Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an put away the military book and flipped open a book that was similar to the Flax Robe Sect’s Be At Ease Compilation. This book was called Spring Dew in Winter, and it was a small book that introduced the immortal force that owned this immortal ship. The book was quite interesting, and there were stories both long and short talking about which sword immortal of the Northern Complete Reed Continent had rested on their mountain before, which earth immortal had drank tea and discussed Dao at which famous landmark, what poems and essays the literati had written for their mountain, what paintings the literati had composed, and so on.

Chen Ping’an was traveling on an immortal ship owned by the Spring Dew Garden, and the main income source of this immortal ship was from selling strange and wonderful plants raised by the immortal force as it traveled to the different regions. Among these plants, there were three types of immortal flowers that were essentially monopolized by the Flax Robe Sect, thereby creating a huge income source for the Spring Dew Garden. Because of this, the route of the immortal ship started and finished at an area between Skeleton Shoal and the Fine Wood Mountain Range, where the Spring Dew Garden was located.

The Spring Dew Garden belonged to the School of Agrarianism of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and the majority of cultivators in this immortal force were female cultivators who largely had warm and gentle personalities.

At the same time, the Fine Wood Mountain Range was rich with wonderful wood and plant spirits, and this allowed the Spring Dew Garden to become a very wealthy second-rate immortal force in the southeastern region of the Complete Reed Continent. In addition to this, the Spring Dew Garden had many friends and few enemies, so the Fine Wood Mountain Range was a place that young official immortals from the south would definitely travel to when they left the mountains to travel and train.

There were three reasons why Chen Ping’an had chosen to take this immortal ship. Firstly, traveling on this immortal ship would allow him to take a detour around Skeleton Shoal. Secondly, the Spring Dew Garden had three unique treasures passed down through the generations, one of which was an old locust tree that had lived in the Fine Wood Mountain Range for ten thousand years and measured dozens of meters tall. Chen Ping’an wanted to take a look at this locust tree and see how it was different from the old locust tree from his hometown.

Lastly, the Spring Dew Garden would host a Farewelling the Year Banquet whenever New Year’s Eve was around the corner. At this time, thousands of wandering merchants would gather together to sell their wares, creating a grand event where immortal coins flew around everywhere. Chen Ping’an planned to do some small business at this banquet.

The small book introducing the Spring Dew Garden wasn’t thin, but compared to the extremely detailed Be At Ease Compilation that was like a nagging parent at home, it was ultimately still fewer in the number of pages.

In reality, Chen Ping’an felt slightly disappointed that he hadn’t been able to collect similar books at the Parasol Leaf Continent’s Planchette Writing Sect and the other immortal forces.

After finishing the small book, Chen Ping’an started to practice the six-step walking meditation. In the end, he was essentially half asleep as he continued to walk from the window to the door as he practiced the fist stance, yet his footsteps didn’t stray in the least.

Dawn arrived, and Chen Ping’an opened his eyes and stopped practicing walking meditation, returning to the seat beside the table and sitting down to wait. Only when someone knocked on his door did he stand up and answer it.

A steward of the immortal ship was standing outside, and he was an elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator and one of the few male cultivators in the Spring Dew Garden. He appeared lethargic and aged, and he couldn’t compare to the Flax Robe Sect’s Du Wensi or Yang Lin at all. They were all at the same cultivation base, yet the gulf between them was still incredibly large.

If they were to engage in a fight, it was very likely that victory and defeat would be decided in the blink of an eye. However, this wasn’t to say that cultivators from the Spring Dew Garden were pushovers, and it was instead a reflection of the fact that cultivators from the Flax Robe Sect were a special breed who treated life-and-death battles as normal everyday occurrences.

After Chen Ping’an opened the door, the old cultivator said in an apologetic voice, “Sorry for disturbing your rest, fellow cultivator.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “There’s no need to be so polite, Senior Song. I only just woke up as well, and according to the introductions in the book, we should be approaching the Dao partner mountains in Golden Light Peak and Moonlight Mountain soon. I plan to head out to try my luck, and I want to see whether I can come across any gold back geese or drum croak frogs.”

The old cultivator smiled faintly and said, “I’ve come here for this exact reason, and I wanted to remind Young Master Chen that you can enter the territory of Golden Light Peak in approximately four hours.”

The Golden Core Tier cultivator used a slightly more friendly title, referring to Chen Ping’an as Young Master Chen instead of fellow cultivator.

He was repaying the favor since Chen Ping’an had referred to him as Senior Song.

Chen Ping’an hurriedly moved aside and said, “Please come inside, Senior Song.”

