Unsheathed

Atop the sea of clouds above the Sword Qi Great Wall, the sage from the Daoist Sect stood up and respectfully bowed to the visitor, saying with a smile, ”What a rare guest.”

Chen Qingdu smiled and replied, ”Standing high and gazing afar offers much better scenery than what I can see from my crude thatched cottage.”

There was seemingly nothing for them to talk about after making some polite small talk.

The old great sword immortal, who seldom graced the sea of clouds with his presence, simply gazed at the chaotic battlefield to the south.

”Why is the young Hidden Official seemingly prejudiced against me?” the Daoist sage suddenly asked.

”He’s not targeting you specifically, and he’s prejudiced against the entire Daoist Sect,” Chen Qingdu replied. ”He also understands that this isn’t appropriate, but it’s very difficult for him to fix this issue in the short-term.”

There were always some strange people who could let go of comments and actions targeting them, yet they were somehow unable to get over comments and actions targeting those beside them.

The old great sword immortal had come across many people like this. Disregarding those far away and only looking at those nearby, there was Zuo You and, of course, Pang Yuanji.

The Daoist sage raised a hand and started to manipulate his fingers to perform divinations. He was unwilling to do something like this in private, but since the old great sword immortal had already appeared, he no longer felt any constraints as he performed divination. A brief moment later, he said, ”I didn’t expect such a huge grudge to be lingering on his body. It’s no wonder he’s acting like this.”

Of everyone at the Sword Qi Great Wall, this Daoist sage was the most distant from the mortal world, having legitimately achieved the feat of cultivating in peace. To say nothing of the matters at the Sword Qi Great Wall, he didn’t even pay any heed to the ups and downs of the Daoist Sect.

No one would come here to look for him, nor would he actively go to look for some other person.

This elderly Daoist sage responsible for overseeing the Sword Qi Great Wall on behalf of the Daoist Sect was an exalted individual belonging to the lineage of the Dao Ancestor’s first disciple. If he returned to the Heavenly World’s White Jade Capital, one of the incredibly tall pagodas belonging to the five cities and twelve pagodas was his immortal abode and place of cultivation.

”You’ve been forced to waste your time and see little progress for so many years. Thank you for your hard work,” Chen Qingdu said.

The Daoist sage hurriedly bowed and said, ”I truly don’t deserve such gratitude.”

There was a look of exasperation on Chen Qingdu’s face as he commented, ”You and that young lad will presumably get along very well if you come face to face with each other.” ℴ

The Daoist sage bent his fingers and performed divination once again, following which he shook his head and replied, ”That’s not necessarily so.”

Chen Qingdu had enough of this, and he was unwilling to say anything else. However, it wouldn’t be polite to leave so soon after arriving, so he stood still and peered down at the battlefield in the south.

”Our young Hidden Official actually has some ties with the Mystery Capital Temple’s Daoist Master Sun?” the Daoist sage suddenly remarked in surprise.

Sun Huaizhong, the abbot of the Mystery Capital Temple, had already reached a state of divinity with his sword techniques.

He was also known as the eternal fifth most powerful person of the Heavenly World.

”I didn’t expect that Daoist Master Sun would actually leave his home world and travel to the Majestic World,” the Daoist sage said.

So be it if the Daoist master didn’t perform any divinations, but if he did, he would perform hundreds upon thousands of calculations, so many that he was essentially performing divine calculations.

Chen Qingdu smiled and replied, ”The lineage of sword immortals belonging to the Daoist Sect does have some strengths. Daoist Master Sun is also a fairly interesting character.”

If the old great sword immortal praised other sword cultivators or sword-related matters as ”having some strengths,” then these cultivators or matters would naturally be exceptionally impressive.

Otherwise, was Chen Qingdu truly so bored and idle that he would frequently nab Zuo You and criticize his sword skills for not being lofty enough? In terms of sword skills alone, Zuo You was already the undisputed number one in the Majestic World.

The four immortal swords had initially represented the four prominent schools of thought pertaining to the Sword Dao of the world.

