Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an reeked of alcohol as he returned to his residence in Cloudtop City.

There was a ring of Snow Soil Talismans drawn around the wall of the residence, and these talismans could repel minor thieves but couldn’t repel powerful cultivators. Even so, this was still better than nothing.

Chen Ping’an lightly shook his azure robe after entering the courtyard, causing the smell of alcohol to completely dissipate. He entered the room where Guest Elder Xu usually cultivated, sitting down on a cushion that could gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. He had already hung the couplet on the wall behind him, causing the initially empty room to feel a bit more like a scripture library.

Chen Ping’an planned to hang this couplet on the first floor of the bamboo building when he returned to Downtrodden Mountain in the future. He definitely wouldn’t sell it, and he would instead treat it like a family heirloom, similar to how he was treating the calligraphy works that the inebriated county lieutenant had written in cursive script.

Chen Ping’an retrieved the vermilion Daoist badge made from jujube wood, thinking that he needed to make haste and successfully refine this item first. Otherwise, any Qi refiner could casually open this minimization treasure and enter it if they managed to get their hands on it. Moreover, simply performing basic refinement and storing the minimization treasure in his acupoint wouldn’t be enough.

When it came to refining items in the world, basic refinement would allow items to become intangible, meaning they could be stored in one’s acupoints. However, like the immortal coins in his possession, these items could still be easily overwritten and traded between cultivators. Standard refinement was analogous to constructing an ancestral hall in one’s mountain, allowing the items to truly take root in one’s acupoints. Meanwhile, advanced refinement would transform an item into a cultivator’s bonded item.

Chen Ping’an retrieved another three treasures before refining the minimization treasure. They were a feast for his eyes, and they could also nurture his heart.

Chen Ping’an had used talismans to complete three transactions with Daoist Master Sun back in that water palace.

There was a primordial lord deity statue carved from wood, and its lifelike appearance elicited imagery of sweeping wind and flowing water.

There was a round fan, and the most interesting thing about it was the fact that the embroidery on the fan depicted a damsel holding a fan in her hand. She was lithe and graceful, and she was playing with an oriole on a tree branch.

There was a pair of Dragon King Baskets, and they were respectively inscribed with the characters “Battling Flood Dragon” and “Prowling Coiled Dragon.”

Chen Ping’an planned to give the wooden primordial lord deity statue to Li Huai.

As for the round fan, he would give this to Chen Ruchu, the little girl in pink. In reality, Senior Steward Zhu Lian wasn’t the busiest person at Downtrodden Mountain, nor was the diligently training Cen Yuanji. It most definitely wasn’t Zheng Dafeng who basked in the sun and basked in the moon every single day. Rather, it was the little girl, Chen Ruchu.

In fact, Chen Ping’an believed that as long as Downtrodden Mountain continued to exist, Chen Ruchu would continue to be busy every day, holding a bucket and a towel in her hands as she walked around with a set of softly clinking keys by her waist. She would complete the same tasks every day, greeting Cui Cheng in the bamboo building, handing roasted seeds to Pei Qian, watering the plants and flowers, keeping the bamboo building sparkling clean, and visiting the small town or the prefectural city from time to time to purchase the goods needed by the mountains.

In Chen Ping’an’s eyes, were these not major matters?

They were very major matters.

Everyone who wasn’t blind should be able to see this and view this with importance.

To say nothing of cultivators from outside the Dragon Spring Prefecture’s Downtrodden Mountain, which cultivator in Downtrodden Mountain dared to pick on the little girl in pink? Did anyone dare to try?

This wasn’t a case of Chen Ping’an showing favoritism, but rather, in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, Chen Ruchu was the person least likely to make any mistakes. No one could compare to her in this regard, not even Chen Ping’an.

Thus, listening to Daoist Master Sun talk about heaven and earth and the human heart, and listening to Vagrant Cultivator Jin Shan talk about those trivial matters, all made Chen Ping’an feel very satisfied. These were two different types of satisfaction.

Chen Ping’an grabbed a small bamboo cage, and the other connected bamboo cage immediately started to sway gently.

