Unsheathed

According to his agreement with Cui Chan, Cui Minghuang should’ve left Lake View Academy in an honorable manner to become a deputy mountain master of Forest Deer Academy, while the first-ever mountain master of the academy would’ve been the old flood dragon posing as a past minister of the Yellow Court Nation.

The second deputy mountain master would’ve been a reputable local Confucian scholar of the Great Li Empire, but that was only a temporary arrangement. Once Forest Deer Academy claimed the title of one of the seventy-two academies, Cheng Shuidong would resign from his role as mountain master, and the old Confucian scholar of the Great Li Empire wouldn’t have possessed the ambition or drive to compete for the position, so it would’ve automatically fallen into Cui Minghuang’s lap.

If everything had gone according to plan, Lake View Academy would’ve been satisfied, while Cui Chan stood to benefit the most. As for Cui Minghuang, he would certainly also have nothing to complain about, becoming the mountain master of his own academy, one of the seventy-two academies, no less.

This was a tremendous honor, essentially the pinnacle pursuit for all scholars. Given Cui Chan’s ability to manipulate the fate of others, as long as Cui Minghuang remained in the Dragon Spring Prefecture, he would have to be content with serving as a teacher, regardless of how lofty his ambitions were.

However, things had not gone according to plan, and even Cui Chan himself had failed to anticipate many of the events that had transpired.

For example, the White Jade Capital replica constructed by the Great Li Empire had almost been reduced to a worldwide laughing stock, while Song Zhengchun had also been severely wounded.

The Great Li Empire’s forces had also commenced its southbound march earlier than planned, while Cui Chan had also begun to execute many of his plans in the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Lake View Academy had vehemently opposed the Great Li Empire, sending out many noble and virtuous scholars to various nations across the continent to quell the turmoil there.

In particular, there was the destruction of the intercontinental ship from Ceremony Mountain within the territory of the Luminous Vermilion Empire and the subsequent emergence of Heavenly Lord Xie Shi, who had exerted immense pressure on Lake View Academy.

Not only had this sparked widespread fury among the cultivators of the continent, what little goodwill that Lake View Academy and the Great Li Empire had harbored toward one another had been completely eradicated. Thus, Cui Minghuang was forced to remain in Lake View Academy and was unable to travel to Forest Deer Academy to become the deputy mountain master.

Apparently, he had been working conscientiously over the past few years to further hone his knowledge, and the entire academy had been full of praise to him for his diligence and hard work.

Chen Ping’an was a little perplexed.

It seemed that this time, Cui Cheng wasn’t in much of a hurry to “beat some sense into him.”

In the past, he had always been very direct and straightforward with his approach, and it had seemed like pummeling Chen Ping’an to the brink of death was the old man’s favorite pastime.

However, on this day, he had struck up a conversation first, and it was proving to be quite a lengthy conversation, at that.

Cui Cheng wasn’t the type to get hung up on things, but he was still unable to resist the urge to speak about Pei Qian’s future a second time as he asked, “Is it really that important for Pei Qian to have a stress-free childhood?”

Pei Qian’s aptitude was so exceptional that he couldn’t bear to see it go to waste.

Chen Ping’an hesitated momentarily, then replied, “As adults, we make certain passing remarks before forgetting all about them, but children may remember those remarks for a long time, particularly when the remarks that you made had been made with intention.”

Cui Cheng’s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

Clearly, Chen Ping’an was criticizing him for directing those hurtful words at Pei Qian. However, that wasn’t the crux of the matter. What was most interesting to him was Chen Ping’an’s attitude.

It seemed that Chen Ping’an was intentionally avoiding the matter of Pei Qian’s martial arts cultivation. On the surface, it appeared as if he were merely going with the flow and allowing things to unfold naturally, but delving a little deeper, it almost felt as if he were worried that Pei Qian would surpass him.

Of course, Cui Cheng was familiar with Chen Ping’an’s personality, so he knew that the latter definitely wasn’t worried that Pei Qian would become a superior martial artist to him someday. Instead, he seemed to have been concerned about something else, like making a bad thing out of what would’ve originally been a good thing.

“If you have something to say, then spit it out,” Cui Cheng urged in a displeased manner.

Chen Ping’an wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

“You can choose not to speak for now. I have more than enough ways to beat it out of you,” Cui Cheng chuckled.

Chen Ping’an didn’t immediately fold, instead asking, “How are you going to beat it out of me? If you’re not going to suppress your cultivation base to match mine, then I can tell you my reasons now. If you’re going to suppress your cultivation base, then I’ll tell you after I lose.”