One immortal sword belonged to Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence, one belonged to the proudest scholar in the world in the Middle Earth Divine Continent, one belonged to the Daoist second disciple, and the Majestic World had always told everyone that the final immortal sword was suppressed by the Sword Suppressing Pagoda, one of the nine Mighty Suppressing Pagodas.

In reality, the immortal sword owned by the proudest scholar in the world should have belonged to the sword immortals of the Daoist Sect, and it should have rightfully been stored and revered in the ancestral hall of the Mystery Capital Temple. However, this pertained to an incredibly complicated piece of history. Moreover, the Mystery Capital Temple’s Sun Huaizhong was a cultivator who possessed more gallant spirit than immortal aura, so he was unwilling to rely on status and force to retrieve the immortal sword and bring it back to the Heavenly World’s Mystery Capital Temple.

It was thanks to this that the proudest scholar in the world had managed to achieve the great feat of slashing apart the Yellow River Small World with a single sword strike. And thus, the entire world now knew the saying: His poems unrivalled among peers, he stands proudest in the world.

The Daoist sage sighed with emotion and said, ”I’m suddenly reminded of the blooming peach blossoms in the Mystery Capital Temple, and how remarkably beautiful they are when orioles land on the flowers. My eyes dare not move, yet my heart is naturally moved.”

”Shouldn’t your praise simply be, ’It’s incredibly beautiful’?” Chen Qingdu asked with a smile.

The Daoist sage shook his head and replied, ”That’s too crude and basic.”

————

The wine shop, which was now three times its original size, wasn’t enjoying much business. In fact, the same could be said for most of the restaurants and wine shops in the city.

Only the old, the young, and women would remain in the city. Of course, there were also the men whose bonded flying swords had been destroyed, meaning they could no longer be regarded as sword cultivators. In any case, the battle on the city wall was far too brutal, so few people would spend money to purchase wine during these times.

The two young attendants in the wine shop, Qiu Long and Liu’e, both felt slightly puzzled. This was because Tao Ban, their youngest colleague, had secretly conversed with Feng Kangle in hushed whispers just then, after the latter had sprinted to the wine shop. The two children had then run off together, and when they returned again, their faces had already become battered and bruised.

They sat down in their dirty clothes, and Feng Kangle asked his dad to make two large bowls of yangchun noodles. However, both he and Tao Ban were too short, so they essentially needed to lie on top of the table with their feet off the ground as they ate. They didn’t have any pickled vegetables, and this was because Tao Ban had reiterated the rules of the wine shop: Those who didn’t purchase wine wouldn’t get any pickled vegetables.

Liu’e sat down beside them and asked with a smile, ”What happened?”

Feng Kangle was in low spirits as he continued to slurp noodles.

”A bunch of little bastards accused our second shopkeeper of being a heartless bad person, and they said a whole heap of other unpleasant things about him,” Tao Ban explained with indignation. ”Were they not asking for a beating? So, Kangle and I decided to give them a good beating.”

”And who ended up beating whom?” the young girl asked in a teasing manner.

Feng Kangle snickered and retorted, ”They had more people, okay? How could the two of us handle them? When walking the cultivation world, even the two fists of heroes can’t necessarily rival a flurry of punches and kicks — even the books say this, so how can you not know?”

Tao Ban became increasingly angry, and he fumed, ”The most infuriating thing was those bastards who hid nearby to watch the fight. They listened to so many of the second shopkeeper’s stories for free, so couldn’t they have stepped forward to help us? These bastards were even more heartless.”

Liu’e held back a laugh and said, ”I’ll grab two eggs, and you can use them to treat your bruises.”[1]

Tao Ban nodded before saying, ”Kangle, ask your dad to make two more bowls of yangchun noodles. We can eat one bowl each, and they’ll taste even better with a fried egg.”

Feng Kangle leaned over and whispered, ”Please don’t do that. It’s better that our wounds heal slower, so the second shopkeeper can see them as well.”

”For what reason?” Tao Ban asked. ”The stingy second shopkeeper won’t give you any money.”

Feng Kangle chuckled and replied, ”I can listen to one extra story.”

”And then you’ll retell it to that little girl?” Tao Ban rolled his eyes and said. ”You’re still too young and naive, and you’re oblivious to just how shrewd these beautiful girls can be. What’s important is how rich you are.”

