Unsheathed

The first group of vagrant cultivators and the Cloudtop City cultivators were already nowhere to be seen, so they had to have already entered the immortal abode.

“What do we do now? Just stand here and stare at one another?” Bai Bi asked with a smile.

“If we knew the location of the exit, then all we would have to do is wait there and ambush whoever comes out. The problem is that the exit could be too far away from this place for us to track down in time,” Zhan Qing mused.

Bai Bi clasped her hands behind her back and inspected her surroundings momentarily, then said, “Let’s search for some leads first. If you really can’t find anything, then you’ll just have to owe me a massive favor.”

“Will you have to pay a very heavy price?” Zhan Qing asked.

“I’ll be losing ten years’ worth of cultivation base,” Bai Bi replied with a nod.

She carefully summoned one of her bonded items as she spoke. The bonded item in question was an extremely rare azure talisman with an image of flowing water inscribed upon it. It was a very simple image, but it was also quite strange in that the illustrated water was slowly flowing, and even the quiet sound of flowing water could be heard coming from the talisman.

The talisman had to have been at least a or an immortal treasure for a Golden Core Tier cultivator from a sect as prestigious as the Water Dragon Sect to have been willing to refine it as one of her bonded items.

“This is an ancient talisman that my master obtained by chance many years ago,” Bai Bi explained. “It came from the ruins of one of the three major ancient temples situated on the bank of the vast river, and it’s called an Inch Gold Talisman. It has many brilliant uses and allows one to make rapid progress when cultivating water techniques.

“Some conflict arose in our sect over ownership rights to the talisman, but that’s a story for another time. All you need to know is that one of the uses of this talisman is that it can allow us to enter this immortal abode.”

The Inch Gold Talisman was also known as the Inch Time Talisman, and it had a collection of profound properties.

Zhan Qing didn’t know exactly how precious this talisman was, but he still ultimately shook his head and decided against having Bai Bi use it.

“I’m already a Golden Core Tier earth immortal, so ten years’ worth of cultivation base as a Dragon Gate Tier cultivator is next to nothing for me,” Bai Bi sighed. “The more advanced one’s cultivation base, the more drastic the gap between one cultivation tier and the next, and the same applies to both Qi refiners and martial artists.”

“Big Sister Bai…” Zhan Qing began with a wry smile.

“It’s fine. I’m willing to do this for you,” Bai Bi said with a smile.

Even for a cold and aloof nobleman like Zhan Qing, he couldn’t help but feel touched by this self-sacrificial gesture from Bai Bi, and he reached out to hold her hand.

However, Bai Bi shook her head as she said in a composed manner, “Among all of the women that you’ve had romantic entanglements with, many of them would be willing to die for you, yet why are you not moved by them at all? Why is it that you feel moved just because I’m a Golden Core Tier earth immortal and I’m willing to sacrifice a few years’ worth of cultivation base for you?

“If all your emotional responses are based on the cultivation base of your benefactor, then I would rather not have your gratitude and affection at all. If a Nascent Tier female cultivator were willing to make the same sacrifice for you in the future, then wouldn’t you abandon me for them in the blink of an eye? Bonds between Dao partners are not so shallow.”

Zhan Qing was completely rooted to the spot, at a loss for how to respond.

“Before I use my Inch Gold Talisman, keep searching to see if you can find a way in, then see if you can break your way in by force. The fists of these two Vajra Body Tier martial artists should not go to waste. Only if those courses of action fail to yield the desired outcome will I resort to using my Inch Gold Talisman,” Bai Bi continued.

Zhan Qing felt slightly better after hearing this, but at the same time, Bai Bi also felt a bit more alien and distant to him.

————

As soon as Huan Yun arrived in the immortal abode, he immediately plastered a talisman to the body of each of his three companions in order to conceal their auras and physical forms.

As for the aura fluctuations that would emanate from their bodies as they walked, Huan Yun was only a talismanic branch Golden Core Tier earth immortal, not an almighty Daoist Heavenly Lord, so there were certain things that he was simply unable to account for.

The old guest elder of Cloudtop City heaved a faint sigh of relief at the absence of an anticipated ambush.