“In that case, you can tell me now. I can’t resist the urge to try and beat some sense into you whenever I see you, so I most likely won’t be able to hold back,” Cui Cheng said.

Chen Ping’an began swearing profusely in his heart.

In anticipation for his return home, the only source of solace in Chen Ping’an’s mind when it came to training that he was going to have to endure under Cui Chan’s grandfather was the prospect of the two of them sparring on equal terms at the same cultivation base. He was hoping that this would allow him to finally exact some revenge and present him with the opportunity to land a few good hits on his tormentor.

As for whether Cui Chan’s grandfather would make his training even more grueling in retaliation, that was not important. He had sparred with Cui Cheng countless times, but hadn’t even managed to graze him thus far, and he was determined to change that.

Chen Ping’an heaved a faint sigh before telling Cui Cheng the strange dream he had had.

This was the first time that he had divulged this to anyone.

Cui Cheng remained silent.

“Can you help me decipher the dream, Senior? Or perhaps it’s just like what the people in the small town say, that all dreams run directly contrary to reality?”

“So there’s yet another knot in your heart,” Cui Cheng scoffed. “Not only are you afraid of death, you’re also afraid of your own ineptitude. What’s going on with you, Chen Ping’an? It seems like the further you go, the more of a coward you become.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head as he replied, “It’s exactly because I’ve seen more of the world that I’ve come to understand just how unfathomable this world is. I’m not looking down on myself, but I can’t allow myself to grow arrogant, either. I can’t just expect myself to be able to defeat anyone that crosses my path just because I practice my fist and sword techniques diligently. Ultimately, there will be things that I’m incapable of…”

“You’re a fool!” Cui Cheng sneered in a disdainful manner.

“Please enlighten me, Senior,” Chen Ping’an implored in an earnest manner.

Cui Cheng instantly rose to his feet, and once again, Chen Ping’an was able to anticipate the strike that was to come, but it still wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t that he was too slow, it was just that a martial artist at the pinnacle of the tenth tier was too fast.

Even as Chen Ping’an raised his arms to protect himself, he was still unable to block Cui Cheng’s flying knee, which struck him on the forehead, sending him flying high up into the air before crashing into the wall. As he tumbled down from the wall, he was struck by a kick to the abdomen that sent him crashing into the ceiling before plummeting heavily down onto the ground.

Finally, he was struck by another kick to the forehead that sent him sliding back, only coming to a rest as his back crashed into the wall, and he slumped to the ground, where he threw up a large mouthful of blood.

Chen Ping’an had thrown a knee strike in his sneak attack on Cui Cheng, and it seemed that Cui Cheng had not forgotten about this.

Cui Cheng stood at the center of the room with his arms crossed as he smiled and said, “You need to pay a price first before you get to hear my wise teachings. Otherwise, you won’t appreciate their value, and I’m worried that you’ll forget them.”

Chen Ping’an rose to his feet as he threw up another mouthful of blood.

“If everything has already been predestined by fate, then do you really think you can escape destiny just because Pei Qian is lazy in her pursuit of martial arts? Only the most powerful martial artist can hope to oppose the heavens!

“What on earth have you learned throughout the three hundred years that you witnessed in the river of time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land? If anything, you seem to have come out the other side even more foolish than before!” Cui Cheng scoffed.

Chen Ping’an didn’t even need to use his eyes to track Cui Cheng. In the blink of an eye, he had entered that completely immersive and profound state, where he was fully in sync with his surroundings, and he stomped a foot heavily down onto the ground as he threw a punch toward what appeared to have been nothing in particular.

Cui Cheng appeared right where his punch was aimed, but his fist was brushed aside with ease, following which he was dealt a heavy blow to the chest. With his back pressed tightly against the wall, Chen Ping’an pushed into the wall behind him with his elbow while simultaneously exerting force through his slack fist stance, and he sprang forward toward Cui Cheng at a far faster speed than his retreat.

However, he had charged headfirst to his doom as he was struck by a swinging arm to the neck, sending him crashing to the floorboards with such immense force that his body bounced up and down a few times, only coming to a rest after Cui Cheng planted a foot onto his forehead.

Cui Cheng looked down at Chen Ping’an, who had blood flowing out of all of his orifices, and he mused, “That was an interesting move that you pulled there, but your strength was too pitiful, your punch was too slow, and your fist intent was too shallow. Everything you do is full of holes, yet you dare to fight fire with fire against me? You’re like an old lady carrying a heavy load, take care that you don’t break your back!”

