Unsheathed

Amid the sea of clouds, Xia Zhen no longer maintained his form as a streak of light to soar on the wind. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and walked forward slowly.

There was an exasperated expression on Xia Zhen’s face as he muttered to himself, “Since this person is from the Flax Robe Sect, I guess I shouldn’t go and provoke him?”

He glanced back at the capital of the Blissful Dream Nation. That old man had obtained the innate sword pellet, and now a pseudo-celestial tool had coincidentally appeared in the Silver Screen Nation as well. These were destined fated opportunities for the old man, so would he truly be able to resist the strong temptation?

How could he succeed as a vagrant cultivator with such a cowardly personality? He had truly managed to cultivate his mind and his character after pretending to be a mortal human in the Blissful Dream Nation for several dozen years.

Xia Zhen extended a hand and said several names, coincidentally enough to count on five fingers.

Any more than this, and he would be delaying his pursuit of the Great Dao.

There was Fan Weiran who was easy to order around, Ye Han who was fairly smart, He Lu who possessed good aptitude, Yan Qing who also possessed good aptitude, and Little Cui who was slightly eccentric.

Xia Zhen raised his other hand and said another five names, names belonging to young individuals who didn’t yet possess high cultivation bases.

Xia Zhen leisurely strolled along the sea of clouds, looking at his two palms and lightly clenching them into fists as he murmured, “Can ten Golden Core Tier cultivators compare to me advancing to the Unpolished Jade Tier? Should I kill them all?”

However, he quickly shook his head and answered his own question, saying, “Forget about it, there’s no hurry at all. I’ll leave five positions open for them to become Golden Core Tier cultivators, and I’ll kill whoever has a chance to advance to the Nascent Tier. This should free up the five other positions.”

Xia Zhen placed his hands on his azure belt and continued, “That old man is truly quite impressive. I didn’t understand why he insisted on having me suppress the martial fortune of the dozen or so nations in our sworn oath back then, not allowing any Vajra Body Tier martial artists to appear. As it turns out, this was in order to reduce the amount of military conflict between the dozen or so nations, giving him, the elusive prime minister and imperial preceptor of the Blissful Dream Nation, an opportunity to peacefully obtain virtue without getting blood and bad karma on his hands.”

Xia Zhen stretched lazily.

He involuntarily recalled the scene of the heavenly tribulation.

This caused him to immediately feel solemn again.

Perhaps he was one of the ten young prodigies in the continent, similar to Liu Jinglong and Yang Ningxing? But this didn’t appear to be the case, and after careful analysis, he didn’t match any of the ten young prodigies.

Xia Zhen stopped in his tracks and looked around, asking with a faint smile, “Which fellow cultivator is this? Why don’t you dare to show yourself?”

On the other end of the sea of clouds, at the limit of his vision, there was a person standing there unmoving. However, the clouds beneath the person’s feet suddenly churned like waves, rising up and surging toward Xia Zhen.

Xia Zhen was unfazed, not retreating a single step as he gently patted the azure snake, which was already transforming into a flood dragon, by his waist. He smiled faintly in his mind and murmured, “There’s no need to worry. Engaging in close-quarter combat suits me perfectly.”

The uninvited visitor appeared travel-worn and exhausted, and he gracefully hovered down after the wave-like sea of clouds seemingly crashed onto the shore. He slowly walked forward, and he was like a talkative old friend as he relentlessly grumbled, “You people are truly troublesome and don’t give me any time to rest, forcing me to travel back here from the sea of clouds. Do you think I can be summoned back and forth like an intercontinental ship?

“So be it if this were all, but I was almost hacked to death by the embarrassed and angry Little Quan’er as well. Fortunately, there was a slight sense of tacit understanding between my brother and me, or else I would have genuinely failed to notice the situation over here. Even so, I’ve still arrived late. I’ve arrived too late…

“Regardless, my brother shouldn’t have taken revenge on the woman who was so attracted to him like that. Sigh, so be it. If he didn’t act like this, then he wouldn’t be the brother whom I sincerely admire from the bottom of my heart. In any case, that woman’s feelings are… indeed impossible to accept and appreciate. Her feelings are far too overwhelming, so my brother can’t be blamed for his reaction.”

