Unsheathed

What was even more infuriating to him was that following her return from Jewel Small World, Cai Jinjian had resembled a lifeless husk of her former self, displaying no enthusiasm or diligence in her cultivation. Her master was both infuriated by this, but also extremely concerned, fearing that Cai Jinjian would completely fall from grace and become the second Su Jia.

Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian walked alongside each other through the gates of Fu city toward the former’s resplendent private residence in the city.

Back when he was searching for opportunities in Jewel Small World, Fu Nanhua had only been one of the many candidates to become heir to the city lord. Hence, Fu Nanhua had been very polite and respectful to Cai Jinjian. However, at this point, his master was on the verge of making a breakthrough, and with his marriage alliance to the Jiang Clan, his status had been significantly elevated, and he was no longer the same Fu Nanhua of the past.

Hence, in the eyes of the two Dawn Cloud Mountain patriarchs, Fu Nanhua definitely wasn’t approaching Cai Jinjian for a private conversation just because they had met briefly in Jewel Small World. Could it be that a relationship had blossomed between the two of them during their time there? But that didn’t make sense, either, as Cai Jinjian was still a virgin.

In any case, Fu Nanhua was all but certain to inherit the Old Dragon Robe someday, and the fact that he was so receptive to Dawn Cloud Mountain was a great honor for the two patriarchs.

Both Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian remained silent as they made their way through Fu city. Upon entering his private residence, Fu Nanhua sat down in the hall, then patted the brand new jade pendant that had been bestowed upon him by his father as he turned to Cai Jinjian. “Alright, we can speak candidly with each other now.”

There was a smile on Cai Jinjian’s face, but it was completely devoid of exuberance as she asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

Fu Nanhua stared intently at Cai Jinjian as he said, “I won’t ask you how you managed to survive. All I want to know is why that person saved you, and what he wants you to do for him.”

Cai Jinjian’s smile faded as he she asked, “Would you believe me if I told you that he did out of the kindness of his heart as a noble person?”

A cold sneer appeared on Fu Nanhua’s heart as he scoffed, “A noble person? If Qi Jingchun were a noble person, then Confucian sages would’ve already claimed four worlds by now!”

Cai Jinjian’s expression remained unchanged as she asked, “Is there any point in nitpicking my words like this?”

Fu Nanhua took a deep breath, then said, “I’m going to be open and honest with you. After that boy struck you down, he almost killed me too. At the time, Qi Jingchun saved me from that little rat bastard…”

Fu Nanhua suddenly noticed the mocking sneer on Cai Jinjian’s face, and his words immediately cut off, following which he adopted a calmer tone as he continued, “After Qi Jingchun stopped Chen Ping’an, he told me some things, instructing me to leave Jewel Small World, but at the same time, he bestowed upon me an opportunity outside of any treasures.

“I won’t tell you exactly what it is, but what I’m really perplexed about is that Qi Jingchun never made me swear a vow to never target Chen Ping’an or anything like that. In fact, he didn’t even try to mediate our conflict at all.”

Cai Jinjian looked around with a detached expression, then turned back to face Fu Nanhua with a smile as she asked, “You’re talking about a sage who saved your life, should you not at least be referring to him as Mr. Qi?”

A dismissive sneer appeared on Fu Nanhua’s face as he scoffed, “He’s already dead, and he was killed by a whole collection of celestial immortals, while none of the major Confucian figures stepped in to save him, so it’s clear that there’s no chance of him ever making a comeback, so what does it matter if he’s a sage?”

Cai Jinjian merely smiled in response, then sighed, “None of the places where the patriarchs of our Dawn Cloud Mountain reside and cultivate are anywhere near as abundant in spiritual energy as this manor of yours. Your Fu Clan truly is astonishingly rich, Fu Nanhua.”

This private residence had eight main pillars, known as Coiling Dragon Pillars, and each of them had a coiling dragon engraved around it. Each dragon held a treasured bead in its mouth, and each bead was a connate spirit tool, gathering a vast amount of spiritual energy in the manor to make it resemble a miniature blessed land, thereby significantly enhancing the progress of one’s cultivation.

For those cultivating in the top-tier immortal clans of the world, they were constantly cultivating no matter what they did thanks to these resources at their disposal, so it made sense for itinerant cultivators to be so envious of them.

A cold look appeared on Fu Nanhua’s face, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he said, “Don’t try to play dumb with me, Cai Jinjian! I’m going to be granted a Treasure Swallowing Whale soon, and if I refuse to purchase Cloud Root Stones from your sect, Dawn Cloud Mountain’s revenue will instantly decrease by 20%!

“You may be held in very high regard by your master, but you’ve already wasted an entire pouch of gold essence copper coins, so I suggest you have a long, hard think before you harm the interests of Dawn Cloud Mountain even further through your actions.”

A smile appeared on Cai Jinjian’s face as she said, “Don’t bother with these empty threats, Fu Nanhua. I don’t know exactly how much wealth your Fu Clan possesses, but I know exactly how your clan has been doing business over the past few thousand years. So what if you’re coming into possession of a Treasure Swallowing Whale? Even if you become the city lord, there’s no way you’ll be able to change the rules established by your ancestors.”

