Unsheathed

Jiang Shangzhen changed the topic and asked, “Are you aware that the Heavenly World has a genuine Mystery Capital Temple?”

“I’ve never heard about it before,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head.

A rare look of yearning appeared on Jiang Shangzhen’s face, and he finished his remaining wine before casually tossing the wine pot into the distance and explaining, “That place is a genuine immortal abode, and the old temple master owns a Peach Tree Small World and possesses incredibly paramount Dao power. As such, he’s widely known as one of the earth ancestors.”

“Then what about the Small Mystery Capital Temple that’s located in the peach tree forest of Malicious Ghost Valley?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Jiang Shangzhen lowered his voice and replied with a smile, “It can be considered a lower sect that the Mystery Capital Temple has left behind on the Majestic World. However, it’s slightly illegitimate, and I’m not especially clear about its specific inheritances either. I was in a hurry to travel to the north of the Complete Reed Continent back then, so I didn’t enter Malicious Ghost Valley to look around. In any case, there aren’t any stunning beauties in the Flax Robe Sect. However, I would have definitely visited Malicious Ghost Valley if Zhu Quan were better looking.”

Chen Ping’an glanced at Wood Garment Mountain and the sea of clouds that were linked together with this mystical realm, places that had already fallen silent for a very long time. However, he felt like Sect Leader Zhu Quan hadn’t given up, and she was instead building something up for a final attack.

“There’s nothing too interesting about the Small Mystery Capital Temple, but the Great Round Moon Monastery is indeed very interesting,” Jiang Shangzhen continued. “Before appearing at Skeleton Shoal, that old monk had already been an eminent monk who was very well-renowned throughout the entire continent. His Buddhist knowledge is profound, and it’s said that he was a Buddhist seed who was defeated during a debate between the Three Teachings, so he confined himself to a temple afterward. As for Skeleton Pu… Hahaha! Pu Rang, whom you admire deeply, is actually…”

Jiang Shangzhen clutched his belly and roared with laughter, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed from his eyes. “Pu Rang is actually a woman! This is a secret that I spent a huge sum of money to purchase, and even the Flax Robe Sect might be completely oblivious to this fact. Casting one’s gaze over Malicious Ghost Valley, perhaps only Gao Cheng is aware of this secret as well.”

“So what if Pu Rang is a female sword immortal?” Chen Ping’an snapped in reply.

After finally calming down with much difficulty, Jiang Shangzhen said with emotion, “However, it’s a shame that she became attracted to a monk. This naturally caused very big headaches.”

There was astonishment on Chen Ping’an’s face as he asked in a quiet voice, “Was it the old monk from the Great Round Moon Monastery?”

Jiang Shangzhen nodded and explained, “It’s because of this that Pu Rang died on the battlefield — she was doing everything in her ability to protect that temple from the flames of war. However, this is the mystical nature of the world. If she hadn’t died, then the old monk could have become a Bodhisattva a long time ago. Regarding the rights and wrongs and gains and losses of these matters, who can explain them clearly?”

Chen Ping’an came to a slight realization.

Through Jiang Shangzhen’s explanation, he understood why the old monk had said those words on the bank of the Black River before. This long thread had already floated to the top of the water, and the revelation about Pu Rang had made this thread even clearer.

“There are some issues with your mental state,” Jiang Shangzhen suddenly said. “According to your actions in the past, you’ll only become more resolute if you detect any danger. However, even as an outsider, I could tell that your movements were very suspect when you made that final trip to Copper Stench City.”

Chen Ping’an nodded and explained, “The living water at the source isn’t limpid enough, so the mind’s realm is naturally murky as a result.”

“This is no small matter,” Jiang Shangzhen commented with a smile.

“We’ll take things slowly,” Chen Ping’an said.

“Are you still planning to take the risk and travel to the Northern Complete Reed Continent?” Jiang Shangzhen asked.

“I can take a step back to consider the situation, but I have to advance against the tides of difficulty when I’m walking on my two feet,” Chen Ping’an replied.

Jiang Shangzhen didn’t say anything else.

“The Mystery Capital Temple has a Peach Tree Small World, and you also own the Cloud Cave Blessed Land. Is it very tiresome to clean and maintain these places?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Jiang Shangzhen wrapped his hands behind his head and replied, “If you like to split hairs, then it’s genuinely a difficult problem that you can never solve and a difficult task that you can never finish.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response and gazed into the distance.

