Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an pushed the door open and entered.

No one was inside the courtyard.

The old lady who rambled and complained all the time was gone, so Chen Ping’an naturally couldn’t hear her cursing the heavens and swearing at the earth anymore. She was a sharp-tongued but soft-hearted person.

The simple and honest-looking woman who would actually steal books from other people was gone, so Chen Ping’an could no longer see her prideful gaze as she looked at her son.

The old man who was terrible at Go, and the man who would always carry a bag around and try his luck were gone too. He would leave extremely early each morning, and he would always tiptoe around, most likely afraid to disturb his son who still needed to attend the private school to study.

Chen Ping’an stood in the courtyard for a while before returning to his room. He slid Lasting Qi back inside its scabbard on the table, and saw that the stack of books sitting there had already disappeared without a trace. Chen Ping’an squatted down and placed his palm on the floor, closing his eyes and trying to find some clues or traces.

Fifteenth flew out of the Sword Nurturing Gourd with a whoosh, sticking extremely close to the floor as it rapidly flew around in circles. In the end, it stopped in midair with its sword tip pointing at the floor.

Chen Ping’an immediately started to dig with his bare hands. With his current cultivation base, it could be said that his fingers were already strong enough to dig through iron as if it were dirt.

He had advanced to the fifth tier when fighting with Zhong Qiu on the street. Afterward, he had tempered his Martial Dao while battling against Ding Ying. Tempering his Martial Dao using these two whetstones was far superior to doing so with the old Golden Core Tier sword cultivator in Osmanthus Island, both in a physical sense and a mental sense.

This was especially the case during his battle with Ding Ying, when their battlefield had shifted from the city wall to Bull Mountain. That had been a life-and-death battle pertaining to the core of the Martial Dao as well as the martial fortune of this world.

Thus, even Cui Chan’s grandfather, the old man in the bamboo building in Downtrodden Mountain, would definitely view this battle with praise in his eyes. He would say that even pure martial artists at the eighth or ninth tier might not be able to generate such intense and profound auras during their battles.

After digging for a while, Chen Ping’an found himself on the bottom of a pit deep enough to hide a full-grown adult. He used both hands to gently pick up the small lotus flower spirit on the brink of death before leaping out of the pit.

He carefully placed the small lotus flower spirit on the table and took off Golden Sweet Wine, scrunching it up into a ball that looked much like a bird’s nest. He then placed the lotus flower spirit inside this nest.

Afterward, he hurriedly retrieved a grain rain coin from his pocket treasure. Compared to light snow coins that only had a small amount of spiritual energy, lesser heat coins had spiritual energy that flowed like water, so abundant that one could vaguely feel it through their fingers.

Grain rain coins had the most spiritual energy, so concentrated that it was like frozen liquid. Chen Ping’an held the immortal coin in his hand and suddenly tightened his grip, causing the grain rain coin to disintegrate into dust in his palm. He then unclenched his fist, scattering the remains of the grain rain coin over the small lotus flower spirit.

As for how many strange and peculiar spirits this grain rain coin could buy from immortal shops, and how rare these spirits were, even for officials and wealthy nobles, Chen Ping’an was well aware of these things. After all, he was no longer an amateur who had just entered the cultivation world, and no longer an impoverished little boy in Clay Vase Alley working as an apprentice in the kilns.

Chen Ping’an was learning more and more about the world.

Jewel Small World, the Great Li Empire, Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the Sword Qi Great Wall, Parasol Leaf Continent, and the Lotus Flower Blessed Land…

Chen Ping’an carefully observed the small lotus flower spirit, and saw that the coin’s spiritual energy was like spring water slowly seeping into a dried-up and cracked field.

He felt slightly more at ease upon seeing this. The fact that the small lotus flower spirit could still absorb spiritual energy was proof that the situation could still be rectified. Chen Ping’an used his thumb to gently stroke the small spirit’s clean and pure forehead.

After placing the small lotus flower spirit in his Dao robe and feeding it some spiritual energy, Chen Ping’an filled the pit in the floor back in before leaving his room and sitting down on a small stool under the eaves. He grabbed his wine gourd and swirled it around, yet he didn’t drink a single drop of it.

