Unsheathed

Meanwhile, inside the immortal residence…

Pang Lanxi had no time to worry about anything else, deciding that Xingzi, his childhood sweetheart, was the most important. “Alright, go on,” he said to Chen Ping’an. “However, the condition is that I have to find your advice reasonable. Otherwise, I won’t go to my great-grandfather to ask for a scolding either.”

Chen Ping’an raised his hands and cupped his fists first, gesturing to the powerful immortals standing outside to not take things too far. He then lightly placed a hand on the military book and gently ran his palm across it. It was only after leaving Malicious Ghost Valley that he had discovered that the books meticulously curated and collected by the Demon Hunting Immortal of Sheep Intestine Palace were largely well-maintained and in exceptional condition. These were valuable copies or even lone copies that had already existed in the world for a thousand years.

This greatly improved Chen Ping’an’s mood, and he started to offer advice to the young man in front of him, saying with a quiet chuckle, “Lanxi, do you think it’s difficult for you to advance to the Golden Core Tier and become a so-called terrestrial immortal in the eyes of mortal people?”

“I’m not bragging or anything, Chen Ping’an, but advancing to the Golden Core Tier will be easy, and advancing to the Nascent Tier won’t be difficult either,” Pang Lanxi replied sincerely.

Chen Ping’an nodded in response, knowing that Pang Lanxi was simply speaking the truth. Having stayed at this immortal residence of the Flax Robe Sect for a few days, and having chatted with this young man as well as a few direct disciples of the sect including the Golden Core Tier Yang Lin, Chen Ping’an was roughly aware of Pang Lanxi’s standing in the Flax Robe Sect already. It was extremely likely that he was being raised as a future sect leader. At the very least, he was going to wield great power in the Flax Robe Sect.

Moreover, Pang Lanxi possessed outstanding talent, had a pure heart, and also treated others kindly. As such, his innate aptitude and his connate personality were all extremely compatible with the Flax Robe Sect. This was the mysterious nature of the Great Dao. If Pang Lanxi were born in Bamboo Scroll Lake, then perhaps his achievements would be greatly limited if he remained the same as he was right now. This was because Bamboo Scroll Lake would continue to grind away at his personality, thereby dragging down his cultivation base and his ability to obtain fated opportunities.

However, it was a completely different story at the Flax Robe Sect’s Wood Garment Mountain, where Pang Lanxi was like a fish in water. It was as if they were a match made in heaven. This was a case of different environments producing different kinds of people. As such, there were some cases where complaining about fate and other people wasn’t completely unfounded. After all, there were indeed some people who were born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Seeing Chen Ping’an’s mind start to wander, Pang Lanxi couldn’t help but interrupt and say, “Stop daydreaming, Chen Ping’an, there are one or two sets of mural replicas waving their hands at you. How can you drift off at a time like this?”

Chen Ping’an apologized and asked, “You’re destined to become an immortal in the mountains who can enjoy a long lifespan, while Miss Xingzi is a mortal human from outside the mountains. Have you considered this before? Ordinary women will start to gray at forty, and they’ll perhaps already be white-haired old ladies at the age of sixty. At that time, how will Miss Xingzi face you, someone who’s perhaps still walking around with a youthful experience of just twenty years old?”

Pang Lanxi felt his heart tighten, and he murmured in response, “I can purposely adhere to nature and age like mortal humans, not freezing my appearance and also becoming a white-haired old man.”

“You’re wrong and wrong again,” Chen Ping’an said with a shake of his head.

Pang Lanxi looked up with a dumbfounded expression.

“Let’s ignore the fact that you’ll still have a divine aura within and a luscious glow over your skin even if you have the appearance of an old man at that time,” Chen Ping’an said.

After pausing for a moment, Chen Ping’an asked in a quiet voice, “Have you ever put yourself in Miss Xingzi’s shoes and thought carefully about what she wants? When it comes to certain matters, you might have very good intentions and act from a place of kindness, but will your actions truly lead to positive results? Are your actions necessarily correct? Have you ever considered the fact that showing other people true kindness isn’t simply about what you or what we want?”

Pang Lanxi wanted to say something, but he couldn’t help but hesitate.

