Unsheathed

As Qi Shou had said before, he and Chen Ping’an would be enemies once they left the city wall.

Chen Ping’an suddenly smiled and asked, ”Have you thought about this before? With the Qi Clan’s immense wealth, you simply need to throw money at the problem and learn this mystical ability of crafting talismans from me before Jumping Spider reaches its pinnacle grade. By using this mystical ability, you’ll then be able to open new doors and reap huge benefits, no? Is it a loss to have me become familiar with Jumping Spider’s unique mystical ability, or is it a benefit to genuinely elevate your combat power? Why don’t you think carefully and weigh this up, Brother Qi?”

Qi Shou glanced down at the two stacks of talismans in his hands that he had yet to return, furrowing his brows and saying, ”I can control close to seven hundred Jumping Spiders after breaking through, but can your yellow paper talismans truly form a formation that large? And how much will each talisman cost? What happens if it’s all show and no substance, and the Upper Five Tier sword cultivators of the demon tribe are able to easily destroy them in battle? Whose responsibility is it then?

”Most importantly, will you truly teach me everything without holding back? Will you explain all of the intricacies of the talisman formation? Taking ten thousand steps back, I’m a pure sword cultivator, so how can I self-learn talisman techniques during the pauses in battle? What should I do if you’re simply making big claims and promising significant benefits, yet I’m unable to realize any of these benefits no matter how much money I spend?”

Chen Ping’an clicked his tongue in wonder and replied, ”Brother Qi, you aren’t bold enough. You won’t suffer a loss doing business with me, and it’s only a matter of whether you earn more or earn less. I’m not saying this without basis, and it’s a claim based on my track record that all of you can see.”

In the end, Chen Ping’an turned around and closed his folding fan, a look of disappointment on his face as he shook his head and said with a sigh, ”What’s more important, Brother Qi? Viewing me as a life-and-death opponent outside the battlefield, or the Great Dao of sword immortals that’s at your fingertips?”

Chen Ping’an beckoned with his folding fan and summoned the talismans back to his side, smiling and continuing, ”A deal may fall through, but goodwill remains. I’ll offer you a sagely teaching for free: Noble people strive for self-improvement within their means, yearning not for the blessings of the heavens, and thus achieve progress every day.”[1]

Cheng Quan smiled and used his mind’s lake to ask, ”The deal has fallen through just like that?”

”It’s only normal,” Chen Ping’an replied. ”If I were Qi Shou, I wouldn’t rashly agree to a deal like this either.”

Cheng Quan nodded and said, ”A formation talisman is indeed more show than substance. Qi Shou at least has some brains to turn down your offer.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, ”It can’t be framed like this. It was extremely difficult to learn this talisman technique, and the talisman formation can indeed unleash decent power once I master it...”

Cheng Quan faltered for a moment before exclaiming, ”Wait a second... So what you’re saying is that there’s no guarantee for whether this succeeds or not?!”

”Did I claim to you or Qi Shou that this could succeed straight away?” Chen Ping’an replied. ”In any case, drawing talismans depends a lot on talent and then practice making perfect, which is completely normal. What’s wrong with wasting a few hundred talismans first? Qi Shou is extremely wealthy, so does he need to be afraid of these expenses? Fucking hell, if I didn’t have a conscience, I could have directly retrieved stacks of yellow jade talisman paper and proposed an even worse offer.”

Cheng Quan laughed loudly and remarked, ”Not a bad plan, Little Brother Chen. You can help others, practice drawing talismans, and even make money at the same time, killing three birds with one stone.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, ”Will a butcher ever complain about their pig being too fat?”

Cheng Quan chuckled in amusement.

However, Chen Ping’an said in the end, ”Looking at this largest battle in the world, I’m truly eager to see Qi Shou unleash one thousand flying swords at once. Even though I’m yet to become a sword cultivator, just thinking about this makes me feel a sense of yearning.”

Noble people strive for self-improvement within their means, yearning not for the blessings of the heavens, and thus achieve progress every day.

In reality, this sagely teaching — this good principle — came from the work of Chen Ping’an’s master.

Would it be even better if one could envy what others had and thus strive even harder for self-improvement?

Chen Ping’an decided that he would definitely mention these small questions and minor comprehension to his master in the future.

