Unsheathed

The demons and spirits who had entered the small town and the surrounding mountains last year had already been secretly notified of Sage Ruan Qiong’s intention to fire his furnace and forge a sword. Regardless of whether they were willing or not, they all hurried toward the mountains in the west.

As for whether they could give up wealth to buy safety and successfully enter the mountains, where they could use the fortune of the mountains and waters to resist the sword intent released by the sword furnace, this was still dependent on the attitude of the cultivation forces in the mountains. Thus, most of the demons and spirits who fled to the mountains in the west to seek safety had expressions of displeasure.

Meanwhile, there were also some demons and spirits who didn’t take the matter seriously. They were confident in their high cultivation base, and they refused to believe that they would be frightened or affected by the sword forging process that was going to take place far away on the banks of the Dragon Whisker River.

Thus, they insisted on staying in their newly purchased homes in the small town. The officials from the prefectural office and the local office didn’t force them to leave either, and they simply recorded the names of these demons and spirits and handed the lists to the spies of the Great Li Empire.

The Great Dao was mysterious, and things would be no different when Ruan Qiong forged the sword. It was especially strange, and it was said that only demons would be affected by his action of forging the sword. Human Qi refiners wouldn’t be affected at all. In fact, even the relatively fragile mortal humans in the small town wouldn’t be affected by the shockwaves of Ruan Qiong’s sword forging.

It was no wonder there existed such a saying at the foot of the mountains that housed immortal forces: “If you don’t enter the mountains, you’ll fail to enjoy great fortune. However, you can at least eliminate many challenges and frustrations.” For example, Jewel Small World’s prohibition of mystical abilities had affected everyone from Sage Qi Jingchun to Li Huai, and from the patriarch of the Li Clan to the ordinary Qi refiners in the small town. Meanwhile, the mortal residents of the small town hadn’t noticed anything at all.

Afterward, close to 100 vagrant cultivators who had been laying low in the small town became engaged in several conflicts with each other during their trip into the mountains. After hurling some words at each other, they would immediately throw hands and fight to the death. However, the imperial court of the Great Li Empire didn’t step in to calm down the situation, and it instead turned a blind eye to the antics of these vagrant cultivators as long as they didn’t damage the environment of the mountains.

Meanwhile, a sixth tier demon unwilling to leave the small town got into a dispute with a county official who was leaving to report the matter. The demon unleashed its vicious nature, and it caused the official to continuously vomit blood after smashing him with a punch. At the same time, he also wounded a martial secretary who was accompanying the official.

Because of this, a flying sword was sent to the new prefectural office to the north of the mountains to inform the prefectural overseer about this. After receiving the news, Prefectural Overseer Wu Yuan personally ordered for the demon to be killed on the spot. All of this was done within 15 minutes.

From the beginning to the end, the prefectural office didn’t seek any help from the patriarchs or cultivators of the large clans in the small town. It certainly didn’t mobilize and make use of the other demons who were at the prefectural office’s mercy either. Instead, it deployed three relatively high-ranking martial secretaries along with 200 elite soldiers.

Under the command of a general, they completely encircled the residence of the sixth tier demon. Standing on the surrounding roof ridges were many archers and crossbowmen with incredible arm strength. Their bows were drawn, and the arrows they used were all specially made by a secret office of the Ministry of Works. In the end, they killed the sixth tier demon in its home.

Xu Ruo, the Mohist cultivator renowned throughout Middle Earth Divine Continent, and Liu Yu, his trusted subordinate, stood on a nearby roof ridge and watched everything unfold. They didn’t interfere, and they didn’t try to overstep their authority either.

In fact, many external forces who had bought mountains around the small town had quietly observed the battle from afar.

If the Great Li Empire had sent a powerful cultivator to crush that unruly demon, the shock that these onlookers would have felt would be far less than what they were feeling now. The martial secretaries who were also Militarian cultivators had advanced and retreated in an orderly manner with the elite soldiers who had experienced more than a hundred battles.

Their attacks had been calm and calculated, and they had killed the powerful demon with skill and ease. The martial secretaries were cultivators from the mountains, and the elite soldiers were cultivators from outside the mountains[1], yet the two parties had cooperated absolutely seamlessly.

This was what was truly terrifying about the Great Li Empire.

————

Today’s training only targeted the soul, yet Chen Ping’an ended up suffering even more than usual.

When he was carried out by the little boy in azure, his hands and feet were convulsing, and there was white froth coming from his mouth. His condition didn’t improve even after he was placed in the tub of medicinal water on the first floor of the bamboo building.

When Chen Ping’an finally crawled out from the tub of medicinal water and changed into new clothes, it was already deep into the night. He slowly exhaled as he grabbed his pot of wine. After stretching lazily, he sat down between the little boy in azure and the little girl in pink. He took a swig of wine, and he still felt like it was disgusting and choke-inducing. However, he felt much better, even better than the first time he had drank it.

Chen Ping’an continued to take small sips of wine. He squinted his eyes, and he appeared a little tipsy.

Borrowing the courage offered to him by the alcohol, he asked, “I know about the existence of Sword Nurturing Gourds in the world. Say, does Cloth Wrapper Shop sell any?”

The little boy and the little girl exchanged a glance.

The little boy in azure sighed and replied, “Master, it’s not that I don’t want to lend money to you, and let’s not consider whether Cloth Wrapper Shop sells them or not first. Even if they genuinely sell Sword Nurturing Gourds, Master won’t necessarily be able to get his hands on them before other people. Moreover, even if I use all of my wealth and exchange everything for money, I might still not have enough to buy even the most ordinary Sword Nurturing Gourd.”

“They’re that expensive?” Chen Ping’an asked in slight shock.

