Unsheathed

The old scholar ran his hand along his head and straightened his hair before smiling faintly and replying, “I once asked Qi Jingchun a question. Since Qi Jingchun was able to give me his answer, as his teacher, I naturally can’t allow myself to be inferior to even my own student.”

The mountain god of Tassel Mountain chuckled coldly and said, “Don’t give me this abstract nonsense. Indigo is extracted from bluegrass but darker than bluegrass — weren’t you the one who said this? Since students won’t necessarily be inferior to their teachers, your explanation just then doesn’t make any sense.”

The old scholar pointed at the burly man in golden armor and educated, “You’re being rigid with your understanding. It’s better to have no books at all than to blindly believe everything written in the books. Do you understand this?”

“I have no time to speak nonsense with you,” the burly man chuckled in anger. “Alright, I’m off now. Take care.”

He hesitated for a moment before adding, “If push comes to shove, you can always come to Tassel Mountain.”

The old scholar waved a hand and replied, “No way I’ll go to Tassel Mountain. It feels like I’m desecrating the sages even if I’m simply taking a shit there. In any case, I’ve genuinely lost my Dao attainment catalyst now, and I no longer possess the same power as I did before. However, if someone wants to target me? Heh, they’re free to throw everything they have at me.

“Ah, what a pity. If I had come across this fated opportunity back then, I would have grabbed onto the second disciple of the Dao Ancestor’s leg and insisted that he hack my head when I came across him. I would have refused to let him go unless he hacked my head. In any case, my legs definitely wouldn’t have trembled in apprehension after the fact.”

The burly man shook his head, and he was truly in no mood to speak anymore. He certainly didn’t want to chitchat and reminisce about past events with the old scholar. In fact, ever since becoming acquainted with this old scholar, he felt like his mood would definitely be dampened whenever he came across him. Even so, he still couldn’t help but look forward to their next meeting.

This was very strange.

“Hold on a second! Don’t leave yet!” the old scholar suddenly shouted. “I have a small request for you, a request as small as a sesame. Don’t be afraid.”

The burly man in golden armor didn’t reply, and he immediately soared into the air in a flash of gold. He was going to leave this place.

However, he quickly came to a stop and reappeared in the sky.

As it turned out, the old scholar had shamelessly grabbed onto his toes and followed him into the sky.

The burly man had no option but to land on the mountain peak again. As he looked at the grinning old scholar who was dusting off his hands, he exclaimed in annoyance, “Such disgrace to our refined nature! Hurry up and spit it out!”

The old scholar rubbed his hands and said, “I’ve just taken in my final disciple, haven’t I? However, the first impression that I’ve given him is probably a fairly bad one. I want to remedy this by giving him a greeting gift or something of the sort. After all, we’ll need to part ways again in a short while. I won’t have the opportunity to teach him, and I’m seriously feeling quite guilty because of this.”

The burly man sneered and replied, “Help you prepare a greeting gift? Sure thing! This is very simple. There’s the mountain-suppressing sword that’s lost its sword spirit on Tassel Mountain, so do you want to give this to your disciple? Is this gift valuable enough?”

There was an expression of insincere shame on the old scholar’s face as he replied, “How can I accept this? This gift is far too hefty and valuable. How can I bring myself to accept it…? Of course, this is an offer of goodwill from a senior, after all, so if you insist on giving it to me, I can indeed tell Chen Ping’an to head over to retrieve it after 100 years. Perhaps he’ll be capable of lifting the sword at that time…”

The burly man took a deep breath. Those who were familiar with him would all know that this was a sign that he was about to throw hands.

The old scholar immediately put on a serious expression, and he added, “How can we try to accelerate his growth through such harmful means? Why you… It’s nice to see that you have good intentions, but don’t you understand the notion that more haste sometimes means less speed? My youngest disciple is someone who’s going to carry books and carry a sword as he embarks on a journey for knowledge. Thus, all he needs is an ownerless sword billet that can be used straight away. Don’t try to give him a sword that can only be wielded by 10th tier cultivators. How about it? As his senior, are you going to show some generosity?”

“Will you stop me from leaving if I refuse?” the burly man in golden armor asked with a derisive smile.

The old scholar silently shuffled his feet and walked next to the burly man. He then grabbed the burly man’s arm and replied in a righteous voice, “How could I? Am I that kind of person?”

