Unsheathed

Inside the carriage, Liu Qingfeng was just about to stand up.

However, a streak of brilliant white light suddenly exploded from Chen Ping’an’s Sword Nurturing Gourd and rapidly arced through the air, slicing through the carriage wall without any trouble and coming to a stop right in front of Liu Qingfeng’s glabella.

Liu Qingfeng smiled and sat back down.

One of Li Baozhen’s hands was hidden inside his sleeve, and he was just about to make a move when a wisp of green sword light flashed through the air and pierced through his sleeve, nailing his talisman to the carriage wall behind him.

The golden talisman was extremely strange, and there were surprisingly characters drawn on both sides of the talisman paper. Not only that, but there was even a black-armored divine warrior and a white-armored divine warrior respectively drawn in the center of the front and back of the talisman.

This was a Day and Night Wandering Deity True Body Talisman, a talisman that was already long lost in the Majestic World.

Li Baozhen sighed and said to the carriage driver, “You can stop now, there’s no need to fight anymore. I, Li Baozhen, will accept my fate of death.”

“Don’t stop!” Zhu Lian exclaimed in a panicked voice. “Senior Brother, we can enjoy our fight here, and this won’t prevent my young master from discussing the proper matters with your master.”

The old carriage driver nodded and dashed toward Zhu Lian.

Chen Ping’an walked beside the carriage, and Li Baozhen sat down and acted as if he were offering his neck for execution.

However, Chen Ping’an looked at the carriage curtains and said, “I initially thought that the saying, ‘Ghosts and deities pry on prominent and wealthy clans,’ from the books was a good description. I was mistaken as it turns out, and another description seems much more fitting.”

“Fortune and calamity aren’t predetermined and are instead summoned by one’s actions?” Liu Qingfeng asked from inside the carriage.

Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything else.

After all, scholars were well aware of these principles, no matter how big or small the principle.

This was especially the case for scholars like Liu Qingfeng who had started reading from a very young age and had also worked in the government as an official.

In reality, it was much easier for observers to read and predict ambitious individuals from the cultivation world such as Zhu Fengxian.

They mostly cared about life and death and fame and glory, and they were typically very straightforward and frank in their interactions.

Li Baozhen looked at Chen Ping’an.

He was sitting in the carriage, while Chen Ping’an was standing beside the carriage, allowing their eyes to coincidentally draw level.

“Regardless of how you found me, how are you going to return to the Great Li Empire after killing me tonight?” Li Baozhen asked in curiosity. “Are you planning to abandon your ancestral home in the Dragon Spring Prefecture’s Clay Vase Alley?”

Chen Ping’an looked at Li Baozhen, the young man from Fortune Street whom he had never seen before, yet was hellbent on trying to kill him.

He was also from the Li Clan, so how was he so incredibly different from Li Xisheng and Little Baoping?

Seeing Chen Ping’an remain silent, Li Baozhen smiled and continued, “I’m nothing more than a scholar who can’t withstand a single punch from you. This is truly a case of changing fortunes. Just a few years have passed, yet our fortunes have already changed this much. Things have changed far too quickly, in fact.

“If I had known earlier that you would change so much, then I would have persuaded Zhu He to join my side as well. That way, I wouldn’t be facing the prospect of dying in a foreign land in addition to uprooting and leaving my home right now.”

A single punch.

This was all it took to knock the wind out of Li Baozhen, causing him to curl over and clutch his stomach in pain. He gasped for breath and almost vomited his intestines out.

In fact, Chen Ping’an had only used the strength of a second tier martial artist to attack Li Baozhen.

Chen Ping’an grabbed Li Baozhen by the hair and dragged him down from the carriage, casually tossing him aside and causing him to roll down the yellow dirt road. In the end, Li Baozhen came to a stop with his arms and legs sprawled apart and tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t crying because of grief or regret, and this was instead a natural response to the immense physical pain that he was suffering at this moment. Li Baozhen roared with laughter and exclaimed, “Who would have thought that I, Li Baozhen, would also suffer such a fate one day? Liu Qingfeng, remember to collect my corpse and bring it back to the Great Li Empire’s Dragon Spring Prefecture!”

