Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an returned to Stork Inn and continued to practice the six-step walking meditation and sword furnace standing meditation. Finally, late at night, he undressed and lay down in bed with a smile on his face.

Early the next morning, when the sun had only just peeked over the horizon, Jin Su came knocking on his door fifteen minutes early. Chen Ping’an stopped his silent session of walking meditation and walked over to the door. He left the inn with Jin Su, and they headed to the Daoist Seal Hall together.

The Daoist Seal Hall was also known as the Missing One Hall, and this was because it collected and displayed all of the seals in the world except one, the mountain seal. The Daoist Seal Hall respected and adhered to an unwritten rule — mountains shouldn’t come face to face. After all, Stalactite Mountain was also a mountain seal itself.

Chen Ping’an sighed and entered the Daoist Seal Hall with the energetic and high-spirited Jin Su. The Daoist Seal Hall was three storeys tall, and each floor was extremely large and spacious and divided into many rooms of varying sizes. Thousands of seals were displayed on each floor, and these seals were allowed to hover in rows upon rows of colored glaze display cabinets.

Some seals had already developed rich spiritual energy, allowing them to fly around the colored glaze display cabinets and make banging sounds as they crashed into the sides. In fact, there were even spirits born from the condensed spiritual energy of the seals. Some of these spirits courageously stared back at people through the transparent display cabinets.

Chen Ping’an spent a long time in a water seal room on the second floor, unwilling to leave. Upon seeing this, Jin Su went to look at other seals by herself. They agreed to meet at the entrance of the Daoist Seal Hall in two hours.

The water seal that Chen Ping’an was observing possessed spiritual energy that was as light and nimble as mist. This spiritual energy transformed into a small stream that flowed around the seal. Chen Ping’an was now familiar with many ancient seal characters thanks to the Authentic Death-Avoiding Book that Li Xisheng had thoroughly annotated for him, and he could tell that the characters on the bottom of the seal said “silver river flowing down.”

According to Jin Su, the Daoist Seal Hall only purchased seals and didn’t sell seals. They wouldn’t sell seals to anyone.

There had only been a single occasion in the past when the Daoist Seal Hall had almost broken this rule. That was when the man who was now Pure White Continent’s Liu Clan leader announced that he was going to purchase an entire level of seals from the Daoist Seal Hall. In the end, the Daoist priest managing the hall had no option but to report this matter to the Great Heavenly Lord cultivating atop the Lone Peak.

The Great Heavenly Lord’s reply had been very simple: he had unleashed a burst of sword qi from the building on top of the Lone Peak, destroying the Ape Havoc Estate’s back garden. However, the young man, who wasn’t the clan leader yet at the time, had placed his hands on his hips and angrily cursed the old immortal atop the Lone Peak. His arguments had boiled down to this — I’m wealthy as heck, so why don’t you come again if you’re so capable?

And thus, the Great Heavenly Lord had unleashed a torrent of sword qi, severely damaging the large Ape Havoc Estate that had been built up and maintained through many generations. The large formation protecting the Ape Havoc Estate, one that was supposedly capable of blocking a hundred strikes from high-level sword immortals, had also been completely annihilated. Fortunately, not a single person had been hurt.

Afterward, a famous exchange had taken place.

With a calm and unchanging expression, the young descendant of the Liu Clan had turned around and asked the old steward, “The Great Heavenly Lord acted in such a domineering and unreasonable manner. Did his actions conform with the rules?”

The old steward had smiled and replied, “The Great Heavenly Lord is the embodiment of rules in Stalactite Mountain.”

Following this exchange, the supreme strength of Stalactite Mountain’s Great Heavenly Lord and the incredible wealth of Pure White Continent’s Liu Clan had simultaneously become renowned throughout the world.

Afterward, Chen Ping’an didn’t walk up to the third floor to look at the seals there. Instead, he directly went downstairs to wait for Jin Su outside the Daoist Seal Hall.

Jin Su came out fifteen minutes late. When she saw the young boy staring into space on the steps outside the Daoist Seal Hall, she said in an apologetic voice, “I’m late because a seal on the third floor birthed a new and extremely mystical spirit. It was very fun, and it was able to take the shape of anyone who locked gazes with it. A lot of people were lining up to give it a go. I’m really sorry about this, Chen Ping’an.”

Chen Ping’an stood up and patted his clothes clean. A smile stretched across his face, and he replied, “It’s not like we’re in a hurry or anything.”

When Jin Su directly said Chen Ping’an’s name for the first time in Stalactite Mountain, the two people guarding the door at the foot of the Lone Peak opened their eyes in unison as if in tacit understanding. They were the young Daoist priest and the middle-aged man holding the sword in his arms.

The young Daoist priest stood up from his straw mat and left the white jade plaza, heading toward the Incense Offering Tower.

The middle-aged man holding the sword turned around and bent his fingers, making a slight flicking motion at the mirror-like curtain of water. However, he suddenly smiled and twisted his wrist as if reeling something in. He retracted the message that he had just flicked forth.