”My family is quite rich now,” Feng Kangle replied with a smile.

Tao Ban silently ate his yangchun noodles.

Feng Kangle scratched his head and said in a soft voice, ”Tao Ban, remember to look for me first if you need to borrow money in the future. My ceramic pot is filled with copper coins and extremely heavy right now, so much so that I can barely lift it! However, that’s money for my future wife, so remember to return it when I’m looking for a wife in the future.”

Feng Kangle would discuss everything with Tao Ban, and he had once talked about some of his grievances. One time, Feng Kangle had woken up and walked outside to take a piss, yet he had ended up dazedly sitting beside the broom at the door and falling fast asleep. His parents had spent several hours looking for him, only managing to find him after much searching and immense worry.

Feng Kangle’s mom had smacked his bum bright red, causing him to wail and sob in pain. After hearing this, however, Tao Ban had lowered his head and surprisingly started to cry. Only afterward did Feng Kangle learn that all of Tao Ban’s ancestors and seniors, including his parents, were forced laborers at the garment market. Tao Ban would sometimes go an entire year without seeing his parents.

”I actually like that girl quite a bit as well,” Tao Ban suddenly said with a smile.

Feng Kangle was dumbstruck.

Tao Ban laughed loudly and said, ”I’m just teasing. What’s there to like about girls?”

Feng Kangle also laughed along with his friend.

Qiu Long brought two eggs over and said with a smile, ”It’s my treat.”

Tao Ban copied the second shopkeeper and gave a thumbs up, saying in praise, ”How generous.”

Feng Kangle nodded and concurred, ”I’m ironclad brothers with the second shopkeeper, and the relationship between us is as good as can be. I’ll tell him to become a matchmaker and grant Liu’e to you when he returns.”

The young boy was rendered speechless.

The young girl flushed bright red, with her cheeks as red as the plum blossoms.

————

The winter palace belonging to the lineage of the Hidden Official had been empty the entire time. Today, however, there were ten or so people in the palace.

Apart from a white-haired old woman, the rest of them were all children, with the youngest being four to five years old and the oldest being seven to eight years old. There were both boys and girls, and they came from a wide range of backgrounds that couldn’t be any more different. There were wealthy descendants who enjoyed brocade robes and refined delicacies in Taixiang Street and Ritual Baton Street, and there were also little bumpkins who rolled around in the mud in the poorer streets and alleys.

”All of you are martial arts talents,” the old woman said. ”A few martial arts grandmasters existed at the Sword Qi Great Wall in the past, but most of them failed to live for very long, finding it very difficult to live past one hundred. Talent is important on the path of martial arts, but diligence and hard work are even more important. Moreover, those who die early naturally won’t be able to reach very high cultivation bases. I’m one of the more fortunate martial artists — do any of you know who I am?”

A child from Taixiang Street was young and brave, and they replied in a childish voice, ”You’re the Ning Residence’s Grandma Bai, an old grandma with a very solid fist.”

”That’s correct. My name is Bai Lianshuang, and I’m a female martial artist from the Ning Residence with decent fist skills,” replied the old woman with a nod and a smile. She then launched a kick into the child’s abdomen, sending them flying backward before thudding to the ground and rolling over several times. In the end, the child curled up in pain, with tears and snot covering their face.

”Do you know why I gathered all of you here today?” Bai Lianshuang asked.

A little girl from Ritual Baton Street said with a pale face and a quivering voice, ”I want to become a sword cultivator, Grandma Bai. I don’t want to learn martial arts. Learning martial arts won’t lead to any success.”

The old woman patted the little girl’s head, exerting some more force and causing her to fall on her backside. She then glanced at the relatively pampered child on the floor and performed a quick appraisal — the little girl’s aptitude could only be regarded as okay.

Bai Lianshuang smiled and replied, ”Wanting to become a sword cultivator and having the ability to become a sword cultivator are two completely different matters. I had similar thoughts to you back then, but I was ultimately unable to become a sword cultivator. There was nothing I could do about this, and some things just can’t be obtained by force.”

The little girl was just about to say something, but the old woman smiled and continued, ”There’s no need to rush. After one month, those who want to learn martial arts might not be able to stay, while those who don’t want to learn might end up staying instead.”

