Unsheathed

Throughout the thousands of years that Eastern Treasured Vial Continent had been in existence, there had been countless emperors in the north, but in the south, the Fu Clan had remained the dominant force this entire time.

The Fu Clan of Old Dragon City was very wealthy. How wealthy, you ask? The clan had as many as three immortal tools that were only slightly inferior to celestial tools, and all of them had been purchased with money. These immortal tools had been passed down from generation to generation, and they were currently in the possession of the clan leader, Fu Qi.

Apparently, the Fu Clan had only just returned from a trip to Middle Earth Divine Continent, and they had secured another pseudo-celestial tool, and it didn’t appear as if they were going to stop adding to their collection anytime soon.

The Fu Clan had no shortage of interesting people and traditions. For example, they never embellished their genealogical record, and the names of the clan’s descendants were never given according to any type of naming convention. Furthermore, women were held in extremely high regard in the clan, and there were too many female clan leaders in the clan’s history to count on two hands.

The members of the Fu Clan could read, purchase, and collect books, and some of their private collections contained some of the rarest and most valuable pieces on the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, but they weren’t permitted to take part in the imperial examination, nor did they ever serve as officials under any emperor. Even if one were to do nothing with their life, the clan leader would be more than happy to support them.

Hence, many exceptionally talented figures had emerged from the Fu Clan in the past, excelling in all types of fields such as go, calligraphy, painting, and music. There were also members of the Fu Clan who had written the most classic recipes, published a travel journal that had received vast acclaim and renown across the entire continent, and purchased countless mountains in the vast northern region of the continent, only to leave them there, completely abandoned.

There had been countless strange and incredible individuals in the history of the Fu Clan, but the clan had one rule that was set in stone, which was that only the most powerful figure of the clan could wear the Old Dragon Robe.

The ferry station that the Mutton Fat Hall’s ship had docked at was close to 200 kilometers away from Old Dragon City, and it wasn’t exactly in a secluded location. Close to 100 ships of all descriptions had docked here, and the ferry station was packed with people and teeming with commotion.

There were inanimate ships crafted by Mohist artisans, as well as living ships that were similar to Kun ships, and Chen Ping’an was amazed by everything that he saw while the ship that he was on descended out of the sky.

Before the ship arrived at the ferry station, Chen Ping’an had heard that for the mortals who lived in Old Dragon City, one could spend their entire life exploring the city without seeing everything that it had to offer.

While the ship was still airborne, Chen Ping’an had attempted to catch a glimpse of the entirety of the city, but unfortunately, his efforts were thwarted by a sea of clouds in the way. Due to Liu Baqiao’s visit, the elderly supervisor of the Mutton Fat Hall on the ship had been keeping a close eye on Chen Ping’an, and he approached Chen Ping’an to explain to him that this sea of clouds was a pseudo-celestial tool of Old Dragon City.

If one were to look up at the sky from the city, they wouldn’t be able to see a single cloud. On top of that, the old man also told Chen Ping’an a breathtaking legend.

It was said that sometime around 800 years ago, an army of close to 1,000 evil cultivators had stormed into Old Dragon City. There had been two earth immortals among their ranks, as well as ten Golden Core Tier Qi refiners. This group of formidable figures had plotted in secret for close to a century in order to orchestrate the downfall of Old Dragon City.

Their plan was extremely meticulous, and they had made their move during a period of uncertainty in the wake of the old city lord’s passing, just prior to the assignment of a new city lord. The Fu Clan was already severely worn down due to infighting as the clan’s factions fought tooth and nail to secure the position of city lord, and a battle that was particularly worthy of note had taken place between two of the patriarchs of the clan.

Each of them had wielded a pseudo-celestial tool during the battle, and even with so many restrictions and formations protecting the city, half of the city was still razed to the ground during the course of their battle.

In this dire situation, a female Qi refiner emerged, seemingly out of nowhere. It seemed that she had been taking a nap in the sea of clouds above Old Dragon City, and when she appeared, she took a glance at the severely ravaged Old Dragon City down below, then turned a disinterested gaze toward the 1,000 or so Qi refiners who had stormed into the city.

After that, she casually reached out with one hand, and the vast sea of clouds was condensed into a tiny bead that fell into her grasp. She then tossed the bead into her mouth before letting loose an almighty sneeze, and thousands of tornadoes instantly took shape above the southern sea before sweeping toward the north.

