Unsheathed

In the room next door, Chen Ping’an used three entire bamboo slips to complete his travel journal pertaining to his experiences in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. The characters on the bamboo slip were small and densely packed together. After putting out the oil lamp, he started to practice the six-step walking meditation combined with various sword techniques from the Proper Sword Scripture. However, he only feigned holding a sword, like always.

His movements were silent, and he was like a fish freely swimming through water as he completely hid his fist intent and aura. This was starkly different from that time in the past when he had practiced fist techniques beside Dragon Whisker River, with fist intent coursing through his entire body.

Right now, Chen Ping’an was entirely capable of multi-tasking and thinking about other matters as he practiced his fist techniques.

Following on from walking meditation and standing meditation, the Mountain Shaking Guide also detailed the process of sleeping meditation, Eternity. Chen Ping’an had already understood the principles and fist stances of this meditation technique a long time ago, and after reaching the fourth tier, he had already felt like it would be quite easy to perform.

However, what held him back was the fact that the essence of sleeping meditation was intimately tied to the notion of “slumbering as if dead.” Entering this state would cause one’s soul to become completely still and seemingly lifeless. At the same time, one’s soul would be allowed to thoroughly rest and recuperate.

Chen Ping’an had embarked on two long journeys, traveling further and further each time. Thus, he hadn’t dared to sleep too soundly. As a result, he was forced to delay his cultivation of sleeping meditation again and again. He could only investigate it once he returned to Dragon Spring Prefecture.

In any case, he had been tossed out of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land far too suddenly.

Otherwise, Chen Ping’an would have definitely done his best to gather the top-notch martial arts techniques of the blessed land. Thinking back, Ding Ying’s martial arts path hadn’t actually been wrong. He had genuinely stood on the tallest summit of the mountains, and he could have genuinely been regarded as the peak of martial arts.

To reach such a level, one needed to not only comprehend one’s own Dao, but also to observe the scenery of those shorter mountains. One needed to validate their comprehension and make up for any shortcomings. Only then could one transform their comprehension into fist intent, and only at that moment would their fist intent become loftier than the heavens.

Was this not incredibly similar to reading and learning sagely principles?

Though the approach of building bridges according to those books from the Ministry of Works was different, the end result was strikingly similar.

Before Chen Ping’an knew it, the first light of dawn was already starting to peek through his window.

Chen Ping’an wouldn’t sweat even if he practiced fist techniques for an entire night now. This was perhaps the benefit brought about by his strengthened soul after he advanced to the fifth tier. However, when he wore Golden Sweet Wine, it wouldn’t make a difference whether he perspired or not.

While Chen Ping’an was practicing fist techniques, the little lotus spirit, who had already made a full recovery, sat on the corner of the table and dozed off. After leaving the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, it seemed like there was something weighing on the little lotus spirit’s mind.

Chen Ping’an finished his training session and sat beside the table, looking at the drooping head of the little lotus spirit.

Chen Ping’an smiled and stroked its head, not saying anything and not trying to console it. In reality, Chen Ping’an wasn’t especially good at consoling others.

He took out the four picture scrolls once again, unfurling them on the table and contemplating whether he should take this gamble.

In the past, Chen Ping’an had always feared the notion of fortune as if it were a ferocious beast.

Now, however, the knot in his heart had already been largely untied. After the collapse of Jewel Small World, he had fallen victim to Branch Master Lu Chen’s schemes one time, causing his fortune to become linked with Divine Edict Sect’s He Xiaoliang.

Afterward, his fortunes had turned during his trip to Great Sui Nation, and he had become incredibly lucky instead. Following his encounter with He Xiaoliang on the kun ship, his fortune had still remained fairly good.

In addition, Chen Ping’an was no longer poor like before. To say nothing of the huge benefits he had reaped during his trip with Lu Tai, even the yin god who had accompanied Zheng Dafeng in Old Dragon City had spent a whopping ten grain rain coins to purchase a small bamboo slip made from courage bamboo from him.

It was as if he had simply wanted to purchase the characters engraved on the bamboo slip: Gods and immortals walk two different paths separated by Yin and Yang, the soul consolidates the psyche, while the spirit gives rise to the godly body.

Due to all of his experiences, Chen Ping’an didn’t have the extravagant hope of “raising” all four picture scrolls and bringing all four people to life. Instead, he would pick a single picture scroll to focus on. This could be described as making a small gamble to entertain himself. He was playing within his limits.

Chaos was already budding, so Chen Ping’an indeed needed some helpers to assist with guarding his home and managing his property.

Chen Ping’an didn’t dare to rely on Cui Chan’s grandfather. One simply taught fist techniques, and one simply learned fist techniques. He didn’t dare to ask for anything extra.

Wei Bo was the formal god of the Great Li Empire’s Northern Mountain, after all, so he naturally had his own duties to attend to.

The Dao foundation of the little boy in azure and the little girl in pink was still shallow, and Chen Ping’an treated them more as little siblings than his followers. This was due to his personality and feelings, and it had nothing to do with their age. If they genuinely encountered some serious situation, not only would Chen Ping’an prevent them from facing danger, but he would even ask them to go far away from the conflicts and schemes.

