Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an returned to the lakeside corridor. After sitting down, he noticed that Zhang Shanfeng wasn’t present. He asked Xu Yuanxia about this, and the big-bearded martial artist joked around and said that the young Daoist priest had met a beautiful young lady, and the two of them had decided to go on a night adventure together.

Liu Gaohua started to make things up along this line as well. Chen Ping’an naturally didn’t believe them. However, there was a strange look in his eyes as he looked at the face of Liu Gaohua, the only son of the prefectural overseer. There couldn’t be such coincidental matters in the world, could there? After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Do you have any married sisters?”

Liu Gaohua was baffled by the question, and he replied, “No, I don’t. I have an older sister and a younger sister, but just like me, neither of them are married yet. We’re still sponging food and drink from home. Our father always scolds us and calls us a bunch of incompetent fools, saying that his salary is completely wasted by us. This is especially the case since he needs to prepare dowries and betrothal gifts. Because of this, he claims that he’s been unable to buy desk decorations for many years.”

Chen Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she wasn’t married yet. Otherwise, if this woman whose appearance was slightly similar to Liu Gaohua were truly his sister and were truly cheating, then he would feel bad regardless of whether he told Liu Gaohua about it or not.

It wasn’t long before the performance on the tall stage in the middle of the lake came to an end. There was thunderous applause, and Prefectural Overseer Liu and General Ma personally walked over to greet the old immortal and have a chat with him. They were very amiable, and they didn’t act haughtily because of their status.

The old immortal answered their questions adeptly, and the two officials felt especially relaxed and refreshed as they spoke with him. While they were chatting, a young man who looked to be from a noble family walked over and begged the old immortal to take him as a disciple. However, the stewards and a few servants from the residence immediately came over to drag him away.

Zhang Shanfeng returned a bit later than Chen Ping’an, and he breathed a big sigh of relief when he saw his companion sitting safe and sound in the corridor. “I thought you fell into the toilet,” he joked.

Chen Ping’an was unwilling to reveal the battle on the street, so he replied in a low voice, “I couldn’t find the toilet, but I was too embarrassed to ask the steward of the residence for its location. So, I decided to sneak away to a quiet place where there was no one. However, this took me a very long time. When I got back, I saw that there were far too many people in the corridor. I didn’t want to squeeze my way in, so I chose to wait outside for a while first.”

“After squirreling your way into the dark corners of the alley, did you manage to see any love-dovey scenes?” Xu Yuanxia asked in a teasing voice. “I’m telling you, scholars and beautiful women are everywhere in Colorful Garment Nation, especially in Blusher Prefecture. When they’re bored, they all like to read some risque novels or restricted books. After reading many of them, they’ll naturally want to test out some of the things written in the books…”

Liu Gaohua couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard the big-bearded martial artist say this. He nodded and said, “Yes, that’s right. My younger sister is only 13, but she’s already read a few adult books in secret. However, these weren’t books about romance. She’s a wild and rebellious child, and she’s been extremely interested in the chivalrous aspect of the cultivation world ever since she was little. She always grumbles about the men in Blusher Prefecture being too feminine and soft.

“Anyhow, she’s learned about how to escape from her room, how to set up ladders to climb over the walls, and so on. Even though she’s very smart and savvy, my mother is thankfully smarter and savvier than her. So, she’s never been able to succeed.”

Xu Yuanxia’s eyes lit up, and he patted his chest and said, “Being interested in the cultivation world is a good thing! I have many stories in my belly, and just one or two of them will be the most fragrant and delicious dishes to go with wine!”

Liu Gaohua rolled his eyes and said, “Please don’t, my younger sister is still little. Chivalrous Xu, we might have a good relationship, but this is limited to the cultivation world only. In any case, won’t your seniority be negatively affected if you become my brother-in-law?”

The big-bearded martial artist smiled widely and said, “Don’t you still have an older sister?”

Liu Gaohua didn’t dare to say anything, and it was as if there were something that was too awkward to say.

Chen Ping’an wanted to say something, but he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Xu Yuanxia roared with laughter and heavily patted Liu Gaohua’s shoulder. “Look at how frightened you are! I’ve traveled around the cultivation world for many years, and I have more lovers and soulmates than my fingers can count. I’ve never been interested in unmarried young girls!”

The performance and feast ended, and many guests gradually left the big residence. Chen Ping’an and his two companions returned to the inn. Meanwhile, Liu Gaohua was brought away by someone sent over by his father. He needed to go and socialize with the other esteemed guests.