The cold look in Fu Nanhua’s eyes faded as he sighed, “You’re clearly a very smart woman, and the two of us went through that grueling ordeal in Jewel Small World together, so why can’t we work together for our mutual benefit? Let’s be open and candid with each other so we can both erase the after-effects of that ordeal?

“If you choose to work with me, I promise you that not only will I strive for the position of city lord, I’ll also help you advance up the hierarchy as well. Think about it: all I need to do is slightly raise my purchase price of Cloud Root Stones, then spread word of the fact that you made an integral contribution to that decision, and your status in Dawn Cloud Mountain would instantly be elevated to new heights!

“On top of that, you possess exceptional aptitude, and your master clearly has very high hopes for you. With him acting as your backer in the sect and Old Dragon City serving as an external backer, you’ll become the mountain master of Dawn Cloud Mountain in a century at the very latest!”

Fu Nanhua rose to his feet as he spoke, and the tone of his voice was becoming more and more passionate by the second, as if he were an emperor laying out the future plight of his empire.

Cai Jinjian turned to Fu Nanhua, and it was clear from her expression that she remained largely unmoved.

It wasn’t that Fu Nanhua wasn’t being sufficiently genuine, or the picturing that he was painting wasn’t sufficiently alluring. The problem was that Cai Jinjian’s mental state had completely changed, and she was no longer the same ambitious and scheming woman that she once was.

For someone like her, who had truly died once and crossed over to the other side before coming back, it was simply a different experience from a near-death experience like the one that Fu Nanhua had suffered.

After Qi Jingchun resurrected her with his unfathomable powers back in Jewel Small World, the two of them had shared a conversation in the school. It had been a very casual conversation, as if they were merely chatting about life. Back then, Cai Jinjian’s physical body was still severely wounded and far from a full recovery, and all Qi Jingchun had done was separate her soul from her body.

In the school, time had flowed by like trickling springwater, and Qi Jingchun had asked her about many things outside of Jewel Small World, all of which were very trivial matters, such as the prices of rice and oil in the mortal world, whether there had been new printing techniques developed, and other such insignificant topics.

Initially, Cai Jinjian had been extremely uneasy, but she gradually eased into the conversation, answering Qi Jingchun’s questions to the best of her abilities. Some questions she had answers for, and some were beyond her.

Throughout the entire conversation, Qi Jingchun maintained a warm smile, and as Cai Jinjian grew more comfortable, she raised some questions pertaining to her own cultivation, ones that even her master was unable to answer, and Qi Jingchun was able to provide her with the answers that she needed.

In the end, he had even recommendation to her some classic Confucian works, telling her that for cultivators, it was naturally extremely important to develop one’s powers, but mental cultivation was just as important. By advising her to read those books, he wasn’t hoping that she would develop aspirations to become a sage.

Instead, he told her that a person’s mental state was like a plot of farmland, and only with a water source present would the crops grown on the plot of land be able to thrive, so the key to cultivation was actually to hone one’s heart and mentality.

After leaving Jewel Small World, Cai Jinjian still harbored the same lofty aspirations as before, but she no longer felt like it was correct to cultivate just for the sake of it.

Prior to her departure, Cai Jinjian had worked up the courage to ask Qi Jingchun why he had saved someone like her, to which Qi Jingchun had smiled and replied in a truthful manner, “It goes against the rules of this world to save you, but it fits with my ideologies.”

Cai Jinjian then asked why Qi Jingchun was willing to teach her these profound and sagely principles, to which the latter had replied with a serious expression, “As a teacher, I answer all the questions that I can and impart upon others as many principles as possible.”

Even though all of the questions that had stumped her in her cultivation had been answered, Cai Jinjian was in no hurry to progress in her cultivation base following her return to Dawn Cloud Mountain. Instead, she read all of the books recommended to her by Qi Jingchun, then replayed his words over and over again in her mind.

From the perspective of outsiders, she had abandoned her cultivation, but she knew in her heart that was this not the case.

At some point, she was told by her master in private that Qi Jingchun had met his demise, killed by several celestial immortals above the northern region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

In response to this news, Cai Jinjian hadn’t been particularly grief-stricken. Instead, she had merely felt a little dejected.

After that, she finally resumed her cultivation, and it didn’t take long before she progressed up a tier, and she had to conceal her cultivation base so that she didn’t astonish those around her. Only then was she granted this opportunity to visit Old Dragon City with her master.

This string of events had all begun with that encounter on Clay Vase Alley.

Ultimately, it was her past foolish and unreasonable self that had ruined the life of that young boy.

Clearly, Qi Jingchun treated that boy not like a sage looking down on the people of the world with detachment and doing everything by the rules. Instead, he was like a protective senior nurturing a junior, and for this purpose, he was willing to even ignore and go against the rules.

If she had died in that alley, then the so-called Heavenly Dao backlash and karmic retribution of Buddhism would’ve fallen upon that boy.