”How much does each yellow paper talisman cost?” Qi Shou asked.

Chen Ping’an slid the folding fan into his waistband before standing up and giddily running over to Qi Shou with a slightly bent back. ”Please help me kill the enemies for a moment while I give you a detailed explanation, Brother Qi. To give you the short answer, the more talismans you buy, the bigger the discount will be! The brotherly relationship between us is truly priceless in its honesty and sincerity!”

After arriving at Qi Shou’s side, Chen Ping’an turned around and shouted, ”Old Brother Cheng, please act like the senior you are and provide some assistance on Brother Qi’s battlefield. Brother Qi can return to the city wall after a few hours at most.”

Chen Ping’an left the city wall with Qi Shou, and the two of them squatted down on the carriageway at the foot of the wall. Chen Ping’an stacked all of the yellow paper talismans beside his feet before compressing his voice to a thread and saying in a soft voice, ”Different talismans have different prices, and Brother Qi, you clearly aren’t the type of person to haggle over every single copper coin, so I’ll directly give you a fair price for the lot. For one thousand talismans, not one less, I’ll only charge three grain rain coins.”

Qi Shou was just about to stand up and leave.

How many taels of silver would one thousand sheets of yellow talisman paper cost in the Majestic World? It wouldn’t be anything more than a few dozen taels of silver.

Even if a large amount of immortal ink were needed to draw these talismans, with Chen Ping’an’s miserly nature, the grade of the immortal ink definitely wouldn’t be very good, seeing that he had used them to draw one thousand or so talismans at once. How many snowflake coins would this have cost him? It would have cost him at most a few lesser heat coins.

Chen Ping’an didn’t stop Qi Shou, and he simply continued to say, ”My set of talismans is related to the Three Mountains and Nine Lords Talismans, but it obviously isn’t a direct copy of it. Truth be told, I don’t have the ability to draw those talismans with my current cultivation base. However, the foundations of my talismans do indeed have a close link to the powerful Three Mountains and Nine Lords Talismans.

”In addition to this, I definitely draw these talismans to the best of my ability, and I don’t hold back at all. I will try to save as many talismans for you as I can. Of course, let me say this first: This is a long-lost talisman formation, after all, so drawing these talismans is no simple task. You need to be mentally prepared for some extra expenditure. As for how to attach the talismanic intents to your flying swords, this is yet another unique and incredible technique.”

Qi Shou squatted back down again.

It was difficult to find stepping stones in the mountains, just as it was difficult to purchase top-notch immortal techniques no matter how wealthy one was.

This was how things were in the mountains.

Qi Shou narrowed his eyes and asked with a smile, ”How will these one thousand pre-drawn talismans assist my flying sword? Perhaps you were planning to make this transaction with me from the very beginning, so each talisman here was drawn with this goal in mind? Moreover, you were even able to guess that I would be your neighbor?”

”Oh, look, Brother Qi is projecting his noble mindset onto a sagely individual again. This is so unjust to me!”

Chen Ping’an appeared slightly vexed as he grabbed a stack of talismans and spread them apart one by one using his fingers. As it turned out, they were all blank apart from a few at the top and bottom of the stack. Chen Ping’an appeared helpless as he explained, ”Drawing talismans is a difficult matter with the most stringent requirements on being detailed and meticulous, and during my intense battle with Li Zhen, I lost far too many talismans of incredible value, after which I suffered severe wounds and fell three cultivation tiers.

”Ask your conscience, Brother Qi, can you imagine just how torturous that was? Afterward, I needed to attend to so many things at once, practicing fist techniques, repairing my cultivation base, and so on. I didn’t have any time to draw these talismans. So, I forgot to mention it to you before, but regarding the cost of drawing these talismans, as well as the cost of speaking to you instead of killing demons and earning military merit on the city wall...”

Qi Shou chuckled coldly and said, ”Cheng Quan is helping you kill demons, so your military merit won’t run away.”

”Oh, then let’s just talk about the cost of me going to great pains to draw these talismans,” Chen Ping’an said with a nod. ”There’s a so-called brush fee in the Majestic World, but you can feel free to give any amount as a symbolic gesture. Two or three lesser heat coins are just spare change to you.”

