Unsheathed

Pei Qian said she wanted to go over to the entrance of the hall to look at that spirit wall. The incense smoke wafting over the illustration of the temple was legitimately fragrant, and the water flowing in the illustration of Burial River genuinely made a gushing sound. This was truly very interesting.

The water goddess waved her hand, summoning a young maidservant over and asking her to bring Pei Qian to the spirit wall to enjoy the scenery.

Upon remembering that the Confucian sage of another scholarly lineage had just left, Chen Ping’an put his wine gourd down and said, “My hometown is the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and it used to be part of Jewel Small World. Mr. Qi was a teacher at a private school, but I never attended this school because I was too poor when I was little. However, my neighbor was able to afford it, so he was one of Mr. Qi’s students. Even so, I did indeed come across Mr. Qi a few times. The small town wasn’t very big, after all.”

Zhong Kui returned to the table and sat down, smiling widely as he poured himself a bowl of wine. He naturally didn’t believe all of Chen Ping’an’s words. He was a very young pure martial artist, yet he possessed a Sword Nurturing Gourd and two bonded flying swords. Not only that, but he could even release his yin soul to travel around during the night.

Even if Jewel Small World had been filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons, allowing Chen Ping’an to obtain these fated opportunities from other sources, Zhong Kui refused to believe that Chen Ping’an had only “come across Mr. Qi a few times.”

However, Zhong Kui didn’t dwell on this topic, since Chen Ping’an was clearly holding back. Even though the Scholarly Sage’s works and philosophies were banned in the seventy-two Confucian academies, it wouldn’t be surprising if the scripture libraries in the mortal world still privately owned a few of his works. This wasn’t a big deal.

To say nothing of being acquainted with Qi Jingchun, it wouldn’t matter even if Chen Ping’an had been a student in that private school in Jewel Small World. He definitely wouldn’t face any dangers or trouble if he wasn’t Qi Jingchun’s direct disciple, inheriting the scholarly lineage of the Scholarly Sage.

Even taking ten thousand steps back and assuming that Chen Ping’an was in fact the direct disciple of Mr. Qi, this still didn’t matter. In the jurisdiction of Great Subduing Academy in Parasol Leaf Continent, there was still Zhong Kui and his teacher.

However, things would become more unclear in the northern and southern regions of Parasol Leaf Continent, where the two other Confucian academies existed.

There was a bright glimmer in the water goddess’ eyes as she placed her hands on the table and hurriedly asked, “Then have you come across the Scholarly Sage before? Is he an extremely elegant and refined old man? Does he wear a tall hat and broad belt, have pure and righteous wind in his sleeves, and display a sense of warmth amid his solemness? Does he look like a transcendent individual who possesses profound knowledge? And is his disposition and aura similar to that of those transcendent cultivators from the mountains?”

Chen Ping’an could only go against his conscience and reply, “I’ve never come across the Scholarly Sage before.”

There was disappointment and pity in the water goddess’ eyes. The disappointment was for herself, while the sense of pity was for Chen Ping’an. She dejectedly sat down and unrestrainedly gulped down a large bowl of wine. After wiping her mouth clean, she said with emotion, “What a huge pity that you’ve never come across such a lofty scholar before. You need to fight for the opportunity to meet him in the future, or else your life won’t be complete.”

“Alright, I’ll fight for the opportunity,” Chen Ping’an replied with a helpless smile.

The water goddess suddenly recalled something, and she asked, “Then have you come across someone called Cui Chan? He was the first disciple of the Scholarly Sage, yet he turned out to be a complete bastard who betrayed his teacher. There’s also that divinely skilled sword immortal, and his name is also incredibly domineering—Zuo You. It’s said that his sword skills are unparalleled in the world. There are also people like Mao Xiaodong… The Scholarly Sage has many disciples, so you must have come across at least one of them, right?”

Chen Ping’an raised his wine gourd and lamented, “Ah, such a disappointment, such a huge disappointment. Let’s drink to alleviate this disappointment.”