After removing his Dao robe, Golden Sweet Wine, an acute bloody smell exuded from his entire body. His life-and-death battle with Ding Ying had left him with severe wounds. However, it was also because of this that a tidal wave of spiritual energy had funneled into him, giving him an opportunity to flood his main acupoints with spiritual energy.

Right now, the spiritual energy was tunneling through his many acupoints, with each wisp appearing like a force that was grabbing a piece of land for itself. Because the spiritual energy didn’t take the same path as his breath of True Qi from before, the pieces of land that they occupied could also be viewed as vassal towns that fell outside of the main cities. They were relatively isolated, and didn’t link together to form a connected path. Thus, they were unable to become more powerful.

Chen Ping’an didn’t know if this was good or bad. However, he didn’t have the time to deal with this problem right now.

His most important priority was figuring out how to rebuild his bridge of immortality and leave this blessed land.

This Observing Dao Temple surprisingly wasn’t an actual temple. Instead, wherever the old Daoist priest went in the world was where the temple would be. After learning of this, Chen Ping’an didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

Why hadn’t the old great sword immortal living in the thatched cottage on the Sword Qi Great Wall warned him about this earlier?

Thinking back, however, he had scuttled around like a headless chicken when he had first entered the capital of Southern Garden Nation, yet after a period of unrest and frustration, he had decided to calm his mind and casually wander around. That had resulted in a very unique experience where he had witnessed all kinds of people and their nature.

Chen Ping’an had appeared idle and lazy during that time, yet it had reminded him of his past experience as an apprentice in the dragon kilns. The money he earned wasn’t enough for him to spend profligately, but it was enough for him to support himself. At the very least, he wouldn’t starve to death.

Thus, after guaranteeing food and shelter, Chen Ping’an had always been in the same frame of mind whenever he went to collect soil samples from the mountains with Old Man Yao.

Even though they camped in the wilderness and trekked through difficult mountain terrain, and he would be physically exhausted every single day, his mind wouldn’t be tired at all. He could lie down and sleep in peace whenever night fell.

Ever since leaving Dragon Spring Prefecture for the first time, however, from accompanying Li Baoping and the other children to the academy in Great Sui Nation to mysteriously wandering into this blessed land…

…Just how many relaxed and peaceful nights of sleep had Chen Ping’an been afforded?

Chen Ping’an woke up every so often to check on the small lotus flower spirit’s condition. Even though progress was slow, it was at least heading in the right direction, and the small spirit was healing little by little. Seeing this finally relieved Chen Ping’an of his worries.

Could wine truly wash away the worries and anxieties caused by the deaths and farewells of those close to him? No, there would always be times when one was awake and sober.

Chen Ping’an no longer needed to worry about anything inside his room, but what about outside his room?

Sitting on the small stool, with his arms resting on his knees, Chen Ping’an patiently waited for Cao Qinglang to return home.

From today onward, this residence in a nameless small alley would be no different from that residence in Clay Vase Alley back then.

Chen Ping’an stood up. It was dusk, and a little boy walked through the small alley by himself. The gate to his courtyard was open, and his expression was numb when he saw Chen Ping’an. Cao Qinglang lowered his head, silent and seemingly apathetic as he walked inside his room.

Chen Ping’an wanted to speak, yet he couldn’t help but hesitate. In the end, he remained silent and sat back down on the small stool, staying there all the way until deep into the night. They were in the twelfth solar term, Great Heat, so it didn’t feel cool and refreshing even when the gentle night breeze brushed past his body. Chen Ping’an went to check on the little lotus spirit, and he coincidentally saw a crude-looking straw fan out of the corner of his eye. He picked it up and returned outside.

In the second half of the night, he heard the night guard striking their gong from very far away.

Cao Qinglang walked out of his room, bringing a small stool with him and sitting beside Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an offered the little boy the crude straw fan, and Cao Qinglang hesitated for a moment before eventually deciding to accept it.

After a brief period of silence, Chen Ping’an said in a soft voice, “I’m sorry.”

The little boy remained silent the entire time. He didn’t blame Chen Ping’an. Instead, he simply lowered his head and sobbed.

