Unsheathed

Dawn arrived, and Chen Ping’an and the others finished packing their luggage and prepared to leave the Purple Sun Residence.

Sect Master Huang Chu and two elderly Dragon Gate Tier immortals personally saw them off, accompanying them all the way to the bank of the Iron Plate River. The river god of the incense temple had already prepared an immortal ship for them, and they needed to travel downstream for fifty or so kilometers before disembarking at a ferry station and continuing their journey to the border of the Yellow Court Nation.

Chen Ping’an expressed his gratitude to Huang Chu, after which Huang Chu retrieved a newly crafted sandalwood box — one that adopted the style of renowned study room antiques in the Yellow Court Nation — saying that it was a small gift from the old ancestor.

Pei Qian had a stern expression, pretending that she didn’t care about this at all.

Chen Ping’an hesitated for a moment before eventually deciding to accept the small box that contained four valuable treasures from the Purple Qi Palace, saying, “Sect Master Huang Chu, you definitely need to visit Downtrodden Mountain if you go to the Dragon Spring Prefecture in the future.”

Afterward, Chen Ping’an raised the box of valuables and joked, “I won’t have any valuable gifts for you, nor will I have Old Flood Dragon Yearning Wine like those served in the banquet at the Vast Snow Hall. I’ll only have some home-style cooking to offer you. Perhaps Sect Master Huang Chu won’t want to say hi to me even if he visits the Dragon Spring Prefecture.”

Huang Chu smiled faintly and replied, “If I have the opportunity to visit the Great Li Empire, I’ll definitely find a chance to visit Young Master Chen even if I don’t visit the Dragon Spring Prefecture.”

They happily chatted with each other, and Huang Chu accompanied Chen Ping’an and the others all the way to the immortal ship docked at the bank. Huang Chu initially wanted to board the immortal ship and accompany them all the way to the ferry station, yet Chen Ping’an insisted again and again that this wouldn’t be necessary. Only then did Huang Chu give up on the matter.

Chen Ping’an walked to the bow of the immortal ship after boarding, and the Sword Nurturing Gourd by his waist was filled with Old Flood Dragon Yearning Wine as the ship slowly sailed downstream. This was a wine brimming with spiritual energy. Chen Ping’an cupped his fists in the direction of the Purple Qi Palace.

Standing on the top floor of the Purple Qi Palace was a tall and slender woman who had activated an illusion technique. She was none other than the Cave Spirit True Lord Wu Yi, and after seeing Chen Ping’an’s gesture, she smiled and remarked, “Inviting him was easy, and sending him off wasn’t too difficult either.”

She was in a fairly good mood.

Wu Yi had already recorded the events of the past two days — no matter how major or minor the event — and reported them to her father by sending a flying sword to the Dragon Spring Prefecture’s Cloud Drape Mountain.

She believed that even if she wasn’t praised and rewarded, she would at least be able to escape criticism and punishment.

The immortal ship slowly sailed away, becoming as small as a speck of sand in Wu Yi’s eyes.

However, her body suddenly tensed up at this moment, and she didn’t dare to move a single muscle.

At some unknown time, a refined elder in Confucian robes had already materialized beside her, easily breaking through the defensive formations of the Purple Sun Residence to silently arrive at the top floor of the Purple Qi Palace.

Wu Yi composed herself and said in a quiet voice, “This unfilial daughter greets her father.”

As it turned out, the uninvited guest was none other than the former assistant minister of the Yellow Court Nation’s Ministry of Revenue and the current deputy mountain master of Cloud Drape Mountain’s Forest Deer Academy. This elderly flood dragon had adopted countless pseudonyms and identities during his extremely long life.

The old man glanced at Wu Yi and surprisingly smiled in a rare display, saying, “You managed to kill three birds with one stone. Since when did you become so smart?”

Wu Yi was filled with fear and unease, and she couldn’t help but feel like her father was praising her in a sarcastic manner or insinuating something else. She was terrified that she would suffer his wrath in the next moment, and she was already having thoughts about fleeing.

