Unsheathed

Old Man Yang fell silent for a moment before saying, “Chen Ping’an has started to secretly investigate matters pertaining to bonded porcelains. He’s very stealthy, and he hasn’t left any clues or traces.”

Li Liu didn’t have any thoughts about this. She was roughly aware of some secrets, and this was a matter that involved an extremely complicated scheme in the mountains. The Yang family’s medicine shop was naturally involved in this matter, but it had adhered to the rules and hadn’t purposely targeted Chen Ping’an. It had simply split the spoils with the Imperial Song Clan of the Great Li Empire.

In the beginning, the production of bonded porcelains had been a supreme ability of Old Man Yang’s, and it could even be claimed that the rise of the Great Li Empire could be attributed to the transaction that had taken place in the Jewel Small World. It was thanks to this that the Great Li Empire had managed to prosper and slowly claw its way to the top. Thus, Old Man Yang’s praise of Cui Chan’s ability in the Dao of souls was already the greatest acknowledgment in the world. It could be said that apart from Old Man Yang, the only people supremely talented in this Dao were Cui Chan and Cui Dongshan.

The couple from the Ma Clan who had managed to control the dragon kilns even though they lived in Apricot Blossom Alley — Ma Kuxuan’s parents — were deeply involved in the shattering of Chen Ping’an’s bonded porcelain. This also pertained to Ma Lanhua, the river guardian of the Dragon Whisker River who had now been promoted to the position of river goddess, yet still had no gold statue, no temple, and naturally no incense offerings.

She was Ma Kuxuan’s grandmother, and the wicked old woman had only shown a rare hint of conscience regarding this matter. In fact, she had even tried everything in her power to stop her son and her daughter-in-law. However, the couple had been completely devoured by greed, and Ma Lanhua had ultimately failed to stop their plan. Ma Kuxuan had woken with a start at the time, allowing him to learn a small portion of the truth. Thus, this prodigy, who had pretended to be mentally challenged during much of his childhood, always paid special attention to Chen Ping’an.

The imperial concubine of the Great Li Empire — now the empress dowager — and the late emperor had both become involved in these matters for the sake of Song Jixin and for the sake of the Great Li Empire’s fortune.

Meanwhile, Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan had gone with the flow and played a game of Go with Qi Jingchun regarding this matter. If one only focused on the final result, then Cui Chan had indeed played a godly game.

Regarding who had purchased Chen Ping’an’s bonded porcelain back then, why it had been shattered, and how many immortal coins the Great Li Empire had paid in compensation to the porcelain buyer, Li Liu didn’t know too much about these matters, nor was she willing to investigate these matters that were unrelated to her.

Generally speaking, people gambling on bonded porcelain wouldn’t pay an overly low price for children hailing from Clay Vase Alley, seeing that this impoverished alley had once produced Cao Xi, a sword immortal responsible for overseeing a Mighty Suppressing Pagoda in the Southern Whirl Continent. This would add a premium, but not a very big one.

Because Clay Vase Alley had already produced Cao Xi before, the late emperor of the Great Li Empire, the imperial court, and the buyer of Chen Ping’an’s bonded porcelain all hadn’t regarded the shattering of Chen Ping’an’s bonded porcelain as a very important matter. However, it was difficult to say whether this was still the case now that Chen Ping’an had slowly ascended to his current height. Perhaps the buyer might feel a strong urge to raise this matter again, finding all kinds of reasons and excuses to negotiate with the new emperor of the Great Li Empire.

Chen Ping’an’s bonded porcelain had been shattered, yet he was still able to achieve such great feats and climb to his current state. If his bonded porcelain hadn’t been shattered, and the buyer had brought him out of the Jewel Small World and greatly invested in his cultivation, then according to precedent, would Chen Ping’an not have been guaranteed to become an Upper Five Tier cultivator? Taking this into account, the compensation from the imperial court of the Great Li Empire back then most definitely hadn’t been fair.

