Unsheathed

This was a slightly provocative statement from Chen Ping’an, but Ma Zhi wasn’t displeased at all to hear it, and he duly obliged, sending Shade flying through the air. As it did so, it gradually took on an insubstantial form, and it resembled an unstoppable general spearheading a mighty army.

Chen Ping’an’s complexion was slightly pale as he clenched his fists tightly, and while still maintaining his stance, he stomped a foot heavily down onto the ground.

The ground in the courtyard trembled slightly as his mountainous sword intent erupted forth in all directions.

Ma Zhi’s brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at Chen Ping’an. He swiped his middle and index fingers downward, gesturing as if he were aiming to disembowel Chen Ping’an with a slash of his sword.

Chen Ping’an opened his eyes up wide as he gritted his teeth with all his might, and he drew his fists closer to one another in preparation to lash out in retaliation.

At the same time, all of the fist intent that had surged out of him quickly returned, and he slapped his hands forcefully together as if he were killing a fly.

“You’re going to regret being so cocky!” Ma Zhi scoffed coldly as he brought his two fingers upward, injecting even more sword intent into his bonded flying sword.

Right at this moment, Chen Ping’an thrust his fist forward with tremendous fist intent that erupted straight up toward the heavens, revealing the previously concealed shade of the ancestor osmanthus tree overlooking the small courtyard.

It was hanging over the Guimai courtyard like an invisible barrier, but in the face of Chen Ping’an’s immense fist intent, it began rippling incessantly, causing everything outside the courtyard to warp and blur.

I refuse to believe that a Golden Core Tier swordsman like myself can’t tame a mere fourth tier martial artist! Ma Zhi thought to himself in an enraged manner, then took a step back while clasping one hand behind his back.

“Chen Ping’an, this is where the true test begins! From now on, my flying sword will alternate between a substantial and insubstantial form to attack both your body and your soul, so make sure you’re constantly on your guard!”

There was a determined and focused look in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, and he offered no response as he slowly slid back in a smooth and free-flowing fashion, displaying exceptional bodily control.

There was an enormous degree of variance between the sword intent of all of the swordsmen under the heavens.

The true intent of Ma Zhi’s sword was one that aimed to rid the world of the scorching heat of summer, leaving a cool and refreshing trail in its wake everywhere it went.

————

In the neighboring courtyard not far away from the Guimai courtyard, Osmanthus Girl Jin Su was eating a slice of sweet melon. There was a natural spring on Osmanthus Island, and the melons nourished by the water from the spring were always a delightful delicacy. Aunt Gui had lost interest in human food long ago, and she was sitting off to the side, watching her stunningly beautiful disciple.

Even though she was only doing something as ordinary as eating a slice of melon, there was a natural air of grace and elegance about her. It was no wonder that both Sun Jiashu and Fu Nanhua, the two most exceptional young men of Old Dragon City, had both fallen for her.

Aunt Gui was aware that Sun Jiashu also had feelings for Jin Su, but she didn’t want to reveal this as she didn’t think that Sun Jiashu was a good match for her. When it came to marriage candidates for Jin Su, Aunt Gui felt like Sun Jiashu, who was an exceptionally brilliant young man, was actually the worst option, while Fu Nanhua was slightly better, and the best option was Fan Er.

Unfortunately, love was notoriously blind, and the objective best option was often foregone for a more exciting but less rational one.

Who could be blamed for that?

Actually, Aunt Gui really did know who was initially to blame for this, but at this point, it was hard to say.

All of a sudden, a surprised look appeared on her face as she cast her gaze toward the Guimai courtyard.

“What is it, Mistress?” Jin Su asked with a puzzled expression.

“I think you may have underestimated that boy staying in the Guimai courtyard,” Aunt Gui remarked with an amused smile.

Jin Su picked up another slice of melon as she shrugged and replied, “Even if he’s the most brilliant man under the heavens, that has nothing to do with me.”

Meanwhile, Aunt Gui seemed to have received a message through voice transmission, and she nodded in response, then turned to Jin Su as she said, “Looks like there’s a job for you. Go to the shop at the foot of the mountain to pick up some medicinal ingredients.

“Ma Zhi has already sent a list to the shop, so the ingredients should already be ready for you. Once you get back, wait for him to give you the go-ahead, then prepare a large water tub in the Guimai courtyard.”

A perplexed look appeared on Jin Su’s face upon hearing this. “Is our guest going to take a medicinal bath to hone his physical constitution? Isn’t that something only martial artists of the Physique Refining Tiers have to regularly do?”

A slightly reluctant look then appeared on her face as she said, “Doing something like that for a boy is a little awkward for me. I’m not some spoiled and pampered young mistress, I’m more than happy to do things like brew tea, clean, and play the zither for our guests, but preparing baths for someone is just…”

“Should I do it then?” Aunt Gui asked with a smile.

Jin Su heaved a resigned sigh, and after stalling for a moment longer, she relented, “Alright, I’ll do it.”

