Unsheathed

The old scholar visiting Eastern Splendor Mountain had been invited by an assistant mountain master of Mountain Cliff Academy, and he was holding a lecture this afternoon in the academy.

Chen Ping’an and Pei Qian arrived at the designated lecture venue right as the lecture drew to a conclusion, and they spotted Little Baoping traversing through the crowd like an agile red fish. Before long, she had rushed out of the building, and as she did so, she clenched her own fist in a gesture of self-encouragement.

Upon spotting Chen Ping’an and Pei Qian, she immediately sped up further as she rushed over to them, and Pei Qian admiration for Li Baoping only continued to grow as she watched the latter race along without any regard for what others thought of her. It seemed that she really was afraid of nothing.

From there, the three of them went to Chen Ping’an’s guest room together, and along the way, Li Baoping told him many interesting things, such as how there had been a white deer resting beside the old scholar as he was giving his lecture. It was said that back when he founded his own private academy, the white deer had come to him to protect him, and it ensured that the academy wasn’t attacked by wild beasts or damaged by mountain spirits.

However, according to Li Baoping, the old scholar’s white deer wasn’t as majestic and beautiful as the one that He Xiaoliang had brought with her into the Jewel Small World.

Just the mere mention of He Xiaoliang immediately gave Chen Ping’an a headache, and he was praying that he would never meet her again in this lifetime.

Chen Ping’an had seen that white deer of He Xiaoliang’s during their first encounter on that stone cliff beside the Dragon Whisker River, and only after asking Cui Dongshan about it in a later conversation did he come to realize that it was an extraordinary creature.

The white coloration of its pelt was only the result of an illusion that had been cast by Qi Zhen, and in reality, it was a Five-Colored Deer that that was highly sought after even among cultivators of the Upper Five Tiers, and such creatures were only ever owned by individuals who were blessed with immense fortune.

Using his unfathomable powers, Lu Chen had created a bridge of fortune between Chen Ping’an and He Xiaoliang, and as a result, in the wake of the Jewel Small World’s fall, Chen Ping’an was able to evenly split the resulting fortune with He Xiaoliang. Of course, this was all part of the plot that Lu Chen had hatched in an attempt to sever Mr. Qi’s scholarly lineage.

These temptations that he had dangled out in front of Chen Ping’an were extremely perilous, and if someone else had been in Chen Ping’an’s shoes, they would’ve most likely already been confined to the White Jade Capital in the Heavenly World, leading a life that appeared glamorous on the surface, but was actually one in which they had been reduced to a mere puppet.

It was through these experiences that Chen Ping’an came to understand just how fine a line there could be between fortune and disaster.

Thanks to his innate qualities and personality traits, Chen Ping’an was able to avoid being lured to the White Jade Capital by Lu Chen, but there were still some lingering negative connotations from those experiences.

For example, he had always been very resistant to the prospect of visiting broken small worlds, and it was only after his journey with Lu Tai and his conversation Zhu Lian that his perspective began to change, and he became more and more determined to embark on on a journey to the Complete Reed Continent in the future.

The Complete Reed Continent was the place where power was most revered in the Majestic World, and even the sages of the Confucian academies there were forced to resort to violence in order to get their teachings across.

Chen Ping’an wanted to go and practice his swordsmanship there.

He wanted to go on his own and focus wholehearted on his sword training.

“How was the lecture?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile.

Li Baoping thought about it for a moment, then replied, “Mr. Zhao says that a lecture from a wise man is like a lone crane flying from afar, and just a fleeting appearance from it is enough to inspire enlightenment within the beholder. I feel like this is not a completely baseless claim, but it feels like a bit of a hyperbole to me.

“However, what was most impressive about his teachings was his proposed concept of ‘meeting’ past wise men through their literary works. He says that even hundreds or thousands of years after those wise men have passed away, one can still glean the core principles that they held dear by examining their works, but on this occasion, Mr. Zhao didn’t demonstrate how to do this.

“Instead, he went into great detail on analyzing a specific Confucian classic, and I was a little disappointed. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was in a hurry to see you, I would’ve stayed behind to ask him how we can go about communicating with our predecessors through their literary works.”

“Was this Mr. Zhao inspired by the teachings of Sage Lu from the Southern Whirl Continent’s Swan Lake Academy?” Chen Ping’an asked.

