Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an caught two handfuls of snow, then rubbed his hands together as he made his way back to the cave with a wide smile on his face. He extended his hands over the fire to warm them for a while, then pulled a book out of his basket and began to read it under the light of the fire. This was a Confucian classic that had been gifted to him by the Scholarly Sage.

Chen Ping’an had a very good memory, and having read the book so many times along his journey, he had already completely memorized its contents, but he still liked to flip through its pages and quietly read aloud to himself.

Li Baoping had once told him that the meaning of a book would become clear once it was read many times, and Chen Ping’an couldn’t agree more with this saying.

Hence, whenever he was practicing his walking and standing meditation according to the Mountain Shaking Guide, he would always tell himself that the same principle applied to both reading and fist technique practice. Perhaps after practicing the same fist technique a million times, its meaning would naturally come to him.

He was practicing his fist techniques diligently day and night, doing so for around 14 to 16 hours every single day, and it had been very effective for mending his body, which had previously resembled a dilapidated house.

In particular, Chen Ping’an could sense that by practicing these fist techniques in conjunction with the breathing method taught to him by Old Man Yang and the Eighteen Stops Qi channeling technique, his physical constitution was gradually improving, so survival was no longer his sole objective.

At this point, Chen Ping’an wanted a little more. For example, if he were to reunite with a certain girl someday, he wanted to be able to show off his walking meditation to her without drawing the same reaction that she had displayed back in his house on Clay Vase Alley. At the time, she had been staring at him as if he were an idiot, but the next time, he wanted her to give him a thumbs up and praise him for how cool he looked.

Chen Ping’an slowly flipped through the pages of the book in his hand, reading every single page extremely meticulously. His dark-complexioned face was illuminated by the light of the campfire, and if one were to look at him for any length of time, they would begin to discover that there was more to him than initially met the eye.

The little girl in pink may have been a fire python, but she still had the heart of a child. Back in the Zhilan Cao Clan’s estate, she had remained in the scripture library the majority of the time, not daring to come out for fear of being struck down by misfortune.

During this journey back to Chen Ping’an’s hometown, she was becoming more and more attuned to the childlike side of herself, and at this moment, she was busy making a snowman beside the boardwalk, eagerly anticipating more snowfall from the heavens.

The little boy in azure was a water snake, so he had a natural affinity to water, but he simply couldn’t muster up any interest such a mundane bout of snowfall, so he was seated beside the campfire with a lethargic expression, lamenting his own ill-fortune for having to travel with such a pair of frustrating individuals.

The little girl in pink had made an extremely life-like snowman in the visage of Chen Ping’an, and she was about to go and show him when her expression suddenly changed drastically, and she rushed back to the cave with a panicked look in her eyes. “Master, a man and a woman have appeared on the boardwalk. The man doesn’t appear to be remarkable in any way, but the woman is giving off tremendous demonic energy! What do we do?”

The little boy in azure sniffed at the air for a moment, and a reinvigorated look immediately appeared on his face. “Oh, there really is a powerful demon, and she reeks of a foxy stench! Master, you may not know this, but fox demons and some of the most beautiful demons in the world. Watch me go out there and capture her as a maidservant to warm your bed at night! She’ll be much better than this silly girl that’s as thin as a stick!”

Chen Ping’an closed his book as he said, “If they’re just passing through, then we’ll vacate the boardwalk and let them pass. We can always fight them if it turns out that they have sinister intentions.”

All of the enthusiasm in the little boy in azure instantly faded away as he obediently sat back down and heaved a forlorn sigh. “Master, you need to give me an opportunity to make a contribution.”

Chen Ping’an smiled as he replied, “Getting all of us safely back home would be an enormous contribution on your part.”

“We’ve already entered the territory of the Great Li Empire, yet we’re still being so cautious all the time!” the little boy in azure protested in an indignant voice. “When will I ever be able to show off what I can do?”

On the ancient boardwalk that had been chiseled out of the mountain face, a man and a woman were walking long one behind the other through the wind and snow.

The woman was wearing a brocade palace that accentuated her exquisite figure, as well as a veiled hat that concealed her facial features, while the man was quite tall and handsome and was wearing a pristine white fur coat. There was also a red wine gourd strapped to his waist, and it was as if his entire body were part of the natural setting.

