Unsheathed

Right now, Chen Ping’an was walking around the table on his hands.

Pei Qian finished copying the texts, and she found Chen Ping’an’s act of performing the Heaven and Earth Stance and walking on his hands extremely interesting no matter how many times she looked at it.

Chen Ping’an flipped around and jumped back on his feet before taking a deep breath.

From Old Dragon City to Wasp Tail Ferry Station, and now to the Azure Phoenix Nation’s Golden Osmanthus Temple, he was slowly recovering from Du Mao’s strike that had pierced his abdomen. His strength was slowly climbing from the third tier back to the fourth. However, he still needed to rely on walking meditation, the medicinal wine, and a lengthy period of recuperation before he could return to the peak of the fifth tier.

In any case, there were both benefits and drawbacks to this. The drawback was naturally the fact that this would significantly delay his advance to the sixth tier. The benefit was that his foundation at the fifth tier would become even stronger.

Zhu Lian had once half-joked that even without external treasures, Chen Ping’an could still rely on his fifth-tier cultivation base as a pure martial artist to defeat him, Wei Xian, Lu Baixiang, and Sui Youbian, four pure martial artists at the peak of the sixth tier.

Sui Youbian had sneered in contempt, while Lu Baixiang had largely agreed with the assessment.

As for the taciturn Wei Xian, he had been busy talking nonsense with Pei Qian at the time.

Chen Ping’an sat down next to the table and checked the text that Pei Qian had copied. After confirming that she hadn’t slacked off on any character, he signaled that she could head off to play.

“Master, I feel like the osmanthus trees near the back of the temple are nowhere near as impressive as the osmanthus branch and the osmanthus leaves that Aunt Gui gave me. The difference between them is huge,” Pei Qian whispered softly. “Why are the Daoist priests still treating those osmanthus trees as precious treasures? Not only that, but they were even shameless enough to call them osmanthus trees from the moon. If those are the descendants of the osmanthus tree from the Moon Palace, then won’t Aunt Gui be the moon goddess? Am I right?”

A thought occurred to Chen Ping’an, and he replied, “You shouldn’t talk about other people behind their backs.”

“Oh, okay,” Pei Qian said.

However, Chen Ping’an suddenly chuckled to himself and added, “That said, I feel like you’re not wrong.”

A brilliant smile spread across Pei Qian’s face, and she beamed, “I knew it! So Master feels the same way too.”

Chen Ping’an’s expression became stern as he warned her, “And that’s why you need to show more respect the next time we meet Aunt Gui.”

Pei Qian nodded and replied, “Of course, I genuinely like Aunt Gui.”

“Then what about the little Daoist priest from the Golden Osmanthus Temple who lent you an umbrella?” Chen Ping’an asked in amusement.

Pei Qian slammed the table with her fist and fumed, “He was super annoying. If we encounter each other on a narrow path where there’s no one else present, I’ll definitely bash him up until even his parents and master can’t recognize him anymore.”

“Oh, so you’re also aware that he was annoying?” Chen Ping’an asked with a chuckle. “Then think about this: how do you always pester Wei Xian and Lu Baixiang?”

Pei Qian widened her eyes in astonishment. After mulling over this for a long time, she could only retrieve her beloved Treasure Pagoda Demon-Suppressing Talisman and slap it on her forehead. She sighed and conceded, “By the looks of it, Old Man Wei and Little Bai are quite pitiful.”

Chen Ping’an rewarded her with a knuckle to the forehead and lectured, “So you finally realize it now? What do the books tell us? Noble people should perform self-reflection three times every day. So, now is a good time for you to undertake a good, long self-reflection.”

Pei Qian grabbed her head and suddenly stood up, running to the door before turning around and chuckling. “Master, I’m going to pay Old Man Wei and Little Bai a visit now. I’ll tell them that I’ll pay out of my own pocket and buy them each a skewer of tanghulu the next time we go to the market.”

After Pei Qian left, Chen Ping’an started to think about the second bonded item that he needed to refine.

As for the physical body of Du Mao’s yang soul, which was equivalent to the body of an Immortal Tier cultivator, Chen Ping’an decided to ask Cui Dongshan for some suggestions when he arrived at the Mountain Cliff Academy. Cui Dongshan was extremely knowledgeable about these things, so Chen Ping’an would make his decision after getting his input.

Chen Ping’an genuinely didn’t trust the young imperial preceptor’s character, but he did trust the knowledge and experience of this person who had once been the Scholarly Sage’s first disciple.

Now that Chen Ping’an had reunited with Zhang Shanfeng, he had asked him many questions about cultivation, especially regarding the process of refining bonded items. Zhang Shanfeng naturally told Chen Ping’an everything that he knew.

