Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an stayed on the mountain summit for two days, practicing his walking meditation in an unsteady fashion day and night.

On this day, a young man who resembled a Confucian scholar flew onto the scene on the stroke of daybreak. He instantly drew to a halt in mid-air upon spotting the crater that Chen Ping’an had lain in earlier. He then quickly spotted Chen Ping’an on the mountain summit, and he descended to the ground, looking very disheveled. As a swordsman on the cusp of the Nascent Tier, he had to have been traveling in a massive hurry for him to look so bedraggled.

Qi Jinglong remained silent and concealed this entire time, and only after making his landing was the talismanic light emanating from his robes dispelled to reveal his presence.

A faint smile appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face, and he was finally able to relax a little.

Now that Qi Jinglong had arrived, he could afford to slack off.

Prior to the two of them parting ways at the Dragon Head Ferry Station, Chen Ping’an had given Qi Jinglong one of the two letter-bearing flying swords in the sword case gifted to him by Zhu Quan of the Flax Robe Sect.

He had done this so that the two of them could easily keep in touch with each other, but never had he imagined that he would need to use it so soon, nor had he imagined that Deer Cutter Mountain would be willing to completely destroy its own reputation just to hunt down a foreigner like himself.

In response to Chen Ping’an’s letter requesting assistance, Qi Jinglong’s reply had been absurdly concise: “Wait for me. Don’t die.”

Qi Jinglong took a moment to inspect his surroundings, then turned to Chen Ping’an with a perplexed expression as he asked, “What happened here? Were there two groups of people?”

Chen Ping’an sat down on his bamboo case, then pulled out his Sword Nurturing Gourd and offered it to Qi Jinglong.

“I’ll pass. Tell me what happened,” Qi Jinglong hurriedly said.

At this moment, Chen Ping’an was wearing the Hundred Eye Taotie Dao robe, and he took a swig of wine, then explained, “One of them was an old senior whose name I won’t mention. That senior was the one who wrote the fist technique manual that I’ve been training. After he found me, he blessed me with three punches to hone my fist intent, and after that, he even took care of six Deer Cutter Mountain assassins for me.”

“Is it him?” Qi Jinglong asked.

Chen Ping’an offered no response, and Qi Jinglong took that as silent confirmation.

The second group of Deer Cutter Mountain assassins hadn’t left behind many signs to indicate their presence in the area, but they had clearly decided to come after Chen Ping’an even at the cost of breaking their rules. This meant that they regarded Chen Ping’an as a Nascent Tier cultivator, perhaps even one that was more formidable than average.

The old senior that Chen Ping’an had mentioned was purportedly the author of the Mountain Shaking Guide, so they had to have been a martial artist. A martial artist capable of slaying those six Deer Cutter Mountain cultivators so easily had to have been at least at the Mountain Summit Tier.

There was not a single Mountain Summit Tier martial artist in any of the nations stretching from the Five Mountain Nation all the way upstream to the Sacred Lotus Nation.

The Great Seal Script Empire did have a female Far Roaming Tier martial artist, but she was locked in a battle against that flood dragon from the Jade Seal River, so there was no way she could’ve come to Chen Ping’an’s aid. With that in mind, it became very obvious to Qi Jinglong that Gu You had to have been the old senior in question.

Gu You had never officially taken on a disciple in his life. That female Far Roaming Tier martial artist of the Great Seal Script Empire could only count as half a disciple of his. Gu You was very particular when it came to teaching his fist techniques, and there were all types of rumors swirling around, speculating about why he had never accepted a disciple.

The most plausible theory was derived from a quote that had supposedly come straight out of Gu You’s mouth: “Anyone can learn my fist techniques, but no one will be able to master them.”

After some contemplation, Qi Jinglong said, “You’re safe for now. If that senior has come to your aid, then he would’ve ensured that no word of what happened here could escape. This means that Deer Cutter Mountain will continue to wait for the outcome of their second assassination attempt on you for the near future.

“During this time, there’s no way they’d send another group of assassins after you, so you can continue your travels. I’ll seek out the founding father of Deer Cutter Mountain for you and try to sort out this mess. I’m fairly confident that I’ll be able to convince Deer Cutter Mountain to stop sending people after you, but you’re going to have to be careful of the people pulling the strings behind the scenes.

“Clearly, they must possess one or both of immense wealth and influence if they were able to convince Deer Cutter Mountain to break their rules and come after you a second time.”

