Unsheathed

Lady Xiao Luan dazedly stood outside the door for a long time. While she was hesitating about whether she should knock again, she turned around and saw that hunchbacked and seemingly unremarkable old man.

Lady Xiao Luan was skilled at reading the speech and expressions of other people, and when she had first encountered this old man in the corridor to the Vast Snow Hall, she had noticed that he was significantly concealing his strength, from his breathing all the way to his footfalls. He had purposely suppressed his martial arts cultivation base to the fifth tier. After silently appearing on the fourth floor of the Purple Qi Palace, however, he was now radiating with a martial arts aura similar to that of Sun Dengxian.

Judging from this, it was very clear that this old man was a shrewd and calculating person.

The river goddess could only tell that the old subordinate was a superior martial arts grandmaster who was stronger than Sun Dengxian. However, she couldn’t tell whether he had already advanced to the Vajra Body Tier, nor could she tell if he had reached the Spirit Refining Tiers and was advancing toward the End Tier of martial arts.

Since Lady Xiao Luan couldn’t determine the cultivation base of this pure martial artist, it was a clear sign that she needed to be vigilant.

The hunchbacked old man’s smile almost gave Lady Xiao Luan goosebumps, and the words that came out of his mouth made her feel even more uncomfortable.

“Lady Xiao Luan, were you denied an audience by my young master? Don’t feel bad, my young master has always been like this, and he isn’t specifically targeting Lady Xiao Luan.”

Lady Xiao Luan’s expression remained calm and composed, and she looked for the right words in her mind before saying with a faint smile, “Old Mister, it suddenly started to rain tonight, and you should also be aware that a river deity like me will naturally feel a sense of intimacy with the rain. After finally dispersing the alcohol in my body with much difficulty, I seized the opportunity to go on a midnight stroll around the Purple Qi Palace, and I coincidentally saw your young master practicing fist techniques in the corridor on the fourth floor.

“I initially thought that Young Master Chen was a cultivator, a young sword immortal with a bright future, yet I was surprised to discover that Young Master Chen’s fist intent was actually so impressive. In fact, Young Master Chen’s fist intent is no inferior to any grandmaster in the Yellow Court Nation. I was genuinely curious, so I took the liberty and decided to visit. Please forgive my intrusion.”

“No, this is no intrusion at all!” Zhu Lian exclaimed in a righteous voice. “There are only crude and unromantic men who offend beautiful women, but how can the actions of beautiful women be viewed as offensive or intrusive? Most certainly not!”

Lady Xiao Luan was unwilling to interact with the hunchbacked old man any further, especially since it was clear that she could no longer complete her objective. Thus, there was no need to waste any more time here.

Moreover, was she truly so vulgar and shameless? She was the formal god of the third largest river in the Yellow Court Nation, and was only slightly inferior to the mountain gods of the Five Mountains. If it weren’t for the domineering nature of Wu Yi and the Purple Sun Residence, and their alliance with the Great Li Empire giving them the backing of the unstoppable trend, Lady Xiao Luan should have enjoyed the same respect and treatment as Chen Ping’an in any banquet in the Yellow Court Nation.

In the end, Lady Xiao Luan said a few polite words before turning around and preparing to leave.

Nothing had gone smoothly in the Purple Sun Residence, and after leaving the Purple Qi Palace, there would still be more headaches waiting for her to deal with in a moment.

Zhu Lian smiled with squinted eyes and said, “Please wait a moment, Lady Xiao Luan.”

Xiao Luan was extremely annoyed, yet she maintained her graceful and composed aura as she asked in puzzlement, “Is anything the matter, Old Mister? If it’s nothing urgent, then you can look for me tomorrow.”

Zhu Lian shook his hand and said, “Old Mister? No, compared to Lady Xiao Luan’s extensive lifespan, I’m nothing more than a young boy who appears slightly older on the surface. Lady Xiao Luan can call me Little Zhu, Zhu as in young and handsome.[1] The matter isn’t urgent, and I just wanted to say that I didn’t have the courage to raise a toast to Lady Xiao Luan in the Vast Snow Hall tonight. However, since it’s late at night and there’s no one else around, I was thinking about taking a midnight stroll around the Purple Sun Residence with Lady Xiao Luan. What does Lady Xiao Luan say?”