He continued to nod off.

Stalactite Mountain didn’t forbid the use of mystical abilities, and the young Daoist priest covered several kilometers in a single stride. In the end, he arrived in front of a building in which purple smoke wafted. He strode inside, and many Daoist priests with fish tail hats bowed and cupped their hands in respect upon seeing the white-skinned little boy. They respectfully referred to him as grand uncle-master, and some even referred to him as great grand uncle-master.

The young Daoist priest had an indifferent expression, and he never responded to any of these people. After entering the building, he flicked his sleeve and sent several visiting Daoists with different Daoist hats and Daoist robes flying. The visiting Daoists at the Middle Five Tiers instantly drifted toward the two side walls. They were so terrified that they almost suffered a mental collapse.

The young Daoist priest strode forward and claimed the incense offering region for himself. He then retrieved a single stick of incense from the incense tube on the nearby table. There were four picture scrolls accepting worship on the incense table. The picture scroll of the Dao Ancestor was placed the highest, so high that worshippers might miss it completely if they weren’t paying attention.

Beneath the picture scroll of the Dao Ancestor, there were the picture scrolls of three Daoist priests hanging side-by-side.

The Daoist priest in the middle held a peach wood talisman, the one on the left was dressed in a feather cloak and held a Dao sword in his hand, and the one on the right was wearing a lotus flower hat.

On the gigantic incense table, there was only a single large censer in which worshippers could place their sticks of incense.

According to legends, it was said that if Daoist priests and worshippers sincerely offered incense in the Incense Offering Tower, there was a chance for the Dao Ancestor and the Three Pure Ones — the branch masters — to detect their offering. When Daoist priests visited Stalactite Mountain, they would almost always visit the Incense Offering Tower to offer three sticks of incense first. Of course, Daoist priests from Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence definitely wouldn’t take a single step into the Incense Offering Tower.

The young Daoist priest wearing the fish tail hat bowed three times at the branch master wearing the lotus flower hat. After placing the stick of incense in the censer, he closed his eyes and recited some words.

After a while, the young Daoist priest faltered before opening his eyes. He felt a bit bored, so he turned around and eventually settled his gaze on a young man who looked like a beautiful woman. He frowned and asked, “As a descendant of Middle Earth Divine Continent’s Lu Clan, why did you go to the Sword Reverence Pagoda first? Why didn’t you come here to offer incense first?!”

The young “woman” was unfazed, and he replied with a smile, “We loyally and sincerely honor this paramount branch master as our old ancestor, but this old ancestor has never acknowledged us as his descendants. For the past several thousand years, just how many sticks of incense has the Lu Clan offered to this branch master? Yet, we still haven’t heard a single word from him. Will it make a difference if I offer one more stick of incense?”

A hint of anger appeared on the young Daoist priest’s face, and he exclaimed, “You still dare to speak with such impudence?!”

The young man who had come to offer incense smiled with squinted eyes and said, “Heavenly Lord, you’re not a Daoist priest from the same branch as our Lu Clan’s old ancestor, so why are you so pressed about some outsider’s etiquette?”

The young Daoist priest humphed and said, “Fool who doesn’t know what’s good for you, get out of here!”

He flicked his sleeve, and the young man who was even more attractive than beautiful women was immediately sent flying out of the building. He crashed into the street outside the Incense Offering Tower, and he continued to vomit blood as he struggled to sit up. Gazing up at the picture scroll on the right which had remained indifferent toward them for hundreds upon thousands of years, the young man started to roar with laughter.

Today, this branch master was still as cold and pitiless as always.

The Lu Clan had faced dire situations and threats of destruction time and time again in history, yet the person in the picture scroll had never paid any heed to them.

The young Daoist priest walked out of the Incense Offering Tower and shot a quick glance at the extremely disheveled young man. He then disappeared in a flash.

Following Jin Su’s lead, Chen Ping’an arrived at Ganoderma Inn at noon. Here, he was able to see the legendary Ganoderma ruyi.

After looking through the astronomically expensive immortal treasures and spirit tools at Ganoderma Inn, Chen Ping’an didn’t purchase anything, nor did he sell anything from his pocket treasure. He left the inn and set off for the day’s final destination, the Daoist Saber Room.

The Daoist Saber Room wasn’t fascinating because of the scenery it provided, but rather because of the list on one of its walls. All kinds of bounties were listed on the wall, and the subjects of these bounties were peculiar and varied.

There were great demons from some island in the South Sea, the ruler of a nation in some continent, the elder of a terrestrial immortal in some immortal clan, some demonic cultivators who were causing chaos in the world, and even a Confucian sage from Southern Whirl Continent’s Chen Clan. There were all kinds of people and creatures on the bounty list.

The rules of the Daoist Saber Room had been passed down from some unknown time, and anyone was allowed to post a bounty on the wall. However, the poster had to leave the bounty money with the Daoist Saber Room. Otherwise, if one dared to casually post a bounty without leaving any bounty money, one would have to experience the power of the Daoist Saber Room’s Dao saber.