Of course, if the buyer hailed from an immortal force in the Great Li Empire, then they presumably wouldn’t dare to say anything to the imperial court right now. They would only dare to grumble in their minds. If they hailed from an immortal force belonging to another continent, however, especially those juggernaut sect-level forces, and especially those belonging to the Northern Complete Reed Continent, then the new emperor of the Great Li Empire, who was yet to fully establish his rule, would almost certainly have to pay his father’s debt.

“Chen Ping’an is a very friendly and easy-going person,” Li Liu suddenly said.

“However, Chen Ping’an is also a very frightening person at the same time,” she added.

Old Man Yang smiled and said, “Being able to receive such an assessment from you, it’s clear that Chen Ping’an hasn’t been wasting his time all these years.”

Li Liu frowned and said, “Once Chen Ping’an learns the truth, his first enemy will be right beside Downtrodden Mountain and Clay Vase Alley.”

His first enemy would be Apricot Blossom Alley’s Ma Clan.

His second enemy would be the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Song Clan.

Yet, Ma Kuxuan was clearly a wager that Old Man Yang attached great importance to.

The old man snickered and replied, “If Ma Kuxuan is killed by someone at the same age, someone whose bonded porcelain has already been shattered, then he would have saved me from making more gambles in the future. If that’s the case, then I should be thanking Chen Ping’an instead.”

Li Liu sighed in response.

This was the old man’s business ideology.

“That Daoist branch master actually spoke many bold truths back then,” Old Man Yang remarked with a smile. “However, has Chen Ping’an understood these truths yet? For example, those who do good deeds aren’t necessarily good people, and those who do bad deeds aren’t necessarily bad people.”

Old Man Yang looked up at the sky and continued, “Do you know why the Buddhist Sect is seemingly completely uninterested in the direction and fate of the Jewel Small World?”

Li Liu remained silent.

Old Man Yang answered his own question, saying, “Let’s assume that the Decline of the Dharma is arriving. Which of the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools of Thought do you think will suffer the most?”[1]

“The Daoist Sect,” Li Liu replied. “Once there’s no path to ascend and no spiritual energy to cultivate, all of the cultivation methods in the world will become completely ineffective. At that time, the Daoist Sect will be subject to the most difficult situation. The Daoist Sect’s profound philosophy of inaction and following the natural flow of things might transform into literal inaction and fecklessness. To the Daoist Sect, this might very likely be a case of the earliest-arriving separation of the world and its deities. On the other hand, the Confucian Sect and the Buddhist Sect can continue to pass down their teachings and exist for tens of thousands of years. It’s just that the radiance of their teachings will be far dimmer than before.”

Old Man Yang nodded and explained, “And that’s why the Daoist Senior Brother is worried, and that’s why the Daoist Third Brother personally acted as a Dao guardian for his senior brother and paid a visit to the Jewel Small World, disguising himself as a fortune teller to keep a firm eye on Qi Jingchun.”

“Why didn’t Mr. Qi use the hairpin gifted to him by his master?” Li Liu asked.

“That’s a critical item of that stinky Daoist temple master, so the old scholar was naturally acting out of the goodness of his heart,” Old Man Yang replied. “Even I failed to notice the origin of that hairpin in the beginning, and Qi Jingchun most likely didn’t notice it either. Afterward, that hairpin only revealed a sliver of its power when Qi Jingchun was boldly facing off against the heavenly tribulation. The stinky Daoist temple master naturally had thoughts of repulsing the Dao Ancestor, but it was a pity that Qi Jingchun was unwilling to jump from one perilous Go board to another perilous Go board. Since death was inevitable, he resolutely severed all of the remaining paths.”

A look of emotion and reminiscence appeared on Old Man Yang’s face as he remarked, “Back then, it was this type of person who overthrew our world.”

He then smiled and continued, “Don’t feel like the world is a chaotic mess right now. When a great calamity truly befalls the world, many such people will step forward bravely. This is thanks to the teachings of the Confucian Sect. Which people always like to deride mortal humans as foolish? It’s those in the mountains, followed by scholars. In reality, the most impressive aspect of the Confucian Sect is people doing good but not knowing that they’re doing good, and people doing evil and knowing clearly that they’re doing evil.

