Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an quietly left the pergola, then made his way down the Dragon Slaying Platform cliff to arrive by the old woman’s side.

“Greetings, Young Master Chen,” the old woman said with a smile. “My name is Bai Lianshuang, but you can call me Granny Bai, just like Young Mistress Yao does.”

Chen Ping’an duly obliged, referring to the woman as Granny Bai, but didn’t say anything else.

The old woman silently departed, her aura as restrained as a stagnant pond, and Chen Ping’an followed along.

After walking for a short while, the old woman smiled and broke her silence as she remarked, “It appears you haven’t had the easiest of times traveling the Majestic World, Young Master Chen.”

Even though she was currently only a Mountain Summit Tier martial artist, she possessed the keen eye of an End Tier martial artist, so under normal circumstances, it would’ve been completely futile for a Vajra Body Tier martial artist to try and conceal their true cultivation base to her. They would’ve simply appeared like a clumsy and foolish child, completely oblivious to the fact that others had already seen through their facade.

However, Chen Ping’an’s facade was much more convincing. Granted, she could still see through it, but it was a much more flawless facade, clearly indicating that he had made a habit out of doing this for a very long time, rather than only choosing to conceal his true cultivation base on a whim upon arriving at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

“There were some hiccups, but I managed to survive,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod.

The old woman stopped in her tracks, then asked, “May I ask the cultivation bases of the most formidable Qi refiners and pure martial artists that you had to face in battle?”

“For Qi refiners, that would be the Ascension Tier, and for martial artists, that would be the End Tier,” Chen Ping’an replied candidly. “The former fully intended to take my life. Of course, I didn’t survive that ordeal through my own power, and I was only just barely able to scrape by the skin of my teeth.

“As for the latter, that was a senior who only intended to provide guidance in my fist techniques. He restricted his cultivation base to the Mountain Summit Tier and dealt three punches upon me.”

The old woman had stayed on the Sword Qi Great Wall her entire life, yet even she couldn’t help but be surprised to hear this, and she exclaimed, “Even that wasn’t enough to kill you?”

A slightly embarrassed smile then appeared on her face as she apologized, “Please pardon me, Young Master Chen. That was a bit rude.”

“I was very lucky,” Chen Ping’an explained with a smile.

“That’s not something to be said lightly,” the old woman said with a shake of her head. “On our Sword Qi Great Wall, it’s considered a curse to proclaim that someone has good luck because the luckiest ones are often the ones who die the earliest. Your luck can’t be too good at any one time. Instead, you have to accumulate a bit of luck every time, and only then will you be able to live a long life.”

“I see,” Chen Ping’an said with a nod. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind and not make such careless remarks in the future.”

“There’s no need to be so formal and restrained, Young Master Chen,” the old woman advised with a wave of her hand. “Around these parts, it’s not a good thing to be too easygoing and eager to please.”

“Rest assured, this is the only place where I’ll be mild and easygoing. I know better than to be like this elsewhere on the Sword Qi Great Wall,” Chen Ping’an reassured her with a smile.

“Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders,” the old woman remarked with a pleased smile. “Having said that, there’s a slight problem that we have to deal with right now. I’m just a useless old woman who’s spent her entire life in the Yao Manor and the Ning Manor and barely gone anywhere else. In fact, I haven’t even been to Stalactite Mountain once.

“Following your arrival, there are now many people outside keeping an eye on the residence. I’ve never been good at talking in circles, so pardon me for being frank here. It’s not that I’m looking down on you. On the contrary, it’s very remarkable that you’re such an accomplished martial artist at your age, and both that old geezer and I are very pleased.

“I’m a bit colder and heartless, but that old fart has already sneaked away to offer up some incense to the Ning Clan’s ancestors. I presume he shed quite a few tears while he was at it. It seems like the older he grows, the more shameless he becomes.”

“I understand, Granny Bai,” Chen Ping’an said. “Feel free to test me as you wish. If I am unable to pass your test, then I won’t set foot outside of this residence.”