“I’m more experienced than you when it comes to dealing with the dangers of the world,” Chen Ping’an said.

“Are you planning to stay here for a few more days?” Qi Jinglong asked.

“I’m going to stay here for three more days. My body needs some time to recover before I continue my journey,” Chen Ping’an replied.

Qi Jinglong made his way to the foot of the mountain with just a single step, then began inscribing runes along the base of the mountain with one hand clasped behind his back.

With each rune that he completed, he would move over a hundred feet to inscribe the next one, and the entire process was extremely smooth and graceful, with no stagnant pauses or any unnecessary movements.

It was important to remember that Qi Jinglong’s mastery in the talismanic arts was the subject of envy even for Yang Ningzheng, who had come from the Lofty Cloud Palace, one of the ancestral forces of the talismanic branch on the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Around fifteen minutes later, Qi Jinglong returned to the mountain summit, then reported, “These runes will be enough to withstand three attacks from the average Nascent Tier cultivator, provided that they’re not a swordsman and don’t possess a pseudo-celestial weapon.”

Chen Ping’an gave him a thumbs-up as he praised, “As expected of the Terrestrial Flood Dragon of the Northern Complete Reed Continent to have learned so much just from watching me inscribe a wall full of Snow Soil Talismans!”

Qi Jinglong rolled his eyes and prepared to depart.

The sooner he departed, the sooner he would be able to find the founding father of Deer Cutter Mountain, and the sooner Chen Ping’an would be safe.

As for what he would do once he tracked down the founding father of Deer Cutter Mountain, he was going to reason with them, of course.

As he turned to depart, he suddenly noticed that several sections of Chen Ping’an’s exposed skin and flesh outside his Dao robe had been completely peeled back to reveal to reveal the bone underneath, and his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, “Do you not have any sense of pain?”

“For martial artists like myself, these minor injuries are nothing more…”

Before Chen Ping’an had a chance to finish, Qi Jinglong suddenly appeared beside him before pressing a hand forcefully down onto his shoulder.

Chen Ping’an’s face instantly became contorted with pain, and he hurriedly shrugged off Qi Jinglong’s hand as he yelled, “What are you doing?!”

“So you are human, after all,” Qi Jinglong chuckled.

He took a glance at the surrounding area, then raised a hand to make a grabbing motion, and several streaks of golden light flew up his sleeve. He had released those talismans earlier to verify that there were no concealed threats in the area.

“You’re really not going to have a drink before you go?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile.

“You’re still thinking about drinking at a time like this?” Qi Jinglong exclaimed in exasperation. “Do you heal from your injuries by drinking the same weight in wine as the blood that you lose?”

Chen Ping’an put on a serious expression as he declared, “To tell you the truth, my cultivation base has swelled drastically after copping those three punches from that old senior. I am now a completely different person from the Chen Ping’an you once knew! If you don’t hurry up and make a breakthrough, you’ll be too ashamed to even come and see me in the future!”

“Have you reached the Vajra Body Tier or the Far Roaming Tier?” Qi Jinglong asked.

“You’re a real spoilsport, aren’t you?” Chen Ping’an sighed.

Qi Jinglong didn’t say anything further as he sprang up into the sky, then instantly vanished into thin air.

Chen Ping’an didn’t feel guilty at all for calling upon Qi Jinglong. In fact, he didn’t even feel the need to thank him.

If Qi Jinglong were to ask for his help at some point in the future, then he would also rush to the former’s aid without any hesitation.

However, Chen Ping’an was hoping that something like that wouldn’t happen. Even if it had to happen, it would ideally happen sometime in the distant future, when his swordsmanship was more refined and his fists were harder.

Following Qi Jinglong’s departure, Chen Ping’an was left with nothing to do. The rest and recuperation process couldn’t be rushed, so he had to be patient.

After some hesitation, he tipped himself upside-down, supporting himself on his head as he attempted to incorporate the Heaven and Earth Stance into the other three forms of meditation. There was no one else around anyway, so he didn’t feel embarrassed trying out something so absurd.

He began slowly shuffling along on his head, and a few minutes later, he returned to his feet, then brushed away the dirt and dust on top of his head. That had not felt good at all.

All of a sudden, he spotted Qi Jinglong standing beside his bamboo case, having made an unannounced return.

“You could’ve at least said something! Are you trying to scare me to death?” Chen Ping’an complained.