The next day, Cao Qinglang woke up much later than usual, and there was no sound of him loudly reciting books either. Seeing this, Chen Ping’an went to the private school, hoping to inform Cao Qinglang’s teacher of his absence. However, he noticed that there were few people on the street, and when he arrived at the private school, he discovered that the school was shut as well. He wasn’t even able to find the teacher.

Chen Ping’an didn’t notice any spies from Southern Garden Nation in the surroundings.

This was most likely Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu’s doing.

During the next two days, many families continued to secretly move away from this area. Because of this, the brothels and taverns near Champion Scholar Alley also lost a large majority of their customers overnight, becoming almost deserted.

During dusk on this day, Chen Ping’an brought a small stool with him and sat down at the corner of the alley with no name. If this were in the past, there would be a table here and two terrible Go players would engage in an intense match with each other. Standing around them, countless other terrible Go players would offer their amazingly crappy advice.

The street was still riddled with criss-crossing ditches and crumbled walls, appearing as broken and unsightly as could be.

Suddenly, Chen Ping’an stood up.

Zhong Qiu had come to visit.

He and Chen Ping’an strolled through the wide street, and evident exhaustion was visible on Zhong Qiu’s face as he smiled faintly and explained, “This region of the capital has secretly been placed under martial law, and speculations and rumors from all sources have been put under control as well.

“The emperor and the crown prince are both extremely interested in you, and they both want to meet you. However, I persuaded them not to invite you into the imperial palace. Even so, you can enter the palace whenever you want if you feel the desire to do so. Of course, you can also visit my place if you want to clear your mind and relax.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response.

Dressed in an azure robe with slightly graying sideburns, Zhong Qiu surprisingly appeared much older even though only a mere few days had passed. It was as if he had experienced many vicissitudes of life.

The imperial preceptor clearly had many things weighing on his mind as he continued, “Yu Zhenyi has constructed a small thatched cottage for himself on the ruins of Bull Mountain, and it’s clear that he’s going to cultivate earnestly there. The emperor has stated that unless Yu Zhenyi relocates his Lake Mountain Faction to Southern Garden Nation, he’ll deploy troops to forcibly remove Yu Zhenyi.

“However, Yu Zhenyi completely ignored the emperor’s request. I hoped that the emperor could wait for a little longer, but the emperor disagreed with me and has already started to marshal the troops. It won’t be long before ten thousand elite troops march over and encircle the ruins of Bull Mountain.”

Chen Ping’an pondered for a moment before asking, “Then what about Mirror Heart Hall’s Fan Wan’er?”

Zhong Qiu roughly recounted Fan Wan’er’s life story to Chen Ping’an before saying in helplessness, “I speculate that the emperor most likely saw her in private, and it’s because of this that he’s gained the resolve to make this decision. With her support and with Dragon General Tang Tieyi staying in the capital—and of course, there’s me as well—the emperor is likely convinced that the situation won’t become too dire.”

Zhong Qiu stopped beside a deep ditch. This was the location where Chen Ping’an had Examined the Dragon using the Mountain Peak fist stance and traveled on the wind, striking Zhong Qiu and sending him flying. Zhong Qiu smiled and continued, “The emperor probed around several times, trying to ask me about your personality and background. I couldn’t lie to the emperor, but I couldn’t drag you into our mortal conflicts either.

“Because of this, I simply told the emperor that you would neither support Southern Garden Nation nor help Yu Zhenyi. Carefree cranes will only soar through the lofty clouds, not involving themselves in the lowly matters of dogs and chickens in the mortal world. They certainly won’t fight for food with these creatures either.”

Chen Ping’an cupped his fists in gratitude.

Zhong Qiu waved his hand and said, “I would be a lot more annoyed if I were you.”

Chen Ping’an grabbed his wine gourd and drank a mouthful of wine.

Zhong Qiu suddenly remembered something, and he said, “I personally dealt with that tragic case relating to the family you were staying with. Many remnants of the demonic force were captured by the imperial court, and I can confirm that Ding Ying was the one who ordered his subordinates to commit this crime.

“His aim was most likely to pit you against Spring Tide Palace’s Zhou Shi from very early on. After you two fought each other, he could then take advantage of the situation and draw Lu Fang and Zhou Fei out as well. Moreover, through Cao Qinglang’s statements to the officials, we can conclude that Ding Ying’s actions weren’t for the sake of targeting you. Rather, Ding Ying mistakenly thought that Cao Qinglang was related to Mirror Heart Hall’s Tong Qingqing.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in understanding.

