Unsheathed

At the bottom of the crater on the plaza outside the Hall of Martial Valor.

The chief eunuch rose to his feet in a shaky manner, and the nine tiny golden flood dragons re-emerged from his orifices before returning to the Dragon Wall formation.

At this moment, the chief eunuch’s entire body was drenched in blood, but he was in very high spirits. It seemed that he had benefited immensely from this battle, and even though he still wasn’t close to making a breakthrough, he had been elevated from a bottom-dwelling ninth tier martial artist to one that was now firmly in the middle of the pack. Even so, he was still no match for Li Er, so he decided not to squander any more of Great Sui Nation’s precious Dragon Qi.

He forced back the blood that had flowed up to the back of his throat, and he smiled as he willingly conceded, “I lose.”

Li Er looked up at the murky sky to find that after the light of the winter sun passed through the clouds up above, the rays of light seemed to have been significantly warped, and that was clearly very abnormal.

“But you also lose,” the chief eunuch added.

Li Er smiled as he asked, “Have you used some type of formation to forcibly suppress my cultivation base to the eighth tier?”

The chief eunuch made no attempt to hide anything as he said in a candid manner, “If we were to dedicate the power of an entire nation to striking down a martial artist at the pinnacle of the ninth tier like yourself, we would undoubtedly be successful, but the price that we would have to pay in the process would be far too severe.

“However, an eighth tier martial artist is a lot easier to deal with. It’s only a difference of a single tier, but the price that we’ll have to pay to bring you down would be significantly discounted.”

The chief eunuch looked directly at Li Er as he continued, “While it’s true that someone of your power has the right to be granted an audience with His Majesty, you made a grave mistake by demanding an audience in such an arrogant manner. Our Great Sui Nation must protect our reputation, and we can’t allow anyone to trample on our honor.”

Li Er smiled as he asked, “So what you’re saying is that a ninth tier martial artist still isn’t enough for your Great Sui Nation to lay down its pride, is that right?”

The chief eunuch faltered slightly upon hearing this, then replied with a wry smile, “I suppose you can put it that

All of a sudden, a look of concentration appeared on Li Er’s face as his Qi descended, and he gently took a step forward. Having displayed no proper techniques throughout the entire battle, Li Er adopted a proper stance for the first time.

At this moment, his fist intent had become unmatched in power.

The chief eunuch, who had already fallen to the eighth tier, was instantly astonished by what he was seeing.

The clouds in the sky above the entire capital city began to descend, and all of the cultivators of the Middle Five Tiers and pure martial artists at or above the sixth tier in the city could clearly feel an obstruction in the circulation of their Qi.

There was an unknown and impoverished storyteller in the city, and a surprised look appeared on his face. After a moment of hesitation, he set down the wooden sounding block in his hand before issuing an apology, then made his way out of the temporary storytelling stall to a chorus of discontent voices and verbal abuse from his audience.

The elderly storyteller cast his gaze toward the imperial palace with a grim expression, and the young girl who was responsible for playing the lute to accompany his storytelling arrived by his side before asking in a quiet voice, “What’s wrong, Master?”

“A ninth tier martial artist has stormed into the imperial palace of our Great Sui Nation by force. I’m going to have to go and take a look,” the old man replied.

The young girl cocked her head to the side with an innocent expression as she said, “But Master, you’re an 11 tier cultivator, and as the chief honorary elder of Great Sui Nation, you’re exempt from the effects of the formation in the city. Wouldn’t it be far too unbecoming of someone of your status to go after an eighth tier martial artist when you’re an 11th tier cultivator?”

The old man heaved a faint sigh as he replied, “It may not necessarily be a fight between an 11th tier cultivator and an eighth tier martial artist. If he manages to make a breakthrough, then the formation will no longer be able to restrict him. On top of that, even though I’m an 11th tier cultivator, I’m not a swordsman or a Militarian cultivator, so I’ve never been proficient in battle, and therein lies the problem.”

The young girl was clearly very familiar with the intricacies of cultivation, and her face instantly paled as she cautioned in a trembling voice, “In that case, you have to be extra careful, Master!”

The storyteller nodded in response, then gently stomped a foot down onto the ground. A massive cloud of dust that obscured the entire sky instantly arose, and by the time the dust settled, he was already nowhere to be seen.

