Unsheathed

Algae Stream, a large and turquoise canal, was filled with water grass that swayed with the undulating water. It was as if water ghosts were waving at the passers-by.

There were many supernatural stories and literary records about water ghosts seeking living people to replace them in death, with most of these stories using revenge as the main theme.

However, once there was a barrier between yin and yang and a barrier between life and death, it naturally wouldn’t be so easy for ordinary water ghosts to obtain freedom from their suffering and find a living person to replace them. Ordinary water ghosts weren’t powerful cultivators skilled in a myriad of immortal techniques, after all.

As such, it was indeed true that ghosts from the yin world harmed people, but it was largely false that they were doing so for freedom and liberation. This misconception was born from the falsehoods being continuously spread by scholars, literati, and storytellers.

After leaving the water goddess shrine, Chen Ping’an dragged the unconscious canal master of Algae Stream behind him as he made his way to Verdant Bamboo Lake. Du Yu was still wearing his suit of Divine Dewbearing Armor as he flew on the wind and followed Chen Ping’an, mustering his courage to also visit Verdant Bamboo Lake.

Perhaps it was because Du Yu had already interacted with Chen Ping’an for a long time and been influenced by his behavior, he became increasingly thoughtful and meticulous as he asked about whether or not he should remove his relatively eye-catching Divine Dewbearing Armor, lest his mighty senior be detected too early and lose the advantageous element of surprise.

Chen Ping’an replied that there was no need.

This allowed Du Yu to feel slightly more at ease.

However, what Chen Ping’an said next caused Du Yu’s heart to immediately jump into his throat. The mighty senior said slowly, “There might be a huge battle after we arrive on the bank of Verdant Bamboo Lake, but you don’t need to do anything at that time, and you can simply treat it as another gamble between life and death. You can pretend to be deaf and mute as you stand on the sidelines. In any case, the situation can only become so bad from your perspective, and you might even be able to make some small profits.”

Du Yu smiled and said, “Rest assured, I might not be able to help Senior much, but I guarantee that I definitely won’t cause any extra trouble.”

Chen Ping’an merely smiled and offered no response.

Du Yu glanced at the canal master and felt as if he were living a different life. He couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. His parents had always said that lofty cultivators possessed profound Dao power. However, cultivators with clear backgrounds and immortal forces would always act in relatively predictable manners and be easier to negotiate with.

For example, the city lord of Yellow Axe City and the old ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm. As such, these cultivators weren’t necessarily frightening. However, what was frightening was the unpredictability and impermanence that existed in the world. It was because of these notions that people couldn’t predict and understand everything.

Du Yu hadn’t liked listening to these things in the past, and he had treated these lofty and intangible principles as wind passing by his ears.

As such, he felt like tonight’s trip around the jurisdiction of Verdant Bamboo Lake was more frightening and heart-stopping than the sum of his previous trips through the cultivation world. Du Yu gave up on thinking too much at this moment, and he definitely didn’t ask the mighty senior about his intentions either. He would simply treat his explanations as the truth and abide by his instructions. In any case, the schemes of those at the pinnacle of the mountains were far beyond his ability to understand and comprehend. Instead of making blind guesses, he was better off leaving everything to fate.

There was one good thing about this mysterious senior from some outside place — he was direct and authentic.

Because of this, Du Yu decided to go all out and answer all of the questions that were put to him, speaking from the bottom of his heart. Rather than playing stupid or trying to have a battle of wits with this mighty senior, it was better for him to speak and act more honestly. In any case, he surmised that the mighty senior had seen through his character and personality a long time ago.

As if recalling something, Chen Ping’an suddenly stopped in his tracks and threw the canal master to the ground. However, he didn’t smack her awake.

Du Yu’s mind was wandering at some faraway place, so he accidentally overshot the mighty immortal in azure by a few dozen meters. He hurriedly flew back and scanned the surroundings, placing his hand on the hilt of his saber and asking, “Is there a trap ahead, Senior? Should I head over to scout the situation first?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “The lake lord of Verdant Bamboo Lake and the old ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm possess profound cultivation bases, so do they need to stoop to the level of setting up traps for you and me? They simply need to station their subordinates on the bank of the lake, and just taking a single glance at them will be enough to send an ice-cold chill down your spine.”

After saying this, Chen Ping’an asked Du Yu, “There aren’t that many cultivators in the Silver Screen Nation and the dozen or so surrounding nations, so has no one ever thought about venturing further out to explore other places? For example, Skeleton Shoal in the southern region and the Great Origin Empire in the central region?”

Du Yu shook his head and replied, “I’m not sure about the cultivators from the other immortal forces, but focusing on just the Ghost Axe Palace alone, we’re told of an ancestral rule from the first day that we set foot on the path of cultivation. The gist of this ancestral rule is that disciples of future generations shouldn’t embark on distant journeys for no good reason, and they should instead focus on staying put and cultivating in peace.

