Unsheathed

After Chen Ping’an left the shop at the start of the street in Gold Dust Market…

Tang Jinxiu lightly tapped the counter with her fingers, a wide smile on her face as she did so.

People always said that inviting a deity was easy but farewelling a deity was hard. However, she had not only succeeded in inviting the deity, but she had even managed to make a small profit. Indeed, she had legitimately made some money on the transactions.

However, Tang Jinxiu still grumbled in her mind, afraid that her older brother who was seldom so serious would scold her for so-called gilding the lily.

Tang Jingqi arrived at the shop in Gold Dust Market the moment that Chen Ping’an stepped out of Copper Stench City,

There was a slightly nervous look on Tang Jinxiu’s face as her eyes wandered around.

Tang Jingqi smiled and praised, “You did fairly well, and you responded to the situation quite appropriately. In fact, you even managed to smoothly complete some transactions. This is indeed quite a rare sight, with you actually knowing how to make some money for Copper Stench City.”

Tang Jinxiu felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

There was a smug look on her face as she asked, “Big Brother, do you think that person guessed my identity?”

Tang Jingqi pursed his lips and replied, “Perhaps he was unsure in the beginning, but he was most likely aware by the time he left the shop.”

“Did I accidentally reveal some clues when I interacted with him?” Tang Jinxiu mused in disappointment. “The owner of Gold Dust Market being aware of many historical stories isn’t unreasonable, is it? A few female officials who work with me have also accompanied me and read those books for the past several hundred years. They’re also well aware of these historical stories.”

Tang Jingqi glanced at Shopkeeper Zhenguan and pointed in her direction.

The young female ghost was already pale to begin with, but she became even paler as she immediately fell to her knees in fright.

Tang Jinxiu slowly came to her senses, and she exclaimed, “Ah! That person was purposely testing Zhenguan when he gifted her the pink porcelain container?”

Tang Jingqi appeared to be in a fairly good mood, and he said with a smile, “You can get up now. You didn’t make a big mistake, and this was something that couldn’t have been concealed anyway. To Qi refiners, the truth often isn’t important, as this is far less important than the suspicions in their minds. Moreover, cultivators from the outside world who have reached a certain cultivation base wouldn’t have reached such lofty heights by remaining foolish and naive. The actions of you two and the final outcome can already be regarded as the best ones possible. As the city lord and an older brother, there’s no reason for me to demand any more.”

Before Tang Jingqi left, he turned to his younger sister and said, “Remember to reward her with one lesser heat coin. You’re extremely generous and spendthrift with the men in Copper Stench City, so it would be very good if you could replicate the same with women.”

Tang Jinxiu rolled her eyes in response.

————

Over at Green Cottage Town…

Chen Ping’an had already taken off his face mask as he entered the town. Green Cottage Town wasn’t very big, and it was in fact smaller than the market at Helpless Pass.

There were only two main streets running perpendicular to each other, and the total number of houses and structures in the town probably numbered less than one hundred. Moreover, there weren’t any extravagant mansions or residences.

There were few pedestrians on the streets, but there were indeed some tea stalls and wine shops scattered around. It was surprisingly all beautiful young women selling tea and wine, and Chen Ping’an surmised that they had come here from Copper Stench City to make a living. Most of them had some cultivation aptitude as well, but it was a shame that they were unable to become disciples of the Flax Robe Sect.

There were two immortal inns located in Green Cottage Town, one in the north and one in the south, with the one in the north being very expensive and charging ten snowflake coins for a single night. Meanwhile, the inn in the south only charged one snowflake coin for a single night.

Chen Ping’an asked whether this was because of the difference in the abundance of spiritual energy, but the female attendant at the inn in the north was extremely honest, smiling as she replied that there was no difference in the abundance of spiritual energy. It was simply the case that the inn in the north was located closer to the thatched cottage where the sect leader of the Flax Robe Sect cultivated, so esteemed immortals with enough money were all willing to stay at this inn instead of the inn at the south. Moreover, Esteemed Immortal Du also lived in this inn all year round, so one could often encounter him at the inn.

And thus, Chen Ping’an turned around and made his way to the inn in the south.

The female inn attendant blinked upon seeing this, appearing slightly astonished.

Cultivators and pure martial artists who could make their way to Green Cottage Town were all very wealthy, and there was genuinely no one who would have any issues with money. The only distinction was whether one was wealthy or extremely wealthy. As such, would these people toss their face on the ground and step on it simply because they didn’t want to pay an extra nine snowflake coins a night?

