Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an walked downstairs and exited the Green Beetle Shop, slowly walking along the street with his horse.

He had bought the numismatic charms because he planned to give them to Peace and Tranquility Mountain’s Zhong Kui.

One couldn’t be in too much of a hurry when trying to make money, so Chen Ping’an couldn’t be blamed for giving away so much right now.

However, it wasn’t long before Chen Ping’an looked back, discovering that the Qingcai, the young woman wearing the colorful dress, was quickly walking over with a brocade box in her hands.

After Chen Ping’an stopped, Qingcai handed the brocade box to him and said with a smile, “Elder Hong felt really bad about turning down Young Master’s request, so he ultimately decided to part with his treasure and give this clay statuette to Young Master. Young Master might not know, but I needed to tug at the brocade box for a long time before Elder Hong was finally willing to let it go.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said that Elder Hong was truly far too kind, and there was no need for him to do this. However, his hands weren’t slow at all, and he immediately reached over to accept the brocade box. To his surprise, the young woman also didn’t let go of the brocade box straight away, and he needed to tug lightly before she finally loosened her grip.

Qingcai raised her two empty hands as she looked at the disappearing figure.

She smiled and shook her head, and when she returned to the Green Beetle Shop, the female attendants on the first floor all lowered their heads in respect when they saw her.

When she arrived outside Hong Yangbo’s room on the second floor, the old man respectfully stood at the door and said with a bitter smile, “Boss, you gave me a fright when you personally brought us tea just then.”

The young woman smiled calmly and said, “You were given an even bigger fright when the customer tried to poach you afterward, weren’t you?”

Elder Hong could only smile wryly.

The young woman walked into his room, bending down and extending a finger to play with the green-robed figures standing on the branch of the potted bonsai tree. Elder Hong stood beside her and asked in puzzlement, “Boss, why did you tell me to give him the female clay statuette?”

The young woman played around with the adorable green-robed figures as she replied, “It’s extremely likely that he was the young sword immortal who helped the Sword Water Villa.”

There was a look of incredulity on Elder Hong’s face as he exclaimed, “It can’t be, right? Even though he was able to take out five grain rain coins in a single breath and purchase those Ghost-Slaying Numismatic Charms which have been gathering dust for one hundred years, I saw him once before this, and he was at most a third tier pure martial artist back then…”

“The Eastern Treasured Vial Continent is so big, so is there truly just Ma Kuxuan from True Martial Mountain?” the young woman asked calmly.

Elder Hong was still skeptical, finding it difficult to believe that Chen Ping’an was the young sword immortal in azure who had defeated the Pine Stream Nation’s Su Lang and forced him to retreat.

“Don’t forget, I’m also a sword cultivator,” the young woman suddenly said.

Elder Hong smiled and praised, “Boss is a prodigious talent, receiving a four-word prophecy of ‘earth immortal sword cultivator’ when you were still young. The art of commercialism is merely a minor Dao for you.”

The young woman stood up and clapped her hands, saying, “I was coincidentally cleaning an ancient sword in the ‘Chilly Aura’ room on the third floor when he walked to the second floor of the Green Beetle Shop, and it was at that moment that my sword heart experienced a very brief moment of instability. This feeling disappeared in the blink of an eye, but there’s absolutely no doubt that it truly existed.”

She casually opened one of the brocade boxes on the table and took out the cursive script calligraphy piece, pointing at the curling characters and saying slowly, “I suspect that he saw through my identity very quickly, realizing that I wasn’t some maidservant of the Green Beetle Shop or whatnot. As such, he didn’t waste any effort trying to conceal the fact that he owned a pocket treasure or a minimization treasure. Not only that, but I purposely glanced at the sword on his back before parting ways with him on the street just then, and…”

The young woman looked up and clasped her hands behind her back, continuing, “How should I say this? At that moment, he was as calm and collected as a clay Bodhisattva. Is it a big deal for the Green Beetle Shop to give a female clay statuette worth a few lesser heat coins to such kind of person? It’s the Green Beetle Shop that should burn incense and thank the heavens that he was willing to take the gift and accept our goodwill.”

After saying this, the young woman extended a finger and lightly drew a line downward. Thinking over things carefully, she thought that the young man was like two completely different people to her and to Hong Yangbo.

Elder Hong wiped off the sweat on his forehead. Had he almost let slip a huge fated opportunity just then? Had he screwed up by insisting that Chen Ping’an drink with him if he wanted something extra?

“Say, why did he turn down your proposal to drink together?” the young woman suddenly asked. “Is it because he’s a sword immortal from the mountain peak and feels disdain at the idea of drinking with you? Or does he truly hope that his friend can personally drink with you in the future?”

