Unsheathed

On this day, as the sun began to set, the entire sky was filled with shimmering, golden carp scale patterns, making it appear as if a gargantuan, golden carp were swimming through the heavens.

The manager of the Cyan Gorge Island Fishing Room was a senior Dragon Gate Tier cultivator of the island, and he had just disembarked from a boat with a timid young boy, with the two of them stepping onto the shore of the island together.

The Qi refiners of the Cyan Gorge Island Fishing Room were similar to the sticky rod officials of the Great Li Empire, and the old man’s name was Zhang Ye. Despite the fact that he was only at the Dragon Gate Tier, he was a true core subordinate of Liu Zhimao, and he was also the first cultivator to have ever followed Liu Zhimao.

At the time, Liu Zhimao had only been a Sea Observation Tier vagrant cultivator, while Zhang Ye had been an official immortal, and he had already also been at the Sea Observation Tier at the time. For the older generation of cultivators on Cyan Gorge Island, the stories between the two men were the stuff of legends.

The young boy’s name was Zeng Ye, and he was a fine cultivation prodigy from Thatch Moon Island who was naturally suited to the cultivation of ghostly techniques. However, just because he possessed good aptitude didn’t necessarily mean that there was a bright future ahead for him.

If it weren’t for Cyan Gorge Island’s intervention, he would’ve been used by the island master to feed and nurture a ghostly infant. During his early years, he would’ve been sure to make rapid progress in his cultivation, and it would’ve really appeared as if he were a top-tier prodigy that Thatch Moon Island was doing everything in its power to nurture.

However, as soon as he reached the Middle Five Tiers, he would have his soul brutally torn out of his body, and he would truly come to understand just how cruel fate could be.

Zeng Ye was a very unemotional man, as well as a man of few words. Even when in the presence of Liu Zhimao, he was still not one to speak much.

However, given the importance of the situation, he felt it necessary to repeat himself as he said, “Zeng Ye, I’m sure you’ve heard about the many feats of Mr. Chen, and you must be aware that he’s a very important character in our Bamboo Scroll Lake.

“Right now, he’s living near the entrance of the island, and when you see him, there’s no need to go out of your way to say good things about me and Cyan Gorge Island. In the presence of Mr. Chen, honesty is always the best policy. Back on Thatch Moon Island, you heard the confession from your master and your patriarch to me about what they were planning to do with you, so essentially, Mr. Chen has saved your life.

“Also, I know that you’re worried that perhaps you’ve jumped out of the frying pan, only to land in the fire, but I can assure you that Mr. Chen is not going to harm you. On Thatch Moon Island, you were destined to suffer a terrible demise, but here on our Cyan Gorge Island, you have been blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. Honestly, even I’m a little envious of you. There are many official immortals who don’t even have your kind of luck.”

Zeng Ye had a rather timid nature, and not only had he been terrified by the shocking knowledge of the fate that had awaited him on Thatch Moon Island, he had also been completely saddened by his master, so he was still feeling a little shaken.

In response to Zhang Ye’s words, Zeng Ye nodded along in silence, thinking to himself that regardless of what his current situation was, surely it couldn’t be as bad as the fate that he would’ve suffered on Thatch Moon Island.

Zhang Ye was silent for a moment, then continued, “Having said that, once you’ve risen to the top, I hope you’ll still remember what we’ve done for you. After all, it was our Cyan Gorge Island that pulled you out of the fire, so no matter where you go with Mr. Chen in the future, I think you shouldn’t forget that it was Cyan Gorge Island that saved your life. What do you think, Zeng Ye?”

Zeng Ye hurriedly nodded as he replied, “I understand; I definitely won’t forget everything that you’ve done for me.”

Zhang Ye smiled as he said, “I only need to hear that once from you. From now on, there’s no need to always go around saying that, just make sure to remember it. If you’re always saying it, then it’ll be like drinking from a jar of wine. You drink some today, you drink some the next day, and it’ll quickly begin to run out, and you’ll no longer cherish it.”

Zeng Ye was just an orphan from the Stone Brush Nation that his master had brought back to Thatch Moon Island. His master was only able to see a little bit of his potential, and it was actually the Dragon Gate Tier patriarch of Thatch Moon Island who had managed to identify Zeng Ye’s rare talents.