Even though Zhang Shanfeng’s cultivation base wasn’t high, his knowledge and understanding were actually quite exceptional. This was most likely due to the fact that he had come from a proper immortal force. After all, his master was an external Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu, who didn’t carry the Zhang surname. Even though there were huge variations in the cultivation bases of external Heavenly Masters, Daoist priests who could record their names in the genealogical records of the Heavenly Master Residence were all very impressive people.

Chen Ping’an retrieved a pot of osmanthus wine, took out a cup, and started drinking by himself.

According to Zhang Shanfeng’s explanations, having more bonded items would not necessarily be better, even if one was wealthy and fortunate enough to have as many as they wanted. Being able to collect and refine one item for each of the Five Elements was the optimal outcome.

There should be a bonded item similar to that of the yellow earth bull, one that would help one rapidly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. This was essential. In addition to this, one also needed a bonded item used for fighting and offensive abilities. For example, the bonded flying swords of sword cultivators were the pinnacle of offensive bonded items.

One also needed a bonded item used for defense, which could be something similar to Golden Sweet Wine or Militarian armor pellets. One would additionally need a bonded item used for the storage of treasures and weapons, and this could be something like a pocket treasure or a minimization treasure. However, these were incredibly rare and precious items that one could only obtain through a stroke of fortune most of the time.

Finally, one would need a subjugation treasure. With this subjugation treasure, one could develop an aura that would naturally frighten sinister demons and fiends. At the same time, one could also continue to accumulate yang energy, allowing them to remain unharmed even if they ventured through dangerous and unpredictable lands filled with yin energy and murderous aura.

Zhang Shanfeng also told Chen Ping’an that refining bonded items was a double-edged sword. This was because the destruction of a bonded item would detrimentally affect the foundation of one’s Great Dao. The consequences were unthinkable.

Moreover, each bonded item needed to reside in an acupoint, so if there were inferior items or items that didn’t align with the flow of spiritual energy in one’s body, there was a big risk of the bonded items clashing with each other and thus detrimentally affecting the user’s cultivation. In fact, one might even experience cultivation deviation because of this.

In the end, Zhang Shanfeng said that collecting and refining bonded items of the Five Elements was the dream of all Qi refiners except for sword cultivators. However, there was no point in directly searching for such items, because that would imply spending an exorbitant amount of immortal currency. And even then, one would still need to rely on their fated opportunities.

Generally speaking, it was sufficient to have three decent-quality bonded items, one for offense, one for defense, and one for absorbing and accumulating spiritual energy. This was the goal of most Middle Five Tier Qi refiners in the world, and only those who became earth immortals would aim for more.

Chen Ping’an was slightly hesitant about whether he should refine the golden scholarly core given to him by City God Shen Wen in the prefectural city of the Colorful Garment Nation.

In any case, inside that azure wooden box was a Colorful Garment Nation Blusher Prefecture City God Protection Seal rumored to have been personally crafted by a Great Heavenly Master from Mount Longhu. Chen Ping’an decided that he would give this to Zhang Shanfeng as a farewell gift.

City God Shen Wen from Blusher Prefecture had viewed this seal with great importance, so Chen Ping’an speculated that it was very possibly a pseudo-celestial tool. After all, Shen Wen had personally said that this seal would possess astounding might when paired with the Five Lightning Righteous Technique of Mount Longhu.

Back then, the seal had managed to block the infiltration of murderous aura from the large unmarked graveyard outside the prefectural city of Blusher Prefecture even though it had been sealed inside the city god pavilion. This was a clear reflection of just how profoundly powerful it was. It was definitely no ordinary immortal treasure.

Until today, Chen Ping’an hadn’t opened the azure wooden box a single time.

Anyhow, the reason why Chen Ping’an was hesitating about whether he should refine the golden scholarly core was that he had obtained a white bowl decorated with the paintings of the Five Mountains of the Ancient Elm Nation during a battle in the Colorful Garment Nation. Because of Xu Yuanxia’s suggestions, Chen Ping’an ultimately hadn’t sold this bowl in the Green Beetle Shop.

In addition, this bowl could also produce five-colored state soil identical to the soil in the Ancient Elm Nation. Thus, Chen Ping’an naturally wouldn’t use this white bowl, which could generate a profit of five snowflake coins a year, as his earth-element bonded item.

Chen Ping’an also considered the southward expedition of the Great Li Empire’s mounted troops which was easily slicing through the enemy nations right now. In the north of the Great Li Empire was Wei Bo, the formal mountain god of Cloud Drape Mountain, the Northern Mountain of the empire. In the south of the Great Li Empire, Fan Junmao was seemingly guarding the empire’s new Southern Mountain.