“It’s naturally the former,” Elder Hong replied without hesitation.

The young woman smiled and said, “The Green Beetle Shop won’t take a cut for your sale of the Ghost-Slaying Numismatic Charms. Hong Yangbo, remember to buy expensive wine when treating that person’s friend in the future. Mhm, as that young man said, you should treat his friend to the most expensive wine possible.”

Elder Hong smiled widely and remarked, “This is very kind of you!”

————

Chen Ping’an walked forward with his horse, and after paying for a ship ticket, he still needed to wait for two or so hours before the ship would depart. He lingered around and looked up, gazing at the many intercontinental ships that were taking off and landing. Things were as busy as could be.

Compared to the past, this ferry station was seemingly bringing in even more mountains of money. If Ox Horn Mountain could become half as busy as this in the future, Chen Ping’an surmised that it could also bring in bucket loads of money in the future.

Be it mortal gold and silver or immortal coins, money was something that was afraid of remaining still. Ever since ancient times, money had always liked to flow instead of remaining stagnant.

This was a passing remark made by Cui Dongshan back then, and Chen Ping’an had felt absolutely nothing at the time. Now, however, he was able to ruminate on these words and savor their meaning.

After leaving behind a letter and visiting his grandpa, Cui Cheng, Cui Dongshan had left Downtrodden Mountain. No one had heard from him since, and it was as if he had disappeared into a vast sea.

Apart from some obsequious flattery that could be ignored, Cui Dongshan’s letter had also mentioned three major matters. The first was regarding the current state of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent and the great trend, and this also pertained to the matter of refining the new five-colored soil as his bonded item.

The second matter related to Li Xisheng and Fortune Street’s Li Clan, and Cui Dongshan hoped that his master could continue to look after and cherish Little Baoping. He didn’t need to feel like he owed the Li Clan a lot, and it was best for them to maintain an amiable relationship but nothing deeper than that. There was no need to gild the lily.

Finally, Cui Dongshan talked about something with completely no context. This message was very brief, and he simply asked his master to wait for a while longer, saying that one could only take things slowly when trying to shake something colossal and destroy something firm.

However, Chen Ping’an knew what Cui Dongshan was talking about.

This pertained to his bonded porcelain.

Chen Ping’an’s mind started to wander further and further away: the end of autumn, sorrowful winds lingering around the trees, the desolation of heaven and earth…

Someone suddenly walked over quickly from behind Chen Ping’an, almost crashing into him. Chen Ping’an subtly stepped aside to avoid this person, seemingly catching them by surprise and causing them to falter slightly before walking forward hastily and not looking back.

Chen Ping’an didn’t try to pursue this matter, but he was certain that some people were coveting his treasures after Qingcai gave him a brocade box following his departure from the Green Beetle Shop.

Vagrant cultivators didn’t care about the rules or the honor of the cultivation world when they fought for treasures.

Chen Ping’an had killed so many sinister cultivators and ghost cultivators at Middle Five Tiers during his time in the mountains to the south of Bamboo Scroll Lake that he couldn’t even keep count of them on two hands. In the end, he had even fought and exchanged wounds with a Golden Core Tier vagrant cultivator whom he didn’t necessarily have strong grudges with. Both sides had calmed down after that, and Chen Ping’an hadn’t gone over to look for trouble. At the same time, the Golden Core Tier vagrant cultivator hadn’t insisted on relentlessly attacking Chen Ping’an either, and he hadn’t taken advantage of his geographical and people advantage to encircle and hunt the young man.

Chen Ping’an looked back, and he saw two dusty children emaciated and yellow in the face. One was a little boy and the other a little girl, and both of them were short and timidly standing nearby, looking up at Chen Ping’an and his horse with a hopeful gaze. They were both holding an open wooden box and selling some small trinkets from the mountains such as porcelain wares, mini copper statues, pictures, and so on.

These trinkets didn’t possess any spiritual energy, but they would be fairly decent as curios and elegant ornaments on the study desks of wealthy individuals. Most of these trinkets only cost one or two snowflake coins, but this was already quite expensive compared to the shops in the marketplaces. Perhaps the two children could be regarded as the smallest cloth wrapper shop in the world. These kinds of children were often working for powerful local forces, but the children were, of course, mainly seeking nothing more than food and shelter.