A bright smile appeared on Li Baoping’s face as she replied, “You know so much, Junior Uncle! One of Mr. Zhao’s ancestors was none other than Sage Lu!”

According to the records in the Mountain and Sea Chronicle, which Chen Ping’an had gifted to Yu Lu, Sage Lu had a very good relationship with the Pure Confucian Chen Clan. With that in mind, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but wonder if Liu Xianyang had been able to secure an opportunity to meet him.

Pei Qian wanted to involve herself in the conversation, but she had no idea what was being discussed, and she was worried that speaking on these matters that she knew nothing about would only make her appear like an idiot to Chen Ping’an and Li Baoping, so she could only remain in a dejected silence.

Thankfully, Chen Ping’an noticed her sullen mood, and he pinched her by the ear as he scolded, “Do you see how knowledgeable your Big Sister Baoping is? Even though you’re not a student of the academy, you also have to work hard in your studies so that you’re not left behind.”

Pei Qian stomped her foot in an indignant manner as she protested, “But she’s Big Sister Baoping! How could I possibly hope to compare with her? Can’t you compare me with someone else, like Li Huai? He’s also been studying at the academy for so many years, but I don’t feel like I know any less than he does!”

Chen Ping’an burst into laughter upon hearing this, and he released Pei Qian’s ear before patting her on the head.

Upon returning to the guest room, Chen Ping’an discovered that Yu Lu was already waiting there, and he was standing beneath the eaves with Zhu Lian, with the two of them seemingly getting along very well.

Chen Ping’an felt much more reassured at the sight of Yu Lu.

At the height of the previous crisis in the academy, it was Yu Lu who had made the decisive move, beating Li Changying to the point that he had to be carried down Eastern Splendor Mountain even in the presence of a swordsman more powerful than himself.

After a meal, Chen Ping’an went to Mao Xiaodong’s study to continue discussing the matter of his bonded item refinement, while Yu Lu was left with the task of looking after Pei Qian.

Following Chen Ping’an’s departure, Li Baoping declared that she was going to return to her dormitory to make notes on Mr. Zhao’s lecture, and Pei Qian made up an excuse to not go with her. After that, she went to Chen Ping’an’s guest room and brought out her little treasure box. She and Li Huai had agreed to a showdown for the ages on the summit of Eastern Splendor Mountain.

Yu Lu accompanied Pei Qian up the mountain, while Zhu Lian had already departed to protect Li Baoping in secret under Chen Ping’an’s instructions.

Upon arriving on the summit of Eastern Splendor Mountain, Pei Qian discovered that Li Huai was already waiting for her, and placed in front of him was that yellow wooden box of his.

A wide grin appeared on Pei Qian’s face as she set her treasure box down onto the table, while Yu Lu sat down on a stone stool, feeling rather intrigued and amused by the showdown between the two children.

Li Huai was regarding the treasure box with a solemn expression, as if he were observing a formidable foe, and he offered, “You can make the first move!”

Pei Qian opened her treasure box to reveal its nine-grid structure, and within it was an intricately crafted wooden ganoderma, several rare coins purchased by Yao Jinzhi, and a vintage Daoist badge with the image of a Daoist enforcer engraved upon it. The Daoist enforcer had a red complexion and a Heavenly Eye on its glabella, and it was dressed in a suit of golden armor and a red robe.

Following an appraisal from Chen Ping’an, it was determined that aside from the Daoist enforcer badge and the wooden ganoderma, the rest of the items in the treasure box were all just pieces of mortal paraphernalia and couldn’t be considered immortal artifacts.

Pei Qian gently pulled out the badge before setting it down onto the table as she declared, “Take this!”

Li Huai opened his wooden box, then pulled out a clay figure of a wandering swordsman before crossing his arms as he said, “I have a sword immortal who can protect me and kill my enemies. What are you going to do?”

Pei Qian immediately pulled out the wooden ganoderma as she replied, “Even if I receive a blow from your sword immortal’s sword, ganodermas are an extremely potent medicine that can save my life! What else have you got?”

Li Huai harrumphed coldly as he pulled out a second clay figure, this one a gong-wielding night watchman, and he declared, “My night watchman will bang on his gong constantly until you can’t bear it anymore!”

A cold sneer appeared on Pei Qian’s face as she pulled out the rare coins in her collection before setting them down onto the table.

“Money can corrupt even the best of men! Who’s to say that your night watchman won’t turn on you and bang on his gong until your ears start to bleed?”