Lady Xiao Luan felt extremely nauseous, even more so than after she had downed the four pots of Old Flood Dragon Yearning Wine.

Even so, she still smiled and replied, “It’s getting very late, and I’m preparing to leave the Purple Sun Residence early tomorrow morning to return to the White Swan River. I’m feeling a little tired, so I want to go back and get some rest. Please forgive me.”

Zhu Lian strode forward and said, “It’s only natural that I forgive Lady Xiao Luan! Since this is the case, then please allow me to accompany Lady Xiao Luan back to her residence. I can’t help but feel worried if Lady Xiao Luan is to return by herself. Lady Xiao Luan is breathtakingly beautiful, and even though it’s said that stunning beauties possess an inviolable aura, I know that I’ll feel extremely pained if some patrolling cultivator of the Purple Sun Residence dares to steal a few extra glances at Lady Xiao Luan. No, I can’t allow that to happen. Please don’t worry about me, Lady Xiao Luan, I’ll definitely accompany you back to your residence!”

Lady Xiao Luan dismissed this with a smile. However, even with her patience and good temper, she could barely contain herself from responding in a harsh manner.

She directly turned around, neither accepting nor rejecting the hunchbacked old man’s offer. She then leaped out of the building, with her slender and shapely figure instantly transforming into a streak of light as she dashed into the distance. The old man could try to chase her if he were so capable.

Unexpectedly, however, Zhu Lian appeared beside her in a flash, also starting to ride on the wind alongside her!

Lady Xiao Luan was astounded, so much so that she almost plummeted to the ground.

Far Roaming Tier!

This old pervert was actually an eighth tier martial artist?!

The number one martial artist who had been renowned throughout the cultivation world of the Yellow Court Nation for more than forty years was only at the seventh tier, the Vajra Body Tier.

Flying beside the river goddess of the White Swan River, Zhu Lian asked, “Lady Xiao Luan, I read in some book that rain in dew will fall in the world whenever flood dragons or water deities develop romantic feelings toward someone. Is this true?”

Lady Xiao Luan felt both embarrassed and furious, and she deeply resented the person who had orchestrated the events tonight. At the same time, she felt an even stronger urge to pummel the old geezer beside her and send him to the bottom of the White Swan River. She would then extract his soul and twist it into a wick, after which she would place it in a lantern that illuminated the entire river goddess residence!

Zhu Lian continued to speak by himself, saying, “Being able to go on a midnight stroll around the Purple Sun Residence with Lady Xiao Luan is truly one of the most enjoyable things in life. You might laugh at what I’m about to say, but I, Little Zhu, have always enjoyed writing travel journals to document the mountains and rivers and the people and matters. I’ve always wanted to print and publish my travel journal, and I feel like this fortunate moment with Lady Xiao Luan is one that must be recorded in great detail in my journal. After my travel journal is published, I’ll definitely visit the White Swan River to personally give a copy to Lady Xiao Luan!”

Lady Xiao Luan was fuming in her mind, and this caused her breathing to become heavy and irregular and her chest to rise and fall slightly. She was dressed far too skimpily tonight, but that person had forcefully given her these clothes and ordered her to wear them.

Zhu Lian glanced at the towering and magnificent scene beside him before quickly turning around to gaze at the Iron Plate River. “Such beautiful scenery!” he remarked in a loud voice.

————

Zhu Lian had already returned to his room on the second floor of the Purple Qi Palace.

On the fourth floor of the treasure storage building, Chen Ping’an was no longer in the mood to sleep, so he decided to light a lamp and start to read. After reading for a moment, he said with lingering fear in his heart, “What did they say in the cultivation novels? A hero will find it difficult to pass the trials of beautiful women? This river goddess is.. far too dishonorable! I helped you out of goodwill at the Vast Snow Hall, so what reason do you have to entrap me like this?!

