Unsheathed

Inside a courtyard in Moon Hall, the spirit who held a folding fan and referred to himself as a noble scholar drank wine with the elder with a goatee and the other underlings of Peeling Mountain.

This so-called noble scholar was in slightly low spirits as he drank, so he used the alcohol to wash away his sorrows. The remaining idiots didn’t have good observation skills either, so they were all dancing and hollering after they became drunk, with their spittle flying everywhere as they spoke with no restraints.

Some talked about Lady Bishu’s shapely bottom, saying that they would be willing to die if they were able to touch it once. Others talked about the daughter of the Black River Great King and her large chest, saying that they would definitely have fun with it if they got the opportunity. There were some who took things even further, claiming that the Mountain-Moving Great Sage was completely overrated and saying that they could smash his head to bits if Lady Bishu commanded them to do so…

The spirit holding the folding fan downed the wine in his cup, feeling like it was a true joy killer to drink with these underlings. This was a disgrace to the rich golden wine in his cup, fine wine from Copper Stench City.

He sighed in grief, rocking his folding fan in one hand and swirling his wine cup in his other hand as he remarked, “Wine can eliminate worries and bring happiness; if heavenly fortune is truly bestowed upon these pathetic beings, then what can I do but keep drinking wine…”[1]

The underling spirits weren’t surprised at all, and they instead roared with laughter. Their so-called noble scholar master was starting to whine and mope again.

The spirit holding the folding fan glanced at Lady Bishu’s courtyard, and he felt an irrepressible heat in his abdomen. No matter what, Lady Bishu’s figure was absolutely top-notch.

He had served Peeling Mountain for so many years, but he had received few actual benefits in return. He did indeed want to become one of Lady Bishu’s bedroom guests. Perhaps Lady Bishu didn’t appear beautiful in the eyes of living people, but to the spirits and demons like those in Malicious Ghost Valley, was there any need to focus on these particular matters? At the same time, however, he was afraid of Lady Bishu’s incredible skills in bed. If he let his guard down, it was genuinely possible that he might die under her hips.

Almost without fail, Lady Bishu would leave Peeling Mountain and visit someplace by herself once every few years. No one knew whom she was visiting and what she was doing.

There were all kinds of speculations.

Some said that Lady Bishu was a lover of Pink Gentleman City’s city lord, while others said that the true owner of Peeling Mountain was the ghost king who enjoyed equal fame with White Cage City’s Pu Rang. There were also some who said that Lady Bishu had a “special” relationship with the Black River Great King’s only daughter.

The spirit holding the folding fan was feeling slightly despondent as he continued to drink wine.

Why was Lady Bishu unwilling to open up to him?

He was becoming slightly drunk.

He wondered about whether he could also reach the same height as Lady Bishu in his lifetime, owning a mountain, constructing an extravagant residence, and commanding many subordinates. Just how majestic and impressive would that be?

Would there be a day in the future when he could perhaps leave Malicious Ghost Valley and venture to the vast world beyond Skeleton Shoal? Could he visit a Confucian academy and meet a genuine scholar? Could he read some true Confucian classics?

————

Gushing Earth Mountain…

This was a mountain with far stricter defences than Peeling Mountain.

There was even a proper-looking mountain-protection formation.

To the scholar, however, entering this mountain was still nothing more than child’s play.

However, trying to kill the demon and enter the treasure chamber to steal the treasures without causing any commotion would be much more difficult.

But the scholar was in no hurry, and he stood atop a flourishing pine tree after entering Gushing Earth Mountain. He planned to wait for a while first.

Once the mountain and water formation at the Mountain-Moving Great Sage’s mountain was activated, that would be a signal that Chen Haoren had already made his move and was barging into the mountain, or he had already been discovered. No matter the reason, that would be his signal to make a move.

The only thing that he needed to be careful of was the old turtle in Old Dragon Cave as well as the small turtle in the Black River who had an extremely close relationship with Lady Bishu. The scholar wasn’t afraid of them joining forces with Gushing Earth Mountain, but that father and daughter would be extremely difficult to kill. As such, things would become quite troublesome if they insisted on protecting the Dust Warding Primordial Lord no matter what. At the end of the day, the scholar was only targeting these demons for the sake of amusement. Similar to how he had joined the so-called examinations and won the laughable title of hand-picked scholar in Copper Stench City, he was simply doing this to alleviate his boredom.