Among the group of demonic Qi refiners who had descended upon Old Dragon City, all of the ones in the Lower Five Tiers were wiped out by these ferocious winds, and close to half of the ones in the Middle Five Tiers were also eradicated. All of the survivors immediately fled in a blind panic, and after the unrest in the Fu Clan was quelled, they sent out people to hunt down these surviving demonic cultivators for an entire century.

Chen Ping’an was completely flabbergasted by what he had heard.

At the conclusion of his story, the old man asked with an amused smile, “Do you not believe me, Young Master?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head in response. Of course he didn’t! How could there possibly be anyone under the heavens who wielded such almighty power that they could kill so many cultivators of the Middle Five Tiers with just a single sneeze?

The old man stroked his beard with a smile as he said, “To be honest, I don’t believe the story, either. Even if the Heavenly Lord Qi Zhen of Divine Edict Sect were to join forces with the sword immortals and Sages of Wind Snow Temple and True Martial Mountain to unleash a collective strike, surely it still wouldn’t be so devastating.

“I can only speculate that the story was embellished over time and became more and more far-fetched with each passing iteration. Then again, a story would hardly be worth telling if it wasn’t so exaggerated and embellished.”

After bidding farewell to the old man, Chen Ping’an disembarked from the ship and he was instantly greeted by the sight of tall buildings that stretched as far as the eyes could see, as well as streets so wide that he could scarcely believe his own eyes. Despite how spacious the streets were, they were still completely packed, and Chen Ping’an was quickly developing a headache as he struggled his way through the crowd.

At this point, he hadn’t even made it into the city yet, and he had no idea how was supposed to track down the Dust Medicinal Shop where Zheng Dafeng was working. While chatting with the old man from the Mutton Fat Hall earlier, Chen Ping’an had asked him about Stalactite Mountain, wondering if he could get there on an intercontinental ship, but the old man had been completely stumped.

Of course, he had heard of Stalactite Mountain, given its resounding reputation. The fact that a Daoist Branch Master from another world had hammered such a massive nail into Majestic World was both an extraordinary feat and a blatant act of disrespect toward all of the sages whose statues were worshiped in the Confucian temples.

However, the old man had never heard of any ships from the ferry station in Old Dragon City that could travel to Stalactite Mountain. In fact, the old man didn’t even know Stalactite Mountain’s exact location. The extent of his knowledge was that it was quite close to Southern Whirl Continent.

Hence, Chen Ping’an had no idea where to go after disembarking from the ship, and he would just have to take things one step at a time. First and foremost, he was going to focus on completing the journey of close to 200 kilometers to reach Old Dragon City. On the way there, he made sure to frequently ask for directions to ensure that he didn’t stray off the correct path, and he quickly noticed that there were no pedestrians walking down the center of the streets.

Instead, those parts of the streets were occupied entirely by carriages and mounted steeds. There were carriages drawn by horses and various other types of beasts, as well as people riding atop steeds such as tigers, serpents, tortoises, and cranes. Even though all of them were Qi refiners, everyone was traveling in a very orderly fashion with no one daring to barge ahead.

Old Man Yang, Cui Chan’s grandfather, and Wei Bo had all advised him that it was best for him to reach the fourth tier before he got on the ship from Old Dragon City to Stalactite Mountain. Hence, prior to that, Chen Ping’an was in no hurry to continue his journey.

However, for some reason, as soon as he set foot in the territory of Old Dragon City, he was struck by a burning desire to get to Stalactite Mountain as soon as possible, and whether he reached the fourth tier or not before that no longer mattered all that much to him.

Having already traveled the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent from the north to the south, he had completed a journey of millions of kilometers, yet not once during the course of this journey had felt such an intense sense of urgency.

Hence, he made his way over to what appeared to be a relay station on the side of the street, and in a complete departure from his normal stingy ways, he spent ten snowflake coins to hire a carriage drawn by a pair of majestic white horses. The coach driver wasn’t the typical sturdy young man. Instead, it was a young girl with above-average looks and a naturally refreshing disposition.

She wasn’t shy or reserved at all, and after Chen Ping’an got onto the carriage, she suggested for him to sit beside her so that she could introduce to him some of the renowned shops that lined the streets along the way, as well what wares were sold in these shops.