The old woman immediately took him up on his offer without any hesitation. She didn’t appear to have mustered up any aura at all, but in the blink of an eye, she had taken a step toward Chen Ping’an and thrown a punch in his direction. Chen Ping’an forced down her fist with his left elbow while simultaneously launching his right fist at the old woman’s face, but stopped short of making contact.

However, the old woman had no intention of returning the favor. Even though her fist had been forced down by over an inch by Chen Ping’an’s elbow, it still struck him with an almighty thump.

Chen Ping’an slid several dozen feet back down the walkway, using his Mountain Peak fist stance to support the foundation of his fist intent, while his seemingly slack and hunched-over ape-like posture completely dispelled the old woman’s fist intent. He was able to steady himself in an instant, looking as calm and unfazed as if he had taken a stroll in the park.

The old woman had restricted her cultivation base to the Far Roaming Tier for that punch, and if it weren’t for the fact that this was just a sparring match, Chen Ping’an would’ve been perfectly capable of withstanding that punch without retreating even half a step. In fact, he would’ve even been able to force his way forward against the tide and launch a counterattack.

The old woman smiled and nodded in approval as she said, “Thank you for preserving my dignity, Young Master Chen. I won’t keep you any longer now.”

Chen Ping’an cupped his fists in a farewell salute.

The old woman had initially imbued her punch with the peak-Far Roaming Tier power, but with Chen Ping’an pulling his punch, she had also reined in her fist intent slightly. As a result, the punch was no longer at the pinnacle of the Far Roaming Tier, but a Far Roaming Tier punch would’ve been more than enough to reduce the average Vajra Body Tier martial artist to a bedridden state.

The old man arrived by the old woman’s side, then complained, “Why are you always badmouthing me?”

“Do you feel like I embarrassed you in front of Young Master Chen?” the old woman asked with a sneer. “That’s not something you have to worry about when you’re a constant embarrassment!”

The old man heaved a resigned sigh.

By the time Chen Ping’an returned to the pergola, Ning Yao had already sat up.

“Why didn’t you sleep a bit longer?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Ning Yao sneered. “I didn’t dare.”

“What do you mean? I’m not that kind of person! I swear!” Chen Ping’an protested in an indignant manner.

Even though he was always complaining about Pei Qian’s insincerity, he knew full well who it was that she had picked it up from.

Ning Yao ignored him as she picked up the travel journal, then opened it to the page that contained details pertaining to Daoist Nun Huang Ting of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. She then flipped open another page, this one pertaining to Sui Youbian, and not many pages thereafter, Yao Jinzhi of the Great Quan Empire made an appearance.

Chen Ping’an was seated across from Ning Yao, watching as she flipped open one page after another. He had written the journal himself, so he had a rough recollection of the contents of those pages, and he was immediately left feeling very uneasy.

This is no way to read a book, Ning Yao! Look at all of the wonderful and interesting stories that I painstakingly recorded for you! You can’t just ignore all of that and focus solely on details that’ll get me in trouble!

Ning Yao took a glance at Chen Ping’an, then remarked, “I’ve heard that when intellectuals write stories, they put great emphasis on building suspense and keeping things open-ended. The more concise their writing on a topic, the more they leave to the reader’s imagination.”

Chen Ping’an feigned an oblivious expression as he replied, “I’ve never heard of that myself, and I don’t consider myself an intellectual, either. I just write down everything as I see it, and if certain topics are only written about briefly, then there probably just wasn’t much to be written about them.”

Ning Yao continued flipping through the pages of the journal as she asked, “Are there any other women that you’ve omitted from this book?”

“No!” Chen Ping’an replied in a categorical manner.

“Do you feel like I’m being unreasonable and paranoid for interrogating you like this?” Ning Yao asked with a smile.

Chen Ping’an smiled and shook his head.

Ning Yao gave a pleased nod and was finally content to close the book as she praised, “You did very well in dealing with Celestial Maiden Gu Qing of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm. Keep it up.”

“I won’t need to because I’ll never put myself in that type of situation again,” Chen Ping’an assured.

“Since when did you become such a smooth talker?” Ning Yao asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Who did you learn this from?”

“All of my bad habits were picked up from Zhu Lian and Zheng Dafeng of Downtrodden Mountain,” Chen Ping’an replied without any hesitation, instantly throwing those two to the wolves.