Once the Great Li Empire successfully conquered the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the five-colored soil of the empire would naturally become incredibly valuable. At that time, the imperial court of the Great Li Empire would definitely become extremely strict with their control of five-colored soil as well. Thus, if Chen Ping’an could determine the choices for the three other mountains of the Five Mountains right now and collect enough five-colored soil as well as a suitable storage vessel, then he could definitely reap huge benefits in the future.

However, it was difficult for Chen Ping’an to determine the three other mountains that would be chosen as the Eastern Mountain, Western Mountain, and Central Mountain. Meanwhile, it would also be rather risky for him to use this five-colored soil as a bonded item. It would definitely give him huge benefits in the short term, but his fate would end up being intimately linked with the rise and fall of the Great Li Empire in the long term. Even so, this would still be much more beneficial than detrimental to Chen Ping’an while he was still below the Upper Five Tiers. It could accelerate his cultivation speed and allow him to become an earth immortal very quickly.

As he drank osmanthus wine, Chen Ping’an recalled the group of reconnaissance cavalry from the Great Li Empire that he had come across in the heavy wind and snow. He also recalled Song Jixin, his former neighbor.

After drinking the last sip of osmanthus wine, Chen Ping’an ultimately decided against refining the five-colored state soil as his bonded item.

Having made this decision, Chen Ping’an didn’t hesitate any longer. He was going to refine the golden scholarly core as his bonded item!

However, trying to gain such opportune time, geographical advantage, and support as he had in Old Dragon City would be as difficult as ascending the heavens.

Chen Ping’an stood up and walked over to the window, becoming lost in thought as he rested his arms on the windowsill.

At the end of the day, refining bonded items wasn’t like practicing fist techniques, where perseverance would allow him to throw punch after punch and eventually succeed in throwing one million punches.

Xu Yuanxia knocked on his door and entered, after which Chen Ping’an returned to his seat beside the table and retrieved two wine cups. The two of them drank as they talked.

They didn’t discuss anything important; Xu Yuanxia expressed his hope that some bookstore would one day be willing to publish and sell his travel journal. That way, he could earn some money for himself.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping’an retrieved several bamboo slips on which he had recorded the interesting things that he had seen or heard on his journey. There were Old Dragon City’s colossal immortal intercontinental ships such as Osmanthus Island and the Mountain and Sea Turtle, the sea of clouds above Old Dragon City, the rain god statues of that sect located on the island in the sea, the rain-bringing old flood dragon that had plummeted into the sea in exhaustion near the Flood Dragon Trench, the paintings of numerous sword immortal’s in Stalactite Mountain’s Ganoderma Inn, the carriageway at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Sky Calling Street in the Parasol Leaf Continent’s Planchette Writing Sect, the sunset at Screen Illuminating Peak outside Mirage City…

Chen Ping’an handed these lush green bamboo slips that were filled with a dense array of characters to Xu Yuanxia. The big-bearded martial artist asked about the details, and the two of them continued to drink as one asked questions and one provided answers. Time slowly flowed away with the wine.

Next door, the young Daoist priest had completed his session of meditation and breathing exercises and was starting to slowly throw punches. However, his punches were very different from most fist techniques in the world, and he was seeking to punch slowly rather than to punch quickly. This kind of fist technique was unsuitable for fighting enemies, and it could probably only be used to nurture one’s body. However, Zhang Shanfeng felt like it was most suitable for his friend.

He had created this fist technique by himself, so it was still only in its infancy stages right now. The principles behind this fist technique had come from his master’s drunken words as well as his own comprehension, so he didn’t know whether Chen Ping’an would like it or not. Would Chen Ping’an be willing to learn and practice this fist technique?

It was evening in the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation, and two Confucian scholars from afar, dressed in azure, sat at a small and greasy table of a stall located by the road. There was a bamboo container filled with bamboo chopsticks on the table.

The skinny Confucian scholar who was around thirty years old was familiar with his companion’s temper, so he said in a solemn voice, “Zhou Juran, let me say this first. I can’t eat spicy food.”

The young Confucian scholar called Zhou Juran smiled and replied, “Monkey, you’ve missed many delicacies in the world simply because you don’t eat spicy food.”

The senior scholar who had been teasingly called Monkey shook his head in helplessness.

He had been frightened and apprehensive the entire time while traveling over here. This was inevitable; Zhou Juran was a complete troublemaker whose idea of right and wrong was far more fuzzy than that of any virtuous scholar in any Confucian academy. However, he could largely accept most of Zhou Juran’s viewpoints.

