Unsheathed

The slug demon swaggered past the study desk filled with the elegant trinkets and ornaments of literati and sat down on the chair. Leaning back and shuffling its bottom, the slug demon couldn’t help but feel that this still wasn’t comfortable and relaxing enough. It started to curse again.

What the fuck was wrong with scholars? They were truly good-for-nothings who weren’t even willing to make a properly comfortable chair. These useless chairs forced people to sit straight and suffer from a tired back.

The slug demon stared straight ahead.

It recalled the other powerful being behind the calamity gripping the Liu Clan, that old man from the Imperial Tang Clan who wielded great power in the Azure Phoenix Nation.

This person had disliked Liu Jingting for a very long time already.

However, this was incredibly strange. Even an outsider like him was aware that Liu Jingting was a particularly upstanding and capable official, a pillar that held up the imperial court, so why did the uncle of the emperor detest him so much and view him as a mortal enemy?

During the past two years, just how many literati and scholars had fled south to the Azure Phoenix Nation because of the good reputation of Assistant Minister Liu?

The slug demon couldn’t make heads or tails of this no matter how it racked its brains.

Instead, it was reminded of a conversation that had taken place in the Lion Garden at the end of last year. Back then, it was lying on the roof beam, eavesdropping on the conversation between the father and his sons.

Liu Jingting was drinking and chatting with his two sons, and unsurprisingly expressing his concerns about the nation and her people. Meanwhile, his eldest son recounted his interesting encounters, while Liu Qingshan criticized the current state of society.

The literati and officials who detested Liu Jingting the most were a very interesting bunch of people. They were not the opposition that held different views within the court, but rather scholars who had attempted to ride on the coattails of the assistant minister and ingratiate themselves with him yet failed to achieve their goals.

There was another group of people who had argued incessantly with the disciples of Assistant Minister Liu, going beet red in the face while furiously debating in the literary world. In the end, the embarrassment of these people had transformed into rage, a fervent emotion that made them utterly detest Liu Jingting as well.

In fact, even Liu Jingting might find these feelings of hostility very mysterious and strange. After all, he never considered the position or status of other people when he interacted with them, nor did he discriminate based on their background or upbringing. He would at most refrain from commenting when others lavished undeserved praise on him, and he would at most ignore those who explicitly tried to ingratiate themselves with him. However, it was exactly this attitude of Liu Jingting’s that most hurt the egos of those people.

Liu Jingting only learned of this after resigning from the imperial court and returning home to live in peace. While chatting about the officialdom with his eldest son one time, the measly county magistrate who appeared much inferior to his younger brother in the eyes of outsiders clearly explained these matters to his father. At the time, Liu Jingting could do nothing but down his cup of wine in a single gulp.

Liu Qingshan didn’t think much about this, and he bluntly criticized his older brother—with whom he had enjoyed a very good relationship ever since they were young—for quite a while.

Fortunately, Liu Qingshan’s older brother was already accustomed to his temper, so he didn’t get angry when subject to Liu Qingshan’s lengthy criticism. Instead, he simply responded by saying that he had already entered the imperial court and become influenced by it, and that he hoped Liu Qingshan wouldn’t repeat his mistakes in the future.

This was truly a family where the father was benevolent, the sons were dutiful, and the siblings got along well with each other.

A thought then suddenly occurred to the slug demon: was it possible that the fox demon that it had devoured had genuinely wanted to integrate itself into the Liu Clan? That being the case, perhaps it had wanted to participate in the imperial examinations because it had wanted to one day achieve success in the imperial court and the literary world as the son-in-law of Liu Jingting? That way, it could then contribute to the scholarly fortune of the Liu Clan?

Of course, the slug demon hadn’t thought too deeply about these matters at the time, but simply greedily devoured the fox demon that was yet to form a golden core. In fact, it didn’t even remember how many times it had burped after that good meal.

It turned its head around and sensed the saber attacks of the stinky Daoist nun that were destined to be futile. “You’re so damned ugly, you’ll be a perfect match for a crippled man,” the slug demon spat in anger.

It was a shame that he wasn’t a Confucian sage whose speech contained the decree of the heavens.