“I’ve heard that chivalrous heroes don’t allow debts of gratitude or enmity to remain overnight, so they choose to resolve everything on the day. Yet, you’re actually repaying me like this? Fucking hell, if I weren’t worried about Zhu Lian becoming suspicious, then even rewarding you with a slap would have been a show of lenience… If word of this gets out, then it will be as if my crotch is stained with mud. People will call it shit even if it isn’t, and I’ll be labeled guilty even if I’m not.”

Chen Ping’an continued to mumble and curse the river goddess of the White Swan River as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

In the end, Chen Ping’an could only try to console himself by saying, “I didn’t waste my time traveling through the river of time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. If it were before that, I might have foolishly opened the door and allowed her inside.”

After gradually calming down, Chen Ping’an started to concentrate on reading. He was reading a Buddhist scripture, one of six books that he had borrowed from Mountain Cliff Academy’s scripture library. The six books included classics from five different teachings and schools — Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Legalism, and Mohism. Mountain Master Mao had told Chen Ping’an that there was no hurry to return these books, and that he could ask someone to deliver them back to the academy once he was confident that he had fully comprehended them.

Chen Ping’an suddenly closed the book and walked out of his room, making his way to the railing in the corridor.

There was definitely something fishy about this abnormal situation.

The rain outside had already subsided, and there was nothing but the darkness of night.

Chen Ping’an reached over and placed a hand on the railing, walking forward slowly and causing the beads of water to shatter and gather into one. The rainwater felt slightly cool against his palm.

Chen Ping’an spread his palm open and looked down.

He then jumped onto the railing and continued to walk forward slowly. Gazing into the distance, there was the Iron Plate River beyond the Purple Sun Residence and green mountains beyond the river.

Right now, he was standing on the railing on the fourth floor of the Purple Qi Palace located in the Yellow Court Nation’s Purple Sun Residence.

His thoughts drifted away into the distance.

Chen Ping’an recalled his trip through the Azure Phoenix Nation before, and the time when the commoners and restaurant customers had been discussing the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism. They had mentioned a story about a monk walking through the rain with an umbrella, while a Confucian disciple had stood under the eaves to avoid the rain.

If it started to rain while one was traveling, then it was only natural that one would seek shelter under the eaves.

Chen Ping’an also recalled the words that Lu Tai had once spoken with emotion in the small courtyard at the Flying Eagle Fortress. Many disappointments in the world were born from the fact that one wouldn’t be able to maintain things as they were. The most sincere words that one could speak were nothing more than telling the myriad of scenes and people to please slow down.

Lu Tai had also said that it was incredibly difficult to truly feel empathy for all of the sufferings in the world. Thus, when hardship arrived and fell upon a certain individual, it was inevitable that people would feel flustered and unprepared.

Please slow down.

Slow.

The profoundly powerful and no-name old Daoist priest from the so-called Observing Dao Temple was observing Dao through the lives of the myriad beings in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. It was evident that he could control the flow of time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, commanding it to either speed up, slow down, or stop altogether.

However, the raging flow of time in the four worlds was a completely different beast. To say nothing of controlling it, it was said that even the Dao Ancestor wasn’t able to slow it down for a brief moment. Thus, the Paramount Sage had once comprehended a principle while observing water, remarking that time passed by like water, flowing away day and night without pause.

Cui Dongshan had once said that all immortal forces in the mountains and cities in the mortal world were mystical in their own way. At the same time, wars and the knowledge expounded by the Hundred Schools of Thought all pertained to the speed at which time flowed. In other words, the sages were hoping to use an alternative method to seek so-called slowness.

The sages of the Three Teachings were already standing at such a lofty height and gazing so far into the distance, so why did they still insist on seeking slowness?

The Paramount Sage, Buddha, and the Dao Ancestor had shaped the worlds as they were, so what had they seen to make them act as such? Why did they insist on having the three worlds slow down?