“Back at Mural City, I was only a fleeting guest in your lives,” Chen Ping’an continued slowly. “Since she told you to run out of the shop to chase after me and warn me to be careful, just her kindness alone means that she’s a good person who most certainly deserves your feelings.

“I observed the two of you at the shop, and as an observer, I could roughly tell that Miss Xingzi is someone with great attention to detail yet also very open-minded. This is extremely rare. Because of this, she won’t feel ashamed when interacting with you simply because you’re a lofty immortal from the Flax Robe Sect while she’s only a small merchant from outside the mountains. Do you understand just how rare this mentality is? Do you understand just how good it is?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and answered, “You don’t know.”

Pang Lanxi was dazed and speechless, with his lips moving slightly.

“In other words, it’s actually Miss Xingzi who’s been looking after your feelings all these years, hoping that you can focus on cultivation and ascend to greater heights on the mountain,” Chen Ping’an revealed. “If my guess is correct, she definitely didn’t show too much reluctance when parting ways with you after those rare times that you left the mountain to help out in her shop. However, you would feel slightly gloomy afterward, worried that she didn’t like you as much as you liked her. Am I correct?”

The rims of Pang Lanxi’s eyes became slightly red as he pursed his lips tightly.

Chen Ping’an sighed and retrieved a pot of wine. This wasn’t immortal wine, and it was his hometown rice wine that was exported from Dragon Spring Prefecture all the way to places as far as the capital of the Great Li Empire. Chen Ping’an took a sip and asked, “You’ve never sat down and truly considered her feelings, and you’ve instead always acted according to your own beliefs. Is this really okay?”

Pang Lanxi shook his head and replied, “No, it’s completely not okay.”

“Which brings me to the last point,” Chen Ping’an continued. “Now that the fated opportunities linked to the murals of the heavenly officials in Mural City are gone, it’s possible that Miss Xingzi’s shop won’t be able to survive for much longer. Perhaps you only view this as a minor matter, because this is indeed a minor matter for a cultivator like you. This is only a shop in the market, so how many lesser heat coins can it earn or lose in a single year? Meanwhile, how many immortal coins can you, Pang Lanxi, obtain from the ancestral hall of the Flax Robe Sect each year?

“However, you’re completely unaware of just how significant this is to a young woman in the mortal world, to coincidentally own a shop at the foot of the Flax Robe Sect. After losing this business, will this not be a disastrous outcome for Miss Xingzi even if she’s able to relocate her shop to the market of Helpless Pass or someplace else?”

Chen Ping’an took another sip of wine, with his voice gentle and rich and his words as mellow as fine wine. “The considerations of young women are perhaps always more far-sighted than the considerations of young men at the same age,” he said slowly. “How should I put this? The difference between the two can be characterized like this: The thoughts of a young man are analogous to climbing up a mountain and only looking up, while the thoughts of a young woman are analogous to a small and winding river flowing into the distance.”

Pang Lanxi scrunched up his face, and it was unknown what kind of sad image had appeared in his mind. Just the thought of this caused the initially happy and carefree young man to have tears brimming in his eyes.

Chen Ping’an sighed softly as he glanced at Pang Lanxi.

Even Liu Laocheng, the island master of Palace Willow Island who had an extremely strong Dao Heart and a seemingly cold-hearted personality, had once tripped over and suffered greatly because of love.

Chen Ping’an suddenly smiled and said, “What are you afraid of? Since you understand a bit more now, you can naturally do better in the future and consider Miss Xingzi’s feelings a bit more. If you’re truly unable to do this and feel like you’re not good at understanding the thoughts of young women, then I can also teach you the simplest and dumbest trick in the book: Don’t feel embarrassed to speak your mind to her. When it comes to the face and dignity of men, we strive to not lose them a single time when interacting with the outside world. However, there’s no need to always appear so tough in front of the person whom you love.”

Pang Lanxi nodded and wiped his eyes, with a dazzling smile stretching across his face as he asked, “How do you know so much, Chen Ping’an?”

He was a cultivator, after all, so everything immediately became clear once Chen Ping’an revealed the root of the problem. Pang Lanxi’s mind once again became pure and limpid.

Chen Ping’an raised the wine pot in his hand and swirled it around, replying, “Because I travel through the cultivation world and because I drink wine.”

