Unsheathed

Inside the relay station, the game of Go had already come to an end. Sui Youbian had lost yet again.

However, Sui Youbian wasn’t determined to achieve victory when it came to playing Go.

Lu Baixiang reviewed the game by himself. His eyes were firmly fixed on the Go board, and he pinched a spare Go piece with two fingers and placed it on the table before gently sliding it around.

In a room not far away, Chen Ping’an was carving a bamboo tube, attempting to inscribe an entire sagely essay on the exterior of the tube.

Chen Ping’an had already become adept at inscribing characters on bamboo slips during the past few years. In addition to this, he had also built a solid foundation from molding pottery and firing pottery during his childhood. Thus, even though he didn’t dare to claim that his characters were energetic and lively, they were indeed straight and proper at the very least.

The characters didn’t appear overbearing, and they instead looked healthy and strong as they were inscribed into the bamboo. At the same time, the characters also seemed to possess vitality as long as a stream. At the end of the day, these characters were more than passable.

Some people said that cultivators at the Lower Five Tiers cultivated to extend their lifespan, while cultivators at the Middle Five Tiers cultivated to seek immortality. As for cultivators at the Upper Five Tiers, they were exploring the Great Dao by themselves at an even loftier and more distant place. There was almost no time for them to rest.

Chen Ping’an didn’t feel like there was anything wrong with this. Being busy and having a full schedule would imply not wasting his time and whiling away his days. Of course, it was still necessary to take an occasional break, slowing down or completely stopping to rest his mind and enjoy the scenery that accompanied the path of cultivation.

Inscribing meaningful characters on the bamboo tube was an example of this, and personally carving a bamboo brush holder of little value according to his whims was also an example of this.

An uneventful night passed by.

Chen Ping’an burned the midnight oil to inscribe characters on more than half of the bamboo tube.

He slept for four hours, then woke up and continued to practice walking meditation. Meanwhile, he kept practicing sword techniques using an imaginary sword.

Winter was about to arrive.

It was said that Mirage City looked like an immortal realm when covered in falling snow. Would he be fortunate enough to witness the first snowstorm of this year when arriving at the ferry station outside Mirage City?

While eating breakfast, Chen Ping’an learned that the convoy of the Yao Clan would rest in Riding Crane City for two days. He didn’t pay much heed to this.

Yao Xianzhi ran over to look for Chen Ping’an, saying that they were going to visit the renowned small mountain in the provincial city, the one where the immortal had ridden a crane and ascended from the world. The governor’s manor had already informed the relay station that the small mountain would be tightly guarded and closed to the public today, regardless of whether Old General Yao visited the mountain or not.

After meeting up, Chen Ping’an discovered that quite a few of them were going to visit the small mountain today. There were Yao Zhen’s three grandchildren; Daoist Priest Shao Yuanran, who was dressed in azure; and to his surprise, Sui Youbian, who seldom showed herself.

Wei Xian and Lu Baixiang chose to stay back at the relay station. Chen Ping’an found it slightly strange that Old General Yao also chose to stay back. After all, Yao Zhen had been quite keen to go on sightseeing tours the entire time.

Before setting off today, Chen Ping’an had already changed into Golden Sweet Wine, which was now one grade higher than before. Thus, he appeared in front of the others in a white robe. If one were observant, one would also discover the white jade hairpin in Chen Ping’an’s hair.

Young men from the Great Li Empire, in the north of the continent, were naturally tall and sturdy. In fact, they were at least half a head taller than the young men from Old Dragon City in the south. Moreover, it was very normal for young men to marry and have children when they were fifteen or sixteen. Only those from powerful clans or scholarly clans would adhere to customs and have coming-of-age ceremonies when their descendants turned twenty.

Chen Ping’an had continued to grow taller and taller after starting to practice fist techniques, and before he knew it, he already looked like a mature young man.

Trailing behind him was the tanned and skinny Pei Qian.

Pei Qian was less afraid of Zhu Lian while she was around Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an and the others made their way to the small mountain located in the middle of the provincial city. While passing by the martial sage temple, they came across a strange person and encountered a strange event.

They saw a tall and sturdy young boy full of blood barge into the martial sage temple. However, it wasn’t long before the young boy was captured by the temple attendant and other people and tossed out of the front gate. The Wenchang pavilion and the martial sage temple of the provincial city were no place for random people to barge in and cause a ruckus.

After being tossed out of the martial sage temple, the young boy furiously kowtowed at the temple, with his head banging loudly against the ground as he pleaded for something.

The temple attendant was a tall and skinny elder, and he stood atop the steps leading to the entrance as he scolded the young boy with a stern expression, reprimanding him. “How can I allow mere mortals to sully the saber held by the sage of the martial sage temple?! Seeing that you’re young and naive, I can let you off for barging into the temple. Now, hurry up and leave! Rid yourself of those preposterous thoughts!”

As it turned out, this young boy had barged into the martial sage temple and attempted to borrow a saber from the sage.