————

Li Er took one step forward after another in mid-air, and before long, he had returned to the plaza outside the Hall of Martial Valor.

First, he reached the pinnacle of the eighth tier, then broke through the invisible barrier in his path in one fell swoop to return to the ninth tier.

After that, he was elevated to the pinnacle of the ninth tier, and in the end, he closed his eyes as he slowly extended a fist forward and commanded in a quiet voice, “Get out of my way!”

It was as if countless shackles were snapped in unison in the surrounding area, and a series of criss-crossing inky-black rifts appeared in the space around him.

Gusts of fierce wind rose up in the surrounding area, sweeping up countless rock fragments and particles of dust before rapidly escalating to become a tornado.

Li Er stood up straight again from his previous stance, and the tornado that had stretched all the way up to the heavens instantly vanished.

Standing at the center of the plaza, Li Er opened his eyes, then mused to himself in a voice that was audible only to him, “It really does feel good to reach the 10th tier, a little better than getting to eat my son’s leftover chicken drumsticks.”

The emperor of Great Sui Nation was waiting for further updates when he spotted Mao Xiaodong quickly approaching him, and the latter declared, “It’s time to put an end to this farce, Your Majesty.”

A gentle breeze blew past him, and the elderly storyteller also appeared beside the emperor before heaving a faint sigh. “If the battle is allowed to run its course, half of the capital city will be demolished by the end.”

At the same time, the urgent voice of the chief eunuch was also ringing out directly within the emperor’s mind. “Your Majesty, the intruder has capitalized on this opportunity to make a breakthrough to the 10th tier! We absolutely cannot afford for this battle to go on any longer!”

Despite the urgency of the situation, the emperor remained calm and collected as he sighed, “Unfortunately, I won’t have the pleasure of seeing it for myself, but I can imagine just how spectacular the scene currently unfolding over at the Hall of Martial Valor must be.”

In a surprising turn of events, the emperor then turned to extend a respectful bow toward the storyteller, lowering his head as he implored, “Please bring the intruder here to see me, esteemed ancestor.”

Mao Xiaodong approached him as he interjected, “Your Majesty, it would be more appropriate for me to go instead. The intruder is the father of one of the children attending our academy, and he’s only come here to demand an explanation after hearing about how severely his son had been picked on.

“You were unwilling to see him from the beginning, and now, you’ve forced him to make a breakthrough, becoming only the third End Tier Superior Grandmaster on the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. At the moment, I can only imagine that he must be riding on a great wave of momentum, and he may not be willing to end the battle on peaceful terms.”

The emperor smiled as he said, “In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to make the trip, Elder Mao. I’ll be waiting for you in my resting quarters.”

Following Mao Xiaodong’s departure, the storyteller admonished in a gentle voice, “You’re well within your rights to do what you did here, but your actions were rather unreasonable, so the fault lies with you.”

The emperor nodded in response. “The fault does indeed lie with me, and our Great Sui Nation was at fault for the debacle surrounding that man’s son and the other children from the Great Li Empire. The fact that we’re at fault in both accounts…”

A wry smile appeared on the emperor’s face as he concluded, “…means that we’re probably in for a rough time.”

The elderly storyteller was wearing a robe that had slightly faded from repeated washing, and he smiled as he said, “At this point, there are only two options for you. Either you earnestly admit to your mistakes and apologize to him, or allow him to fight here to his heart’s content. Neither of those options are desirable, but at the very least, the path ahead is clear.”

“You have this far better figured out than I do, esteemed ancestor,” the emperor said with a smile.

The storyteller patted the emperor on the shoulder as he consoled, “As the emperor, the entire nation rests on your shoulders, so it’s only inevitable that you’re going to make some mistakes here and there. If I were in your position, I wouldn’t be faring any better, so there’s no need for you to be overly critical of yourself. Back then, I had to stave off objections from all sides to instate you as the heir to the throne, and to this day, I still believe I made the right decision.”

Only after waiting for an unexpectedly long time did the emperor of Great Sui Nation finally spot Elder Mao approaching him, along with a short and stocky man with a rather unremarkable appearance.