“What were you doing just now?” Qi Jinglong asked in a curious manner.

Chen Ping’an continued dusting off his own head as he replied in a serious manner, “I’m practicing my walking meditation. This is an original secret technique of mine. Do you wanna learn it? You’re one of the only people I would offer this prized opportunity to.”

With a flick of his wrist, Qi Jinglong summoned two flagons of immortal wine that he had purchased from the Skeleton Shoal, then set them down on the bamboo case as he said, “I’ll leave you to it then.”

After that, he sprang up into the air and disappeared without a trace once again.

Chen Ping’an sat down onto his bamboo case, then picked up the flagons of wine for a close examination to discover that they were truly flagons of immortal wine, rather than ordinary rice wine.

He seems to be a bit more generous than I am.

————

A spectacular banquet was held on Sun Scorch Mountain to celebrate the breakthrough of Tao Zi, the granddaughter of one of Patriarch Tao, one of the mountain’s sword immortals.

Tao Zi had made a breakthrough to the Abode Tier, taking her to the Middle Five Tiers, so this was a momentous occasion.

Many representatives of various factions had come to offer their congratulations, but the congratulatory gift offered to Tao Zi by Sun Scorch Mountain was more precious than any from the other factions. They had given her a mountain that had been moved from elsewhere to serve as her private garden.

It wasn’t exactly an official mountain opening, given that she was still yet to attain a golden core, but she had been given a mountain at birth, and Su Jia’s mountain had also been given to her following the former’s departure from Sun Scorch Mountain, so she currently owned three exceptional mountains that were abundant with spiritual energy. It was truly a sizable dowry, and her future Dao partner was going to be a very lucky man.

What was even more remarkable about the mountain that had been given to her as a congratulatory gift was that it had formerly been an official mountain of a small nation!

The nation in question had tried to defy the forces of the Great Li Empire, only to be crushed, and the mountain god had fallen along with the nation. As a result, the mountain had become vacant, and Sun Scorch Mountain had purchased it from the Great Li Empire before leaving it to the old mountain-moving ape, who severed the foundation of the mountain before hoisting it onto his back.

Even though the mountain had once been the nation’s Northern Mountain, it was not overly massive, so the old mountain-moving ape didn’t even need to reveal his full true form in order to carry it. Instead, he had only revealed a partial form, but even then, he still stood at over a hundred feet tall, a hulking giant of man that made the mountain appear like nothing more than a huge boulder.

From there, he carried the mountain onto an immortal ship owned by Sun Scorch Mountain, and the mountain was able to take root upon being set back down to earth.

Tao Zi had been the pride and joy of the old sword immortals on Sun Scorch Mountain ever since she was a little girl. Not only did she possess a lofty status, her aptitude for cultivation was exceptional, a complete anomaly the likes of which Sun Scorch Mountain hadn’t seen for five hundred years, and that was one of the key reasons why she was held in such high regard.

Additionally, her temperament and fortune were all quite moderate, which meant that she would never make rapid progress, but her bottlenecks were very easy to overcome, and barring any mishaps, she was all but assured to reach the Golden Core Tier in the future, and there was a very good chance that she would reach the Nascent Tier.

For immortal sects like Sun Scorch mountain, extraordinary prodigies like Wei Jin of the Wind Snow Temple were naturally the object of envy for everyone, but slightly lesser prodigies like Tao Zi were also very important.

In fact, it could even be argued that someone who could reach the Nascent Tier in a safe and steady fashion was more of a sure thing than the brilliant prodigies who made massive names for themselves from a young age. After all, standing out too soon could easily result in an early demise.

Among all of the congratulatory gifts, there was one in particular that was most eye-catching.

Even though the presenter of the gift hadn’t made an appearance, the entirety of Sun Scorch Mountain felt very proud and honored to have received this gift.

This was because the gift had come from none other than the feudal lord of Old Dragon City, Song Mu.

Prior to this, there had been some rumors claiming that Tao Zi had paid a visit to the Jewel Small World during her youth, and back then, she had acquainted herself with Song Mu, whose status as a prince of the Great Li Empire had been concealed at the time.

On the new mountain, the Northern Mountain Temple was in a terrible state, and it would require a significant investment of resources to repair.

As the celebratory banquet gradually drew to a conclusion, an elegant young woman was standing outside the temple with a gleaming green gourd hanging from her waist. That was a small gift that had been given to her by her firewood collecting brother some years ago.

