Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an traveled to Cyan Gorge Island hurriedly, and he also departed Cyan Gorge Island hurriedly.

In reality, it would have made little difference to the situation regardless of whether Gu Can decided to leave or stay. In fact, Chen Ping’an was also unable to have any big impact at this moment. There were many things going on in the background, from the proclamation of the Great Li Empire’s Su Gaoshan, to the sudden change sweeping through Bamboo Scroll Lake, and then to the schemes of the cultivators in Palace Willow Island. As long as Chen Ping’an was unwilling to leave the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, it would make no difference at all where Gu Can decided to stay.

However, Gu Can choosing to remain at Cyan Gorge Island to protect the Spring Courtyard Mansion of his own will was naturally the best outcome.

Chen Ping’an left on his boat.

He returned to Green Parasol City and walked ashore. He had rowed past Hibiscus Mountain, and the ancestral hall over there had already been dismantled. Flames had burst into the sky when the fire dragon had soared into the world back then, and the might of the flames had been no weaker than the tumultuous waves summoned by Gu Can’s small catfish.

Those in Bamboo Scroll Lake who possessed a high cultivation base and had been keeping an eye on Gu Can had all mistakenly thought that the fire dragon was the nemesis to Gu Can’s Great Dao. As such, its appearance would definitely lead to an explosive battle between fire and water. To their surprise, however, the outsiders who were rumored to be sticky rod officials from the Great Li Empire had actually chosen to relent and leave.

Even so, everyone had still been treated to a delightful show afterward, with the mysterious young lady in azure joining forces with a strange young boy with a birthmark on his glabella and killing a ninth tier sword cultivator from the Luminous Vermilion Empire. Not only had the sword cultivator’s physical body been reduced to nothing but mere food, but it was even said that his nascent soul had been captured and detained as well. In other words, the two “elderly cultivators” who had “disguised” themselves as a young boy and a young lady had held back significantly during their battle with the ninth tier sword cultivator. This was a terrifying revelation.

Defeating an earth immortal and killing an earth immortal were two completely different matters. The gulf between them was like the gulf between heaven and earth.

Chen Ping’an retrieved his horse from the inn after returning to Green Parasol City, and he visited the shop in the small alley again to buy a few more steamed meat buns with thin skin and scrumptious fillings. After eating his fill, he set off for the southeastern border of the Stone Brush Nation that connected the ravaged nation to the Plum Glaze Nation. The border pass in this region was called Staying Pass, and this was a fairly renowned location in the history books.

There were all kinds of stories regarding Staying Pass, with some saying that it was here where the founding emperor of the Luminous Vermilion Empire had successfully secured the services of a strategist from an impoverished clan, a strategist who had famously helped him establish his nation.

Some said that the strongest Nascent Tier sword cultivator in the history of the Luminous Vermilion Empire had felt strong despair after failing to comprehend Dao here, and he was ultimately unable to advance to the Upper Five Tiers. In the end, he had used his intense sword qi to carve the character “Staying” onto the cliff face before passing away in regret.

Because of the latter story, many sword cultivators from the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent and many sword practitioners from the cultivation world treated this small border pass in a vassal nation as a holy land that they needed to visit. They would stand under the cliff and admire the elegant demeanor of the character, “Staying.”

Although travel-worn, Chen Ping’an managed to travel hastily and make his way to Staying Pass before the arrival of autumn. He met up with Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi who had already been waiting here for a long time.

Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye both breathed a long sigh of relief upon seeing the familiar figures of Mr. Chen and his horse.

In the beginning, the two of them had felt quite relaxed and free without Chen Ping’an watching over them. Zeng Ye had also been carrying Chen Ping’an’s Hall of the Underworld in his bamboo case, so the two of them could at least summon a few Cave Abode Tier ghosts “handpicked” by Chen Ping’an if they faced any grave danger. This would be more than enough for them to travel safely around the cultivation world of the Stone Brush Nation as long as they weren’t too haughty and arrogant.

Thanks to this, Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi had initially wandered around in an unrestrained manner, speaking and acting as they pleased. As time went on, however, they gradually started to feel a sense of apprehension, so much so that they would sometimes jump at shadows. They would feel afraid even when they just caught sight of scouts from the Great Li Empire wandering around the outskirts of the city. Only then did they realize how different things were without Mr. Chen by their side.

There would indeed be more rules and restrictions with Mr. Chen around, but the young boy and the female ghost would at least feel at ease.

Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi had privately discussed these feelings before, yet they had failed to draw any concrete conclusions. They felt like there was more to it than just Mr. Chen’s relatively high cultivation base.