Daoist Saber Room…

There were different branches under the Daoist second disciple’s Dao lineage, and one of the branches used the saber as their Dao instrument. This branch had once made a huge name for itself in Middle Earth Divine Continent, and they had enjoyed an equal standing with the Mohist Sect’s saber-lending cultivators. One group was domineering, and one group was mysterious.

In Majestic World, there was something even more troublesome than provoking sword cultivators. That was engaging in conflict with Daoist priests who used sabers as their Dao instrument. This was because “Daoist saber priests” were all extremely resolute individuals. In fact, they could be regarded as cruel and merciless. They were swift and efficient when slaying demons and fiends, and they were equally as merciless and deadly when fighting against Qi refiners.

Just how bad was the temper of Daoist saber priests? It was said that one time, a powerful Daoist saber priest had come across Esteemed Daoist Huangzi from Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence. They had both wanted to slay a supremely powerful sinister demon, so logically speaking, the two of them should have teamed up or fought against the demon without interfering with each other. Otherwise, one of them could have stepped back.

However, at the first sign of disagreement, the Daoist saber priest had drawn his saber and pointed it at Esteemed Daoist Huangzi. After engaging in an earth-shaking battle and severely wounding the Heavenly Master, the Daoist saber priest had then gone on to vanquish the sinister demon by himself.

This battle had created a huge stir in Golden Armor Continent. In fact, a Daoist ancestor from Middle Earth Divine Continent’s Heavenly Master Residence had personally traveled tens of thousands of kilometers to Golden Armor Continent to demand an explanation.

In the end, another paramount battle had taken place, with the Great Heavenly Lord from the Lone Peak personally stepping forward to fight. He and the Heavenly Master, who had an extraordinarily high level of seniority, had fought 500 kilometers away from Stalactite Mountain. However, the final outcome remained a complete mystery to outsiders.

————

Of the beautiful women and young ladies who worked as shop attendants in the Dust Medicinal Shop, one was missing today. She was none other than the young girl whom Zheng Dafeng still owed money to.

Zheng Dafeng was slightly angry, and he smacked the table and grumbled that the young girl was truly trying to start an uprising. Just because she was beautiful, she was daring to act in such an impudent manner, and this was essentially having no respect for him, their handsome and dashing boss. Because of this, he was going to fine her thirty or forty copper coins from what he owed her for that book.

The grumbling man seemed quite angry. However, it was a shame that none of the women and young girls in the shop took him seriously. They continued to snack on sunflower seeds and chat about trivial matters. In any case, none of them believed that he would truly deduct their wage.

After a while, a terrified elder from the Fan Clan personally visited the Dust Medicinal Shop with a panicked and apologetic expression on his face.

Zheng Dafeng’s expression changed slightly, and he immediately stopped his annoying grumbling. He walked around the counter and arrived at the door, saying in a quiet voice, “We can speak here.”

The elder from the Fan Clan felt very frustrated. He was someone with genuine influence in the Fan Clan’s ancestral hall, yet he actually had to come here for the sake of a commoner girl who had nothing to do with the Fan Clan. Moreover, the Fan Clan hadn’t done anything wrong, yet they still needed to apologize to this person. Not only that, but the entire clan was filled with unease, afraid that Zheng Dafeng would take his anger out on them.

The old man sighed and said, “Mr. Zheng, the young girl who didn’t come to the medicine shop today is dead.”

Zheng Dafeng nodded expressionlessly.

The old man misunderstood this response, and he thought that the 10th tier martial artist didn’t care much about this matter. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Zheng Dafeng waved his hand, signaling that the old man could leave.

He then sat down and didn’t say anything else.

The women and young girls in the medicine shop had sharp senses, and they immediately detected the strange atmosphere at the entrance of the shop. They quickly fell quiet, not daring to speak loudly and certainly not daring to joke around with their boss.

“Haha, I truly don’t need to return the money this time,” Zheng Dafeng said.

However, there was no hint of joy on his face.

He looked toward some shadowy location in the alley and said, “I don’t trust the Fan Clan anymore. I don’t trust their character, and I don’t trust their abilities either. Old Zhao, go and personally investigate this matter. I’m waiting for your news.”

Zheng Dafeng stood up and patiently waited there, just like that.

In Old Dragon City, winds of chaos were going to rise from seemingly insignificant duckweed.

————

It was nighttime at Stalactite Mountain.

On the plaza, there was the young Daoist priest reading as well as the middle-aged man holding the sword in his arms. Surprisingly, the latter was no longer sleeping now that it was night. Apart from them, the plaza was already completely empty.

A gallant-looking young girl with a sword by her waist suddenly stepped out from the curtain of water between the two large pillars.

Her eyebrows were like the distant mountains[1].

1. After reading some previous comments, I have to speak up for best girl. This refers to the shape of her eyebrows being gently curved like the distant mountains, not the distance between them being like distant mountains. ☜