She had grown up her entire life in the ferry station outside Old Dragon City, so she was very familiar with the area, and she assured Chen Ping’an that he wouldn’t regret having her as his coach driver.

The carriage slowly trundled through the crowd, but as soon as it reached the central area of the street, it immediately accelerated under the young girl’s whip, racing toward the western gate of Old Dragon City alongside all of the other carriages around it.

Chen Ping’an was seated behind the young girl, having his usual meal of dry biscuit, but this time, he refrained from drinking as he had stowed his Sword Nurturing Gourd away into the cloth pouch on his back prior to disembarking from the ship.

Wei Bo had once warned him that cultivators above the Golden Core and Nascent Tiers were able to see through the illusion that he had cast and recognized the Sword Nurturing Gourd, so it was best to keep it concealed as a safety precaution.

The young girl was very chatty and outgoing, and she seemed to never run out of things to say, giving Chen Ping’an brief rundowns out the history of all of the shops and tall buildings that they passed by, as well as which powerful immortals resided in those buildings and what notable feats these immortals had accomplished.

In some other parts of the continent, even fifth tier demons were referred to as great demons, yet here in Old Dragon City, Chen Ping’an felt like he had finally found a place where immortals of the Middle Five Tiers were just as common as they were back in the small town.

Chen Ping’an asked the girl if she had heard of the Dust Medicinal Shop, to which she replied that she hadn’t. She told Chen Ping’an that she hadn’t actually seen all that much of Old Dragon City as it was far too massive, and it was split up into the outer city, the inner city, and the Fu city.

For outsiders, a hefty entrance fee had to be paid in order to pass through each city gate, and that fee applied even to Golden Core and Nascent Tier cultivators. Hence, she had only been to the outer city of Old Dragon City a few times, and after each trip, her money pouch was sure to be completely deflated.

However, for members of the Fu Clan and any of the city’s other five major clans, not only were they exempt from this entrance fee, they could even fly through the inner and outer cities as they pleased.

Of course, if one had the resources and connections required to purchase an Old Dragon Cloud-flipping Pendant, then they could also fly through the entire city without any constraints, with the exception of the Fu city. The young girl then asked Chen Ping’an to guess how much an Old Dragon Cloud-flipping Pendant cost.

Chen Ping’an made as high of a guess as he could possibly comprehend, a guess of 1,000 snowflake coins, equivalent to a million taels of silver.

The young girl immediately burst into laughter, then turned around and extended a hand toward him, splaying all five of her fingers apart as she declared, “Try 5,000!”

Chen Ping’an was astonished by this answer, but his astonishment was outweighed by the panic of seeing the young girl turn around to face him, and he hurriedly urged, “Please focus on driving the carriage.”

The young girl chuckled with amusement as she turned back around, then raised her chin in a proud manner as she declared, “I don’t mean to brag, Young Master, but even if I let go of the reins and close my eyes, this carriage will still be able to make it all the way to the western city gate without a hitch. I’m only pretending to drive diligently so my customers don’t grow concerned.”

“Don’t just pretend,” Chen Ping’an protested in a feeble voice.

“Alright, I’ll make sure to be extra diligent just for you,” the young woman chuckled.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but be infected by her cheerful mood, and a smile appeared on his face as well. A light breeze was caressing his cheeks as he turned to look at the thriving streets around him.

Strangely enough, even though he had regularly been exposed to the elements during this southbound journey, his skin had somehow become a little fairer, and his complexion no longer resembled the color of the coals that he had worked with back in the dragon kilns.

Perhaps the young girl had eyes on the back of her head, but she somehow seemed to be aware that Chen Ping’an was inspecting the surrounding scenery. She took advantage of this opportunity to turn around, then quickly turned back to face forward again, sneaking a furtive glance at the side profile of Chen Ping’an’s face in between.

He wasn’t particularly handsome, but he was quite nice to look at.

“You’re quite good-looking, Young Master,” the girl chuckled.

Chen Ping’an’s mood had been buoyed by the girl’s cheerful disposition, and he cracked a rare joke as he asked, “If I let you take a few more looks at me, can you give me a discount of one snowflake coin?”

The fact that Chen Ping’an was capable of making such a joke at all was a clear indication that bad influences like A’Liang, Xu Yuanxia, and Liu Baqiao had rubbed off on him.