“I can’t say anything about Zhu Lian, given that I’ve never met him before, but that Zheng Dafeng does seem like a rather unscrupulous individual,” Ning Yao remarked with a nod. “Having said that, my impression of Zheng Dafeng improved significantly after what happened in Old Dragon City. On the surface, he seems like an unscrupulous man, but he’s actually the most scrupulous of them all.

“It’s a real shame that his path as a martial artist has come to a premature end. Make sure to treat him well as the gatekeeper of your Downtrodden Mountain. There are far more men out there who are the mirror opposite of him, looking proper and scrupulous on the surface, but are actually rotten to the core!”

Ning Yao stared directly at Chen Ping’an as she made this pointed remark.

“You’re not talking about me, are you?” Chen Ping’an asked in a feeble voice.

“What do you think?” Ning Yao asked.

“If you’re asking me what I think, then I’d say you’re definitely not talking about me!” Chen Ping’an replied.

Ning Yao gave an unconvinced smile, and Chen Ping’an felt like the most misunderstood man alive.

Throughout all his travels, he had valued his chastity over just about everything else!

Ning Yao displayed no intention of returning the travel journal, instead stowing it into her minimization treasure as she stood up and said, “Let’s find you a place to stay. Granny Bai, Grandpa Nalan, and I are the only ones staying in this residence, so there are a lot of vacant rooms.”

“Where are you staying?” Chen Ping’an asked as he also stood up.

Ning Yao stopped in her tracks, then turned to Chen Ping’an with a dangerous smile as she challenged, “Care to repeat yourself? I didn’t quite hear you just now.”

“I just want to pick a room that’s close to yours,” Chen Ping’an said in a resigned manner.

Ning Yao was a little embarrassed as she glared at him and warned, “You better not get any funny ideas! Granny Bai was my mother’s personal maidservant. If you dare to try and get handsy with me, you’ll have a Mountain Summit Tier martial artist beating you to a pulp!”

However, Ning Yao then recalled what she had just read in Chen Ping’an’s travel journal, and it occurred to her that Granny Bai’s fists may not have been enough to scare him off.

Thus, she changed tack as she threatened, “Grandpa Nalan was once one of the sword immortals on the Sword Qi Great Wall, most adept at assassination! He sustained some severe injuries in the past, suffering significant damage to his nascent soul, but his combat prowess is still equivalent to that of an Unpolished Jade Tier swordsman! If he’s lurking in the shadows, he can even count as an Immortal Tier swordsman!”

Chen Ping’an was very much reassured upon hearing this, and he asked, “Did Grandpa Nalan suffer those injuries to protect you as well?”

If this were someone else, Chen Ping’an definitely wouldn’t have been so direct with his question, but he was familiar with how Ning Yao liked to conduct herself, and he knew that she wasn’t one to skirt around these topics.

Ning Yao’s expression remained unchanged as she nodded and replied, “Both Grandpa Nalan and Granny Bai became like this while protecting me. Granny Bai intercepted an assassin in the city, while Grandpa Nalan stopped a great demon that was lurking in the shadows on the battlefield south of the city. If it wasn’t for Grandpa Nalan, I would’ve surely died along with Die Zhang and the others. There’s no need to feel guilty about it.

“In fact, don’t even allow yourself to think too much about it. The only constructive thing that we can do is grow stronger and kill more enemies. Granny Bai and Grandpa Nalan already consider themselves very fortunate. Can you imagine how they would feel if they failed to protect me? You have to look at the silver lining on these things.

“Having said that, it doesn’t really matter how you think about these things or whether you think about them at all. On the Sword Qi Great Wall, no matter how powerful you are, you’re completely useless if you don’t strive to improve, don’t kill demons, and are afraid of death. On the Sword Qi Great Wall, everyone’s lives can have objective values attached to them.

“Those values come from their cultivation base at the time of their death, and how many demons they personally slew throughout their lives.”

“Every single young prodigy on the Sword Qi Great Wall is a piece of bait openly tossed out to lure in the enemy,” Chen Ping’an remarked.