What was swaying in his hands were two literal mountains of fortune.

In actual fact, Chen Ping’an was slightly unsure about how he should deal with this pair of Dragon King Baskets. Firstly, these Dragon King Baskets were severely damaged, so repairing them would definitely require a huge sum of immortal coins. Secondly, even though Dragon King Baskets were extremely useful, possessing an innate suppression ability and being able to capture flood dragons and their kin, there were also many particular requirements.

In contrast to many offensive immortal treasures that could be used straight away, Dragon King Baskets would very likely be useless if they weren’t used together with the correct immortal technique. At that time, one would essentially be throwing their Dragon King Basket away and gifting it to the enemy.

After mulling over this for a long while, Chen Ping’an ultimately decided to take things one step at a time.

Since he had a new minimization treasure now without needing to spend any extra immortal coins, he definitely needed to purchase two replica bonded swords of sword immortals forged by Hatred Sword Mountain.

If the replica bonded swords were cheaper than Chen Ping’an expected, then he might even purchase three.

After he arrived at the Dragon Palace Small World, he would first confirm the price of the Dragon King Baskets before looking around to see if there were any bold and wealthy individuals who were happy to become willing victims.

These were extremely rare treasures not seen in one hundred years, so how could the prospective buyers dwell on the repair costs?

In saying this, Chen Ping’an preferred to not sell these Dragon King Baskets if he didn’t need to.

After all, when it came to giving presents, it would be bad if he kept using quantity instead of quality to fool his opening disciple.

Chen Ping’an calmed his mind and gathered his concentration as he started to refine the minimization treasure.

This matter wasn’t urgent, and it couldn’t be completed straight away either.

Four hours later, Chen Ping’an stopped when he reached a certain stage of the refinement process, putting on a Dao robe and starting to refine the spiritual energy contained within it.

His mind was completely still.

Time slowly flowed, and it was already midnight when Chen Ping’an opened his eyes and exhaled heavily, following which he reached forward to gently wave away his breath.

According to Cui Dongshan’s mystical explanation, mortal humans in the world would essentially replace their bodies several times during their lives. When it came to Qi refiners, they further pursued the notion of eliminating impurities and keeping the essence, drawing on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper their tendons and bones, expand their acupoints, and train their souls. These were all meticulous tasks.

As a result, cultivators were human but not human.

This wasn’t a saying used to purposely frighten people.

Chen Ping’an used his mind to travel around his acupoints.

The door to his water palace was still open, and the stream that contained water fortune and spiritual energy continued to gurgle along. This was the scenery after Chen Ping’an had drunk the droplets of water gathered on the tips of the bamboo leaves, but was yet to absorb the more concentrated and abundant water fortune of the gray bricks. The green-robed children became increasingly busy as they ran around, and the mural of the river in his water palace became increasingly resplendent as the green-robed children continued to work on it.

Looking at the small pond under the hovering water seal, it appeared like it had already expanded a bit, with the water also becoming deeper.

Chen Ping’an was hesitating about whether or not he should refine those gray bricks from the Daoist temple before using them to pave his water palace.

Even without the wisps of water fortune, the gray bricks from the Daoist temple were still extremely valuable due to their material.

Chen Ping’an had initially planned to bring them back to Downtrodden Mountain in the future, and the thirty-six bricks that had been sucked dry of water fortune could be used to pave six small paths, perfect for them to practice the six-step walking meditation of the Mountain Shaking Guide.

There was him, Pei Qian, Zhu Lian, Zheng Dafeng, and Cen Yuanji.

Of course, there was also Lu Baixiang whom he had a very good relationship with.

He could forget about Wei Xian.

He could also forget about Sui Youbian, who had already gone to the Parasol Leaf Continent’s Jade Tablet Sect and transformed from a pure martial artist into a Qi refiner, yearning to become a female sword immortal who ascended with her sword in the Majestic World.

If these gray bricks could add icing to the cake in his water palace, however, then the six bricks that belonged to Chen Ping’an could undergo standard refinement instead of basic refinement.

