Unsheathed

The commotion at Paddling Island was quite great.

Water Goddess Shen Lin surprisingly needed to manipulate the water fortune and pay a personal visit to Paddling Island.

Thankfully, the cultivators at White Armor Island and Gray Beard Island had already received a warning from the Southern Fragrance Water Palace before, being told that some unconventional mighty figure was about to break through at Paddling Island.

Two of Water Goddess Shen Lin’s trusted subordinate deities — a female lighting official and a water vein inspection official — were staying at White Armor Island and Gray Beard Island, respectively. They were giving face to these islands, and they were also watching over them at the same time.

Atop the sea of clouds, Zhang Shanfeng asked, “Master, how long has it been already? Chen Ping’an has clearly succeeded in refining his bonded item, so why is he still yet to return to his senses?”

“He’s keeping the doors shut to contemplate some matters. It’s that simple,” Spiritual Master Fire Dragon replied. “When smart people get hung up on an issue, it’s not very easy for them to let go. Either they backtrack along the same path, or they forcefully charge ahead and forge a new path.”

Li Yuan was sitting cross-legged in the distance, resting his cheeks in his hands as he breathed like a fish spitting bubbles. He was the mighty water official, yet he had somehow reached such a state of boredom.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon turned around and asked, “You’re still playing around, Lord Li? Do you know what you let slip?”

“I didn’t miss any part of this show,” Li Yuan replied. “I’ve been watching with my eyes wide open the entire time.”

“Thankfully, deities don’t have intestines like mortal humans,” Spiritual Master Fire Dragon said with a chuckle.

Li Yuan rolled his eyes. The old spiritual master was implying that he would feel so much regret that his intestines would turn green?

“Should I sell you a bottle of regret medicine?” Spiritual Master Fire Dragon asked. “This is your only chance, so make sure to have a good think about it.”

Li Yuan’s eyes darted around, thinking that this old geezer probably wouldn’t stoop so low as to mess around with him due to boredom. Thus, he asked, “What’s the price?”

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and replied, “One bottle of the highest grade water elixir from the Plenty River, and not the type used to deal with river gods in a perfunctory manner.”

Li Yuan bared his teeth and shook his head, replying, “Then I’m fine, Old Spiritual Master. I genuinely can’t offer a bottle of water elixir. After all, I still have to give one pill of water elixir to the Water Dragon Sect every ten years, regardless of how irresponsible I am.”

He would hand a pill to Sun Jie this decade, and he would offer a pill to Shao Jingzhi the next decade, with the northern sect and the southern sect taking turns in receiving these pills of water elixir. As for what they did with these pills — whether they offered them to the wily guest elders to build goodwill, kept them for themselves, or rewarded them to direct disciples of the ancestral hall — Li Yuan would never ask.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon wasn’t talking about one or two water elixirs from the Plenty River, but rather, he was asking for an entire bottle of the most precious water elixir containing abundant incense offering and water fortune essence. In other words, at least nine water elixirs.

Li Yuan could have considered this three hundred or five hundred years ago.

Now, however, his damaged godly body was not faring much better than that of Shen Lin, which was already on the verge of shattering. Was the Southern Fragrance Water Palace shamelessly helping Paddling Island because Shen Lin was truly so generous? This lady was good at managing her region, and she was a most frugal person. Thus, it was only because she was regarding Spiritual Master Fire Dragon as a benevolent Bodhisattva that she was under the impression that she was grabbing onto a wisp of hope, no? Shen Lin was simply taking a huge gamble, feeling like she could overcome this tribulation if Spiritual Master Fire Dragon put in a few good words for the Southern Fragrance Water Palace in front of that person.

Li Yuan shook his head as he thought about this. People all said the Great Dao was heartless, but what this had referred to in the beginning wasn’t immortals in the mountains, but instead those beings in the heavens.

And that so-called Li Liu was one of the most powerful and influential beings in the heavens.

To put things bluntly, Shen Lin’s gamble this time would exhaust several dozen years of her lifespan. Had she forgotten what Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had said in the beginning? He had said that the Southern Fragrance Water Palace only needed to observe these matters from the sidelines.

Zhang Shanfeng felt slightly puzzled.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and said, “It’s difficult to force a cow to drink.”

“Has Chen Ping’an broken through?” Zhang Shanfeng asked in a quiet voice.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon shook his head and replied, “He’s still at the third tier, but he’s already reached the barrier to the next tier. To Chen Ping’an, the Willow Tendon Tier can probably be viewed as a genuine Cultivator Trapping Tier. This can’t be helped. He’s experienced the infancy of three difficult barriers very early on, that being mental demons, integrating with Dao, and pursuing truth. In addition, his bridge of immortality was also shattered, forcing him to stumble around as he walked forward. Otherwise, if he remained too composed and stable, I would have become suspicious of whether this young lad was actually the reincarnation of some mighty being from the mountain peak.”