“My parents often tell their disciples that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is most abundant in our region, making it a rare cultivation paradise of the world. As such, we’ll be inviting trouble if we expose ourselves to the impoverished cultivators of the outside world. They’ll naturally end up feeling jealous and coveting our lands. However, I don’t really buy this explanation, and it’s because of this that I’ve traveled around the cultivation world for so many years. In reality…”

Du Yu paused in slight hesitation after saying this.

“You’ve already answered my question honestly, so you don’t have to say the rest if you don’t want to. I’m not especially interested in your crappy experiences in the cultivation world,” Chen Ping’an said.

Du Yu immediately understood the situation, and he shuffled closer to the mighty senior before lowering his voice and saying, “This is a very strange matter. My parents do pamper me slightly, but they still keep their lips tightly sealed whenever I mention this matter. They simply respond by saying that ignorance is bliss when it comes to certain matters. I naturally didn’t dare to oppose my parents, so I came up with a compromise by using my travels through the cultivation world as an excuse to venture slightly further out. I stopped right at the acceptable limit each time, and after traveling around everywhere, I was genuinely able to discover some clues and get a taste of things.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and remarked, “It seems like you got a taste of many things in the cultivation world, didn’t you?”

Du Yu chuckled and replied, “My childish endeavors can’t compare to Senior flying on the wind to travel between continents, enjoying a free and unfettered Great Dao and traveling across the myriad mountains and rivers in a single step.”

After saying these words of flattery, Du Yu continued, “In the end, I discovered that there seemingly existed a formless barrier on the outside border of the dozen or so nations. The spiritual energy near this border was extremely thin, and it was as if some immortal from the pinnacle of the mountains and living in the lofty sea of clouds had drawn a circle around these mortal territories. This is a barrier that can both protect us and prevent outside cultivators from barging in to cause us harm. People don’t dare to overstep this boundary in the least.”

“Something similar to Cui Dongshan drawing a thunder pool with his flying sword? For what purpose?” Chen Ping’an murmured quietly.

Chen Ping’an thought about this for a moment, but he was temporarily unable to make heads or tails of the situation. That being the case, he decided to push this matter out of his mind for the moment.

However, if this matter were truly related to the rare treasure appearing at Imperial Accompanying City, and if this were a subtle thread stretching across thousands of kilometers, then it was necessary for Chen Ping’an to become increasingly cautious.

In other words, even if the talks broke down at Verdant Bamboo Lake afterward, leading to the worst-case scenario playing out, Chen Ping’an couldn’t attack his opponents without caring about anything else other than his own satisfaction. He couldn’t unleash all of his trump cards for the sake of a gratifying victory.

Sword Immortal, the sword on his back, had to remain as a hidden trump card.

Fifteenth, his flying sword, had flown out of his Sword Nurturing Gourd at the water immortal shrine before, so the maidservant there would definitely describe him as a sword immortal. As such, he could use Fifteenth depending on the situation. However, he needed to warn Fifteenth that it was best to fly out of the Sword Nurturing Gourd slower than normal when it came out to participate in the battle.

As for the walnut bracelet in his hand as well as the three talismans from the Great Origin Empire’s Lofty Cloud Palace, he could pick and choose a few of them to use when he faced some seemingly “perilous” situations. He could summon them to bathe in the… moonlight.

As for his martial arts cultivation base and the toughness of his physique, he would suppress them to the peak stage of the fifth tier first.

Just then, in the water goddess shrine of Algae Stream’s canal master, Chen Ping’an had purposely attacked the canal master and He Lu in order to mislead his adversaries. He had exposed himself by seemingly attacking with his full strength and not showing any mercy.

There were some matters where trying one’s best to conceal things wouldn’t necessarily be effective. After all, was Chen Ping’an the only person in the world who liked to assume the worst-case scenario all the time? With this in mind, it was better off letting his enemies see the “truth” with their own eyes.

It was important to carefully weigh matters again and again, and it was equally as important to mull over things once, twice, and many more times.

Chen Ping’an had traveled by himself through three continents, covering tens of thousands of kilometers in the process.

These were the principles that he had always abided by during his travels.

The only difference now was that he had practiced his fist techniques more and also owned more treasures and other possessions.

At the same time, he had also transformed from a little boy in straw sandals to a young boy dressed in white robes and wearing a jade hairpin, and now to a young man in azure wearing a bamboo hat and holding a hiking pole.

Drawing a thunder pool with a flying sword?

Du Yu pretended that he hadn’t heard anything. He couldn’t understand this remark, in any case.

This was similar to how the mighty senior had casually caused his empty wine pot to vanish into thin air just then. He had most likely placed it inside a minimization treasure, something that his parents always talked about and yearned for.

Du Yu had also pretended that he hadn’t seen this.

