Unsheathed

The martial artist whose back was facing the door thought for a moment. He surprisingly sheathed his saber, and he turned around and cupped his fists at the person. He smiled and said, “Since you are willing to take responsibility, esteemed immortal, I’ll leave the matter here to you.”

As it turned out, it was Chen Ping’an who had just returned to the Zhao Clan residence. He nodded at the martial artist in acknowledgment.

He then quickly walked inside the firewood shed and squatted down in front of the little girl. He discovered that she was seemingly using her full strength to resist the demonic aura inside her body. Moreover, even though blood was seeping from her eyes and heart-wrenching pain was tearing through her body, she still bit her lips and refused to make a single sound. She tried her best to open her unaffected eye which was filled with a pleading look. If one could live, who would be willing to die? This was especially the case for little children.

Chen Ping’an looked at the unyielding little girl and gently patted her head. “Don’t be scared, okay? It’s okay to cry if it hurts. Everything will be okay,” he consoled in a gentle voice.

The little girl looked up, and she faced the smiling young boy with her small face that was half-drenched with blood. She immediately burst into tears.

Regardless of how big or small they were, there were some feelings of grief that one could only understand if they experienced it themselves.

Otherwise, even the kindest words and intentions of outsiders might not be enough to truly console a person.

Chen Ping’an helped the little girl undo the ropes around her body. He turned around and squatted down before looking at her and saying, “Here, I’ll carry you to a safe place and ask someone to save you.”

After two small and ice-cold hands grabbed onto his shoulders, Chen Ping’an turned to the machete-wielding little boy and asked with a smile, “Can you please tie us together with some ropes? I’m afraid that I won’t be able to look out for her if I come across other troubles on my way. However, you need to be quick. Can you do this?”

“I can!” The little boy tossed the machete aside and crudely wiped his tears away. He then hurriedly ran over to Chen Ping’an and the little girl and adeptly tied them together using a rope.

Chen Ping’an slowly stood up and said to Liu Gaoxin and the martial artist, “I’m going to bring this little girl to the prefectural office first. Her treatment can’t be delayed any longer. I’ll ask around to see if there’s anyone who can save her. You two bring the little boy with you. If there are still lingering dangers and problems inside the Zhao Clan residence, Liu Gaoxin, can you bring him outside the residence first? Is this okay?”

The martial artist smiled and replied, “This is only a small matter. Young Mistress Liu can bring him outside first. I can look through the Zhao Clan residence by myself.”

Chen Ping’an turned to the little boy and said, “Be careful. I’ll come back to tell you the result no matter what it is, okay?”

The little boy nodded vigorously as he raised an arm to wipe the tears from his face.

Chen Ping’an dashed out of the firewood shed with the ice-cold little girl on his back. He leaped onto a wall, and with a few graceful bounds, he quickly arrived on top of the tall walls surrounding the prefectural office. The hidden archers recognized Chen Ping’an now, so they didn’t draw their bows and aim their arrows at him. They allowed him to freely enter the prefectural office and head to the main hall.

Meanwhile, Liu Gaoxin led the little boy out of the Zhao Clan residence. The little boy appeared extremely anxious and uneasy as he asked, “Big Sister Immortal, can your friend truly save Luanluan?”

This was the first time that someone had referred to Liu Gaoxin as Big Sister Immortal. Naturally, she was taken aback. She squeezed out a smile and replied, “I’m no Big Sister Immortal. Rest assured, that old immortal is a genuine immortal from the mountains. If someone can save her, that’s him. However… if he doesn’t manage to save her, you can’t blame him either, understand?”

The little boy gave a tearful nod.

Liu Gaoxin patted his head and sighed softly.

Chen Ping’an entered the main hall. Apart from Prefectural Overseer Liu, there were two other Qi refiners responsible for guarding the prefectural office present. One was an old woman with a long sword and a cloth pouch by her waist. The other person was an old man with a silver calligraphy brush hanging by his waist. It was said that he was an itinerant cultivator from near Blusher Prefecture. He was at the third tier, and he had never joined an immortal force. He had simply relied on fated opportunities and hard work to reach his current level.

Perhaps Qi refiners at the third tier wouldn’t even dare to breathe too loudly when walking around Dragon Spring Prefecture in the Great Li Empire. However, this cultivation base was enough for a cultivator to act as they pleased in the provinces and prefectures of small nations.

Chen Ping’an roughly explained the situation to Prefectural Overseer Liu and the two Qi refiners. He had already untied the rope and carefully placed the little girl on a chair. “Is there any way to save this child?”

There was a displeased expression on the old woman’s face. Seeing that Prefectural Overseer Liu didn’t speak, however, she didn’t say anything either. After all, it would be bad for her to supersede the prefectural overseer’s opinion. She humphed coldly and remained standing in the same spot. In fact, she even closed her eyes to ignore the situation.