Even though he was not particularly distinguished or talented, and had almost no hope of becoming an official, he was still the prefectural overseer’s only son. Thus, Prefectural Overseer Liu still hoped that Liu Gaohua could support and manage the Liu Clan in the future. At the very least, he couldn’t become too pathetic.

Because he had obtained two new treasures, Chen Ping’an asked Xu Yuanxia and Zhang Shanfeng about immortal treasures as they walked back to the inn.

Chen Ping’an had no option but to do this. Who could he blame? His previous companions had been far too unreasonable.

A’Liang had casually kept a bamboo saber by his waist, while the young Cui Chan had spoken in a terrifyingly profound and lofty manner whenever he spoke about cultivation tiers and immortal treasures. It was as if Qi refiners at the Middle Five Tiers and Upper Five Tiers were nothing more than little children rolling around in the mud. Their immortal treasures were naturally not worth a mention either.

Meanwhile, the barefoot old man in the bamboo building had directly said that martial artists shouldn’t rely on external treasures. Otherwise, if one needed to rely on external treasures to travel through the cultivation world, then one might as well stay at home and work in the fields.

Chen Ping’an also felt very helpless and exasperated about this.

Fortunately, Xu Yuanxia and Zhang Shanfeng’s explanations allowed him to roughly understand the different grades of so-called immortal treasures. As it turned out, there was a very strict hierarchy not too dissimilar to that of the imperial court. “Immortal treasure” was a very general term.

The lowest-grade immortal treasures were craft tools, and these could only be regarded as well-made inanimate items. The descriptions of “sharp enough to cut floating hair”, “able to slice through iron as if slicing through mud”, and so on were largely used to describe these craft tools. When immortal forces in the mountains bestowed treasures upon new disciples as was customary, they would most commonly use high-quality craft tools. For example, Zhang Shanfeng’s peach wood sword.

Of course, peach wood swords bestowed upon Heavenly Masters by the Heavenly Master Residence of Mount Longhu would be far superior to this.

The next grade up from craft tools was valuable tools. The divine weapons and powerful tools used by grandmasters in the cultivation world largely belonged to this category. Valuable tools were made from rare materials. Ordinary cultivators — especially rootless duckweed like vagrant cultivators who belonged to no force and pure martial artists who were viewed as unable to cultivate the Great Dao — would possess one or two valuable tools at most, and that if they were lucky. For example, Zhang Shanfeng dreamed of obtaining a valuable tool, and he hoped that he could obtain a Daoist sword in the future.

In fact, Xu Yuanxia’s saber was a peak-quality valuable tool.

Following on from valuable tools were spirit tools and immortal tools. These were genuine immortal treasures. Spirit tools were further categorized as connate or acquired, with the former being rarer and more precious than the latter.

Connate spirit tools were blessed by heaven and earth, and they possessed abundant spiritual qi that would allow cultivators to wield them with extreme ease. It could be said that cultivators could achieve twice the results with half the efforts when they wielded connate spirit tools. At critical moments, these connate spirit tools could even be destroyed in order to provide their owner with spiritual qi.

In fact, snowflake coins could somewhat be considered as connate spirit tools as well. However, a single snowflake coin contained far too little spiritual qi, so little that it was almost negligible. Thus, Qi refiners wouldn’t be so foolish as to extract spiritual qi from snowflake coins to help them cultivate.

Acquired spirit tools — such as high-grade yellow paper talismans or divine items carved by Qi refiners — could be regarded as top-notch spirit tools. These immortal treasures were incredibly valuable. For example, the jade pendant named Old Dragon Rainbringer, owned by Old Dragon City’s Young Master Fu Nanhua. The Mandrill Teapot that Fu Nanhua purchased from Song Jixin was even more valuable.

Even though the demon-binding chains, demon-suppressing wood, ghost-striking whips, and other tools carried by the Qi refiners from Divine Edict Sect were also acquired spirit tools, they were far inferior to Fu Nanhua’s Old Dragon Rainbringer and Mandrill Teapot in terms of both value and worth.

Above spirit tools were immortal tools.

Immortal was a very profound word.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be linked to cultivation and the three teachings[1].

Immortal tools contained the formless laws of heaven and earth.

Sword Nurturing Gourds which were especially used to nurture and refine flying swords undoubtedly belonged to this category. Of course, the silver Sword Nurturing Gourd that A’Liang had obtained from Wei Jin and the Sword Nurturing Gourd that was tied to Sun Scorch Mountain’s Su Jia’s waist were both top-notch Sword Nurturing Gourds. They were like imperial children compared to the rest, especially due to their link with the Dao Ancestor.