There was a peculiar smile on Mao Xiaodong’s face as he said, “Your Majesty, this is Li Er, and he is the father of Li Huai, a student of our Mountain Cliff Academy. He insisted on walking here to see you as he said that it would be rude to fly around in your palace, and that’s not an attitude befitting of someone who’s here to talk sense and reason.”

The emperor was rather exasperated to hear this, while the storyteller was very relieved, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Everyone made their way into the emperor’s resting quarters before sitting down, and there were only four people in the room, namely the emperor, the storyteller, Mao Xiaodong, and Li Er.

“It’s not so easy to be granted an audience with you, Your Majesty,” Li Er said, and the atmosphere instantly became a little tense.

The emperor was at a loss for what to say in response, but thankfully, Li Er cut straight to the point as he continued, “There are five or six major clans that I have a bone to pick with, including Pillar General Han’s clan, the Chu Clan of Phoebe Creek, and the Huaiyuan Feudal Lord’s clan. I implore Your Majesty to invite the patriarchs of those clans here, and I’ll fight them one by one.

“If they feel like that isn’t fair, then that’s fine, they can come at me all at once if they’d like, and they can borrow as many immortal treasures and weapons as they want from their friends. However, I’ll have to trouble Your Majesty to find a spacious and quiet place in the capital city so we can fight without having to worry about collateral damage. If that can’t be arranged, then I’m open to fighting outside of the capital city as well.”

Mao Xiaodong had to fight back the urge to laugh in schadenfreude, and the storyteller gave him a stern glare, while he rolled his eyes in response.

The emperor was rather stunned by this proposition. “There needs to be another fight?”

A slightly displeased look appeared on Li Er’s face as he said, “I never came here to pick a fight, it’s just that you wouldn’t meet me and insisted on making me fight for the right to see you, so I had no choice but to oblige. The people who I really want to fight are the ones who picked on my son.

“It’s very normal for there to be conflicts between children, and if that was the extent of this matter, even if Li Huai gets ganged up on and beaten up by his dorm mates, I wouldn’t have intervened no matter how much it pained me to see him like that. However, those children have gone too far! They think that just because they come from privileged upbringings, they can pick on other people without apology, and to this day, they still haven’t returned what they stole from my son!”

Li Er’s expression darkened even further here, and he continued, “If your Great Sui Nation thinks that you have the moral high ground, then we can keep fighting. I know that this is a powerful nation that isn’t scared of a single man like me, but what I don’t understand is that if all of the officials of your Great Sui Nation are such pieces of trash, why should I allow my son to keep receiving an education here? What is he going to get out of staying in a place like this?”

Li Er then turned to the storyteller as he said, “I’d say you’re a capable fighter. As for the one in that red robe from earlier, he’s only half a capable fighter in my eyes.”

The storyteller had just taken a sip of tea, and he almost choked on his tea upon hearing what Li Er had to say.

The emperor smiled as he said, “Alright, I can pass on a message to those clans and get them to send their patriarchs to come and see you. However, there’s going to be a problem with the Huaiyuan Feudal Lord. He may be the descendant of one of our nation’s founding generals, but the patriarch of his clan has already passed away, and he’s only an ordinary person himself with no martial arts ability.”

Li Er had clearly already considered this possibility, and he immediately replied, “In that case, he can pay someone to fight for him. I don’t really mind.”

“Do you need those clans to issue a public apology to Li Huai?” the emperor asked.

Li Er shook his head in response. “That won’t be required. It’s just not a good look for a bunch of grown men to be apologizing to a child. Also, I don’t want to make it so that my son won’t be able to study in peace at Mountain Cliff Academy after this, I just can’t stomach the way that these clans like to do things. After I’ve beaten their patriarchs, they’ll naturally go back and educate their descendants, and that’s enough.”

The emperor was quite relieved to hear this. “You are indeed a man of reason and culture, Li Er. If I had known this, I would’ve met with you right away.”

Li Er hurriedly waved a hand in response. “I’m not a man of culture, that title is only befitting of people like Elder Mao and the two teachers teaching Li Huai at the academy. They sat down with our family and chatted with us for so long, and they were so polite to everyone. They are truly cultured scholars.”

Mao Xiaodong smiled, but didn’t say anything.

This was extremely glowing praise coming from a newly ascended 10th tier martial artist.