At the time, no one had realized that it was a priceless immortal treasure, and its value was only discovered once the patriarch of the Tao Clan had it examined by a seasoned appraiser.

Standing beside Tao Zi was none other than the old mountain-moving ape of Sun Scorch Mountain.

Tao Zi turned her gaze from the temple to the hulking mountain of an old man standing beside her as she smiled and asked, “Is there really no chance for Big Sister Su to return to Sun Scorch Mountain, Grandpa Yuan?”

The old man shook his head as he replied, “She’s already completely fallen from grace, and she would’ve only been made into a laughing stock had she remained on Sun Scorch Mountain.”

“That new master of the Wind Lightning Field is a real sly piece of work!” Tao Zi grumbled. “He could’ve gone into seclusion at any time, but he chose to do so now just so he could go into hiding!”

“Li Tuanjing’s death has been a massive blow to the Wind Lightning Field,” the old man grinned. “Regardless of how exceptional a prodigy Huang He is, he’s still a developing prospect who’ll struggle to lead the Wind Lightning Field on his own. As for Liu Baqiao, he’s just some fool who’s unable to get over his romantic infatuations.

“He may be progressing quite quickly for the moment, but he’s soon going to encounter an insurmountable bottleneck, and he’ll only have himself to blame for it. Once Huang He comes out of seclusion, our Sun Scorch Mountain will be able to issue him an official challenge, and the Wind Lightning Field will soon cease to exist!

“In contrast, our Sun Scorch Mountain is going from strength to strength! If we can build up some more momentum in the mortal world, not only will our entire mountain be elevated in status, perhaps we’ll even have more than one sword immortal of the Upper Five Tiers among our ranks!

“When that time comes, we will become the object of reverence for all of the swordsmen across the entire continent, and we’ll only climb higher and higher from there! The Wind Snow Temple and True Martial Mountain have already begun to display signs of stagnation, and eventually, we will surpass them as well.”

“I’m not interested in any of that, Grandpa Yuan,” Tao Zi sighed.

“The representative of the Light Breeze City Xu Clan is here,” the old man suddenly said.

“What a pain!” Tao Zi sighed with a roll of her eyes, while the old man smiled in amusement.

After obtaining that suit of scaly armor, the leader of the Light Breeze City Xu Clan had immediately begun eradicating the Xu Clan’s branches, quickly eliminating everyone in the sect that could potentially oppose him. He had left the Great Li Empire with a rather sour taste in its mouth for his decision to move the Xu Clan out of Cinnabar Mountain, but aside from that, he hadn’t made any other missteps.

Furthermore, he had made amends by marrying off his daughter to the Yuan Clan, thereby forging a marriage alliance with a powerful pillar general, and as a result, the Xu Clan had become a significant force among the dragon aides, but it was still inferior to Sun Scorch Mountain.

Over the past few years, the calculating mistress of Light Breeze City had been constantly making efforts to bring about a marriage alliance between her son and Tao Zi, but the patriarch of the Tao Clan was yet to accept the proposal.

If a marriage alliance were to take shape between the Tao Clan and Light Breeze City, then this would be great news for the entirety of Sun Scorch Mountain, and both sides would benefit.

An elegant and refined woman in a palace dress approached Tao Zi and the old man with a handsome red-robed young man by her side.

Tao Zi extended a polite curtsey toward the woman, coupled with a dazzling smile, while the young man paid his respects to the old man.

In response, the old man merely gave a nod of acknowledgment, while the woman gently picked up one of Tao Zi’s hands in both of her own as she smiled and said in an affectionate manner, “Our little Tao Zi is becoming more beautiful by the day!”

After exchanging some pleasantries, both the woman and the old mountain-moving ape made their way toward the Northern Mountain Temple to give the young duo some privacy.

Outside the temple, Tao Zi turned to the young boy with a cold glare, then extended a hand toward him as she asked, “Where’s your congratulatory gift?”

The young man extended a closed fist, then opened it to reveal nothing inside, and he gently patted Tao Zi on the palm of her hand as he said, “Here it is.”

Tao Zi was not amused.

The young man hurriedly raised his hands in surrender as he grinned, “Have some patience. There’s going to be a surprise coming out of the Fox Nation near our Light Breeze City soon, so my gift is going to have to come a little late.”

Tao Zi gave a cold harrumph to express her dissatisfaction.