The uninvited visitor continued to mumble in dissatisfaction, saying, “Does the feng shui of the Northern Complete Reed Continent have something against me or what? Can’t it allow me to peacefully return home to meander around and wait for death? I was always kind to other people when I lived here before, and I had a glowing reputation both in the mountains and outside the mountains. I was like a perfect son-in-law in the Northern Complete Reed Continent back then, so I shouldn’t be toyed around with and treated so badly now…”

His tongue was unrestrained as he uttered absolute nonsense.

Xia Zhen was extremely baffled by this person’s words, but he didn’t pay too much heed to them.

After all, would a cultivator who had obtained Dao reveal any clues through their words? Moreover, this person was speaking fluently in the official dialect of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, yet he was trying to claim that he was an outsider traveling through the continents?

The person in front of him was an unfamiliar face, and he was definitely using his true appearance and not using any illusion technique. Unless this person was an Immortal Tier cultivator from the pinnacle of the mountains, any illusion technique would be ineffective against Xia Zhen, even if it were an Unpolished Jade Tier illusion technique.

The sea of clouds beneath the person’s feet gradually dissipated.

His cultivation base wasn’t low, but he seemingly liked to show off using these kinds of measly techniques.

Not only did Xia Zhen not retreat, but he even slowly advanced a few steps, asking with a smile, “Dare I ask for fellow cultivator’s name?”

The person hesitated for a moment before retreating two steps and replying, “My nickname is Zhou Fei, and my actual name is… Forget about it. I’m afraid that you have women at home or in your immortal force.”

What absolute nonsense was this?

However, Xia Zhen remained calm and composed as he asked, “May I ask, for what reason has fellow cultivator blocked my path?”

Zhou Fei was indeed a handsome person, appearing refined and elegant as he stood above the sea of clouds.

“Just pretend that I’m begging you, okay?” Zhou Fei said with an aggrieved expression. “Can you mighty cultivators calm down for a bit? Can you allow me to peacefully return to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent? Hmm?!”

Xia Zhen sighed and replied with an apologetic expression, “I won’t entertain fellow cultivator any longer if fellow cultivator is going to continue speaking in riddles and continue to spout incomprehensible nonsense.”

Zhou Fei, who was clearly using a pseudonym, faltered upon hearing this, and he responded, “I’m speaking so directly already, yet you still don’t understand me? Good heavens! I’m not trying to scold you or anything, but would you and the others have been worthy enough to scheme against my brother if it weren’t for your Nascent Tier cultivation bases?”

Xia Zhen finally understood the situation.

This person was here to avenge that young sword immortal?

Xia Zhen looked around and clicked his tongue in wonder, asking, “You’re by yourself, right? Have you ever heard this saying before? I, Xia Zhen, can kill Nascent Tier cultivators within thirty meters.”

The man called Zhou Fei put his feet together and directly jumped to within fifteen meters of Xia Zhen, seemingly seeking death as he chuckled, “Alright. Now, let me, Jiang Shangzhen, help you grow some smarts.”

Xia Zhen almost suffered a mental breakdown on the spot.

Cultivators in the Northern Complete Reed Continent had always been haughty and arrogant, and sword cultivator from the continent were especially renowned for their supercilious nature. They felt like everyone apart from those hailing from the Middle Earth Divine Continent was trash, with their cultivation bases being trash, their immortal treasures being trash, and their backgrounds being trash. These people were completely worthless and not worth a mention.

However, there were a few exceptional cases from the other continents, and these were peculiar individuals whom the Northern Complete Reed Continent couldn’t forget no matter what. In fact, cultivators in the Northern Complete Reed Continent would continue to pay attention to these peculiar individuals even after they returned to their home continents.

For example… there was the cultivator whom a great sword immortal from the central region and a great sword immortal from the northern region had both proclaimed that they would personally kill… The Parasol Leaf Continent’s Jiang Shangzhen!

————

Inside the dragon palace at the bottom of Verdant Bamboo Lake…

There was another grand gathering.

Lake Lord Yin Hou didn’t sit on the steps leading to the dragon throne this time, and he instead stood between the two immortal forces as he said, “I received a messenger flying sword just then, and that person is traveling toward Verdant Bamboo Lake on his sword.”

Apart from Fan Weiran smiling coldly, Ye Han remaining unfazed, and the Golden Boy and the Jade Girl appearing slightly astonished, the remaining cultivators on both sides were deeply shocked and immediately erupted into frenzy.