Chen Ping’an squatted down.

Li Baozhen stared him in the eye.

What he saw was a familiar yet unfamiliar pair of eyes.

Chen Ping’an’s eyes weren’t a bottomless abyss like Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan’s eyes, eyes that Li Baozhen was glad that he couldn’t see the bottom of. Otherwise, it was very likely that he would have become a corpse a long time ago. After all, being able to see the fish in a deep pond was an inauspicious sign.[1] He was far from having the right to pry into the secrets and thoughts hidden deep inside Embroidered Tiger Cui Chan’s mind.

However, there was one similarity between Chen Ping’an and Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan’s eyes, and this was a similarity that was etched deep into Li Baozhen’s mind.

One among a bottomless abyss and one at the bottom of an ancient well, Li Baozhen could faintly sense a sinister flood dragon swimming around and yearning to raise its head.

A sense of delight suddenly filled Li Baozhen’s eyes, and he said in a soft voice, “Chen Ping’an, I’m waiting for you to become someone like me. I eagerly await the arrival of that day.”

Chen Ping’an grabbed a handful of soil from the ground before lightly striking Li Baozhen’s throat with the side of his palm. When Li Baozhen involuntarily opened his mouth in pain, Chen Ping’an stuffed the soil into his mouth and used his hand to hold it firmly inside, asking, “Does it taste good?”

Li Baozhen thrashed around, with his face also becoming beet red.

Chen Ping’an cocked his head to the side and asked, “What did you say? I can’t hear you. Care to speak a little louder?”

Li Baozhen suddenly stopped struggling and forcefully swallowed the large handful of soil. His gaze was firmly fixed on the apathetic face of the young man.

Chen Ping’an released his hand, and Li Baozhen’s expression was twisted as he replied in a muffled voice, “It tasted fairly good!”

Chen Ping’an nodded and said, “It’s not easy to feed you shit right now, but feeding you some soil isn’t a difficult ask.”

Just like before, Li Baozhen was forced to open his mouth and accept another large handful of soil. His mouth was held shut by Chen Ping’an who was using even more force this time, causing Li Baozhen’s head to sink slightly into the road.

Li Baozhen’s chest heaved after Chen Ping’an loosened his grip, and he found it extremely difficult to breathe after swallowing two mouthfuls of soil. He then broke into a violent fit of coughing, ejecting many specks of soil from his mouth.

Chen Ping’an raised his right hand and gently flicked his sleeve, swatting away the specks of soil that were flying toward him.

At the same time, Li Baozhen howled in agony.

Chen Ping’an’s left hand was tightly wrapped around Li Baozhen’s left wrist, causing it to creak and forcing him to unclench the fist that he had secretly made. Li Baozhen’s hands spread apart, revealing the jade pendant that he had secretly grabbed from his waist.

The characters “Dragon Palace” were inscribed on the beautiful piece of jade passed down by his ancestors, and this jade pendant hadn’t been especially eye-catching to begin with. Now, however, it was sparkling and crystal clear with a thin wisp of light rapidly circling around inside it.

Li Baozhen’s wrist was shattered by Chen Ping’an, causing his left arm to fall limply to the ground. He had only been a second away from activating the mystical ability contained inside the jade pendant.

Chen Ping’an grabbed the jade pendant and said, “Thanks.”

His flying swords, First and Fifteenth, also returned from Liu Qingfeng’s glabella and the carriage wall at this moment, with one of them bringing back the talisman that few people in the world could recognize. However, Chen Ping’an immediately recognized the precious talisman and put it away into his pocket treasure along with the “Dragon Palace” jade pendant.

