Unsheathed

Zhu Lian and Shi Rou exchanged a glance after detecting Chen Ping’an’s unusual movement, and the former chuckled, “You go first.”

Shi Rou forcefully suppressed the discomfort in her heart. It was very likely that this old pervert’s gaze would still be as revolting as always even after another one hundred years. Her voice was low as she said, “I’m a yin entity, a being that’s innately restrained by the capitals of nations. An entity that stirs up great unease within me has appeared in the direction that Young Master is looking. What about you?”

Zhu Lian nodded and remarked, “Young Master looked over after detecting something, and Lady Shi Rou immediately gazed over with an adrift expression as well. Your appearance was most charming.”

“Even Pei Qian understands the concept of treating others with sincerity, so how does a shameless old man like you not understand this?” Shi Rou fumed.

Pei Qian felt slightly aggrieved after hearing this, and she quipped, “Big Sister Shi Rou, what do you mean ‘even.’ I’m also very sincere and diligent when I read and write, okay?”

Shi Rou had no option but to look at the little girl with an apologetic expression.

Pei Qian waved her hand and started to randomly jumble profound principles from the sagely texts together again, saying, “People aren’t sages, so who can be without error? Everyone in the world can be forgiven…”

However, Pei Qian immediately felt a sense of unease after saying this. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before she yelped in pain and stood on her tippy-toes, with Chen Ping’an dragging her forward by the ear.

“You barely understand the sagely principles right now, yet you dare to foolishly show off your so-called knowledge?” Chen Ping’an scolded.

Pei Qian immediately apologized for her actions.

Her ear was throbbing with searing pain.

After a baptism of fire, Pei Qian was already roughly aware of her master’s various levels of anger. If she received a flick or a knuckle to the forehead, then that meant her master wasn’t very angry, even if he used slightly more force. If he pulled her by the ear, however, then it meant that he was genuinely angry. If he pulled her ear very hard, then that would be a very bad sign showing that he was very angry with her. However, none of these punishments could compare to Chen Ping’an remaining silent when he was angry, neither scolding nor physically punishing her. Pei Qian was most afraid of this.

Chen Ping’an found an inn located in the Changle Region, one of the busiest regions in the capital. There were many bookshops in this area.

However, there was a huge shortage of rooms across all inns in the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation, and there were only two unoccupied rooms remaining in the inn. Moreover, the two rooms were separate from each other and cost an absolute fortune. This was a clear rip-off, but the young inn attendant stood behind the counter with a haughty expression as if he were telling them to either pay up or piss off.

In the end, Chen Ping’an decided to pay up and stay in this inn. Of course, it was necessary to show the inn attendant their passports and travel documents first, as these needed to be recorded and checked by the relevant authorities in the capital afterward. When Chen Ping’an retrieved the necessary documents that Cui Dongshan had prepared for them beforehand, the inn attendant immediately changed his attitude after verifying their accuracy and authenticity.

The inn attendant respectfully returned the documents to Chen Ping’an with both hands after making a record, and he was especially polite and even apologized to Chen Ping’an for his earlier disrespect. He informed Chen Ping’an that the inn was genuinely unable to find any extra rooms at the moment, but he would immediately notify Young Master Chen once another guest left.

Chen Ping’an smiled and agreed to this offer, and it wasn’t long before a young lady walked out at the inn attendant’s behest and led Chen Ping’an and the others to their rooms.

Meanwhile, the inn attendant immediately ran off to look for the innkeeper, informing him that a group of travelers from the capital of the Great Li Empire had traveled south and settled down in their inn.

The innkeeper was a morbidly obese man whose eyes could barely be seen. He was dressed in the typical brocade robes of wealthy individuals, and he was currently sipping tea in leisure in a tranquil and refined building. After listening to the inn attendant’s report, he saw his employee standing there with a foolish expression as if he wanted to hear an explanation.