The Dust Warding Primordial Lord had some ties with the Small Mystery Capital Temple, while the Black River Great King — the old turtle — had some ties with the Great Round Moon Monastery. The latter had once been raised in the life-releasing pond of the monastery, and according to the official history records that dated back to before Skeleton Shoal became an ancient battlefield ruin, the old turtle had often swum to the surface of the water to listen to Buddhist lectures while living in the monastery.

Afterward, the battle between the two powerful empires had caused chaos throughout their dozen or so vassal states. However, the monastery was able to escape the destruction of war thanks to the powerful mystical abilities of the old monk who had already become a Golden Arhat. In the end, the monastery was relocated to Malicious Ghost Valley’s peach tree forest, becoming neighbors with the Small Mystery Capital Temple that had initially been thousands of kilometers away.

Following this, the old turtle had secretly left the monastery and given himself the title Black River Great King, occupying an extremely deep cave and naming it the Old Dragon Cave. He was also raising a pair of golden Luo fish, and it was said that this was a dowry for his daughter.

His daughter had given herself the title of Sea Turning Primordial Lord, and she was the one who maintained the affairs of the mountain since the Black River Great King seldom made an appearance. There was a large river outside the Old Dragon Cave, and the Sea Turning Primordial Lord had taken over this river and would often lead her water race minions to wreak havoc throughout the region.

This small turtle was ink-black and solidly built, and when encountering her one time, the city lord of Pink Gentleman City had thrown a cutting insult her way. He said that with how frightening she looked, he wouldn’t dare to dream about getting in bed with her regardless of how low his standards were, and even if the lights were turned off. This was the first major humiliation the Sea Turning Primordial Lord had faced in her life.

Standing atop the pine tree, the scholar inhaled and absorbed all of the yin energy of the tree. He then lightly exhaled, causing his surroundings to become filled with mist. After doing this, he spread open his palm and started to draw talismans with his finger.

He was using a mystical observation technique.

He gently shook his hand, causing an image of Gushing Earth Mountain’s residence to appear.

The image was slightly blurry, and this was because he was unwilling to leave any traces. The Dust Warding Primordial Lord hailed from a branch of the Daoist Sect, after all, and he was also a Golden Core Tier cultivation base. As such, it was possible that he might notice something amiss if the scholar wasn’t careful enough.

There was currently a large banquet being hosted atop a tall platform on Gushing Earth Mountain.

The scholar couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

There were hordes of spirits and demons attending the banquet, with all of them appearing powerful and loyal. In the scholar’s eyes, it was as if these underlings were an army of ferocious guards standing behind their demonic masters.

“What’s going on? Why are they all gathered at Gushing Earth Mountain?” the scholar murmured. “Is that person’s fortune better than mine? Did he achieve this by accident? Or was he aware all along?”

Cultivators and deities all had Dao Manifestations, while demons who assumed human form similarly possessed Origin Manifestations. The higher a demon’s cultivation, the more hazy their Origin Manifestation would appear. After a demon advanced to the Nascent Tier, they would be able to completely suppress their Origin Manifestation. Meanwhile, those under the Nascent Tier — especially those at the Golden Core Tier — possessed the most condensed and stable Origin Manifestation which was also the most difficult to conceal.

Lofty Nascent Tier cultivators as well as some Golden Core Tier cultivators from immortal forces with ancient inheritances could often see through the Origin Manifestation of demons.

The scholar hurriedly stopped his mystical observation technique.

Taking a quick glance at the Origin Manifestations of the demons partaking in the banquet on the tall platform just then, he had seen the Mountain-Moving Great Sage who was a silverback ape, the Demon-Hunting Immortal who was a plump rat spirit, and the Imperial Thunder Divine General who was a large five-colored python.

Of course, there was also the Dust Warding Primordial Lord who was a small mink with golden fur.

Apart from them, there was also a Golden Core Tier ghost.

All of the powerful demons were present with the exception of the father and daughter from the Old Dragon Cave and Black River. Of course, there was also the additional Golden Core Tier ghost who liked to challenge Meticulous Skin City all the time.

The scholar appeared slightly helpless as he lamented, “Please don’t encircle me and beat me up. My luck can’t possibly be this bad, can it?”