“Isn’t it good to be the reincarnation of a deceased immortal?” Zhang Shanfeng asked. “I’ve heard that many old ancestors of sect-level forces will leave a path of retreat for themselves before entering life-and-death seclusion, allowing the disciples in the sect to find their reincarnation. By making these preparations in advance, they can more easily pick up their fated opportunities in the future.”

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon shook his head and commented, “It’s not that good. The reincarnated person isn’t the same as the deceased person, after all. It will be slightly better if they’re never able to remember the events of their past life, but it will be a huge problem if they’re only able to remember bits and pieces of the past.”

Of course, Li Liu was an exception, being born with the full knowledge of her past life. To her, she was simply changing bodies again and again. Indeed, it could be said that she had never actually died.

Falling unconscious each night was minor sleeping, while passing away for good was major sleeping.

If a cultivator forcefully extracted profound secrets of the heavens for the sake of staying alive, acting like a furtive thief under the veil of night, then what would happen when they reincarnated with an incomplete soul that was rounded out by the fragmented souls of other people? At that time, who would the reincarnated person actually be?

However, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon could understand the fear of death and the pursuit of life displayed by some Upper Five Tier cultivators. Of course, understanding them was one matter, and the old spiritual master still didn’t approve of their methods.

Some unorthodox and demonic forces would light a stick of so-called life incense in the ancestral hall for their disciples, and there were many historical records of cultivators suffering a collapse of their Dao Heart after staring at their stick of incense for a moment too long. They would comprehensively fall to demonic ways, and this was caused by a deep sense of self-inflicted fear.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon comforted his disciple in a rare sight, saying with a faint smile, “I said before that Chen Ping’an was walking with a crippled leg, and this was more a case of his mental hesitation affecting the direction of his heart. In reality, it’s not a big deal for him to stay at a lower cultivation base for a while.”

Zhang Shanfeng still felt a little worried as he asked, “Chen Ping’an still owes so many debts, so how can he address these matters? Chen Ping’an is most afraid of owing debts of gratitude and owing money.”

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and replied, “Chen Ping’an is actually not afraid of some of these bigger worries. For example, he isn’t walking too quickly as he ascends the mountain with his head down, but when he discovers that he can bend down and pick up immortal coins a few steps ahead — even if it’s only a single snowflake coin — do you think Chen Ping’an will walk a bit faster? Picking up an immortal coin is like getting rid of one worry, so as time goes on, he can naturally walk quicker and quicker.”

This completely lifted the weight from Zhang Shanfeng’s mind. His master was truly quite impressive. He had only seen Chen Ping’an two times, yet he already possessed such a good understanding of him?

“The dust is settled. We can return to Paddling Island now,” Spiritual Master Fire Dragon suddenly said.

Li Yuan finally couldn’t help but ask, “What cultivation base is Mr. Chen at?”

Li Yuan couldn’t hear a single word of the conversation between Spiritual Master Fire Dragon and his disciple.

The old spiritual master was the number one fire element cultivator in the world, and he could most likely rank inside the top ten for water element cultivators as well.

One had to remember that Spiritual Master Fire Dragon was also an External Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu. Just what kind of place was Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence? The cultivators in the mountains all viewed lightning techniques as the pinnacle of all immortal techniques in the world, treating it as the cardinal of heaven and earth that ruled over all other techniques.

Meanwhile, the Five Lightning Righteous Technique wielded by esteemed Daoist priests of the Heavenly Master Residence was the most orthodox lightning technique in the world. That being the case, would Spiritual Master Fire Dragon’s mastery of lightning techniques not be impressive as well? Generally speaking, apart from not having Heavenly Master Seals and immortal swords, External Heavenly Masters of Mount Longhu could study all the immortal techniques of the mountain.

It was because of this that Spiritual Master Fire Dragon was able to remain so unique and transcendent in the Northern Complete Reed Continent, a place that was brimming with sword cultivators.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon ignored Li Yuan’s question, leading Zhang Shanfeng down the clouds and into the residence on Paddling Island.

Chen Ping’an had already walked out of his room for seclusion, with his aura hidden and his skin appearing lustrous. However, his acupoints were yet to fully stabilize because he had only just finished refining his bonded item, with spiritual energy rippling through his body and causing him to appear increasingly ethereal and otherworldly. He could freely control this elementary immortal aura once he stabilized his wood residence.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon nodded and praised, “I didn’t achieve such an aura when I was at the Lower Five Tiers back then.”

Chen Ping’an cupped his fists in gratitude.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon didn’t complain about Chen Ping’an’s pedantic adherence to etiquette this time. When acting as someone’s guard on the path of cultivation, it was necessary to stick to these surface-level etiquettes when the cultivator successfully exited seclusion.