“Does wine really taste that good?” Pang Lanxi asked in curiosity.

Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything, and he simply responded by drinking wine.

He continued to patiently wait for news from Malicious Ghost Valley.

In reality, there were some things that Chen Ping’an could have explained to Pang Lanxi more clearly. However, once he delved into the details and started to discuss the fundamental concepts, it was possible that what he said would pertain to the Great Dao. This was a huge taboo for cultivators in the mountains, so Chen Ping’an naturally wouldn’t overstep this boundary.

Moreover, the romantic feelings between young men and young women remaining slightly naive and muddle-headed was actually a beautiful thing. As such, there was no reason for Chen Ping’an to shatter this beautiful innocence and pedantically pore over the details.

Pang Lanxi bade farewell and walked away, saying that he would definitely obtain at least two sets of yellow paper mural replicas for Chen Ping’an. Chen Ping’an simply needed to sit tight and wait for the good news.

Chen Ping’an suddenly called out to Pang Lanxi just as the young man was about to exit the courtyard, saying with a smile, “I forgot to say that there’s one more thing you should keep in mind. If you genuinely feel like what I said just now is reasonable, then you should still ponder over things a bit more when you act according to these principles. It’s not necessarily the case that reasonable-sounding principles are one hundred percent suitable for you.”

Pang Lanxi waved his hand and chuckled in reply, “I’m not truly stupid beyond saving, so rest assured that I’ll definitely ponder over things by myself!”

Afterward, Chen Ping’an stood up and walked in circles around the stone table, practicing the six-step walking meditation.

When evening arrived, Chen Ping’an stopped practicing the fist stance and turned around to look back.

A figure flew over on the wind, arriving from the direction where the colossal skeleton Dao Manifestation and the golden-armored deity had appeared several days ago.

When an earth immortal didn’t purposely conceal their aura, there would often be the sound of booming thunder as they rode on the wind and flew through the skies. There would be huge commotion. However, one could soar through the skies silently once advancing to the Upper Five Tiers and integrating with the Dao of heaven and earth. In fact, one could even come close to eliminating the ripples of their aura.

The figure surging toward Wood Garment Mountain was most likely Sect Leader Zhu Quan, an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator, yet she still caused a huge commotion as she traveled through the sky. Either she was purposely showing off her might to deter the restless forces lying in hiding at Skeleton Shoal, or she had legitimately suffered severe wounds when fighting against City Lord Gao Cheng in Malicious Ghost Valley, causing her cultivation base to become unstable.

After dashing into the territory of Wood Garment Mountain, the figure suddenly ground to a halt before shooting toward the immortal residence located at the waist of the mountain like an arrow.

Chaotic astral wind swept through the small courtyard, causing Chen Ping’an’s large sleeves to flutter loudly.

The visitor was none other than Sect Leader Zhu Quan, the Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator who cultivated in a thatched cottage near Green Cottage Town.

Chen Ping’an cupped his fists and said, “Thank you for your assistance, Sect Leader Zhu.”

Zhu Quan waved her hand and sat beside the stone table. When she saw the wine pot on the table, she gestured at it and said, “If you’re truly sincere about thanking me, then hurry up and treat me to a pot of wine to satisfy my craving.”

Sitting opposite her, Chen Ping’an retrieved a pot of rice wine and explained, “This is just rice wine from my hometown, not immortal wine from the mountains.”

Zhu Quan cracked open the clay seal and tilted her head back, drinking a large swig of wine. She then wiped her mouth and commented, “It is slightly blander than I like, but it’s at least wine instead of water.”

She glanced at the young man who was quietly sitting opposite her and asked, “Are you very close with Skeleton Pu? I never observed your travels through Malicious Ghost Valley, not even when you were barging her and there with Yang Ningxing, so I’m not clear about how you’re capable enough to have Skeleton Pu draw his sword for your sake.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “I don’t have a close relationship with him. To be more precise, I even had some conflicts with him. A fight erupted between me and the female ghosts from Meticulous Skin City, and it was Pu Rang who stopped me from hunting down Fan Yunluo. Afterward, he actively looked for me one time, and I asked him why he didn’t covet the sword on my back when I saw him wearing an azure robe and carrying a sword.”

