Unsheathed

The woman retrieved a small mirror and held it in front of her face as she tidied the hair at her temples. Her voice was lazy as she said, “Old Demon Mi[1], we’ve come here to discuss how we’re going to share the spoils.”

Old Demon Mi grabbed some pickled cabbage with his chopsticks and placed them into his mouth. He crunched down on them, and he furrowed his brow as he said, “We’re yet to obtain the spoils, yet you’re already thinking about how to share the spoils? Is wind blowing inside your head?”

The woman lowered her mirror slightly and replied with an enchanting smile, “You have a very close relationship with Immortal Colored Glaze, and the two of you have been friends for more than a hundred years. My husband and I are naturally aware of this. However, the ship is about to sink, so you’re not thinking of drowning with him, are you, Old Demon Mi?”

The old man whom the woman had referred to as Old Demon Mi put his chopsticks down and asked, “What’s this all about?”

“How beautiful. As expected of a high-grade face mask that cost me 80 snowflake coins. However, the shop owner was too cowardly, and he didn’t dare to make me a face mask that was 70 to 80 percent similar to He Xiaoliang’s appearance even when I offered him 200 snowflake coins.”

The woman put the mirror on the table and tore off another face mask, revealing an old and freckled face.

There was oil dripping from her husband’s mouth as he chuckled and said, “That’s exactly right. If you could buy a face mask that was 70 to 80 percent similar to He Xiaoliang or Su Jia’s appearance, then I would be willing to spend 500 snowflake coins on it, to say nothing of 200 snowflake coins. At night, I can wrap my arms around Immortal He or Celestial Maiden Su and make love with them. Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a divine life! I could go at it all night long!”

The woman rolled her eyes at her husband and continued to talk about the proper matters. “A sword immortal with the surname Fu from Divine Edict Sect has also joined the group of cultivators traveling south from the Spiritual Horn Force. She’s quite young, but her ego is even bigger than the heavens. While traveling south, the two elders from the Spiritual Horn Force have both been treating this young girl as a Bodhisattva.”

“For real?” Old Demon Mi put his chopsticks down and asked with a solemn expression.

The woman nodded and replied, “If this weren’t the case, then what benefit would there be in us convincing you to break the alliance? We definitely won’t cut off our nose to spite our face. If we’re too careless when it comes to doing business, we definitely can’t build up a time-honored reputation.”

Old Demon Mi asked a critical question, saying, “How do you know that Divine Edict Sect is involved in this matter? Do you have spies in the Spiritual Horn Force? And they’re spies with a senior standing in the force?”

“Is this very strange?” the woman retorted.

The old man chuckled coldly and replied with a fake smile, “As it turns out, your business has already extended to the forces in the mountains. How very impressive.”

The middle-aged man threw the chicken bone onto the floor and rudely interjected, “It will only be impressive once we extend it to the peak of the mountains, right? Our small-time business is nothing compared to that.”

“Old Demon Mi, this is the situation right now, so tell us what your decision is going to be,” the woman said directly. “If you insist on remaining allied with Immortal Colored Glaze, my husband and I won’t say anything else. We’ll immediately leave after finishing this meal. After all, we can reap huge rewards from the Spiritual Horn Force already.

“If you’re willing to ally with us, however, then we should take our time to flesh things out. We’ll activate the formation early after disposing of Immortal Colored Glaze, and we’ll take advantage of the chaos to steal that treasure and then flee.”

The tall and skinny old man was slightly hesitant.

The middle-aged man wiped his mouth and added, “After killing Immortal Colored Glaze, you’ll be able to obtain more than just his colored glaze bowl. You can keep however much of your old friend’s belongings that you manage to find. However, that seal must go to us.”

Old Demon Mi pondered for a moment before saying, “Give me a moment.”

He turned around to look at his youngest disciple. “Toss some copper coins to calculate our fortune.”

The shop attendant was a handsome young boy with red lips and sparkling white teeth. There was a brilliant smile on his face as he retrieved a handful of copper coins. As he squatted on the floor and held the copper coins in his hand, he looked up and asked, “Old Man Mi, is there anything in it for me?”

“You no longer need to wear female clothes at night,” the old man replied calmly.

The two other disciples exchanged a smile with unsurprised expressions. The young boy blushed slightly, and he asked in a shy and coquettish voice, “How is this a benefit? Old Man Mi, can you change it to something else?”

Old Demon Mi thought for a moment before replying, “I’ll give you 10 percent of the benefits.”

“After receiving these benefits, will I still be alive to enjoy them?” the young boy asked in his soft and feminine voice.

Old Demon Mi cast a cold glance at his two other disciples who had already been with him for a long time. He then nodded at the young boy and said, “Yes, you will.”

A seductive smile appeared on the young boy’s face as he bit open the skin on his finger and painted his blood on each of the copper coins. After doing this, he tossed the copper coins on the floor and examined them for a moment. He looked up with a delighted expression and exclaimed, “Great fortune!”

