Unsheathed

In the Xie Clan residence located in the small town in Dragon Spring Prefecture…

A young boy with long eyebrows held several books in his hands as he ran into the courtyard. He was filled with joy as he exclaimed, “Old Ancestor, I learned a new sword technique from Master today!”

Heavenly Lord Xie Shi nodded in acknowledgment and put his book on the table.

When speaking with others, even someone countless generations younger than him like this young boy, Xie Shi would still treat the conversation with utmost respect. He definitely wouldn’t look around and be absent-minded.

The young boy with long eyebrows was still unaware of the significance behind this disposition. Right now, he was thinking more about his old ancestor’s title of Heavenly Lord. He was thinking about the long-lasting prosperity of the Xie Clan, and he was immersed in delight about the inevitable rise of the Xie Clan. He was only a young boy, after all, so he was oblivious to the subtleties regarding Xie Shi’s disposition.

Xie Shi accepted the books from the young boy and placed them on the stone table. He gestured for the young boy to sit.

After lightly sitting down, the young boy with long eyebrows asked, “How is it, Old Ancestor? Are they acceptable?”

Xie Shi gently patted the books and chuckled, “Why wouldn’t they be acceptable? If I participated in the imperial examination, I most likely wouldn’t even make it to the regional examination.”

Even though Xie Shi looked very much like one of the boorish farmers in the small town, he was actually someone who had read countless books and was well-versed in the theories of the three teachings. While staying in the Xie Clan residence, he had sat in the courtyard to read every day.

When Long Eyebrows finished forging at Master Ruan’s blacksmith shop every day, he would visit the newly opened bookshop in the small town to buy a few books. Xie Shi had told Long Eyebrows right from the beginning that he didn’t need to limit himself to books belonging to Daoist Sect. He could buy any book that he wanted.

Xie Shi suddenly stood up. The young boy with long eyebrows naturally stood up as well. The two of them stood there for seven or eight minutes.

The young boy was then astonished to see his mother smiling gently as she led a young Daoist priest into the courtyard.

When she left, Xie Shi was just about to say something. However, the visiting Daoist priest with a lotus flower hat waved his hand and gestured for Xie Shi to sit.

Lu Chen plonked down on a stone chair and used his hand as a fan. He drew some cool breeze toward himself, and he was seemingly making small talk as he ordered, “Xie Shi, when the matters in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent conclude, you should pay more attention to the matters concerning He Xiaoliang for the next sixty years. You don’t need to help her directly or anything, you just need to guarantee that she doesn’t die.

“After she gains a solid footing and founds her own sect, you can indeed add icing on the cake at that time. You can give her people, money, immortal treasures, or whatever you want. The more you give her the better. This can also be considered positive karma between the two of you.”

Xie Shi stood up and cupped his fists in respect. “As you command, Branch Master!”

“Your old-fashioned and stubborn nature is truly unlikable,” Lu Chen teased.

He then turned to the young boy with long eyebrows and said with a wide smile, “Come over here, Long Eyebrows. Let me give you a farewell gift.”

The young boy with long eyebrows trembled in slight fear. He felt excitement, as well as respect and reverence toward the Daoist priest. He hurriedly looked toward Xie Shi.

Xie Shi nodded, signaling that it was okay for him to accept the gift.

In reality, cultivators at the Unpolished Jade Tier of the Upper Five Tiers wouldn’t really dare to casually give fated opportunities away to other people.

However, the good and bad of Branch Master Lu Chen’s gifts were already predetermined. There definitely wouldn’t be any exceptions.

Moreover, he was giving this item to the young boy with long eyebrows right in front of Xie Shi, so how could this be a bad thing?

It was definitely the best thing in the world!

This was a great fortune for the young boy.

Lu Chen flicked his wrist, and an exquisite and crystal-like seven-colored treasure pagoda quickly appeared in his palm. Rays of light flowed through it, and it appeared as wonderful as could be. A closer look would reveal thirty-six plaques hanging around the small treasure pagoda that was no taller than half a foot.

Xie Shi had just sat down, but he immediately stood up again and said to Long Eyebrows in a solemn voice, “Hurry up and kneel down to express your gratitude!”

Lu Chen didn’t stop the young boy this time, and he allowed Long Eyebrows holding the small treasure pagoda in his arms to dazedly kneel down and earnestly kowtow three times.