Li Huai pulled out a third clay figure, namely an armorclad general, and he countered, “This general is my most loyal subordinate! If you try to bribe him with money, then he’ll teach you a lesson on the definition of futility!”

After that, he pulled out a clay figure of a Daoist priest holding a horsetail whisk, then continued, “This is a deity from a Daoist temple! With just a single sweep of his horsetail whisk, he can split mountains and part seas! Do you surrender?”

Instead of pulling out more items from her treasure box, Pei Qian carefully fished the scented pouch that had been given to her by Lady Gui out of her sleeve, and the first thing that she did after that was turn around before secretly pulling her pocket money, and the osmanthus branch and osmanthus leaf out of the pouch.

After stowing those items away, she placed the fragrant scented pouch onto the table as she declared, “This cosmic bag is capable of devouring all immortal abilities and treasures, so that horsetail whisk is nothing to me!”

After that, Pei Qian set the translucent osmanthus branch onto the table as she bragged, “This is a branch from an osmanthus tree all the way up in the Moon Palace! All I need to do is plant it into the ground, and the next day, it’ll grow into an osmanthus tree that’s even taller than a house!”

Li Huai hurriedly pulled out his final clay figure, a celestial maiden riding atop a crane, and he countered, “This maidservant of mine is riding atop an immortal crane, which can pick up your osmanthus branch and carry it away!”

Pei Qian removed the bamboo sword and saber from her waist, then slammed them down onto the table as she declared, “My sword will slice off the crane’s talons, while my saber will lop off your maidservant’s head!”

Finally, Li Huai brought out his most prized subordinate, the painted wooden doll. It was around half an arm’s length tall, and it was far superior to the set of clay figures gifted to him by Wei Jin.

“My almighty general will grab onto your sword and saber and snap them in half!”

After that, the showdown turned into a chaotic melee.

Pei Qian brought out her hiking pole and the mortal artifacts in her treasure box, while Li Huai pulled out his copy of “Severed Water Cliff”, and even the spirits that had been thrust into the book by A’Liang were put on display.

However, ultimately, it was Pei Qian who managed to claim the upper hand.

At this point, the stone table was already completely laden with prized items from Pei Qian and Li Huai’s collections, while Yu Lu was looking on with keen interest.

In the end, Li Huai heaved a long sigh as he cupped his fist in a salute and conceded, “Alright, I admit my defeat. I am a brave and upstanding man, and I can concede when I’ve been beaten!”

Pei Qian crossed her arms as she nodded with an appreciative expression and said, “It’s fine. Even though you’ve been defeated, you’ve done more than enough to uphold your dignity. There are very few heroes in the martial arts world that can put up such a good fight against me!”

Li Huai turned to Yu Lu and said, “Yu Lu, you are extremely fortunate to have witnessed this showdown for the ages.”

Pei Qian put on a mature display as she said, “I’m not the type of person who enjoys being showered with worthless accolades, so just remember what you’ve seen here, but don’t go telling other people about it.”

Li Huai and Pei Qian exchanged a glance with each other, and both of them broke out into wide grins.

It was not every day that they encountered such fierce rivals, and they had developed a mutual appreciation for one another.

Pei Qian was thinking to herself that during Li Huai’s future educational excursions, she was going to show him what the cultivation world was all about.

As for Li Huai, he was thinking to himself that if he ever embarked on a long journey away from the academy, he was definitely going to bring Pei Qian with him. The two of them clearly got along very well, and she was far more well-versed with the cultivation world than he was, so having her by his side would instill him with a great sense of security.

Meanwhile, Yu Lu was sitting off to the side in an awestruck silence, both stunned by how many precious items the two children owned and astonished by how shameless they were.

Due to the fact that Li Huai had flunked a lesson to come here, there were currently no students from the academy or visitors on the mountain summit. This spared Yu Lu a lot of trouble, and he allowed the two children to pack up their things in a slow and methodical manner.

The Lu Empire was once renowned in the northern region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent for its tremendous wealth, so as a former prince of the Lu Empire, Yu Lu had seen far more than his fair share of valuable things. Even as a cultivation prodigy, it was very likely that Xie Xie wouldn’t be able to compete with him in this regard.

Hence, Yu Lu could tell that the two children’s collections could rival that of a Dragon Gate Tier cultivator. In fact, setting aside bonded items, even some itinerant Golden Core Tier earth immortals may not have been as wealthy as the two of them.