However, the old man briskly walked over to the chair and squatted down. He reached over to hold open the little girl’s bleeding eye, and he said in a solemn voice, “This little girl has good cultivation aptitude. She has a pair of innate yin-yang eyes, which allow her to easily observe the circulation of spiritual qi in the yang world. She can easily see ghosts and other yin entities at night as well.

“Initially, she had the opportunity to set foot on the path of cultivation. However, this pearl was covered by dust, and she was unable to come across a good judge of talent. It’s because of this that she’s now suffering such a tragedy. Her yin eye has transformed into a resting place for the demonic aura, and it can be viewed as a miniature unmarked burial ground where a foul stench permeates. Even strong young men with abundant yang energy would wail in pain if they are to suffer such a tragedy. What a pitiful little girl.”

The old man carefully observed the blood around the rims of the little girl’s eye as he took her pulse. “She has a strong will to live, and she desperately needs mystical pills and medicines that are filled with yang energy right now… No, even high-grade pills of this sort won’t be able to erase the concentrated demonic aura in her yin eye.

“This is a difficult situation, a very difficult situation. I only have a single Spring Breeze Pill on me right now, and this nurturing pill will only be able to help her maintain her vitality. What she truly needs right now is a… spirit talisman. Moreover, it must be a high-grade spirit talisman that can draw the spiritual energy from her yang eye into her yin eye. Only with yin and yang being balanced, and only with a bit of perseverance and fortune will the little girl have a chance at survival. However, where are we going to find such a spirit talisman?”

As the old man spoke, he retrieved a small rosewood box from his sleeve and opened it, revealing an azure-colored pill with a pleasant fragrance. He immediately fed it to the little girl without hesitation.

Chen Ping’an was squatting next to them, and he asked quietly, “Old Senior, will a yang energy illumination talisman work?”

The old man was delighted, but he immediately smiled bitterly and said, “Of course it will! How can it not? There are tens of thousands of types of talismans in the world, and the yang energy illumination talisman is an extremely high-grade type. It’s one of the best spirit talismans for the current situation, and it will have immediate effects after being used.

“However, do you truly have one? A real one and not a counterfeit? You have to realize that many greedy Qi refiners in the world counterfeit this type of talisman and sell them as if they were real. They use yang borrowing talismans instead, but they sell them for more than a hundred times the normal price…”

“I have one,” Chen Ping’an replied in a solemn voice.

He then stood up and said, “I’ll return very soon.”

The old man didn’t find this strange, and he simply warned, “You need to be quick.”

Cultivators naturally wouldn’t display their wealth in front of outsiders.

Prefectural Overseer Liu bent down and observed the little girl’s pitiful state. However, he quickly retracted his gaze and walked to the table to study the geomancy map.

The old woman holding a long sword in her arms glanced at Chen Ping’an’s disappearing figure and sniggered.

Chen Ping’an hurriedly found a quiet corridor and stood with his back to a column. He sat down cross-legged, and he retrieved two items from his pocket treasure, Fifteenth. It was the Wind and Snow Awl and a gold paper talisman that Li Xisheng had given him.

After fighting with Ma Kuxuan in the street, battling against the ghosts in the city god pavilion, and suppressing the golden city god who had fallen to demonic ways, Chen Ping’an’s body and soul were already at their limits. Just like Liu Gaoxin had thought, what he needed the most right now was a good rest.

This was much like climbing a mountain. The first half of the journey might be easy and relaxed, but the higher up one climbed, the more difficult and tiring it would become. In the end, even taking a single step would feel as if one were trying to carry a mountain on their shoulders.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath and bent down. His vision was slightly blurry as he held the Wind and Snow Awl which had the words “writing as if assisted by the gods” engraved on it. He lightly shook his head and thought back to the time when he had been an apprentice in his hometown’s dragon kiln. When molding and firing pottery, it was critical that one didn’t make any mistake, no matter how small. This was because a single mistake might transform a porcelain piece from an imperial-grade one to a trash-grade one.

Chen Ping’an tried his best to stabilize his breathing. He then relied on a breath of martial artist True Qi to start drawing the talisman. The qi and aura of Qi refiners could be unceasing and continuously cycling. Even though drawing talismans also required one to finish it in a single breath of Qi, this was still much easier for Qi refiners compared to pure martial artists.

Chen Ping’an’s bridge of immortality was already shattered, so it would take him a huge amount of effort and energy to draw a talisman that was filled with spirit. It wouldn’t be any easier than throwing 21 consecutive punches using the Deity Drumming Technique.

When drawing talismans, one couldn’t be too quick. However, one couldn’t be too slow either.

In a quiet corridor where there was no one else…

Chen Ping’an held the Wind and Snow Awl in his hand and bent down to draw a talisman with steady strokes. However, blood was slowly flowing from the seven orifices on his face.