The old cultivator gave a knowing smile. When the difference in cultivation base was small between cultivators from the mountains — for example, one was at the Sea Observation Tier and one was at the Dragon Gate Tier — then referring to each other as fellow cultivators would be sufficient. When cultivators at the Lower Five Tiers came across cultivators at the Middle Five Tiers, or when cultivators at the Abode Tier, Sea Observation Tier, or Dragon Gate Tier came across earth immortals at the Golden Core Tier or Nascent Tier, however, those at the lower tiers would need to refer to those at the higher tiers as esteemed immortal or senior. The Golden Core Tier was a threshold, hence the saying, “Those who form a golden core will become one of us.” This was a rule in the mountains that rang true no matter where one traveled.

Of course, if one were courageous enough, those at the Lower Five Tiers could still boldly refer to earth immortals or even Upper Five Tier cultivators as fellow cultivators. This was fine as long as one wasn’t afraid of being smacked to death.

The old man was a Golden Core Tier cultivator, yet he had still referred to the young guest as a fellow cultivator, so there was clearly a particular reason for this.

The person who had accompanied this young cultivator to the immortal ship was Pang Lanxi, a direct disciple of the Flax Robe Sect’s ancestral hall and an extremely renowned young prodigy. It was said that Pang Lanxi could perhaps become one of the top ten young prodigies in the Northern Complete Reed Continent within the next sixty years.

If other sects bragged about their disciples like this, it was most likely to express their hope rather than a statement of truth. As such, their claims could be regarded as little more than jokes. If people came across such claims, they simply needed to smile and nod and curse in their minds, telling these shameless fools to piss off. However, the Spring Dew Garden was a frequent visitor to Skeleton Shoal, so they knew that the cultivators of Flax Robe Sect were a different breed. These cultivators didn’t brag, and they instead let their ruthless actions do the talking.

So be it if it were only Pang Lanxi who had represented the Flax Robe Sect to farewell the guest, and this naturally couldn’t compare to Sect Leader Zhu Quan or Mural City’s Yang Lin appearing to see off a guest. However, this elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator was always traveling around, and he wasn’t the type of immortal who would cultivate in seclusion for ten years or several decades whenever he felt like it.

As such, he had developed exceptional observation skills, and he had gauged through Pang Lanxi’s speech and expressions that the young prodigy surprisingly had deep and sincere admiration for the young wanderer, someone whom even he couldn’t gauge the abilities of.

That being the case, the elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator naturally had to think hard about how he treated Chen Ping’an. In addition to this, astounding commotion had just taken place at Malicious Ghost Valley and Skeleton Shoal, and Skeleton Wall City’s Gao Cheng had even summoned his colossal skeleton Dao Manifestation and personally pursued a streak of golden sword light that had fled toward Wood Garment Mountain. The elderly cultivator wasn’t stupid, so he was naturally able to connect some dots together.

This was a chance encounter between two cultivators from the mountains, so one party opening the door and inviting the other inside was a show of deep sincerity.

When it came to cultivators from the mountains, they weren’t joking at all when they talked about keeping distance from the mortal world.

The elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator’s name was Song Lanqiao, and according to the genealogical records kept in the ancestral hall of the immortal force, he was a cultivator who belonged to the Lan Generation of the Spring Dew Garden. Almost all of the cultivators in the Spring Dew Garden were females, so it naturally wasn’t a big deal for them to have the character “Lan” in their names.[1] However, this was slightly strange for a male, so Song Lanqiao’s master had added the extra character “Qiao” to suppress the feminine nature of the character “Lan.”

Before boarding the immortal ship, Chen Ping’an had only learned about Golden Light Peak and Moonlight Mountain being Dao partner mountains from Pang Lanxi. If one were fortunate enough, one could even see spirit beasts and peculiar matters when they traveled to these mountains on an immortal ship. As such, Chen Ping’an had been very attentive the entire time after boarding the ship.

And now, Song Lanqiao had coincidentally come here to remind Chen Ping’an of the matter and help answer any questions.

As it turned out, gold back geese would occasionally appear around the vicinity of Golden Light Peak. These geese were as quick as sword immortals traveling on their flying swords, and they would only slow down slightly and linger for a while longer when they arrived near the uniquely blessed Golden Light Peak. Apart from cultivators at or above the Nascent Tier, ordinary cultivators didn’t need to dream about capturing gold back geese. Moreover, gold back geese were extremely fiery and unyielding, and they would choose to self-immolate and die if they were caught, leaving their capturers empty-handed.

Gold back geese liked to soar among the rolling sea of clouds, and they especially liked to bathe in the sunlight. Because their backs were always exposed to the blazing sun and absorbing the essence of the sunlight, mature-aged gold back geese possessed the ability to grow a single golden feather. It was rare for them to grow two, and it was even rarer for them to grow three.