Cheng Shuidong placed a hand on the railing and said slowly, “Since when did the river god of the Imperial River become powerful enough to bring harm to the White Swan River’s Xiao Luan? His high-profile visit to the Dragon Spring Prefecture was merely in order to drink wine with that small snake. At the same time, the little boy in azure who’s pretending to be wealthy and acting generously at his own cost managed to obtain a Peace and Safety Tablet for his friend. He encountered many roadblocks in the process, and it was exceedingly difficult for him to obtain the tablet.

“In reality, Xiao Luan miscalculated and became flustered all on her own, causing her to scramble for help in desperation. It was because of this that she was willing to devalue herself and submit to the Purple Sun Residence. However, Xiao Luan’s willingness to abandon her relationship with the Imperial Hong Clan shows that she’s a relatively smart person. She can enjoy a whole host of benefits by submitting to the Purple Sun Residence, while you can also earn a huge sum of money by doing not much at all. This is a win-win situation, and this is the first of three benefits you managed to obtain.

Cheng Shuidong looked at his palms before shaking his head and clasping his hands behind his back, continuing, “Your methods of pleasing Chen Ping’an were very unrefined and unnatural, and you surprisingly even tried to show your superiority to him during the banquet in the Vast Snow Hall. However, just like some incorrect moves in a game of Go, your incorrect actions actually ended up becoming extremely useful moves that significantly improved Chen Ping’an’s impression of you.

“Otherwise, Chen Ping’an would have become increasingly wary and guarded if you had appeared shrewd and calculating the entire time. He would have felt fear and caution toward you and the Purple Sun Residence, and in the end, you would have failed to foster any good relationship with him.

“The most brilliant move you made was to summon a light drizzle that night, initially planning to use it as a disguise for Xiao Luan and creating the illusion that she had developed romantic feelings for Chen Ping’an. However, you unexpectedly managed to give Chen Ping’an a huge fated opportunity because of this.

“If it weren’t for me deliberately suppressing the phenomenon of heaven and earth, I’m afraid that it would have ended up far bigger than what it was. Not only would the Purple Sun Residence have noticed it, but all of the spirits and deities in the Iron Plate River and even the White Swan River would have noticed it as well.

“Sages enjoy the mountains but have a stronger affinity with water — there are profound principles behind this saying. So, your actions greatly surprised me — they were surprisingly delightful. This is the second of the three benefits.”

The old man turned around and said with a smile, “And finally, it was the imperial preceptor’s plan to have you invite Chen Ping’an to the Purple Sun Residence. Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan frankly revealed to me that he hoped to slow down Chen Ping’an’s return to his hometown. As for the imperial preceptor’s intentions, he definitely wouldn’t reveal them to an outsider like me.

“Of course, I don’t want to know about his reasons or meddle in his affairs anyway. After all, becoming overly involved in these matters will only lead to negative outcomes for me regardless of whether the imperial preceptor succeeds or fails. You helped me complete this task this time, which essentially means that I provided some minor help to the imperial preceptor. Because of this, the Purple Sun Residence will definitely receive rewards from the Great Li Empire. Just wait for the good news.”

This was indeed brilliant news, yet Wu Yi couldn’t help but feel a cold chill shoot through her body. She never imagined that her father had actually observed this farcical matter from the beginning to the end.

Standing in the corridor on the top floor of the Purple Qi Palace and facing her father, Wu Yi was most likely feeling the same emotions that Lady Xiao Luan had felt when facing her in the small courtyard.

Cheng Shuidong not only looked like a Confucian scholar, but he was also dressed like one. He looked at his palms again, furrowing his brows and murmuring, “And just what can we determine from this?”

Wu Yi stole a secret glance.

What she saw was her father using a mystical power to summon the water essence contained within the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, causing beads of water to fill his palms. It was as if he had collected these beads of water from some lotus leaves following a period of rainfall. However, these beads of water suddenly exploded in unison, transforming into a puddle of rainwater in her father’s palm. Cheng Shuidong observed the puddle of water for a long time, yet he was still unable to make heads or tails of the situation. Before long, the puddle of water transformed into beads of rainwater again.