As the two of them were passing through the cave, the woman turned to take a glance at Chen Ping’an’s trio inside before no longer paying any heed to them.

The little boy in azure was originally eager for some conflict, but his entire body instantly stiffened up at the sight of that casual glance from the woman, and he immediately sat up even straighter than Chen Ping’an.

In contrast, the little girl in pink possessed an inferior cultivation base, so she was unable to sense just how formidable the woman was, and she was looking at the pair of passersby with a curious expression. As for Chen Ping’an, he had set the book in his hands down onto his lap, and he was warming his hand over the fire, paying no heed to the passing duo.

While the man was passing by the snowman, an amused smile appeared on his face, and he hesitated momentarily before making his way toward the cave.

However, he didn’t overstep any boundaries, stopping at the entrance of the cave as he cast his gaze toward Chen Ping’an and said in a fluent Eastern Treasured Vial Continent official dialect, “My servant and I are quite weary from having to trudge through all this snow at night. Would we be able to come inside and join you for some rest?”

Chen Ping’an turned to discover a man with a warm and friendly disposition standing at the entrance of the cave. He knew that this was a completely unavoidable confrontation, and that if the man truly harbored sinister intentions, then it wouldn’t have mattered if he allowed them to enter the cave or not. With that in mind, he smiled and replied, “Sure.”

The man made his way into the cave, but the woman who he had referred to as his servant remained standing at the entrance of the cave.

The man sat down with his legs crossed, and his back was facing the interior of the cave as he removed the gourd from his waist to have some wine.

Prior to doing so, he revealed in a candid fashion, “That servant of mine is a fox demon. She sensed the three of you earlier, so I instructed her to release some of her demonic energy as a cautionary gesture to avoid unnecessary conflict. Rest assured, we do not harbor any ill intentions.”

Chen Ping’an had already realized that they were in an extremely perilous situation upon noticing how tense and fearful the little boy in azure had suddenly become. However, at this point, Chen Ping’an knew that there was no point in panicking about the situation, so he merely braced himself for a possible attack from the man and his servant.

Regardless of whether they were immortals or demons, it was impossible to tell what their true intentions were, but in any case, Chen Ping’an was not unfamiliar with battles of life and death.

He had endured more than his fair share of such battles, including the one against Cai Jinjian and Fu Nanhua in that small alley, as well as his battles against the Mountain-moving Ape, Ma Kuxuan at the immortal tomb, the white python on Go Table Mountain, and that assassination attempt from Zhu Lu at the Pillow Relay Station. Throughout all of that, his ability to remain calm in perilous situations had played a vital role in his survival.

The man took a sip of wine, and his eyes were glowing as brightly as the light of the moon as he turned to Chen Ping’an with a smile, then remarked in a direct and straightforward manner, “I can see that your martial arts cultivation base isn’t all that advanced, but your fist intent has a remarkably solid foundation. If you keep developing in this fashion, the End Tier will surely be within your reach.”

The little boy in azure gulped nervously, not daring to make even the slightest move.

Holy shit, this man has to be a great demon among great demons!

The reason why he had arrived at this conclusion was very simple. Fox demons were extremely renowned in the world for their bewitching qualities, as well as the fact that they struggled to conceal their demonic energy more than types of demons.

Hence, when it came to the ballads that were sung about cultivators that went on demon-slaying quests, it was quite often the case that they would hunt down fox demons that were still yet to become sufficiently powerful to protect themselves.

As the fox demon outside approached the cave, her foxx demon aura should’ve been becoming more and more pronounced, but as she was passing by the entrance of the cave, her aura had completely faded, striking the little boy in azure with the false impression that she was just an ordinary mortal that he could easily crush with just a single finger.

The little boy in azure was demonic being himself, and attaining a human form was only the first step in a demonic cultivator’s journey to attaining the Great Dao. At this point, he was still far away from truly becoming a human.

He was a sixth tier water snake with combat prowess comparable to that of the seventh tier Imperial River God, yet he was completely unable to sense the fox demon’s aura, and it was immediately clear to him that these two were not to be messed with. In fact, he would gladly become their grandson as long as they were willing to spare him.

The little boy in azure speculated that the female fox demon had to have been at least at the ninth tier. In fact, there was a chance that she was even an almighty 10th tier cultivator, but the chances of that were rather slim.

