Unsheathed

The Dust Medicinal Shop had returned to its former lively and bustling state.

After an hour of sparring, Zheng Dafeng allowed Wei Xian and the others some time to rest. After that, the sparring sessions continued in a periodic fashion, and Zheng Dafeng kept his own cultivation base restricted to the eighth tier the entire time, but was slowly elevating it over time, from the earliest initial-Far Roaming Tier gradually to the peak-Far Roaming Tier.

The teamwork displayed by Wei Xian and the others was becoming more and more exemplary over time, thereby placing more and more pressure on Zheng Dafeng. This entire time, the four of them hadn’t come together to speak even once. Even during the breaks that they were afforded, all of them stood apart from one another, silently absorbed in their own thoughts.

After having dinner and completing her transcriptions for the day, Pei Qian picked up her hiking pole, then began practicing her self-invented Deranged Demon Sword Techniques in the courtyard. After that, she went back to her room to sleep, feeling very satisfied with herself.

Before going to bed, she called out to Chen Ping’an to let him know that she was retiring for the night, then opened the green bamboo bookcase that Chen Ping’an had placed in her room. From there, she brought out the treasure box gifted to her by Yao Jinzhi and began going through the things inside, while the Treasure Pagoda Demon-Suppressing Talisman that now truly belonged to her was plastered to her head.

Right as she was bobbing her head from side to side with a gleeful expression, a hint of melancholy suddenly appeared on her face. She knew that if she were to sell this talisman, then she would be able to afford a big house, but at the same time, she couldn’t bear to part with the talisman. However, she quickly brushed off those worries.

At the moment, she wasn’t wanting for food or shelter, so it didn’t make much of a difference whether she had a house or not. Having said that, she had already made up her mind that she was definitely going to buy a house in the future that was at least as big as Green Roving Residence.

On top of that, she had to have a strange spirit wall as well to ensure that all of her visitors immediately realized just how wealthy she was.

That same night, the yin soul with the Zhao surname returned with a series of geomancy maps. No one knew where he had sourced these maps from, but it hardly mattered. The maps were placed on the table in the main hall in an orderly fashion, and under the light of the lamp, Lu Baixiang asked Zheng Dafeng for a thin-tipped brush, then began making markings and annotations on the maps as if he were a general directing an army.

He marked out all of the important locations of the five major clans, as well as where all of their guest elders and Great Immortal earth immortals were distributed. After that, he drew a straight line between the Dragon Scaling Platform and the Dust Medicinal Shop.

Wei Xian was also present, but Zhu Lian and Sui Youbian remained uninvolved. The former was reading a book outside under the moonlight, while the latter was standing out in the yard, refining the True Qi in her acupoints.

As for Zheng Dafeng, he had already gone to sleep, and his snores were like thunder. It was agreed that the sparring sessions would resume in four hours.

These sparring sessions could hone and further elevate the cultivation bases of Wei Xian and the others, while also ensuring that they would be able to absorb the Green Goat Palace pills that they had taken as quickly as possible, so overall, it was a very good deal for Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an remained standing by the table the entire time, watching Lu Baixiang, Wei Xian, and the yin god make annotations on the geomancy maps. He didn’t have to contribute much, only having to make decisions when the three people doing the actual work were unable to reach a consensus, so it was a very easy job.

The journey that Chen Ping’an had taken down the long river of time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land was a very extensive one; in other words, it had allowed him to experience the passage of a lengthy period of time.

Even so, Chen Ping’an only dared to say that he knew a little about the ways of the world.

When it came to things like strategic planning, Chen Ping’an refrained from voicing his opinions as much as possible, mostly leaving it to the experts. Wei Xian was a seasoned veteran who had spent almost his entire life on the battlefield, while Lu Baixiang was an exceptionally talented jack of all trades.

Not only was he an expert in strategy and tactics, he was also extremely well-versed in the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.

As the founding father of a demonic orthodoxy, perhaps the only flaw that he had was that he had only just arrived in Majestic World and still hadn’t reached the summit of this world yet.

The higher one made their way up the mountain, the fewer and fewer people they’d encounter. If they were to take the wrong route and reach the end of a path that led to nowhere, then all they would be able to do was watch as others continued to scale up the mountain and pass them by.

Hence, Chen Ping’an was able to understand Sui Youbian’s fury when she discovered that her potential ceiling had been lowered from the Martial God Tier to the ninth tier. Of course, that didn’t mean he approved of her tantrum.

Zheng Dafeng made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal that he was a ninth-tier martial artist, but that shouldn’t be a reason for anyone to think that ninth-tier martial artists were as cheap and common as cabbage sold in street side stalls.

