Unsheathed

A Qi refiner who looked to be around thirty years old appeared disheveled as he stood on a gigantic rock. He quietly spat out a mouthful of blood.

This fight was full of unexpected surprises, so he definitely needed to do some calculations with the others after they killed the earth bull. They needed to ask that Golden Core Tier earth immortal for more compensation. This surely wouldn’t be taking things too far. After all, while the earth bull’s entire body was a treasure, the most valuable parts such as its golden core, its horns, its tendons, and so on would all be taken by the Golden Core Tier earth immortal.

Meanwhile, they would only be left with internal organs and some flesh. Not only that, but they now needed to fight two more battles as well. If the Golden Core Tier earth immortal refused to pay them a few extra lesser heat coins, then he couldn’t blame them if they… jumped up and down and cursed in anger behind his back.

The Qi refiner standing on the gigantic rock was called Lü Yangzhen. He was born in the countryside, and his family had been woodsmen for generation after generation. Now, he was a vagrant cultivator with no permanent residence, and he had just cleared his first big hurdle last year, successfully advancing to the Abode Tier.

Even though this was the lowest tier in the Middle Five Tiers, becoming an Abode Tier cultivator was like ascending to the heavens in a single step for vagrant cultivators like Lü Yangzhen. After clearing this hurdle, he could now be employed by immortal clans with proper lineages and inheritances, or he could become a guest elder in the imperial court of a mortal empire, or maybe in an official residence or a noble clan. To put things simply, vagrant cultivators at the Abode Tier would finally be worth some money.

Lü Yangzhen’s dream was to enjoy even better fortune than the time when he had discovered the corpse and belongings of a cultivator in some mountain cave. He wanted to obtain a traditional immortal scripture that contained information about some Great Dao that could allow him to become an earth immortal. Even if he couldn’t become a lofty Golden Core Tier earth immortal in this lifetime, simply being able to stand near and touch the door threshold to this tier would leave him completely satisfied.

Meanwhile, the greatest wish in the depths of Lü Yangzhen’s heart—or his wildest wish, to be more exact—was that he could encounter a divine fated opportunity someday. He was already sixty years old, but he hoped that he could mysteriously become a sword cultivator with a bonded flying sword. Thus, the rims of his eyes instantly became bright red when he saw the young esteemed immortal in white robes land on the ground, with two streaks of red returning to his vermilion wine gourd. Those were flying swords! They were definitely bonded flying swords!

Wasn’t there a saying in the cultivation world? Old is a sixty-year-old Qi refiner at the Abode Tier, yet young is a one-hundred-year-old sword cultivator at the Abode Tier.

Perhaps this esteemed immortal in white was a powerful cultivator who had practiced a secret technique to regain his youthful appearance?

Things would become extremely troublesome if this person was a Dragon Gate Tier sword cultivator.

If he was a hidden sword cultivator at the Golden Core Tier, then they would most likely suffer heavy casualties in this meticulously planned mission.

Lü Yangzhen quickly calmed down and composed himself after feeling a surge of strong emotions for a moment.

The person standing in front of them was a young sword immortal who had already nurtured a bonded flying sword and was able to resist the biting astral winds and the currents of murderous aura. Apart from possessing terrifying abilities, such as astonishing destructive power and a fondness for determining life and death in the blink of an eye, sword cultivators possessed another quality that vagrant cultivators were even more afraid of.

Namely, almost all of the sword cultivators in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent were viewed as precious treasures by the immortal forces in the mountains. If anyone dared to injure them, even if it was only a little, they would definitely draw immediate attention from the ancestral hall of their clan.

Lü Yangzhen looked around out of the corners of his eyes.

Apart from the Golden Core Tier earth immortal using an illusion technique and hiding his true appearance…

…the other vagrant cultivators were reacting in a very similar manner to him. Some of them were even more cowardly and displayed even flimsier convictions, and they had already put away their weapons to express goodwill toward the young sword cultivator, lest this uninvited guest find a weak opponent to target and kill with a single swing of his blade. No one wanted to be killed to serve as a warning to the others.

Of course, there were also those who weren’t afraid of death. They carefully concealed the burning desire in their eyes, yet Lü Yangzhen could see through some of their small gestures that revealed their true thoughts. They wanted to perform an astounding feat and kill the young sword cultivator along with the earth bull.

That way, they could become filthy rich in a single night! If worse came to worst, they could simply flee far away from Azure Phoenix Nation forever. Vagrant cultivators like them were rootless duckweed whom immortals from the mountains viewed as wild dogs anyway, so what would it matter where they lived and cultivated?

In any case, there was the Golden Core Tier earth immortal to rely on even if the heavens truly did collapse.

Thus, Lü Yangzhen and the others all subconsciously stole a few glances at the Golden Core Tier earth immortal. This earth immortal’s identity and background were unclear, and he had appeared half a year ago to hire him and the other vagrant cultivators. He hadn’t said much; he had simply said that a great demon of the ilk of earth bulls was hiding in a shattered dragon vein with a long history.