“You must go off on your own now,” Huan Yun suddenly said. “Unless you’re in life-threatening danger, I’m not going to step in. Outside of that, it’s up to you how much you can make out of this opportunity. Rest assured, I’m not going to compete against you. At the very most, I’m only going to pick up what you leave behind or the things that you failed to discover.”

With that, Huang Yun disappeared without a trace like a wisp of smoke blown away by the wind.

The old guest elder turned to the young duo as he said, “Spiritual Master Huan has always been a man of his word, so you can place your trust in him. Let’s go. What you should be thinking about right now is how to deal with that group of vagrant cultivators.”

“What about you, senior uncle? Are you not coming with us?” the young woman asked in a concerned manner.

“Are you expecting me to help you find treasures and carry your bags?” the old guest elder asked in an exasperated manner. “You think you’re out on a sightseeing trip, and I’m supposed to be your servant?”

Before the young woman had a chance to respond, the old guest elder rose up into the air. He wanted to see just how high the heavens of this immortal abode was, and it would also be easier to spot any hidden secrets from a higher vantage point.

However, as a safety precaution, he summoned a spirit tool that wasn’t a bonded item of his, then sent it flying up into the sky so that he didn’t crash headfirst into formation above.

In a set of immortal abode ruins like this one, there were naturally going to be many treasures to be found, but there was also potentially danger lurking around every turn.

The old guest elder was feeling both elated and a little concerned. His elation stemmed from the fact that this place was sure to harbor an immense fated opportunity far more significant than initially imagined.

This was definitely not just the immortal abode of some Dragon Gate Tier cultivator. Instead, it was an entire sect, and judging from its vast scale, it had to have been a sect not inferior in the slightest to the likes of Cloudtop City and the Rainbow Sparrow Residence.

Hence, Shen Zhenze had certainly made the right decision in entrusting him with that pocket treasure.

However, at the same time, he was concerned as there was no way to take this immortal abode with them. If this turned out to be the ruins of a sect once presided over by a Nascent Tier earth immortal or even a cultivator of the Upper Five Tiers, then there was a very good chance that there would be nothing left once they returned here to search for more treasures.

Instead, the entire place would’ve surely already been claimed by the nearby sects using a legendary mountain-moving mystical technique. Of the two sects closest to this immortal abode, one was situated in the north, while the other in the west. There wasn’t much difference in the distance between each sect and the immortal abode, and for sects that were in possession of immortal ships, this slight disparity in distance was completely negligible.

The old guest elder was hoping that the former owner of this place was nothing more than an unknown earth immortal and nothing more than that.

Ideally, they would’ve only been a Golden Core Tier earth immortal, and if they had been a Nascent Tier cultivator instead, then there could be some trouble to come.

Perhaps Cloudtop City would receive a visit from official immortals of a major sect, and in such a scenario, Shen Zhenze would have no choice but to offer up the majority of the spoils that they reaped from the immortal abode in order to appease said official immortals.

If this were the ruins of a sect that had once belonged to a cultivator of the Upper Five Tiers, then this could easily turn from a fated opportunity into a major calamity for Cloudtop City, unless they could immediately destroy this small world and erase all traces of its existence.

However, that was definitely beyond Cloudtop City’s means.

The only way they would be able to save themselves would be if Shen Zhenze made an immediate decision upon the return of Huan Yun’s group to Cloudtop City, taking the initiative to seek out of the nearby major sects to work out a relatively fair deal.

In that case, ownership rights of this blessed land would inevitably fall into the hands of whichever sect Shen Zhenze decided to approach.

The spirit tool that the old guest elder had released into the sky was flying around without encountering any obstruction, and that provided him with the reassurance that it was safe to fly up there himself.

However, the spirit tool abruptly exploded shortly thereafter, and at that point, the old guest elder was already several thousand feet above the ground. A sense of foreboding instantly welled up in his heart, but before he had a chance to react, someone tugged on him from down below, sending him plummeting back down toward the earth.

The old guest elder swung around with a look of alarm in his eyes, only to discover, much to his relief, that it was Huan Yun who was pressing a hand down onto his shoulder to force him on a rapid descent.

The old guest elder detected a thin aura appear overhead before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

“I suggest you don’t go any higher than this,” Huan Yun warned in a grim voice. “Even a Golden Core Tier Militarian cultivator wouldn’t be able to withstand the wisp of sword qi prowling the heavens here.”