For all of the demonic beings under the heavens, reaching the 10th tier was a massive obstacle that was no less difficult to overcome than for a human cultivator to reach the 10th tier. For a demonic cultivator to reach the 10th tier was an indication that they had received the acknowledgment of the Great Dao, and that was an extraordinarily difficult feat to accomplish, requiring an unfathomable amount of fortune and hard toi.

The old flood dragon that was the father of the Cold Food Great River God was at the 10th tier, yet his powers were already comparable with those of an 11th tier cultivator.

Chen Ping’an wasn’t aware of all of this, but he knew that a crisis was potentially afoot, so he was certainly not letting his guard down. Despite the man’s praise, Chen Ping’an didn’t grow complacent, and he merely replied in a polite manner, “Thank you for your kind praise.”

The man took a small sip of wine, then said, “It’s a pity that your bridge of immortality has been broken. It’ll be next to impossible to repair it, so perhaps it’s better for you to pursue an alternative route and construct a new bridge of immortality altogether…”

The man’s voice trailed off here, and a surprised look appeared in his eyes as he spotted the book sitting on Chen Ping’an’s lap. A smile appeared on his face as he remarked, “Well, what a coincidence this is.”

After that, he slowly rose to his feet before departing, and by the time he emerged from the cave, the woman in the palace dress was already leading the way down the boardwalk in silence.

The man turned to glance at the snowman on the boardwalk as he smiled and repeated, “What a coincidence.”

The two of them continued to trudge through the wind and snow, and the woman in the palace dress remained facing forward as she said in a respectful voice, “Master Bai, could it be that this chance meeting was set up by the Sages on both sides?”

The man shook his head in response. “I only came on this journey for relaxation purposes, and I have no objectives. I’ve already been very careful to cover my tracks and make sure that I haven’t alerted anyone, so if they’re still trying to plot against me, then what could I possibly do?”

The snow continued to fall, covering the entire landscape in a pristine white blanket.

After trudging along for about two kilometers down the boardwalk, the man suddenly stopped in his tracks, then raised his head to look up at the sky with a lonesome expression.

The woman in the palace dress also stopped in her footsteps, and she could see that the man was displaying no intention of moving, so she carefully called out, “Master Bai?”

The man continued to look up at the sky as he said in a quiet voice, “All I wish for is peace and quiet, but it seems that’s too much to ask. You grew up your entire life in this world, so why is it that you’re always thinking about crossing Stalactite Mountain?

“I would be able to understand it if you missed your home and were eager to return to your roots, but your roots lie right here, so what exactly is it that you desire? Is it really so fun to tempt fate like this?”

The woman in the palace dress was horrified to hear this, and she immediately fell to her knees before kowtowing to the ground. Looking down at her from above, her seductive body was trembling incessantly as she implored in a fearful voice, “Please spare me, Master Bai.”

The man paid no heed to her as he answered his own question. “If you ask me, it’s no fun at all.”

The fear in the heart of the woman in the palace dress was mounting by the second, and she gritted her teeth as a vast aura instantly erupted out of her body.

In the next instant, a mountainous eight-tailed giant fox that was as fair as snow appeared on the boardwalk. It sprang onto the mountain face before scrambling toward the mountaintop in a panicked frenzy, trying to get as far away from the man as possible.

The man remained still on the spot as he gently called out a name: “Qing Ying.”

A loud thump rang out, and a storm of blood came raining down onto the mountain. As it turned out, one of the giant eight-tailed fox’s tails had exploded.

Countless snowflakes were stained red by blood, transforming the section of the boardwalk around the man into a nightmarish crimson scene.

It was said that once upon a time, there had been countless demonic beings wreaking havoc in all of the worlds, creating widespread disasters. The mortals didn’t know what the names of these demons were, so they were powerless to resist and were completely at the mercy of these demonic beings. Later on, a sage crafted a massive cauldron, upon which the names of all demons were engraved, as well as their records of their origins.

The sage then ordered for over 1,000 replicas of the cauldron to be made and placed on the summits of all of the major mountains on all of the continents for mortals to memorize. Countless courageous mortals braved the perilous conditions to climb those mountains, and they became the first cultivators.

The majority of those mountains later went on to become the Five Mountains of all of the nations, and they were revered by countless mortals.