There was a Nascent Tier vagrant cultivator who had already been famous for a very long time in the southern region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, and thanks to the strings of fate and destiny, an old ancestor of the gold back geese which was covered in gold feathers had voluntarily recognized him as its master. The gold back goose possessed the combat power of a Golden Core Tier cultivator, and it would appear like the brilliant rising sun when it beat its wings and soared into the sky.

The Nascent Tier vagrant cultivator also had a hobby of surprising people, so he had blinded the eyes of countless cultivators under the level of earth immortal with his gold back goose. After advancing to the Nascent Tier, however, he had fallen much quieter and become a cultivator who nurtured himself in relative peace and silence. It was only then that people were no longer able to see the dazzling gold back goose.

As for Moonlight Mountain, a giant snow-white frog that was as large as a mountain would bring its descendants to the mountain peak and croak nonstop whenever it was the first and fifteenth day of the new month. These frogs would appear like meditating cultivators as they absorbed the essence of the moon. When the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived, Moonlight Mountain would be covered in even more frogs that croaked in a thunderous manner. Because of this, Moonlight Mountain was also widely known as Thunder Mountain.

There were naturally cultivators who wanted to tame the giant frog, but the giant frog possessed incredible innate talent and was especially skilled at earth-element techniques and escape techniques. It was able to shrink its gigantic body to the size of a dust particle and then hide itself in the earth veins and mountain roots. Once it did so, Moonlight Mountain would also become as heavy as the Five Mountains or a large nation, meaning that even Nascent Tier cultivators wouldn’t be able to uproot and move the mountain.

That being the case, cultivators often traveled to Moonlight Mountain in an attempt to catch a few snow-white drum croak frogs of one hundred years old. However, they would be fortunate to succeed, as the giant frog ancestor was extremely protective of its descendants. Indeed, many Middle Five Tier cultivators had already lost their lives at Moonlight Mountain.

Song Lanqiao told some humorous and embarrassing stories about the experiences of cultivators on Moonlight Mountain, and Chen Ping’an sat there and listened on with keen interest and enjoyment.

There was once a person who had caught a gold back goose with a large net, yet several gold back geese had grabbed the net in their beaks and soared high into the sky. The cultivator had been unwilling to let go no matter what, and they had eventually been dragged into the clouds extremely high above the ground. When they finally let go, they had already lost all of their clothes and become riddled with injuries from the gold back geese pecking them again and again.

Moreover, they hadn’t possessed any pocket treasures or similar storage treasures to take out a new change of clothes, so they had appeared extremely disheveled when falling back to Golden Light Peak completely naked. The cultivators enjoying the show at the peak of the mountain had jeered at their appearance, and this was only made worse by the fact that the victim had actually been a female Sea Observation Tier cultivator from a large immortal force. Afterward, this female cultivator had never left the mountain to travel around the cultivation world again.

“There aren’t cave abodes constructed by cultivators on either Golden Light Peak or Moonlight Mountain?” Chen Ping’an asked in curiosity.

Song Lanqiao stroked his beard and replied, “The sunlight essence at Golden Light Peak is far too scalding, and this is especially the case since the sunlight essence gathered on the mountain is especially unstable and unpredictable. As a result, Golden Light Peak isn’t a good place to cultivate unless an earth immortal can endure the scalding heat to cultivate there continuously for a long time. It’s incredibly difficult for ordinary cultivators to cultivate at Golden Light Peak in thatched cottages, and most people will simply be wasting their spiritual energy if they try.

“As for Moonlight Mountain, this is a place with top-notch feng shui and all of the Five Elements. However, it’s a shame that the giant frog has taken over this mountain along with his thousands of descendants and disciples. Moreover, this giant frog developed intelligence a long time ago and feels very strong animosity toward Qi refiners like us, not allowing any Qi refiners to enter the mountain to cultivate.”

“There are all kinds of creatures in the mountains and rivers, and each creature lives according to its own unique set of values,” Chen Ping’an said with a nod.

Song Lanqiao appeared to be in strong agreement with Chen Ping’an’s remark, and he smiled as he bade farewell and took his leave.

He needed to be warm and polite, but taking things too far would be stooping to a very low level. He was a Golden Core Tier cultivator after all, so he still cared about his face and wouldn’t actively butter up to someone and act inferior to them. Of course, it would be a different story if he needed to ask someone for help.

Song Lanqiao shook his head after leaving, thinking that the young cultivator was only looking at things in a superficial manner. Regarding the gold back geese of Golden Light Peak and the drum croak frogs of Moonlight Mountain, it was ultimately only a rare few species of mountain spirits that weren’t confined to cages.

After all, how many spirits were killed and sold for money? Considering just the tree and plant spirits of Fine Wood Mountain Range, how many of them were traded, and how many of them died during transportation? Managing to survive and being raised as a pet by the wealthy clans of the mortal empires was already a huge fortune.

1. Lan (兰) literally means orchid. ☜