The earth bull had already hidden there for more than two hundred years, allowing it to reach a cultivation base equivalent to the Dragon Gate Tier for Qi refiners. Once it cultivated toward the Golden Core Tier and formed a golden core, it would definitely start twisting and turning and bring calamity to Azure Phoenix Nation, causing a shocking tragedy to occur.

Countless people would die in prefectures and counties within a radius of five hundred kilometers. Because of this, they definitely had to suppress and kill the earth bull before it managed to form a golden core. They were doing so for the sake of Azure Phoenix Nation…

Lü Yangzhen had been traveling with two temporary companions who were also vagrant cultivators to search for treasures back then, and they had almost laughed out loud upon hearing the righteous explanation given by the earth immortal. In fact, they would have definitely laughed out loud if they hadn’t feared the Golden Core Tier cultivation base of the earth immortal.

The reason why Lü Yangzhen had formed a temporary alliance with the brother and his younger sister and traveled through Azure Phoenix Nation, the Fortune Mountain Nation, and several other regions together was because the younger sister was an extremely rare earth cultivator.

Right now, the older brother and the younger sister were subtly shuffling toward him already.

It was largely thanks to Lü Yangzhen and the female cultivator that they were able to share some spoils with the Golden Core Tier earth immortal. Lü Yangzhen was skilled at formations, allowing him to suppress the commotion caused by the earth bull turning its body. In other words, he could prevent the proper immortal clans from noticing the situation over here, not giving them the chance to snatch the fruit of the vagrant cultivators’ hard work in subduing and killing the demonic beast.

Meanwhile, the skills of the female cultivator were the most important factor behind the Golden Core Tier earth immortal being willing to hire them. The earth immortal had only determined the approximate location where the earth bull was hiding, yet he had still been unable to pinpoint its specific location. As a result, the female cultivator who had no skills in fighting was given a chance to show her wares.

The female cultivator was a woman dressed in bright clothes, and she was a fifth tier Qi refiner whose cultivation aptitude couldn’t be regarded as good. She could only be regarded as decent among fellow vagrant cultivators. She had a fairly good impression of Lü Yangzhen, and it could be said that they had been relatively open and honest with each other during their time working together for the Golden Core Tier earth immortal. Using her mind’s voice, she secretly asked, “These newcomers harbor animosity toward us; they’re clearly friends with those two people. What should we do?”

Lü Yangzhen stroked his chin and replied, “We’ll observe the situation and take action accordingly.”

The woman nodded in understanding. She was definitely the most privileged vagrant cultivator in this mission to subdue and kill the earth bull. After the intense battle began, she was far more relaxed than both her older brother and Lü Yangzhen. In fact, it wasn’t a stretch to say that she had nothing to do.

This was because she was an earth cultivator belonging to a side branch of the School of Naturalists.

Her older brother was a burly man who was eight feet tall, and he wielded a pair of broadaxes and was dressed in a suit of azure armor that was inscribed with numerous talismans. His face was caked in blood, yet these were fortunately from some external wounds.

Due to the strings of fate, he had chosen the path of a Militarian cultivator. However, he was only a Militarian cultivator in form but not in essence. He had obtained a third-rate immortal secret scripture that taught him how to temper his physique and stabilize his soul. Add to that his precious armor, a spirit tool that he had exhausted all of his wealth to buy in his younger days, and he was like a tiger given new wings. He was fairly renowned in the border regions of the Fortune Mountain Nation.

However, the true money-maker wasn’t him, a burly man in armor who possessed impressive combat power. Instead, it was his little sister, an earth cultivator.

Qi refiners, especially vagrant cultivators with no teachers and no inherited cultivation methods, were very methodical and particular when it came to searching for treasures.

Apart from the so-called fated opportunities of the Great Dao that they encountered due to luck, they could also search for clues in the local county chronicles as well as study the geomancy maps that were kept secret and guarded by the local officials. In addition, they could also interact and ask questions of the local woodsmen and fishermen who often ventured into the mountains and rivers. Only by doing so could they find an opportunity to strike it rich.

As a result, these vagrant cultivators would need to employ the help of geographical officials and earth cultivators. It was said that the former could clearly observe the appearance of heaven and earth, allowing them to perform astrological divination to tell one’s fortunes. Similarly, earth cultivators were especially skilled when it came to finding dragon veins and detecting slight changes in spiritual energy. Earth cultivators possessed incredibly keen senses.

After finding the treasures, however, vagrant cultivators also needed to overcome all sorts of challenges and obstacles. Indeed, most natural treasures in the world were tightly guarded by ghosts and spirits.

This had always been the most significant and deadly challenge facing vagrant cultivators. Unlike immortal clans and forces in the mountains, itinerant cultivators and vagrant cultivators often traveled alone and fought for treasures and fated opportunities by themselves. Immortal clans and forces could dispatch all of their cultivators once they found a treasure or a fated opportunity, and if this wasn’t enough, they could even seek help from other immortal clans or forces that they had good relationships with. Thus, they rarely failed to obtain what they wanted.