A water seal hovering in the sky, gray bricks paving the ground, and a mural on the wall.

Once this was done, Chen Ping’an felt like the aura and appearance of his water palace could be regarded as quite good.

Meanwhile, he would temporarily leave untouched the one hundred and twenty-two green glazed roof tiles of unclear origin.

Huan Yun hadn’t dared to offer any concrete answers on them either, only confirming that they were definitely very valuable. They would become even more terrifying if they shared the same origin as the Colored Glaze Pagoda of White Emperor City.

Apart from the twelve gigantic colored glaze pillars, it was said that the most precious items of the Colored Glaze Pagoda were the colored glaze tiles on its roof.

Chen Ping’an pushed away these thoughts and stood up, leaving the room and starting to practice walking meditation in the courtyard.

However, another visitor unexpectedly arrived in a hurried manner.

It was Wu Qun, the disciplinary elder of the Rainbow Sparrow Residence. She couldn’t hide the delight on her face.

Chen Ping’an led Wu Qun to the pavilion at the peak of the artificial stone mountain, and he learned that her purpose for visiting this time was to give him a top-notch Dao robe from the Rainbow Sparrow Residence.

Wu Qun explained that after Residence Master Sun brought the caisson ceiling back to the Rainbow Sparrow Residence, they found that it had extremely good affinity with the mountains and waters of their immortal force, not only stabilizing the region, but also gathering fortune from the surrounding areas. Moreover, this was with the caisson ceiling not being refined yet, and it was already displaying such mystical abilities simply while it was being temporarily stored in the ancestral hall. Just how incredible would it be after it was refined? This was a pillar treasure that could typically only be found in the ancestral halls of sect-level immortal forces.

In other words, Sun Qing had made too big a profit from this transaction at Cloudtop City, and this was something that weighed heavily on her mind. As such, she needed to give Chen Ping’an this Dao robe as compensation. Of course, it was also okay if Sword Immortal Chen didn’t accept the Dao robe. Sun Qing had already acted politely, so if Sword Immortal Chen politely turned down the offer as well, then she would simply take the Dao robe back.

Chen Ping’an hurriedly said that he wouldn’t be polite this time, not at all. He accepted the exquisitely beautiful and extremely high-grade Dao robe from Wu Qun’s hands, placing it in his new minimization treasure.

The only blemish was that this Dao robe from the Rainbow Sparrow Residence was a bit too feminine, unlike the Snowflake Dao Robe from the female ghost in Meticulous Skin City, which he was still able to wear.

Wu Qun didn’t stay for too long, and she also left behind several large jars of tea leaves, saying that these were some of the last remaining specialty tea from this year’s yield at the Rainbow Sparrow Residence.

In the end, Wu Qun smiled and said, “Even if Sword Immortal Chen wants to sell this wine, please sell it for a high price. Otherwise, it will be a travesty to the name of the Rainbow Sparrow Residence’s specialty tea.”

Chen Ping’an felt slightly troubled, so he replied, “Please tell Residence Master Sun that I’ll leave one jar of tea to gift someone.”

Wu Qun smiled knowingly and nodded in response before taking her leave and flying away.

Shen Zhenze immediately arrived following Wu Qun’s departure.

Chen Ping’an had only just sat down, but he had no option but to stand up again and welcome his new guest.

“Wu Qun didn’t invite Mr. Chen to become a guest elder of the Rainbow Sparrow Residence, did she?” the city lord of Cloudtop City asked with a chuckle. “No, it wouldn’t be a good idea to go. It’s too feminine and distracting there, and that will only delay Mr. Chen’s cultivation.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “The Rainbow Sparrow Residence has no such plan.”

Shen Zhenze sat down and asked, “Since the Rainbow Sparrow Residence doesn’t have such foresight, then why doesn’t Mr. Chen become an unofficial guest elder of Cloudtop City? Apart from a yearly sum of immortal coins, this residence and the entire Jade Rinse Street of Cloudtop City, including its thirty-two residences and shops, will all belong to Mr. Chen.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to accept City Lord’s offer, but I truly aren’t able to take up this offer,” Chen Ping’an replied.