They visited the famous landmark at Staying Pass, and they looked up together at the huge characters engraved on the steep cliff face. Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi astutely noticed that Mr. Chen appeared even more anxious after going on a trip to Bamboo Scroll Lake by himself.

Chen Ping’an was aware of this as well, so he retracted his gaze from the cliff face after pondering a while, saying frankly to them, “I obtained two jade tablets before coming here. I wanted to visit the Great Li Empire’s Su Gaoshan, but I failed to get an audience with him.”

Zeng Ye didn’t think too much about this, and he simply felt a little disappointed on behalf of Mr. Chen.

Meanwhile, Ma Duyi was keenly aware of the ever-changing complexity of this situation. There were definitely hidden dangers.

Chen Ping’an tried his best to remain nonchalant as he smiled and said, “There are many things that we’ll never know the answer to if we don’t try. If we make a choice, on the other hand, then we’ll definitely be faced with either a good outcome or a bad outcome. What I face right now is a bad outcome. Not only did I fail to gain an audience with Su Gaoshan, but I might have even alerted my enemies.

“In any case, it’s without a doubt that I’ve caught the attention of Great General Su Gaoshan, so we must remember to be extra careful in the future. If any of you inadvertently discover accompanying cultivators of the Great Li Empire while we’re traveling through the Plum Glaze Nation, just pretend that you didn’t see anything at all. Rest assured, the situation isn’t so bad that we’ll face life-threatening dangers.”

Zeng Ye nodded in response, yet he couldn’t help but feel extremely worried.

Meanwhile, Ma Duyi was a very open-minded person, so she immediately grinned and said, “I don’t care as long as we aren’t shooed away by the Great Li Empire. They can look all they want, and not a single copper coin will be able to leave our possession.”

“It would be great if the two of you could complement each other’s personalities better,” Chen Ping’an said in exasperation.

Ma Duyi shot a glare at him and exclaimed, “Please don’t go matchmaking on a whim, Mr. Chen. Zeng Ye doesn’t catch my eye at all.”

Zeng Ye smiled bashfully, not daring to retort Ma Duyi by saying that she also didn’t catch his eye.

There was only a smattering of people at the foot of the mountain cliff, with most of them being merchants from the Stone Brush Nation or the Plum Glaze Nation who needed to cross the border pass. Most of them were quite young as well, and they hoped to brag about their visit to this mountain cliff after they returned to their hometowns. As for the older merchants and members of the cultivation world, they had already seen the character, “Staying,” on the cliff face countless times. However, the cliff face was genuinely unable to make them stay.

A group of sword practitioners from the cultivation world galloped over on their horses just as Chen Ping’an and his two companions turned around. After dismounting their horses and taking off their swords, the sword practitioners turned to the cliff face and respectfully bowed to pay their respects.

There was an elder among the group, and he loudly explained the historical importance of this cliff face to the younger sword practitioners standing around him. He was filled with spirit and passion, and he naturally had to heap praise onto sword users like themselves. The young men and young women were glowing with pride and excitement as they listened to the elder’s explanations.

They were most likely youths from a force in the cultivation world who had ventured out to train.

Chen Ping’an could naturally discern the elder’s cultivation base — he was a fifth tier martial artist with a relatively solid foundation. In a relatively small vassal state like the Plum Glaze Nation, the elder could most likely be regarded as a widely renowned elite in the cultivation world. However, the elderly sword practitioner would have no chance of advancing to the sixth tier in his lifetime unless he came across a huge fated opportunity. This was because his vitality was waning, and it also appeared as if he had suffered severe wounds in the past, causing his soul to be very unstable. As such, the barrier to the sixth tier was like an insurmountable wall to him. If he came across a younger martial artist at the same cultivation base, he would naturally prove the notion of youths being livelier and stronger.

Most encounters in the cultivation world were but fleeting, and the two parties merely rubbed shoulders with each other before the three steeds rode off into the distance.

The elder turned around and looked at the disappearing figures of the three steeds, and a slender young girl with slightly longer eyebrows asked, “Master, that young man dressed in azure is carrying both a sword and a saber by his waist. He’s clearly a member of the cultivation world, so can you tell if he’s a powerful elite hiding his power?”

“It’s not the case that a person dressed in azure and carrying a sword is necessarily a sword immortal,” the elder replied with a smile.

They jumped back onto their horses and navigated through the border pass, continuing on their training journey through the world.