According to the legends, the Dao Ancestor had personally plucked a vine from a gourd plant before ascending from the world. Six gourds had grown from the vine, and they had then been crafted into six Sword Nurturing Gourds by a paramount being. Thus, these were naturally unparalleled Sword Nurturing Gourds that ordinary Sword Nurturing Gourds couldn’t compare to.

Above immortal tools, there were still celestial tools.

For the large majority of Qi refiners, they would never be able to see a single celestial tool in their entire life. In fact, even sect-level forces might not necessarily possess a celestial tool. Take, for example, Divine Edict Sect, the leading Daoist Sect in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Only after Sect Leader Qi Zhen successfully advanced to the next tier and was promoted to the level of Heavenly Lord did he finally receive a celestial tool from their superior sect in Middle Earth Divine Continent.

The bonded flying sword like a bracelet on Cao Xi’s wrist could be regarded as a pseudo-celestial tool. The sword immortal from Southern Whirl Continent had come across a huge fated opportunity, and he had used the water from a large river to craft and temper this bonded flying sword. In fact, the most terrifying thing about Cao Xi was this bonded flying sword.

Of course, the most powerful celestial tools in the world were naturally surrounded by legends and remarkable stories. Those who possessed these celestial tools naturally enjoyed unparalleled fame and standing as well.

For example, the Heavenly Master Seal and immortal sword in Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence, and the small copper cauldron[2] that the patriarch of the Yingyin Chen Clan had coincidentally obtained during his adventures around the world when he was young.

According to rumors, this small copper cauldron was a replica of the Mountain and River Great Cauldron that an ancient sage had hung on his waist.

Celestial tools were already as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Among them, however, there was an even more legendary category of tools that had birthed their own consciousness, their own “god”, after many many years.

These “gods” most definitely weren’t the same as mountain gods and river gods appointed by mortal empires. Formal gods were said to have indestructible golden bodies, but before these paramount “gods” of spirit tools, this was nothing more than a mere joke.

Chen Ping’an had a rough idea about immortal treasures now.

Even disregarding his five mountains, he was still very very rich!

His wealth right now was very impressive and substantial!

Just tonight, he had obtained a white bowl and a piece of ebony for free from the side of the street.

There was also his locust wood sword, Eliminating Fiends.

Through He Xiaoliang, Lu Chen had also returned a snake gall pebble to him. Even ignoring the fact that snake gall pebbles were items coveted by flood dragons, they were still definitely the most top-notch materials for crafting spirit tools.

The three seals that Mr. Qi had given him were all made from the best-quality snake gall pebbles.

Li Xisheng had also given him the Wind and Snow Awl and a large stack of precious talisman papers.

The Sword Nurturing Gourd by his waist — an extremely rare item among immortal tools — was a treasure that most sword cultivators at the Middle Five Tiers yearned for immensely.

Inside the Sword Nurturing Gourd were two bonded flying swords that had temporarily accepted him as their owner — First and Fifteenth.

Thus, there was a spring in the young boy’s step as he walked back to his room by himself. He looked very much like the little boy in azure, especially after a day without coming across someone who could smash him to death with a single punch.

Even though Chen Ping’an was temporarily unable to confirm the exact grade and value of every item, he was confident that the items from Downtrodden Mountain definitely wouldn’t be bad!

He needed to drink to celebrate!

There was already no liquor in his Sword Nurturing Gourd, so Chen Ping’an went to ask the inn waiter about the price of liquor here. The cheapest local brew was at least eight silver coins for a pint, while the inn specialty brew was 10 taels of silver for a pint. Moreover, haggling wasn’t allowed!

Chen Ping’an’s Sword Nurturing Gourd could carry around 10 pints of wine, so it would only cost him 100 taels of silver if he chose the most expensive specialty brew. This was normal silver, and not snowflake coins that were specially used by immortals from the mountains. With his mountains of gold and silver and piles of spirit tools and immortal tools, how could he mistreat himself by not drinking the most expensive liquor?

And thus, Chen Ping’an resolutely purchased 10 pints of local brew.

Chen Ping’an, Xu Yuanxia, and Zhang Shanfeng had already returned to their own rooms, yet Liu Gaohua visited the inn and went to look for Zhang Shanfeng first. There was a very awkward expression on the face of the prefectural overseer’s son, and standing behind him were a handsome scholar and a beautiful woman. The woman bore a slight resemblance to Liu Gaohua, and it was very likely that she was his older sister.