From there, he hatched a plan to use ghostly secret techniques to harvest all of Zeng Ye’s essential energy and aptitude in order to nurture several ghostly entities of the Middle Five Tiers. Earlier, the patriarch of Thatch Moon Island had told Zeng Ye that if their island had been as powerful and wealthy as Cyan Gorge Island, then he wouldn’t have taken such a short-sighted approach.

Instead, he would’ve focused on nurturing Zeng Ye, and perhaps he would’ve been able to become Thatch Moon Island’s first-ever Golden Core Tier earth immortal, but the island simply didn’t have enough immortal currency to support his cultivation to that point.

Zeng Ye had been completely heartbroken by the confession.

Having said and done everything that he could, Zhang Ye led Zeng Ye to Chen Ping’an’s room, then gently knocked on the door and said, “Mr. Chen, I’ve found someone that suits your needs.”

All of a sudden, a wave of immense fear swept over Zeng Ye, and he was barely able to keep his own legs from giving off from under himself.

What if Zhang Ye had been lying to him, and there was actually an even worse fate waiting for him on Cyan Gorge Island?

Before he had a chance to contemplate that possibility any further, the door swung open, and he met Chen Ping’an for the very first time.

Even though Zeng Ye was only fourteen years old, he was very tall, no less so than the average young man, so his and Chen Ping’an’s eyes were roughly level with one another.

Chen Ping’an was wearing a thick, cotton, azure robe, and there was a white jade hairpin on his head. He appeared rather thin and frail, and he wasn’t an old immortal like Zhang Ye, nor did he resemble a young nobleman like Lü Caisang or Yuan Yuan.

“Hello, my name is Chen Ping’an. What’s yours?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile.

Zeng Ye wanted to respond, but his entire body was stiff as a board, and he was unable to utter so much as a single word.

Hence, Zhang Ye was forced to step in and answer Chen Ping’an’s question in his stead.

“Mr. Chen, this boy’s name is Zeng Ye, and I found him on Thatch Moon Island. He fits all of your requirements, possessing exceptional cultivation aptitude and a natural affinity for cultivating ghostly abilities. He’ll make a perfect vessel for yin entities, and not only will serving as a vessel not eat away at his lifespan, it’ll only help to extend his life and further his cultivation.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response, then turned back to Zeng Ye with a smile as he said, “I have a technique that can allow me to gauge the weight of your aptitude. All you have to do is stand still for me, is that alright?”

Zeng Ye remained silent and rooted to the spot, and Chen Ping’an looked back at him in silence.

Zhang Ye patted Zeng Ye on the shoulder with a smile as he jibed, “Even if you’ve forgotten how to speak, surely you can still give a nod!”

Zeng Ye was finally snapped back to his senses upon hearing this, and he hurriedly nodded in response.

Chen Ping’an grabbed onto his shoulders and gently lifted him up until the tips of his toes were just about to leave the ground, then set him back down with a nod as he said, “From now on, I’ll pay close attention to the condition of your soul, and if there’s even the slightest sign that something’s going wrong, then I’ll immediately stop what I’m doing.”

Zeng Ye continued to remain silent. He didn’t dare to say anything, nor did he know what to say, and it was as if he had lost his soul.

On the sinister and inhospitable Thatch Moon Island, he had grown accustomed to being bullied by his fellow disciples before the patriarch identified his potential, so in the presence of a high and mighty old Cyan Gorge Island immortal like Zhang Ye and a much younger, yet even more accomplished immortal like Chen Ping’an, it was taking all of his strength just to be able to remain on his feet.

“Perhaps this boy isn’t very bright, Mr. Chen. Should I go and search for some other candidates in Bamboo Scroll Lake?” Zhang Ye offered with a hint of exasperation in his eyes.

Chen Ping’an had been observing Zeng Ye this entire time, and he shook his head with a smile as he replied, “There’s no need for that. I’m quite happy with him.”

Zhang Ye heaved an internal sigh of relief, having completed this all-important task that had been assigned to him by Liu Zhimao.