The young girl smiled as she replied, “No can do! From the relay station to the city gate and back is a trip of close to 300 kilometers, and I have to make ten of these trips to earn a single snowflake coin.”

“That sounds like quite a hard job,” Chen Ping’an sympathized.

“Not at all,” the young girl disagreed with a firm shake of her head. “I’ve always really liked running around all over the city, so I really enjoy this job. Even if I can buy my own shop in the future and end up earning a ton of money, I’ll still drive my own carriage around. In doing so, I’ll be able to meet lots and lots of people, just like you, Young Master.”

A slightly dejected look then appeared on her face as she sighed, “But all of the shops here are so expensive. I don’t think I’ll be able to save up enough money in this lifetime.”

“Oh well, life’s pretty great as it is!” the girl concluded, and she was instantly back to her usual cheerful self again.

Chen Ping’an also smiled as he offered some words of encouragement, “Just keep working hard and take it one day at a time. Aim to be richer than you were yesterday, and tomorrow, aim to be richer than you are today!”

The young girl was instantly reinvigorated, and she turned around to give Chen Ping’an a bright smile.

Due to his previous run-in with Fu Nanhua, Chen Ping’an had a very negative impression of Old Dragon City, one that wasn’t much better than his impression of Sun Scorch Mountain.

However, he was genuinely fond of this cheerful girl from the bottom of his heart. Of course, there was no romantic affection. Instead, he felt like the girl was the personification of a sunflower, and he really liked to spend time with people like her. Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia also instilled him with the same sense of positivity.

The young girl continued to introduce the landmarks in the city, while Chen Ping’an listened and observed.

The time quickly flew by, and no more than two hours later, Chen Ping’an could already see the walls of Old Dragon City’s outer city. The walls were far taller than the walls of any city or pass that he had seen in the past, and right before the trip was about to conclude, Chen Ping’an asked, “By the way, do you know Sun Jiashu?”

“Who?” the young girl swung around with a bewildered expression.

“Sun Jiashu,” Chen Ping’an repeated.

The young girl immediately burst into laughter, and she was only able to contain her mirth once the carriage had drawn to a halt.

All of a sudden, she rose to her feet and pointed a finger at the street behind her, then swept her arm through the air in a huge circle as she asked, “You see all of this, Young Master?”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response.

A wide smile appeared on the girl’s face as he continued, “All of the shops that lined the street leading from the city gate all the way to the ferry station belong to him!”

Chen Ping’an was astonished to hear this. “All of these shops belong to Sun Jiashu?”

“That’s right! They all belong to Young Master Sun!” the young girl replied with a proud expression, as if she were the owner of these shops instead.

She then lowered her voice and put on a mysterious expression as she continued, “I’ve heard from my boss that Young Master Sun is a really great guy. Even though he’s a fantastic businessman, he’s also an extremely kind person, and even the grouchiest old men I’ve come across have never had anything bad to say about Young Master Sun and his seniors.

“Some years ago, there was a huge fire on this street, and close to 3,000 of the Sun Clan’s shops were burned down. At the time, Young Master Sun had only just become the clan leader, and not only did he not aim to press charges and assign blame, he helped everyone reconstruct their shops with money out of his own pocket!

“I’ve also heard many women say that Young Master Sun is extremely handsome, so he’s definitely the most handsome and most kind-hearted man in all of Old Dragon City!”

The carriage was still a few hundred meters away from the city gate, and the entire street leading up to the city gate was packed with similar carriages. Right at this moment, a young man wearing a plain white linen robe made his way out of the crowd before arriving beside the carriage that Chen Ping’an was on.

The man was tall and very handsome, but he didn’t exude an air of superiority. Instead, there was a very clean and pure disposition about him, as if he were a refined and elegant scholar who came from a highly educated family.

There were many pedestrians rushing through the gaps between the carriages on either side of the street, and someone inadvertently bumped the man’s shoulder as he was passing by. The former hurriedly apologized, to which the man merely shook his head with a smile.

The young girl turned to Old Dragon City with an absentminded look on her face as she murmured, “How could there be someone as great as Young Master Sun in this world?”

Chen Ping’an had no response for this.