After that, Qi Jingchun’s intentions had been very pure during their question and answer session. He most likely felt like she was still not beyond saving, so he was still willing to teach her.

In the wake of this experience, Cai Jinjian had figured out many things that had stumped her in the past. Her mental state had become clear and tranquil, and all of the impurities had been swept away. Furthermore, visualization was of the utmost importance for cultivators of Dawn Cloud Mountain, and that was what had allowed her to make such rapid progress in her cultivation.

Even though she wasn’t tempted by Fu Nanhua’s proposal, Cai Jinjian didn’t immediately leave. Instead, a knowing smile appeared on her face as she said, “How about this, Fu Nanhua? Our first alliance ended terribly, so for our second alliance today, how about we make another bet? I’ll bet that you can don the Old Dragon Robe, while you can bet that I’ll become the mountain master of Dawn Cloud Mountain someday. What do you think?

“I can promise you here and now that if I become the mountain master of Dawn Cloud Mountain, then I’ll sell all of our sect’s Cloud Root Stones to your Fu Clan without sparing any for the five major clans of Old Dragon City. Prior to that, I’ll also encourage my master to increase the amount of Cloud Root Stones allocated to your Treasure Swallowing Whale as much as possible.”

Fu Nanhua was caught completely off guard by this proposal, and he couldn’t help but wonder if this was some type of trap, so his confidence was wavering slightly.

Even though the ordeal in Jewel Small World hadn’t become an inner demon on his cultivation path, he was still very much troubled by those events, and if he couldn’t sort through his own thoughts and make a decision on what to do with Chen Ping’an as soon as possible, then it would continue to weigh on his mind.

Meanwhile, Cai Jinjian had already risen to her feet, and she made her way over to one of the Coiling Dragon Pillars to inspect the white jewel in the dragon’s mouth with an intrigued look on her face.

In the end, Fu Nanhua didn’t give her a definitive answer, instead asking her to wait for a few days.

Following Cai Jinjian’s departure, Fu Nanhua removed the green jade pendant from his waist and held it in his hand as he began to pace around the hall in circles, weighing up his options.

A tall man with an authoritative disposition wearing a dragon robe suddenly appeared in the hall without any warning. He was standing beside the same Coiling Dragon Pillar, inspecting the same jewel that Cai Jinjian had been looking at earlier, as if he were trying to stand in her shoes to see what her intentions were.

Fu Nanhua failed to detect his silent arrival, and only after Fu Nanhua had noticed him did the man turn his gaze to him as he asked, “Why didn’t you agree to her offer?”

“Something doesn’t feel right about all of this,” Fu Nanhua replied.

The dragon-robed man was none other than City Lord Fu Qi, and he said, “It’s very simple, there are two paths laid out before you, the first of which is to kill Chen Ping’an and forcibly suppress the unrest in your heart, using their cultivation to sever by force the impact that Confucian sage had on you. Or…you can go with the flow.

“For the average cultivator, the greater the heights they ascend to, the more certain knots in their heart will manifest themselves as flaws in their cultivation, but in our Fu Clan, these knots can be used to form pearls in one’s mind’s lake through the use of secret techniques.”

A mocking sneer appeared on his face as he continued, “To think that you’re feeling so conflicted over such a minor problem. At this rate, you’ll never be worthy to inherit this Old Dragon Robe.”

Fu Nanhua immediately began sweating profusely upon hearing this.

The man shook his head as he sighed, “To think that my son would be so bothered by a dead man and an insignificant young boy.”

Fu Nanhua’s face turned deathly pale.

The man sneered as he continued, “Even after I inherited this Old Dragon Robe, there have been times where I’ve had to kneel on the ground and beg others for the sake of our Fu Clan, and I had to kowtow to them so many times that my forehead bled. Do you think those things don’t weigh on my mind?”

Fu Nanhua’s mind was completely blank, and he was completely oblivious to the fact that tears had begun flowing down his face.

The man gave one final mocking sneer before vanishing into thin air.

————

If one could bypass that profound restriction of Stalactite Mountain and stand at the point where the two worlds were connected, then they would be greeted by a stunning sight, namely a wall that stretched all the way up into the clouds, looking as if it were as old as time.

To the south of the wall was the true owner of this world, while to its north was a city without walls.

The earliest group of sword immortals to arrive here had once stated that if the demon tribe were allowed to pass over the Sword Qi Great Wall, then all of the city walls under the heavens may as well cease to exist.

After that, not even a single brick was added to the outskirts of the city.

Over 100,000 swordsmen resided here generation after generation, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Aside from the select few people who were able to travel to Stalactite Mountain, the rest of them all abided by their ancestral teachings, never setting foot in Majestic World.

They lived here, they died here, and to them, dying in battle outside the Sword Qi Great Wall was the utmost honor, while dying of old age within the Sword Qi Great Wall was the humiliating disgrace.

Some things here were different from Majestic World outside, but there were also inevitably some similar things. For example, there were also some long-standing major clans residing within the Sword Qi Great Wall. But unlike the major clans in the outside world, who constantly had to urge their descendants to look after themselves and be safe, that was completely unnecessary here.