The slug demon sighed in grief and retracted its gaze, appearing extremely bored as its eyes wandered over the many worthless items on the study table.

Its eyes suddenly widened in shock, and it reached over to stroke a small box that was sitting next to a long wooden paperweight.

It was searing hot!

The slug demon hurriedly retracted its hand, feeling extremely delighted. “Good one, Liu Qingshan, how very sneaky of you!”

————

Inside the ancestral hall of the Liu Clan…

Of the two teachers employed by the private school of the Liu Clan, the elderly teacher remained beside Liu Jingting.

Liu Jingting smiled bitterly and said, “Sorry for dragging you into this mess, Mr. Fu.”

The old man simply responded with a shake of his head.

Apart from the times when he was teaching, the elderly teacher almost never spoke at all. His expression would rarely change as well.

In fact, almost everyone in the Lion Garden was slightly afraid of Mr. Fu.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged Confucian scholar called Mr. Liu wasn’t necessarily a very approachable person either. He had established even more rules than Mr. Fu, and almost all of the descendants and servants of the Liu Clan who had attended the private school had been lectured and punished by him at one point or another. Even so, everyone was still more willing to approach him than Mr. Fu.

Mr. Liu quietly walked to the entrance of the ancestral hall at this moment, waiting for Liu Qingshan to return.

He remained expressionless when he saw Liu Qingshan come back from Liu Qingqing’s residence without any trouble, and only nodded in acknowledgment when the limping Liu Qingshan bowed to him in respect.

Liu Qingshan entered the ancestral hall and walked over to his father.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar continued to stand at the entrance, and he shifted his gaze to the two figures walking near the scripture library. They were the young master and his subordinate from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Mr. Liu quickly turned around and walked back into the ancestral hall. Perhaps Mr. Liu’s eyesight wasn’t good enough, or perhaps he simply chose to ignore what he saw.

Standing near the railings of the corridor under the eaves of the scripture library, Maidservant Meng Long smiled and asked, “Young Master, do you think Fu Sheng and that person with the surname Liu are the same as us? Are they also extraordinarily powerful people?”

Young Master Dugu was extremely amused, and he chuckled in reply. “Please explain something to your young master first: since when did we become extraordinarily powerful people?”

Meng Long gave a knowing smile and leaned her arms on the railing of the corridor, gazing into the distance.

Considering only the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, could they not be regarded as extraordinarily powerful people?

Her young master was simply being modest.

Meng Long hailed from the Luminous Vermilion Empire, the empire with the largest number of sword cultivators in the continent. The Luminous Vermilion Empire was very powerful, and it maintained control over more than a dozen vassal states.

Several descendants of the emperor had given up on the opportunity to ascend the throne very early on, and among them was a tenth-tier sword cultivator who had sparred with Wind Lightning Field’s Li Tuanjing, once the most powerful Nascent Tier cultivator in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, three times. Even though the tenth-tier sword cultivator had lost all three battles, no one dared to doubt his combat power at all. After all, how many earth immortals in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent dared to block a single sword strike from Li Tuanjing?

With a single sword in his hand, Li Tuanjing had forcefully suppressed Sun Scorch Mountain for several hundred years. Yet, Li Tuanjing had agreed to do battle with the tenth tier sword cultivator from the Luminous Vermilion Empire two more times after defeating him once already, clearly reflecting the profound sword skills of the imperial descendant.

There were also two ninth-tier sword cultivators among the imperial descendants who had forsaken their opportunity for the throne. They also ignored their blood relationship and became a couple. Because of this, they eventually broke away from the Luminous Vermilion Empire, at least on the surface. They rarely showed themselves in public, instead cultivating the Sword Dao in seclusion.

According to rumors, the elderly emperor of the Luminous Vermilion Empire had tasked this couple with managing the treasury of the nation. They were said to have very close relationships with several large clans in Old Dragon City, allowing the coffers of the nation to be brimming with money.

“Young Master, the cultivators from the Northern Complete Reed Continent are truly far too haughty and domineering, especially that godforsaken Heavenly Lord from the Daoist Sect,” Meng Long said in anger.