“Since you’ve succeeded, Shanfeng and I won’t stick around for too long. There is still a pile of things needing my attention at Ground Lying Peak,” Spiritual Master Fire Dragon said.

“Sleeping anywhere is the same, no?” Zhang Shanfeng mumbled.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon wasn’t the least bit annoyed at his disciple throwing him under the bus, and he instead chuckled and explained, “Napping at home is naturally a bit more comfortable.”

It wasn’t without reason that cultivators took over the famous mountains and large rivers that were far away from the mortal world. Immortals had a tendency to move into the mountains, leaving the mortal world where there would be many mortal relationships and headaches. Entering famous mountains could allow immortals to enjoy both physical tranquility and mental tranquility.

Zhang Shanfeng nodded and concurred, “I do miss my seniors and juniors a lot.”

“I might have to trouble Old Spiritual Master with another matter,” Chen Ping’an said.

However, Zhang Shanfeng had already chimed in and said, “There’s no trouble at all.”

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and didn’t say anything.

Zhang Shanfeng was afraid that his master would think he was siding with an outsider, so he hurriedly added in a low voice, “Master, Chen Ping’an is very sensible when dealing with matters, so what he calls troubles probably won’t be too much of a hassle. This is equivalent to us earning some goodwill for essentially no price.

“Chen Ping’an will definitely visit our home before he leaves the Northern Complete Reed Continent and returns to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, so I can take him around the mountains at that time. In fact, there are quite a lot of places at home that I still haven’t really explored yet. For example, Peach Mountain and the area around Profound Dawn Peak. This isn’t right.”

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon nodded before turning to Chen Ping’an and saying with a smile, “Go ahead.”

Chen Ping’an said that of the one hundred and twenty-two green colored glaze roof tiles he had, he only wanted to keep two, and he hoped that the old spiritual master could help him sell the rest to the Middle Earth Divine Continent’s White Emperor City. Moreover, he would only pocket six hundred grain rain coins.

Zhang Shanfeng was completely dumbstruck. He was just about to say something, but he was stopped by Chen Ping’an’s gaze.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon was seemingly weighing up the pros and cons, smiling and not saying anything as he contemplated Chen Ping’an’s request.

Chen Ping’an quietly waited for the old spiritual master’s response.

Distant water couldn’t address immediate thirst.

Downtrodden Mountain was in desperate need of immortal coins right now, with many holes waiting to be filled. Moreover, these holes were all very large in size.

Raising the Lotus Root Blessed Land to a medium-grade blessed land was one of the most important matters, and discounting the income from Wei Bo’s third Night Travel Banquet, Chen Ping’an could plug all of the holes if he managed to sell the green colored glaze roof tiles and immediately earn six hundred grain rain coins. Not only that, but he would even have approximately two hundred grain rain coins to spare. He could send more than half of this amount to Zhu Lian to act as Downtrodden Mountain’s savings, lest they be found wanting when they needed to spend money again.

Since there was no other option sometimes, he might as well take out a bigger debt of gratitude. However, he could only do so sparingly. This was better than taking out many small debts of gratitude that couldn’t be repaid. If that were the case, then it wouldn’t be asking friends for help anymore, and these friends would eventually feel like they had befriended the wrong person. When it came to asking favors from friends, it was always the case that favors should be returned, making it easier to exchange more favors in the future.

In any case, was it appropriate to take advantage of Wei Bo, the mighty formal god of the Northern Mountain, all the time? Was it appropriate to have him dig for money in his own jurisdiction? Even rabbits didn’t feed on the grass beside their burrows. In any case, Chen Ping’an could also be viewed as a wandering merchant, and even if he had traveled a long way with a caisson ceiling, was he not better than a rabbit?

Chen Ping’an could keep one hundred grain rain coins for himself, using these immortal coins to purchase two or three replica immortal swords from Hatred Sword Mountain. If the replica swords were truly cheap, far lower than his expected price, then he could purchase a few more to gift them to other people, no?

Apart from this, building and running the mountain-protection formation of Downtrodden Mountain would be another significant expense.

The third matter was the choice and placement of subjugation treasures at Gray Veil Mountain, Ao Back Ridge, and the various other newly acquired mountains. In reality, Jiang Shangzhen had made an excuse when gifting Downtrodden Mountain the three treasures back then, saying that he was thanking Chen Ping’an for helping the True Realm Sect recruit a sword immortal guest elder and making up for his failure to attend the two Night Travel Banquets hosted by Wei Bo. Add to that the pair of Dragon King Baskets that Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had taken away to repair, and Downtrodden Mountain already had four valuable subjugation treasures. As for the rest, Downtrodden Mountain would need to purchase these with its own money.