Thatch Moon Island hadn’t dared to ask for too much, but they hadn’t given up Zeng Ye free of charge, either. This was an unspoken rule of Bamboo Scroll Lake. If Cyan Gorge Island had chosen to attack Thatch Moon Island, then not only would they have been able to take Zeng Ye by force, they could’ve easily claimed the entire island, as well as all of its residents and wealth.

However, seeing as Cyan Gorge Island had chosen to take the more civilized approach, they had to do business as business should be done. Hence, given that Thatch Moon Island had stated quite a reasonable price, Zhang Ye had issued the requested sum of immortal currency without any bartering.

Chen Ping’an was well aware of the arrangements that had been made, and he asked, “How much did Thatch Moon Island ask for Zeng Ye?”

Zhang Ye hesitated momentarily, then replied, “According to the patriarch of Thatch Moon Island, even at a conservative estimate, the yin entities that Zeng Ye would’ve been able to nurture would’ve ultimately been equivalent to at least two Abode Tier cultivators. Subtract from that the costs that would’ve been incurred from nurturing Zeng Ye to the Middle Five Tiers, and the final price given by Thatch Moon Island was ten grain rain coins.”

Chen Ping’an thought about it for a moment, then replied, “In addition to that, I also have to pay for all of the manpower and resources expended by your Fishing Room to fulfill my request, so I think fifteen grain rain coins is a reasonable price. Put it on my tab for now, and I’ll pay it off along with all of the other debts I owe to Cyan Gorge Island.”

Zhang Ye nodded in response.

Whether it be Gu Can, Lü Caisang, or Yuan Yuan, the most prominent spearheads of this younger generation of cultivators were all very much different from the older generation of vagrant cultivators of Bamboo Scroll Lake in that all of them revelled in breaking the old rules, and they did this as a way to establish their reputations and earn the respect of others.

Zhang Ye didn’t dare to say that they were definitely wrong for doing this. After all, even he had to put on a smiling face whenever he met these little runts, but ultimately, their actions certainly didn’t please him.

However, the problem was that the young people who didn’t follow the rules these days seemed to all be doing better than those who did, and that was quite frustrating to those of the older generation like Zhang Ye.

Hence, Chen Ping’an was like a pleasant breath of fresh air in the way that he did things and carried himself.

Otherwise, given the resounding reputation that he had forged for himself in Bamboo Scroll Lake, even if he were to refuse to spend even a single snowflake coin, it wasn’t like there was much Zhang Ye and Cyan Gorge Island could do about it.

Unfortunately, Chen Ping’an was very much an exception to the norm in Bamboo Scroll Lake, and that was a rather disheartening thought for Zhang Ye, but one that he had to accept.

He was a Dragon Gate Tier cultivator that had already reached the end of the road. There was no chance that he would ever be able to reach the Golden Core Tier, even though Liu Zhimao had already done everything within reason to help him advance his cultivation base. While everyone in Bamboo Scroll Lake was striving for greater heights, he was just an old man whose best days were already long behind him.

Qi refiners were far more sensitive to the decay of their own bodies and souls than the average person, and to him, it felt as if he were being slowly buried alive, inch by inch, with nothing that he could do about it. If it weren’t for the fact that Zhang Ye had a relatively stable and placid personality, he would’ve already done something demented and brazen long ago.

In any case, there were countless ways to vent one’s emotions in a lawless place like Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Zeng Ye was arranged a place to stay on Cyan Gorge Island right next to Chen Ping’an’s room, and as he sat on his bed that night, he felt as if the time he had spent on Thatch Moon Island had been a previous lifetime.

It was only very late into the night that he managed to fall into a restless and uneasy sleep, and he slept all the way to noon the next day. After opening his eyes, a confused look appeared on his face at the sight of the unfamiliar environment around him, and it took him a while to recall that he was no longer a cultivator of Thatch Moon Island.

It took him a great deal of courage just to get out of bed and emerge from his room, but as soon as he did so, he caught sight of a nightmarish figure in a dark green official robe, sitting on a small bamboo chair while munching on some sunflower seeds.

Zeng Ye was so horrified by this sight that he almost fled back into his room to hide under his blankets.

“So you’re Zeng Ye?” Gu Can asked. “You came from Thatch Moon Island, is that right?”

Cold sweat was already beginning to bead up on Zeng Ye’s forehead.