A sense of anger immediately welled up in the obese innkeeper’s mind, and he launched a kick at the inn attendant and scolded, “Why are you still standing there like an idiot? Perhaps you want me to pour you a cup of tea to alleviate your thirst? Hurry up and attend to them! Good heavens! The heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire has almost charged to the Luminous Vermilion Empire, so what if our esteemed guest is genuinely a young master from the clan of an official from the Great Li Empire? Ah… Forget about it, I’ll go myself, I can’t trust you to do anything properly…”

The young inn attendant failed to receive any merit for his hard work, and not only that, but he had even been scolded and kicked instead. This caused him to grumble in dissatisfaction in his mind.

However, he immediately suffered another heavy smack to the head, following which the obese innkeeper scolded, “Even if I think with my backside, I know that you were definitely looking down on our esteemed guests with a haughty expression just then. If it weren’t for the fact that you refer to me as brother-in-law, I would have kicked you out onto the streets a long time ago.”

Indeed, the young inn attendant had only received this job because of his relationship with the innkeeper. He only dared to curse after returning to the counter, and he grumbled about how his beautiful big sister had somehow become a mistress for this obese pig head. This was truly a… very fortunate thing. They no longer needed to worry about food and shelter, and they could also dress in expensive clothes adorned with gold and silver.

Every time his big sister returned home to that rundown alley, she would appear much like a royal lady from the palace. It was quite a sight to behold, and this also allowed him, her younger brother, to enjoy shared glory as well.

The innkeeper personally came out to greet Chen Ping’an and the others, and he managed to forcibly free up another room for them. Thanks to this, Pei Qian and Shi Rou were able to share a room. Shi Rou didn’t need to sleep, and nighttime was also the most suitable time for her to cultivate. Thus, Pei Qian was able to enjoy the bed all by herself.

Chen Ping’an was worried that Pei Qian would be afraid of Shi Rou’s identity as a yin entity as well as Du Mao’s immortal body, so he first asked her whether she agreed to this arrangement. Pei Qian expressed that she didn’t mind, and Shi Rou naturally didn’t have any objections either. On the other hand, Shi Rou’s hair would stand on end if she were forced to stay together with Zhu Lian, and she would feel as if she were trapped in a predator’s den.

There were all kinds of small and nuanced matters in the world, and Chen Ping’an had already grown accustomed to paying extra attention to these matters ever since a young age. The more attentive and meticulous he was, the less his companions would need to worry about these seemingly trivial matters. As a result, they could focus more of their time and effort on important matters. This had been the case ever since he had accompanied Li Baoping and the others to the Great Sui Nation’s Mountain Cliff Academy.

Their two rooms were relatively far apart, so Pei Qian stayed in Chen Ping’an’s room to transcribe some texts first.

Chen Ping’an was practicing the Heaven and Earth Stance, while Zhu Lian had nothing better to do. Thus, he stood in the corner of the room and maintained an ape-like posture.

In reality, both the Far Roaming Tier martial artist Zhu Lian and the fifth tier martial artist Chen Ping’an were aware that cultivation was more about their actions during a normal day. For example, the fist stances they practiced while walking, the cultivation techniques they practiced while traversing mountains and crossing rivers, the breathing techniques they used when sitting, and even the fist intent they nurtured when sleeping.

As for Pei Qian, she was still too young, after all, so she was yet to reach this level of cultivation. Even so, Chen Ping’an and Zhu Lian had to admit that there indeed existed some people in the world who possessed outstanding cultivation talent, even in the field of martial arts which was renowned for the importance it placed on taking things one step at a time and not taking any shortcuts.

Pei Qian was one such talent, and it was almost as if she were cheating as she progressed her cultivation. For example, Pei Qian was able to pick up the Eighteen Stops Technique that Chen Ping’an had taught her so quickly that even he had felt utterly ashamed while sitting inside Old Dragon City’s Dust Medicinal Shop.