The water goddess smacked the table, expressing deep irritation at Chen Ping’an’s lack of reaction. “You still want to drink? What’s wrong with you?! If I had grown up in Jewel Small World, then the first thing I would have done after leaving is to pay a visit to the Scholarly Sage. If I couldn’t barge into that Confucian school’s Forest of Virtue, then I would have taken the next best option and gone to at least scold Cui Chan. I would also visit Zuo You to witness his peerless sword skills, and I would visit Mao Xiaodong to play Go with him…”

“Yes, indeed, that sounds very reasonable,” Chen Ping’an concurred.

Zhong Kui suppressed his laughter and said in amusement, “Scold Cui Chan? I’m not trying to belittle you, Miss Water Goddess, but the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire can shatter your godly body with two fingers even though his cultivation base has fallen a significant amount.”

“He can hear me even if I scold him from outside the city gates of the capital of the Great Li Empire?” the water goddess retorted with confidence.

Zhong Kui rolled his eyes and replied, “I guess he can’t hear you then.”

The three of them each drank on their own.

The atmosphere became increasingly heavy and solemn.

The great demon hiding near Planchette Writing Sect had launched a vicious attack on the sect after being exposed, and even the Unpolished Jade Tier couple extremely skilled at offensive techniques had been unable to stop it, with one killed and one wounded.

Moreover, the battle had taken place inside Planchette Writing Sect, so in order to achieve this feat, the great demon’s cultivation base had to be at least at the twelfth tier, regardless of what advantage it possessed thanks to its innately powerful physique.

This Immortal Tier great demon should have been extremely famous throughout the entire world, yet it had actually remained silent and hidden in the central region of Parasol Leaf Continent for countless years? And neither Planchette Writing Sect nor the Confucian academy had detected its presence?

Not only that, but the prison suppressing many demons and fiends in Peace and Tranquility Mountain had coincidentally unlocked when the sect master had rushed over to stop the great demon from entering the sea, allowing these demons and fiends to flee into the surroundings?

In addition to this, rare ancient treasures and celestial tools had appeared one after another in Southern Whirl Continent, Parasol Leaf Continent, and Circling Ascension Continent not long before this, causing countless cultivators to fight and kill each other for the treasures.

“Dare I ask, is your teacher, the mountain master of Great Subduing Academy, genuinely not afraid of being killed after leaving the academy to go to the front lines and hunt that great demon?” the water goddess asked in a cautious voice.

Zhong Kui chuckled in slight anger and replied, “Can you have a little more confidence in my teacher? In any case, everyone else in the world has the right to ask this question, but not you. Just how many times have you left Green Roving Residence and the water god temple to fight with that great demon during the past two hundred or so years?”

The water goddess drank some wine and replied, “That’s not the same thing at all. I’m only a measly water goddess, while your teacher hails from the sagely residence of a sage who’s worshiped in the Confucian temple.”

Zhong Kui shot a sideways glance at the water goddess and asked, “Are these the principles that you’ve learned from the Scholarly Sage’s books?”

The water goddess’ embarrassment immediately transformed into anger. Scolding her and calling her unknowledgeable to her face was fine, but dragging the Scholarly Sage into this as well? This was completely unacceptable! She smacked the table and stood up, exclaiming, “Zhong Kui, if you continue to make unpleasant remarks like this, then I’ll have to make you vomit up the stir-fried eel noodles and the one-hundred-year-old wine!”

Zhong Kui took a swig of wine and retorted, “But I insist on drinking your wine.”

He drank another mouthful and continued, “And I drank some more again. It’s truly delicious.”

The water goddess’ expression was livid, and her entire body was shaking in fury.

“There’s an archway in my hometown, and the words ‘doing my part’ are written on one of the four plaques,” Chen Ping’an said softly. “This is probably the reason why Zhong Kui’s teacher has made such a decision. Zhong Kui already explained why Majestic World is willing to abide by the rules established by the Confucian Sect.

“Regardless of whether Zhong Kui’s teacher survives or dies due to today’s decision, the three of us—well, let’s ignore Zhong Kui, who’s his disciple, and just focus on you and me, Miss Water Goddess—we’ll feel like Great Subduing Academy’s character and attitude are truly worthy of admiration. If I have children in the future, then I’ll definitely tell them to visit Parasol Leaf Continent’s Great Subduing Academy when they grow older and decide to travel around the world.”

Zhong Kui nodded and raised his wine bowl, offering a toast to Chen Ping’an.