Jiang Shangzhen crossed his legs and mused, “Following the departure of the eight female heavenly officials from Mural City, this place has become a blessed land of relatively low grade. However, it’s still a critical territory of the Flax Robe Sect, and maintaining it well will be equivalent to having an extra Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator.

“On the other hand, maintaining it badly will delay the cultivation of two Nascent Tier cultivators. At the end of the day, everything depends on Zhu Quan’s abilities. After all, it takes an infinite amount of resources to maintain blessed lands, mystical realms, and small worlds. In fact, these territories require even more resources than sword immortals.

“Chen Ping’an, perhaps you’ll also own such a place in the future, and there’s one thing that you need to keep in mind when that day comes. You most definitely can’t regard yourself as a living Bodhisattva whose goal is to save people from pain and suffering, or else you’ll end up transforming something good into something disastrous. It’s important that you understand your status and act accordingly.

“For example, there were fifty million ants in my Cloud Cave Blessed Land during its peak, and the bamboo forest inside also enjoyed a bountiful yield not seen in one thousand years. With the conditions ripe, earth immortals started to pop up one after another. I became extremely smug, but I almost ended up losing my life when I descended into my blessed land to travel around. I was infuriated, and I viciously punished those ants in the blessed land. It was thanks to that decision that I enjoy my current wealth.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t offer any comment on this.

Jiang Shangzhen started to put away his immortal treasures, gradually retracting the treasures that were sealing the eight gates corresponding to the murals and placing them inside his sleeves.

However, he didn’t touch the immortal treasures that were sealing the main gate in the sea of clouds. Jiang Shangzhen wanted to witness the grandeur of Zhu Quan’s final saber strike. He would treat this as a farewell gift before he left the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

“Will it be very terrifying if I sincerely treat you as a friend one day?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Jiang Shangzhen smiled and replied, “Because doing so will go against your true self? Because you’re afraid that you would have changed too much at that time? Perhaps that will be bad for you, Chen Ping’an. However, these are possibly the benefits and drawbacks brought about by the differences of the Great Dao. I’m someone who seeks change and adherence to the trend, and I simply need an anchor in my heart that can sink to the bottom of the lake.

“Regardless of the howling winds and lashing rains causing waves of ten thousand feet tall, I don’t need to pay any heed to the chaos taking place on the surface of the lake. As such, I’ve been feeling relatively carefree and relaxed as I’ve walked along the path of cultivation. In addition, what kind of person and matter haven’t I come across after living for so long? This has allowed me to deal with matters even more adeptly.

“On the other hand, you most likely seek stillness. You’re also quite young, so you feel like you need to be extra careful after observing good deeds here and bad deeds there, so much so that you feel restrained no matter what you do, leading to many bumps and hiccups along the way. That being the case, cultivation will naturally become very difficult for you. On the flip side, however, you’ll be tempering and improving yourself again and again as long as you’re able to safeguard your true self.

“There’s no sense of superiority or inferiority between you and I, nor is there a sense of good or bad. It’s simply the case that we each have our own fated opportunities. In reality, this notion isn’t just confined to the two of us, and it’s the same story for Gao Cheng, Zhu Quan, the old monk, the old Daoist priest, and other people as well. When it comes to cultivation, I’ve always felt like the fundamental path underfoot can’t be categorized as superior or inferior. I’ve never really believed in cultivation paths having dead ends or whatnot.”

“From the beginning to the end, your words have all been extremely invaluable,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile.

Jiang Shangzhen felt especially smug, but his expression suddenly changed as he asked with a faint smile, “Then you and Sui Youbian…?”

Chen Ping’an was slightly puzzled.

There was a strange expression on Jiang Shangzhen’s face, and he clenched his hands into fists and twiddled his thumbs as he asked, “There’s nothing going on between the two of you?”

Chen Ping’an rolled his eyes and couldn’t be bothered saying anything in response.

Jiang Shangzhen shook his head and exclaimed, “You’re wasting a divine treasure!”

There was a loud crack.

A burst of saber light slashed through the sea of clouds, causing several dazzling immortal treasures to instantly shatter apart and disperse into the surroundings. Jiang Shangzhen looked up and roared with laughter, praising, “Such impressive saber skills, Little Quan’er. Big Brother Zhou Fei is completely bedazzled and spellbound!”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the completely annihilated immortal treasures, and he almost felt pained for Jiang Shangzhen. This was the true definition of wasting divine treasures, right?