Earlier, Huan Yun had tossed out several roaming talismans to scout the surrounding area, and he discovered that all of the talismans that rose up to beyond a certain altitude were instantly destroyed.

By the time the old guest elder looked up again, the wisp of sword qi was already nowhere to be seen.

“Could it be that there’s still a sword immortal presiding over this place?” he exclaimed.

At this point, Huan Yun had already secretly made a lap around the mountain, and he shook his head as he said, “There are no living people left in this place, nor any ghostly entities. All that remains is this disembodied wisp of sword qi that continues to patrol this small world. Also, I have something to tell you that can be considered both good news or bad news. This place was left behind from a broken small world, and it’s roughly fifty kilometers in radius.

“It’s difficult to say exactly how old the small world is, perhaps a thousand years old, perhaps even older. However, I was able to work out that this immortal abode met its demise roughly seven to eight hundred years ago. However, that doesn’t make sense because there are no immortal sects that match this one in the history of the Northern Pavilion Nation.”

Huan Yun drew to a halt in his descent at an altitude of just over a thousand feet, and the old guest elder was suspended at the same altitude with him as he continued, “That leaves only one possibility, which is that after this sect met its demise, this small world was taken by some unknown cultivator of unfathomable power to the Northern Pavilion Nation from elsewhere.

“However, for some reason, this immortal wasn’t able to take over this small world and use it to establish a sect of their own, as they presumably intended. Either they were struck down by some calamity, and the treasure that contained this small world fell undetected into the Northern Pavilion Nation, or the immortal in question settled in the Northern Pavilion Nation and hid in this small world to cultivate in seclusion, only to pass away of natural causes at some point.”

A forlorn look appeared on Huan Yun’s face as he speculated on this possibility. Human life was a very fragile thing, even for immortals of unfathomable power.

He was always struck by a sense of dejection whenever this thought occurred to him.

However, he then thought of the words of consolation that he had offered to Shen Zhenze in Cloudtop City, and his mental state instantly returned to normal.

The biggest hindrance on the path of cultivation for many was often oneself, and that was why the Test of the Heart was considered to be the most stern test among the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools of Thought.

Huan Yun was actually a cultivator of immense aptitude, and while everyone thought that he had only reached his current heights because he had chosen the right path in pursuing the talismanic arts, the reality was that this had not been the right choice for him at all.

In fact, it wasn’t incorrect to say that his current achievements had come in spite of the path that had chosen. He had once been told by a mighty cultivator that if he had joined a major sect early and didn’t waste so much time dabbling with pointless talismans, he would’ve already been a Nascent Tier cultivator with realistic chances of reaching the Upper Five Tiers.

Hence, Huan Yun knew better than most what it was like to be both blessed and cursed by the fickle mistress that was fate.

Whenever he felt particularly indignant over his squandered potential, he had to convince himself that this was a Test of the Heart that he had to overcome in order to further his cultivation.

————

Inside the Daoist temple on the mountain summit was a seated deity statue in the form of a middle-aged Daoist priest. The statue’s gaze was cast directly forward, and its hands were folded over one another on its lap.

The statue sat behind an incense table, atop which sat a copper incense burner, which was still half-filled with incense ashes.

Everyone knew that this incense burner was definitely a prized Daoist treasure, but no one dared to try and touch it.

“Daoist Master Sun, have you seen any illustrations of Daoist deity before?” Di Yuanfeng asked.

“No,” Daoist Master Sun replied with a shake of his head.

There was one thing that he didn’t dare to say, which was that in his opinion, this Daoist deity was very unremarkable in appearance. In fact, it wasn’t even as much of a visual spectacle as the four deity murals in the chamber outside.

Chen Ping’an was staring at the statue, and he noticed that its sitting posture was quite familiar. During the three centuries that he had spent traveling through the river of time with the abbot of the Observing Dao Temple in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, he had occasionally seen the old abbot adopt the same sitting posture. However, it was not a common occurrence.

Perhaps it wasn’t that strange a sight in the eyes of mortals, but it felt a little blurry and indistinct in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that the true intent cultivated by the old abbot was a little similar to what could be seen in this deity statue.

Chen Ping’an recalled reading about a state of seated forgetfulness in a Daoist scripture.

Regardless of how mighty this cultivator had been during his life, he had already departed from this world, leaving only a deity statue in his visage behind.