Even though Zeng Ye had never seen Gu Can in the flesh, he had seen a portrait of him on a Willow Catkin Island report.

All of the stories that he had seen on Gu Can had painted him out to be a horrific monster whose power was matched only by his bloodlust, and he had thought that he would never get to see Gu Can in his lifetime, nor did he want to ever meet Gu Can as such an encounter would most likely only take place on the day that Gu Can and that massive catfish of his razed Thatch Moon Island to the ground.

“Are you deaf or are you just stupid?” Gu Can snapped.

Zeng Ye didn’t dare to say anything, and he certainly didn’t dare to give any verbal retaliation.

He was so thankful that Gu Can hadn’t killed him on the spot that he had almost fallen to his knees in gratitude.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an emerged from his room, and the suffocating atmosphere in the air was instantly alleviated.

“You’re in a very vulnerable condition right now. In your current state, you’re even more susceptible to having yin energy infiltrate your acupoints than the average person, so hurry up and go back to the Spring Courtyard Mansion to rest,” he said in a stern manner.

Gu Can nodded in response, and he handed over the rest of his sunflower seeds to Chen Ping’an as he said, “Alright, I’ll be going then.”

Chen Ping’an accepted the sunflower seeds from him, then replied, “Get Tan Xue to come and see me once she’s back on shore. I have something to give her.”

“You can count on me,” Gu Can assured with a bright smile.

Following Gu Can’s departure, Chen Ping’an offered his handful of sunflower seeds to Zeng Ye, and the latter hurriedly shook his head.

Chen Ping’an carried a chair out of his room before setting it down beside Zeng Ye, while he sat down onto the bamboo chair occupied by Gu Can earlier.

Zeng Ye set his bottom down onto the chair in an uneasy manner, and he was so anxious that he didn’t even know what to do with his hands and feet.

Chen Ping’an began munching on sunflower seeds himself as he smiled and said, “You’ll need to stay with me for at least two to three years, perhaps even up to seven or eight years. You can call me Mr. Chen, not because my name is too precious and prestigious for you to utter or anything like that. It’s just that this is what everyone on Cyan Gorge Island calls me, so it would be inappropriate for you to refer to me as anything else.

“You don’t have to try to change to appease me, just remain the way you are right now. Make sure to observe as much as you can and speak as little as possible. As for what you need to do, just do as I say, nothing more and nothing less. Even if you don’t quite understand what I’m saying right now, it doesn’t matter much.”

Zeng Ye nodded in response.

“Are you afraid of ghosts?” Chen Ping’an suddenly asked.

Zeng Ye opened his mouth to reply, but then hesitated.

“Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing when you’re with me,” Chen Ping’an encouraged. “Just say what comes to mind.”

Emboldened by Chen Ping’an’s encouragement, Zeng Ye replied, “I’m not afraid of ghosts. Ever since my master took me to Thatch Moon Island, I’ve seen a lot of dirty things because many of my senior brothers and sisters raised and nurtured ghosts.”

“Do you resent your master?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Zeng Ye fell silent as he pursed his lips, and a combination of sorrow and stubbornness appeared on his face.

“Your expression tells me that you do resent him, but you’re more so saddened by him, right?” Chen Ping’an asked. “On top of that, you feel like your master isn’t actually a bad person. If it wasn’t for him, perhaps you would’ve already died quite some time ago, so you still think of your master as family and Thatch Moon Island as your home, is that right?”

Zeng Ye nodded in response as tears began to well up in his eyes, and his voice quivered as he replied, “I know I’m stupid. I’m sorry, Mr. Chen. I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you much, and given how incompetent I am, there’s a good chance I’ll make a lot of mistakes. If you want to beat me or punish me, I’ll accept anything that comes my way.”

Chen Ping’an cast his gaze into the distance as he mused, “You’re saying this is a sign of stupidity? I disagree.”

Zeng Ye was so absorbed in his own melancholy that he failed to hear Chen Ping’an clearly. It then occurred to him that he was sitting in front of one of the most important figures in the entirety of Bamboo Scroll Lake, so he should’ve been latching onto Chen Ping’an’s every word, and as a result, he felt even more incompetent and stupid for not having heard Chen Ping’an clearly.