She then turned around and looked at the group of children with reserved expressions but fervent gazes, saying, ”Compared to learning sword techniques, aptitude isn’t as important for learning martial arts techniques. However, this is only comparatively speaking. Only after facing great hardships will you understand your ability to practice martial arts. Isn’t that so?”

The children nodded in response.

”I’ll teach everyone two fist stances first,” Bai Lianshuang continued. ”Fist techniques without fist stances are like houses without load-bearing elements — they will inevitably collapse into a heap. I’ll teach one standing stance and one walking stance. Both are easy to grasp, but neither is easy to master. What’s important isn’t learning more stances, but rather, mastering just one or two.”

The old woman taught the eight children standing meditation and walking meditation, after which she slowly walked around and observed their awkward movements. Looking at their unsteady standing meditation, she said slowly, ”This will become second nature after you practice it one thousand times. Don’t take these words at face value, but try to understand the core concept. Practice makes perfect, but perfection won’t be achieved after just one thousand repetitions. Even if you’re a martial arts prodigy with good aptitude, talent, and temperament, one thousand repetitions will still be far too few to nurture fist intent.”

The child rolling on the floor sat up and displayed the full extent of his stubbornness, gritting his teeth and exclaiming in retort, ”Does Cao Ci, that prodigious martial artist in the Middle Earth Divine Continent, need to practice a single fist technique one thousand times?! He definitely doesn’t!”

Bai Lianshuang didn’t get angry, and she looked at the child and replied with a smile, ”Martial arts are flourishing in the Majestic World, and pure martial artists can rely on their fists to act in an unreasonable manner. Even so, they still adhere to the notion of learning etiquette before learning skills, and learning morals before practicing martial arts.”

The little boy crossed his arms and snickered. ”I’m speaking about fist techniques, yet you respond by lecturing me about principles? By the looks of it, your fist skills might not actually be very lofty, Grandma Bai.”

The old woman’s expression became increasingly kind as she walked around the row of eight children, some of whom were already swaying unsteadily, and said, ”An upright heart begets upright punches, while a sinister heart begets sinister punches. So, teaching fist techniques is also a process of shaping people’s characters.”

The little boy felt an impending sense of danger as he looked at the growing smile on Grandma Bai’s face, and he said loudly in a stroke of inspiration, ”You’re an old woman, so I’m better off learning fist techniques from the second shopkeeper than learning them from you. He’s an elite martial artist, and I witnessed his strength with my own eyes! Even though he lost three battles to Cao Ci before, didn’t he win the three battles against Yu Juanfu afterward?”

Bai Lianshuang laughed heartily and said, ”You’re quite a clever one, aren’t you? Alright, you can stand up and practice standing meditation with the others now. The better you hold the stance, the less physical punishment you’ll receive. The six-step walking meditation I taught everyone just then was a technique learned from Mr. Chen.”

The little boy stood up and rubbed his abdomen, baring his teeth in pain as he did so.

Bai Lianshuang smiled upon seeing this. The little boy was genuinely hurting, but he could quickly get over this physical and surface-level pain.

”If grain exists at home, this pain I’ll refuse to eat,” the little boy mumbled.

The old woman shot a glance at him.

”I’ll learn the techniques; I’ll learn them, okay?” the little boy immediately wailed in anguish.

Bai Lianshuang felt slightly exasperated.

Their son-in-law was indeed better at dealing with children than she was.

In reality, she wasn’t especially good at teaching fist techniques either.

This was despite Bai Lianshuang having once been the only tenth tier martial artist at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The old woman had felt a sense of guilt even when sparring with Chen Ping’an at the Ning Residence — she genuinely couldn’t bring herself to put her foot down and throw heavy punches.

However, Chen Ping’an had said before that martial arts talents at the Sword Qi Great Wall were seemingly unremarkable, and it was difficult to say what the situation would be like in the future. Taking ten thousand steps back, however, mastering a new skill was ultimately a good thing.

1. This refers to the ”egg on bruise” remedy, where a warm, hard-boiled egg is rolled over a bruise. This relies on the principle of a hot compress to improve blood circulation. ☜