Chen Ping’an slammed his palms into the ground to send himself sliding back out from under Cui Cheng’s foot, following which he abruptly spun around to just barely evade a sweeping kick.

However, he was ultimately struck by a burst of fist aura that was unleashed by a casual sweep of Cui Cheng’s sleeve, sending him crashing into the northern window of the bamboo building like a tumbling snowball.

Instead of pressing his advantage, Cui Cheng asked, “Did you tell Wei Bo about which mountains had been selected as the Great Li Empire’s new Five Mountains?”

Chen Ping’an struggled to his feet, then shook his head as he replied, “I considered it, but I decided against it in the end. This is a secret of the highest level of confidentiality in the Great Li Empire, and I felt like it wasn’t mine to share.

“I may be friends with Wei Bo, but I can’t sell out my student in exchange for a favor. Besides, at the moment, Wei Bo is already a very prominent figure that’s under a great deal of scrutiny, so I think it’s best if he didn’t know too much.”

Cui Cheng remained standing on the spot as he nodded and said, “When it comes to personal matters that teeter on the line of something that can be done or not, you can do it and see what happens. When it comes to speaking on matters that teeter on the line of something that can be said or not, it’s best not to say it.”

Chen Ping’an silently committed these words of wisdom to memory. The experience of an elder truly was a priceless treasure.

“You dare to get distracted when sparring with me?!” Cui Cheng roared.

It appeared that Chen Ping’an had allowed himself to become distracted, but in reality, he was applying his Eighteen Stops Technique on the conversion of pure True Qi, forcibly manifesting half a breath of True Qi in the process.

After taking a punch from Cui Cheng, he gritted his teeth and persevered through the excruciating pain as he thrust a fist forward before extending his middle and index fingers at the last moment. Just an inch further, and his fingertips would’ve been able to strike Cui Cheng’s glabella.

Cui Cheng grabbed onto Chen Ping’an’s outstretched fingers, then twisted them to the side before giving him another kick that sent his entire body rising up into the air. After that, he took several steps to the side, then lowered his center of gravity as if he were adopting a horse stance before barging into Chen Ping’an with his shoulder right as the latter was falling toward the ground.

A resounding thump rang out as Chen Ping’an crashed into the wall of the bamboo building once again, and in the end, he slumped to the ground, truly unable to get up again. That half breath of True Qi that he had forcibly manifested was already a desperate measure that he had adopted, one that had a strong detrimental effect on himself, and he was completely spent.

Cui Cheng stroked his own chin with a smile as he remarked, “I’ll admit that you’re not completely useless in your current form. Back when you were training under me as a third tier martial artist, you were like a foolish bull charging at a red flag over and over again, and you didn’t possess the cunning that you do today. Looks like intelligence really can be beaten into someone.”

Chen Ping’an wiped a hand across his own face in an expressionless manner, and his hand came away soaked in blood. However, these injuries were nothing compared with the physical and spiritual torment that he had previously endured at Cui Cheng’s hands.

With that in mind, he slowly rose to his feet as he challenged, “Again!”

Cui Cheng smiled as he said, “I’ll ask you one final question: are you so afraid of death because you cherish your life more now that you’re rich, or is it because you feel like you can’t afford to die?”

Chen Ping’an had already taken this opportunity to take in another breath of True Qi, and he asked, “Is there a difference?”

“No, you’ll be beaten to a pulp either way,” Cui Cheng replied.

————

During the course of Pei Qian and Zhu Lian’s trip to deliver the letters to Ox Horn Mountain, the former had grown very familiar with Qu Huang. She had declared them to be friends from now on, and that Qu Huang would explore the world with her during the day, but they would have to return home at night to eat. Hence, how far they would be able to explore would depend on how much ground it could cover in a day.

If it were fast enough, then perhaps they could even make a round trip between Downtrodden Mountain and the small town. Of course, it was a completely one-sided discussion where Pei Qian dictated terms to Qu Huang, and whenever she asked it if it were in agreeance with her proposals, she would always follow up with “if you don’t say anything, then I’ll take it as a yes.”

That would then be followed by a thumbs-up and a piece of praise that went along the lines of “as expected of my good friend, you never turn down a request. Keep it up!”

All the while, Zhu Lian was walking along with an expression of a man who had just found a fly in his soup.

However, upon her return to Downtrodden Mountain, she was relayed Chen Ping’an’s message, and she could only reluctantly part with Qu Huang to travel to the small town with Shi Rou.