“Children looking after elderly parents, parents teaching their children, the relationships between rulers and their subjects, between masters and disciples, between families and friends, between neighbors and acquaintances… The teachings of the Confucian Sect are like porcelain wares, spreading throughout the world and leaving an impression on everyone. The porcelain wares shatter easily, but the fundamental nature of the clay ingredients remains unchanging.”

Old Man Yang thought for a moment and said, “Li Huai sent some letters to the shop before, and one of the phrases I came across was: ‘A cold chill seeping into the mountain core, the trees and vegetation gaunt yet resilient.’[2] What do you think? Isn’t this very interesting? Why did a sinister old woman like Apricot Blossom Alley’s Ma Lanhua try to stop her son and daughter-in-law from committing evil to seek wealth? This is the complexity of the human heart; these are the unwritten rules of the Confucian Sect restraining people’s thoughts and actions. Many of these principles have already embedded themselves in the minds of everyone in the Majestic World.”

“What area of study was Mr. Qi investigating during his sixty years in the Jewel Small World?” Li Liu asked in curiosity.

“He was naturally perusing books from the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools of Thought,” Old Man Yang replied. “Qi Jingchun could live up to the praise of having a very broad scope of reading. In private, however, he was mainly focused on the principles of the Three Teachings, foretelling, interrelationships, and laws.”

Li Liu sighed in response.

He was a scholar, so why had he voluntarily brought himself so much hardship and trouble?

Old Man Yang retrieved some tobacco.

Li Liu smiled knowingly when she saw this.

This tobacco was most likely a present from her younger brother, Li Huai.

The reason for this was very simple: this tobacco clearly looked very cheap.

After some more casual conversation…

Li Liu stood up and disappeared in a flash, changing her mind and deciding to visit Divine Elegance Mountain before she visited Downtrodden Mountain.

————

On the cliff face of Divine Elegance Mountain, there were the characters “Heaven Creates Divine Elegance” engraved from the top to the bottom.

A girl wearing green and with a ponytail was sitting on the first horizontal stroke of the character “Heaven,” and it was as if she were sitting on a railing in the sky and peering down at the world.[3]

She slowly ate her desserts.

Li Liu appeared beside her, yet Ruan Xiu still didn’t turn her head.

Li Liu squatted down and gazed into the distance, casually tossing two items to the young woman in green.

Ruan Xiu caught the two items and put away her desserts.

“One is a small world, the Paddy Field Small World, and one is a blessed land, the Smoke Mist Blessed Land. The small world is slightly inferior to the ten large worlds and thirty-six small worlds, while the blessed land is a ready-made medium-grade blessed land. It’s neither good nor bad, and it can potentially advance to the high-grade if you’re willing to put some money into it. However, there’s no human in the blessed land, and there are only mountain spirits, grass spirits, and flower spirits. You should be aware that the old man doesn’t like to interact with other people, but according to the agreement, he’ll ask you to do two things in the future. At that time, you can decide whether or not you do those things and how exactly you do them based on your own mood.”

Ruan Xiu spread her palm open and looked down.

The jade tablet was inscribed with the characters, “Not an azure dragon supervising the waters, the land forming ditches and the water forming fields,” hence the small world being named the Paddy Field Small World. [4] Its alternate name was the Green Sprout Small World.

The side of the seal was inscribed with the characters, “Time squandered in the world, smoke and mist lingering in the area,” hence the blessed land being named the Smoke Mist Blessed Land.[5]

Blessed lands were useful for land, people, and natural treasures, while small worlds were useful for cultivation and attaining Dao.

This was literally a case of “worlds apart.”

Of course, the best-case scenario was an immortal force possessing both a small world and a blessed land at the same time. For example, the Divine Edict Sect owned the Limpid Pond Blessed Land, and it also owned an additional small world. It was just that the small world was of a lower grade, thus not being one of the thirty-six small worlds like the Jewel Small World and the Dragon Palace Small World. A small world was a small world, after all, and apart from having even more spiritual energy than ordinary treasured lands with abundant spiritual energy, the most important thing about them was the many more mystical qualities they possessed. For example, there was the aura of the Great Dao, and there were some golden matters accumulated and washed by the flow of time. They were only small specks, yet they could fill an entire room with radiance.