Zhu Quan drank quite a lot of the rice wine even though she called it bland, and it wasn’t long before she reached the bottom of the pot. She forcefully slammed the wine pot on the table and asked, “And how did Skeleton Pu respond?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and didn’t say anything.

Oh? Are these two truly peas from the same pod? Zhu Quan thought to herself.

What, you’re both dressed in azure and using a sword, so you feel like you’re on top of the world?

However, Zhu Quan glanced at the empty wine pot and let the matter slide. She had already drunk Chen Ping’an’s wine, so it was better for her to be more polite toward him. In any case, compared to the pile of dog shit that was Jiang Shangzhen, any other man from the outside world appeared as beautiful and good as a blooming flower. Moreover, the young man in front of her had directly introduced himself as Chen Ping’an from the Great Li Empire’s Cloud Drape Mountain before, and Zhu Quan had been relatively happy with their transaction.

Zhu Quan had naturally heard of Cloud Drape Mountain before, and she had even heard about Wei Bo, the formal god of the Great Li Empire’s Northern Mountain, several times. This was inevitable, as the Flax Robe Sect relied on their intercontinental ship to make money in the other continents of the Majestic World.

At the same time, she also believed the second sentence that Chen Ping’an had said to her back then. The young man said that he owned a fifty percent stake in Ox Horn Mountain’s immortal ferry station, so he promised that the intercontinental ship of the Flax Robe Sect wouldn’t need to pay a single snowflake coin for docking there for the next five hundred years. Zhu Quan saw this as a long-term transaction where she didn’t need to spend a single copper coin, so it was only natural that she definitely accepted Chen Ping’an’s offer. If news of this spread, who would dare to say that she was an incompetent and wasteful sect leader?

However, Zhu Quan still felt slightly unhappy since Chen Ping’an appeared far too similar to Skeleton Pu, her biggest opponent. She smiled and said, “You actually didn’t need to do this. You didn’t need to offer me anything, and to say nothing of Skeleton Wall City, I would have stepped forward to stop any of those skeletons that I dislike as long as it was targeting the north. Are you feeling regret now? Is your little heart trembling in grief?”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and replied, “Sect Leader Zhu is heroic and righteous, and this represents the grand demeanor of a large sect like the Flax Robe Sect. However, I’m only a guest and a junior, so I can’t act in a stingy manner and try to take advantage of you or your sect. I still need to adhere to the proper etiquette.”

Zhu Quan rubbed her chin and commented, “What you’re saying is good, but why does this sound so grating to the ear?”

Chen Ping’an retrieved another pot of wine.

Zhu Quan nodded and said with a smile, “Your words might be grating to the ear, but you appear much more pleasing to the eye now.”

Chen Ping’an grabbed his pot of unfinished rice wine and started to drink slowly.

Zhu Quan glanced at his slow manner of drinking and shook her head. He appeared unpleasant to the eye again.

After finishing the second pot of rice wine, Zhu Quan placed the empty wine pot on the table and said, “There’s no need to offer me any more wine.

“Skeleton Pu has genuinely angered Skeleton Wall City this time, so he’ll certainly be made to suffer for the next while,” Zhu Quan continued. “However, Skeleton Pu has never cared about these things, and Gao Cheng has always been annoyed at him anyway. They can go all out and fight with their full strength. In that case, Gao Cheng can genuinely kill Skeleton Pu, but Skeleton Wall City will also suffer some fundamental damage.

“Gao Cheng has genuinely lost all of his face this time, first failing to kill you and then being held back for a long time by Criminal Jiang’s crappy net. Guess what happened after Gao Cheng retreated back to Malicious Ghost Valley? He was reluctant to destroy the crappy net that was essentially made out of snowflake coins, so he could only pinch his nose and retrieve the net.

“Haha, perhaps Gao Cheng was accustomed to being this thrifty before making a name for himself at Skeleton Shoal, but who would have thought that he would need to act the same way after gaining wide renown in the region? As a big pervert with a black heart, Jiang Shangzhen actually managed to do something good for once in his life.”

Zhu Quan found this extremely satisfying, so she roared with laughter and naturally extended her hand toward Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an sighed in his mind and placed the third pot of rice wine on the table.