After Chen Ping’an finished practicing the Heaven and Earth Stance, he saw the eager expression on Zhu Lian’s face and quickly came to an understanding. He asked Pei Qian, who had already finished transcribing texts, to draw a circle on the floor using her hiking pole. He was going to spar inside this circle with Zhu Lian, and whoever left the circle first would lose.

During Chen Ping’an’s long-awaited encounter with Ma Kuxuan on the streets of the Colorful Garment Nation, they had used this exact method to spar and determine a victor. Their battle had been filled with mystical undercurrents, and if it hadn’t been for Ma Kuxuan’s Dao guardian from True Martial Mountain watching over them with cold eyes, it was extremely likely that the two young men from Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley would have fought to the death right there and then.

Chen Ping’an would never hold back against Ma Kuxuan, someone whose parents had obtained ownership of a dragon kiln very early on. There were old grievances and new grievances, and there would eventually come a day when Chen Ping’an could comb through all of this and understand the truth. At that time, he could settle all of these scores in one fell swoop.

Pei Qian felt slightly upset and troubled after drawing the large circle on the floor. Cui Dongshan had taught her an immortal technique before leaving, yet she was unable to learn and emulate it no matter how hard she tried.

Chen Ping’an and Zhu Lian stood inside the circle that measured three meters in radius and started to unleash powerful punches at each other.

Zhu Lian naturally suppressed his cultivation base, similar to what Zheng Dafeng had done when sparring with him and his three companions from the picture scrolls.

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Ping’an was thrown back by a punch from Zhu Lian, and his chest was immediately struck by another elbow strike after he landed inside the circle with both feet. Chen Ping’an crashed toward the ground, and he used both hands to slap the ground when he was just one foot from hitting it, causing him to rotate in mid-air and appear much like a spinning top as his large sleeves twirled around. His feet scraped past the inner boundary of the circle as he shuffled to Zhu Lian’s side. However, Zhu Lian immediately kicked him in the chest, causing him to shoot toward a wall.

Chen Ping’an held his hands behind his back and placed them against the wall, using them to absorb much of the force. Otherwise, the immense force of Zhu Lian’s kick would have sent him through more than just a single wall. In the end, Chen Ping’an gracefully landed on the floor and said with a smile, “I lost.”

Zhu Lian smiled and asked, “Young Master, you used quite a lot of strange and interesting techniques just then. Did you steal them from that final battle in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land? For example, from Ding Ying, the person who stole my Daoist hat back then?”

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “Ding Ying was skilled in a huge variety of martial arts techniques, so I ended up learning quite a lot of new techniques from him.”

After sitting down, Zhu Lian poured Chen Ping’an a cup of tea and said slowly, “Ding Ying is the most talented martial artist that I’ve ever come across. Moreover, he was very meticulous, and he displayed his demeanor as a fiercely ambitious individual very early on. I knew that I couldn’t achieve further success during our battle in the Southern Garden Nation, seeing that I failed to unleash the fist intent that I had accumulated for all my life no matter how hard I tried.

“Even though I was already severely wounded at that time, Ding Ying still forced himself to wait until the very end before he showed himself. In reality, I could have killed him with ease if I wanted to, and doing so would have been no more difficult than killing a newborn chick. However, I decided to spare him, and I even gave him the Daoist hat that was left behind by an otherworldly immortal. For the next sixty years, not only did the young man not disappoint me, but his wild ambitions actually became even greater than mine.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and remarked, “No wonder Ding Ying always kept this important battle a secret and never mentioned it to anyone else. As it turns out, he was probably too ashamed to boast, and he didn’t want to expose his weaknesses to other people either.”

Pei Qian huffed and said in anger, “You might not know, but that old geezer seriously caused my master to suffer quite a bit.”

Zhu Lian smiled widely and asked, “If I had known this earlier, then I should have killed Ding Ying with a single punch back then, right?”

Having learned her lesson not long ago, Pei Qian looked at Chen Ping’an before taking a glance at Zhu Lian’s punchable expression. It was clear that he had dug a hole for her, and he would even shovel dirt and bury her alive if she took the bait and jumped inside. Thus, Pei Qian immediately shook her head and replied, “No, that’s not right.”