Plum Glaze Nation was relatively peaceful, and this was in stark contrast to the chaos currently embroiling the Stone Brush Nation. Not long ago, a righteous pillar official of the Stone Brush Nation who had generational friendship with the elderly sword practitioner’s clan had sent him a secret letter, saying that a powerful eunuch in the Stone Brush Nation wanted to kill the elderly sword practitioner as well as all of his innocent acquaintances.

In the letter, the loyal and righteous official who enjoyed an equal standing with the Scholarly Core Censor had frankly expressed his willingness to remain in the capital and die for his nation. That way, he could show the barbarians from the Great Li Empire that there were still a few courageous scholars in the Stone Brush Nation who weren’t afraid of death. However, he hoped that his friend in the cultivation world could look after the descendants of his clan and bring them to the Plum Glaze Nation to avoid the imminent catastrophe. That way, he could feel at ease as he left the world.

After navigating through Staying Pass, the land that their horses trotted on was the land of the Plum Glaze Nation.

The righteous official had especially stressed several matters in the letter, causing the elderly martial artist and his companions to sigh with emotion as they read it. It was because of this that they didn’t hesitate to travel across the cultivation world and put themselves in danger to protect the young descendants of the official’s clan.

“The Imperial Han Clan is both honest and modest, and the emperors both past and present have always regarded scholars and literati very highly. The Imperial Han Clan has nurtured scholars for two hundred years, never once treating them poorly. In turn, we can’t have all of the scholars shamefully betray the trust of the Imperial Han Clan.”

The elderly sword practitioner sighed in his mind as he sat on horseback. The heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire was also threatening the borders of the Plum Glaze Nation right now. Heaven and earth were vast, so was it truly that difficult to carve out a land of peace for the common people and scholars?

The elderly sword practitioner, accustomed to seeing violent bloodshed and significant changes in the cultivation world, had a thought hidden in the depths of his heart, one that he couldn’t tell anyone. It would have been better if the barbarians of the Great Li Empire had managed to defeat and conquer the Luminous Vermilion Empire first.

Following the huge chaos, they could have perhaps found the opportunity to rule over the entire region. No matter what, that would have been better than the current situation where the armies of the Great Li Empire were like several sabers hacking into the vassal states of the Luminous Vermilion Empire. It was as if they were being slowly hacked apart by dull blades. And who would suffer the most during this process? Was it not the common people?

Disregarding all other aspects, the barbarians of the Great Li Empire were truly ruthless on the battlefield, killing without restraint as they invaded the various nations. Casting one’s gaze further north where the haze of war had already settled over the past few years, however, one could see countless people gradually returning to their homes having previously fled during wartime. As these people returned home, the scholarly officials of the Great Li Empire overseeing these conquered lands had indeed done many humane things.

However, such viewpoints would immediately be shouted down as wrong and traitorous if he dared to speak them. That being the case, the elderly sword practitioner could only entertain his thoughts with a few swigs of wine.

Elsewhere, the three steeds continued to gallop forward.

Chen Ping’an continued to help the ghosts and yin entities fulfill their various final wishes. At the same time, Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi continued to organize and set up congee stalls and medicine shops. However, the Plum Glaze Nation was relatively peaceful right now, so there wasn’t all that much for them to do.

The world had been plunged into turmoil, and times were as difficult as could be. The common people were confused and afraid, yet there was little they could do to improve the situation.

Chen Ping’an and his two companions came across a very strange situation on the banks of a stream in the mountain wilderness. A group of bandits, blocking the path to rob people, were unexpectedly frowning deeply as they faced off against a middle-aged Daoist priest lying on a huge rock in the middle of the stream.

The middle-aged Daoist priest was nothing but skin and bones, and he hailed from an unorthodox Daoist sect in the Luminous Vermilion Empire. He was at the Cave Abode Tier right now, and he had initially felt like he should leave the mountains to help the suffering people now that the world was so chaotic. However, he had unexpectedly come across a Naturalist in coarse clothes who was extremely skilled in the art of anthroposcopy.

The Naturalist was indeed impressive, and after observing the Daoist priest’s appearance, he had concluded that the Daoist priest was a pitiful person destined to die young and fated to suffer hunger and thirst. The middle-aged Daoist priest was filled with deep sorrow, so he immediately started to wallow in grief and wait for death.

The bandits who had fled to the Plum Glaze Nation from the Stone Brush Nation had just completed a transaction and earned many silver coins, and they had coincidentally come across the strange Daoist priest when stopping by the stream to rest. They had almost killed the Daoist priest with a single saber strike, yet the Daoist priest had surprisingly become overjoyed and begged for his assailant to attack him quicker. This caused the young bandit to falter and mumble in his mind, eventually losing the courage to follow through with his attack.

