Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an’s eyes were closed as he strode over the stone bridge, and his body was swaying slightly while his robes flapped gently around him, giving him the appearance of a profound immortal.

Wei Xian was very much in agreement with Pei Qian’s statement, and he was just about to offer some praise of his own when he sheepishly closed his mouth.

Lu Baixiang smiled as he remarked, “The world is an unpredictable place, so accidents will always happen.”

As it turned out, there were steps on the stone arch bridge, but for some reason, Chen Ping’an had forgotten all about this, and he had trodden onto nothing but empty air, sending him and his bamboo case tumbling to the ground.

Pei Qian slapped a hand to forehead in dismay, and all of the fascination and amazement in her eyes were replaced with embarrassment.

Sui Youbian turned her head to the side, an amused smile playing on her lips.

Chen Ping’an sprang to his feet, then dusted himself off and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened at all.

A burst of golden light flashed over his robes, and the spiritual energy in the jewel clasped in the mouth of the golden dragon on the robe became more and more condensed.

If it weren’t for the protection of this golden Dao robe, this wouldn’t have just been a simple matter of taking a fall for Chen Ping’an. His body had been in a state akin to that of a city opening its gates to engage the enemy, and he would’ve suffered immensely from the spiritual energy gushing into his acupoints.

On top of that, there would be a very good chance that he would begin absorbing the natural spiritual energy on Clear Realm Mountain in a rapid and uncontrolled fashion, and that would be sure to trigger a phenomenon that could spell even more trouble.

Essentially, the golden Dao robe served as a lake that stored water.

However, ultimately, this didn’t address the problem at its roots. At the moment, Chen Ping’an’s top priority was to refine objects of the five elements to truly establish a complete bridge of immortality and create five similar lakes in his own acupoints.

As for his current bridge of immortality, it was in a profound state somewhere in-between illusory and concrete. It existed, yet didn’t exist at the same time.

Only in this instant was Chen Ping’an struck by the inexplicable feeling that he was truly being accepted by this world.

The four people from the picture scrolls all had extremely sharp eyes, and initially, they had found what they had seen to be rather comical. After all, in their eyes, Chen Ping’an had always maintained a very formal and dignified demeanor, and it was rare to see him make such a fool out of himself. However, the four of them then quickly realized that there was more to this than met the eye.

None of them commented on their observations.

Even though the top of the Cinnabar Staircase was shrouded in cloud and mist, both Jiang Shangzhen and Lu Yong were formidable cultivators, so they were naturally able to see more than the four pure martial artists from the picture scrolls.

Lu Yong was looking on with an amazed expression as he exclaimed, “What an incredible Dao robe! Whoever this young immortal is, this Dao robe of his will grant him protection superior to even the premium militarian armor pellets.”

Lu Yong had falsely presumed that Chen Ping’an was a militarian cultivator.

Jiang Shangzhen smiled as he praised his interlocutor, “You possess a sharp eye, Palace Master Lu.”

“You’re far too kind, Senior,” Lu Yong hurriedly replied.

Jiang Shangzhen turned to him and asked, “If I recall correctly, you’re even older than I am, so why are you referring to me as senior?”

Lu Yong had no response to this. In his eyes, Jiang Shangzhen was an extremely unpredictable man, and his mood could swing at the drop of a hat, often leaving him at a complete loss for what to do or how to respond.

Jiang Shangzhen smiled again as he continued, “This is when you should reply with a timely remark like ‘seniority among cultivators is decided by the height of one’s achievements, not by age.’”

Lu Yong had no idea what was going on inside Jiang Shangzhen’s mind, so he could only reply with a wry smile, “That would indeed be most appropriate, but unfortunately, I possess nowhere near the intellect required to make such a fitting remark. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be dedicating my life to refining pills.”

“Over these past two centuries, I’ve been very busy dealing with all of the matters of the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, so I haven’t been able to keep up to date with the affairs of the world. In contrast, I’m sure you’re very up to date on worldly affairs, given all of the people that come through the Heavenly Palace Peak’s immortal ferry station. Have you heard of any particularly renowned young sword immortals who’ve come out of Majestic World outside of Parasol Leaf Continent in the past century?” Jiang Shangzhen asked.

