mountain, Chen Ping’an actually felt very little emotion about this fight. Firstly, he didn’t understand the significance of Ma Kuxuan advancing three tiers in a single year. Secondly, just like how Ma Kuxuan detested him, an impoverished young boy from Clay Vase Alley, did he not detest Ma Kuxuan, someone of the same age from Apricot Blossom Alley, as well?

There was indeed something like fate and destiny between people. There were some people who would immediately leave one with a good impression, as if they were warm rays of sunshine on a chilly winter day. For example, Mr. Qi, Li Xisheng, and Zhang Shanfeng.

Meanwhile, there were some people who would immediately leave one with a bad impression, as if these people were blinding rays of sunshine on a scorching summer day. For example, Ma Kuxuan, Old Dragon City’s Fu Nanhua, and Light Breeze City’s Miss Xu[1].

Before falling asleep, Chen Ping’an had one final thought. The Deity Drumming Technique was definitely his most powerful fist technique right now. However, he was unsure of what would happen if he could throw fifty or even a hundred punches in succession. Might he be able to sever a large river and carve a path through it? Might he be able to split a mountain and cleave a gorge through it?

The first light of dawn peeked over the horizon, and Chen Ping’an had already woken up to practice the six-step walking meditation in his room. After a short while, he noticed that someone was reciting some text in a courtyard that had a rock garden and lush green trees. It was the scholar with the surname Liu. He seemed very much like an impoverished scholar who was studying hard, and he recited the teachings of the sages with a poetic cadence.

Chen Ping’an continued to practice his fist stances. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the other guests in the inn started to let loose torrents of abuse. Some short-tempered adventurers from the cultivation world directly climbed out of bed naked, grabbing bowls and plates from their table and throwing them at the impoverished scholar. Things instantly became chaotic.

However, the impoverished scholar was a stubborn person, and he started to recite the classical teachings of the sages even louder as he jumped around to avoid the bowls and plates. This immediately enraged everyone.

Some guests who were covering their heads and ears with their blankets cursed as they climbed out of bed and got dressed. They then walked to the window and started to “communicate” with the ancestors of the impoverished scholar.

Things were truly as chaotic as could be.

After fifteen minutes or so, Chen Ping’an and Xu Yuanxia both sat in Zhang Shanfeng’s room. The young Daoist priest was busy bandaging up Scholar Liu’s head.

The owner of the inn had only just left. His expression was dark, and he was gritting his teeth in anger. How had he wound up with such a bastard guest? Not only that, but he couldn’t scold or beat this person either. After all, he was an esteemed guest brought over by the son of the prefectural overseer. Thus, he could only swallow his anger and suffer in silence.

The problem was that the other guests in the inn also had impressive backgrounds. Some of them were extremely wealthy merchants, and some of them were powerful adventurers from the cultivation world. In other words, none of them were pushovers that he could ignore. And now, thanks to that bastard scholar’s shitshow in the morning, how could he still do business in the future? How could he expect return customers?

The impoverished scholar’s full name was Liu Chicheng. He was from White Mountain Nation, and when introducing his hometown, he put heavy emphasis on the fact that it was close to Lake View Academy. It was as if this were even more honorable and glorious than the Dragon Tail Creek Chen Clan.

For the next few days, they had nothing much to do in the inn. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Chicheng would often sneak out by himself. It was very obvious that he was going to meet up with Liu Gaohua’s older sister.

Meanwhile, Xu Yuanxia took Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shanfeng around the prefectural city to visit some scenic spots and historic sites. The Wenchang pavilion and martial sage temple were places that they definitely had to visit, as was the gathering in the city god pavilion in Blusher Prefecture.

There was a slightly gloomy expression on Xu Yuanxia’s face when he returned, and he simply said that he was travel-worn when Zhang Shanfeng asked him about this.

Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shanfeng had disembarked the kun ship at the ferry station in Southern Stream Nation before continuing to travel south. Zhang Shanfeng was heading to the Old Dragon City, which was in the same direction as Chen Ping’an’s destination.