Zheng Dafeng was a direct disciple of Old Man Yang and the gatekeeper of Jewel Small World, yet he had still almost been driven to the point of Qi deviation while making his breakthrough to the ninth tier.

Sui Youbian was extremely fortunate to have been able to make a breakthrough to the Vajra Body Tier following the battle at the rundown temple, yet she still only had eyes for the scenery at the very peak. Her excessive ambition and constant dissatisfaction with what she already had went against the age-old principle for pure martial artists of taking one solid step at a time.

Chen Ping’an didn’t think that the principles that he espoused would truly be able to get through to Sui Youbian, but that didn’t matter to him. Deep Infatuation belonged to him, as did the pills from Green Goat Palace, so he had the right to decide whether to give those things to her, and if so, when.

No one owed her anything, and she’d do well to understand that.

Under the light of the lamp, a main path had already been narrowed down on the geomancy maps, and there were fewer and fewer arguments taking place, so Chen Ping’an took this as an opportunity to go outside from some fresh air.

After making his way out into the yard, he sat down on the bench across from the main hall.

The layout of the Dust Medicinal Shop was very similar to that of the Yang Family’s medicinal shop. Whenever Chen Ping’an saw the long bench, he would think of the storyteller who had once visited Old Man Yang. At the time, the old storyteller had sat at roughly the same spot.

When it came to the injustices of the world, everyone saw things through different lenses.

If the likes of Gao Shizhen and Liu Cong had been in Chen Ping’an’s place, they wouldn’t feel as if they were witnessing an injustice at all, and all they would do would be to passively observe. Perhaps they would even find an opportunity to step in and see if they could take advantage of the situation for their own benefit.

If Jiang Shangzhen had been in Chen Ping’an’s place, he most likely wouldn’t even regard this as something that was worthy of his attention, and that allowing himself to be distracted by something like this would only be of detriment to his cultivation.

Even though Chen Ping’an was forced to expend many treasures during the battle at the rundown temple, thereby incurring a massive loss, he didn’t harbor much resentment over the incident. Of course, that didn’t mean that he would hold back against his assailants, particularly when his life was on the line.

However, even now, Jiang Shangzhen perhaps still couldn’t understand why Chen Ping’an intended to kill Zhou Shi and Ya’er back in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. And even Zheng Dafeng most likely didn’t understand why Chen Ping’an insisted on getting involved in the mess in Old Dragon City.

The reasons for Chen Ping’an’s actions were actually very simple. If this had been a fair and open conflict, with both sides going at each other in a straightforward fashion without hatching any sinister plots, then Chen Ping’an would be able to accept the outcome, no matter who lived and who died.

However, Cao Qinglang’s parents were completely innocent, yet they had been slain in cold blood by Zhou Shi and Ya’er, and the same applied to the girl who had died at the hands of the young man from the Fang Clan.

Regardless of how Ding Ying and the Fang Clan tried to justify their actions and make it seem like this was nothing more than insignificant collateral damage, it was impossible to convince Chen Ping’an that these three innocent souls deserved the terrible fates that they had suffered.

While drinking with Li Er, Qi Jingchun said that a true hero is one who possesses the courage to challenge those stronger than them.

Of course, Chen Ping’an was unaware of this. But what he did know was that prior to A’Liang’s ascension, he had declared that the freedom of a powerful individual draws its boundary at the freedom of a weak individual.

Life was filled with unpredictable twists and turns, and there were no two identical leaves in the world, but some principles were interconnected.

Back at the Flying Eagle Fortress, Lu Tai had said to the poor woman who had birthed the ghost infant: “The world is very uninteresting; you shouldn’t have come.”

After pondering these words for some time, Chen Ping’an decided that it was not the world that was uninteresting. Instead, the problem was that there were too many unreasonable people in the world.

Whenever kind and good people have their interests harmed by others, all they can do is console themselves by saying they had learned a valuable lesson. In contrast, evil-doers are often able to get away with their heinous actions, and it seems that the karma often touted simply doesn’t exist.

While Chen Ping’an was seated on the bench outside, some of the finer details were still being discussed in the room. The yin soul with the Zhao surname was familiar with all of the powers that be in Old Dragon City, so Wei Xian and Lu Baixiang had formed one camp, while the yin soul’s role was to oppose them.

The yin soul placed himself in the shoes of the Fu Clan, employing different methods to target the Dust Medicinal Shop, while Wei Xian and Lu Baixiang were responsible for coming up with counter strategies.