With that in mind, Yu Lu turned to Pei Qian, then asked in a joking manner, “Pei Qian, are you not worried that I’ll be tempted to steal your collection from you?”

Pei Qian rolled her eyes at Yu Lu in a disdainful manner, regarding him as if he were an idiot as she scoffed, “You’re a friend of my master’s, how could I not trust your integrity?”

Yu Lu had no answer to this.

————

Over at Mao Xiaodong’s study, Chen Ping’an and Mao Xiaodong meticulously simulated all of the steps involved in the former’s bonded item refinement, following which the latter laid a hand onto the ruler hanging from his waist, and a series of natural treasures required to refine a scholarly core drifted out of the ruler before landing on the table. There were a total of eighteen such items, and they all varied in size and value.

At the moment, there were still six items missing, four of which were about to arrive at Mountain Cliff Academy soon, while the remaining two were rather difficult to acquire. Those two items could be substituted, but doing so would negatively impact the caliber of the completed scholarly core.

Mao Xiaodong had very high hopes for this bonded item refinement, and he wanted Chen Ping’an to be able to refine a flawless bonded item to reside in his second acupoint.

There were some things that Mao Xiaodong was keeping secret from Chen Ping’an because on one hand, he wanted to give Chen Ping’an a surprise, and on the other hand, he was worried that prematurely revealing those things to Chen Ping’an would only fill him with indecision and worry.

A successful refinement of a scholarly core was like the establishment of a manor for a powerful nobleman, or the raising of a flag on a battlefield for a general. At certain times and in certain settings, a scholarly core could speed up one’s rate of spiritual energy absorption. For example, of the five elements, those with a metal-attribute scholarly core would especially benefit from absorbing spiritual energy to the west and the southwest of scenic locations.

On top of that, one’s scholarly core could also resonate with one’s innate traits. Once again, in the example of someone with a metal-attribute scholarly core, they would be able to make far faster progress in their cultivation if they possessed a headstrong personality and strong killing intent.

However, the aforementioned traits were ones that all metal-attribute bonded items generally possessed, while in the case of Chen Ping’an’s scholarly core, there was a set of more obscure circumstances involved.

Mao Xiaodong had only learned about this from an extremely obscure book, so he was certain that even Cui Dongshan wasn’t aware of this.

In order to refine a flawless golden scholarly of an extremely high caliber, many prerequisites had to be fulfilled. The person refining the scholarly core had to possess immense fortune and excel in battle. On top of that, their personality had to align with the scholarly qi harbored within the scholarly core, and in addition, a top-tier item refinement method had to be used.

Only with all of those conditions perfectly satisfied could one hope to refine a scholarly core of the caliber that Mao Xiaodong hoped for Chen Ping’an to attain.

If one were to enter a place of filth and corruption with such a scholarly core, perhaps it wouldn’t necessarily grant them imperviousness to all evil influences and ward off all evil entities, but at the very least, it would grant them a natural advantage over all entities that weren’t regarded as righteous beings.

This effect was similar to how the flood dragons that resided in the rivers, lakes, and seas in ancient times possessed a natural ability to subjugate and command all water-dwelling beings.

As Chen Ping’an carefully examined the natural treasures that had been laid out onto the table, Mao Xiaodong said, “Over the next few days, you and I will visit the Confucian temples and several other places in the capital where there’s an abundance of scholarly fortune, but we’ll do so at night to avoid the prying eyes of others during the day as much as possible.

“I have to collect some scholarly fortune from those deities, some of which was… deposited with them by our Mountain Cliff Academy. To put it in frank terms, the scholarly fortune deposited with those deities essentially served as dividends from certain deals, and the Great Sui Nation’s imperial clan and Ministry of Rites will only turn a blind eye to this.

“After all, I’m only taking the scholarly fortune back to Eastern Splendor Mountain, and like you said, ultimately, Eastern Splendor Mountain is still a part of the Great Sui Nation’s territory. During this time, just make sure to stay by my side, and you don’t need to say anything. I’m only bringing you with me to see if there are any scholarly fortune opportunities that belong solely to you.

“Does that not feel right to you? If that’s the case, then you’re mistaken in your thinking. At the moment, you only have a very surface-level understanding when it comes to battles of Confucian scholarly lineages. You see what happens on the surface, but you don’t know the meaning behind everything.