The mountain god of Tassel Mountain shook his head in exasperation. “You’re truly willing to sacrifice your life and your face for the sake of your disciples. Alright, alright, alright, I’ll give something to you, okay?”

He flicked his wrist, and a silver object that was as large as a fist materialized in the air in front of them.

The old scholar’s expression immediately became serious. However, he was in no rush to accept this, and he asked, “Did you come here with some ulterior motive? Otherwise, why would you be carrying this item around with you so casually? Even though it isn’t an extremely valuable treasure, it is still something that has great significance to you. I won’t accept it unless you explain this to me.”

The burly man crossed his arms and gazed toward the south, replying, “How do you think I picked up the traces to make it here?”

The old scholar frowned and asked, “It wasn’t because of your lofty cultivation and your fortune that’s connected with Tassel Mountain? And it wasn’t because of the slightly large commotion here that resulted in a weak point?”

The burly man turned around and replied, “Are you being genuine, or are you just playing dumb?”

“When did you learn how to leave someone hanging, you big meathead? This is only an illusion of Tassel Mountain, so even if it’s hacked apart by someone, it still won’t have any physical effect on the true Tassel Mountain,” the old scholar said in puzzlement.

The tough-natured burly man in golden armor finally lost his temper. “Fucking hell! That sword strike directly cut into my Tassel Mountain! And yet, you’re still acting as if nothing happened?! Even though that sword strike appeared like a spent force to outsiders when it appeared, just how heavily fortified is the formation that protects my mountain? How many people in the world are capable of breaching this formation with a single sword strike? The entire Middle Earth Divine Continent is talking about this right now, and they’re all speculating whether that Daoist disciple is secretly hinting at something, or whether the old geezers from the Sword Qi Great Wall have come over to demand some justice.”

“It was that ferocious?” the old scholar exclaimed in shock.

His exclamation was akin to rubbing salt in the burly man’s wounds.

“Piss off!” the burly man roared. He angrily shook his arm, directly sending the old scholar’s “body” flying hundreds of kilometers into the distance, where he eventually crashed into the river behind Tassel Mountain with a vicious thud.

He then humphed coldly and smacked the unremarkable-looking silver object toward where the old scholar had landed.

Afterward, a column of golden light that was as thick as the mountain peak boomed through the sky of the scroll and returned to the Middle Earth Divine Continent’s Tassel Mountain.

The old scholar slowly doggy paddled back to shore in a relaxed manner. With a shake of his shoulders, his soaked Daoist robes immediately became dry and comfortable. He opened his palm and looked down at the silver ingot. “What a hot potato…” he said with a troubled expression.

When it came to fated opportunities, what was important was the notion of progression regardless of whether it was a teacher giving it to their student or a master offering it to their disciple. It was never the case that the bigger the fated opportunity the better. Rather, the best fated opportunities were ones that could be grabbed, withstood, and digested.

Otherwise, what would happen if those powerful sects and clans that had existed for thousands of years and accumulated immense wealth carelessly tossed powerful artifacts around to their descendants? What would happen if they gave their son who had just become a Qi refiner a peerlessly sharp divine weapon and gave their talented grandson an artifact that could shatter mountains and massacre cities with a single swing? If this were the case, then these descendants would eventually shout in haughtiness and start a rebellion. After all, why did everyone in the Majestic World have to abide by the rules of the Confucian schools and academies?

Moreover, being entangled by karmic fate was also one of the most troublesome things.

Very, very troublesome.

It was because of this that the old scholar had secretly taken away Chen Ping’an’s jade hairpin at that time.

In reality, A’Liang had merely been unable to figure out the actual ability of this jade hairpin. However, there was naturally a deep meaning behind the old scholar giving this jade hairpin to Qi Jingchun. In fact, this was in order to deal with the worst-case scenarios. If Qi Jingchun genuinely became surrounded by enemies one day, he would at least still have somewhere to reside in peace.

However, it was a shame that Qi Jingchun had decided not to use this even at the very end. Apart from not wanting to affect his teacher in the Forest of Virtue, it was very likely that he had also done this to protect Chen Ping’an.

Indeed, Qi Jingchun’s actions had forced the old scholar to personally travel to Eastern Treasured Vial Continent to pay a visit to Chen Ping’an, the young disciple who Qi Jingchun had taken for him.