Liu Gaohua explained the situation to Zhang Shanfeng. As it turned out, they were here to ask for some anti-inflammatory ointment, the kind often used by cultivators. Young Master Liu had gone to watch the old immortal’s performance, but he had accidentally tripped and fell because there were too many people and it was too dark on the streets. He had hit his head, and he was still feeling a little dizzy at this moment.

The pharmacy in the prefectural city had already closed for the day, and his older sister was truly worried about Young Master Liu’s injuries. After hearing that he was acquainted with chivalrous cultivators and immortals from the mountains, she had come over to ask for some help. She was very afraid that these injuries would lead to crippling issues for Young Master Liu further down the track. Moreover, she was willing to pay for his treatment.

Zhang Shanfeng led the three of them to Xu Yuanxia’s room. The big-bearded martial artist was very generous and straightforward, and he immediately walked over to look at the frail scholar’s injuries. After taking a good look at them, Xu Yuanxia said that there wouldn’t be any issues. However, he quickly noticed the reluctant and slightly displeased expression on the young woman’s face.

But who was Xu Yuanxia? He was very astute and experienced, and he smiled and retrieved some ointment from his bag. He told Young Master Liu to apply this cream to his temples. His injuries would definitely be healed, and it could be guaranteed that there wouldn’t be any side effects.

The young woman finally felt reassured. She sat down and rubbed her eyes, and there was love and deep emotions in her eyes as she stared at the young scholar. It was as if she were in a trance. The young scholar also comforted her and told her that everything would be fine, and he spoke in a very refined and sophisticated manner.

The big-bearded martial artist grimaced upon seeing this. He was most afraid of these things.

Even though Zhang Shanfeng was a Daoist priest, he was still very keen on fun and exciting matters like his. Moreover, happiness and fun were best shared with everyone. As such, he immediately ran away to drag Chen Ping’an over. He said that Liu Gaohua’s older sister had come to visit, and that she was a fairly good-looking woman. She had also brought a refined-looking scholar with her, and it was likely that this scholar would soon become the prefectural overseer’s son-in-law.

Chen Ping’an had just finished pouring the wine into his Sword Nurturing Gourd, so his room was still filled with empty wine pots and the smell of wine. Because Zhang Shanfeng was determined to drag him over to get in on the fun, and he didn’t want to reveal his secrets regarding the Sword Nurturing Gourd, Chen Ping’an could only abandon his plan to practice standing meditation tonight.

He followed Zhang Shanfeng to Xu Yuanxia’s room. When he entered, the handsome scholar and the beautiful woman who had secretly met under the moonlight not long ago immediately drew a sharp breath in unison.

If his enemies didn’t take action, then he wouldn’t take action either.

Chen Ping’an pretended to not know anything, and he directly sat down on a chair next to the table. He grabbed his wine gourd and started to drink.

The young scholar felt quite uneasy, and he didn’t know whether to stand or to sit. Meanwhile, Liu Gaohua’s older sister — the young woman who had been poisoned by unrealistic romance novels — felt even more nervous. After all, she was an unmarried young woman from a noble family, yet she had only been a step away from privately pledging herself to an unfamiliar man without her parents’ permission. This was an embarrassing situation no matter how one looked at it.

Even though Blusher Prefecture was relatively open-minded, it was still big news for the daughter of the prefectural overseer to be hugging and getting all touchy with a scholar from the outside. If they had been caught by someone familiar with them, it was very likely that news of this would have spread through half of the prefectural city by tomorrow.

“What’s wrong? Are the three of you acquainted with each other?” Liu Gaohua asked in puzzlement.

The young scholar was naturally good at bullshitting, so he cleared his throat and explained, “I was strolling by the lakeside with your older sister tonight, and we coincidentally bumped into this young master. He had a sword case on his back, and he was genuinely walking with the might and presence of dragons and tigers. His aura was extraordinary, and I was instantly impressed by his disposition. Thus, I naturally remember him clearly. It’s my utmost honor to meet him again!”

The young scholar’s eyes were filled with pity and pleading as he clasped his hand in greeting. Earlier today, he had felt like the heavens had given him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play the role of a hero saving a beauty when he had seen Chen Ping’an’s skinny arms and skinny legs. How could he let such a good opportunity slip by? Wouldn’t that be wasting the goodwill of the heavens? Thus, a not-so-fairytale “misunderstanding” had occurred.

Chen Ping’an felt neutral toward the young scholar. He didn’t detest him much, but he certainly didn’t have any good impressions of him either. He simply chuckled in reply. He didn’t expose the young scholar, and he still left some room to repair the relationship.

