Unsheathed

Chapter 322 (2): White Robe Enters the City, Doesn’t Dare to Knock

Both Zhou Fei and Lu Fang knew about Tong Qingqing’s true identity in Majestic World.

The grand elder of Peace and Tranquility Mountain didn’t wish to see her take massive risks and gambles all the time, and they wished to temper her excessively rigid personality to make her less prone to breaking. Before throwing her into the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, the grand elder had used genuine immortal powers to temporarily reverse her Dao Heart, causing her to become a huge coward.

They hoped that she could comprehend the Great Dao while traveling between these two extremes, eventually breaking through the barrier of life and death and advancing to the Upper Five Tiers.

Since the otherworldly immortal, Tong Qingqing, was such a massive coward who had an irrational fear of death, it was only understandable that she would always keep herself hidden.

However, to say that such a cowardly person didn’t cherish their martial arts talent at all? This definitely didn’t make sense.

That being the case, what was Tong Qingqing’s trump card? It was certainly something very interesting.

The elders in Mirror Heart Pavilion, those with the same seniority and those who were even more senior than Tong Qingqing’s esteemed master, all had extremely high hopes for Tong Qingqing. She had exceptional memory, and her knowledge was perhaps second to only Ding Ying. Her martial arts talent was even more extraordinary. If it weren’t for her timid and mellow nature, it was extremely likely that Tong Qingqing would be the strongest superior grandmaster in the cultivation world after Ding Ying.

Even though it looked to be a battle between good and evil on the surface, Yu Zhenyi’s motivation to kill Zhong Qiu definitely decreased after the death of his secret ally, Ding Ying. Moreover, he had already obtained Ding Ying’s silver-colored lotus flower hat, so it was without a doubt that he was firmly entrenched among the top three elites in the world.

However, Yu Zhenyi wasn’t willing to ascend, so he definitely wouldn’t try to complicate the current situation and risk becoming the common enemy of everyone. After all, he had already broken a huge taboo in this world by allying with Ding Ying and plotting against all of the remaining grandmasters.

It was only because Yu Zhenyi’s combat power was still completely intact at this moment that the others didn’t dare to turn against him and teach him a lesson about the justice of the cultivation world.

At the very least, Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu, Knife Sharpener Liu Zong, and the cowardly hiding Tong Qingqing definitely had a very bad impression of Yu Zhenyi.

Thus, Zhou Fei was actually unwilling to become enemies with Tong Qingqing at this specific moment. However, the azure dress in front of him as well as the Golden Arhat Body that Monk Yunni had gone to the imperial palace to ask the emperor for were both fated opportunities that he definitely had to obtain.

The former was for the sake of bringing Ya’er with him, which would allow him to temper his son’s mental state. Meanwhile, the latter was for the sake of exchanging for an immortal treasure, one that he would give to Lu Fang.

Spring Tide Palace’s Zhou Fei would no longer be in this world for the next sixty years, yet the alliance between the sword immortal from Bird’s Eye View Peak and Spring Tide Palace would be more than enough to look after Zhou Shi as he climbed to the pinnacle of the Martial Dao. In this way, there wouldn’t be anything for Zhou Fei to worry about.

At the end of the day, it was far too difficult for a supremely powerful cultivator like him to have children. This was especially evident from the fact that Jade Tablet Sect’s Jiang Clan had only had a single descendant for several generations.

A bald old man carried a large luggage sack on his back as he ascended the city wall, with his movement as swift as the wind. He was none other than Monk Yunni, the old monk who had removed his Buddhist robes and left the Vajra Temple.

Fan Wan’er was squatting on the ground and holding her head, and the old man couldn’t help but steal a few glances in curiosity as he walked by. He was puzzled about why this celestial maiden from Mirror Heart Pavilion was suffering such agonizing pain.

However, when he saw the preposterous scene of Zhou Fei tearing the azure dress to shreds with his bare hands, the old man who was no longer a monk flared up in rage and roared, “Zhou Fei!”

“Baldie, did you really think this azure dress harbored some kind of good intention when it sought you out back then?” Zhou Fei sneered. “No, it was nothing more than a scheme devised by that old witch, Tong Qingqing. Are you going to stubbornly deny this and remain delusional even after being deceived by her for half your life?”

“This azure dress is indeed one of the four greatest immortal treasures and fated opportunities. However, is it truly empty as it appears on the surface? No, of course not. In reality, the soul of Mirror Heart Pavilion’s Tong Qingqing has been hiding inside it for a long time.”

The old man was unfazed by this, and he continued to glare at Zhou Fei with his eyes wide like the statues of the guardian deities in the temple. “Did I ask for your opinion?! What happened to the promise that you would bring Miss Qingqing out of this world? I’ve brought the Golden Arhat Body over for you, yet you dare to go back on your promise? Well, I’ll dare to kill you then!”