The two of them began strolling along the railing of the white jade plaza on the mountain summit, where they were able to take in the spectacular view of Sun Scorch Mountain’s many peaks.

The young man took a glance at the green gourd hanging from Tao Zi’s waist, then asked, “Why did your firewood collecting brother come to congratulate you?”

“You think he’s as lazy and free as you are?” Tao Zi sneered. “Right now, he’s a feudal lord of the Great Li Empire, the ruler of half an entire continent!”

“You shouldn’t say stuff like that,” the young man said with a smile.

“Will I incur more serious consequences by saying this, or will you be in more trouble if you go rambling about what you just heard from me?” Tao Zi scoffed.

The young man had no response for this, and he could only shake his head in a resigned manner.

He leaned over the railing as he sighed, “Ma Kuxuan is as impressive as ever. That entire Sea Tide Cavalry unit has been completely eradicated. I heard that the woman who irked him all those years ago knelt down and kowtowed to him together with her grandfather to beg for mercy, but even that wasn’t enough to make him change his mind.”

“You’re talking about the one from the Jewel Small World’s Apricot Blossom Alley?” Tao Zi asked. I heard he’s been making breakthroughs like crazy ever since he went to True Martial Mountain. When it comes to people like him, you really can’t do anything aside from stay out of his way.”

The young man fell silent as a dark look appeared on his face.

He had thought of someone that he had felt a strong sense of distaste for ever since he first laid eyes upon them.

Fortunately, the filthy hillbilly that he looked down on had a blood vendetta against the entirety of Sun Scorch Mountain, one that was sure to result in his demise. However, what was quite disheartening for the young man was that this pathetic little beggar had somehow managed to completely reinvent himself over the past few years.

His bridge of immortality had been snapped, but he had taken up martial arts and was constantly out traveling. On top of that, he now had his own estate, and it was enormous, encompassing many mountains, including Downtrodden Mountain and Cinnabar Mountain, the latter of which he had picked up for an astonishingly low price after it was abandoned by the young man’s Xu Clan. The thought of this immediately soured his mood even further.

Information was very hard to come by from the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and it was overseen by Sage Ruan Qiong, so the Light Breeze City Xu Clan didn’t dare to pry. Many of the bits and pieces of information that he had received had come from the Yuan Clan, which his elder sister had married into, but those fragmented pieces of information were largely useless.

As long as that man remained alive, he would continue to be a thorn in the sides of both the Xu Clan and Sun Scorch Mountain, particularly so for the latter.

The biggest cause for concern for Sun Scorch Mountain wasn’t how massive that young man’s estate had become. Instead, they were afraid that he would be able to establish ties with the Dragon Spring Sword Sect. In particular, it would be very troublesome for Sun Scorch Mountain if he were to become entangled with Ruan Qiong’s only daughter.

The Dragon Spring Prefecture was a forbidden area as far as the Great Li Empire was concerned, and no one dared to encroach upon it because Sage Ruan Qiong was currently the undisputed number one guest elder of the Great Li Empire, one that both the present and previous emperors treated with great respect.

The young man turned his gaze back to the rundown temple.

Inside, the woman and the old ape briefly discussed the state of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, following which they quickly cut to the chase.

“That Liu Xianyang is going to be massive trouble once he returns to the Dragon Spring Sword Sect from the Pure Confucian Chen Clan,” the woman sighed.

“Compared with the woes of our Sun Scorch Mountain, the minor troubles of your Xu Clan are barely any cause for concern,” the old ape sneered.

The woman took no solace from these words, continuing, “In the cultivation world, decades can pass by in the blink of an eye. Both our Light Breeze City and your Sun Scorch Mountain are aiming for greater heights, and in order to get there, we must eliminate all roadblocks in our path. In particular, Chen Ping’an must die.”

“He better not appear before me. Otherwise, a single punch will be all it takes to get rid of him!” the old ape scoffed.

“Do you really think it’s that simple?!” the woman snapped in an exasperated manner.

“He should be thanking his ancestors as long as I don’t go and seek him out. Are you suggesting that he would dare to come to Sun Scorch Mountain for vengeance?” the old ape challenged.

The woman heaved a forlorn sigh. She was aware that even if Liu Xianyang wouldn’t be able to make a big difference even if he were to enter the Dragon Spring Sword Sect and become a direct disciple to Ruan Qiong. As for that hillbilly from Clay Vase Alley, he may have accumulated quite a significant estate for himself, but it was still laughable to think that he would be able to oppose Sun Scorch Mountain, which had the backing of the Great Li Empire.