As a small world that had existed for a thousand years, Malicious Ghost Valley was a place that formlessly suppressed the cultivators who entered. The higher one’s cultivation base, the more suppression one would face.

In addition to this, Qi refiners with certain unique backgrounds would also face heavy suppression.

For example, the scholar.

Similar to how mortal humans might feel unacclimatized when traveling to new places, cultivators would also face the same issues.

This was especially the case for the scholar, someone whose Eight Characters was Pure Yang.[2] Indeed, Malicious Ghost Valley was the exact opposite of Pure Yang.

If it weren’t for the paramount and mystical nature of his cultivation technique being far superior than unorthodox and heretical techniques, allowing it to blend perfectly with the fire and water and coexist with the yin and yang of his Eight Characters, it would have been extremely troublesome for him to travel to Malicious Ghost Valley. This mystical realm would be like a pitch-black night realm where people couldn’t see their own fingers, and he would be like a brilliant lantern attracting the attention and hostility of the myriad ghosts and yin entities.

The scholar started to murmur to himself again, asking, “Should I leave?”

After falling silent for a moment, he smiled widely and said, “Then I’ll wait for a while longer. Don’t let me die by someone else’s hands, or else you’ll also suffer from significant imperfections when you break through to the next tier.”

The scholar returned to a calm and composed state after making up his mind.

He started to quietly observe the situation, surprisingly closing his eyes and starting to meditate.

He planned to refine the Dragon Gate Stele a little and see whether he could succeed and put some icing on the cake.

His breath of Qi was like mist releasing sweet rain, and it was as if an old dragon were swimming through the clouds and summoning rain in his water palace.

Inside his fire palace, a sturdy man was enveloped in flames and appeared much like a fire god, currently tempering a short saber and sending sparks flying everywhere as he swung his hammer.

There was another critical acupoint filled with layers of green mountains that were brimming with luscious trees, and a Daoist temple atop a tall mountain that had green colored glaze tiles and a golden plaque above the entrance.

And inside yet another acupoint, it was as if there were a battlefield filled with killing intent as two heavily armed armies faced off against each other.

When the scholar attempted to refine the Dragon Gate Stele from Peeling Mountain, a stone tablet appeared in his water palace and slowly rose into the air, with the strokes of the characters “Dragon Gate” continuing to radiate with dazzling golden light.

The scholar didn’t try to refine the entire stele in one go, and he stopped the refinement process once he managed to successfully manifest the two characters, Dragon Gate. He opened his eyes and exhaled lightly.

He then shook his sleeves and looked toward the residence on the mountain. The demons leaped into the sky one after another, after which they slowly flew in his direction. As for the mountain-protection formation that enveloped Gushing Earth Mountain activating instantly, the scholar didn’t care about this too much in comparison.

The scholar turned around and glanced in the direction of the Mountain-Moving Great Sage’s mountain, saying with a faint smile, “Brother Haoren, I got the better end of the deal at Peeling Mountain, so just treat this as me returning a small favor to you. If you still fail to succeed and obtain a bountiful yield, then that will truly make me feel very disappointed.”

He then glanced at Treasure Mirror Mountain, wondering about how the proper matters were progressing at that location.

Soil of the Five Elements, and the Mirror of the Three Mountains and Nine Lords.

This was the final bonded item that pertained to the foundation of his Great Dao.

It was a huge matter, so he naturally needed to personally keep an eye on things.

Once the Five Elements were complete and the Three Corpses were severed, then not only could he advance to the Nascent Tier with ease, but breaking through the subsequent barriers and advancing to the Upper Five Tiers would also become a smooth-sailing journey. His mental demons wouldn’t be as difficult to defeat as those of ordinary Nascent Tier cultivators, and he would only need to rely on slow and steady progress to slowly wear them away over a period of two hundred to three hundred years. There was almost no danger, and this process of grinding away his mental demons could also bring benefits to his soul.

This was the power and influence of one of the most top-notch immortal forces of a continent.

1. The latter half of this remark is a line from Tao Yuanming’s poem, Criticizing Sons. Tao Yuanming was a Chinese poet and politician. He was one of the best-known poets who lived during the Six Dynasties period. ☜

2. The Eight Characters (八字) is a Chinese astrological concept that a person’s destiny or fate can be divined by the two sexagenary cycle characters assigned to their birth year, month, day, and hour. ☜