Thus, Chen Ping’an only asked to keep two of the green colored glaze roof tiles as a memento. These treasures were difficult to obtain, after all, so he could keep them at Downtrodden Mountain as a pair of auspicious treasures to symbolize good things coming in pairs.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and remarked, “Six hundred grain rain coins? Is this half price? Chen Ping’an, you’re making a huge loss with this transaction.”

“This depends on the person,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile. “If it were a certain other wealthy person, then I wouldn’t so much as blink if I sold it to them for two thousand grain rain coins.”

According to Spiritual Master Fire Dragon’s earlier appraisal, the one hundred and twenty green colored glaze roof tiles could sell for one thousand two hundred grain rain coins at White Emperor City’s Colored Glaze Pagoda.

However, some transactions couldn’t be calculated like this.

Accidentally picking up such a large pile of green colored glaze roof tiles was already a huge and unexpected surprise.

Otherwise, based on Chen Ping’an’s initial thinking and Spiritual Master Huan Yun’s uncertainty about the price of these roof tiles, Chen Ping’an would have done exactly as Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had guessed and sold the roof tiles individually for a low price at the Northern Complete Reed Continent. He would have been ecstatic to sell them for one lesser heat coin each, and he might have even sold the last two roof tiles instead of holding onto them as mementos.

Why was Chen Ping’an giving Ground Lying Peak a discount of fifty percent?

Firstly, this decision would allow Chen Ping’an to immediately receive an unimaginably large sum of grain rain coins. Secondly, he could express gratitude to Spiritual Master Fire Dragon for giving him guidance and offering him protection as he refined his bonded item. Thirdly, this could prevent many unexpected situations that could potentially arise from him personally dealing with the Middle Earth Divine Continent’s White Emperor City.

And lastly, Chen Ping’an still hoped to visit Ground Lying Peak and look for Zhang Shanfeng when he traveled south to go home, and completing this transaction would give him a bit more confidence in the sense that he wouldn’t owe the old spiritual master a boat-load of favors. He wouldn’t need to feel shameless as he enjoyed free food and free drinks at Ground Lying Peak.

There were some calculations involved, but there were also some considerations with no calculations at all.

There were kind intentions, and there were also selfish thoughts. Chen Ping’an was open and honest about all this.

“Make haste and refine the disarrayed spiritual energy in your three critical acupoints,” Spiritual Master Fire Dragon said. “Otherwise, you’ll end up returning it to Paddling Island and the Dragon Palace Small World and wasting the goodwill shown by Shen Lin and Li Yuan. This will be equivalent to a host kindly offering you a cup of tea, yet you decide to leave after taking just one or two sips. Just what kind of attitude is this? This is the first matter.

“Secondly, human power has its limits, and it’s inevitable that you won’t be able to absorb all of the spiritual energy. You’re only a third tier Qi refiner, after all, so you can’t drink so much tea that you end up drowning yourself. The hosts might be treating their guest with sincere kindness, but they won’t want to end up dealing with the corpse of their guest either. That would be far too inauspicious.

“Thus, you can earnestly study and practice the two refinement mantras pertaining to the refinement of mountains and refinement of waters, and you can continue to refine the Dao intent contained inside the gray bricks of the Daoist temple. This is also a form of cultivation. Before this, you were oblivious to the fact that you were standing amid a mountain of treasures. Moreover, are these high-grade Dao mantras that can refine all matters truly used for no other purpose than to refine physical items? You can mull over this by yourself.

“Thirdly, regarding the one hundred and twenty green colored glaze roof tiles and the six hundred grain rain coins, this is a price that you’ve proposed. There aren’t any buyers in the world who will offer more money for no good reason, and I’m truly as poor a Daoist priest as they come. I’m renowned for my lack of wealth in the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

“Fortunately, I can borrow some money from my disciples at Peach Mountain and Secret Profound Peak, and it won’t be too difficult to pull together a few hundred grain rain coins. So, I’ll take the green colored glaze roof tiles with me first, and I’ll deliver a message to Secret Profound Peak’s Yuan Lingdian and tell him to bring you the grain rain coins. I surmise that he’ll arrive before you leave the Water Dragon Sect.”

After saying this, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and continued, “Rest assured, I won’t give you one less grain rain coin, nor will I give you one extra grain rain coin.”

Chen Ping’an once again cupped his fists in gratitude.

Zhang Shanfeng felt slightly conflicted.

His master and his seniors were actually so wealthy, and Chen Ping’an was inevitably going to make a loss of six hundred grain rain coins. His heart would ache even if Chen Ping’an’s didn’t. However, his immortal force was going to earn six hundred grain rain coins, so was this the meaning of one’s wealth not flowing to outsiders?

That being the case, anything he said at this moment would feel inappropriate, regardless of whether he expressed happiness or disappointment.

Zhang Shanfeng felt a little stifled.

Dealing with these matters was truly difficult.