He looked at his surroundings, pondering.

The emperor of the Azure Phoenix Nation was acting of his own will and surprisingly allowing the winner of the debate between Buddhism and Daoism to become the new religion of the nation, placing them even higher than Confucianism.

If it weren’t for Lake View Academy’s attention being drawn by the Daoist Heavenly Lord in the Complete Reed Continent and rendering the academy unable to deal with the matters here, it wouldn’t have been him, Hou Zheng, and Zhou Juran traveling to the Azure Phoenix Nation to address the issue. Rather than a noble scholar and a virtuous scholar coming here and “wandering” around the nation, it would have been two scholars directly heading to the imperial palace to scold the emperor.

Virtuous Scholar Zhou Juran ordered two local specialties, asking for one extra spicy and one not spicy. He started to eat with “Monkey” Hou Zheng from Old Dragon City.[1]

Zhou Juran was a young virtuous scholar who liked to call himself Zhou Ju in front of other people, and he stuffed a mass of spicy noodles into his mouth before mumbling in a muffled voice, “I heard Master say that this debate between Buddhism and Daoism in the Azure Phoenix Nation is going to be pretty different from what it appears on the surface. To outsiders, this looks like a debate where the Buddhists will send ten eminent monks and the Daoists will send ten spiritual masters to argue with each other in the palace. It looks like a competition of who can argue better.

“In reality, however, the decisive factor will be hidden away from view. The imperial palace specially invited an elder from the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan to act as the main referee. In addition to this, they’ve also asked two earth immortals to observe the mountains and rivers through their palms, using this mystical ability to keep an eye on a Daoist priest and a monk the entire time. They want to seamlessly organize a private debate between the two people to see whether Buddhism or Daoism is more profound.

“They want to determine a victor not only in terms of Buddhist scriptures and Daoist scriptures, but also in terms of who is better at interacting with others and persuading people. This entails comparisons between their knowledge, self-cultivation, and teaching abilities. In other words, there are three matches between them.”

Hou Zheng frowned upon hearing this. This was the first time he had heard Zhou Juran mention this secret information. After pondering for a moment, he unfurrowed his brow and commented, “No wonder the mountain master didn’t get very angry. They’re the power of someone else to attack the enemy. In fact, the Azure Phoenix Nation’s decision to do this isn’t all bad.”

Zhou Juran smiled knowingly and used his chopsticks to point at his interlocutor, saying, “Hou Zheng, this is the part of you that I like the most. You’re open-minded, and you can also identify the positives.”

Noble Scholar Hou Zheng shook his head and didn’t say anything.

“Such significant events took place in Old Dragon City, so aren’t you going to return home to take a look?” Zhou Juran asked.

Hou Zheng shook his head again, replying, “Me returning home won’t change anything. The clan culture passed down by the ancestors of the Hou Clan was in tatters already, and what’s remaining of it is already on its last legs as well. If I return, I would merely be making the flickering flames of the candle burn a little brighter. Rather than doing this, I may as well let it flicker between life and death by itself. I can only hope that a responsible descendant appears in the future. Only then will I dare to help.”

Zhou Juran nodded and replied, “You’ve thought this through better than me.”

Hou Zheng smiled bitterly and said, “I was born and raised there, so how could I not think about it more carefully?”

Zhou Juran stopped eating and asked, “Are you full yet?”

Hou Zheng glanced at the large and empty white bowl sitting in front of Zhou Juran, and he saw that not even a single drop of soup was remaining. He ignored Zhou Juran’s question and started to eat.

Zhou Juran sighed in misery before turning around and shouting, “Shopkeeper, bring me another bowl… And remember to add a little less chili. The extra spicy option in your stall is truly spicy enough to kill someone.”

There were women and young girls wearing veiled hats returning from their outings, and Zhou Juran looked at them and sighed with emotion, “Beautiful women returning from their spring outings with a slight sheen of perspiration as well as a vague scent of refreshing fragrance brought back from the mountains and lakes… Ah, this is truly beautiful.”

Hou Zheng completely ignored Zhou Juran’s words.

“How about I involve myself in this situation too?” Zhou Juran asked. “We may as well make this debate between Buddhism and Daoism in the Azure Phoenix Nation a small debate between the three teachings”

Hou Zheng replied very quickly this time, not even looking up as he said in a calm voice, “That won’t do.”

Zhou Juran smacked the greasy table with his hand and shouted, “Shopkeeper, ignore what I said earlier, I want the extra spicy option again!”

1. The Hou (侯) in Hou Zheng’s name is a homonym of the character Hou (猴) for monkey, hence his nickname. ☜