“Having said that, I will say that you’re far too timid and fearful, Zeng Ye,” Chen Ping’an continued. “When I was your age, I was already able to hold my own in life, and I never felt fear or unease even in the presence of so-called important people.”

Chen Ping’an then massaged the stubble on his chin as he murmured to himself in a self-deprecating manner, “That was a little shameless of me to say. I should make another trip to Purple Bamboo Island and ask for another length of bamboo so that I can make myself a bamboo saber. In conjunction with the Great Replica Qu Huang that I bought from Ape Crying Street, I can imitate Pei Qian and wield a Saber Sword Cross to scare people with.”

Zeng Ye was very slow to react, and only now did he exclaim, “I can’t compare with you, Mr. Chen.”

Chen Ping’an smiled as he rose to his feet, then asked, “Do you know how to read? If you do, then I’ll teach you a pair of secret techniques. They’re not secret techniques of a particularly high caliber, but they won’t be inferior to anything that you were cultivating on Thatch Moon Island.”

Zeng Ye hurriedly rose to his feet as well as he replied, “I know how to read, but my master always calls me stupid.”

“That’s fine,” Chen Ping’an said as he picked up his chair. “If you encounter any parts that you don’t understand, then you can ask me.”

Chen Ping’an strode over his doorstep, then turned around to discover Zeng Ye following along behind him, completely empty-handed.

A resigned look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face as he sighed, “Your master certainly wasn’t wrong about you being stupid. Could you not have at least picked up that bamboo chair?”

An enlightened look instantly appeared on Zeng Ye’s face as he hurriedly rushed over to pick up the chair, while a faint smile appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face.

It felt good to have a normal child by his side.

As this thought surfaced in his mind, he completely failed to realize that he was actually only three years older than Zeng Ye.

————

Over the next few days, Zeng Ye spent virtually all of his waking hours in Chen Ping’an’s room, reading through the contents of those few sheets of paper over and over again. As a cultivator of the Lower Five Tiers, he certainly knew how to read, but these two secret techniques that were supposedly not of a very high caliber actually turned out to be extremely complex and difficult to understand, at least for him.

Zeng Ye had to stop almost every two or three sentences to raise a new question to Chen Ping’an.

Initially, he had tried to read through the entire secret technique first before raising all of his questions at the end of his reading, but the more he tried to read by brute force, the more of a pounding headache he began to develop. Before long, he was sweating profusely, and his soul was even on the verge of giving out.

He immediately snapped back to his senses with a look of lingering fear in his eyes. He had heard that when it came to cultivating immortal secret techniques, the more advanced the techniques were, the more dangerous it was for one to carelessly become immersed in them. If one were to become too deeply immersed and didn’t have a Dao guardian that could snap them out of their trance, then their Great Dao foundation could be harmed.

Chen Ping’an had served as a passive bystander this entire time, watching as Zeng Ye began to lose himself in the secret technique that he was reading through, only to abruptly set down the sheets of paper in his hands as he began gasping for air.

Only then did Chen Ping’an give a slight nod of approval. Lackluster aptitude wasn’t the most damning thing for a cultivation prospect. Instead, it was most important for one to be grounded and sufficiently focused.

If Zeng Ye didn’t even possess this much power of concentration, then the tasks that Chen Ping’an had in store for him would only push him to an inevitable outcome of Qi deviation.

If that had been the case, then he wouldn’t have chased Zeng Ye away, but he definitely wouldn’t have encouraged him to continue cultivating, either. He would’ve simply treated Zeng Ye like a new neighbor, much like the gatekeeper of the island.

Even if those fifteen grain rain coins had gone to complete waste, he would’ve asked Zhang Ye and the Fishing Room to find him a suitable candidate.

After that close call, Zeng Ye had learned his own limits, and he immediately raised any questions that sprang into his mind, while Chen Ping’an patiently provided him with answers.

Thanks to Wei Bo’s extremely detailed letter and his interactions with Ma Yuanzhi, Yu Gui, and the Naturalist cultivator from Jade Flagon Island, Chen Ping’an had become quite well-versed in this field and was able to answer all of Zeng Ye’s questions.

As for why he hadn’t included annotations in the secret techniques to lay out all of the intricacies and important points, that concerned Zeng Ye’s future cultivation.