Chen Ping’an carefully picked a few trinkets and haggled a bit with the children, eventually spending twelve snowflake coins to purchase three items. One was a decorated tile ink slab with the characters “Forever Blessed,” one was a pair of jade and yellowstone seals whose red color was very satisfying, and one was a shallow red bowl rich in color. Chen Ping’an planned to give these trinkets to Pei Qian when he returned to Downtrodden Mountain. She didn’t care too much about the price of treasures anyway, and she cared more about quantity rather than cost.

Chen Ping’an retrieved the snowflake coins from his sleeves and handed them to the two children before taking the three trinkets and placing them inside his sleeves.

The two children thanked him and sprinted away, most likely afraid that this gullible customer would regret his purchase.

Their steps were light, and they were filled with delight as they ran. They only slowed down and chatted quietly among themselves after they ran far away.

Chen Ping’an stood in the distance and gazed at the hopeful faces of the two little children.

A smile appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face.

Back in the Jewel Small World, each extra trip he ran and each extra letter he delivered would mean one extra copper coin from Zheng Dafeng. Chen Ping’an suspected that his footsteps through Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley at that time were even more hurried than these two little children.

After glancing at the sky to determine the time, Chen Ping’an visited a wine shop near the ferry station and asked for a pot of dragon tendon wine. He didn’t enter the wine shop, and he sat on the side of the street as he drank. This wine was much inferior to Old Dragon City’s osmanthus wine and Bamboo Scroll Lake’s crow caw wine, and it was, of course, much cheaper in price as well.

It was said that the water used to make this dragon tendon wine was from a famous spring located at the waist of Earth Dragon Mountain, while the source of the entire mountain’s spiritual energy was rumored to have come from a length of dragon tendon that a great sword immortal had hacked off when a True Dragon traveling through a dragon channel had made its way to the mountain’s surface. After fusing into the mountain veins, the dragon tendon became a spring of spiritual energy for the mountain and rivers.

Chen Ping’an drank slowly, and it was rare for him to be so relaxed. He was actually traveling quite hastily as he made his way south to the same nations as before, and he was calculating on his fingers the day that he would start his return journey. In reality, there were few moments where he enjoyed such a calm and relaxed mental state.

His horse obediently stood still even though it wasn’t hitched, and it would occasionally raise its hooves to lightly tap the stone tiles.

Chen Ping’an was keeping an eye on it the entire time, making sure that it didn’t have any chance to cause trouble.

He could bring this horse back to Downtrodden Mountain in the future, giving his handsome horse, Qu Huang, a companion.

Apart from cultivators, most of the passers-by in this area were either wealthy or noble. Chen Ping’an silently drank wine and observed their actions and speech, but his glance would only be fleeting like a dragonfly quickly skimming over water.

Time slowly passed by at a leisurely pace.

Chen Ping’an put down his wine bowl and led his horse to the ferry station.

After boarding the ship and finding a resting place for his horse, Chen Ping’an started to practice walking meditation in his room. After all, he couldn’t lose to Zhao Shuxia, someone whom he had taught fist techniques to, could he?

It seemed as if he was forever practicing fist techniques when he traveled on intercontinental ships.

Late one night, when everything was quiet, Chen Ping’an walked to the bow of the intercontinental ship and sat on the railings under the radiant full moon. The books said that the full moon would always appear the brightest in one’s hometown, but it was seemingly the case that none of the books in the Majestic World mentioned that in another world, one could see the peculiar sight of three moons in the sky when they gazed up from the city walls. Outsiders would remember this scenery for the rest of their lives if they so much as took a single glance at it.

Not far away from where Chen Ping’an was sitting, a young man and a young woman wearing brocade robes were acting all lovey-dovey with each other as they walked over.

Chen Ping’an grabbed his Sword Nurturing Gourd and took a swig of wine. He no longer felt the same emotional baggage as before when he drank now, and he could drink regardless of whether he was feeling worried or not. However, he wasn’t addicted either, and everything was very natural. It was no different from how he had drunk water during his youth.

The young couple was relatively shy, and they hadn’t imagined that someone would still be sitting on the railing at the bow of the shop so late at night. They had no option but to take a detour and make their way to somewhere further away to express their feelings for each other. The young man’s hand kept moving around, causing the young woman to become red-faced with embarrassment. She occasionally glanced at the eyesore sitting in the distance, only breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that he was seemingly unaware of their presence. She allowed her lover to fondle her both top and bottom. They had left the mountains with their fellow disciples to train in the outside world, and most of them were staying together in rooms of two, meaning that there were few opportunities for them to be alone like this. As such, they had planned this secret escapade a long time ago.

Chen Ping’an decided to lie down and cross his legs, holding his Sword Nurturing Gourd in both hands.