When traveling through the Yellow Court Nation with Cui Dongshan for the first time, Cui Dongshan had once practiced fist techniques together with Chen Ping’an atop a mountain peak. At the time, he had chuckled and said that as the wheels of history rolled forward, it was inevitable that many plants and flowers would be crushed and destroyed.

These weren’t emotionless words spoken by a ruler, and they were instead the sad lamentations of a knowledgeable Confucian scholar from the Middle Earth Divine Continent. The scholar had hoped that upon seeing or hearing these words, rulers or the powerful figures who were present in the horse-drawn carriage with him could lower their heads to glance at the pulverized plants and flowers.

If the world was slowly becoming better, then would there be a need to worry? As long as the direction was correct and the world was becoming better, then it wouldn’t matter regardless of how slowly things were progressing. There would naturally be no need to worry.

If the world was becoming worse, however, for example with the wheels of history thundering forward with force and vigor and brutally crushing countless plants and flowers in its path, then it might be impossible to see the victims clearly even if one lowered their head to look.

That being the case, how could the situation possibly be remedied?

Perhaps this was the reason why the worlds needed to slow down?

After all, if the worlds traveled slowly, then they would only be making mistakes slowly even if they ventured onto the incorrect path of the Great Dao. If that were the case, then perhaps there would be an opportunity to rectify the mistakes? Or perhaps the worlds could suffer fewer hardships?

Chen Ping’an slowly paced back and forth along the railing, turning around when he reached one end and making his way back. He did this again and again, walking many laps along the railing.

At this moment, Chen Ping’an was unaware of what was happening in the depths of his heart, a place that he was completely oblivious to. Each deep thought that he had was like a seed being sown in his heart. These seeds would sprout, yet many of them might wilt before they could grow and mature. However, some of them might one day flourish and bear fruit.

There was something that Chen Ping’an was even more unaware of. He had carefully inscribed many characters on his bamboo slips, and he would ruminate over these characters again and again. In fact, when the sun was blazing, he would even instruct Pei Qian to bask some of the bamboo slips that recorded the phrases that he sincerely agreed with and viewed as extremely beautiful.

Regardless of whether these phrases were good or bad, and no matter whether they were correct or incorrect, they would all scatter their seeds in his mind.

Chen Ping’an wasn’t an exception, and in reality, everyone in the world experienced the same thing. However, not everyone would use carving knives and bamboo slips to embody the processes taking place in their minds.

All kinds of experiences could scatter seeds in one’s mind: the grumbling of one’s parents, the teachings of one’s master, a phrase that one skimmed past yet returned to, a saying that one had heard many times yet suddenly comprehended one day, the green mountains and limpid waters that one had seen, the romantic encounters that one had let slip, the friends that had grown adrift, and so on and so forth. All of these experiences left behind seeds that were waiting to sprout and flower.

Even until now, Chen Ping’an was still unaware of his peculiar state. He simply treated this as an act of strolling along the railing to relax his mind.

A human body could be viewed as a small world, and inside the water palace that held the water seal, the tiny green-robed children all stopped what they were doing, holding their breaths and gathering their attention.

Meanwhile, in the acupoint that contained the golden scholarly core, the fiery dragon formed from True Qi was sound asleep outside the acupoint, while the golden aura of the miniature scholar in Confucian robes was becoming increasingly condensed. The miniature scholar had several small golden books hanging by its waist, and the dazzling golden radiance around him made him appear much like a gold statue formed by a deity.

Even though the miniature scholar was bathed in golden light, specks of golden radiance continued to float away from him and disperse in the air, making it clear that his aura was not yet stable.

He was filled with eager expectation, eager for the moment that Chen Ping’an finally stopped his pacing along the railing.

However, Chen Ping’an continued to slowly pace back and forth.

After leaving Mountain Cliff Academy, Chen Ping’an had asked Zhu Lian and Shi Rou a question as they traveled.

If killing an innocent person could save the lives of ten people, would they kill the innocent person? Both Zhu Lian and Shi Rou had shaken their heads in reply. Chen Ping’an had then continued to increase the stakes, changing the ten people into a thousand people and then ten thousand people. Shi Rou had started to hesitate.