At the end of the day, Chen Ping’an was unwilling to interfere with the private matters of Liu Gaohua’s family.

Regardless of whether this was a positive relationship or a negative relationship, and regardless of whether they were a match made in heaven or destined for tragedy, none of this had anything to do with Chen Ping’an.

However, if Liu Gaohua were swapped for Zhang Shanfeng, someone whom Chen Ping’an viewed as a true friend, then he would definitely tell the truth without any hesitation. Even if he didn’t expose them in public, he would still warn Zhang Shanfeng about the situation in private. He would tell him that his future brother-in-law was far too unprincipled and unscrupulous, and that he didn’t appear like a refined scholar at all.

In the end, they learned that Young Master Liu was an impoverished scholar who had arrived here after traveling around the world to seek knowledge. He had met Liu Gaohua’s older sister by chance at a temple fair, and he was unexpectedly so poor that he had to ask Chen Ping’an and his two companions for a place to stay. However, the inn was already full, so Liu Gaohua could only smile obsequiously and beg them to take the young scholar in.

This was a big eye-opener for Xu Yuanxia. It was truly rare for people to do so much for their brother-in-law. Not only did Liu Gaohua not disdain the young scholar for his poor background, but he was even going as far as to hide this ill-matched relationship for his older sister.

The young scholar didn’t dare to share a room with Chen Ping’an, and he wasn’t willing to stay together with the big-bearded martial artist either. He was so frail and delicate, yet Xu Yuanxia appeared so crude and carnivorous. This was far too terrifying. Thus, he chose the most normal one of them, the Daoist priest, to stay with. Zhang Shanfeng had no objections to this.

Liu Gaohua left the inn with his older sister, who was extremely reluctant to part with the young scholar.

The siblings walked along the quiet streets that were about to enter curfew. When they were about to reach home in the prefectural office, Liu Gaohua said in a soft voice, “Big Sister, I don’t like that person very much. However, I’m willing to help you wherever I can since you like him. If you regret this decision one day, there’s no need to feel too dejected, and there’s no need to be scared even if our parents scold you or do something over the top. The sky won’t fall, and I’ll always be here to help you. I’m your little brother, after all.”

The young woman gently kicked her little brother. Her embarrassment turned into anger, and she scolded, “Liu Gaohua! Can you have some faith in me? Why are you saying such inauspicious things?!”

Liu Gaohua turned around and made a face at her.

The young woman pretended to be scared, and she shouted “ghost” as she lifted the hem of her dress and ran to the gate of the prefectural office.

Liu Gaohua sighed and hurriedly walked after her.

However, he suddenly stopped and turned around. The street behind him was empty, and he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary even after looking around for a while. He shook his head and continued to the prefectural office.

This was because he had felt a cold chill on his neck and down his spine just then.

Liu Gaohua continued to comfort himself, telling himself that there was nothing to be afraid of. He had seen an old immortal with his father not long ago, and he had even spoken a few words with that old immortal. After basking in his immortal aura for a while, Liu Gaohua was certain that sinister beings wouldn’t dare to approach him anymore. For example, beings like that tree spirit from the old residence.

Just as the servant closed the side gate of the prefectural office, a night guard started to strike his gong on a deserted street in the distance. It was clearly midnight, yet he was striking the gong pattern for early morning.

A hoarse voice faintly sounded on some street in Blusher Prefecture. “The weather is dry, and all things are dry, so be careful of candle flames[3].”

The blind old night guard held a copper gong in his hands. There should have been a mute night guard with him, and the two of them had been companions for many years. They were very familiar with each other, and the mute night guard was responsible for striking a rattle.

However, the blind night guard was completely unaware that his companion had become a woman in white tonight. When she struck her rattle, blood would spray from the surface of her instrument. However, this blood would transform into wisps of black smoke and quickly dissipate before it could land on the street.

Even so, the blind old night guard continued to strike his gong and shout in a hoarse voice, “The weather is dry, and all things are dry, so be careful of candle flames.”

1. The character used (法) is technically “Dharma” or “Law”, with the latter being more accurate in the context. “Law” in this sense refers to the Buddhist Law or Daoist Law. We have decided against translating it as “law” in this case because it doesn’t work like that in English. ?

2. Ding are prehistoric and ancient Chinese cauldrons, standing on three or four legs with a lid and two facing handles. They were used for rituals among other purposes. ?

3. This was a warning repeated by night guards/watchmen in Ancient China. This is because during curfews, no one would be on the streets to notice or help someone if their house caught fire. ?