There was a dark expression on Lake Lord Yin Hou’s face as he said, “Ye Han, Great City Lord Ye, who was it that said the outsider sword immortal was severely wounded and could be slowly ground to death by us not long ago? We’ve only just started to put together a plan, yet he’s already charged over to my base at Verdant Bamboo Lake. So, what should we do now? Are your immortal forces going to flee in various directions and be picked off one by one? Or are you all going to stay here and massage your knees, making it easier to kneel and kowtow in a moment?”

He Lu was calm and unfazed, holding the bamboo flute in his hand as he stood up and said, “One formation has been set up outside Imperial Accompanying City, and the other formation has been set up right here at Verdant Bamboo Lake. Add to that the mountain and water formation of Lake Lord’s dragon palace, and I feel like we can leave the doors wide open and allow him to freely enter the formations. Afterward, our three forces can combine our power. With City Lord Ye, Old Ancestor Fan, the two formations, and one hundred or so cultivators here, we can definitely rival that immortal’s power, right?

“On the other hand, we would have needed to continue sacrificing bait if he had holed up in Imperial Accompanying City and refused to venture out. That would have soured the relationship between us and resulted in increasing dissatisfaction. That being the case, is it not a good thing for him to voluntarily head over?”

Lake Lord Yin Hou was infuriated, and he roared, “That’s easy for you to say, Young Immortal He! It’s taken me one thousand years to build up Verdant Bamboo Lake, yet your two immortal forces will at most lose a formation and a small amount of immortal coins. A huge battle might erupt afterward, blotting out heaven and earth and leaving corpses strewn across the floor, with my dragon palace potentially collapsing as a result. When we finally obtain a pyrrhic victory and kill that detestable criminal, I would have sacrificed my dragon palace for nothing if we share the spoils according to the previous agreements. Won’t I cry to death at that time?”

There was a dazzling smile on He Lu’s face as he replied, “Our previous agreement assigned twenty percent of the spoils to Verdant Bamboo Lake, forty percent to the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm, and forty percent to Yellow Axe City. Now, Yellow Axe City is willing to take ten percent less and give this to Lake Lord as a form of compensation. Apart from this, we’ll stick to the initial agreement. If one party is determined to obtain a certain treasure, then all three parties will come together to prescribe a fair and agreed value to the treasure first, converting this value into snowflake coins or lesser heat coins. After that, we’ll include a small premium on the treasure as a form of gratitude to the two other parties for giving it up.”

After saying this, He Lu looked to the opposite side of the palace, with his gaze sweeping over the young woman whom he coveted before settling on Old Ancestor Fan Weiran. “Old Ancestor Fan?” he asked with a smile.

The old woman had seemingly been tired and nodding off just then, but she smiled upon hearing this and responded, “That’s acceptable. The Treasure Basin Immortal Realm is also willing to give ten percent of the spoils to Lake Lord Yin Hou as a form of gratitude to Verdant Bamboo Lake’s dragon palace.”

Lake Lord Yin Hou looked toward Ye Han, with the latter nodding lightly in response.

Only after seeing this did Lake Lord Yin Hou feel satisfied.

He Lu didn’t say anything else.

Everyone in the dragon palace looked at the handsome and refined young man, with their minds swaying slightly as they developed utmost respect for him.

If it weren’t for the fact that He Lu wasn’t City Lord Ye Han’s son, and the fact that Yellow Axe City had never passed the position of city lord to an outsider, how could Ye Han’s two good-for-nothing sons possibly compete with He Lu?

There was a dazzling jewel curtain over at the side entrance of the palace, and a beautiful woman gently lifted one corner of the curtain and looked at the handsome and witty young man with tender affection in her eyes.

There was actually such an outstanding young man in the world.

All of the decent-looking impoverished scholars and wealthy disciples that she had encountered in the past were far inferior to Yellow Axe City’s Mr. He. In fact, even the sum of them was inferior to him.

He was like a handsome and otherworldly immortal who had walked out from the unofficial history books and the literary works of scholars.

————

Inside the ghost residence at Imperial Accompanying City…

Du Yu felt completely helpless as he carried the swaddled and sleeping child in his arms.

He suddenly turned around, only to see a tall and handsome man jumping over the wall and entering the courtyard, after which he pushed his Qi to his dantian.

Du Yu immediately stood up, feeling as if he were facing a formidable foe. When he glanced at the vermilion wine gourd on the bamboo chair, however, he was surprised to see that no flying sword flew out.

Du Yu felt a slight sense of despair.

He tightly gripped the walnut that the mighty senior had given him before departing.