The water goddess also nodded in understanding, approving Chen Ping’an’s explanation. Thus, she also raised her wine bowl to offer a toast to Chen Ping’an.

However, all feasts had to come to an end.

Zhong Kui put his wine bowl down and prepared to do one final thing before leaving Green Roving Residence.

Pei Qian ran over to the entrance of the hall, holding her hands up as if she were cupping water. It looked like she was offering a treasure to Chen Ping’an, and appeared delighted as she shouted, “I scooped up a handful of water from the spirit wall! Do you want to take a look?”

She lowered her elbows, revealing a handful of jade-like water in her cupped hands.

Chen Ping’an took a glance at it before instructing her, “Pour it back into the spirit wall.”

Pei Qian nodded in understanding and giddily ran back to the spirit wall. Meanwhile, the maidservant covered her mouth and giggled as she ran after the skinny little girl.

The water goddess felt like Pei Qian was quite lively and interesting, so she smiled and said, “It’s only a handful of water essence from Burial River, only worth a measly few immortal coins. Young Master, you didn’t need to ask her to return it.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head in response. However, he didn’t offer any further explanation.

Zhong Kui also had a pocket treasure with him, a small and exquisite bronze paperweight in the shape of the divine beast xiezhi.[1]

He picked up the Wind and Snow Awl, and he also took out three pieces of golden talisman paper, on which there was a vaguely visible seal script pattern.

Chen Ping’an didn’t recognize the value of this talisman paper, and he simply felt like it was slightly different from the golden talisman paper that he owned. However, the water goddess was familiar with them, and she exclaimed in astonishment, “Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper? One has dragon claw seal script, one has jade tendon seal script, and one has ganoderma seal script. These are incredibly valuable.

“The imperial court of the Great Quan Empire only bestowed me with a single piece of dragon claw seal script Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper when I first constructed and opened my Green Roving Residence.”

Seeing Chen Ping’an’s calm and composed expression, which betrayed his ignorance toward the precious nature of this talisman paper, the water goddess explained, “Talismans created using such talisman paper are the best at petrifying ghosts, and even lofty earth immortals at the Golden Core Tier or Nascent Tier are extremely fond of them. But they are incredibly expensive, so cultivators under the Golden Core Tier would most likely have to exhaust all of their wealth if they want to purchase three pieces of Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper.”

In reality, Chen Ping’an had an inkling about this. When he cleaved through the enemy formation alongside Sword Saint Song Yushao in Water Combing Nation, a guest elder from the imperial court used one such golden talisman and summoned a warrior in golden armor, relying on it to block Chen Ping’an’s advance. Chen Ping’an had clearly seen the pitiful and pained expression on the guest elder’s face as he used the talisman.

“Even Peace and Tranquility Mountain isn’t peaceful and tranquil anymore, so one can imagine just how chaotic the central region of Parasol Leaf Continent is right now,” Zhong Kui said. “It’s quite foolish to travel around without a few powerful talismans.”

Zhong Kui placed the three pieces of talisman paper on the table. He held the Wind and Snow Awl in his hand, and before drawing the talismans, he said in a quiet voice, “Chen Ping’an, being friends with each other is one thing, but it’s still necessary to remain fair when performing transactions. I’m going to draw three weapon talismans for you, representing heaven, earth, and humans, and with extremely strong killing intent. They’re perfect for suppressing evil and killing ghosts.

“I invented these talismans myself, and even one will be enough to deter ghosts and spirits at the Golden Core Tier. If you seize the perfect opportunity, then using all three talismans together might even allow you to severely wound a ghost king at the Nascent Tier. Anyhow, this is just some interest for borrowing the Wind and Snow Awl from you.”

Chen Ping’an patted Zhong Kui’s shoulder and chuckled, “Since you’re giving me such precious talismans, I’ll also be generous and lend the Wind and Snow Awl to you for a few more days.”

Zhong Kui shrugged and shook Chen Ping’an’s hand away, rolling his eyes. “Don’t act like we’re best buddies.”

The water goddess was astounded upon seeing this. She genuinely didn’t understand the relationship between the young boy and the noble scholar. The former was willing to lend a high-grade immortal treasure, while the latter was willing to give away three pieces of Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper.