Lu Yong considered the question for a moment, then replied tentatively, “There’s one from the Sword Qi Great Wall…”

“Do you take me for a fool? How could I have not heard of that one?” Jiang Shangzhen chuckled in amusement.

Lu Yong shuddered in response before hurriedly attempting to make amends, counting off all of the renowned sword immortals from the other continents. He rattled off a long list of vastly renowned sword immortals of the Upper Five Tiers, all of whom were quite young and had established their reputations over the past century.

“There were eight in total, four of whom were from Middle Earth Divine Continent, three from Northern Complete Reed Continent, and one from Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, namely Wei Jin, who had only reached the Unpolished Jade Tier several years ago.

Compared with his seven counterparts, Wei Jin’s cultivation base was a little lackluster, but it was clear that he was destined for great things, and that was why he was such a renowned figure even on Parasol Leaf Continent. Infact, for many people like Lu Yong, it was only through Wei Jin that they learned of the existence of Wind Snow Temple.

However, as Lu Yong rattled off these swordsmen and listed their most notable feats, Jiang Shangzhen continued to shake his head.

None of the listed swordsmen matched the description of the one that he was searching for, and there wasn’t much that Lu Yong could do about that.

Sword immortals were exceedingly rare to begin with, and they were the only ones under the heavens capable of completely disregarding the hurdle of the Nascent Tier to slay Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators.

Lu Yong had been focused wholeheartedly on pill refinement over the past century, and those eight sword immortals were the only ones that he was able to list.

Jiang Shangzhen didn’t try to press Lu Yong any further, and at the same time, he was also feeling a little forlorn. He had spent the past sixty years in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and prior to that, he had spent sixty years in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land to quell a massive bout of unrest, sustaining severe injuries in the process that required another sixty years of seclusion to recover from.

Hence, he was unable to keep up with any worldly affairs. A span of two hundred years was enough time for many generations to be born and perish among mortals, but for cultivators of Jiang Shangzhen’s caliber, the passage of time wasn’t something that they were particularly sensitive to. If he could take another step forward, his lifespan would be extended by at least a few centuries, perhaps even a thousand years or more.

Compared with the pursuit of immortality, everything else paled into insignificance.

Jiang Shangzhen lowered his gaze slightly. The deities of Daoism were worshiped in Green Goat Palace, while the three thousand steps of the Cinnabar Staircase alluded to the three thousand paths to the Great Dao.

It sounded like there were many paths, but how many people could actually reach the very top?

The Great Dao had a grand name, but that didn’t entail that the path was wide. In fact, the higher one ascended, the narrower the path became, and it could even narrow to the point that only one person could pass through.

However, Jiang Shangzhen knew what he was capable of, and he knew that no matter how far he progressed down a path, it would never become so narrow that only one person could pass through. He wouldn’t have to battle the Ascension Tier immortals ahead of him for a chance to fulfill his Great Dao, nor was it necessary for those below him to have to force him off his pedestal in order for them to progress further.

As for the identity of the swordsman that he had encountered out at sea, he would just have to consult the sect leader on this matter once he returned to the Jade Tablet Sect. The sect leader always had exceptional sources, particularly when it came to trivial information, and he was the type of person who wanted answers to everything, even things like the colors of the dudous of the sect’s new female disciples.

Whenever an altercation broke out between elders of the sect, he would be sure to eavesdrop on them. Outside of the sect leader, Jiang Shangzhen couldn’t think of any other Immortal Tier cultivators who would stay in their manor all day, watching the seductive shows put on by all of the celestial maidens from smaller sects through the enchanted picture scrolls of those sects.

In fact, the sect leader would anonymously send out large sums of lesser heat coins to those sects and even sneak out of the sect to personally grant those women treasures and fated opportunities.

Thanks to the annual profits that it was reaping from the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, the Jade Tablet Sect was rolling in wealth, yet its sect leader was so shameless that he often approached Jiang Shangzhen to borrow money, complaining about how he was broke.