Lu Chen smiled faintly and said, “I know you’re a mild-tempered person, so I don’t need to worry about you picking on other people. This small pagoda can suppress all demons and yin entities under the Upper Five Tiers in the world. It can somewhat be regarded as a pseudo-immortal weapon. However, you need to keep one thing in mind. Ghosts and demons that you can see aren’t necessarily the worst and most evil ones. It’s more likely that wanton demons lurk in the depths of people’s hearts.”

The cheeks and ears of the young boy were bright red, and he loudly replied, “This junior will definitely keep this in mind!”

Lu Chen appeared as lazy and mischievous as always, and he chuckled, “When you master the sword after training with Ruan Qiong for a while, you’ll naturally become a sword cultivator who needs to travel around the world. At that time, you should observe the hearts of people more. The reason I’ve given you this treasure pagoda is so that you don’t need to worry as much about external matters. You can think more about your personal matters. The Buddhists talk about self-cultivation[1], it’s a fairly interesting concept.

“Oh, that’s right. Xie Shi, remember to find a better minimization treasure for this child. Not trying to hasten his development is a good thing, but seniors shouldn’t be too stingy and cheap either.”

Xie Shi was just about to stand up and accept this command again.

Lu Chen chuckled and scoffed, “Do you believe me when I say that I’ll smack you to death with a single slap? There’s no end to this, huh?!”

Xie Shi had no option but to obediently sit down again.

Lu Chen pondered for a moment before standing up. The smile vanished from his face, and he said in a solemn voice, “Remember to protect Li Xisheng in the future. If anything goes wrong, I’ll return to the Majestic World from the White Jade Capital even if it means breaking the rules on both sides. And if that happens, I’ll hold you responsible!”

Xie Shi had already been scolded just now, so he didn’t know whether he should stand or sit at this moment.

Lu Chen slapped his forehead and lamented, “With a grand-disciple as dumb as you, it’s no wonder that my branch of Daoism isn’t prosperous and thriving.”

Lu Chen looked up and raised an arm, flicking his lotus flower hat with a finger. He smiled and said in a soft voice, “Hey, are you around, Seventy? If you are, then please open the door to see this guest out!”

Xie Shi’s expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly looked up in the direction of Branch Master Lu’s gaze.

Even with the vast Dao power of a Dao Master, he still needed to strain his eyes to peer through the layers of clouds. He could only see some slight ripples someplace at the top of the sky.

Lu Chen disappeared in a flash.

The small door that had opened in the sky immediately slammed shut.

Lu Chen, one of the three disciples of the Dao Ancestor, silently vanished from the Majestic World just like that. He returned to the Heavenly World.

Young Daoist Lu Chen’s departure from the Majestic World caused almost no ripple. However, Branch Master Lu Chen’s arrival to the Heavenly World caused a huge commotion — a truly huge commotion.

This was also beyond the sky, but it was the sky of the Heavenly World ruled over by the Daoist Sect. A giant hole as large as a mountain appeared in the golden sea of clouds, and a column of golden light as wide as a mountain surged down and landed on top of a building that was more than thirty kilometers tall.

An old scholar with a bamboo cane in his hand and a bookcase on his back walked through the undulating mountain ranges in the Heavenly World. Walking beside him was a young scholarly attendant he had just taken in. The skinny old scholar raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Looking up, he smiled and said, “By the looks of it, Qi Jingchun has angered him quite a bit.”

“Teacher, who’s Qi Jingchun?” the young boy asked.

The skinny old man smiled and replied, “He’s a scholar from my hometown. He isn’t old, but his knowledge is very profound.”

The young boy’s next question was quite childish, and he asked, “How profound?”

The skinny old man pondered for a moment before giving a seemingly perfunctory response. “Isn’t there a saying in your hometown? Even floods can’t cover a duck’s back[2].”

“Then it’s probably not very profound,” the young boy mumbled.

The skinny old man laughed heartily and explained, “The true task of a scholar isn’t to seek profound and vast knowledge. Instead, a scholar should use their knowledge to bring the common people along with them, taking them over mountains and rivers. Apart from giving themselves a peaceful place to reside, scholars also need to give the common people a peaceful place to reside. Otherwise, what use will their knowledge be, regardless of how profound it is? It might benefit themselves, but it will fail to benefit the wider world.”

“Teacher, I feel like your reasonings and principles are quite profound,” the young boy said in exasperation.

The skinny old man reached over and flicked the young boy on the forehead. He then started to sigh to himself.

The young boy was extremely bored. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to sigh along with his teacher.

The old man was thinking about his hometown. Right now, the lands were probably filled with yellow chrysanthemums already, right?