“I’m heading off now! No need to see me off, Little Quan’er.”

Jiang Shangzhen stood up and waved his sleeve, retrieving the remaining treasures in the sky. At the same time, his bonded item — the willow leaf — slashed open one of the small gates corresponding to the murals, and he transformed into a bright streak of light as he fled into the distance. He fled so quickly that his speed was comparable to that of sword immortals traveling on their swords.

Chen Ping’an felt slightly envious. If he possessed such impressive ability to escape, then perhaps he wouldn’t face any dangers even if he traveled to Malicious Ghost Valley again or even if he took a stroll around Skeleton Wall City, right?

Zhu Quan landed on the railing with a long saber in her hand, with her aura formidable and her murderous intent palpable. After hesitating for a moment, she decided against going to Mural City to pursue Jiang Shangzhen, and she instead shouted loudly, “Jiang Shangzhen, I’ll hack off all three legs of yours if you dare to come to my Flax Robe Sect again!”

Jiang Shangzhen suddenly poked his head out from the gate of the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden’s mural and asked, “Can you use your palm instead of your saber?”

Zhu Quan immediately charged over with her saber.

Only after one entire hour did Zhu Quan finally return to the mystical realm, with a faint scent of the sea wind still lingering on her body. She had definitely pursued Jiang Shangzhen all the way to the sea.

Zhu Quan felt slightly angry and annoyed as she sheathed her saber, and she sat down on the railing and extended her hand.

Chen Ping’an tossed her a pot of rice wine.

Zhu Quan tilted her head back and drank in large gulps, following which she asked with a dark expression, “Are you friends with Jiang Shangzhen?”

Chen Ping’an was completely unfazed as he replied in a righteous voice, “We were once life-and-death enemies in a blessed land of the Parasol Leaf Continent, and he was calling himself Zhou Fei at the time.”

Zhu Quan glanced at Chen Ping’an and snickered, “The words of men are all fucking lies.”

Chen Ping’an drank some wine to suppress his astonishment.

Zhu Quan humped coldly and continued, “To be pissing in the same pot as Jiang Shangzhen, I reckon that you aren’t a very good person either.”

Chen Ping’an simply drank wine in silence.

“Are you silently conceding this?” Zhu Quan asked in anger.

“No, I’m not,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head.

Zhu Quan’s expression softened a little, and she said, “If it weren’t for your remark about showing loyalty to a single person just then, I might have not held back and given you a saber strike as well.”

Chen Ping’an smiled bitterly upon hearing this.

“You can feel free to travel north afterward,” Zhu Quan said. “I’ll keep a very close eye on Skeleton Wall City, and he’ll lose more than just one hundred years of cultivation if he dares to show himself again. Rest assured, it’s incredibly difficult for Gao Cheng to secretly sneak in and out of Malicious Ghost Valley and Skeleton Shoal. The mountain-protection formation of the Flax Robe Sect will also remain in a half-open state afterward, so you won’t face any danger at all unless Gao Cheng is willing to sacrifice half his life and plummet to at least the Nascent Tier. You can even feel free to swagger out of Skeleton Shoal.”

Chen Ping’an breathed a soft sigh of relief.

Zhu Quan smiled and continued, “If I were you, I would stand near the archway buildings on the border of Skeleton Shoal and Malicious Ghost Valley and curse Gao Cheng for three days and three nights. If he dares to show himself, then you can rely on the ancestral mountain deity of Wood Garment Mountain to run away. After that, you can pop up again once Gao Cheng leaves, and you can repeat this process again and again to anger Gao Cheng to death. Won’t that be very satisfying? In any case, you’ll be spending the money of the Flax Robe Sect, and the Flax Robe Sect will be very happy to spend money to support your cause.”

“I’ll probably board an immortal ship and take a detour around Skeleton Shoal, and I’ll disembark the ship and continue to travel around the continent after I’m a few thousand kilometers away from Skeleton Shoal,” Chen Ping’an said.

Zhu Quan widened her eyes and exclaimed, “Are you inferior to even Jiang Shangzhen? If it were him, he would definitely take things even further than me if he suffered so greatly at the hands of Gao Cheng. Disregarding everything else, Jiang Shangzhen is this when it comes to making other people feel disgusted.”