The Paddy Field Small World also had some mystical abilities similar to enchanted picture scrolls, so it was suitable for Liu Xianyang’s sword practice during sleep to a certain degree.

In reality, Old Man Yang possessed small worlds and blessed lands that were even more suitable for cultivating that sword scripture.

However, now wasn’t the right time to take them out.

When doing business with others, one definitely shouldn’t show too much eagerness. Otherwise, one wouldn’t get a good deal.

Ruan Xiu frowned and asked, “There aren’t damaged mystical realms of the fire element?”

“The old man won’t give them to you even if he has any,” Li Liu replied. “Even if you dare to accept them, your father will still return them to Old Man Yang. I most certainly won’t make another trip for this kind of matter either.”

“Thank you,” Ruan Xiu said with a nod.

Li Liu didn’t respond.

Ruan Xiu retrieved her silken pouch and desserts again, asking, “Do you want some?”

Li Liu hesitated for a moment before grabbing a small piece and popping it into her mouth.

Ruan Xiu smiled with squinted eyes, appearing slightly happy as she said, “You can eat this dessert one more time before I beat you to death in the future.”

“I’ll eat the dessert, and then you’ll eat me, so you’ll pretty much be the one eating the dessert anyway. This is quite a good deal for you,” Li Liu said with a chuckle.

Ruan Xiu put away her desserts and gazed into the distance with a smile, remarking, “But it’s possible that you might be the one eating me instead. I feel like this is fairly good. To have few restrictions, and to eat when we want to.”

Boiling water and searing seas, with all matter in the world free to eat.

“I don’t remember anything about the past anymore. Who won and who lost the final battle between us?” Ruan Xiu asked.

“We both lost,” Li Liu replied with an indifferent expression.

“There are clearly pawns controlled by other forces among the twelve unofficial disciples of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, so why are you purposely choosing to ignore them?” Li Liu asked.

“Other people have placed a few measly ants in the chicken coop, so is there any need for me to deal with them?” Ruan Xiu replied with a baffled expression.

Li Liu smiled upon hearing this.

Such pitiful ants.

Among them, Xie Ling was perhaps the most pitiful.

“Did you not come across any familiar faces in the Northern Complete Reed Continent?” Ruan Xiu asked in a seemingly casual manner.

“I brushed past him at a place called Malicious Ghost Valley at Skeleton Shoal, but I didn’t go out of my way to greet him,” Li Liu replied. “In any case, we’ll meet again at Lion Peak in the future.”

“Oh, then you’re quite lacking as a person,” Ruan Xiu commented.

“Care for a fight in the Smoke Mist Blessed Land?” Li Liu asked with a cold chuckle.

“No thanks. That’s clearly a terrible deal for me. Not only will I clearly lose, but fighting inside the blessed land will also cause its spiritual energy to disperse and many great demons to die. There’s absolutely no point.”

Ruan Xiu shook her head and continued, “With a personality like yours, I must have genuinely been a very good-tempered person before to have not pummeled you to death.”

Li Liu lay down on her back, placing her hands behind her head and using them as a pillow as she responded, “Your temper was indeed quite good.”

Ruan Xiu glanced up at the sky, looking at the two people who were soaring on the wind and traveling south.

However, she quickly retracted her gaze and didn’t stop them.

1. The Decline of the Dharma refers to traditional Buddhist accounts of how the Buddhist religion and the Buddha’s teaching (Dharma) are believed to decline throughout history in a cyclical manner. ☜

2. This is a line from Su Shi’s poem, Qixian Three Gorges Bridge. Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan, art name Dongpo, was a Chinese poet, essayist, calligrapher, painter, scholar-official, literatus, artist, pharmacologist, and gastronome who lived during the Song dynasty. Su Shi is one of the most accomplished figures in classical Chinese literature. ☜

3. The first horizontal stroke of the character “Heaven” is the top stroke of 天. ☜

4. This is a line from Gu Yu’s poem. Gu Yu was a poet from the Ming Dynasty. ☜

5. This is a line from Zhu Fang’s poem, Bamboo Temple. Zhu Fang was a poet from the Tang Dynasty. ☜