The young man smiled as he cast his gaze toward Chen Ping’an and the young girl, then said to the latter, “Thanks for the compliment.”

“Compliment? What compliment?” the young girl asked as she turned to him with a perplexed expression.

The young man offered no explanation as he turned to Chen Ping’an, then asked, “You’re Chen Ping’an, right? I’m Liu Baqiao’s friend. I received a letter by flying sword from Liu Baqiao not long ago, so I came here to wait for you.”

Speaking to someone from a vantage point was considered to be quite rude, so Chen Ping’an jumped down from the horse-drawn carriage, then asked, “Are you…”

“That’s right, I’m Sun Jiashu,” the man confirmed with a nod.

The young girl heaved a sympathetic sigh. “How did you end up with the same name as Young Master Sun? That must really suck for you!”

The young man remained silent with an amused smile on his face.

The young girl bade farewell to Chen Ping’an, then turned her carriage around before departing.

Chen Ping’an made his way toward the western city gate of Old Dragon City alongside Sun Jiashu, and as he did so, he couldn’t help but ask, “Sun… Young Master Sun, is it really true that you own this entire street?”

Sun Jiashu made no attempt at modesty as he smiled and nodded in response. “During our Sun Clan’s heyday, the entirety of the outer city was ours. However, since that time, Old Dragon City has continued to expand, and our Sun Clan made several bad major business decisions, so we’re no longer as wealthy as the Fu Clan. Having said that, we’re still a very wealthy clan.”

Chen Ping’an snuck a glance at Sun Jiashu to find that he wasn’t wearing any accessories, and nothing about his attire hinted at his wealth at all.

Sun Jiashu smiled as he asked, “Are you looking for an Old Dragon Cloud-flipping Pendant? No one in our Sun Clan owns such a thing. To be honest, many of us want to buy one, but we have a set of rules passed down from our ancestors prohibiting us from spending excessively on non-necessities, and those rules are pretty much set in stone, so I can’t go against them. It’s honestly a bit of a pain in the backside.”

Chen Ping’an wanted to say something, but didn’t seem to know where to start.

“Do you want to ask if I can return those twenty snowflake coins to you? I’m afraid the answer to that question will have to be no. In my books, friendship and business do not mix,” Sun Jiashu said.

Chen Ping’an scratched his head as he said, “What I wanted to ask is, are we just going to walk all the way to your house? Old Dragon City is enormous, isn’t it?”

Sun Jiashu remained silent as he observed Chen Ping’an with a smile on his face.

Chen Ping’an sighed as he admitted, “Fine, I’ll admit that I wanted to ask you about the twenty snowflake coins. If you’re not going to return the money, then just forget it.”

“No wonder Liu Baqiao told me that we would get along really well,” Sun Jiashu chuckled.

“Do people often call you stingy as well?” Chen Ping’an asked with a curious expression.

A combination of amusement and exasperation appeared on Sun Jiashu’s face as he shook his head in response. “Liu Baqiao says that both of us are poor, but like to act like we’re rich.”

Chen Ping’an was completely perplexed to hear this.

How could someone like Sun Jiashu possibly be referred to as poor?

“I have a rather unique ability that allows me to see the wealth that’s slipped through someone’s fingers,” Sun Jiashu suddenly said.

He then stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Chen Ping’an as he continued, “I can tell you now that the combined value of the things that you’ve given away is worth more than the entirety of Old Dragon City.”

————

Inside the inner city of Old Dragon City was a secluded alley, within which was a newly opened medicine shop. It was a tiny shop, but the male shopkeeper had hired seven or eight beautiful women, all of whom had one shared trait, which was the long and slender legs.

The man did nothing but laze around and flirt with his female employees all day long, seemingly completely unconcerned about the shop’s business. On the surface, the women would all respond to his sexual approaches with shy and embarrassed expressions, but as soon as they turned around, they would roll their eyes in disgust.

On this day, the man was sitting on a small stool at the entrance of the alley, munching on some sunflower seeds while watching the women that were passing by on the street with bright and attentive eyes.

I’ve hired some real beauties, but the grass really is always greener on the other side, the man thought to himself.

Right at this moment, another woman passed by right before his eyes. She was dressed in very bold and vibrant attire, and as for her appearance and figure… The fact that the man had already dropped his sunflower seeds to chase was a better description of her beauty than any words could manage.