Unsheathed

The next twenty days were not an enjoyable time for Pei Qian because Cui Dongshan constantly forced her to go exploring everywhere outside the Ning Manor, and he also insisted on bringing Cao Qinglang with them.

The three of them explored the streets and alleys of the city together, seeing the Mirage Market from afar before going down south. Cui Dongshan preferred to take a scenic route, passing by all of the residences previously inhabited by sword immortals en route to the city walls. Furthermore, he insisted on walking. If Pei Qian were with Chen Ping’an, she would gladly walk, even crawl if she had to.

However, seeing as Chen Ping’an wasn’t with them, she suggested on multiple occasions that Cui Dongshan summon his talismanic boat. That way, they would be able to enjoy a far better view from above. However, Cui Dongshan refused, while Cao Qinglang remained silent, expressing no opinion on the matter, and that made Pei Qian feel a little lacking in support.

Cao Qinglang was originally planning to cultivate in the Ning Manor, just like how Zhong Qiu took daily multiple-hour-long walks around the training ground of the Ning Manor.

Thus, when Cui Dongshan invited him to go exploring the city, he wanted to refuse. After all, Chen Ping’an had chosen this particular residence for him to cultivate in, so he didn’t want to waste any time.

However, it was clear that Cui Dongshan wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so Cao Qinglang agreed to go with him. Cui Dongshan told him to bring the hiking pole that he had received from Chen Ping’an, which was the very same hiking pole that Chen Ping’an had used over the course of his journey that spanned half the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Cui Dongshan had a hiking pole as well, but it was fashioned out of normal green bamboo. Pei Qian’s hiking pole was the most precious of the three in terms of the material used, and only after Cui Dongshan revealed this to her did she give up on her initial idea of going out with her little bamboo bookcase on her back.

On top of the city walls, Pei Qian encountered many interesting sword immortals. There was one particular sword immortal in a colorful robe out on a stroll. He was carrying a sheathless sword with an extremely long tassel. One end of the tassel was wound around the sword immortal’s waist, and his sword was dragging along on the ground behind him. The tip of its blade was scraping against the ground, producing visible sword qi fluctuations that Pei Qian wanted to examine more closely, but didn’t dare to.

Cui Dongshan told Pei Qian that she could look a bit more if she was interested. Sword immortals were exceedingly rare in the Majestic World, and Cui Dongshan assured her that the sword immortal wouldn’t be angry at her for looking.

Only then did Pei Qian dare to take a few extra glances.

Sure enough, the sword immortal appeared lost in his own thoughts, and he wasn’t bothered in the slightest by Pei Qian’s timid gaze.

Cui Dongshan was naturally aware of who this sword immortal was. It was the Unpolished Jade Tier swordsman, Wu Chengpei. His bonded flying sword was called Dew, and his sword techniques were particularly effective at the end of a battle because that was when there was the most blood on the ground.

Wu Chengpei had a very reclusive personality. He appeared quite young, but in reality, he was very advanced in age. His former Dao partner had had her head crushed by a great demon before her soul was devoured.

At some point, the great demon sustained severe injuries in battle, so it retreated to its cave in the heart of the Savage World to rest and recuperate. At the time, Wu Chengpei had felt very conflicted, unsure of whether he should live on alone or venture into the heart of the Savage World to throw his life away. Before he could make a decision, the great demon in question was slain, and the one who slew it brought its head to Wu Chengpei, asking for no compensation in return other than for Wu Chengpei to treat him to some wine.

The three of them also encountered a sword immortal who seemed to have been locked in a battle against someone. He was sitting with his legs crossed, drinking some wine while making a sword seal with one hand. He sat facing the north, and ahead of him was a streak of light.

It was unclear whether the streak of light was an arc of lightning, a burst of sword light, or something else, but it was as thick as the opening of the Iron Lock Well in the Dragon Spring Prefecture. Sparks were flying in all directions as the streak of light struck the city wall over and over again, and Pei Qian was too afraid to continue onward upon seeing this.

The old man smiled and asked, ”Are you aware of the rules here? You’re allowed to pass if you give me a flagon of wine. Either that, or you defeat me with your swordsmanship. Otherwise, you’ll have to fly out of the city wall and go around me.”

”My teacher is the second shopkeeper,” Cui Dongshan said with a smile.

The old man was immediately furious.