Chen Ping’an asked for a room at the inn located in the south of the town, after which he started to shift around the items in his minimization treasure and his large sack. He placed some new items in his large sack.

He planned to visit Copper Stench City’s Gold Dust Market again after a few days.

This was called taking complete advantage of a wealthy customer.

He couldn’t let slip such a good opportunity.

After doing this, Chen Ping’an continued to use his snowflake coins to repair the Spring Grass Dao Robe that he was wearing.

Chen Ping’an stopped what he was doing after approximately ten minutes.

Repairing a Dao robe wasn’t simply a case of throwing money at the problem. Rather, it was a slow and meticulous process.

Chen Ping’an started to practice standing meditation, also channeling the Sword Qi Eighteen Stops Technique that he was still unable to unlock all stops for.

Two hours later, Chen Ping’an took a large swig of the stream water in his Sword Nurturing Gourd and started to refine the essence of the water to nurture his water palace.

It only took him a bit more than two hours to condense three drops of so-called spring water, which were then placed in the hands of three tiny green-robed children in his water palace.

Chen Ping’an was only engaging in some shallow cultivation right now, yet it had still taken him so much time. If he entered seclusion, he would further enter a state where he paid no attention to the matters in the outside world. It was because of this that there was the saying: Those in the mountain don’t know the happenings and difficulties of the mortal world.

While resting, Chen Ping’an seized the opportunity to immerse his mind and transform his yin soul into a speck such that he could patrol his water palace. However, he was met with sulky and indignant looks from the tiny green-robed children.

They were most likely trying to tell Chen Ping’an that with his mediocre cultivation talent, he needed to cultivate more earnestly and work harder than the others. After constructing a large residence in his critical acupoint, however, why had he slacked off during the past few years? To say nothing of working for three days and resting for two days, Chen Ping’an was working for a single day and resting for an entire year!

Chen Ping’an felt extremely embarrassed and guilty, so he could only flee the water palace in disarray.

The fiery dragon, which was condensed from the True Qi of a pure martial artist, silently gazed at Chen Ping’an as it lay at a fork road outside the water palace.

Chen Ping’an remained silent.

The fiery dragon swished its tail and rapidly swam away.

Several years ago, a small golden person wearing a Confucian robe and holding a sword had once stood on the fiery dragon’s head.

He had patrolled the acupoints and expanded the territory in this small world with the fiery dragon, and they had easily swept away all obstacles as if they were a pair of formidable scholarly official and military general from the imperial court.

Chen Ping’an pushed aside these thoughts and stopped his internal observation technique. After regaining his senses, he sat beside the table and shifted his gaze downward, looking dazed and speechless.

When it came to speaking reason, it was very challenging to persuade others, but it was equally as difficult to persuade oneself.

That being the case, why was it necessary to keep speaking reason?

A bowl of rice in the alley and a single fist guide…

Was this really worth it?

He had paid an extremely huge price for this, with the foundation of his Great Dao having already suffered wounds. However, was his decision truly correct? What if it was actually wrong?

Chen Ping’an wasn’t grappling with the first question which he had already answered long ago, nor was he grappling with the question of right or wrong that was destined to have no answer to for the moment.

However, Chen Ping’an was afraid, and he felt an intense sense of apprehension in his mind. This was because he didn’t know why he was contemplating these matters.

Chen Ping’an suddenly took a deep breath and stood up, walking away from the table and flipping around to perform a handstand. He closed his eyes, with his large azure sleeves swaying in the air as he started to practice the Heaven and Earth Stance and walk around the room.

————

There was a verdant green bamboo raft stopped in the middle of Copper Green Lake, and the young man, Yuan Xuan from the Three Official Attendant Temple, was still sitting there and fishing. There were no outsiders accompanying him this time, so he appeared even more relaxed and carefree. Meanwhile, his female martial artist subordinate and the elderly Golden Core Tier sword cultivator were both holding a fishing rod as well.

The young man had just returned here not long ago, and he was feeling slightly downcast because the young wanderer who had apparently made a huge name for himself in Malicious Ghost Valley already hadn’t returned to fish with him.

Yuan Xuan glanced at the surface of the lake that remained completely still before turning around and asking, “Big Sister Fan, Grandpa Liu, didn’t you say that he was a pure martial artist? Why did everyone at Green Cottage Town say that he was a sword cultivator whose cultivation base is extremely difficult to ascertain? They were all speculating whether he had reached the Golden Core Tier or whether he was a terrifying Nascent Tier sword immortal who was concealing his strength.”

“He should indeed be a martial artist,” the female martial artist with the surname Fan replied with an awkward expression.