The Day and Night Wandering Deity True Body Talisman was an extremely high-grade talisman in the Authentic Death-Avoiding Book, reflected by the fact that it was recorded on the third-last page of the book.

Li Baozhen held his left wrist with his right hand and said with a pitiful smile, “You win this time, I’m truly afraid of you now.”

The Dragon Palace Jade Pendant was a life-saving treasure passed down by the ancestors of the Li Clan, while the Day and Night Wandering Deity True Body Talisman was a farewell gift from his older brother, Li Xisheng.

Most importantly, both of these extraordinarily valuable immortal treasures couldn’t be detected by others unless Li Baozhen personally “unlocked” them first. Not only that, but they would also be worthless in the hands of anyone below the Upper Five Tiers, even if the person in question were an earth immortal.

Chen Ping’an launched a kick at Li Baozhen’s waist, sending him flying through the thicket of reeds and plummeting into the river.

Such severe wounds would take one hundred days to heal.

Liu Qingfeng stood up and walked out of the carriage, jumping to the ground and saying, “Regardless of what your reason is, Young Master Chen, thank you for sparing Li Baozhen.”

“What’s going to happen to the Lion Garden? What’s going to happen to Liu Qingshan?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“I’ve already planned a path of retreat for them,” Liu Qingfeng replied.

Chen Ping’an looked slightly exhausted, and he initially hadn’t wanted to say much to the eldest son of Assistant Minister Liu. Upon thinking of the limping young scholar, however, he asked, “I trust that the outcome you’re seeking is most likely positive. You, Liu Qingfeng, should also be well aware that you’ve embarked on a different path now. However, how can you guarantee that you’ll stay on this path and not stray further and further away from your intended outcome?”

Liu Qingfeng smiled wryly and gazed into the distance, sighing with emotion and replying, “I can only give it my best shot. Otherwise, everyone in the Azure Phoenix Nation—from the emperor to the officials and scholars, and then to the commoners—will have their backs shattered by someone very soon. At that time, we’ll no longer have a path to walk on.

“Everyone knows that drinking poison to quench thirst is a stupid thing to do, but if the alternative is dying from thirst, then who wouldn’t take the risk? This is similar to the scenario that played out in the ancestral hall of the Lion Garden, where Lady Liu Shu, whom I detest greatly, demanded my father to drag you into the mess.

“If I were present, then I wouldn’t have been able to step forward and firmly maintain the values and dignity of the Liu Clan like my brother, Liu Qingshan. After weighing up the benefits, I would have chosen to go against my conscience.”

Liu Qingfeng retracted his gaze and continued with a smile, “Thankfully, the worst-case scenario didn’t eventuate. We all have our burdens to bear, and every family has its hardships to overcome. As their older brother, let me face these hardships. My younger brother can focus on studying the scholarly books.”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the location where Li Baozhen had fallen into the pond and remarked, “You’re much better than that person at least.”

He then looked toward the battle taking place above the thicket of reeds in the distance and shouted, “You can come back here now.”

After shouting this, he turned to Liu Qingfeng and said, “And you guys can rescue him now.”

“Why didn’t you directly kill Li Baozhen?” Liu Qingfeng asked.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “I promised someone that I would spare Li Baozhen once.”

Zhu Lian dashed back to Chen Ping’an’s side with a disappointed expression, reaching up to wipe the bloodstains from his face. He had only just warmed up, and it would have been time for that old carriage driver to suffer a beating and beg for a swift death in a moment.

Seeing that Chen Ping’an was seemingly unwilling to explain anything, Zhu Lian didn’t crack any jokes and instead walked behind his young master in silence.

Liu Qingfeng suddenly turned around to face Chen Ping’an’s back, saying, “Young Master Chen, it’s best that you don’t stay near the capital to wait for another opportunity, hoping to both honor your promise and to encounter Li Baozhen again.”

Chen Ping’an turned around and asked with a smile, “And why is that?”

Liu Qingfeng smiled and shook his head, not revealing any more information.