————

Xie Shi had to admit that he felt a huge sense of loss after Lu Chen left the Majestic World. Even so, his mind was evidently more relaxed than before.

In reality, Xie Shi felt very uneasy when Lu Chen was in the small town. If he wasn’t careful and made a mistake, it would be witnessed and remembered by the branch master.

Xie Shi exhaled softly, and his aura changed drastically. He stood in the courtyard and gazed at the distant ferry station located on Parasol Tree Mountain to the west. In a while, a colossal ship, the best in Complete Reed Continent, would dock there. Several mighty figures renowned throughout the continent would be on the ship.

Several powerful forces traveled south to jointly investigate the incident regarding the destruction of Ceremony Mountain’s kun ship in the central region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Apart from several grand elders from Ceremony Mountain, there were also powerful cultivators from a few other forces.

However, only Ceremony Mountain, the weakest of the forces involved, was still in the dark regarding the matter. Xie Shi knew the truth, Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan knew the truth, and the two mighty figures on the colossal ship were also well aware.

Mr. Sword Urn had been the most critical Go piece. He had been on a suicide mission.

Even in Complete Reed Continent, very few people knew the truth about this itinerant cultivator’s mink fur hat. In fact, it was this mink fur hat that was his immortal tool, the sword urn. While helping him nurture his own flying sword, this immortal tool could also generate countless wisps of sword qi. After accumulating these wisps for hundreds of years, the sword urn was brimming with sword qi.

In the end, Mr. Sword Urn had unleashed his full power and sacrificed this immortal tool, which allowed him to deliver a strike that could almost rival the full power strike of a sword cultivator at the Unpolished Jade Tier.

This had been enough to sink the kun ship from Ceremony Mountain.

All of this had been done to allow Xie Shi to take the second step without objections. Because of this incident, the Daoist Heavenly Lord from Complete Reed Continent could personally travel to the region north of Lake View Academy and stand guard there. In other words, he could completely sever the link between the northern regions and southern regions of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. By doing so, he could guarantee no mishaps when the Great Li Empire took advantage of the unstoppable trend to conquer the entire northern region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Xie Shi patted Long Eyebrow’s shoulder and said, “Follow me.”

The young boy with long eyebrows followed his old ancestor to the Yang Family’s medicine shop. When he walked back out, a so-called minimization treasure was in his possession, as well as a promise from Old Man Yang.

The price for this was a promise from Heavenly Lord Xie Shi.

After returning to the small courtyard in the Xie Clan residence, Xie Shi told the young boy the gist of the incident involving the kun ship.

After seeing the solemn expression on his old ancestor’s face, Long Eyebrows asked in curiosity, “Old Ancestor, since Eastern Treasured Vial Continent is the smallest continent in Majestic World, what is there to be afraid of when you’re the Dao Master of the much larger Complete Reed Continent?”

Xie Shi shook his head and replied with a smile, “Your understanding of the world is far too simple. In the future, I can guarantee you that countless people will clamor loudly and accuse Complete Reed Continent of bullying Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Among these people, more than half of them will be screaming and calling for trouble while standing on the sidelines to enjoy the show. A smaller half of them will be itching to make a move.

“Among this latter group of people, there’ll be another subgroup of people who will rush over from various different places for various different reasons. The genuinely powerful cultivators will be hidden among this subgroup of people. For example… people like Wind Snow Temple’s Wei Jin. Moreover, this subgroup of people will only increase in number as time goes on.

“However, you don’t need to do anything right now, you simply need to wait and see. In any case, you shouldn’t get involved in this matter before you advance to the Upper Five Tiers of Qi refinement regardless of how things play out. You should peacefully study swordsmanship under Ruan Qiong’s tutelage.”

It was as if these things were weighing heavily on Long Eyebrow’s mind. Xie Shi couldn’t help but chuckle and say, “Even if the worst-case scenario plays out, it’s not something that will happen in the short term. What are you worried about?”

The young boy remained in low spirits. He turned around and walked toward the courtyard door, saying, “Old Ancestor, I’m going to practice my swordsmanship.”

Xie Shi sat beside the stone table by himself. He closed his eyes and rested his mind, and he quietly calculated and analyzed the great trend sweeping through Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Not long after Xie Shi and the young boy left the Yang Family’s medicine shop, Cao Xi paid a visit to the pharmacy as well. The attendants in the shop didn’t pay much attention to him. The small town was flourishing right now, and there were a large number of wealthy people. As such, they weren’t desperate for the patronage of this fat man.