The old man was much more experienced and knowledgeable than her, and he chuckled, “The speculations of Little Fan and the cultivators at Green Cottage Town aren’t necessarily incorrect. There are some strange people in the world, and they are indeed both Qi refiners and pure martial artists at the same time. However, when it comes to these kinds of prodigious talents, the more powerful they grow, the more difficult it is to advance their cultivation base in the future.

“For example, if one has already reached the Far Roaming Tier of martial arts, or if one has already reached the Nascent Tier of Qi refinement, then they’ll face profound issues when trying to advance any further. Of course, this is unless one possesses immense courage and resolution and decides to abandon one of the two paths. Otherwise, it will be unbelievably difficult to reach the peak. It’s as if they’re fighting against themselves, having walked to the end of both paths that seemingly lead to dead ends.”

Yuan Xuan was astounded upon hearing this, and he asked, “If someone is genuinely a Far Roaming Tier martial artist whose only a step away from reaching the Mountain Summit Tier, yet they’re also a Qi refiner at the Nascent Tier who can unleash powerful immortal techniques and mystical abilities, then won’t they be strong enough to become peerless in a continent?”

“Peerless? Far from it,” the old man smiled and replied with a shake of his head.

“Ordinary Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators who aren’t sword cultivators will indeed be very troubled if they come across this extremely rare breed of cultivators. However, sword immortals or cultivators at the Immortal Tier can deal with these kinds of cultivators with relative ease.”

Yuan Xuan’s train of thought was very unique, however, and his mind jumped to somewhere tens of thousands of miles away as he smiled and asked, “Grandpa Liu, you’re a sword cultivator, so tell me why it’s specifically sword cultivators who are extremely impressive and known as the most destructive even though there are a myriad of different weapons in the world? Don’t try to make things up to fool me, Grandpa Liu. I’m well aware that practicing the sword is the most expensive form of cultivation. At the same time, innate sword talents are incredibly rare among Qi refiners. However, these two reasons don’t explain everything.”

The old man laughed heartily and said, “This is a very, very, very old story.”

He didn’t say anything else, and he raised a hand and pointed above his head.

Yuan Xuan glanced over and nodded in response. The young man from the Three Official Attendant Temple loved to ask questions and get to the bottom of things, yet he surprisingly didn’t press any further this time, instead starting to fish quietly.

However, there was still an itch in Yuan Xuan’s mind, so he hesitated for a moment before raising three fingers at the old man.

The old man shook his head and once again raised a hand, pointing even higher this time.

Yuan Xuan put down two fingers, leaving one extended.

The old man smiled and shook his head again.

Yuan Xuan finally quietened down and started to fish in peace.

In the end, it was the female martial artist who was older than Yuan Xuan who felt extremely confused, not understanding the signals being made by the old man and her young master.

They fished for an out, yet they failed to catch a single fish.

Yuan Xuan tossed some ground bait into the lake. Water also had water veins, so even though the surface of the lake appeared still, things were actually much more complicated underwater. The young man wasn’t tossing the ground bait randomly.

“I heard that the old turtle at the Black River is raising a pair of golden Luo fish that are at least one thousand five hundred years old. Grandpa Liu, if we give Uncle Du a heads up, can we charge over to the Black River and buy those Luo fish from the old turtle?” he asked casually.

“We definitely won’t be able to buy the Luo fish unless we kill the old turtle,” the old man explained patiently. “Moreover, it’s extremely difficult to kill the old turtle since it’s already lived in Malicious Ghost Valley for so long. Of course, this is unless Sect Leader Zhu is willing to personally participate in the battle. Otherwise, it will be close to impossible to find the old turtle once it goes into hiding in the Old Dragon Cave. Even your Uncle Du will struggle to find him at that time.”

Yuan Xuan sighed in grief and lamented, “Forget about killing it. This is something that I won’t do even if I’m strong enough to do so. The heavens have given birth to all living beings for a reason, and cultivators are already defying the heavens by embarking on the path of cultivation. As such, it seems like a bad idea to engage in further unnecessary killing. I truly don’t understand how those Militarian cultivators are able to kill people without blinking yet manage to somehow not attract any bad karma.”

The old man smiled and replied, “Immortal forces that are able to become teachings, schools of thought, and sects naturally have their own foundations of the Great Dao, foundations of which are able to stand firm and tall in this world.”

Yuan Xuan scratched his head and said in a pitiful voice, “Grandpa Liu, our fishing floats are indeed standing even straighter and firmer than those door gods in the streets.”

The old man laughed heartily upon hearing this.

The female martial artist also laughed out loud.