The Great Li Empire was about to dispatch two people to act as guards for him and Li Baozhen, respectively. Moreover, it was said that one of these people had once been a powerful general of the destroyed Lu Empire.

However, this wasn’t the most important reason for Liu Qingfeng’s warning. Instead, the most critical reason was that the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan was most likely still in the Azure Phoenix Nation.

Chen Ping’an and his companions slowly disappeared into the distance.

The old carriage driver fished the dying Li Baozhen from the lake and gently compressed his chest, helping him to hurriedly spit up a mouthful of water.

It took a long time for Li Baozhen to recover.

After surviving a very close brush with death, Li Baozhen sat on the road with a dazed expression.

The old carriage driver stood beside Li Baozhen and turned his head around to look at Liu Qingfeng.

Liu Qingfeng smiled and shook his head.

And thus, Li Baozhen once again survived a very close brush with death.

Li Baozhen was sitting with his back facing the two people who had just exchanged a glance, and the young master who had become as disheveled as could be tonight suddenly slapped himself with all his might. He then turned around and said with a smile, “By the looks of it, Mr. Liu still cares a lot about the imperial preceptor’s opinion.”

Liu Qingfeng squatted down and said with a faint smile, “If it were another person who had come to the Azure Phoenix Nation, they wouldn’t have necessarily done any better than you.”

Li Baozhen pretended to burp, saying, “I’m completely stuffed after eating all that soil and drinking all that water. Sure enough, the water in the cultivation world is deep enough to easily drown someone. I almost became a corpse at the bottom of the lake.”

Liu Qingfeng helped Li Baozhen up and said, “By the looks of it, we need to return to the Lion Garden and give you a fresh change of clothes first.”

Li Baozhen cocked his head to the side and skipped around for a while, shaking the water out from his ears. With a brilliant smile on his face, he then replied, “It’s okay, there’s no need to get changed at all. This will serve as a stark reminder for me to be careful in the future, lest I still hold onto the belief that the heavens are the strongest, the imperial preceptor is second, and I’m third!”

Liu Qingfeng didn’t say anything.

Li Baozhen started to shiver after entering the carriage and sitting down.

The horse-drawn carriage slowly trundled forward, not encountering Chen Ping’an again as it left the road with reeds and entered the official road.

Liu Qingfeng’s voice was calm as he said, “Firstly, I encourage you to return to the Lion Garden. Otherwise, I’ll still need to attend to your sickbed after we return to the county office. Secondly, let these words serve as a warning to both you and me: Words used to hurt others are even sharper than blades, and techniques used to harm others are even more ferocious than beasts.”

Li Baozhen’s lips were white as he stared at Liu Qingfeng, and his teeth involuntarily chattered as he asked, “Liu Qingfeng, do you know what I lost in this encounter with Chen Ping’an? Do I need you to utter these lofty words?”

“Is what you lost as important as your life?” Liu Qingfeng asked.

Li Baozhen cracked a grin and replied, “Of course not.”

He then turned around and shouted to the old carriage driver, “Turn around and return to the Lion Garden!”

Liu Qingfeng closed his eyes and rested his mind.

Only at this moment did Li Baozhen finally regard Liu Qingfeng as an ally and someone whom he should regard as an equal.

Or perhaps Li Baozhen was conceding that he was indeed inferior to Liu Qingfeng at this current moment. His name was Cool Breeze, yet his heart was like extinguished ashes.[2] However, these extinguished ashes were showing signs of flickering back to life.

Those fully focused on their tasks would hear not the cracking thunder and lightning.

Unexpectedly, the small Azure Phoenix Nation had given birth to such a person.

1. This is a Chinese proverb that refers to the fact that being able to use one’s smarts to dig into other peoples’ secrets will ultimately lead to negative consequences. ☜

2. The Qingfeng (清风) in Liu Qingfeng’s name literally means cool breeze. ☜