Young Master Dugu smiled faintly and replied, “Are we not the same in the eyes of those demons and fiends that we defeated? Did all of the servants and maidservants who died at the hands of your wandering yin soul truly deserve death? The answer is naturally no. However, we simply can’t be bothered to care about these things.”

Meng Long was immediately rendered speechless.

She could only angrily kick the railing of the corridor with the tip of her foot.

————

Chen Ping’an didn’t draw any talismans near Liu Qingqing’s residence. Instead, he directly walked over to the entrance of the Lion Garden.

The two colorful door gods were almost completely exhausted of spiritual energy, meaning that they were no longer able to protect the Liu Clan.

Chen Ping’an quietly mumbled an apology before starting to draw Treasure Pagoda Demon-Suppressing Talismans on the two large doors.

Different from the so-called small-scale talismans that he had drawn in Liu Qingqing’s residence, the two Treasure Pagoda Demon-Suppressing Talismans on the doors of the main entrance were completed in a single breath. They were grand in scale and divine in appearance.

Shi Rou silently nodded in approval as she stood behind Chen Ping’an. If it weren’t for the ordinary quality of the calligraphy brush in his hand and the mediocre quality of the gold ink in the clay pot, the talismans drawn by Chen Ping’an could have actually been more powerful given the fullness of the talismanic cores.

Chen Ping’an took several steps back after drawing the talismans, standing side-by-side with Shi Rou. After verifying that there were no flaws in the two talismans, he started to walk along the paved path that followed the perimeter of the outer wall of the Lion Garden, continuing to draw one talisman every fifty or so paces.

As they walked, Chen Ping’an said to Shi Rou who had remained silent the entire time, “I need to be completely focused when I’m drawing the talismans, so I might not be able to sense the presence of that demon straight away. You need to pay extra attention.”

“To say nothing of my responsibility to serve and protect you, this is something that also pertains to my own life,” Shi Rou replied in a calm and indifferent voice. “I naturally don’t dare to be careless. There’s no need for you to worry, Master.”

Chen Ping’an turned around and glanced at her, saying, “After a person has lived in poverty for a long time and become extremely afraid of it, will they end up becoming stingy if they suddenly become rich one day?”

Shi Rou could hear the slightly ridiculing edge in Chen Ping’an’s remark, but she didn’t show any signs of wanting to retort him.

This wasn’t because she was feeling guilty or remorseful. Rather, it was because of the piece of paper that Cui Dongshan had given her.

After unfolding the paper horse that Zhu Lian had passed on to her, a few simple and concise words had entered her gaze.

“Don’t court death, young lady.”

This looked like a teasing remark, yet a cold chill had involuntarily shot down the spine of Shi Rou’s immortal body.

Chen Ping’an drew the talismans extremely quickly, and it was clear that he had put a lot of time and effort into practicing this. Moreover, his teacher was definitely a profound and powerful person.

Shi Rou had to admit that Chen Ping’an was very resilient. Regardless of whether it was the stability of his mind and energy or the stillness of his body, it was without a doubt that both played a huge and irreplaceable role as he drew the talismans.

Drawing talismans was extremely taxing on the mind.

This was a statement of profound truth from the talismanic branch that had become extremely famous throughout the world.

Seizing the opportunity when Chen Ping’an finished drawing a talisman, Shi Rou leaned her back against the wall, with her breathing becoming quick as she asked in a quiet voice, “Master, you’re setting up a formation?”

Chen Ping’an shot a glare at her and hurriedly raised a finger to his lips, signaling that this was a secret that shouldn’t be revealed. He continued to shuffle forward, yet he couldn’t help but turn around and shoot another glare at the loose-tongued Shi Rou. It looked like Chen Ping’an was genuinely feeling very irritated right now.

Holding a clay pot of viscous gold ink in each hand, Shi Rou obediently followed behind Chen Ping’an as he walked around the Lion Garden. Thinking that there were surprisingly times when he would become flustered as well, the corners of her lips involuntarily curled up into a slight smile. However, she quickly suppressed this smile.