”There’s no such tradition at the Sword Qi Great Wall,” Qi Shou stated.

”Then I truly can’t offer a discount on the price of three grain rain coins,” Chen Ping’an said.

”Do you insist on treating me like a pig to butcher?” Qi Shou asked.

”Don’t denigrate yourself like this, Brother Qi. Even calling yourself a foolish customer is better than calling yourself a pig.”

After saying this, Chen Ping’an laughed heartily in a rare display, patting Qi Shou’s shoulder and continuing, ”I just thought of an old friend with whom I had a good first encounter, a good parting, and I often think of reuniting with. You will definitely be the same as him. You’ll also enjoy incredible fortune and live until the very end.”

Qi Shou shrugged Chen Ping’an’s hand off his shoulder and frowned in response.

Chen Ping’an looked up and stared at Qi Shou, saying with a faint smile, ”Sure enough, I wasn’t wrong about you, Brother Qi. There’s no need to fight to the death on the battlefield.”

”What do you mean?” Qi Shou asked.

”Guess,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

Qi Shou chuckled and said, ”Aren’t you afraid that I’m just playing along with you? Don’t forget that Jumping Spider can transform into a huge number of flying swords, a number that you’re currently unaware of. Are you able to keep a close eye on my battlefield the entire time?”

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, ”I have quite a lot of free time, and I’m very good at doing things like this.”

Qi Shou recalled something at this moment.

He had heard from the old ancestors in his clan that all of the sword immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall had received a strange instruction not long ago, asking sword immortals along different sections of the city wall to hold back and weaken their attacks during different periods of time.

This definitely wasn’t something that the old great sword immortal would be willing to do.

If someone were willing to defect to the enemy and dared to betray the Sword Qi Great Wall, then that was their freedom.

It would be a reflection of their impressive abilities if they were able to conceal their intentions. If they failed to do so, however, then they would face certain death once they were caught by the old great sword immortal.

Thus, this was definitely a suggestion from someone else.

Apart from this, many young sword cultivators had received a strange talisman from the garment market, one that could hide their presence.

It wasn’t the case that no one in the past could draw this type of talisman at the Sword Qi Great Wall, but rather, not a single sword cultivator had seen the value in doing so.

Perhaps some sword cultivators had thought about this before, but they could only bury these thoughts — which would draw strong suspicions of shirking battle — deep in their hearts.

Thus, it was again an outsider who had convinced the old sword immortal to mandate the young sword cultivators to wear this talisman.

Moreover, apart from the ten paramount sword immortals and some other critical great sword immortals, many sword immortals atop the city wall started to quietly shuffle their defensive positions.

”Did you make some suggestions to the old great sword immortal?” Qi Shou asked.

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, ”Not only do the vile beasts in the Savage World want me dead, but even some sword immortals who need to find a new path of retreat for themselves now want me dead as well.”

”Are you this unafraid of death? What are you trying to achieve?” Qi Shou asked with a strange expression.

Chen Ping’an lightly tapped his own shoulder with his folding fan and replied, ”If you regard me as seeking death, then you won’t be able to fathom my goals and plans. If you regard me as seeking life, then you’ll be even more hard-pressed to understand what I’m trying to do.”

Qi Shou decided to sit down and lean against the wall. He extended a hand and said, ”Give me a pot of wine.”

Chen Ping’an also sat down and tossed a pot of Bamboo Sea Small World Wine to Qi Shou. Meanwhile, he grabbed his Sword Nurturing Gourd, which was currently nurturing four flying swords.

He had heard that the Sword Nurturing Gourds that were about to ripen and drop to the ground in Stalactite Mountain’s Spring Banner Inn were all of very high grade. However, they were far too dear, and there was far greater demand than supply.

”Please wait for a moment longer, Senior Cheng. Allow me to drink a pot of wine first,” Qi Shou said to Cheng Quan.

”While Brother Qi is drinking, all of his military merit should count toward me,” Chen Ping’an immediately hollered.

Qi Shou felt slightly helpless. He had used the ripples of his mind’s lake to communicate with Cheng Quan just then.

”And the old grudges between you and me?” Qi Shou asked as he drank.