”In that case, you’ll need to give me two flagons of wine to secure passage!”

Cui Dongshan smiled and tossed two flagons of wine at the old sword immortal.

The old man’s name was Zhao Geyi, and the one clashing against him was Cheng Quan, a previous Unpolished Jade Tier sword immortal who had fallen to the Nascent Tier. The two of them were long-time rivals.

Zhao Geyi would often restrict his own cultivation base so that he could clash against Cheng Quan on equal footing. Both of them had been born in the same alley, and aside from their regular battles, they would also often hurl insults at each other from across the street. Apparently, there were even instances of them secretly spitting into each other’s wine.

After catching the two flagons of wine, Zhao Geyi raised his hand slightly, elevating the streak of sword qi so that it was no longer obstructing the path forward, and he grumbled, ”Fine, come through then.”

Cui Dongshan led the way forward, while Cao Qinglang brought up the rear. As he raised his head to look up at the hovering streak of sword qi, his face was completely illuminated by its radiance.

Pei Qian was hiding behind Cui Dongshan, and she tugged on his sleeve as she urged, ”Hurry up!”

”Show some composure, Senior Sister,” Cui Dongshan encouraged with a smile. ”You’re going to put your master to shame like this.”

Pei Qian immediately broke into a swagger, pretending as if she didn’t have a care in the world, but she was gripping her hiking pole as if her life depended on it, and her movements were very stiff.

Once they were finally out of earshot of Zhao Geyi, the terrified Pei Qian kicked Cui Dongshan in the leg to express her discontentment.

There wasn’t much force behind her kick, but Cui Dongshan was sent flying into the air before falling to the ground, where he began rolling along like a barrel.

Pei Qian was familiar with Cui Dongshan’s acting skills, so she wasn’t concerned about him at all, but she immediately turned to Cao Qinglang to gauge his reaction.

Cao Qinglang looked directly ahead and said, ”I didn’t see anything.”

Pei Qian was very relieved to hear this, and she grinned as she asked, ”Did you see those little fish above us just now? One was golden, and one was azure.”

Cao Qinglang shook his head.

”Some cultivator you are,” Pei Qian scoffed.

Cao Qinglang wasn’t bothered. He had a good idea of his own aptitude for cultivation. Zhong Qiu had already explained to him in detail why Ding Ying had chosen to stay in that house near Champion Scholar Alley, as well as why he had ultimately chosen to stay in Cao Qinglang’s home. Ding Ying’s initial guess was that the bright cultivation prospects in the capital of the Southern Garden Nation were where that female grandmaster of the Mirror Heart Hall was hiding, and Cao Qinglang had been one of them.

At the time, the spiritual energy in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land had been very sparse, and the only one who could truly be referred to as a cultivator was Yu Zhenyi. The fact that Cao Qinglang had been earmarked as a bright cultivation prospect under those circumstances was a clear testament to his aptitude.

Thus, he wasn’t bothered by Pei Qian’s derisive remarks, but he was also not one to let this get to his head. After the Lotus Flower Blessed Land was split into four, spiritual energy had fallen like rain from the heavens, and many cultivation prospects that had previously been drifting through the river of time were finally able to embark on the path of cultivation.

However, just as Mr. Lu had told him, being endowed with cultivation aptitude was only the first step, while the second step was to receive a fated opportunity that placed one at the foot of the mountain. From there, a long and arduous trek awaited those who wished to reach the mountain summit. If he was up to the task, then he would potentially be able to go and search for Chen Ping’an to express his gratitude.

Cui Dongshan took a glance at Pei Qian. She possessed the innate ability to see into the hearts of others, but Cui Dongshan’s abilities went even beyond that. Not only was he able to see into the hearts of others, but he could also see into the deepest of depths, into the parts of one’s heart that even they didn’t know existed.

Pei Qian had displayed exceptional aptitude for martial arts, the Eighteen Stops Technique, and even the game of Go.

The reality was that as long as she set her mind to something, she could do it better than anyone else. If she were truly motivated and dedicated to learning something, rapid progress would surely follow.

However, that was not her greatest ability. Instead, that was her ability to cut off her own thoughts. She was capable of setting up mental roadblocks that allowed her to not contemplate matters that she didn’t want to contemplate.