Meanwhile, the big-bearded martial artist was traveling to Azure Phoenix Nation which was located in the southeast of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. He said he was delivering something to a friend whom he had met and become good friends with in the cultivation world. He could still travel with Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shanfeng for the moment, and in terms of when he would part ways with them, this would depend on the ferry lines available at the next ferry station.

They waited for three entire days in Blusher Prefecture, yet they were still yet to hear anything from the cultivators from Divine Edict Sect who had left the mountains to train. Instead, they received a visit from the old woman from the old residence. She traveled all the way to the prefectural office to look for them, and after seeing Liu Gaohua, the prefectural overseer’s son brought her over to the inn that Chen Ping’an and the others were staying at.

The old women told them the good news, saying that the fortune of the mountains and rivers near the old residence had undergone a dramatic change for the better. The impure aura had been replaced with a pure and spiritual aura. Moreover, the female owner was no longer in danger of further deterioration and transformation into a ghost, and her body and appearance were also starting to recover.

Similarly, the male owner’s soul was also starting to recover after no longer needing to nurture a ghost. His cultivation base started to advance, and he was surprisingly showing some small signs of being able to advance to the fifth tier. They were truly being blessed with one good fortune after another.

The old woman could only speculate that they had received secret help from some old ancestor from Divine Edict Sect.

The big-bearded martial artist and the young Daoist priest both nodded in agreement. They felt like there was no other explanation.

Emotions surged through Chen Ping’an’s mind, but he maintained a calm and composed expression the entire time.

Before leaving, the old woman told Chen Ping’an that she had bought him a pot of good wine while traveling over. The two of them walked to Chen Ping’an’s room, and after closing the door, the teary old woman immediately wanted to kneel down. Chen Ping’an was astonished, and he quickly grabbed her arms to stop her from doing so. He refused to accept her grand gesture of gratitude no matter what.

Because Chen Ping’an had purposely revealed some secrets while pouring wine into his Sword Nurturing Gourd back then, the old woman was indeed aware of some more things than the others. Thus, it was only natural for her to have some speculations.

The old woman didn’t ask anything, and Chen Ping’an didn’t explain anything either.

Before leaving, the old woman simply retrieved a silk-wrapped item and carefully placed it on the table. “The gold statue of the illegal mountain god is well and truly shattered, so there’s now one less evil god to terrorize the world,” she explained in a quiet voice.

“This is naturally an amazing thing. Master immediately hurried over to the temple after hearing about this, and he arrived there before the group of immortals from Divine Edict Sect. He secretly took more than half of the shards of the shattered gold statue, eight pieces in total.

“According to Master, the shattered gold statue of an illegal mountain god shouldn’t produce so many shards. So, it can be presumed that the illegal mountain god also experienced some fated opportunities while he was alive. In any case, these gold statue shards are valuable items that one can only dream of obtaining.

“In fact, even the secret treasury of a nation might not have many such items. Young Master Chen, please do accept them. You can treat this as a gift of gratitude from my two masters and me.”

The rims of the old woman’s eyes became red, and she continued, “In reality, these gold statue shards are nowhere near enough to repay Young Master Chen for your great kindness and help. However, the old residence genuinely has nothing else of value, so my masters decided to erect a living tablet[2] for Young Master Chen. If Young Master Chen passes by Colorful Garment Nation in your future travels, please do come to the old residence to visit us…”

Chen Ping’an could only nod in agreement.

At the very end, the old woman whispered, “My mistress can be considered half an illegal deity now, and when she observed Blusher Prefecture from a distance, she discovered that there were wisps of Yin energy rising from the prefectural city for the past two nights. This has made Mistress uneasy, so she hopes that Young Master Chen can leave the prefectural city as soon as possible.

“Regardless of how capable Young Master Chen is, Master always says that one can never be too cautious, especially when it comes to the journey of cultivation. It’s best not to become involved in everything. Even if one manages to escape unharmed every time, it’s inevitable that this will delay one’s cultivation, after all. This is naturally not ideal.”

Chen Ping’an nodded and agreed without hesitation.

After walking the old woman to the door of the inn, she smiled and said, “I wish Young Master Chen a safe and sound journey.”

From the beginning to the end, the old woman didn’t take a single glance at Chen Ping’an’s vermilion wine gourd that was hanging by his waist.