All the while, Zhu Lian was sitting under the eaves, reading through one of his cherished “romance” novels. It was a new book that he had only purchased recently, yet he had already read through it so many times that it looked like well-used volume in a public library. At this moment, he was muttering to himself about how the book was exceptional value for money.

As it turned out, the book itself wasn’t all that great, but on its final page was a list of other titles of the same genre, and next to each title was a brief two to three sentence appraisal from the author.

As Zhu Lian closed the book, he couldn’t help but sigh to himself, “What a great man. I pray that the heavens smile down upon him.”

He then turned to Chen Ping’an with a sheepish smile as he said, “My apologies, Young Master, I’ll try to exercise more restraint from now on.”

Chen Ping’an smiled as he waved a dismissive hand, then reminded Zhu Lian, “Make sure to keep that a secret.”

A guilt-ridden look appeared on Zhu Lian’s face as he replied, “My inability to offer you any assistance has been constantly weighing on my conscience these past few days, so I’m certainly not going to tell anyone about that.”

Chen Ping’an offered no response.

Back on Green Goat Palace louchuan, Chen Ping’an was considering sending a letter to the Stork Inn on Stalactite Mountain. From there, he would request the shopkeeper to give the letter to the sword-hugging middle-aged man to see if he could pass the letter onto Ning Yao. However, whenever he tried to push brush to paper, he found himself at a complete loss for what to write. In the end, he had no choice but to turn to Zhu Lian for assistance.

He had thought that Zhu Lian was simply a misunderstood romantic with rather interesting tastes in the literature that he liked to consume, but to his dismay, he discovered that Sui Youbian’s appraisal of Zhu Lian was perfectly accurate: he was nothing more than an old pervert.

The suggestions that he provided either raised goosebumps all over Chen Ping’an’s body, or had him sweating profusely, so he naturally didn’t dare to put those suggestions to use.

Inside the courtyard, Sui Youbian drew her sword before flicking its blade with her finger while listening to the ringing sound that the sword made.

In an extremely rare display, a hint of a smile appeared on her face.

Chen Ping’an smiled as he said, “There you go, Sui Youbian. Isn’t it good to smile every once in a while? Why the long face all the time? If the opportunity arises in the future, I’ll introduce some sword immortals to you.”

Sui Youbian sheathed her sword, then turned to Chen Ping’an with a cold sneer as she scoffed, “Showing your true colors already, huh? Would you like me to warm your bed for you tonight?”

Chen Ping’an chuckled. “Nope, I don’t dare.”

Zhu Lian smiled as he said, “What a true gentleman you are, Young Master. I bet countless men would’ve been scrambling over one another to accept that offer from her just now.”

A sense of foreboding instantly welled up in Chen Ping’an’s heart upon hearing Zhu Lian’s terrible attempt at flattery, and sure enough, a look of cold killing intent immediately appeared on Sui Youbian’s face, and she was most likely deciding between which one of the two she wanted to cut down first.

Chen Ping’an and Zhu Lian immediately fled the scene, with the former rushing into the medicinal shop, while the latter scurried back into his room.

Sui Youbian gave a cold harrumph before also returning to her room. At this point, Pei Qian was already sound asleep. Having been alone for most of her life with no one to look after her, Pei Qian had constantly been sleeping either on the ground or on top of the stone lions outside the manors of wealthy clans, so her sleeping posture was horrendous, and her arms and legs were all over the place, letting out all of the warm air under her blankets.

Sui Youbian’s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and she quietly strode over to the bed, then gently tucked Pei Qian’s arms and legs back under her blankets.

After that, she lit the lamp on the table in the room before sitting down in silence with only her sword for company.

Chen Ping’an was sleeping on the ground in the medicinal shop, but he was really only half-asleep throughout the night.

Zheng Dafeng continued to periodically spar with Wei Xian and the others in the courtyard, and Chen Ping’an’s eyes were closed as he listened to the sound of Zheng Dafeng’s fist intent, which reverberated deep within his heart.

An uneventful night passed by.

With the imminent battle fast approaching, the Fu Clan wasn’t so shameless that it would send people to harass Zheng Dafeng, even if there was someone with sufficient power to force their way into the shop.

At the moment, the dignity of the Fu Clan virtually equated to the dignity of the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan, so the Fu Clan naturally wasn’t going to do anything to disgrace itself. Otherwise, Fu Qi wouldn’t have personally issued that challenge to Zheng Dafeng.

At the moment, the main topic being discussed in the room was exactly how many celestial tools Fu Qi was able to wield.