The uninvited visitor raised his hands and chuckled, “Calm down, calm down. My name is Zhou Fei, and I’m Chen… Haoren — this is the name that he’s using now, right? In any case, I’m a sworn brother of his, and we’re like-minded people. I noticed the huge commotion here, and even though my cultivation base isn’t high, I’m obliged to help now that my brother is facing danger. I hurriedly made my way over here to check on the situation and see whether there was anything that I could assist with. Fortunately, this place was quite easy to find. Anyway, where is Brother Haoren? And who are you?”

Du Yu didn’t trust this person at all.

Zhou Fei pointed at the wine gourd on the bamboo chair and said, “There are two flying swords in the wine gourd, and one has left and one has stayed behind to protect you. That being the case, will it not fly out to protect you if it doesn’t recognize me?”

Du Yu trusted this person a tiny bit more.

Zhou Fei glanced at Du Yu’s hand and continued, “Oh yes, that walnut is unparalleled in the world and equivalent to the full power strike of an earth immortal, correct? It’s indeed very suitable against bad people, but please don’t use it to scare your own brothers. My physique is even frailer than my confidence, so please don’t kill me by accident with that walnut.

“Anyhow, what’s your name? You look proper and mighty, and it’s clear that you’re a paramount elite. It’s no wonder that my brother is comfortable with asking you to look after this residence… Hmm? I haven’t seen my brother for a few days, and he’s already gone ahead and had a child?! How outrageously impressive! Comparing oneself to other people is truly quite infuriating!”

Du Yu’s expression felt slightly stiff. Why the hell did this person’s garbage nonsense carry a unique charm? He genuinely appeared a bit like the mighty senior’s Dao friend…?

Zhou Fei jogged over to Du Yu, causing the latter to tense up and have a huge battle in his mind. However, Du Yu didn’t do anything extra apart from tightly gripping the walnut in his hand.

Zhou Fei was quite tactful as well, simply grabbing Du Yu’s small stool and placing it slightly further away before sitting down.

Du Yu cautiously sat down on the bamboo chair and replied in a solemn voice, “My name is Du Yu, and I’m a cultivator from the Ghost Axe Palace. Senior has asked me to temporarily look after this child.”

The person called Zhou Fei raised a thumb and said with a look of admiration, “I’ve been a long-time admirer of the widely renowned Ghost Axe Palace.”

“Are you truly Senior’s friend?” Du Yu asked.

“One hundred percent, as true as they come,” Zhou Fei replied with a smile.

Du Yu didn’t dare to fully trust Zhou Fei’s words.

Zhou Fei smiled and asked, “Does this brother of mine like to… speak reason and speak principle? Moreover, you definitely didn’t take his reasons and principles seriously to begin with, feeling like they were mysterious and baffling. Am I correct?”

Du Yu relaxed and slumped down, feeling as if a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders.

“Have you truly heard of the Ghost Axe Palace before?” Du Yu asked in puzzlement.

Zhou Fei nodded and replied, “Didn’t you self-introduce it to me just then? Is it not normal for me to hurriedly express admiration toward a force that has a powerful cultivator such as yourself?”

Du Yu smiled bitterly and said, “Since you’re a friend of Senior, you’re definitely an extremely powerful cultivator as well, so please don’t tease me like this. I’m certainly no powerful cultivator.”

However, Zhou Fei replied, “Even someone like you can’t be regarded as a powerful cultivator? Do you know that your so-called senior, my Brother Haoren, seldom ever trusts other people? Mhm, perhaps we can get rid of the word ‘other.’ In fact, he doesn’t even trust himself. So, Du Yu, I’m truly very curious about what you did and what you said to impress Brother Haoren.”

Du Yu shook his head and replied, “I only did some minor things, but Senior’s piercing gaze is able to see far into the distance and far into the future, so Senior most likely saw something that even I was unable to see.”

Zhou Fei faltered for a long time, rendered slightly speechless. In the end, he could only exclaim, “Fucking hell, are you my arch enemy in the battle of the Great Dao?”

However, he quickly shook his head and continued, “So be it. I’ll just treat you as a like-minded junior first.”