Was worth it to use a golden talisman — the value of which he already knew — on a little girl whom he had never met before?

Chen Ping’an had never even considered this.

Would he feel pained by this afterward?

With how miserly Chen Ping’an was, he would definitely feel pained by this. However, that was something for the future, so he would deal with it then. If worse came to worst, he would simply drink away his troubles.

A yang energy illumination talisman was drawn on a gold paper talisman… Complete!

Chen Ping’an wiped the blood from his face and sprinted to the main hall of the prefectural office with unstable steps. The old man faltered when he accepted the talisman from Chen Ping’an, and there was a look of incredulity on his face. The spiritual energy in the talisman was so abundant that it looked about to burst out from the golden paper. The old man appeared a little uncertain, and he asked, “Then I’ll use it, okay?”

“Use it!” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod.

The old man squatted down with the yang energy illumination talisman between his fingers, and he softly commanded, “Talisman, activate!”

The golden talisman remained quiet and unmoving.

The old man was extremely embarrassed, and his face was flushed red as he channeled all of the Qi in his body.

“ACTIVATE!”

Only then did the golden talisman roar to life. However, it didn’t combust and disintegrate into dust, but instead released a large orb of golden spiritual light.

Prefectural Overseer Liu, who didn’t understand the true implication and mystical nature of this, clicked his tongue in wonder. Meanwhile, the old woman’s eyes almost bulged out of her head.

The old man didn’t dare to be careless. He forcefully channeled his Qi again, and he raised his other hand and held his index finger and middle finger together. Pointing at the dense orb of golden light that was flowing like water, he chanted, “Separate yin and yang, fuse water and fire!”

A small portion of golden light floated toward the bleeding yin eye of the little girl, while most of the golden light fused into her yang eye.

After a brief moment, they could clearly see a thread of golden light forming a bridge between the little girl’s two eyes. The golden light then slowly flowed from her left eye into her right eye.

The little girl bit her lip apart in pain, and her hands were tightly wrapped around the armrests of the chair. Her small and skinny body convulsed violently, and her face was also contorted in agony. Chen Ping’an gently grabbed one of her hands. Regardless of whether she could hear him or not, he still quietly consoled her, saying, “Hang in there, you’ll definitely live. Staying alive is the most important thing. Believe in yourself, and understand that everything will be possible as long as you stay alive…”

The old woman was unable to contain her curiosity. She walked up behind the old man and Chen Ping’an, and she looked down and carefully observed the thread of golden light flowing across the bridge of the little girl’s nose.

The old woman smiled and said, “Sure enough, you’re a sword immortal who’s achieved great success in cultivation.”

Her face was filled with wrinkles, and she appeared as old as could be. However, her eyes strangely appeared as enchanting as those of a beautiful woman at this moment. They were filled with a captivating charm.

She had already detected the sudden change in the young boy’s aura.

However, she laughed loudly as she dashed away, directly tossing her long sword away in the process. She stopped at the doorway and untied the cloth pouch from her waist. Raising her hand, she said in a sweet voice, “Young sword immortal, do you feel like your Qi is stagnant and sluggish? Hehe, don’t worry. This is an Embracing Snow Barrier that I specially formulated for you. It’s odorless and tasteless, and those under the Dragon Gate Tier are extremely susceptible to it. So don’t be embarrassed!

“Also, it will only last for seven or eight minutes. Your sea of Qi will be stagnant, and you’ll simply be unable to manipulate your Qi. Mhm, your soul will also be frozen over, and you’ll no longer be able to use your mind to control your flying sword. Of course, you’ll recover and become an impressive sword immortal again after seven or eight minutes.”

As a third tier Qi refiner, the old man was tens of thousands of kilometers away from reaching the Dragon Gate Tier of the Middle Five Tiers. Thus, he had also been rendered immobile by this Embracing Snow Barrier long ago. His face was as white as a sheet, and his head immediately tilted to the side when the old woman dashed back. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Fortunately, he had already finished treating the little girl. Otherwise, the two of them might have been killed together. Of course, this outcome was because the so-called old woman was being extremely cautious. Her true target was the young boy with the wooden sword scabbard on his back.

She was going to use the head of a young sword immortal to swap for a black-grade immortal treasure from the imperial treasury!

The treasure was firmly within her grasp.

The old woman tore the face mask from her face. It was extremely sticky, and she tossed it far away, revealing her mature and beautiful appearance. Not only this, but her body also returned to normal with a few twists. She was slender and shapely, and she was none other than the scorpion lady, the Qi refiner from Ancient Elm Nation. She was extremely skilled at using poison.