The Daoist priest was hellbent on seeking death, so he had lectured the haughty bandits who possessed a strong track record of attacking and robbing people. He lectured them about fortune, calamity, cause, and effect. He was an official immortal at the Middle Five Tiers, after all, so it was only natural that he possessed the necessary knowledge and eloquence to deliver his lecture.

However, he failed abysmally in his attempt to enrage the bandits, and he instead frightened them into exchanging apprehensive glances with one another. In the end, it was surprisingly the bandits who started to persuade the middle-aged Daoist priest not to throw away his life so lightly.

And thus, Chen Ping’an and his two companions encountered a very strange situation.

The bandits no longer felt the desire to kill and rob people. In any case, they didn’t feel like Chen Ping’an and his two companions were easy targets either. As such, they purposely turned a blind eye to the three steeds.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an didn’t have any issues with the bandits or the middle-aged Daoist priest. The two humans and one ghost dismounted their horses and cleaned the horses’ noses, after which they started a fire and began to cook. They did what they needed to without worrying about the other people.

The middle-aged Daoist priest saw that the bandits no longer wanted to kill him. He possessed a fairly strong physique being at the Abode Tier, so he wouldn’t die of natural causes any time soon either. He could only lie on the large rock and wait for death to slowly arrive.

The middle-aged Daoist priest naturally would have stepped forward to stop the bandits if they had decided to rob the three new arrivals. That way, he could gain a small amount of hidden virtue before he died, allowing him to reincarnate into a better life. At the very least, he hoped to have a longer lifespan where he could continue to cultivate.

Chen Ping’an held a rice bowl and squatted beside the river. The bandits nearby were almost about to eat as well.

A young and short-tempered bandit caught Chen Ping’an’s gaze, and he shot a glare at Chen Ping’an and exclaimed, “What are you staring at?! Have you never seen a powerful hero eating before?!”

A leader of the bandits walked over to the large rock to kindly offer the middle-aged Daoist priest a bowl of rice, saying that it wouldn’t do to lie there and wait for death like this. Instead, he suggested that the Daoist priest could head to some mountain peak or stand under a tree when there was a thunderstorm, seeing if there was a possibility that he could be struck by a bolt of lightning and cleanly end his life once and for all.

The middle-aged Daoist priest found this quite reasonable, and he started to contemplate whether he should head to the markets to purchase a thick metal chain. Even so, he still turned down the bowl of rice, saying that he wasn’t hungry at this moment. He then started to waffle on again, persuading the bandits to change their ways and become good people since they were already showing signs of budding kindness. The world was chaotic right now, so rather than being bandits, wouldn’t it be better for them to work as armed escorts?

The leader of the bandit group was quite enticed by this proposal. He stood up with the bowl of rice and walked away from the huge rock in the middle of the river, returning to the group of bandits and proceeding to discuss this matter with them.

Chen Ping’an found this very interesting.

After finishing his rice, Chen Ping’an tapped his foot on the ground and hovered toward the gigantic rock, with the sleeves of his azure shirt billowing slightly in the wind. He gracefully landed beside the middle-aged Daoist priest.

The young and short-tempered bandit almost spat out a large mouthful of rice, yet the leader of the bandits smacked him on the back of the head and scolded, “What are you staring at?! Have you never seen powerful heroes from the cultivation world before?!”

Chen Ping’an sat cross-legged on the gigantic rock and asked with a faint smile, “Why are you seeking death, Daoist Senior?”

The middle-aged Daoist priest was actually a friendly person, and he closed his eyes and replied softly, “I’m destined to die early, and I’m fated to never attain the Great Dao. What else can I do but seek death?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Daoist Senior, are you aware of the so-called Proper Scripture that all of the Three Teachings promote? Mhm, it’s the ancient scripture that everyone refers to as the Paramount Among Scriptures. In this scripture, there’s a line that goes: The Great Dao numbers fifty, the heavens form forty-nine, and the humans flee with one.”[1]

The middle-aged Daoist priest nodded and added, “There are fifty regulations of the Great Dao, of which the heavens manifest forty-nine regulations unchangeable by humans. We thus say that from the Great Dao comes one, from one there comes two, and from two there come the all things.”[2]

“Cultivators face significant hardships when challenged by internal demons, and these demons in the mind are incredibly difficult to vanquish even if one commands an army of one million powerful soldiers,” Chen Ping’an said.