Chen Ping’an caught sight of a despondent young man standing in the distance out of the corners of his eyes, and this ordinary-looking young man was indeed inferior to the young man who was cuddling amorously with his lover right now.

Chen Ping’an turned his gaze away and didn’t look at them anymore.

After the despondent young man left, it wasn’t long before a furious old woman stormed over to the bow of the ship. The pair of lovers instantly jumped apart and stood up straight.

The young man who had been extremely daring just then stepped back, while the immensely embarrassed young woman surprisingly stepped forward, looking directly at her senior.

The old woman viciously scolded them for a while before flicking her sleeve and leaving.

The young woman covered her face and sobbed, while the young man stood there and consoled her.

From the old woman’s remarks, Chen Ping’an learned that they were cultivators from an immortal force in the Pine Stream Nation traveling to Dawn Cloud Mountain. Someone at Dawn Cloud Mountain had just ascended to become a Golden Core Tier earth immortal. As an elder from their immortal force’s ancestral hall, the old woman had forbidden the young woman from entering Dawn Cloud Mountain in anger, only allowing her to wait at the foot of the mountain. Listening to her words, it was clear that the old woman strongly favored the young man, and if it weren’t for the presence of an outsider, it was very likely that she would have done more than just scold the young woman as a shameless seductress.

The young man was a smooth talker, and the young woman quickly went from tears to smiles soon after the old woman left. The smile of a woman after crying was like the sky turning clear and blue after a downpour — this was a most beautiful and moving thing.

Chen Ping’an sighed softly, not averting his gaze the entire time. He simply gazed at the bright moon and smattering of stars in the sky.

After the young man and the young woman returned to their rooms, another person walked to the bow of the ship, appearing as dejected as could be. It was unknown whether he was feeling guilty or diffident after secretly selling out the young couple to their seniors. He leaned on the railing and dazedly looked up at the night sky.

He suddenly turned his head and said, “I encourage you not to gossip about anything.”

The river of time flowed endlessly without pause, with most people in one’s life being nothing more than passing guests.

Chen Ping’an completely ignored the young cultivator’s threat.

The young cultivator flared up in rage, exclaiming, “Are you deaf?!”

Chen Ping’an nodded lightly and replied, “Yes, I’m deaf.”

The young cultivator faltered for a moment before exclaiming with a stern expression, “Are you seeking death?!”

“Why are you talking to a deaf person? Are you stupid?” Chen Ping’an asked slowly.

The young cultivator was so furious that steam was almost billowing out of his ears. He immediately strode forward, but he suddenly stopped mid-stride, abandoning his desire to act recklessly after recalling the teachings of his seniors and the rumors of the cultivation world.

However, this caused him to appear strong on the outside but very weak on the inside, so the young cultivator was indecisive regarding how to proceed. Should he continue to provoke this person through words, or should he leave just like this and push the matter out of his mind?

“Even if you successfully break those lovers apart, do you genuinely believe that you can win that young woman’s heart? Or are you satisfied with taking a step back and simply winning her body?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The young cultivator remained silent.

Chen Ping’an sat up, looking over and saying with a smile, “Is she your senior sister? It seems like both the man she likes and the man who likes her are nasty pieces of work. Say, isn’t a woman like this very pitiful? Or perhaps you’re willing to play the long game and wait until the day that your senior sister is betrayed by her current lover. At that time, perhaps you can take advantage of her grief to drag her to your side? And then you can discard her like filth after you succeed in order to exact revenge?”

The young cultivator clenched his fists tightly, so much so that the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and continued, “The human mind is truly uninteresting under scrutiny. It’s no wonder that people like you, cultivators from the mountains, need to examine your own conscience all the time. What’s growing in your mind’s field isn’t crops but rather weeds.”

The young cultivator’s expression changed slightly.

By the sounds of it, this person wasn’t a cultivator from the mountains.

In other words, he was only a sword practitioner from the cultivation world?

However, a bucket of icy-cold water was instantly poured over his head when that person glanced at him. This was an extremely strange feeling.

The young cultivator hastily stumbled away, having no time or effort to care about his face.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath. After leaving Bamboo Scroll Lake, the solution that he had thought of still wasn’t very useful. Cui Cheng had hit the nail on the head, saying that the internal demons that couldn’t be categorized as good or evil were the most terrifying. In Cui Cheng’s words, what was even more terrifying than this was Chen Ping’an’s extremely good memory and his habit of dwelling on fine details. However beneficial this had been in the past was however painful things would be in the future.

It was better to go with the flow than to resist.

He truly needed to travel to the Northern Complete Reed Continent as early as he could.