Chen Ping’an heaved a lamenting sigh as he pulled three sticks of incense out of his minimization treasure, then lit them before sticking them into the incense burner.

Daoist Master Sun felt like Chen Ping’an had to have been delusional. Could it be that he was hoping that there was still a fragment of the deity statue’s soul lingering in the temple, and that he would be granted a fated opportunity for offering up some incense?

Neither Huang Shi nor Di Yuanfeng tried to stop him from offering incense.

In fact, they were glad to see this because they wanted someone to test the waters for them. They were definitely going to take the incense burner with them, but they were apprehensive about the dangers that it could pose, so they were glad to see Chen Ping’an make the first move to determine if the incense burner did indeed pose any threats.

The three sticks of incense slowly burned down into extinguished stubs, and nothing happened the entire time.

Di Yuanfeng smiled as he said, “Brother Huang obtained a Dao robe earlier, while I obtained those two accessories, so who should the incense burner go to now? Daoist Master Sun or Brother Chen?”

“I’ll pass,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile. “There are so many buildings on the mountain, and once we split up, there will be plenty of looting to be done for all of us, so if Daoist Master Sun wants this incense burner, then he can have it.”

“I’m willing to exchange that Dao robe for this incense burner,” Huang Shi offered.

Daoist Master Sun seemed very reluctant to accept the trade, but he still acquiesced in the end.

Huang Shi tossed out the Dao robe, then tucked the incense burner into his bag.

After that, he pulled out all of the worthless clothes, containers, and other miscellaneous items from his huge bag before casually discarding them.

He then tore the piece of cloth into two and tossed one half to Di Yuanfeng so he could fashion it into a cloth bag of his own.

After taking a glance at the expectant look on Daoist Master Sun’s face, he said, “You’re wearing such a large Daoist robe, can’t you just take it off and make it into a bag?”

An enlightened look appeared on Daoist Master Sun’s face, and he was ecstatic to have received such a great idea.

After that, the four of them split up to search for treasures on their own in the Daoist temple. Di Yuanfeng found a pristine white cushion, while Daoist Master Sun had torn down several pieces of golden fabric of some unknown material.

Huang Shi speculated that the deity statue had to have been harboring some secrets, so he smashed the statues to bits with one punch, but there was nothing inside.

At the time, Chen Ping’an had been crouched down on the ground, tapping on the bricks, which were all laden with moisture. He had been given a massive fright by the unexpected commotion of the deity statue being shattered, and he looked up at Huang Shi, who flashed him a grin.

Daoist Master Sun was also given a huge fright, while Di Yuanfeng merely took a glance at the shattered deity statue fragments on the ground, then quickly lost interest and turned his gaze away as if they were nothing more than worthless scraps of painted wood.

The four men made their way out of the Daoist temple together, and Daoist Master Sun had only just stepped over the doorstep when a string of explosions rang out from around his waist.

The string of Treasure Pagoda Bells had exploded without any warning.

“We’re doomed!” Daoist Master Sun howled. “Our acts of blasphemy must’ve enraged that Daoist deity!”

Huang Shi and Di Yuanfeng exchanged a glance with each other, then split up without any hesitation and made their way down the mountain in search of more treasures.

After a brief hesitation, Daoist Master Sun chose not to follow Di Yuanfeng. Instead, he ran after Huang Shi while calling out for the latter to wait for him.

Before long, the Daoist temple behind the four of them collapsed violently, sending an enormous cloud of dust rising up into the sky.

Chen Ping’an didn’t immediately descend the mountain to search for treasures as the other three did.

Instead, he began picking up some things that the three of them had left behind, such as the glazed green tiles that were too heavy and took up too much space, as well as the bricks on the ground that were imbued with abundant water fortune.

Aside from the cloth bag that he had slung across his chest, he also had his pocket treasure and minimization treasures to provide storage space, and it worked out perfectly that he had offloaded much of his inventory into the Pi Fu shop on the Spring Dew Garden’s Old Locust Street.

However, what he truly wanted to gather was the shattered wooden fragments of the deity statue that Huang Shi had smashed to bits.

He began picking up everything amid the wreckage of the Daoist temple in an unhurried manner, starting off with the glazed roof tiles, which he stored away in his minimization treasure.