It was already extremely strange that members of the Fu Clan were able to wield pseudo-celestial tools starting from only the Golden Core Tier when such weapons were notoriously difficult to use and prone to causing backlash. However, over time, the outside world simply grew accustomed to this and no longer questioned it.

Chen Ping’an woke up very early in the morning.

Zheng Dafeng was eating a bowl of congee while squatting at the entrance of the main hall, while Pei Qian was also squatting next to him, saying something to him in hushed tones. It seemed that they were getting along very well.

Lu Baixiang was playing his guqin inside his room, producing beautiful music that evoked imagery of tall mountains and flowing waterfalls.

Wei Xian was practicing the six step walking meditation that he had secretly learned from Chen Ping’an, and Sui Youbian was also practicing Chen Ping’an’s standing meditation.

Zhu Lian was much kinder to Chen Ping’an than the rest; he brought a large bowl of congee, which he claimed to have cooked himself. Chen Ping’an sat down on the long bench and drank the congee as the sky continued to brighten, feeling reinvigorated and refreshed.

After that, he made his way to the front of the Dust Medicinal Shop and opened its doors. As for whether there were any customers this early in the morning… as it turned out, there actually were.

After opening the door, Chen Ping’an began practicing his walking meditation, going to the entrance of the alley before doubling back, and on the third repetition, two figures made their way into his line of sight.

One of them was a familiar figure that Chen Ping’an wasn’t surprised to see, but he was accompanied by a not-so-familiar figure that Chen Ping’an definitely wasn’t expecting to see.

The familiar figure was Fan Er, and he was accompanied by a green-robed young woman. Back in the underground dragon channel, the ships that she and Chen Ping’an had been on had passed by each other, granting them a fleeting glimpse of each other, and she had teased him for trying to drink wine out of his Sword Nurturing Gourd.

Upon spotting Chen Ping’an from afar, Fan Er yelled, “Chen Ping’an, do you dare to fight me now that I’m at the fourth tier?”

“Nope,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head.

“You and I are both fourth-tier masters now, if we do not have a battle for the ages, that would be a travesty for the entire world!”

Fan Er began to yell menacingly as he began flailing his fists around in an erratic fashion while charging straight at Chen Ping’an, who slapped a hand to his own forehead in exasperation, but could only play along, slowly advancing using his walking meditation technique to engage Fan Er in this “battle for the ages.”

Thankfully, Fan Er had only taken a few steps when he was grabbed by the collar by Fan Junmao before being tossed behind her as she scolded, “Don’t make a fool out of yourself here! If you want to fool around, then go to the Dragon Scaling Platform.”

Fan Er walked along obediently behind her while making faces at Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an stopped in his tracks as he asked, “Are you Fan Er’s sister, Fan Junmao?”

Fan Junmao also had a wine gourd strapped to her waist, and she continued walking forward as she replied with a cold sneer, “I’d rather not have a brother like him, but I can’t stop my father from being intimate with this boy’s mother.”

Fan Er was still grinning from ear to ear, completely unbothered to hear this.

It occurred to Chen Ping’an that only with a personality like this could Fan Junmao truly command respect from someone like Fan Er. If she were your average elegant and quiet young mistress, then Fan Er would undoubtedly still be fond of her, but he wouldn’t respect and admire her from the bottom of his heart.

Fan Junmao had no intention of walking into the medicinal shop, and she pointed a finger inside as she commanded, “Go and stay in there, Fan Er.”

Fan Er gave an affirmative response, then rushed into the medicinal shop, and as he passed by Chen Ping’an, he sighed in a lamenting voice, “I pray for your safety.”

All of a sudden, a flash of recognition appeared in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, and he exclaimed, “Young Mistress Fan, were you the one who…”

Before he had a chance to finish, Fan Junmao nodded in confirmation and cut him off as she confirmed, “That’s right, that was me that you saw back then. The last time we met, you were traveling southward, while I was traveling northward to your hometown in Jewel Small World to meet Old Man Yang.

“He doesn’t care much for Zheng Dafeng and sent him to Old Dragon City to fend for himself. In contrast, he made special mention of you, telling me that I could come and take a look at you if I was interested.”

Regarding Old Man Yang’s attitude toward Zheng Dafeng, that was something the latter had already revealed to Chen Ping’an the previous night. Zheng Dafeng explicitly told him that Old Man Yang had warned him not to tell anyone that he was his disciple. Even if he died, he was to take that secret with him to the grave.

That was why Fu Nanhua was under the impression that Zheng Dafeng was nothing more than the gatekeeper of Jewel Small World.