“That’s right!” Ning Yao agreed with a nod. “People like me, Die Zhang, Yan Zhuo, Chen Sanqiu, and Dong Huafu, are just a few among a bunch of young prodigies around our age. All of us are aware that we’re being used as bait, but that doesn’t stop us from giving it our all on the battlefield.

“Each of us keeps an account book, and among those with similar cultivation bases, the order of hierarchy is determined by who has more ‘money.’ On the Sword Qi Great Wall, the only form of currency that truly matters is the heads of demons! Fatty Yan’s clan is the wealthiest on the Sword Qi Great Wall in the conventional sense, possessing the most immortal coins, but back when he was a child, he was bullied more than anyone else because everyone looked down on him.

“One time, he was wearing a brand new Dao robe, and he wanted to show it off to everyone, only to be ganged up on by a group of boys around his age and shoved into an alley. When he returned home, he was bawling his eyes out, and his entire body reeked of piss.

“Things became a little better for him after he became a part of our circle, and he also earned a lot of respect for himself. He made a fool out of himself the first time he stepped onto the battlefield, but after that, he was the one looking down on everyone else.”

“This is a great place where you won’t be lonely, whether it be in life or death,” Chen Ping’an mused as he scanned his gaze across his surroundings.

“Have you chosen a room yet or not?” Ning Yao asked in an impatient manner.

“Not yet,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile. “I plan to stay here for quite some time, so I need to be careful with my choice. Show me some other rooms.”

“You’re so annoying!” Ning Yao complained, but she didn’t pick up the pace, so it seemed like she wasn’t in a hurry, either.

Chen Ping’an was thinking about some important things that were directly related to both of them.

Occasionally, he would also ask some questions about the recent state of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

All of a sudden, Ning Yao stomped down onto his foot, snapping him back to his senses.

He hurriedly told her the residence that he wanted to stay in, and she told him to go there on her own before departing.

Chen Ping’an had chosen a residence with no neighbors that wasn’t far from where Ning Yao was staying.

Bai Lianshuang appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, then handed him a large ring of keys and introduced him to which key corresponded to which building. Clearly, these were all places that he could access as he pleased.

After handing over the keys, the old woman jibed, “Unfortunately, I can’t give you the keys to Young Mistress Yao’s residence.”

Chen Ping’an’s skin immediately began to crawl as he hurriedly replied, “That’s fine.”

After entering the peaceful residence, Chen Ping’an chose a room to stay in. He removed Sword Immortal from his back, then set it down onto the table alongside Golden Sweet Wine.

He sat at the table, gently stroking the Dao robe.

Sword Immortal had become a celestial sword under rather inexplicable circumstances, but the path to a celestial tool for Golden Sweet Wine was much more clear-cut, and Chen Ping’an knew exactly how to get there.

It was very straightforward because it was simply a matter of feeding gold essence copper coins to the Dao robe. Golden Sweet Wine was once the dragon robe worn by that malicious flood dragon in the Flood Dragon Trench. Before that, it had been in the possession of a former Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu, who had perished during a failed stint of seclusion on an immortal mountain out at sea.

By the time it fell into Chen Ping’an’s possession, it was only an immortal treasure. Over the years, he had fed it many gold essence copper coins, elevating it back to pseudo-celestial treasure status, where it had remained stagnant for many years.

Since then, Chen Ping’an had used that final remaining colored glaze golden body fragment to make a secret deal with Wei Bo, who had only recently secured a hundred gold essence copper coins from the imperial court of the Great Li Empire.

Chen Ping’an had elevated Golden Sweet Wine back into a celestial treasure at the cost of the colored glaze golden body fragment. Such precious fragments could only come from the demise of Ascension Tier cultivators, and they were much more alluring to Wei Bo than gold essence copper coins.

Thus, Wei Bo had taken a gamble, betting that his wealth of a hundred gold essence copper coins would be enough to elevate Golden Sweet Wine into a celestial treasure.

Chen Ping’an didn’t ask Wei Bo how many gold essence copper coins it had ultimately cost him, and Wei Bo didn’t volunteer this information, either.