”Even though the Qi Clan relied on their strength to bully others in the past, everything was ultimately done in the open,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile. ”I’m actually able to accept this. The Qi Clan is powerful and direct, and this can also be regarded as one form of treating people with sincerity. I’ll endure something like this regardless of whether I’m fond of such a principle or not. It’s incredibly simple and doesn’t require any deep analysis. In fact, it can almost blur right and wrong and have the two cancel each other out.

”If the grudges remain statically balanced when I’m eventually able to throw punches and launch sword strikes, then things will also be very simple. I’ll gradually return the favor to the Qi Clan. Qi Shou, it’s not that I’m looking down on you in regard to some truly difficult matters, but you’ll only understand the extremes of worry and trouble once you visit the Majestic World. Remember to take things easy if you get the chance to head over there in the future.”

Qi Shou shook his head and replied, ”I have no interest in the Majestic World. However, I’m very interested in visiting the heartland of the Savage World. I want to be like A’Liang and challenge the most powerful enemies.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and remarked, ”Embarking on a distant journey with your sword, departing your homeland without any attachments... This is indeed the demeanor of a sword immortal.”

Chen Ping’an put his Sword Nurturing Gourd away and said, ”Time to start work and make money.”

Qi Shou summoned six hundred and thirty-two Jumping Spider flying swords, gathering them together at the foot of the parapet. After doing this, he was just about to jump onto the parapet and rejoin the battle.

Chen Ping’an suddenly lowered his voice and said, ”The talisman formation and sword formation will become even more incredible if yellow jade talisman paper or even higher-grade talisman paper is used for the critical talismans. The might of your attacks will transcend the heavens!”

Qi Shou stopped and asked in curiosity, ”And how much will that cost?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment before gazing north and replying with a chuckle, ”I’m in a great mood, so I’ll charge you the same amount as before for the upgraded talisman paper.”

Qi Shou had just turned around when he heard Chen Ping’an add, ”Only five immortal coins in total.”

Qi Shou looked back.

”Brother Qi, was our heart-to-heart conversation not even worth two grain rain coins?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Qi Shou put on a stern expression and shook his head, replying in a solemn voice, ”No, it wasn’t.”

”It’s not good for you to always look down on yourself like this, Brother Qi,” Chen Ping’an said in an exasperated voice.

Qi Shou jumped onto the parapet and expressed his thanks to Senior Cheng Quan.

————

Inside the secret room in the Ning Residence, Chen Ping’an opened his eyes.

He looked down, and he was surprised to discover his body in one piece, completely unharmed.

Unable to make heads or tails of the situation, Chen Ping’an groggily walked out of the secret room and arrived at the training ground, with deathly silence accompanying him the entire way.

He didn’t see Grandma Bai anywhere, and it was as if he were the only person in this entire world as he arrived at the Dragon Slaying Cliff.

Chen Ping’an looked up, and someone descended to the training ground as if splitting open the skies.

Chen Ping’an’s heart stirred slightly, and he felt a mysterious sense of pain as an acupoint, which he had never focused on establishing before, churned violently. However, this strange feeling disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

The person arriving at the Ning Residence was none other than the old great sword immortal. More accurately, a wisp of the old great sword immortal’s soul.

Chen Ping’an cupped his fists and said, ”Thank you for launching a sword strike, Old Great Sword Immortal. And thank you again for concealing this heaven and earth.”

Chen Qingdu smiled and replied, ”I did indeed launch a sword strike, but what’s this about concealing heaven and earth?”

Chen Ping’an became even more puzzled.

”Countless sword cultivators have existed over the past ten thousand years, but it’s truly rare for a sword cultivator to remain completely oblivious to their own bonded flying sword,” Chen Qingdu said.

He then chuckled and looked around, nodding and saying, ”Remaining inside yourself, much like a caged sparrow.”

Chen Ping’an finally understood the situation.

He felt deeply satisfied.

”Is it enough to simply trap your enemies inside this heaven and earth? Where’s your second bonded flying sword?” Chen Qingdu asked.

Apart from Chen Ping’an and Chen Qingdu, countless flying swords materialized in this heaven and earth at this instant, densely packed together in layer upon layer.

Those in my heaven and earth are all caged sparrows.

If I’m not a sword cultivator, then who is?!

1. This is a line from Mencius. ☜