Chen Ping’an used his hiking pole to strike the forehead of the canal master, waking her up.

The canal master of Algae Stream was indeed more intelligent and shrewd than the canal master of the water immortal shrine, and she remained limp on the ground and showed no signs of standing up as she said in a soft and gentle voice, “It’s this maidservant’s fault for offending Great Esteemed Immortal. This maidservant will never forget Great Esteemed Immortal’s generosity in sparing my life.”

“I plan to kill the lake lord and destroy his dragon palace. Now, lead the way for me,” Chen Ping’an said directly.

The exquisitely beautiful and extravagantly dressed canal master was unfazed as she asked, “Great Esteemed Immortal, is there a grudge between you and the lake lord? Is there some sort of misunderstanding?”

Chen Ping’an frowned and snapped, “Enough with the nonsense. Now get up and lead the way.”

The canal master in palatial robes regained some of the refined and regal aura that she had shown in the water goddess shrine, gracefully standing up and curtsying in a charming manner.

Unexpectedly, however, the cultivator in azure sent her flying with a single kick.

The canal master gritted her teeth and didn’t say a single word as she silently stood up.

She felt immense hatred for this bastard vagrant cultivator in the depths of her heart, and her resentment was so great that she even developed hatred for Du Yu, the extremely unfortunate Militarian cultivator from the Ghost Axe Palace as well.

However, if she weren’t skilled at reading people’s emotions and understanding how to respond given the circumstances, she wouldn’t have been able to rise up the ranks to become a canal master in the first place.

The canal master of Algae Stream had been drowned in a pig cage and become a water ghost, yet she had managed to climb to her current position step by step and was even able to suppress the canal master of Peony Stream so much that the latter could only abandon her shrine and relocate herself to Verdant Bamboo Lake.[1] The canal master of Algae Stream was even able to refer to the three subordinate river gods of the lake lord as her brothers and sisters, and she hadn’t achieved this through her cultivation base or incense offerings or whatnot.

She feigned shock and terror as she asked in a quivering voice, “Great Esteemed Immortal, do you want to swim through the waterways, or do you want to fly on the wind?”

“We’ll walk on foot by the bank,” Chen Ping’an replied.

The canal master was deeply astonished, but she didn’t dare to disobey the instructions of this strange person with a sinister temperament. She could only force herself to slowly walk in front of him.

Sure enough, vagrant cultivators of this world were all despicable bastards.

When they arrived at the location where Algae Stream converged with Verdant Bamboo Lake, that would be the time when this bastard vagrant cultivator had to fall on his knees and kowtow as he begged for his life. Even then, he would still be punished by death and fed to the fish.

However, she couldn’t help but feel slightly puzzled. Where was Celestial Maiden Yan Qing who possessed profound Dao power and Yellow Axe City’s He Lu who possessed prodigious talent? Why had the Golden Boy and Jade Girl suddenly vanished from sight?

Sure enough, these so-called immortals from above the clouds were all sanctimonious and cold-hearted in reality. They were nasty pieces of work as well.

Meanwhile, Du Yu found all of this incredibly interesting.

Back then, at the water goddess shrine, the canal master of Algae Stream had fallen unconscious and missed out on a good show.

If she had witnessed those events, a deity as measly as her wouldn’t dare to have any improper thoughts or schemes against the mighty senior at this moment.

Chen Ping’an recalled one of the maidservants of Peony Stream’s canal master, and he shot a glance at the canal master of Algae Stream before turning to Du Yu and commenting, “Brother Du Yu was correct. Sure enough, a person’s true character comes out when they’re pushed to the brink of death.”

Du Yu hurriedly mustered his courage to call Chen Ping’an Brother Chen, after which he replied, “I just randomly made that up on the spot.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything else.

Du Yu also fell silent as he walked behind Chen Ping’an slowly.

As for Chen Ping’an’s remark about killing the lake lord and destroying the dragon palace, Du Yu didn’t really believe this statement. This wasn’t because he doubted this mighty senior’s unparalleled power, but rather… such kind of behavior would be inconsistent with the mighty senior’s business principles.

At the water immortal shrine, this mighty senior had directly struck He Lu’s neck with a palm strike, causing the latter to directly crash through the roof ridge with no ability to defend himself or counterattack.

On the other hand, Celestial Maiden Yan Qing had been able to remain standing until the very end, not being knocked to the ground like He Lu, nor having her head buried in the ground like the canal master of Algae Stream. Was this because the mighty senior had been showing Yan Qing mercy due to her beauty? Naturally not.

However, Du Yu was unable to guess the true reason. For some unknown reason, however, Du Yu had a nagging feeling that this profoundly powerful senior would be truly vicious when he did decide to attack beautiful women, regardless of whether they were cultivators or deities.

1. In ancient China, drowning people in pig cages was typically a form of private punishment used on women who had engaged in adultery or premarital sex. ☜