He was also telling Jiang Shangzhen about how he had made a friend on Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, namely the leader of Invincible Divine Fist Sect, and that he was going to visit this sect leader sometime soon, then veered off on a tangent about how much it pained him to see Celestial Maiden Su Jia suffer such a terrible fate on True Martial Mountain.

At times, Jiang Shangzhen really couldn’t understand how the old sect leader had managed to reach the Immortal Tier.

The old sect leader virtually never spoke to Jiang Shangzhen about the Great Dao, but after he abandoned his identity as Otherworldly Immortal Zhou Fei and returned to the sect, the old sect leader gave him a long-winded lecture, telling him that he shouldn’t be so cruel to women, and that the women of Spring Tide Palace in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land were all poor souls who had suffered extensively at his hands.

After an extensive scolding, the old sect leader ordered Jiang Shangzhen to go to the west sea to hunt down that great demon, and he didn’t even give Jiang Shangzhen a single powerful treasure to help his cause, clearly indicating that he was truly angry at him.

In contrast, as soon as Ya’er was brought back to the sect, she was immediately given several treasures from the old sect leader’s private collection, but of course, she was told that they were a gift from Jiang Shangzhen.

The group of six made their way up the Cinnabar Staircase, and Chen Ping’an was feeling rather perplexed as they hadn’t encountered even a single other person thus far.

He looked up at the top of the staircase, but the cloud and mist was still too dense for him to see Green Goat Palace.

Pei Qian tugged on Chen Ping’an’s sleeve, then said in a quiet voice, “There are two people standing up there, and it looks like they’re waiting for us.”

Chen Ping’an’s heart sank slightly. Could it be that the Great Quan Empire still wasn’t willing to let him off the hook?

Right at this moment, the two people on top of the staircase slowly emerged from the sea of clouds, as if they had noticed that they had been noticed.

One of them was a handsome young man, while the other was an old man in a Daoist robe, and the latter was trailing along slightly behind the former, indicating that he was of lower status, maybe a servant.

Chen Ping’an continued to scale the staircase in an unhurried manner with the azure Sword Suppressing Talisman held between his index and middle finger.

The two people appeared to be moving quite slowly, but they were actually extremely fast, and in just the blink of an eye, they arrived on the step that was seven or eight steps above Chen Ping’an’s.

Pei Qian felt the young man to be a little familiar, and she ducked behind Chen Ping’an for cover.

“Chen Ping’an, we meet again. Looks like our fates are rather closely intertwined,” Jiang Shangzhen remarked.

“Are you Zhou Fei of Spring Tide Palace or Jiang Shangzhen of Jade Tablet Sect?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“Both,” Jiang Shangzhen replied with a smile.

He then turned to Lu Yong as he remarked, “You see? What a keen eye this young immortal possesses!”

Lu Yong had no response to this.

“I didn’t think you would come after me so soon,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile.

The smile on Jiang Shangzhen’s face faded as he said with an earnest expression, “Chen Ping’an, whether you believe me or not, I can tell you right now that as far as I’m concerned, your bad blood with Zhou Shi and Ya’er is all in the past. I was waiting for you in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land as I wanted to see you before you left the blessed land and extend an invitation for you to serve as a guest elder of our Jiang Clan.

“There are many bountiful opportunities waiting to be uncovered in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, and as long as you’re able to claim them, I’m happy for you to take whatever you please. However, you insisted on killing Lu Fang and Zhou Shi, and I’ll admit that I considered returning to Parasol Leaf Continent to hatch a plot against you.

“However, even after recruiting the help of a Naturalist cultivator, I still wasn’t able to find you, and I had other matters to attend to at the time, so I was forced to set this matter aside.”

“But you still found me in the end, did you not?” Chen Ping’an sighed.

A hint of surprise welled up in Jiang Shangzhen’s heart.

Even though Chen Ping’an had only recently left the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, it was as if he had become a completely different person.

This change wasn’t marked by any advancement in cultivation base. Instead, it could be seen in his mental state.

He had climbed to the very top among all of the martial artists in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and that was not a feat that was to be looked down on.

