Unsheathed

“Care to join me for some tea at my Luminous Jade Cliff?” Liu Zhiqing asked.

“There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding between us, Sword Immortal Liu,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile. “I wouldn’t even dare visit your Luminous Jade Cliff, much less have tea with you there.”

“I much prefer the spring on the Luminous Jade Cliff over the lightning cloud of my Golden Crow Palace,” Liu Zhiqing said.

“Ah, in that case, I’d be more than happy to go,” Chen Ping’an said with an enlightened expression. “Are we going on foot or by flight?”

“Up to you,” Liu Zhiqing replied with a smile.

Chen Ping’an cast his gaze toward the young woman who was the direct disciple of the Spring Dew Garden’s Golden Core Tier earth immortal and said, “Please take us there by boat, Celestial Maiden.”

The young woman naturally raised no objections. It was a massive honor and privilege to be able to travel with Liu Zhiqing by boat to the Luminous Jade Cliff, not to mention that this young man was also an esteemed guest of the Spring Dew Garden.

Even though he had only received by a single person in the form of Song Lanqiao, the fact that he was able to stay in such a prestigious residence, coupled with the fact that Liu Zhiqing had personally come here to invite him for tea, clearly indicated that he was a very important figure in his own regard.

The Luminous Jade Cliff was outside the sea of jade, and this had been intentionally arranged by the Spring Dew Garden’s ancestral hall in order to prevent any altercations between the two sword immortals.

The boat rose up into the air, and the jade forest down below resembled a stunning sea of jade, presenting a breathtaking sight to behold.

This time, she didn’t brew any tea for the two guests, not wanting to flaunt her meager tea-brewing skills in front of a connoisseur like Liu Zhiqing.

Upon docking at the Luminous Jade Cliff, Chen Ping’an and Liu Ying disembarked from the boat, and the former asked in a curious manner, “Do you not know the rules here, Sword Immortal Liu?”

“What rules?” Liu Zhiqing asked in a puzzled manner.

“The guest is to tip the celestial maiden a lesser heat coin for her ferry services,” Chen Ping’an said.

The young woman had no idea what he was talking about.

However, Liu Zhiqing immediately took Chen Ping’an’s word as fact, tossing her a lesser heat coin, which hovered in the air directly in front of her as he said, “Pardon me for my past ignorance.”

He then turned back to Chen Ping’an and led the way forward as he said, “Not far up ahead is the Bamboo Tube Spring on the Luminous Jade Cliff.”

Chen Ping’an looked around as he asked, “I heard that you purchased the entire Luminous Jade Cliff from the Spring Dew Garden, is that right, Sword Immortal Liu?”

Liu Zhiqing nodded in response.

“I purchased ownership rights of the cliff for five hundred years for five grain rain coins, and over two hundred years of the five-hundred-year term has already passed.”

Chen Ping’an turned to the young woman as he said, “You can go back without me. I know the way back to the sea of bamboo.”

The young woman nodded in response, and after a long hesitation, she decided not to say anything for fear of souring the mood of these two esteemed guests. Upon her return, she would discuss with her master whether she should accept his inexplicably obtained lesser heat coin.

The talismanic boats that were used to ferry esteemed guests in the Spring Dew Garden had been crafted by the High Zenith Palace for exorbitant sums, and not only were the boats very elegant in form and appearance, poetic phrases would appear on their surface whenever they passed through places with an abundance of spiritual energy.

If a guest spotted a phrase to their liking, they could take those characters and imprint them onto a fan or the page of a book, and it was quite a popular activity for guests to pass the time while traveling by boat.

The Spring Dew Garden had always been happy to see guests take characters from the talismanic boats, and Chen Ping’an had already been informed of this by Song Lanqiao, but at the time, he had felt too embarrassed to claim any characters for himself.

However, he had no such qualms when traveling with Liu Zhiqing, gleefully claiming some characters for himself before imprinting them to one side of his fan.