The little boy in azure nodded vigorously and replied, “There isn’t a most expensive Sword Nurturing Gourd. There are only more expensive Sword Nurturing Gourds! In fact, they’re so expensive that even Qi refiners at the Middle Five Tiers will feel pained when they look at the price!”

The little boy stood up and explained in a more serious tone, “Let’s consider my brother, the river god of the Imperial River. His biggest ambition is to have a Sword Nurturing Gourd in his left hand and another Sword Nurturing Gourd in his right hand. Heh, he isn’t a sword cultivator though, and he wants to anger those haughty sword cultivators to death.

“Yet, even until now, he’s only managed to purchase a very low-quality Sword Nurturing Gourd. Of course, part of the reason is because he’s too profligate when it comes to spending money. For that celestial maiden alone, he used up all of the wealth that he had accumulated for 400 to 500 years. There are also quite some celestial maidens who admire and love him, and he always spends large amounts of wealth on them. Ah… The troubles that beauties cause…

“In this sense, Master can be considered quite a lucky person. You don’t have much luck with women, so you don’t need to worry about these things.”

The little girl in pink hurriedly retorted, “That’s not right! Big Sister Ruan likes Master!”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “That’s a case of Ruan Xiu being a good person, and not a case of her liking me. Don’t say these things carelessly, or else I won’t help you guys if Big Sister Ruan truly becomes angry.”

As he said this, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel slightly shocked and awed. As it turned out, Sword Nurturing Gourds were actually this expensive! Since this was the case, he would immediately go to the relay station and send a letter to Li Baoping when he left the mountains. He would tell her to look after that silver Sword Nurturing Gourd and make sure not to damage it.

He was well aware of the little girl’s lively and fun-loving nature, so it was entirely possible that she might swing the small gourd around as she ran all over the mountains one day. Perhaps the small gourd would accidentally be sent flying with a whoosh.

The two little children exchanged a glance and did their best to hold their tongues.

Chen Ping’an carefully thought about this for a moment before adding, “Ruan Xiu isn’t exactly the same as ordinary people. However, I can’t quite put my finger on why this is. If you say that she likes me, then I like her too. However, this kind of like isn’t the kind that the two of you are thinking of.”

The little boy in azure felt a huge sense of relief.

He had always been worried that the middle-aged man who didn’t like to speak and didn’t appear like a sage would one day charge to Downtrodden Mountain in anger and smash Chen Ping’an to death with a single punch before smashing him to death with a single punch.

Meanwhile, the little girl in pink felt a slight sense of disappointment.

She naturally liked her master, and she also liked Big Sister Ruan as well. If these two people that she liked could like each other as well, then wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Then who does Master actually like?

The little girl in pink was aware that her master secretly liked some girl.

For example, when she secretly glanced at him now and looked at his eyes and expression from the side, she could tell that he was starting to think of that girl again.

Chen Ping’an’s mind was wandering around in some place tens of thousands of kilometers away.

There was a young girl whose eyebrows were like the distant mountains.

Apart from being very beautiful, she was also a very good person.

Even when she had sat in the rundown house in Clay Vase Alley in silence, she had still been able to fill that young boy with hope for the future.

However, Chen Ping’an knew that whether or not he liked her was his own matter, and whether or not she liked him was her own matter.

No matter what, Chen Ping’an felt like he had to confess his feelings to her.

This was just like how she had suddenly felt the need to say goodbye to him even though she had already left. She had returned on her sword and said goodbye to him in person.

Chen Ping’an didn’t dare to claim that he would only like a single girl in his life. However, he definitely wouldn’t like two girls at the same time.

Thus, he wanted to travel and embark on a distant journey for himself.

This was the first time that the young boy felt such a strong desire to do something for himself.

————

Before training the next day, Chen Ping’an casually asked whether he needed to find himself a good sword scripture if he wanted to practice the sword.

The old man was enraged upon hearing this, and his initial plan to train Chen Ping’an’s physique changed into a plan to temper his soul instead. Before beginning the session, he even used the excuse of testing the results of Chen Ping’an’s training to hold a sparring session with the young boy. Using the Deity Drumming Technique, he threw 25 punches and left Chen Ping’an rolling on the floor and on the verge of wailing in grief.

Chen Ping’an was half-dead as he lay on the bamboo floor.

There were many times when he thought that he was seriously about to die.

The old man peered down at him and sneered, “The greed of a person is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. You’re yet to master the fist, yet you already want to turn your attention to the

Chen Ping’an’s face was so bloody that his appearance couldn’t be seen. He was filled with grief and indignation, and he continued to cough blood as he said in a hoarse voice, “I wanted to ask how I should practice the sword after mastering the fist…”

The old man visibly faltered upon hearing this. When he saw the sparks of anger in the young boy’s eyes, he smiled awkwardly and knocked him unconscious with a single stomp.

When it came to tempering one’s physique, it mattered little whether one was conscious or not.

That night, after climbing out of the tub of medicinal water and changing into clean clothes, Chen Ping’an stood on the first floor and let loose a torrent of abuse at the old man who was on the second floor. His expression was livid, and he gritted his teeth in anger.

Moreover, he didn’t hold back with his insults at all, and this was as expected of an impoverished young boy who had grown up in Clay Vase Alley.

The little boy in azure and the little girl in pink sat beside him and snacked on sunflower seeds. In fact, even the little boy in azure was starting to admire his master now. Not taking into account other matters, the recent training sessions with the old man had truly improved his master’s courage and aura.

Afterward, Chen Ping’an sat down in a bamboo chair and glumly drank wine. He directly finished the remaining half a pot of wine.

1. It will be a recurring theme where people are referred to as “from the mountains” or “outside the mountains”. The former implies one is more powerful and knowledgeable about the cultivation world, and the latter implies the opposite. ☜