Zhou Fei was extremely amused, and he remarked, “Baldie, don’t you feel embarrassed to refer to a dress as Miss Qingqing?”

The old man was instantly rendered speechless, feeling slightly ashamed.

Zhou Fei pointed at Fan Wan’er in the distance and said with an expression of praise, “I’m afraid that Tong Qingqing’s direct disciple, the future leader of Mirror Heart Pavilion, is actually the physical body of Otherworldly Immortal Tong Qingqing! Just like what Yu Zhenyi is doing now, she also reverted her age back then, returning to a youthful and child-like form.

“She then abandoned her cultivation and grew up in a natural manner, eventually becoming Fan Wan’er, the young girl we see right now. With Reverence Pagoda helping her conceal the truth, you, me, and everyone else in the world—including even Ding Ying—were completely fooled by her!”

Zhou Fei roared with laughter and continued, “You even went as far as to fool yourself! I’m quite impressed, Tong Qingqing! So be it, so be it… These things are all external matters.”

Zhou Fei flicked his sleeve and allowed the azure dress to freely float away.

Having released the azure dress, this signified that Zhou Fei could only fight with Monk Yunni if he wanted to snatch the Golden Arhat Body from the old man.

After weighing up the pros and cons in his mind, however, Zhou Fei surprisingly decided to forfeit both fated opportunities. He simply held onto his status as the third most powerful superior grandmaster.

This status was still enough for him to bring Ya’er with him.

To otherworldly immortals who were Qi refiners in Majestic World, there were two common sentiments that they felt toward the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. Firstly, this blessed land was a very complicated labyrinth in a very small area. As a result, they felt like their hands and feet were completely tied no matter what they wanted to do. Secondly, one couldn’t make bricks without straws. There were many times when they didn’t know where to begin.

Chen Ping’an’s appearance had thrown everything into disarray, ruining all of their meticulous plans. Even Ding Ying could die, so who in the world dared to say that they definitely wouldn’t die?

Zhou Fei was worried that he would be subject to unexpected failure, and maybe even end up killed. Even though that wouldn’t stop him from leaving the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, the price to pay at that time would truly be painful.

Right now, the biggest problem was that only two of the Upper Ten Elites had been killed—the first-ranked Ding Ying and the last-ranked Feng Qingbai.

There were still eight of them remaining, so this signified that another five of them needed to die. Only then would the promise in the secret letter take effect.

At this moment, Lu Fang displayed his intelligence as a long-time friend of Zhou Fei, the clan leader of the Jiang Clan. He quickly understood the crux of the situation and promised, “Rest assured, with me watching over the situation, Zhou Shi will definitely rank inside the top three of the Upper Ten Elites in the following sixty years.”

Zhou Fei chose to step back and make a concession, in an extremely rare display. This being the case, Monk Yunni naturally wasn’t willing to push him any further, nor did he really dare to. He followed “Miss Qingqing” to Fan Wan’er’s side.

Fan Wan’er forcefully massaged her glabella.

The young and stunningly beautiful girl then straightened her back and patted her face, causing crisp cracking sounds to ring through the air.

Fan Wan’er extended two fingers and pinched the collar of the azure dress in front of her, shaking it a few times before putting it on. She then took it off again and casually tossed it to the baffled old monk, saying with a smile, “Don’t worry, your so-called Miss Qingqing still exists. She’ll soon recover her vitality if you go to Bull Mountain and stay there for a while. She’s the true owner of this dress, after all, and my soul simply borrowed it as a residence for a few dozen years.

“Moreover, I sealed myself away after entering the dress, and this allowed me to enter a state close to death. That way, I wouldn’t be easily discovered by Ding Ying. As a result, I didn’t hear a single word you said to this dress, whether that be Buddhist principles or romantic words.”

The old monk flushed slightly red as he hugged the azure dress to his chest.

Fan Wan’er squinted her eyes and fell into deep thought, no longer paying any attention to the old monk who had already fallen to mortal ways.

Her memories recovered bit by bit, flowing into her mind like a limpid stream. However, she purposely pushed these memories to a corner in her mind’s lake, deciding to ignore them for the moment.

She started to review the entire situation purely from the perspective of Mirror Heart Hall’s Fan Wan’er.

Senior Sister Zhou Shuzhen had taken her in as a disciple in place of their master, bringing her back to Mirror Heart Pavilion, a restricted area in the sect. There, Fan Wan’er had simply bowed three times to the painting of her master.

In fact, Fan Wan’er had once been the person who wanted to see Tong Qingqing the most in the world. Because of this, Zhou Shuzhen had eventually given her the copper mirror.

She had learned the White Ape Sword Carrying Technique, and there was a saying in the cultivation world that went, “There are two Fan Wan’ers in the world, one who carries a sword and one who doesn’t.”

However, Fan Wan’er had discovered that no one in this world appeared capable of unleashing the final sword strike of this profound technique. The required sword didn’t exist, and the required martial artist physique didn’t exist either. However, Zhou Shuzhen had still insisted on her mastering this White Ape Sword-Carrying Technique.