Cao Xi smiled and asked them whether Old Man Yang was in the backyard. A young shop attendant was collecting medicinal ingredients and weighing them near the medicine cabinets, and he took a glance at the obese and wealthy-looking man before tilting his chin toward the bamboo curtains at the back of the shop. He was too lazy to even say anything. Cao Xi thanked him and slowly walked over. He pulled the curtains aside and entered the backyard that had a large and square skywell as well as four corridors under the eaves. This was a bit more impressive than his ancestral residence.

There was a long bench in the corridor opposite to the main building in the backyard, as if this bench was specially prepared for guests like Cao Xi.

Right now, Old Man Yang was sitting outside the main building, smoking. His bamboo smoking pipe had initially been green, but it was already yellowing and aged now. Through the clouds of smoke, the old man saw the sword immortal who had crossed the sea and arrived from Southern Whirl Continent. The two of them naturally recognized each other.

Cao Xi hadn’t been young when he had left the small town, but he had very little memory of this old man who always hid behind the medicine shop and observed the situation of the world. On the contrary, Old Man Yang was most definitely well aware of who Cao Xi was. In fact, even Cao Xi’s ability to successfully leave Jewel Small World back then might have been due to Old Man Yang getting involved.

Cao Xi naturally wasn’t here to thank the old man. He wasn’t the type of person to reciprocate a drop of kindness with a spring of goodwill. Even if Old Man Yang visited him, Cao Xi might not necessarily acknowledge him. In Jewel Small World — or Dragon Spring Prefecture, as it was now known — everyone had to give some face to Old Man Yang. However, this wasn’t the case for Cao Xi.

After completing this transaction, he would immediately return to Southern Whirl Continent and shamelessly ask the patriarch of the Yingyin Chen Clan for remuneration. As such, what did it matter how mysterious Old Man Yang was? What did it matter how influential he would become in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent in the future? This had shit all to do with Cao Xi.

As for the Pillar Cao Clan in the Great Li Empire? It was up to them whether they experienced fortune or calamity in the future. At most, Cao Xi would only provide them with some symbolic help before leaving this place. It didn’t matter to him whether the emperor of the Great Li Empire appreciated this or not. Cao Xi had countless descendants. Moreover, cultivation wasn’t for the sake of having a lot of offspring and allowing them to enjoy carefree lives. These things were only small rewards.

Cao Xi’s first question was, “Senior Yang, after all these thousands of years, which person who walked out from Jewel Small World, the smallest of the small worlds, has had the greatest achievement?”

“And just who do you think you are, little spring onion?” Old Man Yang retorted.

Cao Xi raised his hand and exposed his white and chubby wrist. There was a green rope tied around his wrist. He chortled with laughter and replied, “I do indeed have a spring onion here.”

“Hurry up and spit it out,” Old Man Yang snapped.

Cao Xi lowered his arm and immediately changed his attitude. He rubbed his hands together and said with an obsequious expression, “Senior Yang, this junior has heard that you possess profound mystical powers. Do you perhaps know of the whereabouts of my mother’s soul? Has it vanished beside her tomb? Or has she entered the cycle of reincarnation? Or perhaps… you secretly took it away? Perhaps you’re waiting to sell it for a high price?”

Old Man Yang ignored the hidden killing intent transpiring from the latter half of the terrestrial sword immortal’s words. “You want to buy it from me? As long as you can afford them, I can even return your father’s soul to you, to say nothing of your mother’s soul,” he replied directly.

Cao Xi roared with laughter and pointed at the old man. He tapped his finger in the air several times and said, “Senior Yang, you are truly a straightforward person. Very well, very well! This trip hasn’t been a waste of my time! Haha, if we’re speaking of purchasing things, then I wonder exactly how much your life is worth!”

“You’re welcome to do business with me,” Old Man Yang replied in a calm voice. “However, if you’re unwilling to pay up after coming here, then I suggest that you piss off before you piss me off.”

Cao Xi narrowed his eyes. He lightly rubbed his thumb and index finger together, on both hands.

His posture appeared extremely strange and comical. However, he was radiating with killing intent.

Facing this killing intent… Old Man Yang was completely unfazed.

1. The original term here (自了汉) is an old Chinese idiom referring to people who only take care of themselves and don’t care about external matters. It’s the common way of the Theravada branch of Buddhism, whereby one seeks to become an Arhat and be free from samsara, while the Mahayana branch might choose to stay within the cycle of reincarnation to help others. ?

2. In a literal sense, this means that water can’t drown ducks because ducks can swim. In a symbolic sense, it means that hardships can’t defeat a person because of their profound abilities. ?