At the same time, he was constantly tossing debris onto the plaza to expose the wooden fragments of the deity statue and more glazed roof tiles. It was said that the Colored Glaze Pagoda of White Emperor City had layers upon layers of specially crafted green glazed tiles piled upon its roof, and that those tens of thousands glazed tiles reflected the clouds up above to form a resplendent green sea that was spectacular to behold.

After gathering all of the deity statue fragments, Chen Ping’an also collected 120 glazed roof tiles, at which point a peculiar look appeared on his face.

He looked up to discover that the wreckage of the Daoist temple seemed to have been transferred by him from its original spot onto the white jade plaza.

The bricks on the ground that were imbued with water fortune also presented quite a dilemma to Chen Ping’an.

If he wanted to collect all of the bricks and the glazed roof tiles, he wouldn’t have enough storage space even if he had several more minimization treasures up his sleeve.

However, that wasn’t what Chen Ping’an was feeling conflicted about. Instead, his dilemma arose from all of the old items in his minimization treasure that were completely worthless and only took up space.

If one were to compare them with these bricks that were laden with water fortune or all of the treasures in the other buildings on this mountain, then the difference would be akin to that of night and day.

Chen Ping’an crouched down on the spot with his hands tucked up their opposite sleeves, then raised his head and began stroking the stubble on his chin.

After some contemplation, he decided to keep everything in his minimization treasure and simply pick up as many bricks and roof tiles on top of them.

Finally, he lit three more sticks of incense before sticking them into a gap between two bricks at the original site of the Daoist temple.

After the sticks of incense had completely burned out, he gently blew the ashes away.

As opposed to picking and choosing bricks from different places, Chen Ping’an had dug up the bricks in uniform rows before erasing any traces that would indicate that something had been dug up here.

He ended up making use of his pocket treasure as well, and in conjunction with his minimization treasure, he was able to store a total of over thirty bricks.

After a brief hesitation, he picked up one more brick and two more glazed tiles before tucking them into the bag slung across his chest. The increased weight of the bag gave him a sense of reassurance and groundedness, a feeling that he enjoyed, so he stuck two more bricks into his bag, and only then did he begin to descend from the mountain summit.

He was going to check on Daoist Master Sun, who, in his eyes, was the most kind-hearted of his three companions.

By Chen Ping’an’s estimates, once Daoist Master Sun found a prized treasure that Huang Shi desired, it would be time for the former to die.

Prior to running off in pursuit of Huang Shi, Daoist Master Sun had issued Chen Ping’an a warning through his mind’s lake: “Make sure to be wary of Qin Juyuan! In fact, I suggest you don’t appear before either him or Huang Shi again. Grab some treasures and get as far away from this place as you can. Your life is worth more than any treasure!”

Chen Ping’an felt like this warning from Daoist Master Sun deserved some reciprocation.

In any case, the haul that Chen Ping’an had made thus far was already far beyond anything that he could’ve possibly imagined, and these were the type of spoils that would be sure to bring a wide grin to his face whenever he thought of them in the future.

Hence, he could treat the rest of his time in this immortal abode as a sightseeing trip.

If he were to come across more fine treasures, then that would naturally be best, but even if he didn’t, he was already more than satisfied.

However, the inexplicable explosion of Daoist Master Sun’s Treasure Pagoda Bells was very strange.

Then again, given how strange this immortal abode was, the explosion of the bells hardly even felt like a surprise.

Just now, Chen Ping’an had ignited another Yang Energy Illumination Talisman, but once again, not even the slightest bit of baleful qi was revealed.

It seemed that he would have no choice but to adapt as the situation unfolded.

As the old adage went, one often meets their destiny on the path they take to avoid it, so it was best for him to simply go with the flow and deal with whatever came his way.

Chen Ping’an skirted around the mountainous ruins of the Daoist temple on the white jade plaza. He had picked through the wreckage extremely meticulously, so he definitely wouldn’t have missed anything.

Even if he had, there was no point in thinking about it.

He stood at the top of the steps and cast his gaze into the distance.

Finally, a second group had arrived.

Compared with how sneaky the first group had been, this group was far more open and blatant.

It was the group led by Zhan Qing and Bai Bi.

Chen Ping’an had already plastered a Stele Carrying Talisman to his own body, and he flew down the mountain like a gliding bird.