Even if she were to disregard all of Sun Scorch Mountain’s mighty sword immortals, just the mountain-moving ape standing before her alone would be too much for Chen Ping’an to deal with.

However, for some reason, she often found herself feeling a little uneasy over the past few years.

A mocking sneer appeared on the old ape’s face as he asked, “What do you think of Wei Jin of the Wind Snow Temple?”

The woman didn’t know why the old ape had raised such a question, but she still replied, “Prior to Ma Kuxuan and after Li Tuanjing, he was the number one prodigy on the continent.”

“Alright, then let me ask you this: would Wei Jin dare to challenge our Sun Scorch Mountain? Would he be able to make our Sun Scorch Mountain bow under his sword?” the old ape asked.

“He would definitely dare to try, but he wouldn’t be able to,” the woman replied.

“If even Wei Jin wouldn’t be able to force our Sun Scorch Mountain to submit, what chance would a filthy little orphan from Clay Vase Alley with a broken bridge of immortality have of achieving such a feat?” the old ape scoffed.

“I feel like he would dare to try, all the same,” the woman said.

The mountain-moving ape burst into laughter as he nodded in agreement.

“I suppose that’s true. He already showed me his backbone by daring to challenge me back in the Jewel Small World. However, there’s no one protecting him now, and if he dares to come to our Sun Scorch Mountain, I’ll make sure that this becomes his final resting place!”

————

On the Northern Complete Reed Continent, Chen Ping’an wandered around for two full days on the summit of the mountain that was surrounded by runes inscribed by Qi Jinglong.

He would either practise his walking meditation and fist techniques, or go to the foot of the mountain to observe the exceptional runes inscribed by Qi Jinglong.

He had already completely given up on incorporating the Heaven and Earth Stance into the other forms of meditation, not because it was too embarrassing, but because forcibly attempting to combine everything only worked to compromise his fist intent.

Over these past two days, he had mostly been practicing his fist techniques. Given his terrible physical condition, engaging in excessive walking meditation would only harm his foundation. He had been struck by three punches from a Mountain Summit Tier martial artist, and that would’ve been enough to kill the average Vajra Body Tier martial artist thrice over.

Even the average Far Roaming Tier martial artist would’ve surely perished. Of course, Chen Ping’an wasn’t superior to the average Far Roaming Tier martial artist. As a matter of fact, he had essentially died once.

That day, at around dusk, Chen Ping’an sat down by his bamboo case and inscribed some common yellow paper talismans.

He had already inscribed around seven hundred to eight hundred talismans thus far. The formations manual that Sui Jingcheng had found after searching the bodies of the first group of Deer Cutter Mountain assassins had contained three offensive talismans of decent power, and it was not beyond Chen Ping’an’s current abilities to inscribe them. One of those talismans was the Celestial Lightning Talisman.

Of course, it didn’t count as a legitimate lightning talisman, but Chen Ping’an had inscribed a large number of them, and the sheer quantity was enough to make up for the lack of quality. As for the other two talismans, they were a water talisman by the name of the Vast Flowing River Talisman and an earth talisman called the Earth Pinch Talisman.

Yellow talisman paper wasn’t expensive at all, and gold dust and elixir paste were also quite inexpensive compared with elixir sand. Furthermore, Chen Ping’an had purchased many jars and vials full of immortal elixir sand from Old Locust Street in the Spring Dew Garden, so he had sufficient materials to inscribe thousands of these talismans.

Chen Ping’an split the talismans up by type before setting them down onto his bamboo case to form a series of small piles, enough to create an almighty storm of talismans.

After briefly inspecting the talismans, he nodded to himself in satisfaction, then tucked them back up his sleeves. It was quite heavy, but it was a very welcome and reassuring weight.

Finally, he leaned back against his bamboo case as he sat on the ground, then plucked out a blade of grass from the ground before shaking off the soil. With the blade of grass held in his mouth, he interlaced his fingers behind his head as he stared off into the distance.

The fastest things under the heavens weren’t flying swords. Instead, they were thoughts.

One moment, Chen Ping’an’s thoughts would fly to Clay Vase Alley and Downtrodden Mountain in the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and in the next instant, they would wander to the steps on Stalactite Mountain.

He closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.