As the first-ever mountain god to have reached the Upper Five Tiers in the history of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, it was only to be expected that Wei Bo would receive such a lavish congratulatory gift from the emperor of the Great Li Empire.

There were rumors swirling around that Central Mountain God Jin Qing had also received fifty gold essence copper coins when he traveled to the capital for an audience with the emperor.

In that case, the other gods of the new Great Li Empire’s new Five Mountains had most likely also received at least fifty gold essence copper coins each.

It was difficult to predict whether Wei Bo would receive any more than this. After all, there were only so many illegitimate mountain and river deities that the Great Li Empire could destroy the godly bodies of in order to secure raw materials for gold essence copper coins.

They couldn’t go around excessively killing deities just to benefit the gods of the Five Mountains, as the consequences would be too severe, particularly in this time of great unrest on the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

All over the continent, people from fallen nations were joining forces with cultivators from fallen sects to stage uprisings, and even though none of them had been able to build up any significant momentum thus far, the sheer number of these uprisings meant that they were still quite a pain to deal with. Inevitably, all of the mountain and river deities of all nations would be implicated.

Some remained devoted to their fallen nations and were willing to sacrifice their godly bodies in futile defiance of the Great Li Empire’s forces, while others were simply wiped out as collateral damage. However, all of the most prominent rabble-rousing deities had already been taken care of, so from this point onward, the Great Li Empire was going to try to spare as many as possible and only lay waste to those who gave them no alternatives.

A grim look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face.

There was something that he had to speak with Sword Immortal Chen Qingdu about, and it had to be a secret discussion.

In the past, the great sword immortal had personally slain a traitor of the Upper Five Tiers in the city, and the situation almost escalated into a full-blown calamity. At the time, countless powerful figures had congregated, including the leaders of the most prominent clans in the city.

On that occasion, Chen Ping’an had been watching from afar atop the Sword Qi Great Wall, posing as someone who was only there to catch a glimpse of all of the formidable sword immortals on the scene. In reality, he had already detected the undercurrents swirling in the Sword Qi Great Wall, and he could see that there was much animosity between the major clans.

However, he had to be patient and find a reasonable opportunity to go and see Chen Qingdu.

A piece of information that he had gleaned from Ning Yao earlier served to confirm his theories. Among the prodigies around Ning Yao’s age, very few of them had perished over the course of the two brutal battles that had taken place over the past ten years. Furthermore, Ning Yao’s generation was ubiquitously regarded as an extremely talented young generation, with as many as thirty children deemed to possess the potential to become sword immortals.

Every single one of them had already accrued battlefield experience, and all of them had managed to reach the Middle Five Tiers without any incident. Such a bountiful young generation was one that hadn’t been seen on the Sword Qi Great Wall for the past ten thousand years!

Those on the Sword Qi Great Wall had likely also noticed the signs, and they had begun making preparations, something that both enthused and concerned Chen Ping’an, leaving him with very conflicted emotions.

It was just like how, even though Chen Ping’an had come so far to arrive on Stalactite Mountain, he was still content to stand silently beside the sword-hugging man, waiting for the latter to speak to him.

As a child, one could wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve, openly displaying one’s emotions and saying whatever came to mind, but it became much harder to be so free of spirit as one grew up.

Chen Ping’an rose to his feet, then stepped out into the courtyard to practice his walking meditation as a means to compose himself.

Immediately, all of his concerns faded from his mind, and he was feeling much more tranquil, but he was starting to miss Ning Yao again.

Meanwhile, Ning Yao was seated at her table, supporting her chin with her hands as she read Chen Ping’an’s travel journal under the light of a lamp. There was one particular page that had become the object of her fixation, and she was reluctant to flip past it.

Hidden on that page was a particular sentence that was like a shy child hiding around the corner of a street, only daring to poke their head out to sneak furtive glances at her. She found this figurative child extremely adorable, and she felt inclined to read the sentence in question over and over again.

The sentence contained an inner monologue from Chen Ping’an.

I didn’t have anything to drink at the time, but as I gazed upon Ning Yao’s trembling eyelashes, it felt as if the Sword Qi Great Wall that had stood tall and firm for tens of thousands of years was beginning to sway a little.