Chen Ping’an showed no signs of rewarding her with a knuckle to the head, so Pei Qian knew that she had answered the question correctly.

She packed up the calligraphy brush, ink, and paper on the table before carefully placing them inside Chen Ping’an’s bamboo bookcase. She then poured a cup of tea for herself and suddenly stood up, whispering to Chen Ping’an, “Master, I don’t know why this is, but I suddenly feel like the characters in the books are much prettier now when I read them.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t take this seriously, and he asked with a smile, “How so?”

Pei Qian made sure to whisper and guard against Zhu Lian eavesdropping on their conversation, and she continued to lower her voice as she replied, “The small blocks of ink used to look extremely dark just like me, but when I look at them now, they appear completely different from before. Who do they look like now…?”

Pei Qian started to count on her fingers as she listed out a few candidates, continuing, “There’s Huang Ting who taught me sword and saber techniques, Yao Jinzhi who has foxy and bewitching brows, Fan Junmao who has a fairly bad temper, and Jin Su who accompanies Aunt Gui. Also, let me clear something up first. It was Old Man Wei who said that Big Sister Jinzhi had foxy and bewitching brows and a stunningly beautiful appearance that could bring catastrophe to a nation and her people. I wasn’t the one who came up with this description. In fact, I don’t even understand what it means to have foxy brows.”

Zhu Lian roared with laughter and threw the little girl under a bus, exclaiming, “Oh, you can piss off with that excuse…”

Pei Qian hurriedly ran over, trying to cover Zhu Lian’s gossiping and rubbish-producing mouth with her hand. However, Zhu Lian naturally wouldn’t allow her to succeed, and he immediately started to weave his head left and right. Meanwhile, Pei Qian bared her teeth and flailed around with her arms.

Looking at the old man and the little girl fighting with each other again, Chen Ping’an reminded them, “After purchasing what we want in the capital, we’ll visit some famous sites and at most stay here for two more days. We’ll then head to the immortal ferry station located in the eastern region of the Azure Phoenix Nation and directly travel to the Great Sui Nation’s Mountain Cliff Academy.”

While continuing to dodge Pei Qian, Zhu Lian nodded and said with a smile, “There’s no need to worry about this old servant, Young Master. However, we should be careful about this unruly little girl who’s like a wild horse without a rein. We need to keep an eye on her so she doesn’t become the second ox-drawn carriage that charges headfirst into a thicket of reeds…”

“Zhu Lian, you’re always jinxing things for me, so be careful that I get serious with you!” Pei Qian shouted in anger.

Zhu Lian was just about to tease the tanned little girl again, but Chen Ping’an unexpectedly said, “Indeed, you shouldn’t jinx things for us anymore.”

Zhu Lian immediately nodded and replied, “Young Master is correct.”

Pei Qian finally found an opportunity to exact revenge on Zhu Lian, so sat down and clutched her stomach, pointing at the old man as she roared with laughter. “And you still have the face to accuse me of having flimsy convictions and swaying loyalty? Old Cook, you can piss off with that, hey?”

Zhu Lian put on a serious expression and explained, “Your actions are called sitting on a fence without solid convictions, while my actions are called adjusting to the circumstances like a wise individual. Indeed, a wise and handsome individual.”

Pei Qian blinked and asked in curiosity, “I heard Master say that you were once a peerlessly handsome young master in our home world, the Lotus Flower Blessed Land?”

Before Zhu Lian could get started on his lengthy story about his incredible achievements in the past, Pei Qian had already clutched her belly with both hands and banged her head into the table, saying through laughter, “You can piss off with that nonsense, yeh? Hahaha, you’re going to make me laugh to death! Ow, ow, ow, my tummy is starting to ache…”

Seeing that Chen Ping’an was also holding back his laughter, Zhu Lian couldn’t help but feel slightly melancholy.