The most direct reflection of this was how she seemed to have stopped growing ever since she became Chen Ping’an’s disciple, particularly after she arrived on Downtrodden Mountain. It was as if she had become frozen in time, both in terms of her height and her mental state, and it seemed that she would never grow up.

Her carefree nature was a genuine reflection of her mindset, not an act that she was putting on for anyone to see.

However, on the paths where she chose to remove her mental roadblocks, her thoughts would gush forth like unbridled floodwaters.

Cultivators were often extremely cautious, deathly afraid of doing anything that would compromise their mental state, but that wasn’t a concern for Pei Qian at all.

Only after she began pursuing martial arts did she begin to change, and the change was immediate and drastic. She began to quickly grow taller and more mature, and it was as if she were finally tapping into the potential that she had sealed away up to this point.

This was a very good thing, but it also raised some underlying concerns, as Pei Qian’s impression of a mature Pei Qian was entirely based on what she thought her master wanted to see in her.

Hence, her maturity wasn’t true maturity.

She had walked down this path too quickly, almost as if she had taken flight, and as a result, the stability of her foundation had been compromised.

Thankfully, the long journeys Chen Ping’an had taken her on, and the principles he was constantly preaching to her, helped keep her somewhat grounded. Otherwise, she would be like a firecracker that could explode at any moment, and the more accomplished a martial artist she became, the more destructive she would be when she inevitably did explode, causing immense harm to both others and herself.

At this point, Pei Qian had already changed quite significantly, so Chen Ping’an was no longer worried that she would stray down the wrong path. Even if she were to go out into the world on her own, Chen Ping’an wasn’t actually all that concerned that she would harm others unprovoked. Instead, he was worried that she would be unaware of her own strength and overreact to a perceived injustice.

For example, if she were to lash out at a petty thief, only to inadvertently kill them, then she would be committing a terrible misdeed, even if her intentions were good and correct. That would be a tragic outcome.

Raising a disciple was far from easy.

The world was a vast and complicated place, and there were potential pitfalls at every turn. There were many mishaps that even Chen Ping’an struggled to contend with, and the thought of Pei Qian facing all of those pitfalls was a very daunting one for him.

Chen Ping’an had undergone a great deal of mental cultivation and self-reflection for the sake of his disciple.

As they continued along the city wall, Pei Qian suddenly spotted Yu Juanfu. On this occasion, she wasn’t training her fist techniques. Instead, she was sitting on the city wall, eating some flatbread.

Cui Dongshan cupped his hands behind his head as he puffed out his chest and swaggered onward with unbridled cockiness.

Pei Qian didn’t know what he was thinking, but she presumed that he had to have been putting on an act when, in reality, he was actually terrified with so many swordsmen around.

Pei Qian actually had a decent first impression of Yu Juanfu simply for the fact that she was gracious in defeat and didn’t get angry even after Chen Ping’an dragged her face across the city wall.

If only Cen Yuanji and Bai Shou had the same grace and composure.

Yu Juanfu paid Cui Dongshan’s trio no heed, and they walked past her one after another.

Not far away from Yu Juanfu was a boy who was reading a book, and Pei Qian’s brows furrowed slightly at the sight of him. Cui Dongshan took a glance at the book in the boy’s hand, then smiled and nodded in approval. In his eyes, the boy could already be considered half a disciple of his.

Lin Junbi closed his book, then looked up at the trio with a faint smile.

Cui Dongshan returned the smile, while Pei Qian pretended not to have seen him, and Cao Qinglang gave a polite nod.

Yan Lü was sitting on a cushion, listening to Sword Immortal Ku Xia preach about swordsmanship, and he took a glance at the trio before averting his gaze. From the descriptions that he had heard, he was able to identify them as Chen Ping’an’s entourage.

The three of them continued onward, while Lin Junbi returned his attention to the Iridescent Cloud Go Manual in his hand.

He didn’t want to make consecutive breakthroughs on the Sword Qi Great Wall, so his current cultivation base was still rather lacking. However, he was still serving as half a Dao mentor to his companions at Sword Immortal Ku Xia’s behest. At the moment, he was the only one among his companions who had managed to grasp a wisp of the ancient pure sword qi here and keep it in one of his key acupoints.