The storyteller smiled as he said, “We may have had a rocky introduction, but it seems like the conflict ultimately led to a positive outcome. It’s extremely fortunate for our Great Sui Nation that Li Huai has such a reasonable father, and that Li Huai has come to study at our capital city.”

“I’m not good with pleasantries,” Li Er said in a matter-of-fact voice. “In any case, I’m just going to wait here today until those clans send their people to fight me. Let me make this clear in advance, Your Majesty: I have to return to the academy soon, so don’t allow those people to intentionally stall for time and make me wait. Otherwise, don’t blame me for visiting them one by one.”

The emperor gave Mao Xiaodong a subtle look, then rose to his feet as he said, “I’ll send out people to relay the message right away.”

Mao Xiaodong followed along behind him, and the two of them departed from the emperor’s resting quarters, leaving only Li Er and the storyteller behind.

There was a rather concerned look on the emperor’s face as he walked along beside Mao Xiaodong, and he said, “Please enlighten me on what to do from here, Elder Mao.”

Mao Xiaodong smiled as he replied, “It’s very simple. Just gather all of the patriarchs of those families, regardless of whether they’re capable fighters or not… Well, now that I think about it, none of them could be considered capable fighters in the presence of Li Er. In any case, just get them to come to the imperial palace and stand before Li Er to hang their heads in apology.

“Make it clear that they’re not here to fight, and that they won’t retaliate, even if Li Er lashes out at them, and this entire matter will blow over without any further physical conflict. Rest assured, Your Majesty, given how reasonable and down-to-earth Li Er is, there’s no way he’d lash out at them if they do as I say.”

The emperor suddenly stopped in his tracks, then turned to Mao Xiaodong with an angry expression as he demanded, “Tell me the truth, Elder Mao, you were waiting to see me make a fool out of myself today, weren’t you?”

Mao Xiaodong immediately burst into laughter as he shook his head in response. “Truth be told, I was also unaware that Li Huai had such a formidable father. If I had known this, I would’ve come to the imperial palace to see you long ago, and this entire fuss would’ve been avoided. After what happened today, I fear that you may end up developing a grudge against our academy, and that would be a terrible outcome for me.”

“Does it look like I would dare to do anything to the academy?” the emperor chuckled in exasperation.

All of a sudden, a serious look appeared on Mao Xiaodong’s face as he said, “Just as that senior of yours said, perhaps this feels rather humiliating in the moment, but looking at this matter with an eye for the future, this is definitely a good thing.”

“I’m not that foolish!” the emperor rebuked with a smile.

Mao Xiaodong smiled as he replied, “Indeed, if you were truly that foolish, then I would’ve never brought those students to Great Sui Nation.”

The emperor summoned a servant to his side, and after sending the servant to pass on Li Er’s demands to the clans involved, he turned to Mao Xiaodong and said, “Your advice and those two teachers of Li Huai played an integral role to Li Er’s willingness to settle this matter peacefully. I know that you desire no reward from me, but would you like me instruct the Ministry of Rites to issue those two teachers a reward?”

“There’s no need for that,” Mao Xiaodong immediately refused with a solemn expression.

“Why is that?” the emperor asked in a perplexed manner.

“You have to realize one thing, Your Majesty: our Mountain Cliff Academy is truly a place of learning, so why should we accept rewards from Great Sui Nation? From now, decades and even centuries into the future, our Mountain Cliff Academy will continue to remain true to itself, educating the youth and developing true scholars for Great Sui Nation,” Mao Xiaodong replied in a serious voice.

The emperor’s heart jolted slightly, and it was as if he were seeing Mao Xiaodong again for the very first time.

As the emperor, there had been some qualms in his heart about whether Mao Xiaodong was fully dedicated to Great Sui Nation, but all of those qualms had been completely erased now.

He took a step back, and for the second time today, he extended a respectful bow as he said, “On behalf of Great Sui Nation, I thank Mountain Cliff Academy for working toward the betterment of our nation!”

In an act that could’ve been considered treason, Mao Xiaodong didn’t sidestep the emperor’s respectful bow. Instead, he accepted this grand gesture of gratitude from the emperor as he replied with a serious expression, “On behalf of Mountain Cliff Academy, I accept your thanks.”