Old Demon Mi felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked at the husband and wife and said, “I’ll tell my disciple to activate the formation early, and the three of us will team up to deal with Immortal Colored Glaze. We’ll make the battle short and sharp. How does this sound?”

The woman slowly retracted her gaze from the young boy’s face. She was in a terrific mood, and she replied, “That sounds great.”

“Old Demon Mi, you’ve been friends with Immortal Colored Glaze for more than a hundred years, so can you truly bring yourself to betray him?” the middle-aged man suddenly asked in an eerie voice.

Old Demon Mi picked up some food with his chopsticks and countered, “Will you kill your wife if someone promises you a colored glaze bowl left behind by an immortal?”

The middle-aged man appeared slightly sheepish.

The woman didn’t feel sad at all. She picked up her mirror and started to check herself out again. “Hah, if I’m worth as much as a colored glaze bowl in the eyes of this heartless person, then my life was worth it.”

————

Outside the city god hall, the young girl trembled with fear as she stood in front of the back door of the great hall. In fact, she didn’t dare to stand in the small square between the god of wealth hall and the Tai Sui hall.

This was because an earth-shattering battle was taking place inside the city god hall in front of her.

City God Shen Wen, who had succumbed to demonic ways, had stomped his foot onto Mr. Immortal’s back. However, the young-looking immortal appeared even more impressive, and he instantly forced himself to stand upright, pushing the city god two steps back in the process. Afterward, the renowned golden city god of Colorful Garment Nation unleashed his astonishing combat power and sprinted around the spacious main hall, chasing after the immortal who was dashing around everywhere with a wooden sword case on his back.

During their fight, Chen Ping’an threw another twenty-one punches using the Deity Drumming Technique. This was the strange fist technique that he had used to shatter the seal formation. He clearly managed to shatter the gold gild of the demonic golden city god, with crumbs of gold flake floating to the floor. Countless cracks appeared on the clay statue of the city god as well, releasing wisps of black smoke.

However, the golden city god bellowed and formed a strange hand seal that the young girl didn’t recognize. Not only did the crumbs of gold flake rise up and gather on his face again, but even the cracks on his body started to close up and knit back together.

The eyes of the city god were pitch-black like ink. A cold and eerie aura radiated from them, and witnessing it would cause a cold chill to run down one’s spine. Apart from this, however, his dazzling golden body still appeared brilliant and eye-catching.

He was nine meters tall, and each of his punches could leave a crater in the wall. At the same time, each of his stomps could pulverize the tiles on the floor. He was much like a dignified god from the Heavenly Court who had now traveled to the mortal world to subdue demons and eliminate fiends.

The young girl with silver bells on her wrists and ankles was filled with worry. Could such a formidable golden city god truly be defeated?

She was also confused about why the young-looking old immortal didn’t use his two golden talismans again. In fact, he wasn’t even willing to use his flying swords! Instead, he simply engaged in close-quarters combat with the city god using his fists. Up until now, he had already used several different fist techniques.

During their battle, she had also seen the young-looking old immortal be smashed from one side of the city god hall to the other side. Judging by the sounds, it was very likely that he had been embedded into the wall. Afterward, the city god directly tore a pillar down and started to use it as a weapon. He didn’t care about the structural integrity of the city god hall, and he didn’t care about whether it would collapse or not. He started to wantonly swing the pillar around.

Battles between gods and immortals were truly earth-shaking.

This was a heart-stopping spectacle for the young girl, and her palms were already filled with sweat. She silently cheered the young-looking immortal on.

Even though the young-looking old immortal was at a temporary disadvantage, he was truly fighting in a gallant and impressive manner.

For example, he raised his arms above his head to block a large pillar viciously slamming down. The pillar split apart with a boom, and the immortal’s knees were pushed into the earth.

The young girl hurriedly closed one eye and turned her head around. She couldn’t bear to look at the sight, and she thought to herself that this would definitely hurt a lot.

Another time, the young-looking immortal was sent flying out of the main hall by a kick. He rolled more than a dozen times in the square, and the city god stood behind the door threshold of the main hall and gazed at him with a cold smile. He beckoned Chen Ping’an over with a finger, and the young boy immediately charged into the hall after standing up.

After less than 15 minutes, the city god hall was completely destroyed by City God Shen Wen. After ripping out five to six pillars, the main hall that had weathered the elements for several hundred years finally collapsed and crumbled.

Plumes of dust blotted out the sky as the golden city god ripped out the final red pillar. The wall to the left didn’t crumble apart like the wall to the right, and it instead collapsed outward as an entire piece. Chen Ping’an was standing above this wall, and his sleeves were already in tatters. He turned around and softly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Right now, Chen Ping’an was treating the golden city god as a second Ma Kuxuan. He was using this battle to temper his own physique and soul.

He most likely couldn’t defeat the city god with his fists alone.