It didn’t take long for Jin Su to return to the courtyard following her departure, and she had come back with a group of guests with astonishing auras from another continent. Initially, she was feeling a little uneasy, wondering why these people were visiting Aunt Gui, but once she noticed that her mistress was already standing at the entrance of the courtyard waiting for these guests, she was instantly feeling a lot more reassured.

In her eyes, her mistress was virtually omnipotent, and there was no way that she was just an ordinary guest elder of the Fan Clan. Even though Aunt Gui had always been very secretive about her cultivation base and past experiences, based on what Jin Su had seen of Aunt Gui in the past, she was certain of one thing, which was that her mistress was at least a Golden Core Tier Qi refiner, if not a Nascent Tier earth immortal.

All of the intercontinental ships that traveled between Old Dragon City and Stalactite Mountain, including Osmanthus Island, had to have at least a Golden Core Tier cultivator onboard for each trip. Officially, Aunt Gui was only supposed to be one of the administrators on Osmanthus Island and a Sea Observation Tier Qi refiner.

Now that Ma Zhi was also onboard, Osmanthus Island was actually currently carrying three Golden Core Tier Qi refiners, so Jin Su was confident that everything would be under control.

The group of foreign visitors consisted of six people of all ages, and they were all from Parasol Leaf Continent, which was the biggest collaborative partner for the Fan Clan’s Osmanthus Island on this trip.

They had rented close to half of all of the secret underground warehouses on Osmanthus Island, but as for exactly what was stored in those warehouses, that was information that an osmanthus girl like Jin Su was naturally not privy to. All she had heard was that they were all from a very important figure from Parasol Leaf Continent.

In any case, seeing as her mistress had already emerged to address the situation, she could focus on traveling to the foot of the mountain to pick up the medicinal ingredients.

As she departed, she couldn’t help but take a backward glance. Among the six visitors was an extremely tall and thin elderly man quite a bit taller than even Fu Qi. The combination between his white hair and youthful, almost childlike features, made him extremely eye-catching. He was wearing a pristine black robe, clearly a top-tier Dao robe.

The old man was a personal guard to a young man who was very unremarkable in appearance. He had a pair of very faint eyebrows, but his eyes were very long and thin, and whenever he gazed upon someone through narrowed eyes, even the Cave Abode Tier Jin Su would be struck by an onset of goosebumps, not daring to meet his gaze.

“May I ask why all of you have come to see me?” Aunt Gui asked with a smile.

The young man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, “You’re Lady Gui, is that correct?”

“That’s right,” Aunt Gui replied with an indifferent expression.

A fervent look instantly appeared in the man’s eyes as he declared, “My name is Jiang Beihai, and I come from the Jade Tablet Sect. Right now, our sect is in need of an intercontinental ship. Would you be interested in joining our Jade Tablet Sect, Lady Gui?”

Aunt Gui offered no response.

The man smiled as he continued, “Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to compensate the Fan Clan for all of their losses and the profits that Osmanthus Island is projected to make over the course of the next century. I’m sure the Fan Clan wouldn’t dare to turn down my proposal, nor would they be inclined to do so. What do you think, Lady Gui?”

Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was the smallest of the nine continents, but its southeastern neighbor, Parasol Leaf Continent, was significantly larger, even more so than Circling Ascension Continent.

On top of that, Parasol Leaf Continent had a large number of blessed lands, out of which two, in particular, were of an exceptionally high caliber, to the point that many cultivators from Southern Whirl Continent and Complete Reed Continent were willing to make the long journey to Parasol Leaf Continent solely to access those blessed lands.

Generally speaking, all of these powerful immortals would leave those two blessed lands with far more rewards than they would normally expect to reap from other most other blessed lands.

As for Jade Tablet Sect, it ranked alongside Parasol Leaf Sect as the two most powerful sects on Parasol Leaf Continent.

The young man from Parasol Leaf Continent who had helped the Ding Clan weather the storm from years past was from Parasol Leaf Sect. The fact that the sect had been standing for thousands of years and was able to name itself after the continent where it was based was an exceptional representation of its power.

This was similar to how Complete Reed Continent dared to refer to itself as the northern continent over Pure White Continent, even though it was technically located in the northeast.

A woman in a palace dress smiled as she said, “Young Master Jiang, you’ve always kept quite a low profile, and unlike the ostentatious Parasol Leaf Sect, our Jade Tablet Sect has always been much more benevolent and subdued, so perhaps Lady Gui hasn’t really heard of our sect.”

Aunt Gui shook her head in response. “I am more than aware of Jade Tablet Sect’s resounding reputation. I’m also aware that the Jiang Clan of Jade Tablet Sect controls Cloud Cave Blessed Land, and that for the past dozen or so generations, the clan has maintained a single lineage system.”

“If you’re aware of our sect, yet you’re still reacting in such an aloof fashion, then I presume you must be of the opinion that our Jade Tablet Sect and the Fan Clan of Old Dragon City isn’t on the same continent, so we’re unable to do anything to the Fan Clan even if we tried, is that right?” the man from the Jiang Clan asked.

The man then feigned an apologetic expression as he extended a slight bow, but there was a cold smile on his face as he continued, “Please pardon me for my rudeness. I got a little ahead of myself there, I hope you don’t mind, Lady Gui.”