She turned around and said with a smile, “Brother Dou, it’s your turn now. My body is feeble, and it’s nowhere near as powerful as yours. As the pagoda leader of the Case Purchasing Pagoda, you’ll be able to hang in there even if you’re stabbed once or twice by the flying sword of a sword immortal. Even though the sword immortal is already like an ordinary person right now, who knows whether he’s hiding any trump cards? I definitely can’t withstand any such thing.”

The martial arts grandmaster with the surname Dou slowly walked over to the doorway.

He looked at the young boy who had stood up, and his face was expressionless as he said, “Chen Ping’an, I’m sorry about this. Our imperial preceptor wants your head. If we had met in the cultivation world, perhaps we could have even enjoyed a drink together. However, that’s already impossible now. All three of you have to die.”

Chen Ping’an pursed his lips and remained silent as he looked at the man and woman standing at the doorway.

It was as if he were saying, “Just then, you said that cultivators from the mountains are immoral and think nothing of human lives. However, people from outside the mountains don’t appear much better.”

The martial artist simply dismissed this with a smile. He unsheathed his saber and strode inside the main hall, saying, “I’ll help you finish the wine in your gourd later.”

Prefectural Overseer Liu was baffled and at a complete loss.

What in the world was going on?

Chen Ping’an remained standing in the same spot.

Not long ago, Ma Kuxuan’s teacher, the sword cultivator from True Martial Mountain, had killed an assassin from Ancient Elm Nation. Now, two of them had appeared in front of him at the same time. However, he didn’t know whether there was a fourth.

Chen Ping’an finally spoke. “Since you’ve already seen my trump cards…”

He paused for a brief moment, and he suddenly smiled and continued, “First, Fifteenth, we can be a little flashier this time.”

The poisonous beauty from Ancient Elm Nation clicked her tongue in wonder and remarked in amusement, “Young sword immortal, are you still going to struggle in vain? Do you know that the pagoda leader of Case Purchasing Pagoda has the title of Thousand Faces? Do you know that he’s most skilled at dealing with Middle Five Tier immortals from the mountains? He might not be able to enjoy an advantage during normal times, but it won’t be hard for him to snap your neck within seven or eight minutes today.”

Chen Ping’an couldn’t be bothered responding to the woman’s unpleasant remarks. He quietly rested and nursed his Qi.

A streak of dazzling white and a streak of dark green flew out from Chen Ping’an’s Sword Nurturing Gourd and hovered to his left and right.

The woman was astonished, and she exclaimed in a quivering voice, “How is this possible?! How can you still summon your flying swords?!”

Even the saber-wielding martial artist who had seen and experienced many things before had no option but to stop. He no longer held his saber with a single hand. Instead, he held it with both hands.

Chen Ping’an looked to his left and right. He smiled at his two flying swords and asked, “How about we fight together? Kill the talkative one first. I’ll deal with the quieter one.”

The pagoda leader of Case Purchasing Pagoda was renowned in several nations for his assassination skills. However, he wasn’t willing to recklessly advance at this moment.

Chen Ping’an had already dashed forward, and the tiles under his feet shattered as he stomped on the floor and shot forward.

At the same time, the snow-white flying sword and the dark-green flying sword drew two beautiful arcs in the room as they instantly shot past the saber-wielding martial artist.

The woman shrieked and leaped into the sky with a tap of her foot. She was just about to flee. She never wanted to see this young freak again.

However, her slender figure briefly faltered two times as she flew through the air. She then limply collapsed to the floor.

Two trickles of blood slowly flowed from her heart and glabella.

The saber-wielding martial artist unleashed an explosive roar. He held his saber with both hands, and his aura quickly rose to a peak. He didn’t advance, however, but instead shot back.

Two flashes of light suddenly appeared on his calves, and this caused him to fly back even quicker. He directly crashed into the spirit screen[1] outside the main hall. He shot through the wall, and two dazzling orbs of light immediately appeared on his hands. The dust-covered assassin slammed his hands into the ground and instantly vanished from sight.

Chen Ping’an slowly walked to the doorway. He looked around, and he eventually pointed in a certain direction and said, “He’s over there.”

First and Fifteenth flew along the ground and shot toward the direction pointed out by Chen Ping’an in unison.

The ground was clearly paved with sturdy black bricks, yet they rippled like a wave as the flying swords shot past. They finally settled down after a while.

Only at this moment did Chen Ping’an reach up to cover his mouth. He leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, and he swallowed the mouthful of blood that had rushed to his throat. He untied the Sword Nurturing Gourd from his waist and allowed his two flying swords to fly back inside.

He then slowly drank a sip of wine. This was none other than the local brew that cost eight silver coins a pint. It genuinely tasted quite good. However, he wondered what the special brew of Blusher Prefecture that cost 10 taels of silver a pint would taste like.

1. Spirit screens, also known as spirit walls, are walls used to shield entrance gates/doors in Chinese architecture. They can either be inside or outside the gate/door they’re protecting. ?