The two young sword immortals walked side by side down the small stone path toward the spring, and Chen Ping’an unfurled his folding fan, gently shaking it to watch the newly imprinted characters on its surface ripple like water plants.

“We’re here,” Liu Zhiqing declared.

On the edge of the Luminous Jade Cliff was a thatched pergola, with a thatched cottage situated not far away.

Within the pergola was a table and some teaware, and at the foot of the cliff was a spring with water so clear that one could easily see the glistening pebbles on the bottom.

Chen Ping’an sat down across from Liu Zhiqing, then closed his folding fan with a smile as he said, “We can skip the tea. How can I help you today, Sword Immortal Liu?”

“Even if you don’t feel like tea, I’m still going to have some,” Liu Zhiqing said with a smile.

With one hand, Liu Zhiqing inscribed the characters for “True Fire” onto the table, and the two characters glowed a radiant gold. The strokes of the characters quickly came together to form a pair of red, fiery flood dragons that circled around and intertwined with each other on the table.

With a gentle sweep of his sleeve, Liu Zhiqing lifted several liters of water out of the spring, which formed an orb that flew toward the table. The water quickly began to heat up while he prepared a teacup, and moments later, he plucked out a few tea leaves from a jar before gently tossing them into the cup.

At this point, the spring water had already reached a boil, and a thin stream of it flowed into the teacup at his behest, filling the cup to precisely 70% full.

Liu Zhiqing raised his teacup to his lips before taking a sip, and Chen Ping’an suddenly declared, “I’ll have a cup as well.”

Liu Zhiqing smiled as he pulled out a teacup for Chen Ping’an, then filled it before gently pushing it forward, sending it sliding over the table to him.

Chen Ping’an took a sip, then nodded in approval as he remarked, “You are the second-best tea brewer that I’ve met, Sword Immortal Liu.”

Lu Tai was naturally the one who claimed the spot.

“If the opportunity arises, you can bring the one above me to visit my Luminous Jade Cliff,” Liu Zhiqing said with a smile.

Chen Ping’an set down his teacup, then asked, “Even though you didn’t show yourself back in the Golden Crow Palace, I’m sure you sensed what I was doing, so why didn’t you stop me?”

Liu Zhiqing had already brought his teacup to his lips, but he heaved a faint sigh as he set it down onto the table again and asked, “What good would that have done? I would’ve stopped you, and then what? We engage in a senseless battle?

“I have no interest in doing something like that. Ever since I reached the Golden Core Tier, the swordsmen of my Golden Crow Palace have stepped out of line far too many times, fearing no repercussions because they have a Golden Core Tier patriarch.

“Unfortunately, I’m not good at dealing with interpersonal affairs. I’ve always seen the lightning cloud as an eyesore, as is the case with that Dao partner of my nephew-disciple’s. I’m also not a fan of the way that my juniors like Jin Yue do things, but all I could do was turn a blind eye so that none of it would affect my mental state.”

Chen Ping’an nodded as he said, “Your contrasting mindset compared with the other cultivators of the Golden Core Tier is the key to why you’ve been able to rise above them and reach the Golden Core Tier.

“However, it’s very likely also the reason why you haven’t been able to overcome your Golden Core Tier bottleneck to reach the Nascent Tier. You can temporarily take your mind off your concerns by coming here to drink tea, but it doesn’t actually benefit your cultivation.”

Liu Zhiqing smiled upon hearing this, and he raised his cup to take a sip of tea, then said, “I’m sure you saw me in action earlier back in the Yellow Wind Valley of the Deity Visage Nation. I daresay that among all of the Golden Core Tier swordsmen in the southern region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, my powers rank far closer to the top than to the bottom.”

Chen Ping’an thought back to the sword strike unleashed by Liu Zhiqing, the streak of sword light that had lit up the entire night sky over the Yellow Wind Valley. It was that strike that had severely wounded Patriarch Yellow Wind, to the point that after it was certain that the Golden Crow Palace swordsmen had departed, it still ventured out for a meal, even though it was aware that there were still eminent monks of the Deity Visage Nation present, such was its desperation to feast on human flesh and souls to aid in its recuperation.