However, Zhu Lian had frankly revealed that he wouldn’t kill the innocent person even if it meant saving the entire world.

Chen Ping’an asked him why not.

Zhu Lian had smiled and replied, “I’m worried that I’ll be the innocent person being killed.”

Zhu Lian had then posed the same question back to Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an had responded that he couldn’t answer the question either unless he was genuinely faced with such a dilemma. Only then would he know his true nature and sincere choice.

The miniature golden scholar inside his acupoint started to become a little restless, wanting to charge out of the acupoint and dash out of Chen Ping’an’s body several times. It wanted to reward Chen Ping’an with several forceful smacks to the head and shout, “Your thoughts are going astray! Why are you mulling over these profoundly difficult questions that you’ll most definitely fail to answer right now? Stop wasting your time, and don’t let slip this one-in-one-thousand-year opportunity!

“Your train of thought just then was correct! Hurry up and return to that fundamentally important concept of slowness, the concept that’s been severely neglected by the mortal worlds. Think deeper and think further! Once you understand this concept and truly comprehend it, then that will be the Dao attainment catalyst that helps you advance to the Upper Five Tiers in the future!”

However, he couldn’t directly reveal these secrets to Chen Ping’an. Otherwise, Chen Ping’an would descend into a dreadful mental state rather than gaining any benefits.

Chen Ping’an finally stood still on the railing.

The miniature golden scholar and the tiny green-robed children in the two acupoints were all filled with eager anticipation.

The tiny green-robed children then exchanged surprised glances with each other before suddenly bursting into loud laughter.

As it turned out, Chen Ping’an’s first and purest thought after standing still pertained to a young woman. Moreover, his thoughts were very impure and unbecoming of gentlemen. He was surprisingly thinking about his next reunion with Ning Yao at the Sword Qi Great Wall. At that time, he couldn’t settle with just holding her hands. No, he needed to be bolder.

If Ning Yao were unwilling, then the worst that could happen was being beaten up and scolded. However, he was confident that they would still remain a couple. On the other hand, what if Ning Yao were actually willing? What if she was waiting for him to take the initiative? He was a man, so how could he be so timid and hesitant? Would that make any sense?

Chen Ping’an jumped off the railing, feeling slightly sleepy. As he walked back to his room, he punched his palm and pumped himself up, saying, “That won’t make sense, that definitely won’t make any sense! In any case, it’s not like I haven’t hugged Ning Yao when I was at Stalactite Mountain. However, I was too excited and dazed at the time, so I completely forgot what it felt like. No, I can’t accept this at all. Perhaps I can kiss her…? No, are you seeking death, Chen Ping’an? I can’t think about this, it’s still too soon. Wasn’t I thinking about the concept of slow just then? I need to take things slow and steady with Ning Yao. In any case, slow and steady is also good… Good my ass…!”

The tiny green-robed children clutched their bellies and roared with laughter. In fact, many of them were rolling on the floor and laughing their asses off.

Of course, it wasn’t the case that they could read all of Chen Ping’an’s thoughts. However, tonight was an exception, especially since Chen Ping’an’s thoughts were so deeply intertwined with his mental state. His thoughts were already pertaining to fundamental matters, and the profound nature of them caused his soul to react significantly and almost envelop the entire small world inside his body.

The miniature golden scholar was cloaked in a rich golden aura, so dense that a golden core almost formed in his chest. He leaned back and allowed himself to fall down, and he couldn’t help but curse, “Chen Ping’an, you bloody little thing!”

However, he started to laugh loudly after spitting out the curse.

Even though the blooming flowers and fruits tonight weren’t exactly perfect — far from perfect, in fact — they were already hugely beneficial to him and Chen Ping’an.

Take, for example, the budding golden core in the miniature golden scholar’s chest. When helping Chen Ping’an refine Shen Wen’s golden scholarly core back then, Mao Xiaodong’s biggest hope had been for the miniature golden scholar to form a golden core.

1. Zhu Lian is using the character Zhu (朱) of his surname in an idiom (绿鬓朱颜) to specify which character it is. ☜