Around half of his companions, including Yan Lü, Jiang Guancheng, and Zhu Mei, had all captured a wisp of sword qi at some point, and Lin Junbi had even done so on multiple occasions, but unfortunately, none of them were able to keep it. Lin Junbi hadn’t revealed this to anyone, and while Ku Xia was aware, he also chose to keep it a secret.

Lin Junbi was planning to wait until he had collected three wisps of ancient sword qi, and if by then no one else had succeeded, he would reveal to them that he had managed to capture a wisp of sword qi. Hopefully, that would serve as some form of encouragement to show them that it was possible.

Whenever the three of them reached a point where there was no one else around, Cui Dongshan would pick up the pace. Pei Qian could keep up with him with ease, but Cao Qinglang had been struggling in silence this entire time.

Cui Dongshan and Pei Qian were practically flying over the city wall, and Cao Qinglang was really struggling to keep up.

Occasionally, Cui Dongshan would stop and allow Cao Qinglang to sit down and meditate for some time.

With nothing better to do, Pei Qian would peer out over the city wall into the south, hoping to see a great demon or two. Of course, she was content with just seeing one, and she had no interest in getting close. That way, she would have a good story to tell Nuanshu and Mili once she returned to Downtrodden Mountain.

She would tell them that she looked straight into the eyes of a mighty great demon from mere inches apart, and that she wasn’t afraid in the slightest. In the end, she performed her Deranged Demon Sword Techniques, and the great demon immediately made a fearful retreat.

Unfortunately, she had not spotted a single great demon over the past few days.

Peering out over the city wall, she asked Cui Dongshan why the great demons were all such cowards.

”It’s not that there are no great demons; it’s just that the flying sword of some powerful sword immortals can reach further than your eyes can see,” Cui Dongshan explained with a smile.

”My senior uncle is definitely one of them, right?” Pei Qian asked.

Cui Dongshan’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he began spasming uncontrollably.

”Did my senior uncle really beat you up?” Pei Qian asked. ”I’ll try to talk to him about it when I meet him. Don’t hold a grudge against him. Family is hard to come by, so we should all stick together.”

Cui Dongshan didn’t like to pay respects to the Bodhisattva, so even when he accompanied Pei Qian to the Buddhist monasteries, he would never pay any respects to the Bodhisattva.

Pei Qian would always silently pray to the Bodhisattva not to take offense at his disrespectful display.

The top of the city wall was already very high up in the sky, and the wind was very strong at such a high altitude, causing Cui Dongshan’s robe to billow incessantly.

All of a sudden, he was beginning to miss that journey to the Great Sui Nation.

There were more people back then, and everyone had a bamboo bookcase of their own.

Cui Dongshan rested his hands on top of his hiking pole as he smiled and said, ”Senior Sister, make sure to keep that little wooden bead that my teacher gave you safe.”

”Quit saying unnecessary stuff,” Pei Qian scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

She suddenly smiled and turned so that her back was to the south, and carefully pulled out her money pouch before tipping out the wooden bead inside.

She had received the wooden bead from her master as a reward after thinking of a new way to make money for him. He had told her that it was something that he had already cherished for many years, and that if she were to lose it, then there would be endless knocks to the head to come.

”Do you know where this bead came from?” Cui Dongshan asked.

Pei Qian shook her head as she inspected the wooden bead sitting on the palm of her hand. It was rather crudely carved, as if the person who made it had less-than-stellar eyesight and wasn’t very good with a carving knife.

However, it was a gift from her master, so it was a priceless treasure.

Even though it was a little rough around the edges, in her heart, its value was second only to that of her bamboo bookcase.

”Your master has had that thing way longer than the carving knife that Cao Qinglang received,” Cui Dongshan revealed.

”Is there a big story behind it?” Pei Qian asked.

”No,” Cui Dongshan replied with a shake of his head. ”It’s a little bead with a little story.”

”Don’t just leave me hanging like that! How did he get it?” Pei Qian complained.

Cui Dongshan gently stroked the hiking pole sitting on his lap as he recounted, ”One time, while your master was gathering medicinal herbs in the mountains as a child, he cut down a length of wood, then took it home. He used it to make a string of prayer beads for the Bodhisattva, and he took it with him the last time he went to pray to the Bodhisattva at the immortal tomb, hanging it off the Bodhisattva’s hand before he left.