When the old scholar finally arrived, however, Qi Jingchun was already dead. Thus, even if the old scholar was dissatisfied with this final disciple, with his personality and considering Qi Jingchun’s intentions, he would still very likely pinch his nose and accept the situation. Moreover, if Chen Ping’an truly came across an insurmountable obstacle in the future, the old scholar would also be able to pass on a few words even if he were trapped in the Forest of Virtue.

However, Qi Jingchun had made one mistake in his calculations. He hadn’t expected that his teacher would leave the Forest of Virtue so quickly.

The old scholar had done this for his sake.

Just as he had always acted for Chen Ping’an’s sake.

Perhaps this was the genuine meaning of kindred spirit and carrying on a lineage.

The old scholar strode forward and immediately reappeared on the peak of the mountain. “Little Qi, you’re far more impressive than your teacher when it comes to protecting your students,” he sighed with emotion, “Mhm, your teacher is very satisfied with the final disciple that you found for me. After pondering for a long time, I also reached the same conclusion while trapped in the Forest of Virtue. What I’m missing is a student like Chen Ping’an.”

The old scholar suddenly widened his eyes. “Where is he?”

He stomped his feet in anxiety. However, he suddenly calmed down after a while, and he said with a smirk, “Ohhh, is that how it is? But my disciple is still young! Oh, hang on, I think he’s already 14 or 15. Mhm, he’s not that young anymore. If he were in the outside world, he would already be old enough to marry and have kids in many places.”

“Second time,” a woman said with a faint smile somewhere in the sky.

The old scholar pretended to cock his head and prick up his ears. “Come again? What did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly. Not only is my hearing bad, but my speech is also unclear and prone to causing misunderstandings…”

No wonder he had been able to produce a disciple like Cui Chan.

However, the old scholar turned around to look at some huge boulder after his voice faded away. The characters “Straight to the Heavenly Court” were inscribed on its surface.

The old scholar retracted his gaze and looked down toward the foot of the mountain. “I still want to soak in the sights of the grand mountains and rivers. A thousand years is too short, and 10,000 years won’t be too long.”

————

When Chen Ping’an regained consciousness, he discovered that he was sitting on the railing of the golden arch bridge again. The arch bridge was still as long as last time, with neither its start nor end being visible. It was surrounded by a sea of clouds, and this was a sight that would cause one to become dazed and lost.

It was hard to imagine what would happen if he slipped and fell off the bridge. Would he smash into the ground and explode into smithereens? Would he fall forever into a bottomless abyss? Or if he didn’t starve to death, would he grow a year older and become 15 when he eventually fell to his death?

In fact, Chen Ping’an was someone who would always think about these strange and quirky things.

However, his thoughts appeared especially unrefined because he had never studied or gone to school before.

The tall woman in white sat down beside Chen Ping’an and said in a gentle voice, “This place was a battlefield before, and when the huge battle finally concluded, all that remained was this arch bridge. If you look over there, there was once an Eastern Heavenly Gate that was quite large. The person who was responsible for guarding that gate was a lecherous man who wore a suit of silver armor called ‘Big Frost’. He wasn’t a bad person, but he truly spoke like an asshole. My first owner had a fight with his superior and emerged victorious. At that time, his superior had a few helpers who were watching the battle from afar. However, the battle was such that none of them dared to show themselves and help their ally.”

Looking in the direction that she was pointing, Chen Ping’an saw an empty space that would occasionally be illuminated by a quick flash of light.

“Nothing remains now,” the tall woman said softly.

Chen Ping’an was quite fascinated by this. “Is that so…” he said with emotion.

The tall woman lightly swung her feet as she placed her hands on the railings. She smiled and said, “The purpose of cultivating and working hard to construct a bridge to longevity is for no other reason than to obtain the ability to stay alive and relevant. It’s to prevent the fate of becoming a mere speck of dust in the long river of time. Thus, everyone likes to refer to themselves as someone who is traveling against the flow.”

“Mhm.” Chen Ping’an understood what the sword spirit was trying to say. She was simply telling him to live well. Who didn’t like to live well?

The tall woman turned around and asked with a smile, “Are you tired after walking such a long way?”

Chen Ping’an carefully pondered this for a moment. “I’m not exactly tired. In fact, this trip has been slightly easier than when I used to go into the mountains to collect herbs and firewood when I was little. However, we’ve come across far too many strange people and things, and this always causes me to feel uneasy, making me unable to sleep well.”