Moreover, it appeared as if the clay statue of the city god could quickly regenerate itself and return to its peak state in this city god hall no matter how it was pummeled and no matter how severe its wounds were. This was very unreasonable.

Chen Ping’an glanced at the ruins of the city god hall out of the corners of his eyes. Thinking back to the positioning of the golden city god this entire time, he finally came to a realization.

Pocket treasures were regarded as mystical small worlds, and these treasures worked in much the same way.

Meanwhile, the sages from the different teachings and schools also had the notion of territory. For example, how Mr. Qi and Master Ruan were in charge of Jewel Small World. As long as Confucian sages were in schools and academies, and Militarian sages were in ancient battlefield ruins and so on, these sages would possess a time and geographical advantage when they did battle with others.

It was logical to conclude that the city god of Blusher Prefecture’s prefectural city also enjoyed such advantages in the city god hall.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath and continued to charge forward. He needed to test his theory and lure the city god out of the city god hall first. If he succeeded, then luring the city god out of the entire city god pavilion would naturally be the best outcome.

However, things were often imperfect, and the golden city god instinctively refused to leave the ruins of the city god hall even though he had already succumbed to demonic ways and become utterly confused.

Even when Chen Ping’an purposely became injured on two separate occasions and fell outside the city god hall to bait him, the golden city god still refused to step outside his territory. At most, he would only use the red pillars as weapons to wildly slam down at Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an was unwilling to waste too much time here. He still needed to return to the prefectural office as soon as possible to expose the main culprit behind these events.

The hearty nature of this battle was finally revealed at this moment.

Chen Ping’an continued to throw a barrage of punches. At the same time, First and Fifteenth both flew out from his Sword Nurturing Gourd and shot toward the golden city god.

Atop the ruins of the city god hall, the white-colored First and the emerald-green Fifteenth cooperated with Chen Ping’an’s fists and launched attacks as they circled around the clay statue of the golden city god.

The young girl with silver bells was dazzled and stunned by this sight.

In the end, Chen Ping’an retrieved a gold-colored treasure pagoda demon-suppressing talisman. At the cost of sacrificing this talisman and causing it to completely lose its luster, he finally managed to suppress the golden city god and shatter his gold statue. In the end, only a dozen or so shards of his gold statue remained. Along with these golden shards, there was also that small azure wooden box.

Chen Ping’an silently collected these items and wiped the blood from his face. He then walked up to the young girl and asked with a smile, “What’s your name?”

“Liu Gaoxin!” the young girl replied in a daze.

“Gaoxing as in happy[2]?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The young girl blushed slightly, and she explained, “Gao as in ‘high’ and Xin as in ‘warmth.’ Not happy.”

When choosing her name, her parents had hoped that she could thrive in the future and still experience warmth when reaching the highest peak.

The young girl was quite beautiful, and her heart was also pure.

She was unwilling to dwell on this matter, especially since the young-looking old immortal had just finished his intense battle with the golden city god. He needed to rest and replenish his energy.

Chen Ping’an had initially wanted to praise her name and say that it could be appreciated by both refined people and commoners. In this sense, it was very similar to his own name.

However, since it wasn’t the “Gaoxing” he was thinking of, he could only swallow these words. Then, something occurred to him, and he asked in curiosity, “You’re not Liu Gaohua’s younger sister, are you?”

The young girl’s eyes lit up, and she asked, “Oh? Mr. Immortal, you know my older brother?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “I met him not long ago, and I’m actually heading to the prefectural office right now. I need to tell your father that the old immortal is the true culprit behind everything.”

Liu Gaoxin hadn’t gone to enjoy the atmosphere and watch the performance on the tall stage in the middle of the lake that night, so she hadn’t seen the appearances of the female ghosts controlled by the old immortal either. Chen Ping’an was already leaping toward the tall wall surrounding the city god pavilion at this moment, and the young girl hurriedly followed behind him.

The two of them jumped across roofs and ran along walls, but the physique of the young girl was far inferior to Chen Ping’an even though she also tempered and trained her body. It wasn’t long before she started panting in exertion. Chen Ping’an stopped on an eave to let her rest and catch her breath.

“Elderly Sword Immortal, why don’t you fly on your sword? It will be faster if you do that and take me along with you,” Liu Gaoxin suggested carefully.

So be it if she were carelessly addressing him as a sword immortal. But old sword immortal?

Chen Ping’an didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He decided to ignore her, and he started to sprint along the roofs and walls again once the young girl’s breathing returned to normal.

This old sword immortal truly does things in a peculiar way, the young girl thought to herself.

Moreover, he also has an extremely good temper!

While speaking to him just then, she had secretly glanced at his face a few times as well. He was fairly handsome, and he genuinely didn’t appear old at all!

1. The “Mi” (米) used here literally means rice. ?

2. The name Gaoxin (高馨) sounds very similar to “happy” (Gaoxing/高兴) in Chinese. ?