The young boy’s forehead became red and swollen from kowtowing, and wisps of blood were already starting to become visible. He looked up with tears of despair streaming down his face, and he pleaded in a hoarse voice, “My master has focused all of his effort on slaying demons and eliminating vermin for the sake of the common people in the prefecture. However, he’s trapped in an illusion in the mountain forest and facing life-threatening danger now!

“After pushing me out of the illusion, Master told me that he would only have a chance at slaying that ferocious great demon that’s wreaking havoc in the area if I manage to borrow the saber from the martial sage temple! I’m begging you, Esteemed Temple Attendant! This is a good deed that will allow everyone to accumulate good karma, so I’m sure that the Martial Sage won’t get angry because of this…”

The mighty and dignified-looking temple attendant chuckled coldly and retorted, “What right do you have to dictate whether the Martial Sage will become angry or not?! According to the laws of the Great Quan Empire, do you know the punishment for wantonly using the weapon of a Martial Sage without permission?! The local officials and the county magistrate will be fired on the spot! The prefectural overseer will be demoted one rank, and the governor will lose their salary for three years!”

The young boy was filled with grief and anguish, and he murmured, “There are demons and fiends wreaking havoc in the area, and so be it if the officials turn a blind eye to this. Yet, even the Martial Sage is unwilling to help us now?”

The elderly temple attendant spoke in a stern manner and had a cold expression, yet in reality, he also heaved a soft sigh in his mind.

Young boy, do you really think that everything in the world is so simple?

Zhu Lian looked up and stole a glance at Chen Ping’an walking in front of him.

Chen Ping’an was just about to raise his foot, yet Shao Yuanran was already starting to stride over. Seeing this, Chen Ping’an silently stopped his movement.

Shao Yuanran walked over to the young boy and squatted down, asking, “Where is your master trapped? Do you know the cultivation base of the demon?”

The young boy answered Shao Yuanran’s questions one by one.

Shao Yuanran reached over to help the young boy up. He then grabbed the young boy’s shoulder and said with a faint smile, “I’ll head over to rescue your master. I’ll also help him slay the demon.”

Shao Yuanran turned around to look at Yao Jinzhi who was wearing her veiled hat again, and said in an apologetic voice, “Apologies, Miss Yao, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to go to the small mountain with you.”

Yao Jinzhi nodded lightly, with her expression largely hidden by her veiled hat.

Shao Yuanran grabbed the young boy and leaped into the air, landing on a distant roof before nimbly bounding away. It wasn’t long before he vanished into the distance.

A sense of admiration welled up in Yao Lingzhi’s heart. The young girl with a saber by her waist now had a better impression of this young guest elder of the Great Quan Empire.

Meanwhile, Pei Qian had been observing Shao Yuanran with narrowed eyes the entire time. She cocked her head in speechlessness.

Following this unexpected commotion, everyone was much less excited about their subsequent trip to the mountain. Moreover, the small mountain was genuinely far too small, and there was indeed nothing special about it at all.

Only Sui Youbian, with her sword strapped to her back, stood on the peak of the small mountain and gazed up at the sky with a fervent expression.

Apart from a slight sense of disappointment about the mediocre scenery of this small mountain, Chen Ping’an didn’t display too many other emotions.

————

Whether it was the mountain god diving into a river, the river guardian charging onto a mountain, or the young boy attempting to borrow a saber from the martial sage temple, these events were ultimately nothing more than small and unremarkable splashes in a vast ocean.

However, Great Subduing Academy joining forces with the sect leader of Peace and Tranquility Mountain to prevent the twelfth tier great demon from entering the sea and fleeing was a rather major matter.

Zhong Kui going to Peace and Tranquility Mountain to help out wasn’t a small matter either.

Apart from the two other noble scholars, three virtuous scholars, and more than twenty disciples from Great Subduing Academy, Literary Profundity Academy, which was located further south, dispatched even more scholars to help Peace and Tranquility Mountain. There were more than fifty scholars from Literary Profundity Academy, although, sadly, only a single elderly noble scholar. The cultivation bases of the remaining scholars were far inferior compared to the scholars from Great Subduing Academy.

This was the awkward dilemma faced by Literary Profundity Academy. This academy had little renown, and it produced the smallest number of talented scholars out of the four Confucian academies in Parasol Leaf Continent. There were many rumors swirling around in the mountains, and it was often speculated that Literary Profundity Academy was going to lose its status as one of the seventy-two Confucian academies, especially since a new noble scholar hadn’t appeared in almost one hundred years.

Not only that, but the mountain master and the two deputy mountain masters had few scholarly articles that were renowned and worth a read. When people visited Literary Profundity Academy, they weren’t going there to visit the mountain master or the scholars. Instead, they were going there to visit the Belvedere of Literary Profundity that housed countless books.[1]

After arriving at Peace and Tranquility Mountain, Zhong Kui followed his teacher’s instructions and asked the scholars from Great Subduing Academy to follow the instructions of the Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain. He asked them not to act of their own accord.