Chen Ping’an watched the old woman disappear into the crowd of people. He then turned around and jogged to Xu Yuanxia’s room. After calling Zhang Shanfeng over as well, he told them about the peculiar phenomenon in Blusher Prefecture that the old woman had warned him about.

Xu Yuanxia placed his hand on the hilt of his saber and said with a nod, “This is also what I’m most worried about. I didn’t tell the two of you about this before because I was afraid of you guys being young and impulsive and insisting on becoming involved in this matter.

“If there’s genuinely a demon or spirit that dares to openly commit crimes in the prefectural city with wanton disregard for the city god pavilion, the Wenchang pavilion, and the martial sage temple, then this is definitely a very powerful foe. With our lowly cultivation, perhaps we’re not even enough to act as an appetizer for this enemy.

“However, with how large a prefectural city of a nation is, there will often be powerful cultivators and officials hiding behind the scenes. If a battle truly breaks out, these cultivators and officials will still have a chance at victory thanks to their innate geographical advantage. At the end of the day, this hinges on the relationship between the imperial court of Colorful Garment Nation and the immortal forces in the mountains.”

“How far away are the closest river gods and mountain gods to Blusher Prefecture? If something genuinely happens, will they be able to rush over immediately?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The big-bearded martial artist mulled over this for a short moment and replied, “The river god is 150 kilometers from here, and the formal god of Southern Mountain is approximately 350 kilometers from here. However, the mountain gods in Colorful Garment Nation won’t have an especially powerful cultivation base. This is only a small nation, after all, and it’s far inferior to those large empires. I’m afraid that they’ll only be at the Abode Tier of the Middle Five Tiers at most.”

Zhang Shanfeng frowned and asked, “Then once they leave the mountains, won’t their combat power only be equivalent to Qi refiners at the fifth tier?”

“These are the laws of heaven and earth; there’s nothing we can do about it,” Xu Yuanxia said in helplessness.

“Then can we notify Liu Gaohua’s father?” Zhang Shanfeng asked. “He’s the prefectural overseer, after all, and General Ma who’s stationed near the prefectural city also looks like a cultivator. If they make some preparations, perhaps they can dissuade the hidden demons and evil spirits from causing more trouble?”

Xu Yuanxia sighed and explained, “I’m not trying to scare you guys, and this isn’t a case of me being afraid of death either. However, this matter is truly very troublesome. To say nothing of whether the prefectural overseer will believe us or not, even if he does, and even if General Ma is willing to bear the risk of making false military reports and being stripped of his position, do you know how long it will take for a message to be delivered from here to the capital of Colorful Garment Nation? Even if it’s delivered with the highest priority?

“And the message will still need to be reviewed by the six ministries as well as the emperor. Afterward, the emperor will need to issue an imperial edict to the imperial court and secretly order the mountain gods and river gods to render assistance to the prefectural city. Just how long will this process take?

“Taking a step back, even if the imperial edict is delivered, and all of the surrounding Qi refiners and gods rush over to help, what should we do if our enemies catch wind of this and act earlier than initially planned and leave before our reinforcements arrive? If the imperial court wants to seek revenge in the future, who will they target?”

Xu Yuanxia pointed at the young Daoist priest and the young boy with the sword case on his back. “Do you guys believe me if I say that we’ll be treated as accomplices of the demons at that time? And if the person who exposes us isn’t Prefectural Overseer Liu, then it will be General Ma?

“Even worse, what if our enemies had other plans to begin with? What if they’re purposely luring cultivators and gods away from the other places? At that time, this prefectural city might be peaceful and quiet, yet some other immortal force or prefectural city in the nation might be turned upside down. If that’s the case, then we’ll immediately become irredeemable criminals who deserve the death penalty without even needing others to expose us.”

Zhang Shanfeng was stupefied, and his face was transfixed with shock and slight disbelief.

1. The lady who obtained Liu Xianyang’s suit of armor. ?

2. “Living tablets” are similar to ancestral tablets used to honor dead ancestors, but the color is red instead of black to differentiate between the living and the dead. These tablets are used to pray for blessings for the person honored on them. ?