After that, a long time passed, and when he returned to the immortal tomb, the string of prayer beads was already gone, most likely worn down and scattered by the elements. In the end, he was only able to recover a single bead, and he’s kept it with him all this time. He always kept it in a little clay pot because he was worried he would lose it if he constantly kept it on his body. It’s a very precious keepsake of his, so make sure you don’t lose it.”

Pei Qian squeezed the prayer bead tightly in her hand as she lowered her head.

”If you’re curious about whether the Bodhisattva answered Teacher’s prayers, I’d say she didn’t,” Cui Dongshan continued. ”Back then, Teacher was but a child, but he never blamed others or resented the heavens for the terrible hand he had been dealt in life. Throughout the course of all of his long journeys, he was once struck by the urge to harm others for personal gain or unjust reasons. I’m not saying you should imitate him in the way that he carries himself.

“There’s no need for that, and you won’t be able to turn yourself into him anyway, no matter how hard you try. All I’m trying to tell you is that there are some good things in this world that are not so easy to see. If we don’t keep our eyes peeled, then we could perhaps go our entire lives without noticing them. Hence, we can’t just focus on the bad things in life. Mortals worship and pray to the Bodhisattva, but who is the Bodhisattva praying to when clutching prayer beads? She’s praying to herself.”

”One of the four plaques on that archway in Teacher’s hometown carries the inscription of ’refrain from looking outward,’” Cao Qinglang suddenly said.

”Many principles are fundamentally connected,” Cui Dongshan said with a nod. ”The teachings of Confucianism also encourage people to look inward and undergo deep introspection and self-reflection. However, the problem is that these teachings are not very accessible. Generally speaking, only those who come from affluent backgrounds have access to books and education. Even if some less privileged people managed to get their hands on books, they would be quickly abandoned because sagely scriptures only impart broad and seemingly impractical principles.

“They won’t teach you how to make a living, nor will they teach you how to win a fight. The principles are certainly good, but they’re simply not applicable to many people. Almost every generation of academics feels like the world is in a bad place. Is it because they’ve read too many books and witnessed too many of the bad things in life, thereby giving them a deeper understanding of hardships, and that’s why they’ve become so pessimistic?

“Perhaps in reality, the state of the world hasn’t really taken a significant turn for the better or for the worse. There are many hardships in the world that no one talks about, and they aren’t even written about in books. Even if there are writtenaccounts, they’re always very brief.”

Pei Qian remained silent, as did Cao Qinglang.

A rare look of weariness appeared on Cui Dongshan’s face as he continued, ”It’s not that the principles are bad or wrong. On the contrary, they’re too good and too difficult to abide by, and there are many people who do not know how to look inward. That’s why, when they can’t follow the principles that they strive for, they blame the principles and the sagely figures who proposed them. They do this because the principles in books can’t talk back to them, and even if the sages hear their complaints, they wouldn’t do anything.

“That’s why people say it’s better to offend a sagely figure than someone petty and spiteful. Does that make sense? If you think about it, it doesn’t really seem right. The type of people that I resent the most are those who have some smarts, but are not smart enough. If you’ve benefited from breaking the rules, then keep your mouth shut and don’t make a fuss. However, there are some people who simply can’t help themselves, and when I encounter those people...

”Once upon a time, when my mental state was at another extreme, I thought that this world was beyond saving, and that it was perhaps simply best for me to just have everyone die with me.”

Pei Qian grabbed onto Cui Dongshan’s sleeve with a fearful expression, but the look in her eyes was serious and earnest as she exclaimed, ”You can’t do that!”

”It’s alright, Senior Sister,” Cao Qinglang consoled. ”All he’s saying is that this was how he felt once upon a time. The things that we think and feel can change drastically over time.”

”I’ve seen far too much of the evil that humans are capable of throughout my lifetime,” Cui Dongshan sighed in a self-deprecating fashion. ”To the point that even if I try to stay far away and ignore it all, it still reeks like a rotten cesspool. The problem is that I enjoy examining these things, but at the same time, I don’t have much patience, so I can’t be a true teacher. In this regard, I can’t even compare with Zhong Qiu, let alone Teacher.”

Cui Dongshan rose to his feet as he concluded, ”Let’s keep going. There is great beauty in this world that has been waiting for us for countless years, and we must not keep them waiting too long.”

Cao Qinglang immediately stood up to follow him, but Pei Qian was much more reluctant. She wanted to return home to her master.