The Lion Garden was quite large, which resulted in a lot of hard work for Chen Ping’an as he was trying to secretly draw talismans and set up a formation. But in order to finish setting up the formation before the great demon noticed anything untoward, Chen Ping’an could only give it his all to draw talismans on the white walls.

This was no more relaxing than fighting to the death with other people.

Shi Rou was different from the four people from the picture scrolls, and she hadn’t faced one significant event after another. She hadn’t needed to embark on a long journey between two large continents either. As a result, her understanding of Chen Ping’an’s true strength and temperament was far inferior to that of Zhu Lian and the others.

Even so, Shi Rou had a very good understanding of Chen Ping’an’s impressive wealth. There was the yang avatar of an Ascension Tier immortal, and there was also his disciple, Cui Dongshan. Just these two things alone were already quite unbelievable.

Right now, Chen Ping’an was attempting to trap the great demon inside the Lion Garden and beat it up. Linking this with his words and actions in the ancestral hall and in Liu Qingqing’s residence, Shi Rou felt sincerely impressed by Chen Ping’an’s manner of doing things.

He was incredibly meticulous.

It was said that wise people wouldn’t stand under unstable walls.[1] And if Chen Ping’an did decide to stand under an unstable wall, then he would definitely do everything in his ability to get himself an umbrella, a bamboo hat, a suit of armor, and so on. He would definitely try his best to make all of the necessary preparations.

Chen Ping’an naturally wouldn’t bother trying to guess Shi Rou’s thoughts.

There were other priorities, so he would leave Shi Rou for Cui Dongshan to deal with.

After walking around the entire perimeter of the Lion Garden and drawing the final talisman, Chen Ping’an still felt like this wasn’t necessarily enough. Thus, he started to walk around the Lion Garden again, taking out many talismans that he had drawn a long time ago but hadn’t had the opportunity to use yet. Not caring too much about their quality or anything else, Chen Ping’an filled the talismans with True Qi before sticking them all over the wall.

Chen Ping’an was bound to lose money and reap no reward.

He leaped atop the wall, and he thought to himself that he definitely needed to find an excuse to twist Pei Qian’s ear when he returned. Pei Qian was his opening disciple, after all, so being slightly unreasonable with her would obviously be fine!

He lazily stretched his back and smiled as he looked at his surroundings.

It was the end of spring already, and the green mountains were becoming increasingly clear.

Shi Rou was still holding the two clay pots of gold ink in her hands as she stood beside Chen Ping’an. She felt slightly puzzled when she saw Chen Ping’an’s peculiar expression.

Chen Ping’an reached behind his shoulders and locked his fingers together, so his palms perfectly rested on the hilt of the sword that was strapped to his back. He was carrying an immortal sword, so when could he finally become a genuine sword immortal?

He remembered the time when he traveled on an intercontinental ship and peered down at some region in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Someone had smiled and pointed down, saying that the nation beneath them was the Luminous Vermilion Empire, the empire with the most sword cultivators in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

However, she claimed that this was still nothing compared to her hometown, so Chen Ping’an definitely had to travel to the Northern Complete Reed Continent and have a look around if he had the opportunity in the future. At that time, he would understand that the Northern Complete Reed Continent genuinely lived up to its reputation of having the most sword cultivators in the world. This was naturally far superior to having the most sword cultivators on the continent.

Chen Ping’an was fairly eager to travel to the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Slowly pushing these thoughts out of his mind, Chen Ping’an grabbed his Sword Nurturing Gourd, Jiang Hu, and raised it to his mouth. To his dismay, he discovered that there wasn’t a single drop of wine left.

This was a little awkward.

He silently tied the wine gourd to his waist, hoping that Shi Rou hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

Shi Rou was quite amused, and she asked in an untimely manner, “Should I bring a pot of wine over for you, Master?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head in response before stomping his feet.

The large number of talismans on the external wall of the Lion Garden suddenly lit up one after another, causing spiritual light to burst into existence from the talismanic cores. As if receiving a decree from their master, the talismans all released a dazzling golden glow in unison.

At this moment, it was as if a golden flood dragon had suddenly materialized around the Lion Garden and wrapped around its entire perimeter.

1. This refers to the fact that wise people won’t take unnecessary risks. ☜