Even though disastrous events were taking place everywhere, the Daoist priests in Peace and Tranquility Mountain didn’t become flustered no matter their age or seniority. They held discussions and made decisions in an orderly manner, and group after group of Qi refiners left the mountain to encircle and slay demons in many different areas.

These Qi refiners naturally suffered injuries and death, and many of those who died were Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain. This caused the two Confucian academies and the many Qi refiners from the various immortal forces and clans to feel a deep sense of respect. At the same time, these reinforcements also became increasingly sincere and cooperative.

When resting between the intense battles, the cultivators who had come from all over the continent would often have spirited discussions with each other. During these conversations, the person mentioned the most was naturally that errand boy from Planchette Writing Sect who had shot to fame in a single night.

He had initially been an external disciple, and it was rumored that the sect leader of Planchette Writing Sect had already taken him as his final disciple. Not only that, but the sect leader had even bestowed upon him a pseudo-celestial tool that his late Dao partner had refined for more than one hundred years.

If it weren’t for this young boy uncovering the schemes of that twelfth tier great demon and forcing it to act earlier than planned, the consequences would have been absolutely unimaginable.

During the past ten days, demons remained hidden in various places started to pop up one after another, wantonly wreaking havoc and causing complete chaos. Moreover, most of these demons were at the Dragon Gate Tier or Golden Core Tier, making them extremely difficult to encircle and kill.

Peace and Tranquility Mountain didn’t dare to be careless and let their guard down. Regardless of whether it was Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain or like-minded cultivators who had traveled over to help, almost everyone was dispatched to the various locations to subdue the ravaging demons.

Only Noble Scholar Zhong Kui chose to remain in Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

However, no one had any complaints about this. After all, Zhong Kui had killed the most demons during their previous patrols around the area. In addition to this, Zhong Kui hadn’t focused on protecting just the disciples from Great Subduing Academy. Rather, there were several times when he had actively joined the groups of cultivators from other forces and clans, assisting them as they fought to the death with the violent demons.

Thus, before leaving the mountain, the Nascent Tier earth immortal from Peace and Tranquility Mountain who had initially been responsible for managing the situation smiled at Zhong Kui and said that he would temporarily hand the mountain to Mr. Zhong.

The Nascent Tier earth immortal also revealed a secret to Zhong Kui, telling him that the old ancestor of Peace and Tranquility Mountain would return very soon. Perhaps the old ancestor would bring Daoist Nun Huang Ting back from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land as well.

Zhong Kui laughed heartily and remarked that it would be great if the old ancestor could return as soon as possible. That way, he wouldn’t need to keep an eye on that well prison every single day.

After the Nascent Tier earth immortal left, Zhong Kui started to patrol the bottom level of the well prison by himself every day.

Late one night, Zhong Kui had just walked out from the well prison when he saw an individual whom he had heard the renown of, yet had never had the opportunity to meet before. This individual… was a great demon.

In reality, to say nothing of an outsider like Zhong Kui, many senior Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain had never seen this great demon either. This was the case even though the great demon lived and cultivated in Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

This great demon was Bai Yuan, a sword-carrying white ape dressed in black robes.

Bai Yuan was as tall as a grown man, and had an extremely high cultivation base. However, it didn’t assume human form, and it instead chose to maintain its original appearance as a white ape.

Even though the old ape was a great demon extremely renowned throughout Parasol Leaf Continent, it was also a guest elder of Peace and Tranquility Mountain at the same time. To say nothing of how long Bai Yuan had cultivated before joining the sect, he had already guarded Peace and Tranquility Mountain for more than three thousand years.

In fact, Bai Yuan was even older than the only surviving old ancestor of Peace and Tranquility Mountain traveling around in the outside world right now. The founder of Peace and Tranquility Mountain had spent a mountain of fortune to build the well prison, yet throughout the long passage of time, he had left the responsibility of guarding this prison to Bai Yuan, the white ape who seldom showed himself and liked to carry a sword on his back.

On the rare occasion that a great demon escaped from the well prison, it was always Bai Yuan who would personally pursue and capture them. He had never allowed a single demon to flee, and would always complete his duty with absolute perfection. In fact, the matters were dealt with so swiftly that many earth immortals in Peace and Tranquility Mountain weren’t even aware of their occurrence.

When this calamity broke out, Bai Yuan had been cultivating in seclusion and attempting to advance from the Unpolished Jade Tier to the Immortal Tier.

Unexpectedly, however, Bai Yuan had exited seclusion after just five years or so. Perhaps he had sensed the unrest in the outside world, so he had been forced to conclude his cultivation earlier than he wanted?

The autumn wind was biting, and the mountain forest was silent.

Even though Bai Yuan was simply standing there, he still appeared as majestic and domineering as a mountain.

Meanwhile, Zhong Kui was wearing the same azure robe that he had worn in the inn near the border of the Great Quan Empire.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

The sword-carrying white ape didn’t say anything.

The ray of sword qi soaring from his back was his answer.

1. The Belvedere of Literary Profundity (文渊阁) references a palace building in the Forbidden City. The hall was an imperial library. ☜