After saying this, Zhou Fei stood up angrily, somehow appearing in front of Du Yu straight away. He stood there and lightly pulled back a corner of the blankets, after which he calculated something on his fingers. He nodded and murmured to himself, “There is some minor karmic fate, so taking this away will be fine. This will also save him some small but unnecessary troubles. After all, does it make sense for a wanderer to travel around the cultivation world with an orphan? How will he attract the fancy of celestial maidens? Things have already come to this, so this is the most that I can do. This child has a tiny bit of cultivation aptitude, and nothing is scarier than having too much money. Little child, you probably accumulated a lot of virtue in your past life to come across Brother Haoren and then me.”

The weight suddenly disappeared from Du Yu’s arms as the swaddled child was taken away by Zhou Fei.

Du Yu immediately shuddered, and he was instinctively about to fight to the death with this person.

His life, death, and riches, as well as the safety of his parents and his immortal force, were all dependent on the events in this small courtyard!

Zhou Fei smiled and said, “There’s no need to worry. You can tell my brother afterward that the little child was taken by Zhou Fei and brought to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent to be settled down. He can continue to travel around the cultivation world in peace. Nothing will go wrong.”

The rims of Du Yu’s eyes were bright red, and he was just about to reach over to snatch the child back. How could he give away the child just like this?!

Zhou Fei extended a finger and froze Du Yu to the spot, after which he winked and asked, “I’ve heard of the Ghost Axe Palace now, so have you heard of Jiang Shangzhen before? Jiang as in ginger, Shang as in revere, and Zhen as in real.”

Du Yu was almost led astray by Zhou Fei’s words, causing him to feel both terrified and furious. However, he suddenly came to his senses and roared, “I’m your bloody grandfather, Jiang Shangzhen! Give me the child back!”

Zhou Fei extended a hand and lightly adjusted the blankets, lest the little child be woken up by Du Yu’s shouting. He then raised a thumb and remarked, “How bold and impressive. You’re even more capable than Xia Zhen, someone who can fight and flee and possesses half of the demeanor that I had in the past. Sure enough, my brother was astute and correct to have you look after this residence.”

Du Yu had genuinely never heard of Jiang Shangzhen before.

However, Jiang Shangzhen immediately broadened Du Yu’s horizon in the next moment, flicking his wrist and retrieving a golden Militarian armor pellet before lightly tossing it to Du Yu. The armor pellet landed on top of the immobilized Du Yu’s head, and Jiang Shangzhen said, “Since you’re a paramount Militarian cultivator, let me gift you this Golden Crow Armor that’s befitting of someone as powerful as you.”

Du Yu was dumbstruck, and Zhang Shangzhen looked at him with pity and asked, “The Ghost Axe Palace definitely doesn’t have any beautiful celestial maidens, am I right?”

Du Yu’s mind was completely blank at this moment.

Afterward, the uninvited guest vanished just like that.

He left without a trace.

There was the sound of snapping fingers, and Du Yu’s body shuddered before he regained control.

The golden Militarian armor pellet on his head was slightly heavy.

What was this all about?

Du Yu felt like he was dreaming.

After all, fortune and calamity were difficult to predict, so he couldn’t help but feel uneasy even though he was holding an extremely valuable treasure in his hand.

————

Over at the dragon palace at the bottom of Verdant Bamboo Lake, Lake Lord Yin Hou was the first person to turn pale with fright and exclaim, “There’s a huge problem!”

Ye Han and Fan Weiran also exchanged a glance.

Afterward, Yan Qing suddenly raised her head and looked toward the entrance.

He Lu, who had been smiling and gazing at Yan Qing the entire time, followed her gaze and also looked toward the entrance.

The entire dragon palace started to shake violently.

Afterward, a young man in white flew to the entrance on his sword, holding the sword scabbard in his hand as he gracefully landed on the ground. He then strode into the palace and returned his sword to his scabbard.

In the end, a thunderous explosion rumbled through the lake, yet it landed very far behind the young man in white.

There was a smile on Chen Ping’an’s face, and he continued to walk forward as he held the sword scabbard and lightly pushed the hilt of the sword, causing Sword Immortal to fly out and spin in the air before piercing diagonally into the floor of the dragon palace. The sword rested in the floor just like that.

Chen Ping’an stood still in a carefree manner, with his large and snow-white sleeves billowing as he held one hand behind his back. He then pointed at the sword with his other hand and said with a faint smile, “Please feel free to take the sword, everyone.”

However, what he said next sent a cold chill through everyone’s body. “If you fail to pull out the sword, however, then you can leave your head behind.”

His third sentence allowed everyone to feel a tiny bit less tense.

Of course, this was apart from He Lu, the young man who was also dressed in white.

“He Lu can go first.”