He then suddenly asked, “Where am I, actually?”

Zhong Qiu faltered upon hearing this, a look of puzzlement on his face.

Chen Ping’an pointed at Lasting Qi on his back and explained, “I carried this sword with me and somehow entered this world by accident. I wandered around and searched for a long time, and I was oblivious to the fact that I had entered this world.”

Zhong Qiu smiled and told Chen Ping’an some stories about the Lotus Flower Blessed Land and the otherworldly immortals who had come here.

Only then did Chen Ping’an gain a deeper understanding of this world.

Back then, the old Daoist priest had only revealed half of the truth. The Observing Dao Temple genuinely didn’t exist, but it could be argued that the entire Lotus Flower Blessed Land was, in fact, the old Daoist priest’s place for observing the Dao.

The first time Chen Ping’an noticed something amiss was when he had discovered the existence of two Northern Jin Nations in a single continent. One had to realize that he had found the little lotus spirit in a temple in Northern Jin Nation.

In the beginning, Chen Ping’an had thought that perhaps the culture in Parasol Leaf Continent was different from Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Because of this, he had especially visited the bookstore in Champion Scholar Alley to go through many unofficial history books and literary works.

However, things had only become stranger and stranger. Even so, Chen Ping’an had refused to give up, visiting another scripture library that clearly looked like the private collection of some wealthy and influential clan. He wanted to understand the official history of the nation to determine Northern Jin Nation’s exact location in Parasol Leaf Continent.

However, things had still remained as foggy and confusing as always, with the books only ever mentioning the history of the four nations.

Afterward, when the dirty secrets of White River Temple were exposed, Chen Ping’an had felt even greater disbelief at the four superior grandmasters’ choice of words when they gathered at Bull Mountain. They had been surprisingly fond of using the term “the world” when discussing things.

For example, Zhong Qiu was called the most powerful martial artist in the world, Southern Garden Nation was the most powerful nation in the world, Mirror Heart Hall’s Tong Qingqing was the most beautiful person in the world, and so on and so forth. There were too many examples to choose from.

On that night sometime later, Ding Ying, Zhou Shi, and Ya’er had snuck into the great hall of White River Temple to look for that Golden Arhat Body together.

Before this, Chen Ping’an hadn’t thought too much about this region and had simply regarded it as an isolated place with no Dao. This was especially the case due to his interactions with the old monk, a Qi refiner, from Heart Manifestation Temple. Moreover, he had soon come across that azure dress that liked to dance under the moonlight.

Thus, Chen Ping’an had simply treated this region as a place similar to Sword Saint Song Yushao’s hometown, Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s Water Combing Nation. That was also a place where martial arts was dominant.

Now that he thought about everything carefully, however, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel a cold chill and a lingering sense of fear.

This was the same feeling as when he had glanced at that well back then.

Even though he knew that he was in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Chen Ping’an had absolutely no idea when or how he had entered this place. And he was unlikely to ever receive an answer to this question as long as the old Daoist priest didn’t appear in front of him.

The world had descended into a murky and strange state after the huge battles, so as the imperial preceptor of Southern Garden Nation, there were still countless matters that Zhong Qiu needed to attend to. His visit to Chen Ping’an today served two purposes.

Firstly, he could avoid misunderstandings between the two of them. Secondly, he had his own personal interests, and he could use this visit as a chance to relax his mind and enjoy some fresh air. Thus, Zhong Qiu bade farewell and left after discussing the necessary matters.

Before Zhong Qiu left, Chen Ping’an was slightly apologetic as he said, “I’m temporarily unable to leave the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.”

Zhong Qiu smiled and replied, “That’s okay. In any case, you don’t seem like an otherworldly immortal at all, Chen Ping’an.”

After leaving the courtyard in the nameless alley, Zhong Qiu’s expression was downcast as he walked along the deserted street alone.

If the first otherworldly immortal that he and Yu Zhenyi had come across back then had been Chen Ping’an, then would the events of the past few days have taken a completely different trajectory?