On the other hand, vagrant cultivators would have no option but to seek help from fellow vagrant cultivators and share the spoils once they determined that they weren’t strong enough to obtain the treasures by themselves. Otherwise, it was extremely likely that they would end up empty-handed.

However, why didn’t they seek help from immortal clans and forces from the mountains? Wouldn’t that increase their chances of success?

There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, vagrant cultivators would often be left with scraps and leftover treasures even though they were clearly the first to discover the natural treasures or secret treasure chambers. Secondly, and more tragically, they could potentially be assassinated by cultivators from the immortal clans and forces.

Indeed, one had to realize that vagrant cultivators were largely belittled and resented by cultivators from the mountains. They were like lone ghosts among Qi refiners, like parasites who consumed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and categorized as sinister cultivators who stooped to extremely low levels.

Why was the late Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator from Wasp Tail Ferry Station regarded so highly among vagrant cultivators from Eastern Treasured Vial Continent? This was because he had once spoken the mind of all vagrant cultivators in the world, exclaiming, “I just want to stand up straight and eat a decent meal!”

Cultivators who had their names recorded in two places, the ancestral hall of their force and the imperial court near their force, were regarded as official immortals. On the contrary, cultivators who didn’t have their names recorded in these two places were regarded as vagrant cultivators or itinerant cultivators.

The imperial courts and local governments all disliked vagrant cultivators. These cultivators had unpredictable tempers, were prone to causing trouble, didn’t display any loyalty, and often forced them to clean up their huge messes. This was especially the case with vagrant cultivators at the Upper Five Tiers, almost all of whom were extremely resolute when it came to killing their enemies.

These cultivators were fierce individuals who had forged a path through countless bloodshed, and their tempers would be even more peculiar and unpredictable than ordinary vagrant cultivators. They displayed no sympathy, and they acted with wanton disregard when they traveled through the world.

However, it would definitely be an overgeneralization to view all vagrant cultivators as outlaws who trampled on the lives of others. Even so, immortal forces from the mountains, imperial courts of the mortal nations, and reputable forces in the cultivation world all used a broad brush to paint vagrant cultivators as just that—unpredictable people who acted with wanton disregard for human life. After repeating this message day after day and year after year, vagrant cultivators were now like rats scurrying across the streets, vermin that everyone wanted to beat to death.

Vagrant cultivators who were relatively more powerful would all seek a legitimate position with the imperial court of some nation. Otherwise, they would become a so-called guest elder of some force in the mountains, although this would largely be in name only. They would become official immortals, yet they would still carry themselves as vagrant cultivators.

Returning the focus to Lü Yangzhen and his two allies, one was a formation cultivator who wasn’t skilled in offense, one was an illegitimate Militarian cultivator who focused on defense, and one was a powerless earth cultivator with no combat power. Thus, they could be regarded as relatively normal.

However, there was another group of seven or eight vagrant cultivators who were assessing the situation and secretly observing the young sword cultivator. In fact, there was also a hint of ferocity and cruelty in their eyes as they looked at their opponent.

Most of these cultivators were acquainted with each other already, and they were all Qi refiners from regions bordering Azure Phoenix Nation. They were most likely taking advantage of the Liberation Rite of Water and Land and the Heavenly Worship Ceremony to try their luck. They had made significant contributions in the battle against the earth bull, and there was a Militarian cultivator who engaged in close-quarter combat, a heretical Daoist priest who was skilled at talismans and puppetry, a ghost cultivator who wielded a soul-summoning banner, and a burly man whose bonded item was surprisingly three shields—a rattan shield, a bird shield, and a metal talisman shield. The latter was responsible for protecting his companions who weren’t able to dodge in time.

There was also an old sword cultivator still at the fifth tier for the moment. His flying sword would condense into a tangible weapon after leaving his acupoint, becoming pitch-black and growing to approximately two feet in length, shrouded in wind and lightning and also radiating with a strong sanguinary aura.

However, because he hadn’t reached the Abode Tier and genuinely created an internal abode yet, his spiritual energy was lacking and unable to support his flying sword for too long. Because of this, he would often launch a single strike before summoning his flying sword back to his acupoint, where he would nurture it using spiritual energy from snowflake coins and wait for the next opportunity to strike. In fact, half of the severe wounds on the earth bull’s body were caused by the flying sword of this old sword cultivator.

In any case, the true backbone of this group of vagrant cultivators was an elder dressed in black robes sitting on a giant black fox with five tails.

The elder turned his head to glance at the Golden Core Tier cultivator hiding in the background, and his message was very clear. This earth immortal was the person offering them lesser heat coins to suppress and kill the earth bull, and his group of vagrant cultivators had indeed contributed a lot, doing everything that was asked of them.

Now that a sword cultivator with unknown strength had run over to cause trouble, it was up to him whether they should retreat or continue to fight. If the latter option was chosen and they had to provoke the young sword cultivator, then the agreed payment of a few lesser heat coins definitely wouldn’t be enough. If the former option was chosen and everyone retreated, then the different parties could each go their separate ways since they had already received a deposit.