However, Chen Ping’an didn’t feel this kind of burden and responsibility toward the four people in the picture scrolls.

As for how they would get along and how the situation would change after they became familiar with each other, that was a question best left to the future.

Chen Ping’an didn’t know which of the four picture scrolls to pick first. However, he was extremely clear about which one he shouldn’t pick first—the picture scroll with Sui Youbian.

After all, just what would happen if Ning Yao found out that a woman had walked out from a picture scroll and was following him around? Not only that, but he would have even spent a small fortune of grain rain coins on her.

Thus, Chen Ping’an quickly rolled up Sui Youbian’s picture scroll and placed it inside Fifteenth.

Afterward, he put away the picture scroll with Lu Baixiang, the founder of the demonic force, as well. He looked like an unruly person, which made sense considering he had created the largest and most powerful demonic force in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.

After Chen Ping’an spent a huge amount of money and time to bring him out of the picture scroll, what would he do if Lu Baixiang was an incredibly ambitious yet immoral person like Spring Tide Palace’s Zhou Fei? What if Lu Baixiang was someone who flouted social rules and engaged in treasonous acts? Would Chen Ping’an suppress him and toss him back into the picture scroll?

It made absolutely no sense for Chen Ping’an to take such a huge gamble and spend his money in such an unreasonable manner.

Grain rain coins weren’t snowflake coins, after all. In fact, even snowflake coins couldn’t be wasted in such an unreasonable manner.

After putting the second picture scroll away, only two picture scrolls remained on the table. The picture with Wei Xian, the old ancestor of Wei Liang, and the picture scroll of Martial Arts Maniac Zhu Lian, someone who looked surprisingly amiable on the surface.

Zhu Lian was once the owner of the silver-colored lotus flower hat, and this caused Chen Ping’an to feel a slight sense of apprehension and alertness. He had almost been killed by Ding Ying during their battle in Bull Mountain, and that had undoubtedly been the most ferocious and deadly battle in Chen Ping’an’s life.

Chen Ping’an was extremely hesitant as he stared at the two picture scrolls.

The little lotus spirit quietly sat beside Chen Ping’an, also appearing extremely earnest as it examined the two picture scrolls.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t decide, so he smiled at the little lotus spirit and asked, “Which one looks better to you?”

The little lotus spirit turned around, and the little guy who only had a single arm pointed at the picture scrolls before pointing at itself, seemingly asking Chen Ping’an whether he genuinely wanted it to make the choice for him.

Chen Ping’an nodded with a wide smile.

The little lotus spirit quickly stood up and started to run around the perimeters of the two picture scrolls with its eyes wide open. From time to time, it would even lay down on the table to carefully observe the two people in the picture scrolls. It looked extremely earnest and adorable.

Chen Ping’an chuckled in delight.

In the end, the little lotus spirit squatted on the table and pointed at the picture scroll beside it, the one that contained Wei Xian.

“Alrighty, then we’ll pick him,” Chen Ping’an said with a laugh.

The little lotus spirit stood up and quickly ran to the edge of the table, tugging at Chen Ping’an’s sleeve and seemingly worried that it might have made the wrong choice.

“It’s alright. A choice had to be made, so it doesn’t matter even if we made the wrong choice.”

Chen Ping’an extended a finger and tickled the little lotus spirit’s armpits, causing it to giggle out loud.

He then retrieved a grain rain coin and held it between two fingers, gently placing it on the picture scroll that contained Wei Xian, the founding emperor of Southern Garden Nation. The grain rain coin immediately disintegrated like melting snow when it came into contact with the picture scroll, and a layer of spiritual energy unique to grain rain coins quickly spread across the picture scroll’s surface.

This spiritual energy was misty like the water vapor rising above lakes, yet it suddenly dispersed at some moment, bringing an extra hint of vitality to Wei Xian’s portrait when Chen Ping’an looked at it again. This was especially the case with his intricate and luxurious dragon robe which was shimmering with a golden glow.

However, it was a shame that nothing else changed. It was still a complete mystery how many grain rain coins he needed to feed these picture scrolls to bring the four people back to life.

Chen Ping’an decided that he would stop at ten grain rain coins. If there was still no sign of success, then he would swallow his loss and treat this as a failed gamble.

He carefully put the picture scroll away before wearing Deep Infatuation and Halting Snow by his hips. After slinging his cotton luggage sack over his shoulders, he left his room and went next door to call Pei Qian. It was time to set off again.

After knocking for a long time, the skinny little girl finally trundled over in a dawdling manner and opened the door with sleepy eyes. She felt slightly reluctant to pack up and leave when she saw that it was Chen Ping’an.

She finished getting ready and started to walk out, yet Chen Ping’an looked at her and pointed at the bed.

Pei Qian was completely baffled.

“Make the bed before you leave,” Chen Ping’an said.

“But we paid to stay in this relay station. You spent a lot of silver to stay here,” Pei Qian said in an aggrieved voice.

Chen Ping’an remained silent.

Pei Qian had no option but to return and make the bed.

Chen Ping’an frowned when he saw the oil lamp on the table.