“In any case, this is not something that you need to think about for now, so just do as I say. Don’t get nervous, I’m not asking you to accept and dedicate yourself to any particularly scholarly lineage.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response.

Mao Xiaodong continued in a candid fashion, “Right now, there’s a great deal of trouble brewing in the capital city, so it’s going to be a very dangerous place in the near future. Truth be told, I have a secondary objective for bringing you with me out of the academy, and it’ll help you jump out of the predicament that you’re currently facing, but there’s going to be a significant degree of risk involved. What are your thoughts?”

It was clear that Mao Xiaodong was planning to use Chen Ping’an as bait.

A concerned look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face as he replied, “Of course I’m willing to do as you say, but once you leave the academy, it’ll be the equivalent of a sage leaving the territory that they preside over. If they choose to target you while you’re away from the academy, won’t you be in a lot of danger?”

“Even if I’m away from Eastern Splendor Mountain, it’ll have to take at least an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator to take me down,” Mao Xiaodong chuckled. “The Upper Five Tier cultivators of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent can’t just be summoned on a whim like Pei Qian and Li Huai’s little toys. The only Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator in the Great Sui Nation is that ancestor of the Geyang Gao Clan, and he’s just a storyteller who doesn’t excel in battle.

“On top of that, in the wake of Du Mao’s demise, his colored glaze golden body fragments have already descended upon the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. All of the old farts who have the power required to compete for these priceless fragments, such as Heavenly Lord Qi Zhen of the Divine Edict Sect, the old ancestor of the Jiang Clan, and that Unpolished Jade Tier itinerant cultivator from the Wasp Tail Ferry Station, all of them are definitely too busy plotting against each other to be targeting me.

“As for the rest, such as the likes of Wei Jin from the Wind Snow Temple, they’re all gathered in the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent in preparation for a battle against Heavenly Lord Xie Shi of the Complete Reed Continent. There are over two hundred nations in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, but there are so few native Upper Five Tier cultivators on this continent that I can count them off the fingers of my two hands.

“Prior to Cui Chan and Qi Jingchun’s arrival on the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, perhaps I would’ve even been able to count them off just one hand alone. Hence, it’s no wonder that the cultivators of the other continents look down on our Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. We simply cannot even begin to compare with them in any regard.

“Well, aside from the field of martial arts, that is. After all, both Song Changjing and Li Er are still very young, and the emergence of two tenth tier martial artists on the same continent in such a short time has certainly created quite a stir.”

On the subject of Song Changjing, Chen Ping’an told Mao Xiaodong about the reward for Song Changjing’s head offered by the Daoist Saber Room of Stalactite Mountain.

Mao Xiaodong smiled as he said, “The rest of the Majestic World has grown accustomed to looking down on the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. If you’re journeying across another continent and declare that you’re from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, you’ll definitely find yourself often being looked down on by others.

“Following the founding of Mountain Cliff Academy, Qi Jingchun dedicated himself to doing only a single thing for the first two to three decades of the academy’s existence. Do you know what that was?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head in response.

Mao Xiaodong smiled as he said, “He painstakingly nurtured batches of bright, young scholars for the Great Li Empire, but all of them only saw Mountain Cliff Academy as a stepping stone, and they desperately wanted to go to the more renowned Lake View Academy.

“Qi Jingchun made no attempt to stop them, but to add insult to injury, he had to write recommendation letters for those young scholars, saying good things about them to improve their chances of being accepted by Lake View Academy.”

Chen Ping’an was stunned to hear this.

“At the time, almost all of the scholars in the Great Li Empire were of the opinion that any virtuous scholar or noble scholar from Lake View Academy could do a better job of passing down sagely teachings than the mountain master of Mountain Cliff Academy,” Mao Xiaodong mused.

Both Chen Ping’an and Mao Xiaodong fell into a somber silence.

Mao Xiaodong turned to look out the window with a self-deprecating expression, then continued, “Hence, in the end, Qi Jingchun and I, and even our teacher, were unable to determine who could officially qualify as our direct disciples. Isn’t that amusing? In contrast, all of the other major scholarly lineages had countless disciples arranged in strict hierarchies, while we could look on in resignation and dismay.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t know what to say, so he removed his Sword Nurturing Gourd from his waist before taking a sip of wine.

Meanwhile, Mao Xiaodong strode over the window, where day had already turned into night outside.

He then turned around to discover that Chen Ping’an was hesitating about whether he should continue drinking.