It was because of these reasons that Chen Ping’an had found things a little strange in White River Temple back then. Fan Wan’er was clearly close to the Great Dao, so why did it appear as if she were being suppressed by a huge boulder weighing thousands of kilograms? Why did she appear so hesitant and sluggish? As it turned out, this was because half of her soul had been missing. As a result, she had appeared much like a mindless puppet, completely lacking in soul and spirit.

Standing on a bridge one time, Fan Wan’er had asked Prince Wei Yan whether he would often feel a sense of deja vu and unexplained familiarity with other people and matters. Afterward, the old cook in the prince’s residence who had initially been ranked third in the world had also noticed Fan Wan’er’s strange state with a single glance.

However, the old cook had mistakenly thought that she was the reincarnation of some otherworldly immortal. This would make one more susceptible to being “possessed,” and it would also cause one to have a unique aura lingering around their body.[1]

Fan Wan’er also recalled the two times that she had actively looked for Chen Ping’an in acts of curious coincidence.

Fan Wan’er cracked a grin. Alright then, just how incredible was Chen Ping’an’s background that her grand elder had allowed that person to possess her twice? Moreover, that person had risked grave dangers and twice descended to the Lotus Flower Blessed Land simply to give Chen Ping’an a warning?

However, it was a shame that the regulations in this world were far too powerful, making it incredibly difficult to take advantage of any loopholes. On both occasions, Fan Wan’er had only been able to watch on helplessly, unable to speak as that person controlled her body. Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an had most likely viewed her as nothing more than a crazy woman, right?

Fan Wan’er raised a foot and stepped on the ruins of the city wall, leaning slightly forward and resting her elbow on her knee as she gazed into the distance, a wide smile on her face.

Back then at the night market, a table of two people close to her and Chen Ping’an had appeared like a pair of mortals engaged in a heated argument. Both people had slammed the table and glared at each other, calling each other prostitutes and warning each other that the same offense couldn’t be committed three times in a row. Otherwise, they would directly open a brothel in the other person’s family home.

The true purpose of their argument was naturally to deliver the message of not committing the same offense three times in a row.

Even so, the curses and name-calling by those two people had truly been crude and vulgar. Indeed, it was extremely obvious that these words had been uttered by that stinky little Daoist priest. When she returned to Majestic World, she would definitely have a good conversation with this little Daoist priest who she had already had a bone to pick with for a very long time, even if the grand elder tried to stop her.

Tong Qingqing’s several chance encounters with Ding Ying during the past ninety years most likely had nothing to do with the little Daoist priest. However, she dared to say with absolute certainty that her capture by the leader of the Weapon Talisman Faction had definitely been orchestrated by that little bastard in order to toy around with her. He was someone who held grudges for a long time.

Although she had escaped unharmed, just thinking about it made her feel extremely disgusted.

Moreover, the act of her being possessed had also led to wider implications.

Most importantly, the grand elder of Peace and Tranquility Mountain had broken the rules of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. At the same time, all of the plans meticulously crafted by Mirror Heart Hall’s Tong Qingqing had been flushed down the drain.

The little Daoist priest had quickly finalized the list of Upper Ten Elites before Tong Qingqing could obtain the copper mirror and the azure dress.

He had also claimed that the grand elder who had been miserly their entire life had come across an extremely wealthy person, which meant that they didn’t need to worry about this small amount of money anymore? And as a result, the grand elder wanted to throw money at the challenging situation to directly extract her from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land?

Following the gaze of Fan Wan’er—or Tong Qingqing to be more precise…

One could see that the young boy dressed in white robes had already arrived near the city wall.

No, to be even more precise, she was already Daoist Nun Huang Ting from Peace and Tranquility Mountain. She was no longer the confused and easily manipulated puppet, Fan Wan’er, nor was she the extremely cowardly and elusive Tong Qingqing.

She called out to the young boy walking toward the city wall, raising her arm and giving him a big thumbs up.

For the first time in her life, the renowned Daoist nun from Peace and Tranquility Mountain was showing admiration toward a male who was younger than her.

Chen Ping’an looked up, frowning as he saw this strange and unfamiliar version of Fan Wan’er.

He then looked at Zhong Qiu, and the two of them exchanged a knowing smile.

In Chen Ping’an’s mind, the cultivation world could only be regarded as the cultivation world if there existed people like Song Yushao or Zhong Qiu. This was the case regardless of where it was.

Huang Ting raised an eyebrow, with the smile on her face growing wider as she said in amusement, “What a strong personality; I like it!”

Chen Ping’an stopped in front of the city wall of the capital.

1. This doesn’t mean truly possessed. It references the old cook’s conversation with Fan Wan’er in Chapter 312, where reincarnated otherworldly immortals are said to appear spellbound and possessed. ☜