“However, all swords are double-edged, and that’s where my trouble begins,” Liu Zhiqing continued. “As a swordsman, I’ve always honed my Dao heart through battle. Back when my cultivation base was much lower, I benefitted immensely from this doctrine, progressing rapidly in my cultivation. However, the higher I ascended, the more trouble I encountered. Nascent Tier earth immortals that aren’t swordsmen are quite rare.

“As for Golden Core Tier cultivators, all of them go into hiding whenever they hear that I’m about to pass through an area, even the demonic cultivators who’ve committed countless heinous crimes. Either that or they refuse to defend themselves and dare me to kill them or spare them. In the past, I killed two such people, the first of whom deserved to die several times over, while the second one was perhaps not so deserving of death.

“Killing people who refuse to fight does not benefit my cultivation at all, and it quickly became a tiresome cycle of going out in search of opponents, only for them to either hide at the mere mention of my name or refuse to fight. Eventually, I stopped leaving the sect altogether unless it was to protect the juniors of my Golden Crow Palace during their outings or to come here to drink tea. As a result, a breakthrough seems more and more out of reach by the day.”

This concerned Liu Zhiqing’s Great Dao, so Chen Ping’an offered no remarks, remaining silent as he drank his tea. The tea was abundant with water fortune, and while this paltry amount of spiritual energy was largely inconsequential for someone like Liu Zhiqing, whose important acupoints were filled with vast rivers of spiritual energy, this tea was an incredibly potent source of nourishment for a “Lower Five Tiers” cultivator like Chen Ping’an.

“That’s why I decided to invite you to join me for tea,” Liu Zhiqing continued with a serious expression. “I wanted to ask you why and how you unleashed that sword strike outside my Golden Crow Palace. In particular, I want to know how you were able to attain so much clarity in both your heart and your sword.

“Of course, I won’t ask you to reveal any secrets concerning your Great Dao, but please tell me what you can. Perhaps your words can spark a flash of enlightenment within me. Given my current bottleneck, even the slightest spark of inspiration could prove to be of immeasurable benefit.”

Chen Ping’an raised his cup with a smile, then said, “Just as you said, if I can say something that ignites within you a spark of enlightenment, then those would be some priceless words, yet all you’re going to give me in compensation is a cup of tea?”

Liu Zhiqing smiled as he said, “You clearly didn’t request that cup of tea because you were actually interested in my tea. Instead, you simply wanted another chance to watch me inscribe talismans and channel Qi, and I displayed all of that to you without any concealment. Is that not sufficient compensation?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head as he said, “I’m afraid I wasn’t able to glean much from your demonstration. The talisman inscription and Qi channeling methods of a Golden Core Tier sword immortal are simply beyond me at this current point in time, and I’m sure that even if I were to see it again, it wouldn’t do me any good.”

Liu Zhiqing burst into laughter as he pointed at the cliff and the spring beside him as he said, “If I can derive some benefit from what you’re about to tell me, then I’ll give the remaining three hundred years of ownership rights I have over the Luminous Jade Cliff to you, how about that? You’re free to do with it as if you see fit, whether it be to rent the cliff to the Spring Dew Garden or someone else, or keep it for yourself.”

Chen Ping’an snapped his folding fan open with a flourish, then began gently fanning himself as he said, “I’ll have to ask for another cup of tea, and we can chat as we drink. When it comes to doing business, we have to first examine each other’s character. Once we’re both confident in the quality of each other’s character, everything else will automatically fall into place.”

A faint smile appeared on Liu Zhiqing’s face, and they began “doing business,” with one of them communicating through their mind’s lake, while the other condensed their voice into a line as martial artists did.

Around fifteen minutes later, Chen Ping’an reached out to request another cup of tea.