In Wu Yi’s mind, her father’s knowledge could rival that of Confucian sages from the academies. Yet, he appeared slightly hesitant at this moment, and he extended his other hand and poured the beads of rainwater over, causing a golden light to instantly flash in his palm. Before Wu Yi could focus her gaze and see anything, her father had already rapidly clenched his hand into a fist, completely obscuring her view.

Cheng Shuidong pondered for a moment before coming to his senses and saying to Wu Yi with a smile, “There’s nothing interesting to look at.”

Wu Yi naturally didn’t dare to dig any deeper.

“Do you know why all of the sentient beings in the world strive so hard to achieve human form?” the old man asked. “The human body is clearly so weak, needing to ingest food and liquid for the sake of survival. This is also an obstruction to cultivation, hence the reason why Qi refiners talk about abstaining from food to prevent the stench from detrimentally affecting their mind, soul, and Qi. In fact, the act of eating and drinking prevents one from reverting their old age and returning to a nascent stage.

“On the other hand, flood dragons like us are uniquely blessed by the heavens, possessing not only a powerful physique, but also possessing intelligence that can rival the humans. That being the case, why are we standing here in human form?”

Wu Yi was slightly confused, so she didn’t dare to say anything in response. This pertained to the acupoints of humans, and it pertained to the small world and blessed land that a human body represented. This was common knowledge to all cultivators in the mountains and all spirits and ghosts in the mountains. However, her father definitely wouldn’t speak nonsense to her, so what was the profound meaning behind his statement?

Cheng Shuidong didn’t make things too difficult for Wu Yi, one of his few remaining children in the world, and he revealed, “The profound meaning is contained within a single word: returning.”

He raised a finger and drew a circle in the air.

Wu Yi fell deep into thought.

Cheng Shuidong smiled and said, “You’re still young, and your experience in this world is still lacking. To say nothing of the situation three thousand years ago, where would you go to seek an answer about the situation ten thousand years ago if I don’t give you the answer?”

Wu Yi’s expression immediately became solemn. She knew that her father was giving her a Dao attainment catalyst!

She had already been stuck at the Golden Core Tier for three hundred or so years, and the heretical cultivation technique that could allow Qi refiners to advance to the Nascent Tier didn’t make things any easier for her. As a descendant of flood dragons, she faced many obstacles and challenges when cultivating this technique. She had finally advanced to the peak stage of the Golden Core Tier after much struggle, yet she had remained at this level for more than one hundred years, unable to break through to the next tier no matter what she did. This caused her to feel a sense of despair.

Cheng Shuidong looked up at the sky and asked, “Are you not curious about where all of the mortal humans belonging to the Three Teachings, the Hundred Schools of Thought, and the three worlds have come from? Why did they come here? And how did they ultimately manage to become the owners of the world? Mhm, there are many nonsensical rumors regarding the last question, with some of them completely wrong and some of them containing many truths. Perhaps you’ve gained a rough understanding of some secrets as well.”

Wu Yi nodded in response.

Three thousand years ago, the last True Dragon in the world had fled from the Middle Earth Divine Continent and relied on its innate mystical powers — powers that allowed it to control the water fortune of the world — to escape to the southernmost region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. It had climbed ashore at Old Dragon City, yet its severe wounds meant that it was forced to crash into the ground and forcefully carve out a deep dragon channel.

Afterward, a powerful cultivator had used a vanquishing technique — one that was already long lost nowadays— to suppress the True Dragon, forcing it to come out from underground. In the end, the True Dragon that was already on the verge of death had collapsed and died near the region where the Jewel Small World would later be formed. Following its death, another powerful cultivator had used a mystical ability to forge the Jewel Small World, making it appear like a bright jewel that hung high above the Great Li Empire.

Cheng Shuidong sighed and lamented, “Your comprehension ability is truly pathetic.”

Wu Yi felt slightly aggrieved.