Afterward, the carriage driver extremely familiar with this route would often organize each section of the trip perfectly such that his two customers would be able to stay at relay stations and town inns when night eventually fell. They didn’t have any opportunity to camp out in the wilderness.

Chen Ping’an started to teach her the two official dialects as well as the local customs and cultures of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent and the Great Li Empire. In addition, he retrieved a Confucian classic that he had bought from Champion Scholar Alley and used it to teach her characters. That way, she could study, learn characters, and learn the two official dialects at the same time. This was hitting three birds with one stone.

However, Pei Qian didn’t pay much attention to these lessons. Even so, she could already recognize one hundred or so characters. She clearly disliked reading, and she was obviously more fond of sleeping in the carriage. If there was nothing to do and if Chen Ping’an didn’t stop her, she could sleep in the carriage for more than half a day at a time. When she woke up, she would pull the curtain back to enjoy the scenery for a while. When she had enough, she would lay back down and go to sleep again. This was quite impressive.

The latter half of their journey was plagued by rain.

Slowly but surely, the horse-drawn carriage eventually arrived at a border prefectural city of Northern Jin Nation. After paying the remaining half of the carriage hire fee, Chen Ping’an and Pei Qian started to travel on foot.

The weather was becoming colder and rain was falling more often, so Chen Ping’an eventually decided to buy Pei Qian new boots and a new set of thicker clothes. However, he didn’t give it to her straight away, so Pei Qian could only stare at his bulging luggage sack with wide eyes as they walked. In fact, she even went as far as to offer to carry the luggage sack for Chen Ping’an.

The city gates and checkpoints inside Northern Jin Nation weren’t especially strict, and as long as one forged a decent relationship with the carriage drivers, one could easily enter the cities even if they didn’t hold any passports or travel documents. It was through this way that Pei Qian entered and exited many cities.

However, the border was different, so Chen Ping’an started to take her over mountains and across rivers. This exposed her complete lack of ability to endure hardships—the gulf between her and Li Baoping was like the gulf between heaven and earth.

Even though Chen Ping’an was carefully adjusting his speed and travel distance to cater to her skinny legs, Pei Qian still moaned in pain and tried her best to squeeze tears from her eyes. No matter how good-tempered Chen Ping’an was, he still eventually became tired of her antics.

After receiving her new boots and clothes, Pei Qian’s behavior improved for the following few days. However, she didn’t know how to cherish her belongings, so it wasn’t long before her clothes were damaged in many places by the thorns and branches along the sides of the narrow paths. Her behavior gradually deteriorated again, and she only recovered some spirit and energy after Chen Ping’an agreed to buy her a new set of clothes once they arrived in the next town.

The border of Northern Jin Nation was extremely long, and the mountain paths that ran along it were also very difficult to traverse. Pei Qian’s expression remained sullen from morning until night, and she would purposely write in wriggly and worm-like strokes whenever Chen Ping’an asked her to write characters on the ground using nearby branches. If Chen Ping’an told her to write one hundred characters, then she would write exactly one hundred characters and not a single stroke more.

During this time, Chen Ping’an fed Wei Xian’s picture scroll another three grain rain coins.

Walking was essentially the same as practicing fist techniques for Chen Ping’an, and each inhale and exhale that he performed would be an act of tempering his physique. He didn’t need to explicitly practice walking meditation because of this, so it appeared as if he were focusing all of his attention on practicing standing meditation instead.

Only when Chen Ping’an practiced standing meditation would Pei Qian feel a sense of motivation. She didn’t dare to approach Chen Ping’an, but she would stand in the distance and silently watch him stand there like a block of inanimate wood. As time went on, however, Pei Qian eventually grew bored of this as well.

On this night, Chen Ping’an and Pei Qian set up camp in the wilderness. Apart from buying Pei Qian a small tent made from cowhide in some border prefectural city, Chen Ping’an had also bought himself some fishing hooks and fishing lines. After crafting a fishing rod from some thin bamboo that he found in the mountains, Chen Ping’an sat beside a small stream and started to fish.

It was late at night, yet Chen Ping’an suddenly turned around only to see flashes of red in the distant forest.

It wasn’t long before he saw a strange scene.

A grand sedan chair with a large red lantern hanging at each corner was being carried by eight individuals, all apparently beasts or spirits who had grown up in these mountains. Meanwhile, those beating the drums and striking the gongs were a group of yin entities and ghosts. Leading the procession was a skeleton with a rusty sword by its hip.

Beside the grand sedan chair, there also stood an old woman who was wearing bright makeup and dressed in festive red clothes. Her makeup was extremely thick, and the red blusher on her cheeks contrasted strongly with the rest of her deathly pale face. Not only that, but there was also a streak of black smoke lingering around her body.

Chen Ping’an was familiar with all kinds of immortal and spiritual matters now, so he understood that this was most likely a so-called marriage ceremony for some mountain god.

He wasn’t willing to attract unnecessary trouble, so he pretended that he didn’t see anything at all.

Unexpectedly, however, Pei Qian woke up at this exact moment. She crawled out of her small tent and rubbed her eyes as she dazedly started at the wedding procession in the distance.