Similar to his attitude in the border inn, Zhong Kui started to act theatrically again. He held the brush high in the air as he prepared to write, and he flicked the sleeve of his other hand before also raising it high into the air and announcing, “The sages once said, after reading countless scrolls and books, one can write as if they’re assisted by the gods. Miss Water Goddess, bring me some wine!”

The water goddess handed him a bowl of wine.

“Don’t get carried away,” Chen Ping’an warned. “Draw the talismans properly, or else I’ll make you take out another Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper to redraw the talisman if the first one doesn’t work out. You just said it yourself. Being friends with each other is one thing, but it’s still necessary to remain fair when performing transactions.”

Zhong Kui huffed and put down the bowl of wine that he had planned to drink to raise his spirits.

“I’m messing around with you,” Chen Ping’an said.

A sulky expression appeared on Zhong Kui’s face.

The water goddess couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of admiration toward the young boy whose yin soul had wandered down Burial River earlier in the night.

Are you truly not going to take a noble scholar seriously?

Zhong Kui took a large swig of wine before unleashing a satisfying burp. However, what happened next was truly mystical. Wisps of snow-white spiritual energy danced through the air, as if Zhong Kui had exhaled some of the righteous aura that he had nurtured from reading sagely classics. The wisps of righteous aura gathered around the tip of the Wind and Snow Awl.

Moreover, Zhong Kui’s manner of drawing talismans didn’t adhere to proper techniques either. His brush didn’t make contact with the talisman paper, and he instead recited a line from some poem, “Holding a military seal and farewelling the imperial palace, the courageous heavy cavalry encircles their enemy.”[2]

Afterward, he gently flicked his wrist and “threw” a large group of rice-sized miniature people from the tip of the brush.

Looking carefully, one would discover that these miniature people were actually warriors clad in armor and riding warhorses. The one hundred or so mounted troops rapidly galloped across the Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper as they set up a formation, pulling back the reins and instructing their horses to stop when they arrived in position.

Holding the Wing and Snow Awl in his right hand, Zhong Kui held the index finger and middle finger of his left hand together before pointing at the talisman paper and commanding in a solemn voice, “Freeze!”

The mounted troops in silver armor vanished in an instant, fusing into the golden Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper.

The talisman paper instantly transformed into a finished talisman.

Afterward, Zhong Kui created the two other talismans in much the same way. It could be said that he had spirits and deities under his wrist.

The water goddess sighed in admiration. This was as expected of a quasi-sage from Great Subduing Academy. Disregarding his knowledge and essays, just his skill in creating talismans alone was perhaps enough to make an Unpolished Jade Tier talisman cultivator smack the table and shout in praise.

Zhong Kui handed the three talismans to Chen Ping’an and said, “Done. Here are your three talismans.”

Chen Ping’an carefully accepted the talismans and asked with a smile, “Are you tired after drawing the three talismans?”

Zhong Kui patted his belly and sniggered, “This is nothing! My belly is full of strategies, and it’s hiding one hundred thousand armored warriors. Drawing three talismans is nothing… nothing?”

Zhong Kui was completely dumbstruck at this moment. This was because he saw Chen Ping’an retrieve another three pieces of talisman paper after putting away the three golden talismans. These pieces of talisman paper were also golden, but the faint patterns on them weren’t the seal script patterns of the Wind and Thunder Talisman Paper. Instead, the patterns on them appeared even more ancient.

Chen Ping’an gently placed the three pieces of talisman paper on the table and said with a wide smile, “Since you’re not tired, then why don’t you help me draw three more talismans? It would be best if you could draw a lightning-element talisman, a guidance talisman that can shatter those illusions in the mountains and rivers, and a binding talisman that can restrict the bonded flying swords of sword cultivators, like the Dry Well Talisman.”

The water goddess was extremely puzzled. This young master from another nation was truly very rich.

Zhong Kui wiped the sweat from his forehead and bemoaned, “So be it, so be it, I’ll be generous until the very end. Three more talismans, was it? I’ll draw them for you!”

1. The xiezhi is a single-horned and goat-like divine beast that represents bravery and justice. ☜

2. This is a line from Yang Jiong’s poem, Marching with the Army. Yang Jiong was a Tang dynasty Chinese poet, traditionally grouped together with Luo Binwang, Lu Zhaolin, and Wang Bo as the Four Paragons of the Early Tang. ☜