His martial arts cultivation base wasn’t anything to write home about, but the burden of a certain Daoist priest’s Great Dao had been placed on his shoulders.

Essentially, everything that Ding Ying had done was just another way for him to shirk his responsibilities.

As for the four people behind Chen Ping’an, those were most likely the legendary historic figures of the blessed land. The woman with the sword on her back was most likely Sui Youbian, the female sword immortal that Lu Fang often mentioned, and Jiang Shangzhen had a rough idea of who the other three were as well, but he was unable to tell exactly who was who.

His current theory was that the tall saber-wielding man was the Martial Arts Maniac, Zhu Lian, who was said to have been extremely handsome in his prime, the short and well-built man was Lu Baixiang, the founding father of the demonic orthodoxy, and the hunch-backed old man was the founding emperor of Southern Garden Nation, Wei Xian.

Jiang Shangzhen was truly amazed that Chen Ping’an had been able to acquire such exceptional servants, but he wasn’t overly envious.

For pure martial artists, the most important thing was time. They had to make progress one step at a time, much like water dripping through stone, and in contrast with Qi refiners, they didn’t rely too much on aptitude or fated opportunities.

Meanwhile, Lu Yong was becoming more and more anxious by the second.

Judging from what Jiang Shangzhen had just said, it appeared that these two were sworn enemies. The young immortal’s cultivation base wasn’t particularly advanced, which meant that he extremely powerful backers, to the point that even the leader of the Jiang Clan was clearly a little wary of him.

A smile suddenly appeared on Jiang Shangzhen’s face as he said, “It’s a huge relief to me that you’re not displaying much animosity toward me. Let’s talk while we scale the mountain.”

“Sure,” Chen Ping’an replied, and the two of them began ascending the staircase side by side.

Lu Yong was trailing along behind the two, while Pei Qian was walking on the same step that he was. However, she was making sure to keep her distance, and she was sneaking furtive glances at the old immortal.

As soon as Lu Yong showed any sign of turning his head, she would immediately turn her gaze to the scenery in the distance while tapping her hiking pole audibly against the staircase.

To Lu Yong’s surprise, the more he looked at Pei Qian, the more potential that he saw in her.

While it was true that he was absolutely useless in battle, he was still a Nascent Tier cultivator, and he could roughly gauge the cultivation aptitude in someone with just a glance or two.

Jiang Shangzhen asked Chen Ping’an about his four servants, and Chen Ping’an named them one by one. Upon learning the truth, Jiang Shangzhen realized that he hadn’t even guessed a single one of the three men’s identities correctly, and he slapped a hand to his own forehead as he sighed. “Looks like my eyes are no better than Lu Yong’s.”

The atmosphere wasn’t particularly heavy, and as opposed to a confrontation between sworn enemies, this seemed more like a reunion between old friends, or a pair of enemies deciding to make peace and let bygones be bygones.

As for what was really happening here, that was something that only Jiang Shangzhen and Chen Ping’an themselves were aware of.

“Has your journey gone smoothly thus far?” Jiang Shangzhen asked.

“Not really,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head. “I’ve gotten into some altercations with both of the princes of the Great Quan Empire.”

“Is that right?”

Jiang Shangzhen turned to Lu Yong before asking, “What’s the name of the Great Quan Empire’s emperor again?”

“Liu Zhen,” Lu Yong hurriedly replied.

Jiang Shangzhen turned back to Chen Ping’an as he said, “I’ll drag their father over here to apologize to you. Just wait a little, I won’t be long. Perhaps you can enjoy a meal in Green Goat Palace, and once you’re done, Liu Zhen will be standing right before you.

“However, the Great Quan Empire is overseen by Great Subduing Academy, and the mountain master of the academy is a very prestigious figure. He comes from a sage’s manor on Middle Earth Divine Continent, and his brother is the mountain master of a Confucian school, so you can do whatever you want to Liu Zhen, but make sure you spare his life.

“Otherwise, things will be a little awkward for both of us. Of course, you can definitely give him a beating to teach him a lesson.”