Aunt Gui still remained as indifferent as before as she explained, “I swore a Great Dao vow that concerns the foundation of my cultivation, and it’s not a vow that I can simply renege on. I appreciate the kind offer, but I must refuse, Young Master Jiang.”

The young man raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Aunt Gui then smiled as she continued, “There’s still 60 years left before I can fulfill the term of my vow, so if you really have the sincerity to recruit me into your sect, perhaps you can wait out this duration.”

The young man immediately burst into laughter. “Of course! We have all the sincerity in the world for you, Lady Gui. As long as you’re willing to join our sect, you can even marry into our sect if you want!”

He then shook his hand in a joking manner as he chuckled, “Please don’t take me seriously, Lady Gui, I like to joke around a bit too much for my own good. The master of our Jade Tablet Sect and the leader of our Jiang Clan have both been long-time admirers of yours, and the same certainly applies for me as well.”

Aunt Gui’s expression remained unchanged, continuing to display impeccable etiquette.

A hint of approval appeared in the eyes of the tall old man, and despite his naturally detached demeanor, he praised, “You are a woman of exceptional poise, Lady Gui. Just as our young master has said, our Jade Tablet Sect really is extremely sincere in the offer that we’ve extended to you, so we implore that you consider our offer carefully.

“I hope that I can have the honor of tasting a cup of osmanthus wine personally brewed by yourself in our Jade Tablet Sect in 60 years.”

Aunt Gui nodded in response, and the two parties parted ways.

Aunt Gui slowly made her way back into the small courtyard, then took a resigned glance in the direction of Old Dragon City, and at the same time, a hint of indignation seemed to have also surfaced in her eyes.

In the sky above Old Dragon City, Fan Junmao laid back onto the sea of clouds, then yawned lazily as she murmured to herself, “There’s never a lack of people intent on getting themselves killed…”

She then picked up her wine gourd and raised it to her lips, only to discover that it was completely empty. She couldn’t help but recall the little drunkard that she had encountered in the underground dragon channel, the one who had wanted to drink out of his Sword Nurturing Gourd.

At the time, she had played a prank on him and teased him for running out of wine, but it seemed like karma had come back to bite her. With that in mind, a hint of frustration welled up in her heart, and she abruptly sprang to her feet, then casually scooped up a tiny cloud imbued with the true intent of rain.

She tossed the cloud into her mouth and swallowed it like wine, but the completely bland and tasteless cloud water only put her in an even worse mood.

She cast a cold gaze toward Osmanthus Island out at sea, then began to skip along backward like a child playing hopscotch. She skipped all the way from the southernmost point of the sea of clouds to its northernmost point, and after steadying herself, she swooped down rapidly from above, raising her head up high while pulling back her arms as if she were about to hurl an invisible spear.

All of a sudden, she stopped cold in her tracks, then roared, “Go!”

The sea of clouds began to churn like boiling water, and as she made her hurling motion, a white longsword over thirty meters in length was wrenched out of the sea of clouds and flew over the sky above Old Dragon City in a flash.

At this point, Osmanthus Island was already very far away from Old Dragon City.

Right at this moment, the tall old man from Jade Tablet Sect suddenly thrust his palm into Jiang Beihai’s back to send him flying, then took Jiang Beihai’s place and raised both arms above his own head to form a protective barrier.

At the same time, his Dao robe began to billow violently, while lightning and thunder flashed within his sleeves.

The entire Osmanthus Island trembled and swayed incessantly, raising enormous waves over the surface of the sea.

Jiang Beihai turned to the Nascent Tier old man with a dazed expression to discover that his Dao robe had been mostly destroyed. Thankfully, the Dao robe could still be repaired, but what was even more harrowing was that his arms had been completely stripped of their skin and flesh, revealing the bone underneath.

The old man threw up a mouthful of blood as he stared intently up at the sky, then raised what remained of one of his arms as he said in a grim voice, “Stay right there, Young Master. Don’t come any closer to me, but don’t go anywhere, either.”

Inside the Sword Nurturing Gourd strapped to Chen Ping’an’s waist, First was buzzing incessantly in elation, as if it were seeing an old friend.

Fan Junmao had already decided that one attack was enough, but after witnessing the old man raising his arm, she changed her mind.

“Oh? Are you asking for more?”

She leaned back while springing back rapidly, then repeated the same sequence of motions as before, hurling another sword at Osmanthus Island.

After that, she crossed her arms as she cast her gaze toward Osmanthus Island with a smile and remarked to herself, “No matter how many years pass, I’ll always have a soft spot for these fools that don’t know when to back down. It’s like they’re constantly sticking out their necks and goading others to chop their heads off!”

On Osmanthus Island, Chen Ping’an silently pressed a hand down onto his Sword Nurturing Gourd. The first sword had come too quickly for him to see it, but he was able to catch a glimpse of the second sword.

Even the Golden Core Tier Ma Zhi could only stand rooted to the spot in a daze, but Chen Ping’an had already closed his eyes, carefully reminiscing the spectacle of that sword strike.