There were far too many worries and dangers on his journey through the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

There was Skeleton Shoal’s Gao Cheng, the mastermind behind the scenes who had employed the assassins of Deer Cutter Mountain, as well as Huai Qian’s death.

Chen Ping’an didn’t want to drag more people into this mess. Traveling around by himself, with only his fists, swords, and wine accompanying him, was much more relaxing.

Shen Zhenze didn’t try to persuade him anymore.

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “City Lord, even though I’m unable to accept your offer and earn easy rent money as a guest elder of Cloudtop City, I greatly appreciate the offer and the goodwill. When I feel like the time is right, I’ll naturally ask City Lord for Cloudtop City’s Jade Rinse Street.”

Shen Zhenze nodded and said, “Then that’s a deal.”

It didn’t matter even if he were unable to wait until the arrival of this day. Cloudtop City still had Xu Xingjiu, after all.

Shen Zhenze was a very straightforward and open-minded person.

He didn’t stay for too long, and he took his leave after discussing this matter.

Chen Ping’an took this opportunity to ask Cloudtop City for some newspapers, saying that it didn’t matter whether these newspapers were old or new.

Shen Zhenze agreed to his request and replied that Xu Xingjiu would deliver them afterward.

Hearing this, Chen Ping’an started to walk around the stone table in the pavilion as he practiced walking meditation. He appeared to be asleep yet awake at the same time, with fist intent flowing through his entire body.

He returned to his room and took a short nap after practicing fist techniques for four hours, after which he sat on the cushion and started to refine spiritual energy.

When it was approaching noon, Chen Ping’an retrieved the spirit tool that he had obtained from Flax Robe Sect’s immortal ship, placing it on the stone table. This was a porcelain brush washer, one that was connected to the mountain and water roots of Temper Mountain. Thus, once Temper Mountain opened its restrictions, this brush washer would act like an enchanted picture artifact, allowing cultivators to clearly observe the scenery of Temper Mountain as long as they didn’t leave the Northern Complete Reed Continent. Otherwise, the scenery would become very blurry if they used the enchanted picture artifact in another continent.

Even though Chen Ping’an had constructed a water palace in his body, he hadn’t actually cultivated any water-element techniques yet. Thus, he could only retrieve a yellow paper Vast Flowing River Talisman, gently crushing it between his fingers and causing the brush washer to instantly fill with water and swirling mist.

A gigantic and even bluestone plateau immediately appeared above the brush washer — this was none other than Temper Mountain, the most renowned mountain in the Northern Complete Reed Continent. Temper Mountain was more well-known by the cultivators than any of the Five Mountains of the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s nations and empires.

The two parties were yet to appear atop Temper Mountain.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t see beyond Temper Mountain, and it was as if a curtain of hazy white mist were forming a barrier and blocking his vision, much like the barriers found in immortal ruins.

This caused Chen Ping’an to feel slightly disappointed. He had initially wanted to take a look at the battle-spectating mountain purchased by the Jade Forest Sect.

In fact, this business-oriented immortal sect, which was renowned as a sect with pure wind in its sleeves and had peerlessly powerful Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators, was the force that Chen Ping’an most wanted to interact with during his trip to the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Chen Ping’an naturally couldn’t run over, uninvited, to eagerly interact with the Jade Forest Sect.

In this sense, Chen Ping’an wasn’t working as a wandering merchant for nothing. Rather, he was waiting for the Jade Forest Sect to actively seek him out.

Chen Ping’an needed to carefully plan things out regarding how they could reasonably and naturally come across each other, as well as when and where this meeting would take place. He needed to meticulously lay down the foundation in a nuanced manner.

This was a sect-level immortal force that allowed all of the cultivators in the continent to ridicule it, a sign that it was extremely good at enduring humiliation. At the same time, however, this also suggested that the immortal force might have absolutely no bottom line when it acted. This made them a truly terrifying opponent.