The middle-aged Daoist priest sat up and sighed in grief, lamenting, “I understand all of these principles, but I’m nothing more than an Abode Tier cultivator with mediocre talent, so how can I dare to dream of attaining the Great Dao? I feel truly apprehensive, and after mulling over things for a long time, I was ultimately unable to break through the barrier in my heart. I can only place my hopes in my next life.”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the bandits nearby before nodding and replying, “Indeed. It’s easy to defeat bandits in the mountains, but it’s difficult to defeat the bandits in one’s mind.”

The middle-aged Daoist priest put on a forced smile and said, “I appreciate your kind intentions.”

This was a chance encounter in the mountains, a chance encounter between an emaciated middle-aged Daoist and a haggard young man.

Neither of them dwelled on their troubles, quickly letting the matters slide after just a brief mention. The short conversation between them ended just like that.

The bandits breathed a long sigh of relief, especially the young and short-tempered bandit. He felt like he had just survived a close brush with death.

Zeng Ye was unable to understand the middle-aged Daoist priest’s thoughts, so after they traveled far away, he asked in a quiet voice, “Mr. Chen, are there truly people in the world who are willing to lie there and wait for death?”

Chen Ping’an nodded and explained, “There are all kinds of strange matters on the path of cultivation. According to the teachings of Buddhism, that Daoist priest can only be struck and startled awake after he comes to an understanding himself. Otherwise, it will be impossible for him to obtain enlightenment and become a Buddha on the spot even if he’s struck by an eminent monk. Instead, he’ll only get a massive welt on his head and yell in pain.

“Mhm, have the two of you heard that Buddhist story before? An eminent monk once said that the body is the tree of wisdom, and the heart is like the stand of a bright mirror, one that should be frequently wiped clean and kept free of dust. However, another eminent monk said that there is neither a wisdom tree nor a mirror stand, so since all is void, where can dust possibly settle?[3] Do you think one Buddhist chant is more profound than the other?”

“I don’t understand these things,” Zeng Ye replied with a shake of his head.

“The latter saying is naturally more profound,” Ma Duyi replied with a smile.

Chen Ping’an sighed softly with emotion and remarked, “Judging these sayings against the tenets of Buddhism, perhaps the latter saying is indeed more profound. However, the former saying is like a boat that all confused people in the world can step onto. Only when a person rows across the river of confusion themself and puts down the bamboo pole, eventually standing up to step onto the opposite shore, can they claim that they’ve comprehended the latter saying.

“Gradual enlightenment is the foundation for sudden enlightenment, and it must be said that the notion of sequential order also exists in this area. One’s heart is almost bound to be contaminated by dust in the mortal world, so if one doesn’t wipe away the dust, leaving their hearts dull and contaminated, how can one hope to naturally arrive at the opposite shore and become a Bodhisattva?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and added, “Both sayings are good and correct, and I’m talking to the two of you about this because I heard some scholars discussing Buddhism while I was traveling around the Azure Phoenix Nation in the past. They regarded the former saying with complete disdain, and they only admired and praised the latter saying. Not only that, but a few miscellaneous books that were similar to the notes of literati also had a tendency to subtly criticize the former saying. I simply feel like this isn’t very good.”

Ma Duyi smiled and remarked, “I rarely ever heard Mr. Chen talk about Buddhism in the past, but it turns out that Mr. Chen has actually been dabbling in Buddhism for quite a long time already. Mr. Chen is truly knowledgeable and well read, and I can’t help but feel a deep sense of admiration…”

Ma Duyi made a face before continuing, “Argh, I can’t go on anymore. Even I’m unable to keep making things up.”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and suggested, “This goes to show that you still need to work on your flattery skills.”

1. This is a line from Yi Jing. There are some different explanations for this, but it roughly means that of the fifty natural regulations, forty-nine are formed by the heavens and are unchangeable by humans. However, the remaining one is the variable changeable by humans. In other words, this “one” is a variable that a person can use to change their own destiny. As such, this variable can naturally manifest and transform into a myriad of forms. Interestingly, this saying also relates to fortune telling and divination. In ancient China, there were fortune tellers who used yarrows to perform divination. They would gather fifty stalks of yarrow, yet they would put one aside and not use it, only using forty-nine instead. ☜

2. This is a line from Dao De Jing. ☜

3. This references a story in The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (六祖坛经) between the Sixth Patriarch of Chan (Huineng) and the Patriarch of the East Mountain Teaching of Chan Buddhism (Shenxiu). The former saying is from Shenxiu, and the latter saying is from Huineng. ☜