The old pastry chef at the pastry shop on Dragon Riding Alley was still the same one as before, but he had only agreed to stay after a significant pay rise. Aside from him, all of the shop’s original roster of employees had already been replaced. One of the young women had gotten married, while the other one had found a better job as a maidservant to a wealthy family on Peach Leaf Alley.

It was a very leisurely job, and she often came to visit the shop. Whenever she did, she always praised the family for being great employers, and that they treated their servants like family, so she felt very fortunate to have been chosen as a maidservant for them.

There was another woman, whose family had been in possession of two treasures that had been passed down for generations. Those two items had been serving as nothing more than ornaments throughout the generations, but it was discovered that they were priceless treasures, and they were sold for exorbitant sums, allowing the family to move to the new prefectural city. She had also visited the shop twice, mostly to brag to Ruan Xiu.

She didn’t have much of a concept of Ruan Xiu’s status as Master Ruan’s only daughter and her father’s Dragon Spring Sword Sect. The only impression that she received from Ruan Xiu was that the latter was very cold and unapproachable to everyone, so the two of them hadn’t gotten along very well.

In particular, there was one occasion where the woman had been making some rather unscrupulous moves in the shop, only to be caught red-handed by Ruan Xiu in a very awkward affair. Since that incident, the woman’s disdain toward Ruan Xiu had only been further exacerbated. In her mind, Ruan Xiu wasn’t even Shopkeeper Chen’s wife, so what right did she have to pose as the female boss of the shop?

Compared with the pastry shop, Pei Qian preferred the nearby Burclover shop, with its shelves that were laden with antiques and other miscellaneous items passed on by the Sun Clan.

However, after all of the spirit tools had been purchased by those cultivators while Ruan Xiu was still serving as interim shopkeeper, the shop had struggled to make much sales thereafter.

There were several items that Ruan Xiu had secretly stored away, and one one occasion, she had taken Pei Qian to the storeroom in the back to show her the items in question, explaining to her that these were the most precious items in the shop, and that they were only to be brought out for the wealthiest and most spendthrift of customers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sold to their full potential.

Pei Qian had been ecstatic to have been shown this secret stash, and an irrepressible grin had been plastered over her face. Ruan Xiu had found this very amusing, and she had given Pei Qian a piece of pastry. That was the first time that Ruan Xiu had ever given her pastry, and from there onward, as long as she had some pastries on hand, she would always oblige with Pei Qian’s requests for more.

On this day, Pei Qian had set down a small bench behind the counter, and even standing on the bench, her head only just barely reached over the counter, making it appear as if a decapitated head had been placed on the counter.

She felt like a king inspecting her domain.

Shi Rou was standing Pei Qian, and the counter was indeed a bit tall, seeing as her head was only a little higher than Pei Qian’s.

Shi Rou was feeling a little perplexed. Pei Qian was clearly very reliant on her master, yet she had still obediently come down the mountain to stay in this shop.

“Pei Qian, are you not worried that something will go wrong in your master’s training?” Shi Rou asked.

Pei Qian remained completely still on the spot as she looked directly ahead, and it was as if she were playing a game of who could be the most still as she replied with as little lip movement as possible, “I am, but I can’t do anything, so I can only pretend not to be worried so that my master won’t be worried that I’m worrying about him.”

Shi Rou began massaging her glabella with her finger, feeling the onset of a headache from Pei Qian’s convoluted reply.

Pei Qian heaved a faint sigh, and she continued to look straight ahead as she asked, “Big Sister Shi Rou, if someone is living in someone else’s home, and those two people aren’t friends, then should that person pay rent to the owner of the home?”

The question was even more convoluted.

“What are you talking about?” Shi Rou asked in a puzzled manner.

Pei Qian heaved another faint sigh, then said, “You should start making transcriptions with me from now on, Big Sister Shi Rou?”

“Why would I do that?” Shi Rou asked in an exasperated manner.

“Making transcriptions makes you smart!” Pei Qian replied in a serious manner.

Only then did Shi Rou realize that the analogy that Pei Qian had just made of someone living in someone else’s home was referring to how she was residing in the immortal body gifted to her by Chen Ping’an.

With that in mind, Shi Rou reached out to flick Pei Qian on the forehead, just like Chen Ping’an often did, only for Pei Qian to suddenly dodge to the side like lightning before falling completely still again.

She didn’t even spare a single glance at Shi Rou throughout the entire process, and she complained, “Don’t fool around with me now! I’m thinking about my master in earnest!”