A stern look appeared on Liu Zhiqing’s face as he demanded, “Can you show me a bit of sincerity?”

“Every single word of mine is as sincere as they come!” Chen Ping’an replied in a serious manner.

“Farewell,” Liu Zhiqing declared with a sweep of his sleeve.

Chen Ping’an was silent for a moment, then swept a sleeve through the air, extracting some water from the boiling orb of spring water hovering above the table. He placed two drops of spring water in front of himself, using them as two points, between which he drew a straight line. He then gently pressed the tip of his finger into the leftmost point of the line before slowly sliding it toward the right, only stopping once he reached the opposite end.

“There’s no need to look at the big picture, just observe some people in a certain place at a certain point in time. Let’s say that this line is the small world within which you are situated. As a cultivator who grew up his entire life in the Golden Crow Palace, your mental state is on this end of the line. As you move down the line, you’ll encounter the mental states of the other cultivators of your Golden Crow Palace.

“As you move further and further away from your mental state, you’ll encounter the likes of the cruel and violent palace mistress, and the arrogant and uncouth Jin Yue. You see these people as eyesores, but thanks to your cultivation base and seniority, you’re able to protect your own mental state and prevent it from being tarnished by others.

“However, that is the extent of your abilities. Your sole objective is to sharpen your sword, and for that purpose, you’re constantly searching for worthy earth immortals to battle. Compared with this lofty objective, you view everything happening right under your nose as trivialities, and you believe that engaging in such matters would only be a waste of your time, isn’t that right?”

“Precisely,” Liu Zhiqing replied with a nod.

Chen Ping’an raised his finger again, pointing toward the end of the line that symbolized Liu Zhiqing’s mental state, and he suddenly asked, “When it comes to sharpening your sword, why not use the whetstones closest to you rather than searching for distant whetstones? Mortals revere those who are able to best others, but cultivators revere those who are able to best themselves.

“Swordsmen are renowned for possessing the most destructive power out of all cultivators under the heavens. In that case, is there still a need for self-inquisition and cultivation of the heart? Does a swordsman actually need to attain purity and clarity in both their swords and their heart?”

Chen Ping’an withdrew his hand, then slowly slid his folding fan from the left side of the line to the right as he asked, “Are you able to set your sword on this trajectory until your sword heart is fully illuminated?”

Liu Zhiqing fell into deep thought.

“Were you born in the cultivation world, or did you only embark on the path of cultivation as a child?” Chen Ping’an suddenly asked.

Liu Zhiqing’s gaze remained on Chen Ping’an’s folding fan as he replied, “I’ve been in the Golden Crow Palace for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been cultivating under my master, turning a blind eye to mortal affairs.”

Chen Ping’an heaved a forlorn sigh, then rose to his feet as he said, “In that case, pretend I didn’t say anything. I can only advise you to leave your sect and travel the world more from now on.”

Liu Zhiqing raised a hand, gesturing for Chen Ping’an to remain seated as he said, “While it’s true that I strive to avoid entanglements with worldly affairs, I have a decent understanding of human nature, so quit trying to fool me with your little tricks. On an official basis, this Luminous Jade Cliff was sold to me by the Spring Dew Garden, but in reality, it was almost a gift, given the heavily discounted price at which it was sold to me.

“Clearly, you are determined to get your hands on this cliff. The remaining three hundred years of ownership rights could be easily sold for twice the sum of three grain rain coins that I paid. In fact, if you play your cards well, you could even sell it for as much as ten grain rain coins.”

Sure enough, Chen Ping’an hurriedly sat back down as he grinned, “Doing business with smart people always makes the process much smoother.”

“Why are you so fixated on money?” Liu Zhiqing asked in a curious manner.

“Earning money is very difficult for vagrant cultivators like myself,” Chen Ping’an sighed with a forlorn expression.

Liu Zhiqing shook his head in exasperation, knowing that he wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of Chen Ping’an.