Zhu Quan raised her thumb as she continued, “There was an immortal sect that offended Jiang Shangzhen deeply in the past, and he chose to block that sect for ten years and make the disciples under the level of earth immortal feel too afraid to leave the mountains and travel around the cultivation world by themselves.

“Jiang Shangzhen gave them another big present before leaving, erecting seven or eight stone tablets that were covered in vulgarity around the mountain in a single night. He fabricated all kinds of stories, writing about the illicit sexual relationships between the old ancestors and earth immortals of the sect regardless of whether they were male or female. These stories were incredibly nasty and vile, but his writing ability was indeed fairly good. In fact, those erotic stories are still circulating around the mountains to this day.”

“Why would I compare myself to Jiang Shangzhen in these regards?” Chen Ping’an asked in exasperation.

Zhu Quan thought for a moment before conceding, “You have a point. It’s best not to learn anything from that big pervert.”

Chen Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief.

Interacting with Sect Leader Zhu Quan was even more tiresome than fighting to the death with other people.

————

Outside the peach tree forest, a skeleton dressed in azure and carrying a sword stood beside the two stone tablets but didn’t enter the forest.

An old and emaciated monk wearing a loose Buddhist robe appeared in front of the skeleton.

The skeleton was none other than City Lord Pu Rang of White Cage City, and she said in a hoarse voice, “You finally dare to come out here and meet me?”

The old monk put his palms together and remained silent.

Pu Rang placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, causing sword qi to instantly exude from her weapon and envelop her like a mist.

In the next instant…

Pu Rang was still dressed in azure and carrying a sword, but she was no longer a rack of white bones like before. Instead, she transformed into a… gallant-looking woman.

“A myriad of fears exist in life, a life as impermanent as the morning dew; from love there arises anxiety, and from love there arises fear,” she said slowly.[1] “No matter how little I understand Buddhism, how can I possibly not understand these concepts? I know that it’s me who’s delaying you from overcoming the final barrier, and you can blame me for this. However, I’ve purposely traveled around Malicious Ghost Valley as a skeleton for so many years to make you feel guilty!”

She was direct and forthright when alive, and she remained the same even as a ghost after death.

Thinking back to the past, a young monk traveling around the world had coincidentally come across a young woman working in the fields in the countryside, holding seedlings in one hand and wiping her sweat with her other hand.

Basking in the sunlight, the young woman who clearly wasn’t especially beautiful had not only appeared attractive, but she had even rocked the indomitable Buddhist principles in the young monk’s heart.

It had been like a dream, an illusion, and it had also been as fleeting as the morning dew and lightning.

The old monk maintained his low gaze and continued to hold his palms together as he replied in a quiet voice, “Benefactor Pu doesn’t need to blame herself for this. It was my mental demons that led to this result. Benefactor Pu simply needs to focus on the Great Dao to achieve immortality.”

Pu Rang smiled tragically and said, “You’ve always been like this.”

She then turned around to leave.

The old monk chanted “Amitabha” before also turning around to walk away.

At the fork road leading to the Great Round Moon Monastery and the Small Mystery Capital Temple…

The old Daoist priest suddenly materialized on the path, and the old monk stopped in his tracks.

The old Daoist priest seemingly wanted to ask his old neighbor a question.

The old monk had already guessed the question a long time ago, and he explained slowly, “When standing on the bank of the Black River, that young benefactor once said, ‘One needs to have the proper mindset to achieve the proper results.’ In fact, I also have some words that I didn’t say to him. One can definitely achieve the proper results with the proper mindset.”

“Why didn’t you say this to him?” the old Daoist priest asked.

The old monk smiled faintly and replied, “Buddha is within, so seek not distant help. Seek not outside help.”

The old Daoist priest shook his head and disappeared with a flash.

The old monk remained standing in the same spot, and he bent down and extended his hand as if he were scooping up some water. “Sowing the fields with your hands, looking down and seeing the sky in the water,” he murmured to himself.

————

An immortal ship originating from Skeleton Shoal didn’t sail directly north, and it instead sailed toward someplace bordering the sea in the southeast.

Night fell, and Chen Ping’an flicked through a military book under the candlelight.

1. This is a saying from a Buddhist scripture. Anxiety arises from love due to feeling anxious about love being impermanent, and fear arises from love due to the fear of loss. ☜