However, he quickly turned around and said with a happy smile, “But I was able to enjoy a very good sleep just then. Even though I was poor back then, I was always able to fall asleep quickly. Now that I’m traveling with Baoping and the others, however, I don’t dare to be so careless. I’m afraid of them having an accident.”

“You don’t have any complaints?” the tall woman asked.

Chen Ping’an thought about this for a while, and he copied the actions of Big Sister Immortal beside him. He swung his feet and placed his hands on the railing. As he gazed into the distance, he replied in a soft voice, “I do. For example, how could that young girl called Zhu Lu be so mean? And how could that female ghost wearing the wedding dress kill so many passing scholars simply because she felt like her lover didn’t like her anymore? If it weren’t for Baoping and the others being present at that time, I would have already unleashed a wisp of sword qi to kill her.

“In terms of the other matters, they can’t exactly be regarded as complaints. However, they are still fairly annoying. For example, Li Huai is always so lazy when it comes to studying, and he’s never willing to listen to my persuasion no matter what. I genuinely don’t know how Mr. Qi managed to refrain from beating him. Also, after enjoying some delicacies, these children no longer like to eat my cooking. I actually feel quite gloomy because of this. Salt and oil are very expensive!

“Moreover, I don’t have the luxury of picking a good time to go fishing, so I’m often unable to catch many fish. Because of this, I always feel very aggrieved when I see their disappointed expressions. If I didn’t worry about delaying their journey to seek knowledge, and if I had one or two days to scatter bait and fish, then I would be able to catch heaps of fish!

“Most recently, I actually felt quite unconfident when Lin Shouyi became angry that time. Even though my main reason for choosing the expensive courtyard in Autumn Reed Inn was for the sake of his cultivation, I did indeed have my own personal reasons as well. Someone once told me that I would never be able to cultivate because of my severed bridge to longevity. However, I’m unwilling to give up so easily, firstly because I promised Big Sister Immortal that I would become an immortal in the future, and secondly because I’m also very envious of people like A’Liang. Just like Li Huai said, how cool and impressive is it to stand on a sword and fly around to anywhere you want? I naturally want to become like this as well.”

The tall woman quietly listened to the young boy’s thoughts. When he finished speaking, she teased, “Oh, so you also know how to consider things for your own benefit.”

Chen Ping’an squinted his eyes and peered as far into the distance as he could. He smiled and replied, “Of course I do. After my parents passed away, I’ve always been thinking for myself. I barely had time to think for others. In fact, I only changed and became like this after coming across you guys. Fighting with others, buying mountains and shops, reading and learning characters, making small bookcases, practicing walking meditation and fist techniques, spending money to buy books, choosing which paths to take, sharpening knives and feeding horses, and so on. Every day is very busy, but I don’t regret this at all! I’m very happy!”

Chen Ping’an’s voice became a murmur, and he continued, “But I do miss my parents a little. I wonder how they’re doing.”

“Is that so…” the tall woman said with emotion, copying what the young boy had said just then.

Chen Ping’an suddenly turned around and said in a low voice, “Big Sister Immortal, I’m rich now, very rich!”

The tall woman couldn’t help but laugh.

However, she quickly understood his emotions and felt a sense of relief after recalling the young boy’s difficult past.

Just the measly matter of placing couplets on his front door had weighed on the young boy’s mind for so many years. Thus, becoming rich was naturally an extremely happy thing for

Chen Ping’an’s gaze became resolute, and he suddenly said, “Don’t worry, Big Sister Immortal. I’ll definitely try my best to achieve what I promised you.”

The tall woman turned around and placed a hand on the young boy’s head. “I’m already very glad that I was able to meet you,” she said in a warm and gentle voice.

As if wishing to express herself further, she decided to directly bend down and press her forehead against Chen Ping’an’s.

The innocent young boy was slightly embarrassed by this. He wanted to scratch his head, but he didn’t dare to do so and disturb the tall woman.

The tall woman smiled and leaned back.

In the end, the barefoot sword spirit and the young boy who was wearing straw sandals sat there just like that, swinging their feet and gazing into the distance.

Time went by, yet they were completely oblivious to this.

If today were treated as a jetty in the river of time, then traveling against the flow of the river for 20,000 years, one would see that the sword spirit’s destructive ability and killing intent were peerless in the world and transcendent above the heavens!