The enormous fox demon on the mountain face came plummeting down from above, and it was clear that this wasn’t just a simple matter of losing a tail and suffering severe damage to its cultivation.

Given the cruel and violent tendencies of demonic creatures, they were often at their most fearsome when backed into corners and forced to the brink of death.

All of this had hinged directly upon the name “Qing Ying” being uttered, as well as the person who had uttered the name.

The fox demon plummeted to the foot of the mountain, sending countless snowflakes erupting in all directions. It appeared to have been on the verge of death, and it was gasping for air, breathing out plumes of blood mist that melted away all of the around it to reveal the muddy ground underneath.

All of a sudden, the man appeared in front of the fox demon, then raised his red gourd to take a sip of wine. Compared with the mountainous fox demon, he resembled nothing more than a tiny ant standing in front of a human.

“Before you manage to cultivate a new eighth tail, just stay by my side and don’t think about anything else. There are some things that you still can’t get involved in for now,” the man said. “If it isn’t for the goodwill that you’ve accumulated with me up to this point, you would already be dead right now. Seeing as you’re still alive, make sure to cherish this life. Let’s keep going.”

With a sweep of his sleeve, the man withdrew the restrictions in the area, returning the small world that he had casually carved out back to the outside world.

The fox demon gradually reverted back to its human form, then struggled to her feet before stumbling along behind the man with a bleak expression.

The difference of one tail was like the disparity between heaven and earth.

It allowed her to look down on all of her brethren, and its absence relegated her to mundane mediocrity, but she didn’t dare to consider vengeance even for a moment.

For beings like her two had been born and raised in this world, the whims of Master Bai were no different from the decree of the heavens.

————

Inside the cave, the little boy in azure was wiping the sweat from his forehead with a look of lingering fear on his face. “That was way too scary…”

“Was that woman really powerful?” the little girl in pink asked in an oblivious fashion.

The little boy in azure immediately flared up with rage. “You really are an idiot! That woman was at least a ninth tier fox demon! If she wanted to, she could’ve easily killed all of us! On top of that, she was only that man’s servant, so that man had to have been even more insane!”

“But our master isn’t as powerful as us,” the little girl in pink countered in a timid voice, much to Chen Ping’an’s amusement.

The eyes of the little boy in azure lit up slightly upon hearing this. “Hold on, you’re right!”

The boy then burst into laughter before clearing his throat as he apologized in a sheepish manner, “Sorry about that, Master, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. No one is perfect, so please forgive me for my shortcomings.”

Chen Ping’an continued to read his book, but he was unable to focus on it, so in the end, he could only set it aside. After a brief moment of contemplation, he pulled out the medicinal recipe left to him by Daoist Lu. Everything in the recipe had been written in an orderly and compact script.

Chen Ping’an picked up a thin branch before crouching down and using the branch as a writing tool to imitate Daoist Lu’s handwriting on the snow-covered ground outside. In order to prevent the sheets of paper from being soaked by the falling snow, he had to carefully protect them, so he was only able to read and imitate one character at a time.

Having thoroughly embarrassed himself earlier, the little boy in azure was eager to go to bed so that he could forget about his humiliation, while the little girl in pink made her way out of the cave to continue perfecting her snowman.

At the end of the medicinal recipe, Daoist Lu had pulled an azure jade seal out of his sleeve before stamping it down onto the sheet of paper. Hence, the “Signed, Lu Chen” had been stamped at the bottom of the final page in red characters.

That night, Chen Ping’an wrote out all of the characters in the entire medicinal recipe for handwriting practice, including even the characters in the red stamp.

As Chen Ping’an began to write out the characters for Lu Chen on the ground with his branch, the man who was referred to as Master Bai abruptly turned around, even though he was already far away from the

By the time Chen Ping’an finished writing out Lu Chen’s name, it was as if heaven and earth had suddenly been turned on their heads.

The man remained completely still with a solemn look on his face, but the woman in the palace dress was so alarmed that she was barely able to remain on her feet.

She was feeling extremely uneasy, and an instinctive sense of fear spread through her entire body as she unconsciously approached the man while calling in a fearful voice, “Master Bai?”

The man withdrew his gaze before continuing onward. “It’s fine. The two of us have nothing to do with each other, just like how the water in a well has nothing to do with the water in a river.”

As for who was the tiny well and who was the vast river, that was something known only to the heavens.